LOOKING FOR MAGIC

It's official-- I'm moving to Birmingham, Alabama. It's been a hard decision and I've oscillated between total heartbreak about leaving Asheville, NC (which will always be home) and some major excitement at all the new opportunities in a new city. In case you didn't know, Birmingham is called the "Magic City" and I plan to find and take advantage of all the magic it has to offer.

I will be teaching a few special events before I leave town:

Better Backbends Workshop
One Center Yoga
April 26th, 1-3pm

My students often hear me jokingly say in my classes that "Backbends are like candy." It's true-- they can create the same childish, giddy feeling. For many, however, a backbending practice is intimidating and scary. If that's you, PLEASE come to my "Better Backbends" workshop at One Center Yoga and learn how to safely approach a backbending practice with helpful alignment techniques and proper sequencing. You too can experience the joyous, energetic rush that comes from expanding through the front of the body!

Yoga on the Mountain with Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC)

May 18th, 2014 10am

Difficulty: Moderate (5-6)
Leaders: Kim Drye from Here Now Yoga and co-leader Michelle Pugliese, SAHC’s Land protection Director.
Cost: Free for SAHC members $10 for non-members
What to bring: Sturdy shoes, blanket, yoga mat, comfortable clothes, water, sunscreen and a pack to carry all personal items.

Join SAHC and Kim Drye for Yoga on the Mountain!

We will hike to the top of Blue Ridge Pastures, lay down yoga mats, and practice our sun salutations among many other poses. Once at the top of Blue Ridge Pastures we will see Bearwallow Mountain and Hickory Nut Gap Gorge, hikers and yogis alike will experience true beauty of the surrounding area and learn why conservation is so important in the Fairview Farming Community.

You don't need to have any prior yoga experience—but please bring sturdy shoes, blanket, yoga mat, comfortable clothes, water, sunscreen and a pack to carry all personal items.

Directions will be sent upon RSVP. Please contact Anna@Appalachian.org or 828-253-0095 ext. 205 if you are interested in attending.

HereNow is the facebook event page for the YOGA ON THE MOUNTAIN event.

In Response to the Article "6 Reasons to Stop Obsessing Over Alignment in Yoga Class"

Below, guest writer and fellow Asheville yoga teacher, Ryan Conrad, responds to the recent article on Yogananymous, "6 Reasons to Stop Obsessing Over Alignment in Yoga Class" .  Ryan maintains a sustained, daily practice of Iyengar-influenced alignment-based yoga, is a doctor of physical therapy, and teaches regular (very popular) classes at One Center Yoga Sundays 10-11:30 (All levels) and Tuesdays 4-5:30 (Intermediate Level II/III). He also is on staff for the teacher trainings at Asheville Yoga Center and assists in Lillah Schwartz's 500 hour teacher training as a mentor. Ryan has been a consistent friend and mentor in my own journey as a student and teacher.  I can't thank him enough for his insight, careful direction and expertise.

Drawing by R. Brook Priddy Conrad

It is possible to have a asana practice that is purely physical, where one sweats, stretches and strengthens the body. However, when one is truly practicing yogic asana within the constructs of ashtanga yoga, or the 8 limbed path to union, the asana can be used as a mindfulness practice that develops one’s awareness. This grants the yogi the ability to practice some of the subtle aspects of yoga such as dharana (concentration, focus) and dhyana (meditation). If a practitioner is fortunate and determined then this path will result in samadhi (profound meditation or union between the observer and the observed). 

Alignment principles can reduce the risk of injury, but certainly do not eliminate them. Injury can occur during asanas if one is not fully engaged in what is happening at the present moment. The key is practicing contentment and acceptance of where your practice is, and what your body is ready for in the present moment while continuing to delve deeper.

Asana is a wonderful place to begin our practice of self study. Asana initially deals with the physical sheath of the self, the annamaya kosha. However, if you set the correct intention and are keenly focused you can begin to observe the way in which the adjusting of the physical sheath requires the mental sheath (manomaya kosha) to participate, and how these adjustments affect the pranamaya kosha (energetic sheath). The adjustments that a practitioner makes are continually in the process of refinement, and become simultaneously more subtle and profound. This builds wisdom, and a greater understanding of our true self while using asana as the platform.

15 minutes is a rather short amount of time to spend of a posture as complex as Tadasana. As a yogi stays in the posture it is important to observe the physical, mental and energetic changes that occur over time. Does the body become heavy or revert to previous habits? Does the mind begin to rebel and categorize the work as “boring”?This yoga stuff is tough work and sometimes understanding how to work with that which is the most difficult can be the most rewarding and insightful in a lifetime of sustained practice.

The concept of everyone having unique anatomy is interesting. I do agree that each individual has had different life experiences and genetics that have created a unique physical and mental body. However, except for a small percentage of people with anatomical abnormalities, people have the same number of vertebrae with similar desired curves of the spine, and a similar shape to the bones of the arms, legs, ribs, pelvis and skull. As a yoga teacher it is important to observe a student’s current alignment to help guide them towards adjustments that will serve their individual needs to resolve pain, promote well-being and allow the mind to focus with less effort.

Yogic knowledge has always been intended to be transmitted from teacher to student. Yoga class can be an opportunity for students to practice with a teacher providing verbal cues, and yes sometimes these alignment cues can be many. However, yoga class deserves to be different than an individual’s yoga practice. When you are being guided by a quality teacher, they can verbally or manually direct the student towards a profound experience where the student gains insight into their blind spots and weaknesses on many levels. That information that the student receives must then be taken and transformed into knowledge and wisdom by practicing what has been taught and coming to their own conclusions through the fires of one’s own practice.

At any point in time in a practice a posture is correct and incorrect until the practitioner is able to practice in an uninterrupted state of samadhi. Then the practice becomes completely correct. Until that time there is always work to be done and a greater awareness of the self that can be gained. This, in my opinion, makes an alignment-based practice truly a practice of the curious seeker that is dedicated to building greater wisdom. 

Thanks WWC

I cherish every opportunity to drive out to Warren Wilson College, especially when it's an opportunity to teach.  On Saturday, Feb 15th, I taught a "Feel the Love" workshop on the campus focused on using a back bending practice to cultivate compassion for yourself and others.  It was such a treat and thank you to the participants for your courage and effort.  

Partner Yoga Pictures from 2.14 at One Center Yoga

Love + Yoga All Weekend Long

Check out all these loveydovey yoga opportunities coming up this weekend with HereNowYoga. There's currently only one spot left for the Salt Cave, so sign up for that today! Still space in the Partner Yoga class at One Center, email me if you're interested in the Warren Wilson workshop. Much love to everyone, 

Happy Valentine's!

Partner Yoga

Feel the Love Workshop

Warren Wilson College

Saturday Feb 15th 3:00-4:30pm

Lower Fellowship Hall

Learn to cultivate compassion in your yoga practice with meditation techniques and heart openers

Love Cave:

 Restorative Yoga & Breathwork 
in the Salt Cave 

February 16th, 2pm 
$30/person (SPECIAL LOVE WEEKEND PRICE)

 Come stretch the body and expand the breath with some gentle heart openers, taking in all the soothing benefits of the negative ions in Asheville's Therapeutic Salt Cave. The salt air calms the nervous system and reduces inflammation. Coupled with gentle yoga and an emphasis on pranayama (breathwork), you're in for a truly blissful experience.  Call 828.236.5999 to reserve a spot, space is limited.

10 Eagle Street, Asheville, NC 
www.ashevillesaltcave.com

What if our Practice was our life?

What if our religion was each other?

If our practice was our life?

If prayer, our words?

What if the Temple was the Earth?

If forests were our church?

If holy water—the rivers, lakes and oceans?

What if meditation was our relationships?

If the Teacher was life?

If wisdom was self-knowledge?

If love was the center of our being. 

~Ganga White

Thanks to local teacher Amanda Hale for a little morning inspiration today.  <3 <3 <3

Now the discipline of yoga begins.

From my new column at ExhaleAsheville.

Saturday Stillness.
by Kimberly Drye

A quiet Saturday morning. Shhhhh

It’s raining and Saturday. For the first time in a while, I wake up alone. This quiet house is mine. I’m finished with college. The holidays are over. My boyfriend is out of town. I light a candle and play Radiohead on Spotify. Lying in bed, I snuggle with my husky as the rain falls gently, steadily, outside my window. I pick up the book that’s been on my nightside table for months, waiting for the moment: this day. While not a book of particular grandeur, just a book I’ve been wanting to read in my free time, it is significant in this-- my alone time.

Sacred and cherished; however, after just a few short moments, the quiet in my house feels heavy. The list of things to do before I leave for vacation next week begins to tally. The silence of my cell phone suddenly makes me afraid that I’m not loved.

I check facebook. I check Instagram. I feel better for a moment. Then I realize, this is a problem-- my problem, and a societal problem.

I’m afraid to be alone, to sit still. Even now, after years of teaching and practicing yoga. Nothing about the feeling is rational. I’m afraid I won’t matter; that I don’t matter.

One person I know once quipped, “You have more friends than Mickey Mouse.” I love my friends. I think the relationships I have with other people are what offer the most richness to experiences in my life, yet I remember a remark by one of my teachers, Aadil Palkhivala: “Every relationship you have with another person can only be as deep and meaningful as the relationship you have with yourself.”

I neglect this relationship with myself, because the truth is that studying myself is scary. Getting to know myself is scary because along with what I hope I am is the fear of what I might not be. In these moments alone, caught inside away from the rain, I get to see who I am when set apart. There’s no one to pull me out of the shadows, no one but me. When I’m alone, I realize it’s up to me to make that choice, not anyone else. I need to reach out and grab the light with both hands. I have to choose to begin the discipline of yoga, I must chose to come into the now. And in the now-- there is no fear, there is no weight. There’s only the sun seeping in under the curtains as the rain begins to clear.

The first yoga sutra of Patanjali: “Now the discipline of yoga begins.” The inspiration for my classes last week, but also a reminder that I must choose to begin, and then make that choice over and over again.

In today’s world, we often think of discipline as trying to do as much as possible in as little time as possible. But, as my teacher (and owner of One Center in Asheville) Cindy Dollar says-- in yoga, this discipline “is about subtraction rather than addition”.