Yoga with Julie

  A very special holiday greeting to all!  No matter what you celebrate, I hope your holiday season is one of sweetness and togetherness.  I always like to say...MERRY EVERYTHING!!!  The holiday season is certainly one of excitement and sensations, and along with that comes a bit of anxiety and busyness.  As we are shopping for loved ones, we are bombarded with advertisements, bright store lighting, long lines, impatient fellow shoppers, and our own thoughts of finding the "perfect" gift.  Isn't it ironic how a season that symbolizes giving and opening our hearts, also contains an abundant amount of stress.   If you are feeling a tad overwhelmed by your shopping list and holiday commitments then I invite you to take some time to reconnect with the true meaning of what the season is about.  My teacher, mentor, guide, Shiva Rea, has invented the term "relaxasams," which she defines as a being peace practice of letting go and relaxing compl...

 This photo was taken at the first studio I ever taught in 8 years ago.  I was fresh out of my 200 hour yoga teacher training and at the very beginning of yogic journey as a guide.  This blog is dedicated to the path I have followed for the past 8 years including the successes, trial and errors, challenges, wise and not so wise moments, and memories of the fellow yogis I've met along the way... (ps this is very much a free-write/unedited blog entry...no judgements)... Many people ask me what made me want to be a yoga teacher?  Well, as a dance major in college I noticed how many of my modern dance teachers would start with a warm up that wasn't necessarily  "dance based," but more movement based with these held stretches in between. At the time I didn't realize they were yoga poses, but the more I practiced this for a few minutes a day the more I liked it.  Then when taking a 3 month summer dance intensive in Massachusetts we had yoga two times ...

      Hello there Yoga Friends!  Wow, it has been since the end of August since I have written a blog!  Well, now that it is the fall season I'd like to share a few quick tips on how to adjust your yoga practice for the fall in order to prepare the body and immune system for the cooler (if you are in florida like myself) or wayyyyyy colder weather (for all of my northern yogis)! I will teaching a "master class" at One Yoga and Fitness in Clermont on Friday Nov 2 from 5:30-7 entitled WonderFALL Flow, which will explore the aspects I am about to share with you.  If you are in the area, please come and experience this wonderfally flow!  All the information is at the bottom of the blog...  ~According the Ayurveda, yoga's sister science, the fall season is dominated by the air element.  This element cultivates dryness and brittleness in our internal environment (our body) and the external environment.  We need to engage in a self ca...

I'd like to thank the impending hurricane Isaac for inspiring this blog post.  May you be a gentle storm and make your visit brief... Time to prepare for the hurricane..flashlights check, candles check, water check, food check.  The good news of the hurricanes that exist in nature is that we can prepare for them and take necessary precaution as best as we can.  Although, you never know their true magnitude until they show up.  We know we can expect high winds, rain, perhaps some thunder/lightening/hail.  No amount of wishing will send the hurricane away and it is out of our complete control to re-route its path.  So what do we do once it arrives, we sit, watch, and wait for it to pass.  We know that it may be ugly, but eventually the hurricane will run its course and beautiful clear skies will once again be in our neighborhood.   Just as mother nature's hurricane, we have all experienced the mind's hurricane, where it feels l...

You cant control the weather, but you CAN  control your reaction to the weather.   Picture this...your day at the beach starts as a beautiful bright sunny day, and then all of a sudden you start to see the clouds roll in and then the sky opens up. Beach day + downpour does not equal happiness, true?  Your initial reaction of course is to scramble and protect your precious things from getting wet (hide that cell phone!), but what happens then?  Do you curse the weather because how dare mother nature decide to let it rain on your beach parade! You may say your day is completely ruined because of the downpour.  Feelings of anger and disappointment all of a sudden roll in just as quickly as those clouds rolled in.  But here is the difference between the clouds rolling in and your emotions rolling in... No matter what there is no way in the world you have control on the weather, however you certainly have 100 percent control of your emotional reaction. ...

"Unconditional Human Worth means you are important and valuable as a person because your essential core self is unique, precious of infinite, eternal, unchanging value, and good.  Unconditional human worth implies that you are as precious as any other person.   ~ Glenn Shiraldi This quote is from the Self-Esteem Workbook, which is a book I dove into a few weeks ago. Growing up as a dancer and working in the entertainment industry can be an extremely self-critical environment to surround oneself in.  It causes you to look at yourself from all angles and even from the eyes of others around you.  Inspirational quotes sure do help and yoga certainly does create a space of acceptance, however I wanted to learn a little more about self-esteem, how it gets drained and how it can be replenished.  I would like to share with you a bit of wisdom I have encountered in this workbook so far starting with your core worth.   The core of something is the center, the fou...

Hi everyone!  I created this sequence via the help of yogajournal.com.  Being that my computer is being a bit stubborn with videos, please enjoy these picture illustrated sequences in the mean time.   You will see the pictures of the poses, even print out the sequence and put it in front of your mat.  Put on your favorite music (yogic or non yogic).  And flow away.  If you need any instruction on the pose than feel free to use the yogajournal.com website for a description or email me with a question.  This sequence starts in mountain pose.  First set an intention for you practice.  Please do all standing poses on the right side and then on the left side before continuing to plank, locust, and cobra.  Once you do all the standing poses slowly, then increase the speed and allow the poses to flow one into the next.  You can do this several times for a nice dancing warrior flow.  Then follow up with the backbends, forward bends...

Did you ever notice how frequently the mind compares itself to those around you?  It is so easy to look the person to your right and left and think, "Oh they have a flatter stomach than I do," or "If only I had pin straight hair," "My skin looks so much clearer than that person over there." And the comparison list goes on and on and on... We are constantly bombarded by images, advertisements, other people's conversations, facebook posts, that tell us the ideal of what we should look like and how we should define ourselves as human beings. Even taking a yoga class, where one seeks their sanctuary and acceptance, the mind is tempted to compare to practitioners that may seem more advanced than you, or the way their lululemon pants shape their legs and butt.  The best way to overcome this is to practice non -attachment to your thoughts and to find gratitude for yourself, however this is easier said than done.    Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to ta...