Each month we are highlighting a specific regularly-scheduled yoga class at each of our studios. These are opportunities for the teachers to create special themes that integrate yoga-lessons with real-life lessons so that you can expand your understanding of the many ways in which physical yoga practice enhances your experience of being alive. These are regularly scheduled, regularly priced classes that we hope will inspire you to practice!

Sunday, March 14th Biz Magarity is teaching "Embracing the Light of Change" from 10-11:40am at Wake Up Yoga Fairmount. It's Daylight Savings Time! The morning of March 14th brings an early wake up time and additional brightness to the day. This sudden shift to a clock time out of sync with nature's cadance can be difficult of the body to embrace. This class is designed to help you re-tune to your natural rhythm, a rhythm deeper than that of seasons and clocks, so as to bring you in to balance with the external environment. With your senses honed to the breath, your awareness will rise above the transience of the shifting world and bring you to a place of inner steadiness.

Wednesday, March 17th at Wake Up Yoga South, from 9:30-11am, Lindsey Schweiger-Whalen will be teaching "Seeking the Gold at the End of the Rainbow: Yoga Practice with Intention." Oftentimes we live our lives driven by shoulds. We allow our ingrained, purposeless habits to dictate the flow of our lives. What would happen if we were to seek our highest intention--both on and off the mat--and devote our effort toward this goal, rather than toward the dry minutiae of our day? Connect with your deepest desire, and allow your asana practice to kindle this goal. This practice will employ Tapas (discipline) to burn away what is still and no longer needed. After eliminating the stagnant, bask in the quick, savoring the radiance of your brilliant Self as a lepracon relishes the sparkle of gold found at the end of the rainbow.

Friday, March 19th at Wake Up Yoga West, from 9:3-11am, Erin Owen will be teaching a yin yoga class entitled "Tending the Garden of Our Hearts". The transition from Winter to Spring is a powerful time, a season of reflecting upon what is growing in our lives. We plant the seeds of our own futures, in every moment of every day. In this class, we will slow down to examine the seeds we sometimes thoughtlessly plant in our minds. By taking stock of the seedlings growing in our lives, we will be able to nurture only those that will yield positive fruit in the future.

Monday, April 5th from 9:30-11am, at Wake Up Yoga West, Micki Ramondt will teach "Mapping the Path to the Self." Little-known fact: April 5th is Read a Map Day. We navigate our way on maps every day--whether using the textured atlas of an exotic locale, or following grid of Philadelphia streets. These charts direct us out and away from where we are; our yoga practice brings us in and toward our highest Self. This vinyasa clas will provide a path away from the distractions of the external to the realm of infinite peace and love that is established within each one of us.

Monday, April 19th at Wake Up Yoga Fairmount, from 7:30-9pm, Jill Blumenstock will teach "Amazing Yogic Grace: Embracing the Support of the Universe." Sometimes we feel lonely and confused. We tell ourselves we are open to the aid of others, but often we close down unless the support offered by family and friends is precisely what we desire at that particular moment. There is another variety of assistance that sustains us, both on the mat and off: the limitless wisdom of the universe, which speaks to our hearts. This revelation is ceaselessly being poured out to us...but our capacity to receive is diminished. In this yin yoga class, turn away from the external to re-tune to your intuition and the voice of the soul. The more you relate to this spirit within, the more you will discover it to be a trustworthy guide.

Thursday, April 22nd at Wake Up Yoga South, from 6-7:30pm, Marisa Campbell will teach "Rooting into our Earth: Muladhara Chakra."
Without a strong, rooted foundation, little else can be accomplished. We must have soil firm enough to provide stability, yet yielding enough to be penetrated by roots. The anchoring of this temple digs deep into the earth, for its Sanskrit name, muladhara, means 'root support.'

~Anodea Judith, from Eastern Body, Western Mind

April 22nd is Earth Day. We are taught to be aware and appreciative of the planet on which we live, but sometimes we neglect the foundation of our body and spirit, the Root Chakra. Our feet, the equipment for action in our lives, feel unsteady. We may be seduced by the rapid movement of the thoughts, which disconnects us from the physical body and, through this segmentation, the physical world. Without a sense of rootedness, you may question your right to be here, be overwhelmed by fears, and have difficulty standing up for yourself. You may feel stagnant. Without established roots, you cannot grow.

This yoga practice is designed to ground you through union with your physical foundation: the feet, the hands, the support of Mother Earth. By rooting down into that which supports you, you will discover the height to which you can bloom.