Feel it All - Power Yoga with Sarah

After a long hiatus, I created a very special flow for all you friends, colleagues, students or strangers who have been impacted by the culling of the federal workforce and the dissolution of USAID. Really though, it’s for anyone who finds release in a strong vinyasa practice followed by some deep stretching, because we’re all impacted by tectonic shifts ongoing in the U.S. Like an iceberg, the suffering we feel is visible above the service, but for many of us there’s a lot more lurking down underwater, unseen but very much present. This is a flow - with a playlist [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0eLx2LZYEaBoSc40hTLo7f] to match - to let you feel what you’re feeling and find some release. A couple of technical notes: most of the poses in this flow are quite standard. This is by design, to keep the sequence accessible (though still strong.). Possible exceptions are skandasana and hanumanasana - so feel free to check out a tutorial beforehand if that’s helpful PSA for the surfers - this is also a sick post-surf flow, given the shoulder and hip mobility work and the lack of chaturanga push ups. Feel free to send in any questions or comments to feelitallpod@gmail.com [feelitallpod@gmail.com]. Namaste!

This flow - like the previous one - has been a long time coming.  Being that it was fully 9 months in the making, it went through a series of names as I put myself through the paces of how I’m feeling about living in Uganda.  First I called it Heimweh - homesickness, plain and simple. Then I called it Fernweh - missing travel, or missing a place that’s not your home. (Complex concept? It's probably a single word in German.) Finally, as I got more adjusted but still didn’t feel like Uganda was home I called it Fernfreude, a word I made up to symbolize finding joy somewhere that is not your home.   Names aside, the physical practice starts off slow - so as not to jangle already-frayed nerves - and builds into a sweaty-but-smooth repeat flow demonstrating how a movement as simple as quarter salutations or bending one knee feels complex with a modified setup.  Like every flow, it reflects where I am with life right now, and - as the names reflect - that is an ever changing sense of belonging to my current station. Thus, this flow is an exhortation to honor and appreciate the protracted challenge that comes with big life transitions. It alternates moments of intensity with active rest, to train the habit of finding openness and release even in the midst of challenge. With all this, it leans heavily on the metaphor of building strength, muscle memory, and compassion until one is forced to come to the conclusion that this moment, however challenging it may seem, is possible to love. Here's the playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6UWnSWwbRAOaIAr2oiKn1O [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6UWnSWwbRAOaIAr2oiKn1O] Hope you enjoy!

This one has been a LONG time in the making. It was conceived as I sunsettted after four years in Egypt, and was born in the early months of a new life in Uganda. It has been the focus of my practice for six months. Here's the idea of this flow: challenge your balance on your mat to come to terms with the norm of feeling off-balance and confronted by an ever-changing mix of emotions. Through this pracice, I've been trying to lean into all the feels while at the same time turning toward the cyclical nature of life, practicing finding balance when it's challenged, and appreciating how these cycles that we repeat help to stretch us and make us stronger. It pulls in moon salutations at the outset - here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1eF-Wl2AlU] is a great tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1eF-Wl2AlU [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1eF-Wl2AlU])from the wonderful Esther Ekhart if you have not done them before. Take your time with this one and enjoy the challenge and the glory with this [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0FuX9NwvU6n93FO8tXTbRH] eponymous Spotify playlist (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0FuX9NwvU6n93FO8tXTbRH [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0FuX9NwvU6n93FO8tXTbRH])

This is a flow for Ukraine. Everyone is processing the horrors of Russia’s war - and thoughts of what may come next - differently. I’m trying for the “feel it all” method, so sorry not sorry if this flow is a little brutal. I tried to infuse some hope too, because I do hope there’s hope.   Note that it's pretty low in instruction early on to let you get straight into the flow with sun salutes on your breath. What you have here is just voice, but it’s synched to be played alongside my Apocalypse [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ke6jp3HPEF7gHlQ7OX0Gd] playlist on Spotify to get you deeper in your groove. (You have to have Premium for it to work out timing-wise.) If you enjoy this podcast, please consider leaving a rating to help others find it, or just pass on to a friend in need of a good sweat - sharing is caring!

This is a flow for Ukraine. Everyone is processing the horrors of Russia’s war - and thoughts of what may come next - differently. I’m trying for the “feel it all” method, so sorry not sorry if this flow is a little brutal. I tried to infuse some hope too, because I do hope there’s hope.   Note that it's pretty low in instruction early on to let you get straight into the flow with sun salutes on your breath. What you have here is just voice, but it’s synched to be played alongside my Apocalypse [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/62Gz35QJvhOCi0UvYcZmeI?si=a006073f3e394680] playlist on Spotify to get you deeper in your groove. (You have to have Premium for it to work out timing-wise.) If you enjoy this podcast, please consider leaving a rating to help others find it, or just pass on to a friend in need of a good sweat - sharing is caring!