rolling up the mat
Good Space goes on hiatus
Hello & Happy Spring ❀
First, thanks to all who came out for the pop-up class at Pinnacle Yoga last month. I loved meeting new folks and seeing old friends, and it was very special to share space with you. If that’s something you’d want to see offered again, let me know.
Next, a little housekeeping/storytime: I started Good Space in the Fall of 2023, when my daughter was a little over one year old. At that time, I was looking around at what I still had to offer, wanting to feel “good for” something beyond mothering (harsh!) I felt a pull towards creation and writing, and a yearning to connect with my people. Since then, a lot has happened. Now I teach two in-person yoga classes a week, support births as a doula, work at a pizza pop-up on the weekends, do some remote administrative work, I’m taking a course, I’m working on my La Leche League Leadership accreditation, and I have an almost-four year old. Life no longer feels slow and vacuous, it feels quick, varied and pocketed with beauty. Filming classes and writing this newsletter just don’t feel like priorities right now, and I don’t want to do things halfway. A lot more goes into filming a class than you’d expect, and (perhaps most importantly) I have come to realize that I simply prefer teaching to a live group of humans, whose expressions and bodies I can see, read and converse with, to teaching to a screen in an empty room. So! I am pausing subscriber payments indefinitely at the end of this month. What does that mean? If you are…
a free subscriber: this means the newsletter is going on a hiatus, and the free classes and meditations will still be available to you in the library whenever you want to visit them, along with all the old archived posts.
a current paid subscriber: this means you will have access to the full class library forever, but will no longer get charged.
have ever been a paid subscriber, for any amount of time, even if you cancelled: you will also be gifted forever-access to the library.
Many thanks for reading along, for supporting this experiment and for the votes of confidence in my work. The pause goes into effect April 30th, so if you want to sneak in before the pause you can pay 6 bucks once and have access to the 100+ class library forever.
Stay subscribed if you want to receive info about:
~ future pop-up classes & workshops
~ retreat possibilities (scheming)
~ general life announcements/updates
~ maaaaybe, at some distant time, an occasional yoga video
Rolling Up the Mat
I would not describe myself as a disciplined person. I’m fairly comfortable with mess. I will leave piles of folded laundry on the couch all week and I only make my bed sometimes, BUT I cannot, will not, do not leave my yoga mat unrolled on the floor. There have been times when I have tried to rebel against this rule/compulsion of mine and it always feels disrespectful, uncontained, unfinished. Like an energy leak or something. I’ve begun to embrace this tic as its own form of tapas, or at least an entryway into it. A teeny tiny micro-practice.
Tapas, meaning austerity or self-discipline, is one of the five Niyamas in yoga philosophy. It is a focused, change-bringing heat, which we may infuse into our daily tasks, habits and yoga practice. On the topic of tapas, teacher Gabrielle Harris says:
“It is the slow-burning desire or fiery resolve to move forward by directing our energy into what is essential in life.
”Change often involves creating friction as we rub against the grain of our habits wants and desires. The heat this causes shakes up our complacency and builds resolve to stand vigil to our healing.
”With the act of tapas we learn to say no to temporary fixes we employ in our life and yes to a longer term goal. Instead of avoiding our life or placing a band aid over the things that are no longer working, we tap into the flame of our desire and practice to raise our vibration. Tapas helps us set boundaries around the actions, thoughts and behaviours that are obstacles to our personal development.”
Once I decided that leaving my mat out on the floor all week to collect dust and dirt is something I simply will not do, I began to see other daily entry points into tapas. I sweep the kitchen floor at night even when I don’t want to. I prep the coffee pot every evening before bed as a gift to our morning-selves, who need simply to wake up and turn on the stove. Little things.
Sometimes students ask me if I practice yoga every day. The answer is no, even though, in most teacher trainings, it is instilled intensely in us that in order to teach yoga we must have a regular, consistent practice of our own. On this subject, Harris goes on to say that it is more important that we be consistent with our yoga practice than to be spending very long periods of time on our practice. That it is better to spend five minutes each night on your yoga mat, than once a week for an hour and a half. That it is the consistency, the returning over and over, that matters. This feels comforting, doable. For me, this often looks like refreshing my altar, reading a short blurb of inspiration, lighting some incense, feeling my breath as it moves in and out of my body, doing maybe one yin pose before bed, and then (always) rolling up my mat afterwards— all of this takes approximately 10 minutes or less. I don’t practice every day, but my aim is to be more lovingly consistent with my personal practice, even if it is just those few minutes per day. Now, only within the constraints and responsibilities of motherhood, am I’m beginning to experience the concept of tapas as Georg Feuerstein describes it:
“Genuine tapas makes us shine like the sun. Then we can be a source of warmth, comfort, and strength for others.”
other stuff:
I’m looking forward to this online Seminar on the Hips & Pelvis with my very favorite movement/anatomy teacher, Mary Bond. Maybe I’ll see you there?
Enjoying Richard Houghten as background music
I’m reading The Overstory for a book club & I think it’s just so great and well-written, I’ve cried several times since starting it.
Obsessed with this salad, mostly the lemon cream dressing. The whole thing is luscious and springy and crunchy and lovely. It’s from this cookbook.
Yoga Classes for April:
I hope you have a lovely rest of your month. Thanks again for reading & practicing along. Til next time!
Sincerely,
Berlin
〰 Find lots of yoga classes and guided meditations in the class library
〰 Book a 1:1 yoga session with me
〰 Zoom in to my weekly Beyond Basics studio class, Tuesdays @ 9:30am EST— sign up here
〰 Find information on in-person yoga, doula services & lactation counseling on my website