Author Archives: Sondra Bloxam

Single-Mom Yogi, In Search Of: Practice

Blog, Life and Yoga, Parenting and Yoga, Uncategorized, Wellness, Yoga tips and hitsBy Sondra Bloxam August 24, 2013 6 Comments

Then, the middle of the day hits and I feel with my entire being that I NEED yoga. So I’ll do a little backbend in my office chair, a headstand if the energy is already gone, and breathe deep because I know in just a few short hours I will be back at my sons school…

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Healing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens when we choose to come together and witness the truth of existence. It happens when we stop filtering reality and start tuning into what’s truly there. It happens when we quit pretending and finally surrender to the way things really are. It happens when we put down our mask and finally let our true face show. It happens when we stop twisting others into who we want them to be or who they’d like us to make them, and start seeing them just as they are. Healing needs radical acceptance of reality. If it’s painful, we need to say it’s painful and we need to be heard. If it’s frustrating, we need to express the frustration and know that we’re not going to hurt others or scare them away with it.
We all need healing. We can all show up in greater transparency. We can all let our insides show. It might be messy. Own it anyway. It doesn’t have to be pretty. It just has to be honest and real. We can all repress less and forces less repression on others. We can all practice being less reactive when another’s truth seems to make us look bad. We can all practice owning our feelings without blaming others. #healthyrelationships

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We've moved Chris' Thursday 5:30 Hatha class into the North Studio. This means we'll be able to accommodate more of you in there. We believe the change is a higher service to the community.
Please continue preregistering for this and all YU classes. Preregistration helps foster a more easeful check in experience.
Sincerely,
Yoga Union

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What energies are alive in you right now? What’s stirring your heart? What’s driving your gut? Can you feel into those sensations more deeply? Can you touch and validate them with your breath? We’re not conjuring anything up here. Only sensing what’s already in us. What’s trying to come up?

Become aware of that which is waking up in you. What wants to move and be expressed? From that place, let yourself be animated by emotion - energy in motion. These energies need a voice. Words aren’t sufficient. They need a language older than words. They need to be expressed through the whole body, not just the mouth. Let them move all of you. Grant them your trust, your consent - that they can lead you in a dance. With every lift of your limbs, with every twist of your spine - meet them with awareness and breath, so that what’s compelling you in action is doing so with full transparency. No filter. Let yourself be taken on a ride. Your job is to keep sensing deeply into what’s moving in you and let it move you. Keep granting it the license of your breath. Breath and awareness lead the way. 📷 @nataliegildersleeve @primalvinyasa @age_rebel @_kate_saul_ @annamitralove

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What are you going to do today to open yourself to the world? “If you are waiting for anything in order to live and love without holding back, then you suffer.” @daviddeidaquotes

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No human can discover their potential without a collection of others encouraging their work. This doesn’t mean we all need a squad of cheerleaders behind us. It can simply be others doing similar work beside us.
When we move, breathe, and self-reflect together, we generate the energy needed in order to take us further down the path. When we travel down that path together, we widen it, making it more available for others to traverse as well. How are you harnessing the power of the collective on your journey?
#letsgettogether #letsgotogether

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On a scale of 1 - 10, how much fun are you having with your yoga practice? If you want to have more fun, how can you make it happen? If you’re having fun with it, how are you making it happen?

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Thanksgiving yoga class 2019. We are so blessed to have this beautiful gathering space and this healthy, conscious community to practice with. Love you all! .

Thank you @nataliegildersleeve for capturing the magic 📷

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A fond farewell to Em.

After six years teaching, holding space, bringing flowers from her garden, and tending the alter, the beloved @emmabelleyoga is moving on. Em has our love and blessings in the next chapters of her life. We are grateful for her dedication to the community. We’ve learned so much being in the dance of relationship together. It’s been a rich and meaningful experience.
We will miss you greatly Em.

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Uplevel your teaching. Learn to guide self-inquiry based, functional yoga in this hybrid program (online & in studio) with @primalvinyasa.
Dates: 2/2 - 4/5

Includes:
- In-studio training sessions
- live video conference calls
- 50+ professionally shot tutorials. Yours for life!
- 10+ pre-filmed yoga classes
- Deck of 52 Orinal Vinyasa practice/class planning cards
- Audio recordings (embodiment meditation, guided breathing, calling in the directions, mythological stories, and more)
- PowerPoint PDF’s (fascia, breath mechanics, sensory processing, common injuries, language, and more)
- virtual manual (drill tendencies, planning ‘triangle’, elemental journey, theme ideas, and more)
- therapeutic intake form template.

Cost: $1,800 (by 12/1) $2,200 after.

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May all people be blessed with the generative power of a welcoming, loving, & supportive community.

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This is a space to come together, not just despite our individual differences, but in celebration of those differences 🎉 In community, it takes all kind. We don’t want you to be more like us, we want you to be more like YOU. Through the self inquiry practices of breath, movement, and mindfulness, we can help you come to know yourself more deeply - to celebrate your wild, natural, unique, individual self. We have a beautiful community of individuals waiting to welcome you AS YOU ARE, to encourage all of you to come forward, and to bare witness to the person you are becoming. We welcome you. Come practice being human with us.

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You're committed to healthy choices for your body and mind. Maintaining that commitment can be a struggle of epic proportions. If you've ever tried practicing alone, you know the powerful pull of distraction and temptation. These destructive forces can derail even the strongest and most dedicated among us. .
We need the energy of the collective driving us forward. We need others standing by - a community of friends with common goals. This is the most powerful tool there is to keep us focused in becoming our best. .
When you invest in a membership at Yoga Union, you're not just committing to your practice, you're committing to your community - you're allowing your community to support you in becoming your best self.
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Distractions and temptations are powerful forces. They diminish our vitality and abduct our potential. Turn away from these dark forces. Turn toward the light of your practice and your community. Invest in your best. .
There's never been a better time than now. .
Save $200 when you purchase an annual membership now. Offer ends 10/31/19. Link in bio. .
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#yogamembership #community #commitment #weneedeachother #stoplonewolfingit #collectiveenergy

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As 24 year olds with no prior business experience, the opportunity to buy the studio where we met and fell in love, appeared nothing short of a gift from the universe. Naturally we received it, and began the journey we’re still on today. That was exactly thirteen years ago. For thirteen years we’ve been moving, breathing, blessing, teaching, practicing, and co-leading a community of movers and seekers... It’s become far more than a gift. It’s our life. Our very existence. To this day, my favorite thing about that existence is getting to be in it with you. Thank you Annie Adamson - @primalvinyasa .
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#studioownership #yogastories #happyanniversary

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We have Crystal Bowl Sound Baths with Shalom this Thursday and every first Thursday of the month, 7:30 - 9pm. #relax #heal #renew

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Want to help manage and heal your physical ailments? Check out this upcoming series: Functional Movement For Daily Living - A Holistic Yoga Therapeutics Workshop with @time4u2breathe. Jamie will help you learn to integrate your yoga/movement practice into daily activities like sitting, standing, walking... the series begins 10/19 and runs Wednesday’s 9 - 10:30am. $18 drop in or $65 for all four. .
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#holisticyogatherapeutics #yogaindailylife #movementtherapeutics #movement

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Words aren’t trivial. They matter. Including the ones we say to ourselves. .
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#speakkindly #wordsmatter #diet #exercise #practice #eat #saywhatyoumean #yogapractice

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What have you missed most about Natalia being away? .
Announcing Natalia’s return in October. .
Saturday 9am Hot Yoga
Thursday noon Hatha
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@ncpdx #motherof2 #shesback

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Repetitive movement leads to imbalances in our muscular and fascial systems. To address these imbalances, we need to both strengthen and relax our bodies. Come learn from @age_rebel self-massage, breathing, and movement techniques that reshape and rehabilitate your body’s tissues. Each week we will focus on a specific location. Walk away with a clearer understanding of your anatomy, as well as functional self-massage techniques to better support the movement you love to do and the movement you have to do. This workshop will compliment your movement practice and help you go to the next level!
Week 1: Leg/Feet
Week 2: Shoulders/Neck
Week 3: Hips/Core
Website EVENTS page to register. * self-massage equipment provided $60 for the series or $25 to drop-in.
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#selfmassage #tissuerehab #fascia #addressimbalancesfirst #anatomy #embodiedanatomy

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Want to advance your asana practice? .
Advancing Asana workshops with @calarcoyoga are for dedicated students who have been practicing for at least two years and have a curiosity to learn new skills, techniques, and methods in asana. The work is detailed, fun, and mutually supportive to build individual attention and challenge ourselves in supportive community. It is recommended, though not essential, that you are able to kick up to the wall in Adho Mukha Vrksasana and practice Urdhva Dhanurasana in the middle of the room with straight arms. $25 to drop-in or $100 for the series (5 classes). Space is limited. View our Events page to register. .
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#advancingasana #asana #improveyouryoga

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