Creative Stretch

Happy Summer! The Summer Solstice, on Friday, June 21st, also International Yoga Day, is a day many yoga practitioners do 108 sun salutations. Traditional sun salutations can be challenging if you are new to yoga. I lead you through two rounds of this beginner- friendly sequence. You can see pictures here & video of the sequence here. Enjoy!

To stretch the back and side body, the pose Janu Sirsasana has been in my personal practice frequently lately. Also called Head to Knee pose, this is a short sequence of three poses for anyone to enjoy the benefits of this shape - whether your head reaches your knee or not.

Sometimes events happen that cause us to stop and see with new eyes what a gift each new day is. What if we could cultivate that same gratitude in our daily lives? A meditation on gratitude.

Finding our deep core with a meditation and breathing exercise to explore the front of the spine.

In a yoga class, everybody's body looks a little different in the shape - the pose, or asana. Rather than comparing your body's shape with the teacher's or students' bodies, learn to tune into the radio station of your body's experience. Cultivating an awareness of what you are feeling within your body, and how it moves in space, helps you to be more present with yourself and with others. 

For more information on the workshops mentioned in the episode, or for private and semi-private lessons, go to clara-harris.com/yoga. 

Creative Cluster: Flowing & Owning Your Artist's Way, beginning Tuesday, May 28th

Sweatpants Yoga, June 8th

Yoga & CreativiTEA, June 23rd

Beginning May 28th, join me for Creative Cluster: Flowing & Owning Your Artist's Way, a 12-week workshop following Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way; part-book club, part-yoga class,
part-mastermind group. In this episode, I offer a taste of what our practice together would be like in this summer series. Best done without earbuds or headphones.

Register for Creative Cluster on my website, clara-harris.com/shop.

Still in the forest! Join Clara and the birds of the Pisgah National Forest, near Asheville, North Carolina, in a movement practice that is supportive for times of traveling, sitting for long periods, or times of feeling generally displaced. Videos of each portion of the practice are available at http:www.clara-harris.com/podcast-videos-episode-05. This gentle yoga practice is appropriate for beginners and all levels.

Traveling can be stressful, even under the best circumstances, even when you are excited about the trip. Sitting for long periods of time is tough on the body, and being in out of routine and away from your norms can be disconcerting mentally and emotionally. Today a meditation and breathing practice for travelers is offered. Even if you are not traveling, this meditation and breathing practice is helpful for times of feeling displaced - whether at home or away.

This episode brought to you from the middle of the Pisgah National Forest, near Asheville, North Carolina. Birdsong is authentic. Enjoy!

Learn more about Clara and her yoga offerings at http://clara-harris.com/yoga.

In celebration of a week encompassed by Earth Day, on one end, and Arbor Day, on the other, Clara offers a practice that explores how our bodies reflect the natural world. The episode begins with the physical practice, the meditation & breathing practice begins around 19:15. For Tree Pose (Vrksasana) reference photos, go to clara-harris.com/podcast-pictures-episode-03.

While listening to a podcast about photography workflow, Clara noticed a guest make a very yogic observation: by choosing the quick & speedy way of doing things, we force our future selves to spend the time we are unwilling to spend in the present. We're choosing (often unconsciously) to punish our future self for a minor gain in the present. Clara shares a meditation practice that can help us notice that, and begin to shift our way of thinking about "saving time."