The Trip and the Trade: Kendra Helps us Find our Inner Durga

About the 'Trip and the Trade'

This is a journey about connections, friendship, new experience, community service, and yoga. This idea quite appropriately came about during a yoga class. While I was supposed to be watching my thoughts pass like clouds through the sky of my mind, I was instead thinking hard…thinking about the road trip I was planning. I intended to drive through multiple cities visiting friends and family along the way. As I thought about this trip an idea began surfacing in stages. It went something like this: Oh no! How am I going to practice yoga while I’m gone??... Hmmm, I bet there are studios in most of these places …oooh, that’d be fun! Trying out new studios! ... and then I began to wonder about how I could integrate my yoga with community involvement. I love connecting with people and places. I kept thinking and by the end of the class decided that I would attempt to forge relationships with at least one studio in each location where I stayed, a relationship based on passion for yoga and interest in their community. That’s it! I would ask them if they would be willing to trade me one yoga class in exchange for a couple hours of my time giving back to their community, and THAT is exactly what I’m doing.

I will be blogging daily along the trip, mostly about my time with each studio and community. After my class with each studio I will dedicate a post to my experience there with photos and a direct link to their website. Although I am open to all that this trip will bring, I do have a few objectives. These objectives fall under two things: ‘Trip’ and ‘Blog’ and one crosses over into both:

Trip Objectives:

1. To connect with each location through community service

2. To experience a yoga studio in each community

3. To inspire people to incorporate yoga in their lives and get

involved in their communities as well as others

Blog Objectives:

1. To have a forum for writing and sharing my experiences

with others

2. To track/document my trip

3. To inspire people to incorporate yoga in their lives and get

involved in their communities as well as others

I have sent hard copy letters to a few studios in each of the places where I plan to stay. Getting to this point has been an interesting process. I vacillate regularly between excitement and fear. Excitement about meeting new people and doing good things in their community and fear of well…fear of failure. Will anyone be open to my idea? What if no one responds? Each time I feel nervous I remind myself to move forward with a heart and mind open to possibilities and yes, one of those possibilities is failure and that is okay. So here it goes, cheers to trying something new and being satisfied with unknown outcomes. I invite any of you that will be in the same locations as me to join me for a yoga class. The map with destinations, dates, and yoga studios is below. If you are interested in joining me for a class in your town during the dates I will be there please e-mail me at berghk@gmail.com and I will let you know what class(es) I will be attending and when. Cheers to The Trip and the Trade!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Kendra Helps us Find our Inner Durga

Yoga with Kendra at The Muse Studio

http://www.museyoga.com/MUSE_YOGA_NEW/Yoga_at_Muse.html

http://www.museyoga.com/MUSE_YOGA_NEW/Kendra_Womack.html

From the outside The Muse, where Kendra holds her classes, is a simple and almost understated building. Upon entering, the truth about The Muse is told. A well designed space with a modern and slightly industrial feel welcomes its patron. The natural light and clean lines begin
by saying, "We're thankful you're here, we've been waiting."

Julia decided to join me for Kendra's class. As we made our way down the hall and into the yoga studio we passed multiple installations by local artists.

The studio has skylights, an exposed concrete ceiling, and sealed particle board floors. Being so close to the materials that create the space immediately gave me a sense of simplicity - perfect for yoga. Kendra greeted Julia and me. Upon hearing that this was Julia's first yoga class, she spent a bit of time orienting her. Students trickled in and eventually the room was full. In front of the class Kendra had set up a statue of Durga. This was the core around which she had planned her class. Once everyone was seated, Kendra summarized Durga--

Durga is a Hindu goddess, the inaccessible and invincible one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress. She is depicted as having ten arms, riding a lion or tiger, carrying weapons AND a lotus flower, and maintaining a sense of humor as well as great patience. In each of her ten hands she holds a different weapon. These weapons allow her to triumph in any situation. Kendra described Durga's power stemming from her true and everlasting belief in herself and her abilities to overcome obstacles.

Kendra encouraged us throughout her class to remember our own strength and when the going gets tough (as it did a couple times in her class :) to dig deep and be confident that we can and will get through any situation.

Kendra maintained an open atmosphere throughout her class using demonstrations and step by step direction on how to get into each pose. She was always willing to field questions and presented options as necessary. Her class focused on preparation for back bends. She moved us through multiple spine twists that ended up with me in the best back bend I've ever done. Kendra's passion for yoga was clear and she was a wonderful instructor!