The Trip and the Trade: Practicing with Jennifer Henry and Firefly Yoga

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!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Practicing with Jennifer Henry and Firefly Yoga - A Good Thing in Walla Walla

http://www.fireflywallawalla.blogspot.com/

Walla Walla houses and embodies many things dear to my heart and now I get to add one more, Jennifer Henry and Firefly Yoga. Jennifer recently relocated to Walla Walla and Walla Walla is lucky to have her.

A little about Jennifer:

She received her teacher training at the Lotus Seed School in Portland, OR where she studied various disciplines of yoga, yogic philosophy, and history. Originally from Pennsylvania, Jennifer earned a B.A. from Penn State in Music and Movement. In addition to being a registered yoga instructor through the Yoga Alliance, she is a certified massage therapist and USUI Reiki master. Jennifer likes to refer to her teachings as warrior yoga, a dynamic system based on a vinyasa flow that combines asana, pranayama, and meditation. Jennifer is dedicated to bringing yoga to the community with affordable prices and convenient class times so that everyone can enjoy the healthy benefits of regular practice. She hopes to bring together a strong community of people passionate about yoga, life, and love.

After my drive from Boise to Walla Walla, I was ready for some yoga! I was in Walla Walla for about three days total and was able to practice with Jennifer three times! It was a great experience to see an instructor teach at three different locations to three different types of classes. I started my Firefly Yoga/Jennifer experience by attending her Tuesday evening class at the Many Waters Wellness Center. One of the first things that I noticed about Jennifer's teaching was her voice, it is beautiful! She started out the class apologizing for her hoarseness and sounding like Kathleen Turner :), if this was "bad", I'd really love to hear her when she isn't hoarse. She guided us through a great class infusing regular encouragement and positive comments. She incorporated one of my favorite poses 'Dancer' because she knew I liked it and gave options throughout the class as there were many different levels.

Before the second class that I took with Jennifer at the Carnegie Art Center, I was lucky enough to get to have breakfast with her. We met at a quaint little bistro style restaurant and I got to know her better. Jennifer is one of those people that you instantly want to hug and call your friend. After breakfast I joined her at the Carnegie Art Center for a lunch time class she teaches for City employees. What an awesome option for these ladies who do a lot of desk work to be able to spend a lunch hour relaxing and working through their kinks. Jennifer transtitioned to this once-a-week class by incorporating a lot of stretching that works well for people with these kind of jobs. The Carnegie Art Center was originally purposed as a library. Its history and awesome architecture make it a very cool place to practice. Huge windows and vaulted ceilings paired with the candles Jennifer has around the room provide an awesome get-away for her students.

Jennifer and I parted ways for a few hours and then met up for our second class of the day together this time at a fitness facility called 'Studio Fit'. Jennifer was substituting for this class and the attendees were once again different from the last two classes. Jennifer approached the class with a sensitivity that she had gained by speaking with the regular instructor. She knew that some of the students in this class would be fairly advanced and she accommodated this by incorporating more involved balancing poses and by giving more difficult options for all poses. The class gave us all a great workout and ended with a relaxation that readied me for bed :). This was the first class that these women had taken with Jennifer and they all loved it and wanted to know where else she taught.

From the beginning of my journey and 'The Trip and the Trade', Jennifer has been wonderfully supportive. It was a treat to witness her ability to adapt to different classes and studios with loving awareness and expertise. She brings an open heart and many abilities to Walla Walla and...