Hello Loves!
I want to thank each of you for your support of Community Yoga this season - we had some truly magickal mornings & afternoons in & around beautiful Punta Gorda & I am so pleased to have met you all & shared in your energies. 
At this time I have put the classes on hold (a hiatus). So many of my yogis are seasonal & it is difficult to maintain a Community class of one, but I have emailed each of you that have participated in my past sessions & asked that you contact me with your intention & schedule so that I can try to accommodate those who are still in the area & would like to continue classes...
IF you'd like to join classes or be able to stay in the "Community Yoga loop" please "like" my Facebook page @botanicabelize for updates & send me an email at mayabeachsol@gmail.com so that I can add you to my mailing list. 
Until we meet again, may you all be well, have good health & experience love & kindness. 
Namaste xoxoJoanna

This post came to me, like the others, in a flash. I was doing chores enveloped in music & the thoughts & tune all melded together as one, (& it wasn't sung by Bono), it was Cigarette Daydreams*...

This last new moon (in the sign of Scorpio) that has lead into the upcoming full (SUPER) moon (in Taurus on the 14th) has had an entrancing cycle; it's energy has had a different effect on me than any others this year.
This cycle is packed full of passion; passions that have fueled work, sex & emotional release.
Several of my friends helped shape this post because of recent rants, deep conversation & raw moments that they have shared with me.
This lunar revolution has allowed us to revel in our "rawness".
I have felt the pure EXPOSURE of my soul's deepest desires & acted upon them.
In the past few weeks, I have been witness to the raw EXPOSURE of many of my beloveds, as well.  
This new moon passion has stripped us; we are left bare, naked & pink under the spotlight of our own Egos. But this I know, EXPOSURE is okay.
Loneliness is universal, vulnerability leads to the greatest courage & heartbreak is what makes us KNOW Love. And by knowing Love, we know that we are the Light, we are the Universe, we are God & to be One, we must present ourselves to one another in the buff. 

With admiration & empathy, namaste loves xoxo
*Cigarette Daydreams by Cage the Elephant (click here)

Wise words from a friend today inspired this post...
As we encounter tough moments, with loved ones, with family, with those who we feel have wronged us or/ tough career moments & bad work situations, we need to ask ourselves if our feelings about "it" are coming from a place of doubt...are the emotions about "it" true or/ are they just emotions? Are they just familiar emotional responses that we have just held on to - not for any reason, but just because of past experiences & habit?
It is vitally important for our growth & our well being (both emotionally & spiritually because we KNOW those are intertwined, right?!) that we "choose love", to choose loving feelings & to let go of the rest. The hurt or/ jealousy or/ disappointment does not make "it" better, it does not make us stronger or more prepared for the future. We have to let go of all of that & commit to our journey to Love. We have to ask for our innate inner strength, our intuition to help us release all self-doubt, all limiting & hateful thoughts about others or/ our circumstances & to choose love. We have to remember that we are responsible for what we see, what we think & how we respond to "it" & the only way to rise above self-limitation is to choose love.
So it's time to get on with it, beloveds, get on with it!
​xoxoJo
"If one day you have to choose between the world & love, remember this: if you choose the world you'll be left without love, but if you choose love with it you will conquer the world." -Albert Einstein

I have written many blog entries that have never made it to this page. I have deliberated over every line, but this morning THIS thought came to me crystal clear; start at the beginning, the core of you & see what follows...
What came next was an inner dialogue with myself, it started out as criticism (which I am afraid happens so often to so many of us), but that is what ultimately brought me to this entry.
Luckily when the "inner critic" arrived this morning, I was able to observe her & utilize years of yoga education; I was quickly able to "let it go", release those feelings & then to evaluate them for opportunities of self-discovery & reflection.
Here's what followed...
Ahimsa: the act of "non-harming" (one of the 5 Yamas according to Patanjali) came to mind. Ahimsa is a complete lack of violence; from one's mind, body & spirit - it is not just to avoid engaging in acts of violence, but lacking the capacity to even think harmful thoughts. Wait!? Whoa...Now this is BIG!
Abstaining from violent action is easy (mostly) for me, I don't squash bees & spiders just because they are undesirable house guests, I am friendly to my neighbors even though they leave their recycle can out days after the recycling has picked up, however in a word full political uproar, war, injustice, discrimination & social hubris & exhibitionism it is difficult to remove ALL harmful thoughts.
I am in no way a perfect yogi - I rarely practice asana (which is probably why I cannot do adho mukha vrkasana / yoga handstand), I eat meat (I love it, I don't love to think about it, but I do give thanks for the animal's sacrifice at mealtime) & I drink like a fish (because? because I do!), but I have been trying to turn my yoga practice into a yogic lifestyle.
Though when contemplating ahimsa I need to remind myself of the great sage, Yoda's words, "Do or do not! There is no try!"
If I allow harmful thoughts to exist within my being then these can materialize into words, deeds, & habits - I am then not entering the world from a place of love, but from a place of fear, inadequacy & judgement.
If I give these thoughts power, I am not living my ahimsa.
I am not living with mindfulness, kindness or intentionality. I am not living yoga.
And let's be honest, asana is gratifying (to be able to pop-up into a handstand without effort would be truly magickal), but yoga IS living.
Namaste xoxoJo
"A mind at peace, a mind centered & not focused on harming others, is stronger than any physical force in the universe." -Wayne Dyer