Here it is. My Oakland yoga studio/my backyard. It’s been a wild ride, leaving NYC in 2019, moving to Oakland, getting my GusGus settled in school, the pandemic, and getting my teaching going here in the Bay Area. Obviously I had to put my teaching on hold. We’re now settled in our home and Gus is in a good school. I’ve been teaching here and there on Zoom since April 2020, but now I’m ready to teach in-person, in my backyard. I’m going to max it out at 10 people, given these covid times we’re still living in. Mask will be optional, but you gotta come fully vaccinated and boosted. Class will be by donation (I just want to connect and teach), Sundays 11am – 12pm. First class is April 10th. The following Sunday is Easter, so we’ll take that off and then continue with every Sunday after that, weather permitting. Email me at info@martinezyoga.com for the address.
There are many ways of this wonderful practice, but there are certain primordial truths shared by all styles. Can you consciously integrate your body, mind, and breath with movement and maintain that relationship all through your practice? Can you slow down and observe yourself with no judgment? These are just questions. You don’t have to have an answer, but if you’re curious, come practice with me and see what comes up and arises. If you follow every breath in and every breath out, you will be ok. You deserve peace, clarity, and balance in your life. It’s a birthright. I hope you to see you.
Asato ma sadgamaya
Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
Mrtyoma amrtam gamaya
Om santih santih santih
Lead me (by giving knowledge) from the unreal to the real; from darkness (of ignorance) to light (of knowledge); from death (sense of limitation) to immortality (limitlessness, liberation).
Om peace, peace, peace.
“One should contemplate oneself as the world. For him who contemplates himself as the world, his work is not exhausted, because out of himself he creates whatever he desires.” –Brihad-Aranyaka-Upanishad
This Upanishad is recently dated by some scholars back to 1800 BCE. The meaning of this mystical statement is that because we are the creators of the universe we inhabit, our work is endless. Because of the parallelism between microcosm (human being) and macrocosm (universe), we may look upon ourselves as the world at large and contemplate this great mystery.
Speaking of work, I’ve been in the classroom as a 3rd-grade teaching assistant and school yoga and mindfulness teacher at an independent Quaker school in San Francisco. It’s been a challenge to work in this environment during a pandemic. There is so much to consider throughout the day to keep everyone safe. I know it won’t be like this forever. I know the renaissance is coming. I can feel it. I can feel us as a community start to emerge for our chrysalises. Our wings are ready for flight, but we got to take our time to learn how to fly first before we take off.
I teach a simple, easy, traditional Breath-Centered Yoga practice via Zoom every Saturday 9-10:15am PST (adjust to your time zone). If you’re ready to engage in the process of self-study and do the work to unite the individual self with the supreme Self, email me at info@martinezyoga.com for the link. You deserve freedom, liberation, and clarity in your life. It’s a birthright.
Shakti is the “potential energy of spiritual awakening,” personified as a female deity. As limiting conditioning at the level of the personality is released, tremendous amounts of energy are made available for the spiritual journey. Shakti supports us in awakening the energy of transformation within all dimensions of our being. If you’re interested in attuning to your inner source of spiritual energy and journey with clarity and vitality, practice with me. I’m teaching online by donation Saturdays 9-10:15am. If you want freedom, liberation, and clarity in your life, email me at info@martinezyoga.com and I’ll send you the link.
Om. Shanti. Shanti. Shanti.
Om. Peace. Peace. Peace.
The teachings of the Bhagavad Gita are presented in the form of a dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna. The Gita can be read as history, but it lends itself readily to being an allegory. In this mode, Arjuna represents the individual soul, and Sri Krishna the Supreme Soul that dwells in every heart. Arjuna’s chariot is the body. The blind king Dhrtarastra is the mind under the spell of maya, ignorance, and his hundred sons are man’s numerous evil tendencies. The battle is an eternal one that is always going on between the powers of good and the powers of evil. The warrior who listens to the advice of the Lord speaking from within will triumph in this battle and attain the highest good. It is an immemorial custom among Hindus to read the Gita as a part of their daily devotions. Without it, prayer and meditation do not seem complete. BG 2:48 – Samatvam yoga ucyate • Evenness of mind is called yoga.
I’ve been off the radar teaching since we moved to CA at the end of June. I had so much to get in place for my family. It’s all coming together. I’m going to start recording a 60 mins audio practice. If you’re interested in balance and evenness in your life, yoga can help. Drop me a line at info@martinezyoga.com if you’d like to practice with me, and I’ll hook you up with a recording. I would consider it an honor to share this wonderful, transformational practice with you.
Om.
Shanti.
The butterfly is one of the most emblematic totem animals symbolizing personal transformation. If you see the butterfly as your spirit animal, pay attention to the areas in your life or personality that are in need of profound change or transformation. As a symbol of beauty, expansion, and growth, the butterfly also embodies the ability to go through important changes with grace and lightness.
Hmmm…I am going through profound change at the moment. We done packed up our apartment and bid adieu to NYC after 12 years. We’re Audi 500. We’re back in San Francisco.
I was born and raised in San Jose, but after high school, I came up to San Francisco in 1988 and didn’t leave til 2005 for London. The late 80s, all of the 90s and the early 2000s in SF is where you could say I grew up. Good times, bad times. It was a time where it all went down, honey. It was totally scrappy. We were totally poor, going to school, working, going out, gay, queer, friends, boyfriends, the break-ups, the bad break-ups (on my part), the late night lou-lous, going to the End Up on a Sunday morning, roommates, $235 for a room in the Haight, having no health insurance. It was fabulous. I’m getting nostalgic. I’m not saying it’s not fabulous now (up for debate), but I’m 49, happily married, have a 3-year son, and 7-year mini poodle. It’s done. A big story is done. I’m back, back to the Bay, back to SF, and better than ever, just with a few more pounds, wrinkles, and gray hair. My man got a great job in SF, my family is scattered all over the Bay Area, my man comes from Portland, Oregon, we have a kid, a poodle, it’s a win-win situation. It’s time to come back to where it all started.
In NYC I was given an opportunity to study and teach yoga. I’ve been practicing since my late teens, but I never thought about teaching it. When I was offered the opportunity to teach in 2007, I didn’t think twice about it. I jumped on it and never looked back.
I love being a yoga teacher. The longer I teach, the more I want to learn. Does that make sense? I know very little about this spiritual practice. I’m always in awe of the teaching. When I share in class what I’m studying or have studied, I’ve discovered I learn so much about me. There so much more to study and learn. In one sense, I’m at the beginning of my yoga teaching career. If there is one thing that I have learned through teaching, it is there is always constant change. What was safe and appropriate for me at 29, for whatever reason right now, may not be safe or appropriate at 49. Everything changes. I’m constantly changing, just like everything else in the universe. I’m having a major butterfly moment.
Note to self: moved to SF 2 weeks or so ago, have temporary housing, looking for our own pad, get Gus (my 3-year-old son) and Leo (my 7-year-old mini poodle) settled with a CA routine (they basically are now), daycare for Gus, and then focus on teaching. Need some more time to work on the housing, but when that’s all said and done (I think it will be soon), I’m back to teaching. Where and when, don’t know as yet, but when I’m ready to roll, you’ll be the first to know.
This should be interesting. I’m a different person now. In its root, I’m the same, but there’s a lot that is different. A lot has happened since I left SF in 2005. Let’s see how this translates to my yoga, my teaching, and my life. As Heidi Klume would say on Project Runway, “Watch what whappens!”
The Goma fire ritual in Japanese esoteric Shingon Buddhism is an example of Brahmanistic ritual taken into esoteric Buddhism. Later Buddhist sutras describe three types of fire ritual (for adverting misfortune, increasing good fortune, and subduing baneful influences), illustrating how it became established as an important esoteric Buddhist practice. Although the fire ritual’s Brahmanistic format remained more or less intact, the practice was given Buddhist symbolic significance. The Goma ritual’s central purpose is explained in the “The Commentary on the Dainichi-kyo”, a fundamental sutra of Shingon, “The meaning of Goma is to burn the firewood of delusion with the wisdom flame, consuming it completely.”
New Year, new teaching schedule as of this month:
Monday
PS 3 The Charrette School Manhattan
- 3pm to 4pm (Children’s Yoga)
Tuesday
Gilda’s Club NYC Manhattan
- 11am-12:30pm (Gentle Yoga – 1st Tuesday of every month)
Second Story Pilates + Yoga Jackson Heights
- 4pm-5:15pm (Foundations: Vinyasa)
Wednesday
Cobra Club Bushwick
- 10am-11am (Toddler and Me)
Thursday
Vivaya Live Online
- 10am-11am (Breath-Centered Yoga)
Friday
Second Story Pilates + Yoga Jackson Heights
- 10am-11:15am (Breath-Centered Yoga)
More classes are in the pipeline. I’ll keep you posted.
As we practice, I’ll light a candle and burn some incense. Not so much flames like these, but the idea is similar. Clean, cleanse, purify, and let go. Your breath will guide you. If you’re following every breath in and every breath out, your breath, you’ll be ok and could possibly learn something about yourself, if that’s what you want. Put 2018 in your incense burner, spark it up, and let it go.
Hope to see you soon.
All the best,
Om shanti.
Peace.
Om bolo sat guru. Om tat sat.
To the teacher within. To the supreme absolute truth.
Om padma cintamani jvala hum.
To the lotus, a wish-fulfilling jewel, flame, to the spirit of enlightenment, to the oneness of life.
-Salvador
🙏🏼☸️🕉🔥
Reiki is a form of vibrational healing developed in early 20th century Japan, involving that light laying of hands, restoring balance to body, mind, and spirit. It is a spiritual practice that can help your nervous system balance itself. When your nervous system is balanced, your body, mind, and spirit can self-heal. Who wouldn’t want that? Reiki is supportive, easy, and transformational. Just look at this treatment table. Gus has it too. We all have it. I’ve been practicing daily Self-Reiki for the past 3 years; usually at night before bed. Since then, I have experienced a positive shift, a change for the better. Reiki can be an adjunct to a yoga practice, connecting with the inner source of stillness and peace. If you want and you’re ready for a shift, for a change, drop me a line. I have a dedicated area of practice in my home. I would consider it an honor to share this wonderful healing modality with you.
Peace.
…September 2017 was my last post? What?! 6 months?! Time flies when you’re having fun! What has happened in the past 6 months conmigo? Well, Abhyasa Yoga Center sold, had to find another space(s) to continue my teaching, Gus is growing like a weed (He’ll be 2 come March), Enrique and I are kinda sorta sleeping, Gus is up at 5am and ready to go at 110% all day long til he crashes at 6:30ish then it’s bath and bed, Leo is looking and feeling like, “I remember when it was just you two and me”, and I turned 48. Honey, the party is over, but I’ve only just begun.
And yes, indeed, thank Goddess, I was able to find another studio to teach. In fact, 3 studios: Loom Yoga Williamsburg, Modrn Salt (we practice in a salt room) Manhattan, and Second Story Jackson Heights. All are great spaces with awesome students. They let me do my thang and let me do me, and that’s the best. Couldn’t ask for anything more. Check out my teaching schedule and come practice with me.
I’ve been teaching more and more middle school kids, which is awesome. I have done junior high, middle school, high school, and special needs off and on for the past 10 years, but for the past 2 years it’s been a lot more middle school. That’s interesting. I don’t know why that age, but I noticed it. It’s challenges me as a teacher, but yet, it’s made me a better teacher within that process, I think. It’s made me work on my listening skills. What I’ve learned from my yoga kids, no matter what age, is beyond words. I teach a lot more pre-k to 2nd grade, but lately it’s been more 6th grade. The universe wants me to spread the light and teaching to older kids. Honestly, that school is a challenge, but I show up and I try and show another way. That’s all I can do, or at least try to do.
There are more classes in the pipeline coming this spring. I’ll let you know when those classes are good to go. I’m excited about those upcoming opportunities.
This winter 2017-2018 has been a doozy. Stay warm, get some rest, eat, hydrate, yoga, meditate, and take care of yourself, so when the spring comes, we can rock n roll together.
Peace out!
Om. Shanti.
Xmas 2017
Culmination. Done. Something is closing so something can open and begin. That in there is a big part of my practice and offering. The center, Abhyasa Yoga Center founded by J Brown in Williamsburg Brooklyn, where I’ve been studying, practicing, and teaching for the past 9 years or so, has closed its doors as of September 1 after 10 years of operation. There’s a new owner. The vision and path of the new space are not my path and vision. That’s ok. Really. That’s ok. There are many ways to a mountain top. There are many styles of this wonderful process and feedback of yoga. We have choices in yoga, and within the act of observing, questioning, and choosing, there is freedom and liberation. How fortunate are we to have this opportunity! I wish the new owner of the studio nothing but success.
As for me, I’m scouting spaces in Williamsburg to continue the conversation. If you’re a long time student of mine or a newbie, be on the lookout for where and when I’ll be teaching, and feel free to drop me a line about anything. info@martinezyoga.com
As Kate Bush would say, “Ooh, I just know that something good is going to happen!”
Isn’t it ironic, that’s another song, that this is happening on the Full Moon in Pisces? The Moon is the emotional self. Full Moon is a culmination. In Pisces, the Full Moon is dreaming big. I am. Are you?
Put it on your calendar, kids. You simply must. Saturday August 26, 11am-12pm. Yoga conmigo in a Himalayan salt room at Modrn Sanctuary in NYC. The miracle of the salt can help support your immune system and respiratory system. The salt can also aid in treating a variety of skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, acne and can aid in the recovery from surgeries. Mix all that with a breath-centered therapeutic yoga practice, oh my. What a treat! Contact Modrn Sanctuary to book your spot. As Gwen Stefani would say, “What you waiting for?”
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