One Day Retreat in Seattle 6/20

There is a very special group of women who regularly, twice a year, schedule private weekend retreats with me at our home/yoga sanctuary on the coast. The group met at one of my yoga retreats a while back and has developed a unique relationship consisting of a beautiful supportive community, friendships born of a common interest in yoga.

Skye, is moving to the east coast to attend graduate school. So we decided to have a one day retreat last Sunday, June 20th, in Seattle to celebrate this exciting new chapter in her life. Carol opened her home to all of us and we met there at 9 a.m. for coffee, warm biscuits, and jam. We then went over to Seattle Athletic Club (just a few steps away from Carol’s condo), where we had our first yoga session from 10:30-12:30. Half the group put together a nutritious lunch (soup, salad and fruit salad) and we enjoyed talking and relaxing until our second yoga session back downstairs at SAC from 3-5 pm. Afterward, we went back to Carol’s where the other half of the group, including me, prepared dinner. It was the most relaxing and rewarding day.

The perfume of Carol’s freshly baked bread and fragrant peonies from Pike’s Place Market greeted us as we walked into the condo. Carol’s home is the kind of place that draws you in, holds you tight, and you never want to leave. She has created an oasis with her delicate artistic magic. She is smack in the center of downtown and yet, there is greenery just outside of most every window. The day was cool and rainy, but the windows were open and you could smell the freshness of the rain. Her home is warmed with a well stocked and well used kitchen, filled with shelves of cookbooks. Her home is decorated with crafts, fabrics, textiles from exotic places, and perfectly imperfect hand spun kilims that catch the eye, walls adorned with exquisite art. Unique ceramic figures and vases created and fired by her sister, Joy, further beckon you to stay for as long as you like. And beyond the elegant tea cups, there are rows and rows of books. Carol has read most of them. I know because I asked! Carol has somehow recaptured the feeling I had in Japan when spending my Tuesday afternoons with my friend Toshiko at the warm kotatsu, sipping green tea, in her tatami floored home. Likewise, Carol’s home is living and breathing art. Her home reflects a life embraced fully, her travels, and her growing up in Japan.

This group is well versed in yoga and very open to exploring yoga and asana in new creative ways! Here are some of the asana sequences we did:

Warm up with a foam roller: Lie over the foam roller with it parallel to the length of the spine. The hips and head are also on the roller. Rock slightly left and right—then take the roller across the shoulders and roll up and down along the shoulders—Take the roller to the outer thighs and work out the IT bands along the outer thighs—have the foam roller behind you as you come into Virasana (Supta Virasana or Hero’s Pose) for a quad stretch.

Warrior I—Extended Lateral Angle Pose—Revolved Prayer Balance Pose–Plank—Side Plank–Chatturange–Cobra–Child’s Pose–Thread the Needle from hands and knees—Downward Facing Dog—Forward Bend—Wide angled forward Bend–Mountain (Repeat Side Two)
Pyramid Pose–Triangle Pose–Revolved Triangle—Squat—Forward Bend–From a wider forward bend, wrap right arm around right leg and twist and then do second side. Repeat sequence to side two
Mountain—Tree (facing the outside of the circle so we can concentrate on balance)
Using the Wall: Warrior III at the wall with one foot up on the wall (use a block if necessary)—Half Moon at the wall with one foot on the wall–Revolved Half Moon—Half Spinal Twist (coming to sitting for this one)—Downward facing dog (with the heels on the wall)–walk forward for a forward bend (uttanasana) Repeat everything to side 2.
Using the wall: Half handstand (or 90 degree at the wall where you walk your feet up the wall)—headstand at the wall—pincha mayurasana (or arm balance while on forearms)—plough with feet going towards the wall—Fish Pose (head looks back to the wall)
Bar Work: hip stretch at the bar, looks like half pigeon pose with knee and thigh raised on the bar–shoulder stretches
Pair Work:

After Shavasana, we made an “Om Circle” and then we played with that circle a bit, taking arms over head and holding on to one another’s shoulders and arching back and coming forward, resembling a sea anemone. Unfortunately, when I am teaching, it is very hard to break away and snap a picture! Luckily, I managed to take these few.

Back at Carol’s we made a Salad Nicoise, served with a perfect piece of salmon and a lemon, garlic, and olive oil dressing. The salad itself had 14 ingredients: