Year In Review: 2010

Thanks to all of you, 2010 was quite a year at Renaissance Yoga. So many wonderful things happened; so many new programs came to life; and so many of you came and made the year a successful one.

I’m not a “numbers person” per se – more of the “events and story” type, keeping in mind that the ordinary can be just as noteworthy as the extraordinary.

2010 started out voiceless – the worst case of laryngitis of my life. No, not because of any late-night partying and screaming at New Year’s, it was due to an ulcer on the tongue and swollen glands in the neck. So there I was totally voiceless on Sunday Jan 3 with a huge week of yoga ahead of me: Pre-season with Loyola’s winter track team on Jan 4, my corporate class at Vocus with Fox News on-site Jan 5, an evening with the Girl Scouts Jan 7, along with my other 15 – 20 regular weekly yoga classes. So it was an extremely busy start to 2010. And you know what, with your good graces & support we made it through!!

And that is how the whole year transpired. Despite personal limitations, one wonderful interaction, event, and seminar flowed into the next.

There was National Yoga Day on Jan 23rd where we got a huge turnout at Galesville and had some of Lothian & Shady Side Elementary Schools’ finest ensembles and musicians to perform. They got Yoga Day cupcakes and certificates, and there was free classes all morning long – not to mention Michelle’s wonderful homemade brew of Yogi Tea.

Thereafter the Abs class took birth on Saturday’s & it is still alive even though one of the regulars, Linda, told me today that “I still don’t like this class!” January was capped off with our initial Restorative Yoga workshop – something we offered twice more (April & Nov) in 2010.

So we got started on the right foot – all working working (karma yoga), meeting new people (satsaunga), and sharing with one another (seva or service).

February featured huge snows, snow yoga, and the shooting of our first-ever  yoga videos: An introduction * Testimonials I * Yoga For Strength & Fitness * Gentle Yoga * Music Video. Wow! What a scheduling fiasco that was! In the end, the snow gods and goddesses granted us a pathway to move ahead. And what a great day of shooting we had! Thanks to all who participated – and much gratitude to our videographers: Paul & Nancy.

Once calmer days (i.e. less snowy) prevailed I was fortunate to spend a morning with the Calvert County Librarians – all of them! No it was not my annual reading test – we did yoga (what else!). And they behaved just fine, though I will say they were noisier than expected. But I did not tell them “Shhhhh” – even though as  kid I was on the receiving end of that countless times, deservedly so no doubt.

After finally making it through one of the snowiest winters on record, spring arrived – and with it Eco Yoga Day!! Here is the tree we planted this year. And we also got ready for the good weather with a large order of new short-sleeve shirts! Another spring event was Women’s Day at Jug Bay – which we did again in September.

Before totally jumping into Fall, let’s talk late spring and summer – especially since this past week (Dec 12 – 18) has been so frigid & blustery! Our second-ever Eating Healthy seminar in June was just what the body ordered: Neat recipes, fine fare, and nutritious offerings. Once summer got into full swing, it was off to the Naval Academy for our 3rd annual yoga session for their National Cross Country Camp. Here are pics from our 2nd annual X-C camp at the Naval Academy.

Through the first half of the year, all was well in our community-based classes in and around south county and northern Calvert county. Tight hamstrings got stretched, spines got twisted, and minds became calm. In addition, the summer of 2010 was informally dubbed the season of the arm balance as a number of new poses and variations came into play. Still need to put some of the informal videos up!

And indeed what would summer be like without Yoga and Live Sitar. I tried to get everyone warmed up by watching this. Though as always, Mr Anthony Malatesta was right on the mark and all the devoted aspirants who came needed no external inspiration – it all flowed from within. The Live Sitar and yoga program was very vibrating, and newsworthy too as it was written up in the Chesapeake Current.

And what would summer have been like without vacation – your vacations filled with yoga poses!! Thanks so much for sending your yoga pose photos from your travels.

Featured here is Jean with two of her grandkids taking in life at the beach. But there were so many other excursions including Sara’s wonderful X-C tour. Be sure to scroll through all the yoga vacations blogs for great pics!

We concluded summer with an Intermediate Yoga workshop in order to review, refine, and move ahead. Another thing that one cannot help but notice when in class, summer featured a huge interest in Manduka mats, in particular the Black Mat. It seemed like each week a new box was on order.

With our footing assured we rolled into fall.

September was National Yoga Month: Filled with specials, discounts, free yoga and the ever-popular end of the month Yoga Raffle with lots of prizes: Manduka yoga accessories, free seminar passes, and much more. And what a great week we had with the Southern High School X-C team doing yoga at Coach Ellmore’s farm.

September also featured our TV interview with Wendy Rieger (NBC-4) on her new show: Pier Review. Thanks to all for your wonderfully supportive comments. The show aired in October, but as you can see it was distinctly an end of summer type of shoot.  And along the way a darling kitty was saved!!

Partnerships were also key to getting fall going – and really an on-going theme throughout the year. In September, we also offered our first-ever Yoga Anatomy seminar (Back & Hips) with Shawn C. O’Neill (DPT) – and even produced a short video from it. In fact our videographers captured the entire afternoon which we hope to turn into an educational yoga video series. BTW, our next Yoga Anatomy seminar (Neck & Shoulders) will be Feb 20, 2011.

Enter October, with fall truly upon us, and classes in full-steam ahead mode, we escaped summer’s heat and experienced one of the greatest falls ever – absolutely wonderful weather. Live Sitar was our October seminar – well attended once again and then…

…Then we had a huge Halloween Yoga Bash!! The costumes were fantastic – and a record was set for yoga in Galesville Memorial Hall. We had 42 participants – totally great!! Now do you remember how at the beginning of this post I said I was not into numbers. Well now you can tell me to stuff it. Our first Halloween Yoga in 2007 had 8 people, 2008 had 16, 2009 had 24, and then we hit 42 in 2010. It was a real community event – full of spirited people as well as spirits!! And yes, it was free to all who came, with healthy light fare served afterwards!! Watch Frankenstein introduce himself…

Hitting our stride in November we eased into a calm – once again with Restorative Yoga. Ms Mary Flora played a wonderful flute and our facilitators – Annie & Sharon – kept it flowing smoothly. In today’s world of rush, rush, rush, Restorative Yoga is truly a savior. We feel we have come up with just the right chemistry to create the desired effect. (Thanks also to our good friend Sara in Minnesota for all her help & encouragement!)

Fall was also full of life stories: Bob’s license, Yogini in Texas, a near fall, and countless other stories that never made it into the blogosphere. As we all know it is often the unseen and untold that is most significant: our own thoughts, feelings, and reflections as we journey through life. Our great hope is that yoga offers you a medium to touch base with those very real experiences – not missing a beat, a breath, or a moment.

And now here we are in December. New Bamboo winter shirts have arrived; stainless steel water bottles are due in, but mostly it is about us all taking the year in and preparing for the grand finale.

Last week we did offer our 3rd Eating Healthy seminar where we were all treated to great ideas on health, food, and tasty tidings. That has been yet another fortuitous partnership that is turning into a semi-annual tradition (June & December). Thanks Bethanne and Kenny for coming down!

We will be offering classes through the end of December and we certainly hope to see you in the New Year. But before getting ahead of ourselves, let me simply say: Thank YOU!

In a million years I never would have guessed that I would be so fortunate to share yoga with such a great community. The other day I was speaking with someone out in front of the Galesville Hall and we were discussing various parts of the country – places we have been to, seen, & lived in. That talk only reinforced in mind one of the great things about our locale: people are as they are. The posturing, the “scene”, the bravado are all left by the wayside – and what is left is the nectar: a community of human beings.

Perhaps it is like that everywhere – I certainly hope so – but that we certainly have here. And that is what yoga is all about – Samgacchadhvam spirit: Moving together in a natural and collective manner where all get the opportunity to explore their inner wealth.

My very best wishes to you in this holiday season – looking forward to seeing you again soon, as always. Namaskar.