Bird Blog: Find Balance, Take Flight

 

Our PFOTM (Physical Focus of The Month) will be a HOOT 🦉 this month as we add play and variety with BIRDS (back by popular demand– y’all were raven about it!)  Crow 🐦‍⬛, heron, flamingo 🦩, bird of paradise?  Yes, please!  And we aren’t winging it- this themed set of poses and concepts is one way for us as yoga students and teachers to move from pattern to presence, and gives opportunities for play, novelty, and focused direction.  So strut, waddle or flit on down below to read more about our bird play for September.

 

For starters, there are sooooooo many yoga poses linked to birds we can explore- we’ll have so much fun with familiar favorites like pigeon, eagle, crow and bird of paradise. It can also be exciting to try on poses with less familiar shapes- think flamingo, seagull, benu bird, rooster, drinking bird and heron.  We’ll even strut toward challenging poses like peacock 🦚 and twisted bird of paradise, as we pride ourselves here at Funky Buddha on looking at asana through a lens of accessiblity and inclusivity- and blocks, straps, walls and window ledges could certainly help us take flight, too! 

 

Beyond the literal bird name-derived poses, there is still so much to unveil and explore.  Such as, how do you move in your practice– gliding, hovering, drifting, diving and balancing?  Are there moments where you tuck in like an egg, land still as a bird, or find lightness and bouancy?  Will you dart and swoop from pose to pose or slowly glide and soar?  In flow, do you move like a murmeration with the flock or swoop, glide, and nest down as you like?

 

And what of our inner world of thoughts and even our connected world of sangha, community?  In yogic tradition, birds are often linked to concepts of freedom, transcendence, and liberation.  What feels like bird song to you?  Where in your life do you feel lightness, stillness, ease?  Can you make more time for the people and places where your brightest colors stand out and your wild dance is appreciated?  We also embrace the yogic practice of svyadyaya- self exploration; self study…  Where in your world can you leave a little something behind to better spread your wings and take flight?  No egrets, amirite?   And (pardon my continued bird puns) we all have our stuff that we flit and dart around- but please take this reminder that undoubtedly, truly, fully- you are regal, magestic, resplendent.

 

This month, and always, may your mind and heart be light as a feather 🪶, and may you be free as a bird from the constructs of the mind.  We are so glad you are a part of our flock, dear sangha 🩷, and we look forward to swooping into the studio with you for another month of practice, play, and community.