New Years Eve Class with Beth

What's your Resolution? Why not kick your New Year totally different than ever before! Join Beth from 10:00pm to Midnight for a Goal Setting Session to create your Personal, Health and Career goals for 2012 and beyond. Then get on your mat for a 76 minute Candlelight Power Vinyasa class to inspire Possibility and take you Ommming into the new year. Toast 2012 with champagne and treats for the perfect finish. Sign up today to reserve your spot! $20 pre sign up, $25 day of.
http://www.charlestonpoweryoga.com/events.php
See you there!

Stuff Your Stocking with Yoga!

Charleston Power Yoga has the perfect gift for that yogi in your life, and we will even wrap it up for you! From Manduka Pro and Pro-lite mats with a lifetime guarantee, to the best athletic tanks and pants on the planet, to must have yogitoes skidless towels and locally made yoga bags from the Rose Knot, we've what they want! Even non yogis will love Rewined candles, locally made soy candles in recycled wine bottles in 7 popular varietals. Or buy with a conscious and support displaced women in Northern Uganda with handmade recycled jewelry from 31 Bits. Can't decide? Charleston Power Yoga gift cards always fit and are easy to buy at www.charlestonpoweryoga.com Our boutique is open before and after scheduled classes, or call 843-513-3400 for other times to shop. We know you have other local King St businesses to support as well, so drop your 4-11 aged kids off this Thursday, December 22 for a Kids Yoga Class from 2-3, and cross those last few things off your list! Kids class is $10, cash/check only, reserve your child's spot by calling 843-224-5900
Have a Merry Christmas! NAMASTE

Adopt an Angel this Holiday

Remember the thrill of waking up on Christmas to see what Santa brought? No child should be deprived that! Join Charleston Power Yoga in our annual Salvation Army Angel Tree and adopt an angel today. Stop in the studio and pick an angel off our tree. Buy your angel something from their wish list. A great guide is an outfit, pair of shoes, one toy, but do what you can afford, less or more. Go in with friends and ditch giving each other obligatory gifts, practice Karma Yoga and give selflessly from your heart. Unwrapped gifts are due back to CPY by Dec 10th. Get your angel before they fly away! NAMASTE
www.charlestonpoweryoga.com
557 King St, Suite A
843-513-3400

Get your Wrap on at Dellz

Charleston Power Yoga's favorite lunch spot is Dellz Deli, right around the corner on Cannon.  Owner Dell Grayson whips her amazing wraps and other healthy options every day except Sunday starting at 11am, and is even open late night on the weekend!  Sarah's favorite is the High on Veggies with sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, celery, avocado, red and yellow pepper and fresh fields greens.  And dont' forget to ask for the Goddess sauce, yum!  Beth loves the bean and rice bowl with salsa, avocado and sprouts, but its really hard to choose, everything is so dang good!  Try the Mahi Mahi tacos and the Jazzy pizza if you've got someone to share with.  If you;re looking for an awesome healthy lunch on the go, stop by Dellz and treat yourself to an affordable delicious treat!  Its the perfect lunch spot after a hot sweaty yoga class, or even a hard day of shopping on Upper King.  Tell Dell we said hi!

Dellz Deli
1A Cannon St
843-722-5376
Call ahead if you're short on time

www.charlestonpoweryoga.com

Get Sugared!

No we aren't talking cupcakes and candy, not today anyway, but Body Sugaring! The healthy way to remove unwanted hair using 100% natural, pure ingredients. The room temperature sugar, lemon and water paste leaves you naturally smooth and soft! Sweet 185 is the sweet spot on Upper King offering sugaring, organic facials/skin care and massage. Book an appointment with our fav sugarist Jenn Garrett, she is highly skilled in the art of masterful hair removal without a lot of pain:) Not into the hair removal scene? Jenn also offers amazing organic facials that will leave your skin looking 10 years younger, and add on a foot massage by Lauren while you are getting your facial for the ultimate pampering experience! Support local Upper King business and check out Sweet 185 today! Tell Jenn we said hi!
Sweet 185 476 King St 843-329-3500
http:/www.mysweet185.com

Let Your Inner Bad-Ass Out by: Emily Watson

I taught a class a while back and got feedback that, while it was a good class, I was playing it safe. My friends said, “Emily, you’re a little badass but you didn’t let that shine”. Wow, I was offended. I told myself I did great! I didn’t play it safe! But for some reason, I couldn’t get over this feedback.

I reflected back on my teacher training a year ago and my feedback from a very smart and genuine man was, “Emily, take the lid off”. I instantly put up a wall. He doesn’t know me! What the hell does that mean!?

Now as I think of this feedback I’ve gotten, it hits me… I do play it safe. I put walls up so no one can hurt me. I have cleaning day on Saturday. I balance my checkbook every day. I think of canceling with friends if they invite me to do something outside of my “norm”. Sometimes I just don’t want to take a chance and risk f***ing up. I don’t want to look stupid or imperfect. I took Beth’s class last night and she talked a lot about how we put walls up to protect ourselves and how we’re not perfect. I almost stood up right then and there and said, “Beth YES I AM!” But what is perfection really? The textbook definition describes it as freedom from fault or defect. But aren’t those little imperfections what make us perfect? Because of our life experiences and our attitudes, we’re each unique and perfect in our own way. I digress.

Sometimes we play it safe because we want to appear that we know it all or that we don’t ever screw up. But that’s how we grow. As babies, we didn’t just pop out walking. We stood for a few seconds, wobbled a little bit, fell over, cried, and tried again. Why as adults are we afraid of busting out? Why are we so afraid of falling? The thing is, each person has something amazing to share. If we don’t let out our inner badass, whatever that may be, we’re doing a great disservice to the world. So maybe it’s scary teaching a new sequence or speaking my truth, but if I don’t, how do I know what I’m capable of? Maybe it’s scary trying headstand or handstand, but if you don’t, will you ever know if you can?!

Humans are such organic creatures that it’s simply amazing. We have the ability to change and grow every single moment of every day. We are faced with challenges and experiences that give us opportunities to evolve. If we take chances and put ourselves out there, sure it may be scary, but what might be possible if we do?! What’s so bad about shining our inner badass? Don’t hold back. Bust out of the boundaries you’ve set for yourself (and yes we all set them for ourselves). We are limitless!

lululemon Salutation Nation 9.10.11

Thank you lululemon Charleston for bringing so many amazing yogis together for this community event!! Over 200 people gathered to flow together at Brittlebank Park and it was a picture perfect day. We all need to step out of the walls of our individual studios to come together to support and inspire other like minded peeps in our community. It doesn't matter where you practice, what style of yoga you love, or your experience level, we all come to our mats with the same intention and from the same heart! I for one hope the Charleston yoga communtiy can come together more often, no matter how busy we may be. We are all students and we are all teachers, I need you and you need me... Namaste Charleston!

Sweet Carolina - Charleston Power Yoga

Are you Done? by Jessica Kenny

My brother has won every fight we’ve ever had since we were little. I would try really, really hard to win. I’d scream at torturous decibels, say spiteful things, even throw large objects. He would stand there, silent, unfazed. And every fight, at the first moment of quiet, he would calmly ask me, “Are you done?”

That question really fucking pissed me off.

I’m a fighter. And not in a hot Mark-Wahlberg-meets-Million-Dollar-Baby kind of way. I used to fight everyone, on everything, especially myself. Whether it was to save face, or to continue a cycle of denial/resistance that felt comforting and familiar, or simply to keep others from seeing something about me, I never really needed a reason. It had become second nature. A slippery, ego-driven, well-worn slope. But, once I’d start, even though I knew that it would pointless, it would feel impossible to turn back. The idea of giving up sounded so much worse.

Any time I felt vulnerable, raw, exposed, or weak, I fought to appear fine. Any time a friend suggested loving advice that felt like a threat to my cycle of fighting, I fought to stay right. Any time my ego felt scared or small, I fought.

I was in a war in which no one else was participating. And I was losing. Bad.

When I found yoga, my cycle of fighting become much more apparent to me. I would fight with the teacher who held me in a pose longer than I wanted to be. I would rebel by not taking wheel, if I didn’t want to. I would silently fight the girl next to me who seemed more beautiful, graceful, or together. It was My Way, or No Way. But, I didn’t do anything about it at first. I would leave class feeling more tired, more angry, and alone. I started to realize how often I met the people in my life with my dukes up. Even with the people I love, and who love me, I would sit feigning openness, but I had a six-shooter in my bra, just in case they crossed me. I was always preparing for a fight, and I started realizing I was always going to lose.

As I chose to step onto my mat more and more, I started choosing to fight less. I took the teacher’s suggestions, I listened more openly, and entertained the possibility that there could be another way than my way. Some of the best yoga practices, classes, or meditations came when I felt tired: I didn’t have the energy to fight.

The more I rolled out my mat--and, eventually, my heart in teacher training--the more unavoidably clear it became that my pattern was keeping me depleted, heavy, and alone. My brother may as well have not been in the room, because I was really just fighting with myself. Fighting with all the things I hated about me, all the things I refused to make peace with, I was fighting love.

It occurred to me: What if all the energy I wasted fighting went to something else? What if I became a lover, not a fighter? What if I did, in fact, give up?

(Whoa. Ego didn’t like that.)

Just as my ego found my brother’s question to be infuriating, my heart felt the truth of what he was truly saying: “Don’t you see how ridiculous and useless all this fighting is? When are you going to give up?” “NEVER!!!!” Ego would yell, blindly waving her Samurai sword. But, the real Me started growing more attracted to being “done.” It sounded like rest, and freedom. So, I started giving up the fight.

Fighting takes a lot of different forms: control, defensiveness, resistance, reactivity, or just straight up fighting. But, they all boil down to the same thing. They are all the ego’s way of keeping us stuck and exhausted so we stay smaller than it. My brother won every fight by not participating in it. I stayed in the same place by fighting.

Start to notice the areas in your life where you put up a damn good fight. Where you come out, guns blazing. On your mat, or off your mat. In a pose, in your relationships, toward yourself. What if you were “done?” What if the war was over?

You have officially been given permission to stop fighting. You will not lose, but gain. Hey. We just may find out, together, that giving up is the greatest victory of all.

Level 1 with Baron Baptiste! by Sarah Frick

Last week I began my training to become a certified Baptiste teacher. I attended level one with Baron Baptiste in the Catskills of New York Aug 6th-13th. I was scared, resistant (to say the least :), and beyond excited to learn, grow, and share my flow! The first three days of training I felt super resistant to the process. I was all up in my head and trying to "just get through it"... and then it ALL hit me! This is how I have been showing up in my life in so many ways... teaching, loving, eating, practicing, living etc... rushing from one thing to the next! I have been 'surviving' my life instead of being fully present and living and breathing every little second of it in! I have let certain instances over the past 3 years rule my life in a way of anticipation, sadness at times, and anxiety to get it all done and just get through it. Rushing around no longer serves me... nor does saying 'Yes' to every invitation keep me present and really connected because I am always thinking of what I have to do next. I decided last week to literally ground myself through my asana.. taking time to have a full breath (or 8 :) in each pose... taking time to really see the people around me- no longer hiding in my life or piling on all the 'stuff' so I am not exposed! I have learned to empower those around me and fill them up with love, honesty, truthfulness, and above all happiness! If you want good people around you... help them create a sense of love in their own lives. We did a lot of transformative work that I won't get all into (can't spill all the level one beans.. you gotta go for yourself!) and it totally helped me open up and let go of the 'story' I have been living. We worked on new ways of being and how to live this life and inspire others on and off the mat! All in all it was one of the best weeks of my life (I drank the kool-aid- I kinda did keg stands of it really :).. once I dropped the BS story in my head, and got into my heart I realized I am whole, loved, and perfect just as I am! From pure space I create and commit to my new way of being which is of speaking my mind, saying 'no'!, and being totally and utterly HAPPY! Come see me in class... I want to give you a hug and fill you up with lots of love and stuff!! :) http://www.baronbaptiste.com/

Drop Your Expectations

This has been an intention of mine for years! The first time I was introduced to this idea was in my first training with Baron Baptiste. He had us each tell what we expected to get out of the week, and then asked us to Drop Our expectations. Really? I paid a lot of money for this training and had lots of expectations! But what seem ridiculous to me at first was exactly what I needed.

My whole life has been planned out in my head, in great detail. Every job, relationship, vacation, training, day off, you name it. But this was me having a certain idea of how things had to go in order for me to be happy, feel safe, or loved. And if things didn't live up to my expectations (and how could they?), I was always disappointed, frustrated and even more determined to have a better plan next time. What a vicious cycle.

Many vacations, special events and moments have been ruined by something not going according to my grand perfect plan. And rather than embracing the authenticity of each moment, I resisted and rejected what I viewed as flawed. I have pushed people away because they did not live up to my inflated expectations of the perfect BFF, Sister, Boyfriend, etc. I have given up on myself more times than I can count because I was not as perfect as I thought other people expected me to be.

Over time I have come to see that when I approach each day with no expectations, what I actually receive is freedom and possibility. The moments that have gone off track have been the most fun, most adventurous moments of my life. I now allow people to show up as they really are, not how I want them to be. I allow situations to unfold in an organic way, manifesting love and truth. A great man once told me "When you hold on to Nothing, you can receive Everything" This would be impossible to do if we hold on to our great expectations.

My biggest challenge now is dropping my idea of what I think people expect of me. I am trying to allow myself to show up authentically, flaws and all. I'm not the perfect teacher, or yogi, or friend or daughter. But I am no longer willing to limit myself through over inflated expectations, and I am ready to embrace every day as it comes, and get washed in the natural flow of life. What other people think of me is really none of my business.

Through Dropping Our Expectations we are even taking steps toward non judgement and acceptance. It is only our expectations that cause us to label a situation or a person as Good or Bad. We have no control over other peoples actions, we can control our reactions to them.

When we are free from Expectations, we allow the rest of the world to be free as well! My Mantra this month is "Good Day or Bad Day, no Expectations". Cant wait to see what blossoms!

Beth Thomas

Namaste Ya'll Gets Down with Jessica at CPY!

Empower Yourself Lowcountry Style!

If you are planning a trip to the Lowcountry anytime soon, please save time to stop into Charleston Power Yoga for a class. Charleston, South Carolina has always been know for great historical sight seeing, fabulous beaches, and incredible southern cooking, but recently Charleston is emerging as a leader in the southern yoga community. Charleston is a town of just 120,000 folks but supports a "big city yoga scene."

Charleston Power Yoga, a Baptiste Power Vinyasa Affiliate Studio, brings a message of personal empowerment and growth to the Holy City. If you love power yoga, please visit Charleston Power Yoga while in the lowcountry. The space and the teachers are both inspired and inspiring! CPY is located in historic downtown Charleston tucked in between hip pubs and shops on King St directly across from Super Bad. The building itself is a historical masterpiece, you can almost feel the energy of thousands of souls that have passed through the structure during its lifetime.

I attended the Saturday morning Power Vinyasa class (the studios signature class) taught by instructor Jessica Kenny. The class was challenging like all Baptiste style classes but the delivery was truly inspired. Jessica is so kind and gentle and her directive is so supporting that the message of personal empowerment rounds off the sharp edges of the Baptiste sequence. Her message is simple, leave your fear based like behind (like now). I left Jessica's class feeling invigorated and inspired, but most of all this class reminds me of all the reasons I love yoga so much.

If you need a good workout, a good stretch, and a reconnection to your personal power, check out Charleston Power Yoga. If all the instructors are as inspiring as Jessica, then CPY is going to have to expand soon. Do not miss this southern jewel. Baron Baptiste himself should be proud to be affiliated with this "powerful" little studio. Have you lost your personal power? My guess is you'll find it on King St.

Taken from Namaste Y'all, written by Brantley Beene-Crowder. Check their site for everything Yoga in the South!

Emily Watson looks at CONTROL

A lot of thoughts have played over and over in my mind that I’ve accepted to be true. I never tried to challenge these thoughts. I didn’t know I could. For example, one of the many lies I’ve told myself is that “I need to be in control”.

Does this sound familiar? When did I become God? I have learned that I’m NOT in control. Who knew? Things happen everyday that I have no input on, even if I want it. For example, my husband lost his job in the same month that we bought a house and my transmission went. In my small world, that was catastrophic. I worried and worried. After everything worked itself out, I learned that no matter how I reacted to those things, the outcome was as it should be, without me causing it. The outcome happened just the same regardless of my reactions, so why not take a deep breath and enjoy each moment?

It’s actually pretty reassuring that I’m not in control. When I look back on things that happen, the way that it turns out is way better than if I had planned it. That also helps me remember that I am NOT God and there is someone more suited for the job causing and solving issues in my life.