Laughter Yoga

On Saturday, Jan. 10, the first full moon of the year, we had a wonderful workshop with Sherrill Stenson, who is co-owner of The Sanctuary Yoga studio in Gunnison. The first workshop was on Laughter Yoga. You heard that right! Laughter yoga is a bonafide system to cultivate the same health, peace of mind, and mental clarity that is a benefit of other physical forms of yoga. The statistics she had for us were very enlightening. She reported that children on the average laugh about 600 times a day! Unfortunately, adults on the average laugh about 60 times, if that! Furthermore, the best news was that whether your laughter was for real, or fake, you received the same benefits! So, with that she proceeded to crack us up with a series of silly things that made us laugh ourselves to the point of exhaustion. Or better yet, a nice deep seated meditation!



The next session was a Yogic approach to relieving stress with a very deep and long Savasana (corpse pose), with Sherrills hypnotic voice guiding us through relaxing one kosha (layer of the body) after another. It was wonderful and we all felt so rejuvenated afterwards!

We loved it so much that we are hoping she can come once a month to help us bring more laughter and relaxation into our lives.

It's January!

YOGA FOR THE PEACEFUL rang in the New Year by our 108 sun salutations for all of our hopes, dreams, and prayers. 108 is a lot! This is actually the first time I had ever done this, and although it took 2 ½ hours, I was amazed at how quickly it went as I was fueled by my prayers. It was such a good way to start the New Year and I felt as though my prayers and intentions were not only in my head and heart; they were literally in my BODY. I heard from many of the other participants that it was very inspirational for them as well and it was wonderful to have teachers, students, and even some visitors from Germany all come together for this special event.

The holidays in Crested Butte are always so magical and this year was no different. It is wonderful to see all the visitors come in with that love and appreciation for Crested Butte that I can still remember from my very first time visiting here. Having three kids of my own is also such a joy during this time as Christmas is still such a favorite holiday of theirs.

I am always inspired at this time to cultivate appreciation for Jesus and the gift of faith that He has brought to humanity. For me, this is what I pray for more than anything else. For the faith to know that I need not worry and that God is always right here, around me, in me, of me, one with me. If I can breathe this in and live it, I will have no worries, no fear, no doubts, and just be content and confident that God’s got my back!

I pray that 2009 is good to us all…I pray that peace, stability in the nation and our own personal lives presides, I pray for success for all those who so tirelessly serve and work in areas that bring healing to others and to our mother earth. I pray for my own little studio to thrive and continue to be able to serve our community. I pray for all our kids, for all the families who need healing, for miracles, transformation, and blessings greater than we can imagine in all our lives. I pray that this challenging time leads the way for subtle and radical shifts in our world that paves the way for a better, more fulfilling life and future for us all.

I pray that I may continue to grow and answer the call of my Guru,

“To love everyone, serve everyone, and remember God.”

Om Namah Shivaya!

Monica