Yogis have a special relationship with balance. First, Patanjali's Yoga Sutra 1.2 states "yogaś-citta-vr̥tti-nirodhaḥ": "Yoga is the calming of the fluctuations of the mind." Who doesn't need that these days? I know I certainly do.
And then fromt he sutras, a golden key for a door towards calm:
YS 1:12, "abhyāsa-vairāgya-ābhyāṁ tan-nirodhaḥ" states that we tame (nirodhah) the whirlwinds (vrittis) of the mind (citta) through a balance of dedicated practice (abhyasa) and relaxed surrender of the results (vairagya).
We practice that every time we get on the mat. Abhyasa and Vairagya. Focused attention on breath and posture, plus release and surrender of judgment. That balanced state in the yoga zone where we're mind-breath-body attuned, timelessly eternal, is really why I practice yoga. I think perhaps it's akin to runner's high, or really any athlete's high, or meditator's high, and I imagine, a hiker's or climber's high.
 What we practice on the mat, we own when we're off the mat. Feeling heart-body-soul alignment in our day-to-day world, we benefit from the "effort+surrender" practice that we breathed with, upon the mat.
How sweet and pleasurable is the relief when we can exhale into the second half of the formula "effort + surrendering the result." Indeed, it is the Serenity Prayer. It puts me in mind of Dr.Stella Resnick's list of eight developmental human pleasures in The Pleasure Zone. I'd say it is #1, #2, #3 and #8, and holds all the between within it. For me, peace and centering become accessible when I'm in that balanced yoga zone.
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 Anhedonia is a condition characterized by the inability to feel pleasure. With massive multiplications of seeming connections technologically worldwide, people can actually be starving for the met needs of meaningful, close connections. Have you ever felt or observed that? How, in "dumber" less populated by smartphones, smart tech, simpler times, we were just "with" somebody sometimes, uninterrupted, undistracted, present to them, with 5-senses, 3-dimensions, on one plane of time? When we're "in presence" with someone, there is real connection, there is the "empathy" of feeling our life energy together.
 Paradoxically we now can "feel" others' stories and tales all around the world and yet we can't "touch" them to really meet their needs meaningfully, nor ours.
And so we may deprive or "empty" ourselves of pleasure "for their sakes." An empathic kind of anhedonia.
While there is care beneath these anhedonic impulses, I now wonder: what if we "filled up" on life, laughter, love, and we held out those wishes for them even whilst we still send the more concrete gifts of words, actions, and finances? What if we didn't withhold our capacity for joy, as we would not want them also to lose their capacity for joy? What if we hold the space, the right, to pleasure for us all? What if we use empathy as a two-way street, for balance of pain and pleasure?
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Here is my class schedule. Email me for a pass to an Equinox club where you are not a member.
For Reiki, Thai, Restorative or Coaching privates, email me directly.
 Also email me directly for your next corporate event! My 7-chakra crystal bowls are ready to take you into meditative dreamland!
You can find my schedule of classes, retreats, cleanses and more anytime at my website, https://www.maryaranas.com.
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 Yoga family, AcroYoga family, Sisterhood family, Compassion Course family, faith families... Community, in every form of chosen family, is such an important wellness tool.
Theater family tracks four+ decades for me. Last December and this July, I was so happy to sing with National Asian Artists Project in our monthly Friday song offerings to New York City at the Edison Hotel in Time Square. If you're a part of the Asian diaspora and have a yen to perform Broadway, pop, standards and more in choral offerings with this talented tribe of artists check them out! Or even to join NAAP in a monthly Friday free performance upcoming!
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 I value your privacy and do not share emails. Please feel free at any time to Reply, Forward, Subscribe, or Unsubscribe.
It is a deep honor and blessing to be a part of your own path and journey towards yoga, that is, union.
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Photo thanks this issue to:
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Come frolic and fly in an AcroYoga class in the park that celebrates playpals with L-base flows to and fro, the poses ranging from bird to reverse star.
All levels welcome! You will be basing and flying, at your level of challenge for each pose.
The last half hour, we will give and receive guided Thai massage. Yum!
Bring water and a mat. And snacks to picnic after, if you like! It's my birthday week, so we can all toast my 66th year!
AcroYoga See-Saw
Sunday Sept. 21
12:00-2:00 PM
Sheep Meadow
$45; $80 friend pair
Register here with your name(s) then via:
NB Directions to the location will be sent to registered students, before 9/21, so be sure to provide your email and mobile # upon registration.
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 Plans are afoot for a delicious town and desert Morocco yoga retreat next fall, 2026, featuring the beauty of Marrakesh and the wild freedom of the sand dunes.
 Of all my travels, Morocco holds a special, dear place in my heart.
Plan on flowing vinyasa with my soul brother VR, dreaming and stretching with me in Yin, Restore, Nidra, & sound.
We will collaborate and co-create together, VR, myself, and all of you! Details to come soon...
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 May you continue to seek and find balance in your waking, dreaming, and resting hours!
And to appreciate each step of the process ~ including every kind of weather, and season.
See you on the mat, in the park, on the beach, in a zoom room, or whizzing or noshing around town or on retreat!
Peace, shanti, shalom, salaam ~
May Grace be with you ~
OMMMMmary
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Breath & Balance * August 2025 ENews