Hello Friends,
Hoping you are finding rest and time to slow down as the shortest day of the year approaches. My own practice has been flourishing as we approach the solstice. In my more solitary work I have been finding extra time for meditation, aiding to balance the more active work of the day. My ritual of 20 minutes in seated silence helps to greet the day with patient equanimity and an openness to wonder; an often prolonged evening session allows for a ceremonial closing and letting go of all that has been. Each day a cycle, honored as much as the slower moving seasonal; with intentions of practicing to meet the greater, more formidable, cycles.
My movement practice has entered a (slightly) lower intensity with higher volume phase. Instead of maximal efforts, I’m following the example of our ancestors, metaphorally, chopping wood and carrying water - the practical path toward enlightenment as advocated by the Karma Yogis; Doing “the work” and preparing for the inevitable hibernation (or self imposed retreat as the case may be). I’m consuming maximal calories in the efforts to put on weight/muscle as the coldest months approach, preparing for when food would historically (before the age of shipping and supermarkets) be less abundant and extra fat/muscle a stored resource.
Practices of reading, music and writing are all finding their periods of zenith, these hours alone might help this lonely hermit to find a light worth carrying back out of the cave when Spring emerges. Of course teaching multiple classes and privates a week means the hibernation is currently only partial, interrupted by moments of intense attention and communion. Multiple spiritual teachers speak of the challenges of having a foot in both worlds; fewer have extolled the benefits. Thank you for keeping me connected. I reconnected with a friend after several years who thought I “might have evaporated” …if not for you
My own practice is aided by taking regular classes for the first time in several years, grateful to Alex Brazinski’s challenging but accessible Dance Acrobatics class and filled with gratitude to have the growing light that is Germantown’s new studio Cocoon Philly where both Kaeti (my partner & owner of Root and Branch Bodywork) and I teach and attend classes regularly. I hope you might be able to join us there and help Cocoon get through these cold and difficult months so that we might all emerge into a more brilliant Spring.
Kaeti teaches Functional Movement, with a Handstand Lab coming soon: Sunday 3pm
I teach Architectural Movement (building a foundation for a strong and capable body) Monday 6pm
My small group classes at Root and Branch have grown and are generally full, to that end I’m restarting the Wednesday 7:30pm in the hopes of creating space for overflow and new regular students - these classes may be booked via my personal page
This Sunday I’ll be joining the community at Burning Lotus Studio in Furlong, PA to offer Breathing with Intention, where we will first establish some fundamental parameters for breathing exercises, creating a practice with reliable expectations. After defining the tools to be utilized, initiating our now shared vocabulary, we will sequence them as one might do for a flow class creating the opportunity for an experience. I hope you might be able to join me there.
Individual Work
Kaeti is moving all of her work efforts into Germantown (@RootandBranchBodywork) providing massage and movement programing with a variety of meticulously informed and impressively adaptive options for interested members of the community
I continue to offer Private Movement Lessons and Program Design, focused on building strength, stability, mobility and resilience for optimal performance and everyday living. I teach in Roxborough and Germantown, offering zoom sessions to individuals in farther off distances.
I have revisited my roots with purpose and am interested in taking on new violin students
Beginners in all disciplines abundantly encouraged, intermediate students judiciously supported, advanced practitioners imaginatively collaborative
❤️🙏
Noah