Gorf

I've been sharing a lot about what's been going on with my healing journey and I know some of it gets pretty intense (just try living it - smile) but even though or maybe because I am doing all of this work to heal, I can experience incredible joy and laughter on this journey. I am so blessed that the Divine (in the embodiment of Nicole Burrill aka The Sassy Yogini) brought me to Pat Donaher. In a recent yoga class Pat talked about the movie Jerry Maguire which was on the TV's at the gym. As we were working on our spines, Pat said the line from Jerry Maguire "I LOVE YOU. YOU SUPPORT ME" is the message we should bring to our spines. Later in class I half jokingly said, "You had me at hello." And he did. Right after the first ever class I took with Pat the words "do you do privates" fell out of my mouth and he said yes. It took a couple of months for Pat's schedule to open and boy oh boy was it well worth the wait.

While I have a list of poses on my bucket list that I want to learn how to do, I want to build a strong foundation in my practice. This means being able to do lunges and flow through transitions, making transitions the pose and this requires a lot of core strength, the ability to know which muscles to fire and doing exercises to strengthen those muscles. When I first started working with Pat we focused on breathing and working on exercises to strengthen different muscle groups. We did a lot of work on helping me to figure out where my body was in space and how to link breath with movement. While we do some strengthening and of course stretching to release muscles after a sequence, we are now working on the flow. I do my homework every day of strengthening, stretching and breathing. It is so wonderful to build on the work that I have been doing on my own and to feel the shifts that happen. I love celebrating the progress with Pat and there is joy in the unfolding of the journey. I love feeling the shifts that are happening in my practice, and in my life. I know I have said this so many times but not quite in this way: I am so blessed with the team of Pat and David Vendetti. As David and I work to clear out the trauma bound in my body through KMI Body Work, Pat is there to help me translate it into the beauty of movement through yoga.

My feelings toward my body have changed. When I first started working with Pat I felt myself coming from a place of weakness and deficits and what was not working. I now focus on this is what's happening and what can we do to build and strengthen what is happening. It may sound corny but I am learning to accentuate the positive. I feel an openness in my heart and feel less defensive and protective in my practice. As Pat would say however, feeling the way I did was totally understandable considering my life experiences. I release feeling self conscious as I wobble. I can share my 'vulnerabilities' in movement knowing that they are met with kindness and compassion.

We did a lot of work on lunges and helping me to figure out what I need to do to get stable in the pose. We also worked on balance and both balance poses and lunges require a strong core and firing aductor (aka thigh) muscles. Pat is a walking thesaurus when it comes to finding synonyms to honor the differences in my right and left side. I cannot recall the phrase he used today but it felt wonderful and truly honors my body right where it is right now while acknowledging the differences in my two sides. Pat has referenced my left side my 'sleepy side' in the past and he hesitated before he addressed the side we were going to work on first and came up with this really cool phrase (which I'm sure will come to me at 2 am).

Pat shared with me what his acro yoga teacher shared with him after his 5 day immersion classes. Not everything can be taught in 5 days and it is life long work that they are doing with the goal of having them still doing handstands at the age of 90. This is a philosophy I can resonate to. I can take my time and not push myself to reach any specific goals. What is so important for me is to feel the strength from the inside out and to feel that I am in charge of my body. Pat's optimism and humor, his compassion and quick wit make the journey a joy.

Which brings me to gorf which is frog on the wall. We were working intensely on aductor muscles and so Pat asked me if he ever showed me gorf. At first I thought that was a yoga pose I hadn't heard of before but in his quick witted way he said, frog on the wall. The image of Kermit came instantly to mind which is so fitting since Pat is a huge Muppets fan and I for one cannot wait for the new Muppets movie coming in Thanksgiving. So we were both hangin' out in gorf - frog at the wall after an intense workout for me with lunges and balancing. I couldn't help but smile. My heart overflowed with gratitude for the gift of Pat in my life and that we shared Kermit ahem frog on the wall today.

From my heart to yours
With love and gratitude,
Mary


Pat Donaher
Front Line Yoga
yogaHOPE
Yoga Reaches Out
The Sassy Yogini
Tracy Rodriguez Photography
David Vendetti
Tom Myers and KMI Body Work
Ana Forrest
Matthew Sanford