Instructor Highlight: Lisa Marie Thalhammer

Yoga has transformed my life in so many ways. The practice has given me the skills to heal my concussion, beat depression and let go of unhealthy relationships. Currently, I feel more expressive with my movements and more comfortable in my body than ever before. I’m now capable of objectively observing negative thoughts and processing them using the tools of meditation, mindfulness and asana. I feel my spirit uplifted through the practice of yoga and when I’m on my mat I use that time to give gratitude. 

As a visual artist who is most known for painting rainbow color networks and portraits of empowered humans, recently I received a 2017 D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities Fellowship. My drawings can be seen at Flow’s neighboring art gallery, Transformer, located at 1404 P Street. Additionally, my murals can be seen in multiple locations around the district including Local 16 roof bar and 926 N St rear NW (Blagden Alley). You can check out my art online at lisamariestudio.com

As an artist, I like to bring creativity and interesting uplifting music to my yoga classes. We touch upon the fundamentals of meditation and yoga theory, in addition to moving through a well rounded physical asana practice. In my classes you’ll always have a moment to set an intention for your practice and give thanks for the day while also moving through a dynamic physical practice. 

Lisa Marie Thalhammer at the 2017 Capital Pride Parade standing in Star Pose in front of her LOVE artwork on a vintage VW truck.

The Mind Body Connection

Flow asked Angela Cerkevich, a Doctor of Psychology and a long time yoga teacher at Flow some questions about the mind body connection and some self-care tips.  Check out her answers below!

What is something about the mind body connection that you find helpful to your student's experiences?

We can't do two things at one time. So when we are feeling into our bodies, thinking subsides. This means that the body is an infinite resource and a direct conduit to what IS. This is the great thing about the early stages of an asana practice: it feels great because we get a break from the bouncing around of the mind. Unfortunately, we become habituated to the asana and unless we are willing to dive into more subtle sensations and link the breath with the movement, we may eventually find ourselves disappointed in our asana practice because it doesn't feel as revolutionary as it first did. The trick is to return to feeling and sensation again and again and again. The sensation of the eyes, the feeling of the tongue, the sensation of the webbing of the toes. The mind is a time traveler, but the body exists only in the present. Eventually, we expand our capacity to experience thinking and sensing at the same time, but we are no longer engaging in the thinking as much because we are abiding in what IS. To sum: when in doubt, feel and feel and feel again. Feeling into the sensations of the body, changes patterns in the brain and results in greater ease, calm, and increased awareness of both the more subtle emotions and thought patterns and the more easily felt gross sensations of the body.  

What are some of your favorite self care tips?

Variety. I don't get to rigid about a particular routine or practice. Sometimes that means I go to a spin class, other times that means I go for a walk in the woods and other times that means laying on the couch with my cats. Having flexibility and variety in my self care means I'm more likely to be really present enough to enjoy it. 

What is your one piece of advice for folks for folks who are seeking a deeper connection to understand themselves?

There is nothing to fix. There is only recognizing what you already are. There is only recognizing what already IS. There is no need to "cultivate" more gratitude or to practice a particular niayama to purify. Gratitude is already present. Just like loving-kindness, peace, and open-ness, gratitude is what we already are made of. We just misperceive that something is wrong and that we need to be better, fix ourselves, or do something  different like have more gratitude to be happy. This is a great problem with practices: having a practice that we are attached to may cause us to forget that we are actually already complete and that there is nothing about us that needs fixing. Similarly, we don't need to purify to experience our perfection. Cleansing practices may assist in the process of recognizing our true nature,  but they are not a magic bullet; they are not guaranteed. All practices work sometimes and maybe they even work for years, but they don't work all the time and because the practices of niyamas or asana or japa don't work all the time it's even more important that we don't rely on them.  The only thing we can really know is our perfection in this moment and that particular form of  KNOWING is a felt sense rather than a thinking process. As for practices, if they bring you joy, enhance your life, give you hope, change your mood, then there is no reason not to do them either. Just remember the practices a have a purpose and once that purpose is met, there is no longer a need for them.

Meet Angela on the mat Mondays for Hatha Yoga at 6pm and Yoga Nidra at 715. 

The Art and Heart of Self Care

"Adding self-care into one’s daily routine reduces stress, decreases the chance of mental and physical ailment, increases productivity, and inspires feelings of happiness. By giving ourselves a daily dose of compassion, we’re able to approach our work and relationships with a clear, happy mind, thus allowing the cycle of positivity to continue." 

Prioritizing self care rituals will leave you feeling deeply cared for and you deserve that. Keep it simple and consider anchoring your day (am or pm routines) with some small but important ways to nourish your mind, body and spirit. Here are a few our our favorites!

1. tea, solo or with a friend sans the digital devices
2. morning water with lemon or apple cider vinegar
3. bookend your days with a 5 minute seated meditation or journalling
4. Abhyanga daily oil massage
5. Imagine you’re your best friend. If you were, what would you tell yourself right now? Look in the mirror and say it.
6. add pure essential oils to a diffuser to enhance your mood and wellbeing. 

Let us know how it goes!

warm regards,

Debra

"The Times They are A Changin"

Maggie Grant is an Ayurvedic Consultant in the DMV area. Her website is filled with tips and information on how to incorporate Ayurveda into your life for health & wellbeing.

 The leaves are changing… The temperature is changing…The election has brought change…

Change means impermanence…transient.  Change also means metamorphosis…refinement…development.

Your sleep may be interrupted or restless and your digestive fire may be sluggish.

So what can you do to strengthen and protect yourself during this season of change?

✔︎ Eat seasonal foods such as root vegetables.  Soups and stews are sublime.  Avoid dry foods like popcorn

✔︎ Watch your caffeine intake.  Try herbal teas with coriander, cumin and fennel or clove or ginger

✔︎ Commit to a routine for sleep and meals.  Get predictable for the next few months  

  ✔︎ Sleep by 10pm or at least wind down and unplug by 10pm 

✔︎ Rise by 6am and avoid midday naps, they aren’t your friend in the end

✔︎ Exercise to ground yourself.  Standing poses, forward folds, sit in each pose longer and connect to your breath.  Extend your exhale and pause at the bottom of a breath

✔︎ And saving the best for last…self body massage with sesame oil.  Lube up and drop in 

In this season of movement and as the winds of change blow, DARE to put the pieces of a healthy and hopeful life together. 

“Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson

I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

#realpeopleofashtanga

Lately I have been struck by the redundancy of my Instagram feed – and feeling a little uninspired by it. I hardly bother to scroll through it anymore because I already know most of what I am going to see.

I’m not the most interesting person – I follow primarily yoga teachers, practitioners, studios, clothing brands, and magazines. And you know what I have noticed – none of the pictures look real to me – or at least they aren’t anything near my reality.

I’m tired of seeing highly curated yoga photos, featuring a narrow range of body types, taken in exotic locations, wearing expensive fitness clothing, and showcasing largely advanced asana that might make Ashtanga specifically, and yoga in general, seem unapproachable.

Aside from the fact that it totally makes me jealous, I’m also worried that the culture of yoga is changing and that we are perpetuating it with all of our likes and follows. And I fear that some people are missing the point – I mean entirely missing it. Like they are too scared to even try because they don’t look like the people on their social media feeds.

I can’t even count how many times I have had someone tell me about how they can’t do Ashtanga yoga.

Does any of this sound familiar? Maybe you’ve said it before – in your head our out loud. I’m too fat. I’m too tired. I’m too weak. I’m too busy. I’m not a morning person. My arms are short.  My butt is big. I’m too stiff. Blah, blah, BLAH.

I have to wonder – are the pictures of beautiful people doing beautiful poses sending the wrong message to students and potential students?

Personally I’m not impressed with the perfect bodies doing insane asana. Sure – I can appreciate the beauty of it. And I am happy that yoga is reaching more people than ever before. But what really impresses me is what I see in my Mysore room every single day.

I see real people making the best of it. 

I see the struggle of waking up early and getting to demanding jobs. I see the students who support me and the community by assisting or volunteering to open up the studio and get it warm for everyone else. I see the parents who have little kids at home and had to negotiate with their spouses to make it to practice. I’m in awe of these people who are juggling so much, and won’t give up their time on the mat.

I see people who have body images issues, who have struggled with addiction, who have been injured, who have had surgery and who have healed with the help of this practice. I see the stiff people, the big people, the stressed people coming in and working out their troubles in their asana. I see people who bathe in the sink at the studio, carry their breakfast in their backpack and hightail it to work after savasana. And I am humbled by them because I know that life is full of trade-offs, and that something had to give for them to be here with me in the mornings.

I see people who gave up a night out for an early morning practice. I see my friend fighting cancer and still making it onto her mat. I see the same student struggling through half primary after years of practice. This inspires me. This makes me want to be a better student and a better teacher. Because if I couldn’t bind Marichyasana A after 2 years, I probably would have quit.

I know for a fact that real yoga isn’t very glamorous. It’s not sexy and it doesn’t smell good.

But it is for everyone. You don’t have to be physically gifted or gorgeous. Just get on your mat and breathe. This practice will work for everyone, it will heal you, it will serve you – but you have to show up.

I challenge you to post your #realpeopleofashtanga story – and I encourage you to read what others have posted the next time you need a little inspiration.

Meghan Powell Photography