There is no denying that the Fall season is upon us and the beautiful colors of fall are everywhere! Since I was born in FL and lived there until November of 2010, experiencing the changes in season are especially exciting for me! I stop to take pictures whenever I see a tree displaying fabulous orange, yellow, and red leaves, and I decorated our home in festive fall fashion. The Fall season splashes vibrant colors across our landscape as nature eloquently whispers it's time for change.

The gentle fall breeze inspired me to bring this idea of flowing with the seasons to my students. During fall the seasonal flow causes differences in our personal lives as well. Darkness creeps up on us earlier in the day and cooler weather draws us inside seeking warmth. So how do we allow yoga to guide us through this seasonal transformation? My husband surprised me with a hot air balloon ride for our 6 month wedding anniversary, and through this experience, I gained insight into how yoga would influence the changing of the seasons in my own life.

Our journey began at 7am as the pilot began blowing air into the balloon with a large fan and pulling the trigger on the balloon to release the heat. The air was a crisp 40 something and as we stood shivering, engulfed in our excitement, we did not realize what we would experience on this flight. As the balloon became full of hot air the pilot instructed us to carefully step into the basket. . . As my foot searched for space inside this very tiny basket I acknowledged this would be an intimidating experience. My husband joined me with his own expression of fear and the pilot began pulling the trigger, releasing a heat so strong, it quickly warmed us up and the basket began to lift effortlessly away from the ground.

Once again I faced a reality I did not prepare for in the excitement of this ride. . . We were thousands of feet above land, huddled together in the world's tiniest basket without any attachment to the ground! I could have allowed my fear to take over and ruin this beautiful adventure. However, lucky for me, I have a yoga practice that has taught me to find a sense of being grounded whether I am high above the Earth, or laying on the ground.

Close your eyes and imagine yourself standing firmly in Virabhadrasana III (Warrior III) or balancing effortlessly in Ardha Chandarasana (half moon). Balancing poses such as these, challenge our bodies, but are engaged in a much deeper battle with our minds. We lose focus and fall out of the pose even if our dristi (gaze) or thoughts stray for a single second. If you have never fallen out of a balancing pose, WOW that is impressive, but try closing your eyes in the pose or allowing your thoughts to drift. Our standing leg begins to shake, our eyes dart around looking to find solid ground that our leg has lost, and our mind struggles with why we cannot maintain our pose!

Our mind and bodies do not like to feel shaken, we strive on feeling grounded. When you achieve a moment in a balancing pose where you feel strong and confident, like nothing will cause you to lose balance, you feel a sense of pride. We enjoy being grounded and find ourselves especially excited when we can find ourselves firmly rooted on only one leg! Stop and think how you find that place, where you are balanced and feel grounded at the same time. For me, it's when my mind stops racing and I stop being focused on the outcome----the balance. My balance exists when I let go and trust that my standing leg will be strong when my breathing is strong and fluid. Find the connection between your mind, body, and breath and therein lies your grounded balance!


As our hot air balloon soared through the morning sky, I began focusing on my breath. I worked towards making every inhale as long as every exhale. I brought my thoughts away from the worry and fear, so my mind stopped racing. Suddenly, it no longer mattered how high we were flying, I was amazed by the colors of the trees, the heat of the balloon, and the peace found in this tiny basket. I lost sight of my fears and felt rooted, even though I clearly was not standing firmly on the ground. . . Maybe how firmly planted we feel has nothing to do with where or how we stand, but how we believe we are standing and surrendering to that idea. I am thankful to my yoga practice for giving me this insight and teaching me how Yoga is carried on far beyond our yoga studio and mat.

Namaste!