Receiving Nourishment: Restorative Yoga, Bali and Balance

by Maxine Iharosy

When Tracy Young offered to donate on my behalf a Restorative Yoga with Sound Healing class as a by-donation initiative to raise funding for my 500-hour Women’s Leadership & Yoga Training, it tested my boundaries of self-worth.  It tested my sense of self-worth for many reasons that I’m still hashing out, but one for sure being rooted in our societal devaluing of receiving nourishment without feeling a need to owe back.

In August I jumped on board to this wildly awesome commitment by being accepted to a 500-hour training (called Shakti Initiation) that specializes in Women’s Leadership skills. It is part correspondence, and part intensive, with one month to be spent training in Bali come the end of February 2016 under the wise guidance of the program facilitators and the other women participating in the training whom I correspond with regularly as we navigate through our distance studies.  I have since created a crowd-funding campaign online through Indigogo to create an online platform so that students, friends, family, & supporters could donate to help me cover the costs of the rigorous training, and the flight to Bali to partake in the month-long intensive.

photo by Beth Kawash

I hit a roadblock in essentially ‘asking for money’. I created the online campaign, but the backstory is that it took me nearly two weeks until I could click launch because I struggled dearly with the thought of asking for help in pursuing my dreams.  One helpful tactic that Indigogo offers is an option to display perks that contributors can choose from as a way of expressing thanks. It is not an exchange, or a service bought, but a thank-you. That helped me bridge the gap within myself that felt the need to chase after anyone who wished to donate and ‘owe them one back’. But then the anonymous contributors started coming in, those who did not wish to be made visible or those who chose not to receive any perks in return.  It completely dismissed the idea of being able to say ‘I owe ya one’ and I had to completely re-think the balance of giving and receiving on a deeper level for myself.

To give and to receive is not at all a linear act but an organic full-circle flow and the worth of what is given and what is received is not quantitative, it’s qualitative. It is not about how much you give, how much take, or how often you ‘hit the mat’- it is the meaning within your actions or inactions that carries the potency of your spirit, your truth, and your needs. I believe that Yoga offers many different systems for discovering and altering the quality of your experiences through consciously tuning into yourself.  And sometimes tuning into yourself means tuning out from the routines of the daily busy life.

On November 29th, Tracy Young & I welcome you to join us for an early evening of Restorative by-donation Yoga.  Tracy delivers as experience through her restorative classes that is deeply nourishing. Her skill and attentiveness leaves space for you to just relax into the supports of bolsters, cushions, and blankets, as the dimly lit room fades away and muscles soften.  In the thick of deep relaxation allow yourself to experience feeling nourished without the need to ‘owe’ or ‘make-up’ for this much needed you-time.

This evening is welcome to anyone regardless of prior Yoga experience. It is offered for those who are wishing to donate to my trip, and for those who are curious about Restorative Yoga and would like to experience it to see if it is a practice that may serve them well. We are creating this evening with the intention of full circle nourishment through receiving: donations from the class are put towards my training expense, Tracy discovers new-to restorative students who are curious about the practice, and those attending receive the experience of pure relaxation.

Join  us on November 29th from 4:00-5:30pm to slip away from the oncoming Holiday season and seek stillness.

Register on schedulicity to confirm your spot.