Dear Students and Friends,

I hope you and your families had a joyful and meaningful holiday season.  May the beauty and love that is generated from gathering together this time of year hold us as we venture forward into a new year, one that may be full of mystery or dedicated to a specific personal vision.  Or maybe a little of both!  I continue to enjoy my “split time” between the Eastern Shore (Oxford, MD), and Takoma Park, and am now teaching a class on Sat. mornings at the Oxford Community Center which is also a wonderful way of making new friends with common interests. I don’t know what 2015 holds for me as yet, but I remain open and eager for new discoveries.  One of the most exciting things I did in October of 2014 was to jump out of an airplane for my 70th!  It was definitely thrilling, and helped me overcome my fear of heights that was getting stronger as I was getting older!!  Very glad to still be able to take risks and step into my fears!!

Moses Brown and I will soon be celebrating our 11th year of teaching together on the cliffs of Negril in Jamaica. It is one of the most fun and financially viable yoga vacations ever, and we still have just one more space for a yogi or yogini!  Not a bad getaway from the February winter chill!  The dates are Jan. 31-Feb. 8, and non-yogi spouses are welcome. You can download a brochure with registration form from this site.

Betsey Downing and I had a total blast with 26 of the most inspirational Spirited Women on our sixth annual Spirited Women’s Retreat near Tulum, Mexico. The highlights were wonderful discussions, renewing and making new friendships, some great trips, and of course the unforgettable Mayan Belly Massages!  O, and the yoga wasn’t half bad either!  Next years dates are October 24-31 so mark your calendars.  We will be at the beautiful Maya Tulum Resort on the same incredible beach we were this year. We will hold the numbers to 36  and registration will open March 24 and first come, first served. The brochure should be available to download by early February.

Betsey and I will also be doing our annual 4 day mini-Spirited Women’s Retreat for women 45 and older at Kripalu Holistic Health Center in Lenox, MA.  The dates are April 2-5 over Easter weekend; more information is on this site.  Our intention is to encourage and inspire all of us to step into our greatness as wild, wonderful & wise women!

We are also ruminating about giving an online meditation course. Both of us have had committed meditation practices for over 35 years, and think we might have a little to share in this direction as well.  We are both being drawn to teaching more meditation in all of our workshops and we feel the time is now, because we are at such a delicate balance with world and planetary issues. Not that we can meditate or transcend them away, or even want to, but from a deep and committed meditation practice, we can be more effective activists as we make a more and more healthy engagement in the world.

And then there is The Kindred Spirits Reunion on February 20-22 of 2015 in Austin, Texas  that was an incredible brainstorm by my good friend and yogini extraordinaire, Desiree Rumbaugh.  This will be for all Anusara” teachers, both present, and for those who left the system last year, as well as for those who were in the process of certification. Betsey and I are helping Desire organize this, and it promises to bring us all back together in a beautiful way.

And for all my dedicated and devoted yoga students at Willow Street and elsewhere, I want you to know that being your yoga teacher is an honor, and a never-ending process of growth and service. We have seen, again and again, how yoga changes lives, and being part of that is a great  privilege. Without your presence in my classes and workshops, I would not be able to continue in what I consider to be one of the most sacred and honorable professions one can do.   

I urge you to stay in the deepest connection to the Divine in however you experience It.  May you know that the Divine longs for you as much as you long for the Divine, and all will unfold as it should as we enter the sacred mystery of 2015.

Fly High and Trust,

Blessings and Love, Suzie