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đâïžWELCOME BACK TO INDY, TAYLOR!!
This weekend, Taylor performed 3 nights of concerts in our city at Lucas Oil Stadium, the final US city on her Eras Tour! The city was fired up ya'll, she's wrapped around the JW Marriott Hotel downtown, and Taylor-inspired events happening all around town, from restaurants creating TayTay dishes to scavenger hunts at the zoo, and in my corner: TAYLOR SWIFT YOGA!! It's been so much fun to see everyone's photos from the concerts and city events!
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đđ«¶đ»Either you love certain artists or you donât. First, I love her, especially recently as she's entered her 30s. I first became a fan with 1989!  When I first listened to 1989, she did this magical thing: she brought me back to my first love: pop music of my childhood, creating mix tapes, with my leg warmers on, singing loudly along, and choreographing dance routines with friends!! And then, I loved when Taylor went dark and honest with Reputation, and I've loved every album thereafter! I find her songs honest, meaningful & fun, and I love that sheâs a songwriter foremost. After watching the Netflix documentary, Miss Americana & hearing her talk about her battles, we have a lot in common. She makes me smile, dance & sing, feel free, like when I was a kid. Before LIFE GOT HARD.
đâïžTaylorâs birthday is the same as my little boy, Liamâs! December 13th!  Some of you know this story of my son Liam, and how meaningful that class was last year. I loved bringing this class back this year, on the exact date when she was in town, literally 30 miles away! So close! Whenever there is a chance to connect to my inner child and mend my heart just a little bit more, I will take it! Today, that was teaching this đTaylor Swift Yoga Class!đ And, it was BLISS, YALL. Pure bliss!!
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đđ«¶đ»Iâm a firm believer in doing WHATEVER brings you joy & peace. Even if youâd never do the same, simply being happy along with someone is one of the most beautiful things we can do for others! If you need to cold plunge, do it. Sing loudly in the car, do it. Write, draw, paint, dance, play an instrument, read, scream, run, chop wood, jump out of a plane, hike, kayak, do it! Do the thing that sets a fire ablaze within you! For me, itâs dance, yoga, music, singing, science, art, friendship, nature, animals, community, philanthropy. And now, sharing yoga as an instructor!
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đ€đč So, how exactly do you create a yoga class themed around Taylor Swift?! Well, first: create a banger playlist! I did that rather quickly, all of my faves, each song timed perfectly with where we were in our hour long practice! Listen here! đ¶https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3u5bTLPoG45NrAniUz5wsU?si=1YvmztxBR0Gh1T8s11OrRA&pi=u--dKvz4EJRsu3
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đâïžNext, think of things that are Taylor! Cats, releasing negativity, rainbows! Yoga poses and little additions related to songs and her tours, like heart hands, Goddess and Star poses to embody her spirit, Sky Archer for the song "Archer" and snakes, seen in her Reputation Tour! Then, create the hour long class implementing these, and adding to them! Ok here we go! I knew it was gonna be a fun class, when my drive to the studio reminded me of the 1989 album cover!Â
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đđ«¶đ»And BONUS!! Did you know singing is a somatic practice?! It totally!! it stimulates the vagus nerve that runs alongside the throat and resets an overactive nervous system, sending it into a calmer state! Ever notice how you feel better, calmer, happier when you belt out your favorite tunes in the car or shower? Told ya! So everyone in my class has full permission to SING ALONG!! It is a somatic yoga class after all!! đ«¶đ»đ
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 đâïžWe began on our backs, and brought our awareness into the space we were in, into the body, and left everything no longer serving us outside of those 4 walls. We allowed the head and the shoulders to become heavy, and melt into the earth. Each vertebrae began to ground down, one at a time, to the hips and they became heavy. The arms and legs soften. During this airy, light, breezy season, it's important to ground, so we don't get swept away! We brought one hand to the belly, one to the heart, connecting to our heartbeat, and to our breath underneath both palms. Our pranayama was a 90-10 breath, deeply inhaling through the nose, from the toes all the way up into the belly, filling it up, expanding, taking up space, pausing at the top of that breath, to take an extra sip of air into the lungs, and slowly exhaling through the mouth. We repeated this two more times, the inhale lengthening to the chest, filling the lungs, expanding the ribs, and thirdly to the crown! Each time, the exhale becoming slower and longer each time, calming the nervous system. We became present in the body and the space we're in, and allowed all of our past stresses to be carried away like an ocean wave, taking it further away from us. Our future schedules and to-do lists melted back down into the earth, to be transformed into something new, something for our greater good, no longer needed. Nothing to do, nowhere else to be but right here in this moment for ourselves.
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đđ«¶đ»We moved through a scan of the 5 senses: We noticed what we see around us, or beyond the lids if the eyes are closed, finding peace in the darkness. We traveled to smell, noticing what we smell around us, maybe food cooking nearby, fresh laundry drying, coffee brewing, maybe a scent in the room. I sprayed Sacred Mind essential oil blended spray above everyone in the studio, inhaling notes of frankincense, myrrh, sandalwood, palo Santo, ylang ylang, and lemon. We scanned to our hearing, noticing birds song outside, maybe traffic, the hum of the furnace providing heat, pinpointing an instrument playing in the Taylor playlist in studio, and on to our taste, noticing the last thing we may have eaten, or a sip of cup of tea or coffee. Lastly, we noticed our sense of touch, what we feel against the skin, the warmth of the air or sun, maybe a cool breeze, the cotton of our clothes, the stickiness of our mat underneath us, supporting us, holding us, bringing us back home to ourselves.
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đâïžWe lengthened long with an inhale, hands reaching overhead, toes reaching forward, exhaled knees to chest for a hug, rocking side to side massaging the lumbar spine. We moved into a Crescent Moon, hands and feet extending to the upper and lower corners of our mat, shoulders and hips melting to the earth. The moon, our yin, slow, feminine energy, honoring the light in the dark nights sky. We honored the left side, came through center, and found supine twists on the right and left. We came into our Bridge pose, lifting the hips, chest toward the chin, this connection, this pathway to all the multifaceted versions (eras) of ourselves, something Taylor knows very well! We rock and rolled along the spine to the top of our mat, moving toward a comfortable seat. We anchored the sit bones, spine lengthened to the crown, crown to the sky, and crossed the legs or found a half or full lotus, and closed the eyes, with our hands resting on the knees. We brought the hands into our Pranidhana Mudra, middle & ring fingers connected to the thumbs, and index and pinky fingers extending upward, hands come together at the extended fingertips, and then invert the mudra and hover at the root chakra. Our Pranidhana mudra releases all attachments to everything negative, energies, thoughts about ourselves, thoughts others have about us, bad habits, we release them all! Taylor knows this all too well! We opened up into our Self Hug Breath, extending the arms out like wings with the inhale, exhaled as we curled in, arching the back, dripping the chin toward the chest, wrapping the arms around our shoulders for a hug! We repeated this 2 more times filling the lungs with prana energy, our loving life force energy!
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đđ«¶đ»We brought the palms together, rubbed them together to create some heat, some healing energy, and cupped the hands to the eyes, sending healing energy to the soul. Hands floated to the crown, sending healing energy to the mind, calming the chatter. The mind can become stuck in the past, ruminating over things that have been, or travel too far forward into the future with worry, but the body is always present, so here we connect and stay present. One hand floated to the forehead, and the other to the base of the skull, sending healing energy to the mind + body, finally bringing the hands to the heart sending gratitude to the heart and lungs. We set an intention for our class, and released it, reaching the hands to the sky and to the right for a twist, peeling the right shoulder back to open the chest 5% more. We arched the right hand to the sky and toward the opposite knee to open the side body, and then brought it to the left knee, crossing the arms, arching the back and dripping the chin. We twisted to the other side, and then came through center, planted the fingers behind us, opened the chest, arching the spine into a backbend, and then into a forward fold. We unraveled the legs and melted the hips back into a childâs pose, walking the hands to the right, center, and left.Â
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đđWe slowly rolled the spine, arching the back, brushing the fingertips along the mat toward the knees, the chin dripping toward the chest, until our glutes met the heels, and then the spine waving long, crown reaching to the sky, the shoulders melting back, as the spine concaves, into a backbend, the arms extend out to the sides, and up, palms together, to the heart, and melting forward, walking the fingertips into a forward fold. We repeated this Childs pose wave 2 more times, delighting in this spinal awakening of the body. Our Cat cow flow followed as we warmed up the spine, adding in organic movement, hips swaying side to side, or rolling forward and back into Childs pose waving back and forward into our table top. We moved to our breath, our own pace, making our cat cow our own. Taylor adores her cats and travels with them all over the world! We came into our table top, with a neutral spine, and moved into our Tiger! It's a big cat, Taylor would approve! haha! We inhaled, lifted the gaze and right toes to the sky, bending at the knee, as exhaled nose to knee, curling the back, repeating 2 more times, and then reaching the left hand back for the right foot, fully opening into our Tiger! We released the foot, peeled the right toes to the back of our mat, floated the left knee up into the chest, back down, and lifted the right leg up parallel to the mat, and exhaled the right leg over to the left side of our mat, gaze following. We came through center, and opened up into our supported side plank on the right knee, peeling the left fingers to the sky, circling the wrist, opening the chest! We floated off of the right hand, crown to the sky, into our gate pose, left hand to the left leg, right hand arching overhead, the Gate opening the door to release what we no longer need, allowing all that is good to be invited in, new paths for ourselves! We cartwheeled the hands to the top of our mat, knees into our table, another cat cow flow, and then honored the left side!
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đâïžWe flowed through downward dog- plank waves, pranam knees chest chin, into a low cobra, and up into our downward dog. We floated to the top of our mats into a forward fold, root to rise, we slowly lifted up, one vertebrae at a time, the head the last to come through, into our Tadasana, our mountain pose. We felt the grounding energy from the earth pull at the soles of our feet from the toes to the arches to the heels, like roots of a tree pulling us into he soil, anchoring us. This energy circled around the legs, to the pelvis, the hips, around each vertebrae of the spine to the shoulders as they melt down from the ears. The crown reaching for the heavens, we are stable, rooted, and anchored. We flowed through a Sun Salutation A, today it's a Sun Salutation TAY!!Â
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đđ«¶đ»Our Tadasana flowed into our Sidebands with Heart Hands to the sky, bending to the right and to the left, through center, swan diving into a forward fold. We moved through a vinyasa flow into our downward dog. We inhaled right toes to the sky, exhaled tapping the left elbow, extended high, to the right elbow, extended high, knee to the chest, hovered here, then stepped the right foot forward, planted the back foot, rising up into Warrior I. We reached the fingers to the sky, inhaled opening the chest cactusing the arms, and found a bind behind the back, we made Heart Hands again! We inhaled gaze to the sky, and humbled in bending forward toward the right knee with our Heart Hands bind! On the third humbling, we floated into our WideLeg forward fold with our heart hands, easing into this fold. We planted the hands and began to slowly roll up to stand, one vertebrae at a time, and extended up and out into our 5pt Star, Taylor is our star of the hour after all!Â
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đâïžWe bent the knees, and melted into our Goddess pose, again Taylor being our Goddess of the hour! We extended the arms out like wings and folded them into our Eagle Arms, and waved the spine to the right and to the left, like a Snake, slowly all the way down into our WideLeg fold. Snakes are all over her Reputation Tour! We swayed our Eagle arms left and right in our wideleg fold, like Ganesh, with our elephant trunk, remover of obstacles from our path, clearing the way forward, removing negative attachments, thoughts, and habits! Once our eagle arms reached the left foot for the third time, we planted the hands, and lifted the right toes high into our Standing Splits, and added in curtsy taps! On the third curtsy tap, we melted to the seat for a twist toward the left wrapping the right arm around the left knee. We came through center and floated forward into the hands, and lifted the right toes high into one more standing split. We bent into the left knee and softly planted the right foot toward the top of our mat, straightening the left leg into our Sky Archer, right hand down, left arm overhead extending through the fingertips! We brought the right hand up to meet the left, and pulled back the string of our bow with the right hand, releasing our arrow, just like in the song "Archer!" We melted into a Side Angle, left elbow to the left knee, right hand overhead, back up into our Sky Archer, and then circled the left arm around, pivoting the body to the top of our mat into a Crescent Warrior, fingers to the sky. We inhaled cactused the arms, to find a bind behind the back of our Heart Hands. We stepped the back foot in, and melted forward into our Pyramid with our Heart Hands bind. We then floated forward into a Warrior 3 into the right foot, left leg floating, with our Heart Hands bind, came up into our Pillar, bringing the left knee up through center. Balance challenge for sure! We brought the hands to heart center, and reached the left hand for the left foot, melting forward into our Dancer! Phew! We came into Tadasana, swan dove into a forward fold, and honored the left side!
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đđ«¶đ»Our somatic practice included something brand new! Somatic experiencing gave us tools to regulate our nervous system, to stimulate the vagus nerve that begins at the base of the brain and runs throughout the body touching every organ system! We agitated emotions stuck in the body, to help them release, and to serve as a reset button. We began in our Tadasana, brought the right hand to the left upper side of the chest, and extended the left arm forward, palm facing the sky. With a deep inhale, we kept the hips forward, as the left arm slowly traveled out to the left side, gaze following, to the back, paused at the back with the gaze over our left shoulder, and on the exhale slowly brought the arm back toward the top of our mat. We repeated this two more times, inhaled as the arms reached overhead, palms gathered at the heart. We brought the left arm to the right upper side of the chest, extended the right arm forward, palm facing up, and with the inhale slowly traveled the right arm out to the side as the gaze followed, to the back, and paused opening the chest. With the exhale we brought the right arm slowly back to the top of our mat, and repeated 2 more times!
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đđOur somatic practice in Tadasana as we rubbed the palms together to create some healing heat, and we brought the fingertips to the crown, massaging the fingertips all over the crown and behind the ears, even the base of the skull. We dripped the fingers to the jaw, the hinge where we open and close the jawthe perfect release for jaw clenchers like myself. We pulled down on the ear lobes, pulled the middle of the ears out to the sides, up to the top of the ears pulling toward the sky. We brought our fingertips to the base of the skull, pressing into our vagus nerve, and melted the fingertips toward the ears, along the jawline, and down the front of the neck to the collarbone. We repeated this 2 more times, releasing tightness in the throat. We brought the right hand to the base of the skull, firm pressure here, as the left index and middle fingers pressed into the forehead at the hairline, slowly rolling down the forehead, between the eyebrows, to the tip of the nose. I have a feeling Taylor does this to her cats! hahaha! It's calming for us and them! We repeated a total of 3 times, and then switched hands to repeat again. We tapped into the collarbone, with slow rythmic taps, all fingers in unison, into one of our acupressure points in the body. We brought this tapping to the sternum, center of the chest. We slowly tapped here, continuing as we inhaled, paused to bring the hands to the heart, stacked on top of one another, and as we exhaled we audibly hummed into our bee breathđ! If you hold tension here in the chest, this is a nice release! We crossed the arms at the chest, and squeezed into opposite shoulders, down to the biceps and triceps, and into the forearms. We massaged circles into the palm, and firmly rolled our thumb and fingers down each finger from the base to the tip, one finger at a time to the thumbs. We brought the hands to the shoulders again for a squeeze, and swiped the hands down the arms, chest, abdomen, low back, and legs, making sure anything still tethered to the body is fully released.
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đâïžWe came into stillness, then swayed right and left, and found stillness again, noticing the effects: we can feel cool, heat, or tingling sensations, even a spontaneous yawn! All signs of a regulated nervous system. We removed anything stuck, anything harmful & toxic still attached to the body! We stimulated the vagus nerve, the super highway of information from the brain to the body! We sent messages to the brain that the body is not under threat, it does not have to exist in a continuous active state (fight /flight/freeze mode). We helped our body to experience a larger capacity for triggers to be felt and moved through. We have the ability to help our nervous system shift fluidly between states when each are needed, the sympathetic & parasympathetic nervous systems! Both are useful and 100% needed, but we do not want to become stuck in one state for too long. These practices are so useful off the mat as we encounter stress or triggers in our daily lives! We find balance! We find freedom!
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đđ«¶đ»Our cool down began in Tadasana, folded forward, and into our downward dog. We inhaled right toes high, exhaled knee into the chest, and thread the right foot through to the left, into our Fallen Star left fingers to the sky! We came through center, right knee into the chest, hovering, and melted the shin down, knee forward, kind of a modified pigeon, as we peeled the left toes back, hips melting down, as we rolled onto our right hip, and then to our seat. We're in a Fallen Tree, and reached the left hand toward the left foot, arching the right hand overhead! We cartwheeled the hands up and toward the top of our mat to plant the right hand down, and float the hips up into our Rainbow Arch, left hand overhead. Taylor loves her rainbows!! We moved through center into our Table top, up into our downward dog, and honored the left side!
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đâïžAfter our table top, we floated into our downward dog and floated the feet through to the top of our mat into our seat, hugging the knees in, into a seated Childs pose, a tight self hug. We extended the feet forward into our Staff fold. We inhaled walking the hands up the legs, brining the knees with us, and melted them out, soles of the feet together into our Butterfly. We peeled the feet out into our Straddle and folded forward. We cam up walking the hands in, knees in back into our Butterfly. We made peace fingers with our hands and hooked our big toes, extending our arms and legs out into our balancing Straddle, balancing on our Root chakra, bent into the knees and gracefully and slowly rolled back along our spine into our Happy Baby!
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đđ«¶đ»We released our feet, and extended our feet to the sky into our T-pose, crossed the right leg over the left, bent the knees, hugged the thighs together and reached for shins, gently pulling the knees toward the chest. This lengthens the IT band, and helps to soften where the sciatic nerve travels, releasing any pain we may have there. We released our shins, and honored the opposite side!
đâïžOk, here's the fun part! Ok, another fun part! We lengthened long, hands overhead, toes reaching forward, forming the number ONE! Next, we made a crescent moon to the right, bending the elbows to make more of a circle with the arms overhead, we're making a number NINE! We came through center, kept the circling of the arms, and brought the soles of the feet together, reclined butterfly, and inched the feet closer to the top of our mat, rounding out, we're making a number EIGHT! And finally, we lengthened into a crescent moon to the right again creating that number NINE!Â
If you were flying overhead getting an aerial shot, you'd see that we made 1989!! Just like Taylor's 1989 album cover!! WOOHOO!!! The grand finale. hahahahaha!! 1ïžâŁ9ïžâŁ8ïžâŁ9ïžâŁ
 đđ«¶đ»We then formed our crescent moon to the left to even out our sides, and found supine twists to the right and to the left, option to reach for the bottom foot, into Cat Pulling Its Tail! Because you know, cats!!Â
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đâïžWe made it to our PEAK POSE: Savasana! Our Savasana was set to a piano only version of âWildest Dreamsâ and it was perfection! Together, we completed a full body cleanse! Which is exactly why I chose âCleanâ for our song to reawaken the body! We found meditative peace, a calming of the mind, removed negativity, heavy burdens, found insight into ourselves, we experienced expansion, fearlessness, release, and freedom. Yoga helps us shed what we no longer need, so we may see our most purest selves! We connect to divinity! To slow down means to heal! That is why savasana is the peak pose, the most important pose, the goal, the pinnacle. To find peace. In the stillness! We surrender. We discover ourselves again without the layers, the armor, the walls. They all come down, revealing our divine self.
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đđ«¶đ»WHAT A BLAST we had in our Taylor mini concert yoga class!!
It was perfect!! It was so much fun, and such an honor to hold this healing space for you, in our fun class! I will treasure it always! Remember to do whatever you need to do to clear away negative attachments & thoughts, remove the obstacles, open the gates and travel across bridges to come back home to your true self!  Remember that you want to be defined by the things you love, not the things you hate, not the things that scare you and haunt you in the middle of the night. You want to be what you love!
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đâïžDo whatever brings YOU joy & freedom, darlings. Let outside opinions & judgements wash away. They donât know all of you. They donât know whatâs happened. They donât know the heaviness youâre carrying with you everyday. The light they see emanating from you now, came at a heartbreaking cost. They donât know the war youâve fought. They didnât see you fight like hell, scream with fear and anger, too exhausted to sleep. They didn't see you crumpled on the floor like a balled up piece of paper. They didnât see you crawl to survive, and pick up the pieces to glue into a beautiful mosaic. They didn't see you ultimately WIN the battle.
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đđ«¶đ»We should all be supportive and kind to one another for this very reason. Do that thing you love, for the mending of your heart!! Do it for the health of your mind. Do it for the renewal of your sou!! Iâm sending YOU love for the battles you have won. đ«¶đ»âšâ€ïžđÂ
đđ©”Thank you for being there with me, for giving me the honor, and being childlike with me today! It is always an honor and a joy!
XOXO, Sasha
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đđ§If ya'll need some yummy Fall Treats as we enter the Thanksgiving season, I got you covered! Check out these recipes, they've been my favorite for years now!
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Vanilla Chai Frosting
Pumpkin Shortbread Bars + Cinnamon Clove Streusel Crumble
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