Image Credit: NC Botanical Garden. Springtime at the Garden - Bloodroot and Trillium
Written By Ainslee Cunningham
We are grateful for the opportunity to teach at the NC Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill again this spring!
On Sunday, March 31st, 10:00 a.m. EST Sam Sather, founder of Dogwood Studio, will be presenting an online dharma talk on behalf of Insight Yoga Online Community. Insight Yoga Online Community Presents “The Six Perfections.” This 60-minute workshop will weave in discussion, meditation, optional yin poses, and self-inquiry. Sign Up on IYI’s website here.
Starting April 4, we will be offering yoga outdoors, Yoga in the Garden, on Thursday evenings at 5:45pm. Join the Dogwood Team in the Perennial Garden to wind down your day this April, May, and June! Sign up on our website using your Dogwood Momence account.
Imagine: you are standing on the Earth, your feet sinking into the soft grass below you. The wind gently brushes your skin, the sun’s warmth gently caresses your face. The birds chirp, the bees buzz, even the occasional car honks, the sounds filling your ears. Looking around, you see a grove of trees, their buds just starting to burst open. Your senses are fully immersed in your surroundings- you are present to the moment. You are practicing yoga.
Studies have shown the many benefits of spending time immersed in nature, ranging from (but not limited to!) reducing stress hormones in the body to lowering blood pressure, to boosting the mood and self-esteem. There is something very calming and restoring about immersing oneself in the presence of nature: it can take us out of the typical spiraling of everyday life and bring us back to the natural spirals and rhythms that are always there, always at play.
The spring offers us a unique opportunity to observe the ever-changing quality of nature (called anicca in Buddhism). Each week, the phrenology of the trees changes: from bud to flower, leaf buds to leaves. The perennials start to wake up and emerge, starting with the spring ephemerals before the leaves even bud out, and continuing to the spring flowers we may love! Practicing at the Garden this Spring offers such a beautiful opportunity to witness this change, this anicca, this emergence, and to perhaps even notice this quality in ourselves: how each time we arrive to the mat, we are anew.
Join us as we deepen our practice in the presence of the plant, tree, and animal friends at the Garden in the beautiful refuge of the Perennial Circle.. Register for Outdoor Yoga at the Garden Jon our website here.
Map of NC Botanical Garden highlighting the Perennial Circle, the location of Yoga in the Garden.
Reach out to us with your questions at info@dogwoodstudioyoga.com. We are here to help. ❤️❤️❤️
Ainslee Cunningham is a 200-hour registered yoga teacher (RYT) who is deeply inspired and influenced by nature. Ainslee aspires to support people with the mind-body connection of yoga, especially those affected by addiction and trauma. She is committed to exploring how we embody the elements of the natural world and how we can deepen our connection to the Earth’s natural rhythms.
SAM Sather, founder of Dogwood Studios, is a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT) and an Insight Yoga Institute (IYI) endorsed teacher. She individualizes the yoga practice with appropriate modifications for participants’ unique bodies and medical histories with a focus on finding calm and improving health. She offers several live, online and in person yoga classes as well as private sessions so you can focus on your needs one-on-one.
