Tag: yoga

Posted on

Happy New Year?

Why wasn’t I this inquisitive when I was in high school?

Woman on settee offering a small singing bowl.
AKERA Experience in the Sanctuary


Join me January 30-February 2, 2025 in Woodbourne, NY to cultivate optimism, find balance and plant the seeds for kindness.

Learn more here:
https://primulacerebri.com/

Contact me here:
https://primulacerebri.com/contact/

Space is limited.
Contact me for discounted rates.

“Happy New Year!” we’re encouraged to say. Do we mean it? Sometimes. There is much we say because it is what’s expected of us and not because it’s what’s really on our minds. I know I sound like a killjoy but really I want to feel honest about the sentiments I convey. Just like so many things, the new year is a human construct developed to help us make collective sense of our existence and it certainly isn’t always happy.

I was curious about the celebration of the new year and so I did some perfunctory internet research. I wanted to know why we didn’t recognize the shift in time during a solstice or equinox, or why not during one of the full or new moons. There are other celestial and seasonal events like harvests to consider. How did the notion of the sun rotating around the earth or that of a flat earth impact our recognition of the passage of time? I also ask myself why I wasn’t this inquisitive when I was in high school.

I learned that much of what I mention above was, at one point, considered to be the culmination or initiation of the year. After mathematicians, the Catholic Church and others got a hold of it though, and in an effort to standardize, our current Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1582 replacing the Julian calendar.

This is all likely more than you wanted to know. Regardless, I have found myself increasingly nonplussed by the relentless marking of time but not the passing of time. I am increasingly excited by seasons, the phases of the moon, the changing geometry of the angle at which the sun hits the earth and when things grow and die. The numbers on the calendar are helpful, as maps are, but there is so much more to make note of.

My New Year’s message is to not take the gifts of this life for granted. Stay observant and see what you notice. Enjoy asparagus in the spring and apples in the autumn. If you’re lucky you will age. If you’re lucky you will not but you will have taken the time to bask in what your time on this earth, in this vessel, your body, had to offer. If you’re motivated you will continue to learn and stay curious.

As difficult as it is to cultivate optimism in the face of the current political and global climate I feel the need to try. The practice of Yoga recognizes that we all have the potential to uplift the human condition and not just our own conditions.

Woman looking out the window onto a winter scene.
AKERA Experience in The Grand Chalet

This is not lost on me and yet I’d be lying if I said that this is not a challenge. At the same time the notion of my own state of mind, the power of meditation and the individual contributions of so many having the ability to make the world a kinder, more gentle place fills me with hope.

And now…. Happy New Year!

Join me January 30-February 2, 2025 in Woodbourne, NY to cultivate optimism, find balance and plant the seeds for kindness.

Learn more here: https://primulacerebri.com/
Contact me here: https://primulacerebri.com/contact/

Posted on

Retreat! Finally… 👏

Join Primula/Cerebri for a Winter Renewal weekend in the Catskills January 30-February 2, 2025

Woman in a hot tub in the snow.

AKERA retreat center, Woodbourne, New York
https://akera.us/

I am proud to announce my often requested Catskills retreat. This four day, three night event will center around Balance (Sattva) and intention (Sankalpa) and all are welcome.

While the idea of the new year is one of human construct, the rotations of the sun and seasons on which our calendars are based are natural constants. At this retreat, we will harness the restorative power of winter to prepare for spring’s awakening. We will together honor the energetic quality of Sattva or balance and the promise of Sankalpa, structuring personal affirmations for achieving your potential.

This event will be ideal for:

  • Anyone wanting to explore relationships between asana, yoga’s physical practice, and how it evolves when partnered with energy practices
  • People interested in yogic practices for energy manipulation
  • Anyone wanting to initiate a shift in their existence (spoiler alert, we will not be goal setting nor making resolutions unless of course you want to)
  • Anyone needing a change of scenery and desiring peace

What you can expect:

  1. Twice daily yoga practices incorporating yoga Nidra, directed slow flow, restorative asana and meditation
  2. All meals – 3 plant-based breakfasts, 3 plant based lunches, 3 plant based dinners
  3. Cozy accommodations 
  4. A silent space for contemplation
  5. Time and space to explore your own creativity
  6. Available massage
  7. Focused exploration of yoga’s philosophy surrounding limiting beliefs, the Gunas and energy bodies
  8. Personal time for reflection or whatever you want
  9. A sound healing experience and cacao ceremony
  10. Unlimited access to two hot tubs and a sauna
  11. A beautiful, natural environment to be enjoyed as the weather permits

For information about the Gunas follow this link.

http://primulacerebri.com/uncategorized/searching-for-sattva/

A post focusing on Sankalpa will be available soon.

Pricing (Early Bird pricing remains in effect). Payment plans are available. Space is limited.

Triple room      EB $1150        Reg $1250

Double room   EB $1250        Reg $1350

Single room     EB $1500        Reg $1600

Day passes available for Friday and Saturday will be $250 per day.  Day passes will include all meals for the day registered, practices and use of the facility.

There are some rooms that will accommodate couples at a double room rate.

Contact tracy@primulacerebri.com for more information.

Posted on

Why Primula/Cerebri

What seems like a long time ago now I chose an email address, I guess it was actually a long time ago. I chose “Daisybrain”. When occasionally asked, “why?” I didn’t have a good answer. I suppose I’m a little scattered, accident prone, flighty. Over the years I kind of became known as The Daisybrain and I embraced it. Some people who didn’t know me well called me Daisy, my name is Tracy. When it came time to name my yoga business, I didn’t want to use Daisybrain for obvious reasons. My partner in all his infinite wisdom said I should look up what Daisybrain might be in Latin. I looked it up and that’s how Primula/Cerebri came to be. What started out as word play has taken on new meaning though.

Not to fall into the category of meme, and not to be any kind of all encompassing, I continue to consider our individual blossoming and how our bodies, brains, energies and spirits evolve when exposed to yoga in all its guises. I have come to recognize the power of Primula/Cerebri as something more than “Daisybrain” and in fact I think I have become more grounded in the process, a little less of the Daisybrain. I still bang into things though.

I guess it’s important to note that this is not a true translation. I mean, really, how could one convey the meaning of our modern day daisybrain in Latin. Maybe you can, but I’m not a Classics scholar. It turns out that Primula is more akin to the genus that includes the primrose in its varying forms, or so the Internet tells me, and Cerebri is translated as, “of or relating to the brain or intellect.” I mean, that’s not bad. Regardless, I am happy with the results.

In my teaching and and in my own practice I continue to make these connections, considering how the breath presents in the body and impacts energy and spirit. I continue to explore yogic philosophies and Tantra focusing on the subtle body. I have joined the teaching faculty at Brooklyn Flow (Park Slope Brooklyn, New York) where I teach emerging teachers about the Koshas, Chakras, Gunas, etc., using pranayama, meditation and mostly restorative asana. I have developed a deeper curiosity surrounding our nervous system and how yogic practices impact our responses to stimuli. The learning is infinite and it is a joy to observe the continuum.

I am finding a voice for all this discovery, and will launch a retreat product soon. This retreat will celebrate the new year with a country weekend in the Catskills focusing on Satva and Sankalpa. The particulars are gelling and I will announce more soon.

Expect some sharing exploring the ideas of Satva and Sankalpa shortly.

Best.

Tracy

#primulacerebri
#presentofpresence

Posted on

How I Fell in Love With Sun Breath

As the next stage of my yoga education comes to a close and I reflect back on the last six months there is so much to take in. 

We began in a studio then all hell broke loose. We left the studio and stayed home and miraculously our learning continued as the studio beautifully transitioned all its learning to the Zoom platform. There were workshops and asana classes and lectures and posture labs and practice teaching and pranayama and meditation and, and, and…. Then all hell broke loose a second time as the collective wound of systemic racism was opened again, this time with a force to be reckoned with like we haven’t seen for decades. I looked on with anger and sadness as more lives were torn apart with looting in the face of protests. I became more and more afraid of the aftermath of us experiencing 1918 and 1968 at the same time, welcome 2020. I put my head in my hands as I listened to company after company vow to support Black Lives Matter and pledge to be more inclusive as they have done countless times before. I did Sun Breath, a lot.

I have always loved the revelatory nature of my yoga practice. When I think about the number of downward facing dogs I’ve done, that we’ve all done, the mind reels. If each one were the same the practice would have lost its appeal long ago. But they are never the same. Each one is proof of our malleable nature, changing day to day, moment to moment. Like much of what we do, it’s something that deserves attention and not something to be rushed nor taken for granted.

Enter Sun Breath. That thing that I have been rushing and taking for granted.

As expressed in my previous posts in March and April I injured both my ankles. Those injuries are still impacting my mobility. I want to think that I would have tuned in to my breath even if that had not happened but I’ll never know and I have to be OK with that. As I continued my practice I found that at moments when I might have strived for greater length, depth, balance, I found my breath, reliable, steady, calming.

Sun breath has saved me as it has become my “go to” for staying balanced, focused. It has allowed me to explore my inner landscape in new ways. It is now given the respect it deserves and I will no longer take it for granted.