Style: Yin/Yang
Teacher: Guy Tardif
Studio: Rama Lotus

Waking up this morning, I had to check the calender to make sure that I hadn't slept through two months. No, it's still March. The world outside says otherwise, looking like a gorgeous sunny day in mid-May. I realize yoga is all about detachment, but there's nothing I can do about it. I'm completely attached to this warm weather. Please don't go.

Out under the baby-blue skies, listening to the birds chirping with delight, I'm sharing in their enthusiasm and basking in the beauty of the world around me. With all my windows rolled down, my speakers turned all the way up, I'm on my way to Rama Lotus for a two-hour Yin/Yang extravaganza. There is a freedom inherent in the Yin/Yang style and today turns out to be a very unique version. We pulse and throb in and out of every pose, fluidly deepening the postures in a way that is new for me. The sequence starts out very Yang and breaks down nicely, degenerating into the healing Yin positions. All the while the Sun is beaming in through the windows, splashing across me and my mat. Sunshine is such an incredibly rejuvenating, life-providing phenomena and I feel like a photosynthesizing plant, absorbing the nutrients and vitality. By the end my spirits are taller then the Himalayas, towering at such great heights and showing no sign of landing any time soon.

Style: Yin/Yang
Teacher: Laurie Howe
Studio: Rama Lotus

The entire Universe has a pulse. It's great to be back at Rama Lotus. It feels like I've been away for a long time. Laurie's Yin/Yang sequence tonight was original. She explained how everything has a pulse, that nothing is stagnant. When the body is locked in a pose, it's actually still in motion. She designed the Yang portion of the class with that in mind, pulsing in and out of the poses, keeping everything fluid. Rama Lotus is a studio of such quality, and I love being a part of it.

In a stroke of good luck, I won 30 free classes. I received the call last week, just before I left for the Ashram. Unbeknownst to me, anyone who took a class in the new Sun room during its first two weeks was entered into a draw, and they happened to pick my name. My bank account let out a long sigh of relief - that's a third of my challenge paid for. I'm incredibly grateful, and I'm excited to get back into the rhythm. Spring is in the air and it's getting warmer outside. Soon the snow will melt away and the Sun will shine, and all the plant-life will wake up and stretch. With another day off tomorrow, the world is my oyster. It's simple. I'm happy.

Style: Yin/Yang
Teacher: Abe Cartland
Studio: Rama Lotus

My sister is a genius. Today Maria added the finishing touches to her application for Ryerson's fashion program, and her portfolio is absolutely incredible. After sending a few champagne corks flying in the spirit of celebration, I remember that it's Friday night. Every yoga studio will be closing early. Scanning the evening schedule, my eyes omit the word Yang from the class description. Thinking I would be making my way through submissive Yin poses for an hour and a half, tonight's session begins with an intensive Ashtanga-influenced Yang sequence. As we move into the balancing postures I'm greeted by a host of champagne bubbles, tilting the room from left to right. Focusing my Drishti for dear life, I somehow manage to keep myself from toppling over onto the hardwood floors. As I enter the Yin portion I find myself in sheer bliss.

Leaving class and making my way back home, I manage to find myself a quiet corner and a laptop as the ceiling above nearly caves in under stomping feet, clinking bottles and pounding music. It's Friday night and quiet corners are hard to come by. Seizing the moment I throw fingertips to laptop keys, digesting tonight's transition. This challenge has taught me to genuinely enjoy my own company. I want to be present as time unfolds around me. I want to be awake in the face of life itself. I want to understand.

Style: Yin/Yang
Teacher: Tara Porter
Studio: Rama Lotus

Dark and light, female and male, low and high, hot and cold... Yin and Yang. This style of yoga is a combination of the receptive, releasive Yin aspects with the more assertive, muscle oriented Yang. Different teachers decide how they mix and incorporate the two styles into their sequence, making for a different experience every time. This is the first class I've ever taken with Tara, and she seems to have her own distinct unique style. Today was much more of an emphasis on Yin, with Yang elements in the middle, and ending with deep Yin twists. Her style of Yin was different then other instructors I've met, really taking long periods of time in each posture.

Today my mind was relaxed and quieter then the night before. Moving through the end portion of spinal twists, feelings of deep relaxation began to well up from within, sending soothing energy through my whole body out to the tips of my fingers. Floating into the final relaxation pose I felt more like the observer of my own thoughts then their creator. It was almost like they were foreign individual beings, passing through the plains of my mind like a colorful, noisy and expressive caravan full of chattering characters and wild circus performers. Tara explained that negative energy is released through the softening of connective tissues, echoing Ichih's words last night. That the energy needed to pass through you on its way out, and to not be surprised if you were suddenly feeling angry out of nowhere. This time I seemed to view the thoughts from afar as they began to make their way further into the distances, being replaced with luxurious relaxation and moments later I drifted off into sleep, a dreamland... or somewhere in between.