Full circle

I mention in classes often that yoga and life is a mandala. We experience life in a cyclical fashion and even though we may go through the mandala again, it's completely different because we're different as we stick to a path of continual evolution. 

Amazing yogis working hard

Way back in 2009 when I first started fumbling my way through word and sequencing, I had the great opportunity of meeting Sherri and Warren. Two practitoners that had the most amazing practices and showed me what dedication looked like. They would come to my Tuesday and Saturday classes every week and stand today as part of the original crew of only a handful of students that I met in my early days. It was a bittersweet day when the pair sold all their belongings and cashed it all in for a new life... they travelled the world and ended up settling in Bangkok, Thailand and opened a studio just in the last year. 

En route to Bali for my own retreat, Sherri and Warren invited me to stop by Bangkok to come teach and be their first international teacher to lead a weekend workshop. What an amazing honour to be invited and with zero hesitation, I agreed with so much gratitude. 

Sharing my love of song to get in the bhav

It comes full circle... I got to take a class with Sherri and got to experience the dream in real live technicolour. What an AMAZING studio you have built and what an incredible community of shiny and bright human beings. Yogatique Bangkok is doing something so incredible and amazing. I have practiced and taught all around the world and this studio stands toe to toe with some of the best in its delivery of community, heart, passion, love and understanding. It is certainly a gem hidden in the craziness of Bangkok. 

I am honoured... I am blessed. 
Thank you to everybody who came to play, laugh and share in this yoga I love so much.

Thank you especially to Sherri and Warren for always being a light and pillar of support. For taking a leap of faith in inviting me to come. I loved every second. :)

Here's the playlist set for all four classes... 

Adieu...

The year is 2009 and it's September.

I'm a bright eyed and bushy tailed teacher fresh out of yoga teacher training with absolutely zero experience under my belt and eagerly seeking out work to share in this newfound love of yoga and teaching it.

Enter, Frank T of Sanguine Yoga.

Now, I don't know where life will take me in a year's time or in a decade's time but I will always remember, honour and cherish the fact that this is the studio that gave Kate W. Mak her first chance. I grew up as a teacher in this studio, I found my voice here and it was here that I started to understand the seat of a teacher. There have been many friendships that have formed here and many tears that were shed and many laughs that rang through the class and hallways here.

I remember the first classes I taught and how I would get so flustered, nervous or forgetful that I had my students in child's pose so many times in a class so that I could try to remember exactly what happened. I'll also remember the first time my classes filled to capacity and what a thrill that was for me to experience. Because the first classes I taught, there would sometimes only be 3-5 people. I remember even teaching to just 2 people on a Saturday morning class which near the end of my Saturday run, would fill to capacity and we even had to turn people away.

There are so many emotions that bubble to the surface when I walk down memory lane. Sanguine holds many beautiful moments for me... moments of great joy and growth, moments where I was so vulnerable that I broke down in tears, moments of budding friendships and moments of powerful and earth shattering exposure of the heart.

It has been with extremely careful and lengthy consideration that I am amicably and respectfully bowing out of the studio after nearly 5.5 years of service at Sanguine. I love you all for everything you have taught me (more than you will ever know) and for every moment of raw and amazing humanity that has inspired me so.

I will be teaching the next two Saturdays at Sanguine to the end of January and would LOVE to have you there to share, laugh and groove together. :)

Ever in your service and with so much love.

Namaste.

Kate's yoga teaching schedule

Designing your life...

Recently, there have been two pieces that have been floating about social media that touts on how we shouldn't be jealous of people's social media feeds because we always present the best portions of our lives to share with the world around us. I agree and disagree with the Elephant Journal article and the Youtube video. It almost seems to put people into two different camps when really... we're all in it together.

I love social media and the power it has to connect with so many individuals and to catch up with your friends. I would be the first to say that I have embraced social media for all its glory and all its flaws as well.

But what bothers me about the article and the video is that there's a negative spin to them both. Them against me or me versus them mentality. When I think about my social media feeds, they are exactly what the article and the video is pointing towards... but the truth is, my life really is this awesome.

It wasn't always this way though... and 7 years ago, I would say I was a very different person. A person, I wouldn't even recognize today. She had spells where she could be quite bitter, jealous, mean and all of it stemmed from the fact that she was just truly very sad with life. Even ~3.5 years ago when I came out of a tumultuous and detrimental relationship, I wasn't in the best place.

We hear of amazing success stories and seldom we will hear about the tears, the hardships, the rejections, the heartbreak and the sorrow. I am not going to suggest that those things don't exist. They most certainly do, but what good is it to continue to put it on blast?

How I see it, you can make a decision to take your time and learn the important lessons and continue to forge forward. You are allowed to feel the emotions that arise along the path for however long you need but suffering the suffering and dwelling in it is a poison that will not fare you well.

I have designed this life I have and as I evolve so does the design.

It took years and continues to take hard work and showing up every single day. It takes time in sitting down and asking myself (and answering honestly) what I want. It takes goal setting. It takes asking and receiving help from others. It takes dedication. It takes courage to walk away from situations or relationships that are poisoning or holding me back.

I was and am equally susceptible to the heartbreak, to the mistakes, to disappointments and to the tears.

Every misstep is simply an opportunity to learn and fine tune your radar and skill set to forge forward stronger on your path.

Design your life.
Ain't nobody else going to do it for you.

One year post flood

Last year threw me for a loop, that much I can say. I wasn't even going to evacuate my top floor apartment building. How bad could it be? Really?

I gathered bare essentials, assuming I would be out for maybe a day... Little did I know.

It took just over 6 months for me to return back home and in that time frame, I learned a lot. Patience was tried and tested time and time again with my management company (don't even get me started) and my heart was blown open by how many people stepped to the plate to offer me their home.

In fact, I shuttled between two homes in a week with the generosity of friends. Staying Tuesday night to Thursday night at one place and then Friday through till Monday at another. It was taxing and emotionally / physically exhausting. It gave me a whole new appreciation for what I have and every single day I open the door to my wee apartment, I smile and give gratitude.

Countless people asked if I needed anything without hesitation. Even strangers I have never met and will never meet, donated money to the Red Cross for flood relief... Which I did use to help me cover the cost of being out of home. Thank you so much!!

The community is resilient and has bounced back even stronger. I love this. Just in awe of everything and how people banding together creates such positivity.

Over the flood anniversary weekend, I attended the mission-cliff bungalow BBQ and had so much fun in the sun, with amazing music, with friends and hot firefighters (What? That's the truth).
I co-taught a class with the every lovely and wonderful Candace Cooke at Santosha and we packed the room to the gills with all the amazing people showing up to show the mission possible pride! I am honoured. I am blessed.

Thank you thank you thank you!!!!

Back from ballin' in Bali

Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow!

That's really what I want to say about the retreat in Bali. It was the 5th retreat I have run but the first one I ran on my very own from start to finish.

It was a very scary decision to make in committing to it on my own. What if I wouldn't get enough people? What if I couldn't handle it? What if they thought my curriculum was terrible? What if, what if, what if... All of those what if's were based in fear. I refused to listen and forged forward knowing deep in my heart of hearts, I could!

Thank you to all the incredible staff at SoulShine Bali! I cannot believe how amazing you all are and I can't wait to see you all again in 2015 (what? Hint hint, 2015 retreat).

Thank you to everybody who took that leap of faith... Many traveling transpacific for the first time to Bali! It's not an easy journey to make nor is it a comfortable one. I cannot even begin to explain to you just how much you all mean to me while you held the space and welcomed me so openly into your practice and into your lives while holding me up while I opened and exposed my vulnerability to you.

There was a tremendous amount of growth for me at that retreat. I learned so much about myself, about teaching, about leading, about following and about life.

You all gave me the strength to let go to move forward. None of us are impervious to life's curveballs and hang ups and it's always with the support of old and new friends that you learn to ride it out.

For the closing ceremony, I shared a very special and sacred part of myself (I will share more about this in a later post, it is something I am still terrified to write). A small token to remind us to always listen to your intuition and to run as fast as possible with your heart over the fence towards great joy and love.

If you believe you can, you're already halfway there. Don't stop now... The world waits for you with bated breath for all your greatness.