A slow flow class that opens the shoulders and side body takes you through dancing warriors, breath of joy, handstand hops, and backbends from the ground to strengthen the back body.

This class opens with a poem by Hafiz and a mantra for peace.

A great option for practitioners who want to move a little to release static energy and create space through a gentle flow and deep breath.

Style: Slow Flow

Duration: 40-minutes

Level: open

Props: 1 block

Focus: full-body, shoulder opening, back strengthening.

Location: Vancouver, BC

Music: Your Magnificent Self Spotify Playlist

Poem from class: They Call to You to Sing by Hafiz

Stones are longing for what you know.

If they had the graceful movements

Of your feet and tongue,

They would not stop laughing

Between their ecstatic dance steps and unbroken praise.

Your heart beats inside a sacred drum,

Its skin is tanned and stretched—

Our skin is alive and stretched—

With the wild molecules of [our] Wondrous Existence.

Your mind and eyes are an immense silk cloth

Upon which all your thoughts and movements paint.

Your soul once sat on an easel on my knee.

For ages I have been sketching you

With myriad shapes of sound and light;

Now awake, dear pilgrim,

With your thousand swaying arms

That need to caress the Sky.

Now awake with your love for the Friend and Creation,

Help this Old Tavern Sweeper, Hafiz,

To celebrate.

No more enemies from this golden view—

All who have entered this holy mountain cave

Have dropped their shields and swords.

We all cook together around a fire

Our yearning music builds.

We share our tools and instruments and plates;

We are companions on this earth

As the sun and planets are in the sky.

We are all sentries at our sacred humble posts.

The stones and stars envy the movements

Of your legs and tongue

And call to you to sing on their behalf.

The atoms in your cells and limbs are full of wonderful talents;

They dance in the Hidden Choir [we] conduct.

Don’t sleep tonight, dear pilgrim,

So I can lead you on my white mare to [the] Summer House.

This love you now have for the Truth

Will never forsake you.

Your joys and sufferings on this arduous path

Are lifting your worn veil like a rising stage curtain

And will surely reveal your Magnificent Self

So that you can guide this world…

In the Hidden Choir

[Of the Divine] and [their] friends will forever

Conduct.

For more yoga classes with Clara Roberts-Oss, join Practice with Clara Virtual Yoga Studio - ⁠⁠⁠start your free trial today⁠⁠⁠!

Janet Stone: Sangha, Mantra, and Sadhana

#PracticeWithClara PodcastBy Clara Roberts-OssDec 08, 2020