Instagram September Yoga Challenge
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Contest Details
— I N T E N T I O N —
This is designed to teach you the foundational asana of a yoga class + inspire the magic behind the practice. Every day, we will post the energetic intentions behind physical poses on @sufeyyoga and personal stories and revelations on @sufeychen.
— P R I Z E S —
To sweeten the deal, @hellyeahpg (Hell Yeah Prince George! ) will offer a daily local prize to a daily winner of our choosing. If you enter all 30 days, you are entered to win a $108 GC to any Sufey Yoga offering — teacher trainings, private sessions, festival passes, etc. All prizes will be awarded on September 30th at our PG Sprit Festival launch party (details TBA!)
— L O C A T I O N —
Contest is open to yogis and yogis-to-be anywhere in the world. Play along to deepen your practice! The final $108 GC can be used for any Sufey Yoga offering, online or in-personal locally and internationally.
— W I N —
1) Repost our contest photo on your Instagram account and tag @sufeyyoga #sufeyyoga (make sure your account is set to public so we can see!)@sufeychen @sufeyyoga @hellyeahpg @sufeychen @sufeyyoga @hellyeahpg and hashtag #sufeyyoga #hypg on your daily posts so we can find you and give you prizes!
Receive this gift as a month of free online yoga guidance, and feel free to connect with Sufey Chen for support! ♥
— P A R T I E S —
We kick off this challenge with the New Moon Ecstatic Dance! at Sufey’s home on September 1st, and close with the PG Spirit Festival launch party (details TBA) on September 30th.
— M E D I A —
We are delighted to have Hell Yeah Prince George as our formal media & prize sponsor. Learn more about the contest on their website here !
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Daily Poses
— P O S E S —
This is the list of daily poses, so you can practice and play as we go. Get creative with your posts! We love seeing new angles and perspectives, hearing your stories and insights and answering your questions. ♥
1 Mountain
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[ut_tab title=”Tadasana | Mountain Pose” id=”t3″]
T A D A S A N A | Mountain Pose
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T A D A S A N A || mountain pose day 1 || september yoga challenge #sufeyyoga #hypg I N T R O D U C T I O N || When I think of Tadasana, the first thing that comes to mind is “TA DA! … I am here.” For me, this is the pose that accentuates the difference between simply existing and truly living. It is easy to undervalue this pose, to pass by its wisdom and take it for granted. It is easy to stand in an unconscious way — to slouch into familiar patterns, falling prey to shallow breath and a distracted mind. But Tadasana teaches us to stand firm in our foundation, knowing that our devotion and diligence in building our base will serve us in all that is to come. Focus on taking things one step at a time. Start by inviting your full presence into this pose. Everything starts here. P H Y S I C A L || Find a comfortable standing pose, feet together or hip width apart, a place where you feel steady and strong. Root the balls of your feet into the earth as you lift your arches. Bend your knees slightly and feel your quadriceps activate, then gently lift the knees while keeping the activation. Find a comfortable neutrality in your pelvis. Draw your core in and up. Soften the shoulders. Reach tall through the crown of your head. Allow the fingertips to curl slightly, palms facing forwards to receive healing energy, or press your hands together into a prayer. Take five deep breaths. E N E R G E T I C || As you inhale, feel energy rising from the balls of your feet to the crown of your head. As you exhale, feel energy flowing back down into the earth. With each breath, envision roots growing down from your feet to the earth, drawing nourishment back up into the body. Experience solidity in your body. Earthing. Grounding. Envision yourself as a mighty mountain, unshakable in your presence. I N Q U I R Y || Am I fully present with myself? Am I rushing to the next thing, clinging to past things, thinking about other things, or fully here with the experience of now? P L A Y || Share your own experience of Tadasana with us! Tag @sufeychen, @sufeyyoga, @hellyeahpg and hashtag #sufeyyoga #hypg so we can find you, follow along, and reward you. Love, Sufey
A post shared by Sufey Tribe (@sufeytribe) on Sep 1, 2016 at 7:07am PDT
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T A D A S A N A ll mountain pose day 1 ll september yoga challenge #sufeyyoga #hypg S H A K I N G T H E F O U N D A T I O N ll The very first week I moved to Maui, I lost my favourite shoes. Somewhere between drum circles and dance church, they sha-shuffled off never to be seen again. What I didn’t know then was that along with my suede soles went the enslavement of my soul — and I was yet to experience liberation like I had never experienced before. In a slowly growing freedom I had long since forgotten, my then-shaky foundation was shaken some more. All the things I had been conditioned into believing weren’t so believable anymore. The things I thought I needed. The things I thought I had to do to get the things I thought I needed. Somehow, now, things had shifted. I wasn’t interested in any of it anymore. I N S I G H T S ll The work of questioning our very foundation is the wisdom and challenge of Tadasana. Who am I? What do I believe? What am I really here for? In order to experience the heights of our fulfillment, we must dig deep down into understanding our primal roots and firming a healthful foundation. Tadasana invites us to notice our relationship with grounding, manifestation, commitment and presence. Eventually, our work with the solidity of Tadasana will offer us an inner home everywhere we go. I N Q U I R Y ll What are my core foundational beliefs? Where did they come from? Are these beliefs serving me or hurting me? P L A Y ll Share your own experience of Tadasana with us — the more creative, the better. You can riff off our inquiry, ask us your questions, or offer your own wisdom and revelations. Tag @sufeychen, @sufeyyoga and @hellyeahpg in your post and hashtag #sufeyyoga #hypg so we can find you, follow along, repost your stories and reward you. Winners announced each night! Love, Sufey
A post shared by Sufey Chen (@sufeychen) on Sep 1, 2016 at 7:09am PDT
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T A D A S A N A || mountain pose day 1 || september yoga challenge #sufeyyoga #hypg C O M I N G H O M E || The more I travel around the world, the more I love coming home. The comfortable familiarity of this golden city reflects the magic of metamorphosis to me. As I dance down old streets soaked in sweet young memories, I am starkly aware of how much I have grown. Shed. Released. Transformed. Every time I return, I come back a little lighter, a little more free. A little more conscious, a little more me. In many ways, Prince George is my Tadasana. It is the place I return to at the top of my mat. It will forever be a home to me. A place where I return to breathe. Rest. Return to my intention. O F F T H E M A T || The more we root down in Tadasana, the more we can rise. This principle applies to everything in life. When we give to our communities, offering service and gratitude to others, the same energy returns to us. Today, reflect on one person in your childhood who has helped you tremendously. Write them a letter, offer them a service or unexpected gift, or if they are no longer in your life, pass on what they did for you to someone new. P R I Z E S || Our winner for the day will receive a $50 GC to Moxie’s. If you practice and play all 30 days in a row, you are entered to win a $108 GC to any @sufeyyoga offering. All prizes will be given out at our final free yoga experience + @PGspirit Festival launch party on September 30th — details TBA! P L A Y || Share your own experience of Tadasana with us — the more creative, the better. You can riff off our inquiry, ask us your questions, or offer your own wisdom and revelations. Tag @sufeychen, @sufeyyoga and @hellyeahpg in your post and hashtag #sufeyyoga #hypg so we can find you, follow along, repost your stories and reward you. Winners announced each night! Love, Sufey
A post shared by HYPG (@hellyeahpg) on Sep 1, 2016 at 7:13am PDT
— W I N N E R —
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ1TfbCjEcD
— P O S T S W E L O V E —
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Day 1 September Yoga Challenge #sufeyyoga #hypg TADASANA �� Mountain Pose … New month, New moon, and I'm finally feeling like I am where I belong. This pose is about truly living, being present, knowing where you are, what your body is doing and feeling everything 100%. I felt the grey. The skies were grey, my tights were grey, my shirt was grey, the road was grey. And I was there. In the midst of all that grey. I felt a part of it all. This month announces a new start to it all, and I feel strong and stable, the perfect pose to match my feelings. @sufeyyoga @sufeychen @hellyeahpg
A post shared by Lily Dionne (@lilyndionne) on Sep 1, 2016 at 5:53pm PDT
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ12-U4ATTb
[ut_tab title=”Utkatasana | Chair Pose” id=”t4″]
U T K A T A S A N A | Chair Pose
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U T K A T A S A N A ll chair pose day 2 ll september yoga challenge #sufeyyoga #hypg I N T R O D U C T I O N ll “Utkata” means “wild, fierce, frightening” in Sanskrit. When I sink into this pose, I think about the dual nature of power: whether it manifests as focused discipline, warmth, vitality, abundance, the wild child nature of our play and imaginings… or as the vengeance, violence, rage and destruction so present in a wounded society. The wisdom of utkatasana is to see, accept, contain and transform our power. To find strength through the burning; a commitment to sinking deeper into the spaces of challenge, resistance and uncomfortability. P H Y S I C A L ll Find solidity with your feet, either big toes touching or hip-width apart. Bend deeply the knees. Sink the hips. Pull the back of the pelvis down. Lengthen through the spine. Straighten arms to the sky as you reach through the crown of your head. Let your gaze be focused and directed, eye-level and unwavering. Take five deep breaths. E N E R G E T I C ll As you sink the hips, find a subtle lift of the pelvic floor (mula bandha – root lock). Keep this engaged as you deepen your breath. Activate the core, draw the belly in and up (uddiyana bandha – stomach lock). This is your power. Draw it in and keep it in. Imagine your pelvis yearning for the earth as your fingertips yearn for the sky, finding a long line of energy lengthening your spine. Sink deeper. Breathe. Wait. Wait until you feel the burning. When it begins to burn, stay. This is where the pose begins. Take another five breaths. When you feel the burning, ask yourself what it is that you’re here to transform. Ask yourself if you’re willing to do the work. Then sink a little deeper. When you don’t want to stay any longer, stay. Take five more breaths. Then lift, rise, take a forward fold. I N Q U I R Y ll When I am in challenging situations, what is my first response? Do I react? Do I attack? Do I run away? Or do I sink a little deeper, rooting into my strength and curiosity? P O S T ll Share your own experience of Utkatasana with us. Tag @sufeychen, @sufeyyoga and @hellyeahpg and hashtag #sufeyyoga #hypg! Love, Sufey
A post shared by Sufey Tribe (@sufeytribe) on Sep 2, 2016 at 6:47am PDT
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U T K A T A S A N A ll chair pose day 2 ll sept yoga challenge #sufeyyoga #hypg R E C L A I M I N G A N G E R ll I still remember the moment she told me. I was prepared to listen, but not at all prepared for the flood of fury that staggered into me. My student — my dear, sweet, trusting student — was laying in a deep trance after a tibetan bowl meditation. A strange man walked in and saw her in her vulnerability, as prey, touching her unguarded body in unwanted ways. In ways no one in a state of healing should ever ever ever be subject to. She told me the story the very next day. I froze. I silently raged. I walked into class and calmly told my girls to take a fifteen minute break. Then I walked out into the hot hot Indonesian sun and screamed. The burning cement scorched my naked feet and my body revelled in the pain. Kali had arrived. With a terrific and terrifying shriek, teeth-baring, sword-swinging, she came, ready to fight through the ancestral pain. Ready to slice through the silence of the sweet docile feminine told to sit pretty and zip her lips and to ‘keep this a secret, dear’. It is no secret that the secrets will suffocate you if you keep them kept inside. They will seep into you like a baby asleep in a running car sipping in carbon monoxide in a locked garage — this is not the way we are meant to die. Morbid, I know. But there is nothing more morbid than meeting the empty hollow eyes of those who have been shamed into silence. There is nothing kind in allowing ourselves to die when we are meant to be awake, alive. Too much is hush-hushed in the name of spirituality. No more. Not now. It’s time to sink down our hips and call in our power and live fiercely in our truth. There is so much more I want to say… but I’m out of space today. Please know that your truth is always welcome here. We are listening. We care. We’re here to go deeper together. I N Q U I R Y ll What is my relationship with anger? Do I have any unresolved or unspoken wounds that trigger me? How do I respond in those moments? How have they manifested in unconscious ways? Do I suppress myself or lash out at others? Do I take responsibility for my actions? Love, Sufey
A post shared by Sufey Chen (@sufeychen) on Sep 2, 2016 at 6:55am PDT
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U T K A T A S A N A ll chair pose day 2 ll september yoga challenge #sufeyyoga #hypg F I N D I N G V I T A L I T Y ll When I was a small child, I was nicknamed the little monkey. I climbed into, onto, over, under, around, everything, everything, everything. I’d hop over tables, shimmy up trees, sporting strong callused fingers and forever scraped knees. On warm summer nights, I’d sneak out my windowsill to the tippy-tip of the rooftop. Feeling like The Luckiest Girl In The World, I’d wrap myself up in fat fuzzy blankets and gaze into the endless sky, dreaming of life among the shooting stars. As we grow older, we are too often told to “sit still” and “get real” and “don’t touch that” and “please just grow up”. Sometimes we are told so many times that we start to believe what the mad people are saying. But we may not realize at the time that the people who try to chain others down are the ones who are chained themselves. And I promise you that sitting down and shutting up does nobody a smidge of good. Dimming your light is the greatest disservice to the world. The greatest gift you can give to the world is to find your happy and keep it shining bright. O F F T H E M A T ll Our power is in our play. So re-awaken your curiosity today. Climb up things, sink your hips, wiggle your booty low low low. Make awkward pose extra awkward by doing it in an awkward unlikely place. Maybe laugh like a maniac while you’re at it. Pull in your power, baby, and gear up for a great day! P R I Z E S ll Our winner for the day will receive $40 worth of cupcakes from Bites of Bliss. Yum yum serious yum! If you practice and play all 30 days in a row, you are entered to win a $108 GC to any @sufeyyoga offering. All prizes will be given out at our final free yoga experience + @PGspirit Festival launch party on September 30th (details TBA!). Love, Sufey
A post shared by HYPG (@hellyeahpg) on Sep 2, 2016 at 7:01am PDT
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