A prenatal yoga student of mine recently had her baby (she was delighted to announce that she’d had a natural unmedicated VBAC! – consciously honoring her birth plan), and inquired with me about attending the prenatal yoga class as a postnatal student. She wasn’t sure if it would seem out of place for a non-pregnant woman to attend the prenatal class. I was so excited that she asked the question that doesn’t get asked but is probably contemplated by many women. You may wonder how yoga or any of your previous practices fit into your life post-baby. From the general upheaval of life-as-we-know-it with a new baby in the house, to a body that is healing from the experience of labor and birth, to sleepless nights and busy days… how does a woman return to her yoga practice?

The answer: one step at a time. The prenatal yoga class that I teach is gentle enough that it is suitable for postpartum women (with the proper clearance to resume activities). It is offered one night a week, for one hour. I’d encourage women who are looking for a way to find their yoga practice once again to find that one hour a week to begin. The asanas offered during prenatal yoga class are the very same asanas that can help to re-tone the parts of the body most utilized during labor and delivery. The meditative focus on breath that helped you to maintain a quiet, centered space during labor can help you to find that clear space within yourself that may be shrouded by all of the sounds and demands of motherhood. And let’s face it, it can make for a wonderful MNO (that’s Mom’s Night Out for those who aren’t in “the club” yet). It’s more of an MNI… going inside of yourself.

So, do come join us at the Prenatal Yoga classes for your Postnatal yoga practice. I am certain you’ll find it to be the perfect way to nurture yourself.

Prenatal/Postnatal Yoga is offered on Friday nights from 6-7 PM at The Yoga Way, 2 Commerce Court suite #3 (on Rt. 376), Wappingers Falls, NY near the Entirely You day spa.  To register, please call The Yoga Way at 845.227.3223, or email me at dragonflyinfo@earthlink.net .  Additional information about the yoga programs offered at the Yoga Way may be found at www.yogaway.info .

I have extraordinary talented friends in my life. People who are gifted with talents in the arts, music, healing, food, design, birth, and more. Equally extraordinary is the humanitarian spirit within my friends.

I’m taking a moment to share a couple of ways that you can help the people who are survivors of the Haitian earthquake, including children who have lost their families.

Melissa Surprise, of Surprise Photography, is participating in Lenses of Love – if you are booking a session with her, she’s donating the sitting fee to Lenses of Love’s relief project. See more here:
http://surprisephotography.com/blog/

Courtenay Budd Caramico, soprano, lives in our own neighborhood! She released a CD for disaster relief entitled Sleep Is Behind the Door – a collection of beautifully arranged lullabies. The proceeds (all of the profits) are donated to Haitian relief efforts.
http://www.courtenaybudd.com/
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/courtenaybudd

I’ll be sharing more over the upcoming weeks, but wanted to highlight these artists and share that giving aid can be easy and can especially be enjoyable. Please check it out!

Joyful greetings and happy new year! We have passed through the threshold of a brand new decade, after completing the first one of the new millennium.

The entry into a new decade can prompt pause and reflection for many people, as it has for me and many of my friends. What changes have we witnessed, experienced, or embodied during the past ten years? Does our life situation seem different than we expected it to several years ago (or at the start of the decade)? How closely aligned are we with long-term goals or intentions? Has life instead provided us opportunities to be flexible about “the plan”?
Personally, I’ve experienced quantum shifts on every plane of existence. I experienced life shifts that I never even envisioned a decade ago, let alone tried to plan for. In January of 2000, I could never envision that my mom would be leaving my world so soon. Or that I would be managing my grandmother’s care, or two estates. Or moving. Getting married, having a baby, these things weren’t impossible to consider, but they were not yet on my radar. These were certainly significant life milestones.

On other levels, I did not envision that during the decade, the world view would change so profoundly. The events of September 11, 2001 have changed the psychology of society as a whole. Political events and presidential administrations have made choices and taken actions that have changed the course of history, in many ways, and on many levels.

At the end of the day (or decade), it really is in the past. We are here now. We cannot change the past, but we can make conscious choices in the now. What do I see when I look out my window on this winter’s day? What doorways are being opened in this portal to the new series of calendar numbers – the 10’s? Two years away from the infamous 2012 phenomenon and mystery?

In the spirit of the present moment, I’d like to write about the way that I rang in 2010. 5 minutes before midnight on December 31, 2009, my husband and I were outside of my house, shuttling multiple vessels of water and gemstones out to soak up some moonlight.

I can share that in recent months/years, I’ve become increasingly more spontaneous in many ways, particularly with the area of ‘work/play’ that I do with Dragonfly Holistic. I have been discovering ways to honor what may have previously appeared to be “whim”, but instead seems more like inspiration. I’ve been following heart messages and ‘gut feelings’ which don’t have logic nor reason, so long as logic and reason don’t tap me on the shoulder to say “that’s not safe” or this is not the appropriate time.”

In the days leading up to new year’s eve, there was a great deal of buzz about the New Year’s Eve blue moon – the second full moon in a calendar month, which is rare and also carries astrological symbolism. In this case, the full moon was in Cancer, which also carries its own astrological influence. If you are interested in the astrological component, Cancer has to do with our emotional body and the need to nurture our emotional intelligence. Cancer dives deeply into the unconscious, emotional, intuitive aspects of life. These energies were prominently nudging me to get this project launched!

In late December, I was working to complete a project I’d promised to complete before year-end – a project in which I was agreeing to create something from scratch for my friends. A small group of friends who agreed to pay it forward and create gifts for others, if I gave them a homemade gift.

So the creative juices were flowing. The time was right. I decided that I would like to make gifts for my selected group of friends: customized essences for their own use.

With the advent of the full moon / blue moon, the change of the year at new year’s eve, and all of this amazing fresh energy and bright moonlight, I was inspired to make essences using gemstones. I have made gemstone essences before, as well as other vibrational essences using channeled energy such as Reiki or Integrated Energy Therapy®.

I’ve never made custom essences for anyone other than myself before now. When I was in homeopathy school, we made custom flower essence blends for ourselves, which was my first direct application of utilizing custom blended essences. So when I prepared these custom essences, I muscle tested and dowsed for specific flower essences for my friends’ custom blends, and then on new year’s eve, I put gemstones in water in individual bowls and placed them outside to soak up those magical moon rays. Fresh snow was falling, and filled the bowls with their own magical crystalline energies. I also channeled vibrational energies of the angelic realm into the waters and gemstones.

On the morning of new year’s day, I filtered each gemstone essence into its own individual bottle and labeled each one. From here, I now have ten fresh gemstone essences for 2010 (ten in the 10 year was pure synchronicity – I went with the gemstones that were pulling my attention, and I did not think it over – I simply dowsed for confirmation that these in fact were the gemstones who wanted to contribute their vibrations to this project). Also of note is that each of the 7 major chakras are represented through the gemstones utilized in these essences.

These essences will be added to custom crafted essences as well as my brand-new Dragonfly Holistic Blue Moon Vibrational Essences. The Dragonfly Holistic Blue Moon Vibrational Essences contain infusions of pure flower essences, gemstone essences created by me, specifically channeled vibrational energies, and pure love. Essences can be utilized as a gentle emotional support, they may be put in mist bottles and sprayed to change the energy of a space or your own energy field, and more. There are limitless possibilities for the use of vibrational essences where the imagination is involved. I’ve been known to add essences to bathwater or to place a few drops in my drinking water (these blends that I’ve prepared are edible).

Please contact me to inquire about purchasing a custom blend vibrational essence.

It is my hope that your year is ushering in feelings of hope and imagination, good health, comfort, and peace.

Hi everyone! 2009 is moving at such a quick pace that we are already in the home stretch of the calendar year. I wanted to share the year-end schedule for Dragonfly Holistic with you all.

Got your planner and your pen handy? Great – read on!

PLEASURES OF PREGNANCY WORKSHOP
There is one more holistic prenatal workshop that will be offered this year, so you have one more opportunity to take advantage of this great class that Erica Chase-Salerno of Wyld Acres and I are providing. On Sunday, 11/15, we will be offering the Pleasures of Pregnancy workshop at Waddle n Swaddle in Poughkeepsie. Come nurture yourself and connect deeply with your baby in this relaxing and informative gathering.

This workshop aims to get you in touch at the deepest level of the energetic nature of your pregnancy, upcoming labor, and delivery.

Intended for mothers at any stage of pregnancy as well as women who are planning to conceive, all birth plans, whether this is your first child or next child, we will explore and practice techniques designed to strengthen you and your mind/body, as well as open you to new awarenesses around this child during this pregnancy.  Check out the Wyld Acres website for additional information.

TINY YOGA SCHEDULE CHANGE
Tiny Yoga will be moving to Tuesdays beginning in November! The Tiny Yoga classes will stay at the same time – toddlers from 9:30-10:10, and non-walkers from 10:20-11:00.  Tiny Yoga is held at The Yoga Way studio, 2 Commerce Court, Wappingers Falls.

If you would like to attend, please send me an e-mail at dragonflyinfo@earthlink.net by the Friday prior to class date to register.  The class dates can be found in the Upcoming Events section of the website – the November class series begins on Tuesday, November 3.

HOLIDAY SPECIAL FOR FIRST-TIME TINY YOGA PARTICIPANTS!
I am offering a special TRIAL offer for Tiny Yoga class for the November & December classes! Come and check out Tiny Yoga. First-time class drop-in fee will be $13.

This is a special savings, as the regular drop-in fee is $18 for a single class.

If you sign up for a 3-class series, the rate is $48, which is $16 per class.

GIFT CERTIFICATES
Gift certificates for energy work private sessions as well as for prenatal yoga or Tiny Yoga are available! Gift certificates are a wonderful way to treat an expectant mother or a new mama to self-nurturing and TLC. 

I am taking orders for gift certificates through December 5, so do plan ahead! 

DRAGONFLY HOLISTIC WINTER BREAK
Dragonfly Holistic will be on winter break beginning on December 19. I’ll be back in the office and back in action beginning January 8, 2010.

Stay tuned to the Dragonfly Holistic Blog for the 2010 calendar, which will be posted by November’s end.

I have been offering the Tiny Yoga class for a couple of years now. V and I teach Tiny Yoga every week now, and since she’s turned 2 she has really gotten into being a “teacher”. Not in the stereotypical sense of the word, as I was when I was a young girl, standing in the front of my bedroom-turned-classroom with animals sitting in chairs as I wrote on my chalkboard. Rather, the “teacher” in V is the one who sees another person of her size or smaller, and seeks to assist them, to show them the ropes of what we are doing in class, to encourage them, and to model through her own posturing and behavior our yoga class.

As we begin class, we each take a mat out of the basket in the outer studio room. Each toddler is handed a (large, adult-sized) yoga mat, rolled up, and they carry the mat into the classroom space, where V tells her students to “roll the mat down!” Once mats are (un)rolled and set up, we adults take seats and the children also take seats. We begin with a song. I notice that V watches me to see what I am doing (am I making gestures as I sing, how am I sitting, etc) and she mirrors me. She looks at our toddler student and models for them. As we get warmed up, we explore animal postures and find ways to become what we see outside in the world. Sometimes our toddler students find other things more interesting than what we are doing on the mats. I reassure our parents during class that this is OK, and a natural part of exploration and development. What I notice is that V maintains a keen interest and focus on the toddlers in the classroom. She sometimes says their names and visually models postures at their eye level. Today, she calmly explained to one of our students that we “put the animals back in the barn” as we put some toy animals away that we used for an exercise. The little girl wanted to do what she saw V do. Rather than the heavy persuasion of the adults, the interface between toddlers in a loving setting was both educational and nurturing.

I’m coming to better grok the concept of children teaching one another. As adults, we take a very important role of guiding our children at home. What we learn in the Tiny Yoga classroom we bring into our own livingrooms. We can demonstrate with our children “the song we learned” or “the game we played (at yoga class)”. During the class time, however, it is becoming quite clear that children wish to learn from children, and when nurtured and provided proper guidance, even very young children can be teachers to others.

V never fails to pick up fascinating developmental concepts from her peers, and in particular, children who are a little bit older than she is. We can try to explain or model things for her in our adult ways, but the real magic is in the small-scale world that children share.

So, why else would someone want to take a Tiny Yoga class? The reasons are listed in many a yoga magazine or newsletter: an early experience of the yoga classroom and basic yoga postures, interaction with babies and toddlers in a way that might add a nice blend to the everyday at-home playtime between caregiver and baby, opportunity to connect with other parents and babies/toddlers, reducing colic in babies, assisting in developmental milestones, finding an alternative or an addition to the usual playgroup scene.

But what I’m discovering is that this is the prime time to plant the seeds for awareness, conscious relationships, and loving interactions. As our tiny family members learn and discover from one another in their Tiny world.

xo
M.

V and I offer Tiny Yoga on Monday mornings at The Yoga Way, 2 Commerce Court, Wappingers Falls, NY.  For more information please e-mail dragonflyinfo@earthlink.net or you can call the Yoga Way at 845.227.3223.

I am officially writing in my shiny new blog!  Although I’m kind of up to my eyeballs in bills and macaroni & cheese right now, so alas, the most meaningful Dragonfly prose will have to wait for a little while longer.

Upcoming: the HVP Fall Fest this weekend, for which I’m also busy creating away as I gift certificate-ize.

Hudson Valley Parents Fall Fest 2009
Sunday, September 20, 11am-4pm
Outdoors In The Rosendale Pavilion (rain/shine)
Rt. 32, Rosendale (between Kingston and New Paltz)
Free For Kids, Suggested Donation $5-$20 For Adults

I will certainly write about my favorite things soon enough. For now, I’m just so happy to be blogging.

Special thanks to Justin Shumway for my logo design, web design, blog setup, and technical expertise!

Special thanks also to Melissa Surprise for the amazing photos.  Check out Surprise Photography (in the links section!).

The concept of the Empowered Feminine is one that Marnie has been actively pursuing for herself and clients. It is not a political concept such as feminism. It is a concept that embodies spiritual self-awareness, worldly presence, and commitment to self and family.

Marnie is a priestess initiate in the Order of Magdalen, and a special area of focus in the work at Dragonfly Holistic (and on Marnie’s own personal path) is coming to a better understanding of how we as women fall into archetypes, and how our roles may be confused with negative patterning or learned beliefs from our families of origin, our role models, and society. Harnessing our roles as women along with our individual strengths and gifts, while shedding illusions of slavery, disempowerment, victimization, and isolation, is an approach to embody the Empowered Feminine, which is a central focus of the work done through Dragonfly Holistic.

Self-work through meditation, conscious breathing, and energy healing are all tools which can help illuminate this path that Marnie is committed to serving.