May Movement Challenge + Yoga for Spring at the MPL

May is here and I have so many memories wrapped up in this vibrant spring month. May in New England is for the lilacs. It's a scent that brings me back to my Grandmother's garden and her porch surrounded with lilac bushes. As a child, I loved to draw, paint, read, and dream on her lilac porch. I look forward to the scent and sight of these beautiful flowers each year. 

Staying connected with nature is a choice, one that brings healing and balance into my body, heart, and mind. Pressing my feet into the earth, spending time outside as much as possible, puttering in my garden, and staying tethered to the sunsets and moonrises ground me. 

The full flower moon shines on this first day of May that honors abundance, renewal, and fertility marking the transition of longer, warmer days. This season is symbolized by growth, planting, and nurturing new life. Since January of this year, the full moon cycles have started at the beginning of each month. May will change that by having a second full moon on May 31, a blue moon. This will carry us through the rest of the year with full moons at the end of each month, the last one being on December 24. 

Warrior 3 pose "Virabhadrasana" 

Connect to the earth, stand your ground, find your focus, and take flight.

May's movement challenge is a continuation from April with a focus on balance. This month, a combined hip hinge with spinal and single leg knee flexion/extension leads us into Warrior 3 pose, 'virabhadrasana'. Layering these movements with the support of a chair adds a level of possibility and progression to this challenging pose. Sensing the body in space, moving outward from the heart center, lifting up, rooting down, reaching forward and extending back all at the same time requires concentration and awareness. Warm up the body with a few hip hinges and standing single leg balance with opposite knee and spine flexion/extension, see the videos below. 

Hip Hinge Warrior 3 prep

Single leg spine/knee flexion and extension

Supported Warrior 3

My previous 'Movement Challenges' start here. As each month passes, this collection of yoga poses and functional movements are slowly growing, allowing creative opportunity to tie them together for a short, daily, mobility routine. Please find my current yoga teaching schedule below.

Yoga for Spring at the Melrose Public Library

Yoga for Spring will explore the connection of moving with the breath, from lying down poses to transitional sitting/kneeling poses into standing poses with a focus on strength and balance. Classes are free and open to all to join, registration opens on May 13.

Weekly in-person yoga classes:

Wednesday Chair Yoga (10a-10:45a) at the Melrose YMCA.

Thursday Mat Yoga (8:45a-9:45a) + Chair Yoga (10:15a-11a) at the Milano Senior Center.

FREE yoga videos on YouTube

FREE guided meditations on Insight Timer

April's nature mandala was for Earth Day, honoring the planet's beauty, natural resources, biodiversity, and advocating for environmental protection. This day is a call to action to support the sustainability of clean water, air, and soil to ensure a healthy and productive future for generations to come.