Let's Get Grounded

by Erin Ipjian

What is it about moving and breathing on your mat that can feel so incredibly grounding? I have a few thoughts. :) Ultimately, yoga is a practice designed to settle the mind, which is quite helpful because we, humans are biologically wired with a mind that often struggles with staying present.

The beauty of yoga is that it is rooted in the understanding that the body, unlike the mind, is always here in the present. Our time on the mat is a precious time in which we more fully draw the mind to the present moment by moving, breathing, and observing all the sensations without judgment along the way.

The result? A mind that is more settled, more grounded in present moment awareness. Over the long term, we might even notice that we become a little more adept at catching ourselves when our mind wanders away so that we sleepwalk less through life, become more focused, and have greater clarity to be present with those around us and address the issues that life inevitably sends our way.

So, let’s spend a little time to get grounded this week. We can’t wait to see you on the mat - in studio (mask optional), via livestream on zoom, or via recording.

Your Mat, Your Space to Explore

by Erin Ipjian

Your mat, your space to explore.

Ultimately, yoga isn't about memorizing alignment cues, but rather, an empowering invitation to remain in the inquiry.

Next time you hit your mat, try this - feel out the suggestions of your teacher in the laboratory of your own mat so you learn what resonates with you.

Yoga is a process of moving towards self awareness, so let’s test, validate, and find what works best in our own bodies each time we step into the practice.

Thanks for practicing & remaining in the inquiry with us, Evolution friends. See you on the mat!

Effort & Ease

by Erin Ipjian

If you’ve been studying and practicing yoga for some time, chances are pretty good that you’ve come across this suggestion from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras,

sthira sukham asanam

Postures should be practiced with steadiness and ease.

Yoga Sutra 2.46. While this advice sounds simple enough, the truth is we can spend a lifetime exploring the balance between these forces, both on the mat and off. At times - on the mat - our practice can be quite demanding, challenging us to find our balance, stay a bit longer than we might otherwise believe we can, or experiment with a movement we have never tried before. Sometimes we surprise ourselves, finding a strength we didn’t know we had.

Left unchecked, however, this energy can leave us depleted, never knowing the feeling of having done enough. Here’s where the ease comes into play. Those moments when we soften into child’s pose, feel the weight of our bones anchor down in Savasana, or even practice a method like yin yoga or restorative that invite us to completely soften, we practice the equally important art of letting go.

With a dedicated practice, we become more adept at navigating this interplay of effort and ease. We might even find that the lessons gained from our practice help us believe in our ability to do hard things and yet recognize when it is time to give ourselves (and others) a little grace.

So, here’s to a lifetime of finding balance, on the mat and off. We’re here all week with plenty of opportunities - in studio and online - to help you find it.

Awareness (with the big "A" and little "a")

by Erin Ipjian

The term “awareness” gets used a lot in yoga and meditation circles. When I hear the term, I have a few layers of meaning in mind.
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For one, there’s “Awareness” (with a capital A) This - to me - is the big picture of why we practice. Over time, the aim is to increase our familiarity with Spacious Awareness, so we spend less time being tugged around by the quirkiness of the mind. Sounds great, but how exactly do we drop into Spacious Awareness?
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Here’s where yoga (thankfully) gets quite practical. We’re fortunate to have amazing practices like asana that we’re advised to practice diligently over time, without attachment. And here’s where awareness with the little “a” comes in. Yoga asana is the perfect place to develop body awareness. By that I mean both awareness of your internal state (with inquiries like “how has my breath shifted?”) and awareness of how your body is moving in space. Yoga provides ample opportunities to explore both.
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This week, we’re building our awareness of the spine in particular. We’re exploring variations of spinal waves throughout our transitions, noticing the areas that feel easy to control and those that don’t. I’d love for you to join. We’ll aim to find a little more awareness together, both the big “A” and little “a” version. :)

Process over Perfection

by Erin Ipjian

Instead of pushing to climb a hierarchy of poses, I’d like to make the case for dedicating ourselves to the process. In my humble opinion, this simple shift can make a world of difference with our yoga practice. Don’t get me wrong, hard poses are fun. And there’s no reason to not practice them. But, once you’ve nailed the hard pose, there’s always another pose just outside of reach for us to aspire to. Once we recognize that - left unchecked - our yoga can devolve into an endless black hole of needing more, our practice begins to mature. We might realize that the pose is just a pose. Maybe - instead - we show up, put in the hard work, make peace with the results, and if a hard pose becomes attainable, that’s great. It’s not the aim. It’s just the result of a genuine, dedicated practice. Dedicate yourself to the process, not the pose.
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I’m here all week, every week, with strong, sustainable, smart practices to keep you engaged in the process. See you on the mat. All classes are available via zoom and as recordings. Starting this weekend, you can also join me at my Sunday and Wednesday classes in person.
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Tuesday 9:30am
Wednesday 9:30am
Thursday 9:30am
Sunday 12:00pm

The Daily Decluttering

by Erin Ipjian

One of my favorite pastimes is cleaning out drawers and closets and here’s why...look at the gems I uncover when I do!
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I had completely forgotten about this photo of my grandparents on their wedding day, rice still sprinkled in their hair from the celebration. I’ve been smiling all afternoon since finding it.
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As it turns out, we’re not too unlike the drawers and closets that get cluttered, weighed down by the things that don’t serve us. We easily forget about all the beauty around and within. So, here’s to the daily decluttering of our own minds and bodies. See you on the mat:
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TUESDAY 9:30am
WEDNESDAY 9:30am (subbing!)
THURSDAY 9:30am
SUNDAY 12:00pm

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Join me live or via recording. I’ll do my best to help you feel lighter by savasana.

The Rhythm of Yoga

by Erin Ipjian

I’ve been quite fortunate to have some incredible teachers over the years, all of whom have influenced how I practice and teach myself. If you can believe it, however, the teacher who has had the greatest impact on how I approach teaching these days doesn’t teach yoga at all. He’s my piano teacher.
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When beginning a new piece of music, I’m often overwhelmed. With the wise advice of my teacher, however, I am learning to approach music in very small parts, playing one measure over and over (and over) again until - as my teacher says - the mind steps out of the way and the music comes right from your fingers.
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I’m no expert in music (not by a long shot), but it fascinates me how this process unfolds with songs I spend a lot of time with. As we become familiar with certain patterns in a song, we see them repeated, sometimes in exactly the same way, sometimes with a slight shift, say in the key, and - with time - the fingers seem to know where to go. The mind begins to step aside.
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As a yoga teacher, I aim to help people step out of their thinking mind. Noting how repetition has helped me as a student in a new context informs the way I now structure the yoga classes I teach. I see the value in having a clear focus, developing a pattern that we build upon and repeat throughout a class, so that the mind can become more quiet, transforming the practice into a moving meditation.
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See you on the mat this week (and every week), virtually for now. Join me live or via recording. I’d love to see you there:
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Tuesday 9:30am
Thursday 9:30am
Sunday 12:00pm

Intentions for the New Year

by Erin Ipjian

I hope everyone’s holidays were merry and bright.

As we turn towards intentions for the new year, I’m doing my best to do so with as much gratitude as I can muster for where we have been. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s to not take anything for granted. As so many aspects of our lives have narrowed, it has helped bring what’s most important into greater focus. For me, that’s giving more time and attention to loved ones and continuing to learn and share the practice I love so much.

I’m back at it, teaching my weekly classes and would love to see you on the mat in 2021! Practice from anywhere via zoom. Class recordings available.

Weekly Schedule
Sunday 12:00pm gentle
Tuesday 9:30am mixed levels
Thursday 9:30am mixed levels

Starting, 1/18, join Carolyn and myself for our Clean and Conscious Healthy Living Online Program, featuring 21 days of home yoga and meditation practices and nourishing plant-based recipes, delivered right to your inbox. $175 if registered before 1/12. Reduced rates ($50) and all-new supplemental content for returning students.

Yoga for Resilience

by Erin Ipjian

To be honest, a pandemic actually seems like the perfect time to explore a practice that’s designed to help us both develop resilience and the capacity to let go. Yoga has been a lifeline for me in difficult times. When I remain committed to my daily practice - moving, breathing, and meditating - it somehow helps me remember that I have so much to be grateful for, even during times when it’s otherwise easy to forget. If you find that’s the case for you as well, I’d be thrilled to see you on the virtual mat this week:

Sunday 12:00pm intro/gentle

Tuesday 9:30am mixed

Thursday 9:30am mixed

Tech Support

by Erin Ipjian

“Tech Support,” a well-rounded practice with a little extra attention to opening the front of the shoulders and strengthening the upper back to alleviate the discomforts of too much tech time. :)

Yoga in a Pandemic

by Erin Ipjian

One of the (many) things I love about yoga...while the philosophical underpinnings of the practice are deep, the methods are incredibly straightforward. In short, we are asked to make space to breathe, move, and observe — every day, no matter what.
So, while we are faced with the daily onslaught of terrifying news and our very realistic fears about the safety of friends, family, even ourselves, now is the time to put our practice to work. Let’s give ourselves the space to show up to our mats — moving, breathing, and sitting every day — so that we can show up for our friends, family, and each unprecedented moment as it arises.
See you on the mat, Evolution yogis. Practice virtually with me every:
Tuesday 9:30-10:45am / all levels
Thursday 9:30-10:45am / all levels
Sunday 12:00-1:00pm / gentle
All the details you need to know to join me for class can be found on the “class schedule” page at evolutionyogaglenview.com. I would love to see you there.

Back to Center

by Erin Ipjian

“A stable mind is like the hub of a wheel. The world may spin around you, but the mind is steady.” -BKS Iyengar

Just in case your mind is spinning from the intensity of the current news cycle, check this out - a solid, stabilizing practice to bring us back to center. See you on the mat, Evolution yogis.

Empowering our Students

by Erin Ipjian

As a yoga teacher, I think one of the most important skills we can develop is that of the art of communication. I reflect on the content I share and the words I choose all the time to ensure that they convey what I actually intend.

Here’s a term I recently found myself using - “full expression of the pose.” I’ve said it many times before in class, but this time - as the words left my mouth - I realized I wanted to refine that language. It’s a well-intentioned phrase often heard in the yoga community meant to capture the version of the pose you might see in “Light on Yoga” or “Yoga Journal.”

What bothers me about the term is that it creates a hierarchy of practices. It suggests that any expressions of the pose besides the “full” are merely lead ups...that maybe our students will finally do the real yoga when they someday reach the “full expression of the pose.”

To be clear, I love challenging myself and my students in the practice, but I firmly believe that our asana practice is designed to embody the fundamental principles of yoga: integration and wholeness. Sometimes when practicing Trikonasana, for example, I feel integrated taking my bottom hand to the floor. Sometimes I don’t. If I’m really paying attention as I move, I can sense that each day I come to the mat, my expression of the pose - where I sense wholeness, integration, and cohesiveness - is a little different.

I believe my work as a yoga teacher is to empower students with the understanding that the yoga is happening now - in their current expression of the pose. And that they are the only person in the room who can determine what their full expression of the pose is that day. And, while we will always continue to explore, be curious, and refine, the place where we find wholeness and integration (aka yoga) is when we are actually paying attention, observing, and allowing the form to be what it is.

Refining Perception

by Erin Ipjian

Above all else, I think yoga is a collection of techniques designed to help us see with greater clarity. Breath and movement are excellent tools in yoga’s toolbox, but perhaps an even more direct method to ease the suffering our minds create is meditation.

I do my very best to start every morning like this - quiet, before anyone else in the house wakes up and before I let any of the outside world in. I don’t believe meditation is an escape from life. Bad things will still happen: illness, difficult conversations and situations, but if we can catch quiet times every day, I think we can gain greater control over how we perceive those inevitable challenges. It’s a never-ending practice and it helps to have a teacher to help you start, restart, or support your meditation practice.

This month, join experienced meditation teachers and practitioners Polly and Chuck as they kick off our four week meditation series at Evolution Yoga. Explore mindfulness awareness and mantra meditation techniques in a supportive group setting. Sign up at evolutionyogaglenview.com so we can save you a seat. ❤️

Refining the Practice

by Erin Ipjian

There’s a funny thing we do in yoga: we spend years learning and refining the poses, attentive to the smallest of details, like the grounding of the outer seam of the foot or the reach through the ring finger. And, yet, we learn that the pose is not the point. So then, what is the point?

Maybe it’s this: maybe all the physical refinements make this practice what it is - a moving meditation. Maybe there is some value to learning how to be attentive to the details of the pose while still dispersing our awareness throughout the entire body, aware of ourselves as a full, integrated whole. Maybe this skill can even translate off the mat - this capacity to attend to the required minutiae of everyday life without losing ourselves in the process. Maybe that is how the practice helps us remain connected to our broader purpose.

So, then, perhaps the details really do matter, even if they ultimately aren’t the point.

Happy International Day of Yoga!

by Erin Ipjian

People have been moving, breathing, sitting in stillness, and observing - in other words, practicing yoga - for thousands of years. How lucky am I that I happen to be one of those who discovered this beautiful practice and - even better - have been able to make it my life’s work?

On today, the International Day of Yoga, here are the top 4 lessons that I continue to learn from my daily practice and aim to bake into every class I teach:

1. You are not your body. Move your body, challenge it, explore, but please don’t ever forget - you are not your body. Don’t use this practice to sculpt, flatten, or reshape. Use it as a celebration of the incredible gift you have been given. Move as a way to root out dysfunction when possible, to build resilience, and to fully embody the precious container through which you experience this life. Your body is a gift. Treat it accordingly.

2. You are not your mind. This lesson is trickier than #1. Here’s why. Your mind is the lens through which you view and interpret the world. It will misperceive, misunderstand, and compare. It is capable of incredible creativity and innovation. It is also capable of overriding the truth and fueling destruction, as history constantly reminds us. Don’t believe everything you think. In fact, examine everything you think. Hold it up to the light of discernment. Spend time in silence, notice how your mind moves and the unconscious patterns it continually returns to.

3. Know that you are connected to everyone and everything around you. In short, their pain is your pain. Their joy is your joy. Life is not about getting ahead. It’s about fully connecting to who you are, for real, at your core, and sharing that with the world and everyone around you. Be vulnerable and honest and seek connection with those who do the same.

4. Keep practicing. It’s really easy to not make time for #1 and #2. We all get busy. It’s also really easy to forget #3. This practice only works if we continually return to it. You are never done learning. You are never done practicing. You are never done evolving. There is always a greater understanding to uncover.

Happy International Day of Yoga, dear yogis. See you on the mat.

Yoga & Movement

by Erin Ipjian

Much of modern yoga practice centers on movement. Attentive movement focuses our mind, soothes our nervous system, and is vital to living well. It’s the perfect entry point to the practice of yoga.

But, here’s the thing - ultimately yoga is not about movement. It’s not about sticking the pose. The pose is a tool, not a goal.

I think of yoga asana as a method of recalibrating the body and reigniting our awareness so that we can more effectively sit still with ourselves. The real beauty of this practice is that it provides us with a method to quiet the incessant chatter in our minds. It guides us towards the vast openness that lies underneath. That is what I hope to share with my students. And it is what keeps me coming back to this practice day after day.

Yoga for Clarity

by Erin Ipjian

All of the techniques of yoga - movement, breath, meditation - are really designed with one goal in mind: to free ourselves from the ways in which we fail to see clearly.
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The om symbol itself is a beautiful and succinct visual representation of our states of consciousness and the veil that obscures our perception.
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The premise is something like this: many of us live in illusion, misunderstanding who we are, misidentifying ourselves with the little “I.” We think too small. We unconsciously move through the world from a place of separateness, filtering each moment through a mind jumbled with old ways of thinking picked up along the course of our lives.

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Yoga, on the other hand, gives us the tools to break free, to see ourselves and those around us for who we truly are without judgment, and to move forward in our lives with newfound clarity. All that is required is our dedication to the practice. See you on the mat, Evolution yogis. ❤️
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my teaching schedule:
Tuesday’s 9:30-10:45am / mixed levels
Thursday’s 9:30-10:45am / mixed levels
Sunday 12:00-1:00pm / intro to yoga
(all at @evolutionyogaglenview )

Yoga & Grief

by Erin Ipjian

This week has been tough. My lovely grandmother passed away on Thursday at the age of 96. She was amazing. Right up until a few months ago, when a cascade of events began that ultimately led to her passing, she lived independently. With the help of her children, she lived on her own, cooked and prepared her own meals. She was engaged with the world, stayed on top of current events, and never stopped learning. She read books on her kindle until she couldn’t see the text anymore. She spent most of her time with or talking about her beloved family.
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She, along with my late grandfather, was a major part of the village that raised me. On days when my parents both worked, they would pick me up from school and bring me home or to any activity I had that day, often ice skating lessons. On days I had skating, she and my grandfather would watch from behind the glass and he’d comment on my “triple lindies” (not the technical term :)) She always supported me, through all sorts of career and life transitions.
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She lived through a lot - immigrating to the US from Northern Ireland when she was 6, losing her mom when she was 11, the Great Depression, World War Two, and the untimely deaths of two of her grandchildren. All these experiences made her who she was - incredibly resilient and completely in love with being with her family.
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I feel so fortunate that she was a part of my daughters’ lives. She would sit with them for hours, totally invested in whatever fantasy world or game they had conjured up that day. My oldest daughter loved to talk with her about her childhood home in Ireland, how - as a little girl - she would pick buttercups to give to her mom, wash her doll’s clothes in the brook by her home, and help her mother churn butter to sell in town.
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So, for right now, my practice is to make space for my grief and try to do the same for my girls. It sits like a dull ache at the center of my chest. And then there are moments where an understanding emerges — that my grandmother’s life and her relationship with me and my daughters was a gift. And part of what makes that gift so precious is that it can’t last forever, at least in a physical sense. ❤️

Letting Go

by Erin Ipjian

One of our responsibilities as yogis is to continually scan the stories and mental patterns (samskaras) that shape the lens through which we perceive the world. .
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Unless we live in a cave, it’s nearly impossible to move through life without picking up a collection of viewpoints and conditioning. By adulthood, our lens of perception (citta), can become quite muddied. Some of us spend our entire lives never examining these patterns, only making them stronger by continually revisiting them.
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Yoga, on the other hand, challenges us to disrupt our patterns, to discern whether our mental loops are true or useful, and to let go of the ones that do not serve us.
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And though it may seem easier to not do the work, the benefit of remaining dedicated to our practice is huge. Over time, we begin to shed our samskaras. We become more adept at meeting the world with greater clarity, authenticity, and openness. This is where life starts to get really good. We begin to effortlessly create and express what we were meant to share with the world. We become steady and sure of ourselves. We get out of our own way. We fulfill our dharma. .
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This is what drives us to return, again and again, to our mats. Thank you, as always, for doing the work and choosing to practice with us, Evolution yogis. We’ll see you in class.