a lot about her own life. A lot of us could identify with her. On the last night she did a 30 minute expose of poses, hip openers, back bends, and when finished she said "Now if I can do this you can do this." With her horrible life history, it was so empowering. Through her passionate practice, she just works stuff out. Though I do feel relieved that I doen't have to do 1000 down dogs just because I was an alcoholic.

Ana and Jonathan are a powerful dynamic duo. They gave us non stop energy. The morning began with chanting and meditation. In the beginning of the week I had a thousand questions about enlightenment, how to find a path, what to do, what to be etc. By the end of the week I was satisfied by the simple meditation Jonathan taught us, repeat “clear mind” several times on the inhale and on the exhale repeat “don’t know” once. This mediation simplified my entire quest, all of my questions were satisfied with repetition of “don’t know”. It’s very simple.

Asana practice was serious business! Ana brought her 30 plus years of dedicated practice and her life story into her teachings. She and Jonathan were extremely educated on helping people with injuries and adjustments. Ana shared a lot of wisdom but more important was her powerful presence, groundedness, grace and beauty. Every pose was doused with intensity, steadiness, mindfulness, intention and breath. She coaxed us beyond our minds limitations, past the bodies quivers and internal screams into a euphoric release of stuck energy that had been pent up in our cell tissue for decades.

At first I had felt awkward at meals because I usually sit down and honor my food and the energy in it before eating. I was concerned about what other people would think so I didnt' do it when I first got there. Ana was cool about teaching us to stay in feeling in the body no matter what the sensation. And eating was a part of the yoga too. This made eating a part of the practice. Ana suggested breathing into the food and pausing before eating. It was incredible.

General thoughts? The chime in the morning was awesome. Zen wake up is pretty good. Seeing the petrogliffs with Bob was awesome. I hiked up to the cliffs one day where I saw red rocks, slot canyons, hawks and falcons. Of course Angels Landing hike was a highlight, especially with Ana and Jonathon doing handstands up there. I was awed by how huge it all was, I felt really small. Definitely I felt a higher presence.

All the staff members are so awesome. Becca, and the girl in the store. All the kitchen people. Alison was always making special things for people. She would hold food for those that had missed a meal. Tyler and Bob the best. John and Lynn are the cutest. They are a beautiful loving couple.

Breakthroughs? 20 every day. Mostly it was learning not to bail when my legs were shaking so much. I began to learn to sit with the discomfort. One major thing was understanding what it meant to bring the tailbone through, using my sitbone muscle. I've had a hematoma on the side of my hip for 5 years, an extra bulge which I'm not entirely comfortable with. Ana showed me how to work using the feet and activating the pinky toe and 4th toe. This allowed me to get energy up into my hip.

We were taught to close our eyes and go inside. Always stay in the feelings, not to numb ourselves. I was seeing beautiful things like mountain peaks and colors and things all coming together. I had never had that experience before.

I'm walking totally differently now. I feel so strong in my core. A strength that comes from staying in the intensity. On my own it's definitely harder holding poses longer, but I know that's when I make the big changes. It has helped me become a much stronger teacher and get beyone my limitations.

Ana constantly reminded me to breath in the fresh, pure, pristine mountain air and to draw in the earth energy up through our legs into my core through my heart and that in doing this everything I create will be done with my heart.

Amanda Moxley