Classes at

16 Market Square will end on Tuesday, May 15th.

Check the schedule in June for an update on classes with Lily Sibley resuming at

875 Islington St., Portsmouth, NH

Curvy Women...

       Love Yoga!

Ongoing class at the Portsmouth Hospital Rehabilitation and Wellness Center

 2012 Retreats

with Lily Sibley

Open Heart

       Quiet Mind

with Lily Sibley

Yoga Instruction CD

Yoga Life Institute of NH Classical Yoga Teacher Training

with Julie Rost

Special Events - Please visit the Events for a complete list of upcoming events at Ocean Spirit.

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Ocean Spirit Yoga is moving to a new studio in early summer 2012!

Ocean Spirit Yoga has had the privilege of practicing yoga at Zev Yoga for the past couple of years. We have loved the space and will continue to be in gratitude to Jonas for his generosity of spirit. Bill Buckley, Tai Chi and Qigong teacher, is opening a new studio, called Gateway, at 875 Islington Street (in the building in front of the Button Factory) and has invited Ocean Spirit Yoga to join him in this new space. Again I am in gratitude! Here’s what I DO know: the last class of Ocean Spirit Yoga at 16 Market Street is Tuesday, May 15th. Here’s what I DO NOT KNOW: exactly when the new studio will be ready for us to begin practice there! I invite you to take a deep breath and practice being in an “I don’t know” mind in the same way that each time you step on your mat you don’t know what the practice will be like.

The new studio is under reconstruction. Those of you who have undertaken renovations know well how it doesn’t always go exactly as you thought! Something that we do know – when it’s ready it will be spectacular!! The best I can do at this moment is to tell you that I will keep you informed. In the meantime, please remember that you know all that you need to know to continue your practice at home, by yourself or with friends. If you like guidance my audio CD will guide you through a 75 minute practice. (You can purchase the CD on the website, see me in person, go to Buddhi Boutique or Scallops). Take advantage of exploring this time away from the studio in a new way – practice a pose over and over again until your whole body knows it; study the yamas and niyamas of Patanjali’s Yoga; do a walking meditation in the park; experience yoga off the mat.

How many of you reading this had your day go exactly as you thought it would when you woke up this morning? More than likely, not many. Each day we think we know how things will go. We want to know! What makes us uncomfortable when things don’t go the way we anticipated? First, we like to be, and think we are, in charge, in control. Most of us will admit that we don’t like it so much when things change, when we get thrown off the “path”.  We also might admit that the unknown is a fast train to one of our deepest emotions – fear. Fear of the unknown is often a topic of discussion among our wisdom teachers.

Explore the emotions that come up for you when things don’t go exactly as you thought they might. When you can name the emotion – fear, anger, anxiety, disappointment – sit with the emotion and begin to notice where you feel sensations in your physical body. Does your head ache? Your stomach hurt? Your lower back nagging at you? Your shoulders lift up to your ears? My experience is that it can be any, or all, of those things and then some! Or, let’s look at it another way. Perhaps you feel joyful, excited, energized. Emotions with that spin might feel like jitters in your stomach, energy running up and down your spine, laughter in your throat. One emotion is not “better” than another. The point is to notice. And then decide if a change is in order!

Like most of you, my life has had many unexpected changes. After some time of trial and error, I have discovered that being in an “I don’t know” mind, each and every day, allows me the freedom of being in a beginner’s mind (on, and off, the mat!). From the small things that come up in a day… I don’t know if I’ll find a piece of sea glass on the beach, if I will like this flavor of ice cream, what I will have for dinner … to the big things…I don’t know if I’ll be here at the end of the day. What I do know is that when I can be in the “I don’t know” mind I can be surprised, I can be disappointed, and I can find ease in either.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me by phone or email if you have questions.

Namaste,

Lily Sibley