One of the wondrous things about yoga is that there are many channels by which to access it. One is through movement, the other is through breath and this morning, in class with Brianna Taylor, students were reminded of a third: chanting.

Acknowledging that life is, at times, a series of obstacles, Brianna lead us through a chant about the wonderful Hindi God Ganesh, who has an elephant head and rides a mouse. Most commonly understood as the God who helps us overcome obstacles, Brianna suggested that yoga presents obstacles as opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us saying that, “Yoga is a practice out of compassion for ourselves,” and therefore a chance to, “bring that compassion and love into the world.”

The chant woke up our bodies, awakened our hearts and was a lovely way to step into movement.

Moving through a series of traditional vinyasas, Brianna’s sense of dance could be felt as we literally flowed from one asana to another in fluid transitions. Tadasana, forward fold, lunge, warrior one, side angle, reverse warrior, triangle, standing splits, back to warrior one, lunge, plank, chatarunga, upward facing dog, downward facing dog (I think that’s it!).

With each transition, we were reminded to breathe, and watching Brianna move, maybe even dance. Her subtle hand movements added a certain refined flair to the asanas that were reminiscent of a flamenco dancer.

There’s a certain playfulness with which Brianna seems to greet the world and that playfulness is infectious. This morning, as we were about to begin our vinyasa, our hands rising into the air, she said something we can all remind ourselves of throughout the day,

“Open up to this great light and bring it into yourself.”