Author: Ki McGraw

During my weekly chat with my brother, we celebrated his birthday early. He’s an IT guy, who gets to spend the day however he wants. He is likely to hang out at home with his cats, and enjoy a little light yoga.

We grew up being considered Irish twins. That means it won’t be long, and it’ll be my turn. When we were kids growing up, like others of our generation, we sang with Beatles song “When I’m 64”not knowing it would be like this.

What songs of your childhood shaped your approach to aging? How would you change the lyrics if you could? Ki to Happiness celebrates her brother with cats, yoga and song.

Happy Labor Day to you all from Hatha Yoga Center. I offer my morning class at 10 AM as a labor of love. I do so in the joyous aftermath of yesterday‘s open house.

Students and community members since the 70s gathered and celebrated. Together with brand new first timers, all enjoyed the refreshments and foods. The best part was the mixing of the company…from China and Russia, from Vietnam and England, from Columbia City and around the corner…we all loved the yoga practice, the studio and the social moment.

How will you observe Labor Day? What do you love well enough to continue with on this day of rest? Ki to Happiness offers love’s labor today and every day.

After Bob‘s morning classes, we will hold our annual open house. In preparation, I whomped up some vegan gluten free pizzas and tiny savory pies. All is clean and fresh, ready for all to enjoy.

Since our space is a live work, and we have daily classes, most days our “house” is mostly open . To celebrate and feed this community is a pleasure and a joy. We welcome all students, clients, trainees, graduates, family members, friends, and neighbors.

How open is your house? Are you comfortable welcoming in others to your domain? Ki to Happiness opens her home, yoga studio and heart to those called to enter.

Sometimes the tech gremlins seem to sabotage my efforts. It requires perseverance to hang in there, and stay committed to the purpose of the efforts. Joining forces with others, to benefit us all remains my mission.

Hindrance, blockages, and delays could throw me off. I could let it stop me, but I won’t. While I still live and breathe, I recommit to my primary objective of serving the One in All.

How do you deal with sabotage? Are you able to persevere with your true intention? Ki to Happiness lives and breathes life into service.

Meditation practices generally fall into two broad categories. They seek to increase the signal from the Higher Self or decrease the noise that obstructs that signal. Some practices insist on stillness and silence whereas others sing, dance, visualize, and breathe in intricate patterns.

I find it helps to have an array of practices to choose from so I can adapt and adjust as conditions require. In the middle of this large metropolitan area, sometimes I cannot control the noise that obstructs the signal so I turn up my signal through playing music, moving with it, visualizing as I breathe in specific patterns. Other times, I am bask in the still silence of nature.

Which method of meditation do you prefer? How gracefully can you override your preference to adapt to your circumstances? Ki to Happiness changes practices when circumstances require.

As the moon continued to fill all day, the pressure and tension built up. Irritability and sensitivity could have erupted into conflict for some of us. Awareness of its cycle of waxing and waning empowers us to avoid overreacting to temporary conditions and circumstances.

I started my 530 class as the energy continue to build. At the moment of fullness, the class ended with a resonant Om. The second class began with a sense of intensity, which dissipated as the moon started to wane.

How did the super blue moon affect you last night? How different do you feel this morning? Ki to Happiness avoids identifying with that which is temporary.

Tonight‘s full moon is the second one in the month of August. When we have two full moons in a given month, it’s referred to as a blue moon. This happens about every 33 months, so is fairly rare.

Like all full moons, it brings to fruition the emotional material which has been percolating since the last new moon two weeks ago. This is occurring now during Mercury retrograde while there are also several other planets appear to be heading backwards. In this way, it gives us a chance to reflect, and review much of our subconscious material to bring it to the light of Higher Consciousness.

What does this full moon bring up for you? How can you best transform your subconscious material into alignment with your Higher Consciousness? Ki to Happiness greets each emotion as a guest in her heart’s home and pours the guest a cup of tea,

As I taught my morning class in the cool, clear air, the students and I delighted in the freshness. After the bodies warmed up and we deepened into the student’s particular requests, we sat for brief meditation. I directed our consciousness to open to the sense of light entering through our crown chakra and grounding it through our spines down into the Earth.

Just then, the skies opened and released the rain. Perfect timing for us all to witness this magic. In our sensitive state, our perception shifted to see the glory in this most mundane weather moment.

What helps your perception shift? Can you open to the Light constantly raining down on us? Ki to Happiness sees, hears and feels the glory with the shift Hatha Yoga practices offer.

Now that the heat and smoke is dissipating, cool sweet air enters our screened windows. Classes will be more comfortable for students. Meteorologist Cliff Mass says we won’t have another hot and smoky day til next year.

The improvement in the environment lures me out to the Apple trees in the alley behind our building. I’ll pick some and turn them into applesauce like my grandmother did in all the summers of my youth. i’m sure I’ll share some with students, as well as the plentiful plums another member of our community gave us for Bob’s birthday.

What does the sweet air lure you towards? From your summer’s bounty, what might you offer others? Ki to Happiness offers Hatha Yoga, apples and plums.

I start my morning with windows closed to keep out the smoky air from our studio. Later, as students arrive, we will use our two air purifiers as well as multiple fans for comfort. The forecast says this will be our last hot and smoky day.

We managed well yesterday during our largest class since the COVID pandemic. With 18 physical students present, we had enough space and air circulation with purification for to practice safely. I look forward to safe, full classes today as well as in the future as temperatures drop and air quality improves.

How are you keeping your practices safe in the heat? What can you do about the smoky air? Ki to Happiness limits her exposure to these conditions for the safest practices.