Sitting down to start Blogging again, I’m left a but torn as to what and how to share with you all as the last week has been truly magical as a start to my European tour. My first night after the Ibiza retreat was a dinner in an Amsterdam park with Jason and Jenny, my dear friends and soon to be Acro-Yoga teachers and our mutual friend Ineke. It was a super sweet picnic dinner and connecting with my fellow gypsy yogi colleagues was a treat. Plus, it was the first night of Holland’s matches in the Euro Cup and screams of joy and pleasure rang through the streets 3 times as Holland won the first match. Football is HUGE all over Europe with the championships happening and Holland is looking very good as a leading team.

The next day, I took the train to den Bosch where I spent 6 days of truly powerful yoga on all levels. This sweet little Dutch town is full of character and a studio run by two very dynamic and super playful women, Laura and Petra. Laura has just had a child and Petra is pregnant with one….both to men named Wouter! These two women have created a studio and yoga shop full of love and high vibes. I led 3 days of teacher intensives that were very well attended by students / teachers from the surrounding area. As usual, my asana classes kicked their butts, but in a loving and compassionate way

I’ve been really conscious of bringing deeper teachings weaved into asana practice and these classes were no exception. Lots of ‘chasing the dark spots’ that exist within our bodies so that we can learn to chase the things that are holding us down in the rest of our lives. When we use the Asana practice as tool to learn the art of patience, presence and transformation…it is much easier to apply in other areas. While teaching the first day, I spoke about the path to liberation (yes…keys, doors and grand halls!) as a conscious discipline that involves these ideas: First we must OBSERVE to get a true idea of what is actually happening in the moment. Then we ACKNOWLEDGE to bring to life and recognize exactly where tensions and dense vibrations exist. After that comes TRANSFORMATION…whether it be through stretching muscles, changing our minds, seeing another perspective, or opening our hearts to the divine (none of which are really that easy!) and finally we have to MOVE ON! This is where real growth can happen. These concepts were present throughout the trainings and worked over and over again.

During the Inversion Immersion day, we had some major fear breakthroughs and first time handstands! In the Yamas and Niyamas satsang, we had some very intense conversations about the applications of these principles in our lives and throughout the courses….many Ah Ha moments for the students. For me, I felt deeply connected to the teachings of yoga and that my practices of Right Speech and Peaceful Action allowed the teachings to reach them in a new way. I find the more and more I ‘get out of the way’ of Yoga and just share what is….the more effective the teachings become.

Then on Satuday, I was invited to teach at the first Living Yoga event in Holland organized by www.potentialbuddha.com I led two classes to two different groups of students of all levels who also had meditation course, ayurvedic cooking class and a trance dance! It was a great event and once again my fairly intense Asana classes were challenging to most of the people but with my message of ‘going into the dark places to bring light’ everyone made it through. There were tears, openings and unfoldings of many old ways of being just in a 1 1/2 hour class that made a buzz through the whole event. It was an honor to be the Yogi for the event and I, myself, was extremely opened at the efforts that the students put forth. I asked a lot of them and they truly wanted to grow. After the classes, many came to me and said “I learned a lot”….I have learned to ask in return “Thank you….what did you learn?!?”. There were answers from ‘about where my dark spots live’ to ‘how to practice yoga poses with integrity’ to ‘how much I turn away from things that hold me down’… It was truly inspiring…and beautiful as we were on a lake in the Dutch countryside (OK…the suburbs, but it seemed far away from everything!).   The day ended with a Trance Dance that allowed everyone to move a lot of energy around and was SUPER juicy!  Lots of free movement and great music.

The weekend ended with one last workshop ‘Lunge-O-Rama’ at de Yoga Studio and wow, lots of opening there as well.  I actually practiced with the group to demo the lunges and hold space for everyone and we went to some deep places in the groins!  When the hips opened up for people, we had some more tears and emotions abound and I realized how lucky I am to have found this path…and how much more feeling I have for life with my practices.  We decided to make a Kirtan on Sunday night as my last event and gathered about 10 people for a  really great Kirtan!  We chanted about 1 hr. 45 minutes and were all buzzing pretty intensely afterwards.  It had been almost 2 months since I had a Kirtan and was really glad we made it happen.  I have a few new melodies for Mantras we tried and they are hits!

So now I’m on my way back to Amsterdam for one night…and to Paris where I have workshops this weekend.  It seems as though I have booked myself pretty full on this leg of the Europe tour and will be in transit a lot.  I still have lots of energy though and am truly blessed to have the opportunities to do this work.

Oh….HUGE thanks to Coaracy at Blyss Yoga in Rio who edited these 2 sequences for you all and posted them on YouTube….when you’re ready for Feet and Hand work (YUM!) and another sequence for the legs and lower back….visit here:

David Lurey 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PWSfqYSvyo
David Lurey 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsQBwhQ1vU8
David Lurey 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gGQEFl3Q2o
David Lurey 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzupauRHokU

and this one for you both!

David Lurey back part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aftbztCQ4_g

David Lurey back part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m26gwIyNujM

David Lurey back part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ9bFEGG748

With Love,

David