Hello folks,

Well, winter is winding down (never soon enough for me!) and the days are growing longer and longer. What a blessing to feel the return of the light, and know that our sweet planet made it once more in its long journey around the sun. Recently my 13 year old son did a science project on our solar system, and it created such a sense of wonder in me to look at the beautiful illustrations he had made of the relative sizes of all of the planets in relation to this enormous sun. And to read that the temperature on the surface of the sun is about 10,000 degrees F, and its core is believed to be this wild place - an extremely dense packed-in mass of atomic nuclei and electrons, with a temperature estimated at 27,000,000 degrees F! I just find that mind-blowing to contemplate.

And it makes me think of how the elders of many traditions talk about how we have a source even more vast and powerful right within ourselves. A source of limitless power and energy and potential. Just as we on earth are now grappling with the challenge of how to move from the limited, scarcity-model of energy of fossil fuels, into the terrain of tapping into the unlimited potential of the sun's energy generating capacity.... so we, as human beings, have this opportunity to move from our habitual patterns of belief - that our options are limited, that opportunities are scarce and we must fight each other for a piece of a pie that has only a finite number of slices - into a whole new paradigm of relating to life. That we, in fact, live in an abundant universe, and have all around us and within us an infinite number of choices and realitites that we are free to experience life from in each moment.

This does not mean that life will never be challenging - only that the resources that we need to live a joyous and free and fully passionate life are so much more vast that we can ever imagine. The trick is that we have to be ready to live from a place of such power, because it can literally "blow our minds" to get a glimpse of just how powerful and vast and magnificent we really are. There is a beautiful passage in the Bhagavad Gita where Arjuna asks Krishna to reveal himself fully to him. Krishna can be understood to be the manifestation of our True Self, our divine nature. Krishna basically says to him, "Prepare to be blown away!" - in other words, "Get ready, 'cuz here I come!" And he then reveals his true nature, and Arjuna's mind is blown so far open that he collapses in terror at the wonders of what he has seen.

So... our work as fledgling True Self-ers is to make our containers stronger and stronger, so that we can withstand the florce of this power that is flowing through us, once it is unleashed in its full glory. One of my teachers always talks about the analogy of trying to pour hot lava into a plastic cup. It will destroy it, melting it in an instant! So in order to be able to withstand the intensity of the experience of living from our core of power, we need to strengthen and fortify our bodies, minds and spirits. We do that through these wonderful practices that our ancestors have handed down to us -- yoga, meditation, dance, drumming, chant, healing and cleansing rituals of all kinds.

So... enjoy the return of the sun. Go out and feel its power on your skin, and know that you have an even more powerful star right within your very core.

So... here's the news...

COMMUNITY GATHERING
We had our first Sunday Community Gathering a little over a week ago, and it was wonderful to have so much people come out to join together in exploration and celebration of the Spirit. We danced and chanted and did yoga and shared our intentions and dreams... And we'll be doing it again the second Sunday of March (the 9th) from 3-5pm. So mark your calendar.

DANCE CLASSES STARTING NEW ROUNDS IN MARCH
AFRICAN DANCE -- Melvin has decided he'd like to go back to an 8-round series for the beginners class that meets on Wednesdays. So the next FREE WORKSHOP to introduce this class will be on Wednesday, March 5th at 8:30pm. Then the new series will start the following week. The intermediate class that meets on Fridays at 6:30 will continue to be a drop-in class.

SALSA DANCE -- The next round of classes for beginners will start on Saturday, March 15th at 2pm. We will be taking registration for this class starting on Monday, March 3.

BELLY DANCE -- The beginners class will start a new round on Sunday, March 9th at 7pm. Registration will begin on March 1st.

CHECK OUT MONIQUE!
Our wonderful teacher, Monique Schubert, is featured in an article in this month's Yoga Journal about 20 of the most creative and innovative next-generation leaders in the yoga world. How exciting that one of the teachers from our little humble center has gotten national recognition for her contributions as a yoga teacher! Pick up a copy, or look for the article up on the bulletin board at the studio. Monique has been with Shambhala Center since the day we opened our doors over six years ago. She has always been a tremendous support to me, in helping me to maintain a vision for a center that is embracing and open to all, and that stretches our concept of what yoga can be. We are very fortunate to still have her with us, teaching the Thursday 5:30 community class. Thank you, Monique and congratulations!

DANA MONTH
February is our annual fund-raising month, and I'm a little late in getting this started this year. I'm going to put it off until March, since I'm leaving next week for Puerto Rico, to lead our annual week-long Salsa & Yoga retreat there. So look for an announcement in early March, and you can make your donations online or at the studio.

Okay, that's all the news for now.

Peace & blessings -- Cathy