All posts by:Allyson Sydney

  • May 11, 2020

    Hot Stone

    It is just past midnight. I noticed light streaming in through my bedroom and went outside to gaze at the moon resting in the low sky.

    The full moon just passed, but it still glowed. I started seeing sparkles and illuminated dust in its aura. Was it truly energy flowing out or were my eyes getting dizzy? I stood sinking to the earth.

    My sensations and feelings don’t make sense to me. I ask myself directly: what do you feel right now? I don’t know. What if I knew?

    It doesn’t feel good – scared, insecure, cold, alone, lost, guilty. A heavy, concave feeling in my heart, my throat, my jaw. Uncertainty. Pressure. Anger, shock, the urge to explain myself. But there is nothing to be said or that I am allowed to say. Restricted because I can’t go back to change me or control them.

    The hot stone has been thrown to me and I am forced to hold it and let it burn my palms. Drop it. Let it go. It’s not mine and I don’t have to hold it anymore. I never had to hold it. Release it.

  • March 31, 2020

    To Teach or Not To Teach Yoga at a Nursing Home

    It was time for me to get creative. I wanted to share yoga outside of the traditional studio setting.

    Here are 5 things that I learned after teaching yoga at a nursing home:

    Not Everyone Will Participate

    Most of the time, I felt like I was an entertainer instead of a yoga teacher because no one really participated. I had one or two people out of twenty who would try and follow along with me, but most of the people in the room were sleeping, telling me to stop, trying to leave the room, or too confused and/or sedated to do anything.

    I also volunteer at a non-profit Adult Day Care facility as well and it is a small group of participants (about 8 people) and they all participate. This facility is much more organized and chooses to bring people in the room who actually want to do yoga. Sometimes, it depends where you are teaching at.

    Sensory Exercises Can Boost Engagement

    Since I was having difficulty getting everyone to participate, I tried adding in fun little extras to get them engaged. I started bringing in my speakers to play music. I tried so many types of music, from relaxing to rock music, and found that if the music was calming yet upbeat, it created a nice energy in the room.

    I also utilized my essential oils. This worked the best! I would put a drop of oil in my palms and go to each person and have them take a breath. One time at the beginning and another at the end. They all really seemed to enjoy this.

    I also experimented with the lights and closing the door to the rec room, so that it felt more like an experience. Nevertheless, people were always in and out whether it was nurses or visiting family members, it was difficult to avoid a disruption.

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  • September 19, 2019

    Dreamweaver

    I have ideas

    About the chapters in my book

    And sometimes I make plans

    But the best storyteller I know

    The skilled dream weaver

    Artist of life

    Veil of secrets

    Is the universe

    The ultimate creator

    And destroyer

    That force you feel mixing in the air

    Wondering which way

    The magic will blow

  • April 19, 2019

    Completion

    She waits for it

    Like a child in a deep sleep

    Aware that morning will come

    Tucked quietly in the darkness

    Dreaming

    Certain of the sun

  • April 6, 2019

    Premonition

    As I wrote his name, the pen shook. Like the words knew they weren’t true before they were splotched onto the paper. I was so good at writing how I felt. Writing about pain. But when I tried to write something nice about our future, the pen laughed.

  • March 22, 2019

    A Sequel

    Falling in love again makes me wonder what I even felt before. I know that I was there, but I feel as if my soul had walked off. I look back and it’s just smoke. I lost track of my heart. And just as it found its way back to me, appeared a gift. Arriving much faster than I was ready for. Wide enough to block the road. Unavoidable and sparkling. My chest is overflowing like a pool with the hose running all day. Water-filled spaces that were once empty cracks. My body has been wiped clean. A fresh pulse. A step forward on my path. I’ve been opened up like a book. And not a sentence skipped.

  • March 11, 2019

    Heartfruit

    There is something special about cutting open a passion fruit with a sharp knife. A sour and crunchy slurp that nourishes the cells behind my forehead. Sometimes when I’m thirsty I choose fruit instead of water. Maybe I am addicted to the sweetness just as much as the power behind its tart. A small crack on my dry lips lets in a sting. But I allow it because everything heals eventually. And I won’t stop loving these fruits even when I know it comes with a little pain.

  • February 26, 2019

    Rebirth

    Honey got in through the trap door again. It was so sticky this time that nothing could be let in or out. It was either winter or a wild fire. Nothing was breathing. Just ash floating in the sky like snow. Like bits of broken butterfly wings.

    So nature made it rain. Cleared the air. Watered the foundations. And surprisingly enough, there were seeds burrowed in the dirt. Forgotten little things waiting to burst through. In no time wild flowers and ferns bubbled up. And the sun and stars breathed out in relief.

  • January 16, 2019

    Red Wine

    I’ve never been so happy

    To take me out on a date

    People-watch over the balcony

    A man in the corner

    Plays the saxophone

    I’ve fallen in sweetness

    With the thought

    That I’m all I need

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