Goal of All Goals – How We Practice

Practice Peace, make it the goal of all goals, incorporate it into your practice

On our Avita Community Chat last night, a practitioner made a statement that we can all relate to in one form or another. The statement was essentially, “I want my knee to be pain free.” Don’t we all have bodily desires? Don’t we all have a goal for a body part to be better? Do we not all have a desire for some kind of outer change, whether in body or life? Of course!

It’s normal to have physical desires and goals. It’s also perfectly normal to pursue them.

However (you knew this was coming) I would like to offer a caveat that will put it all in perspective and create the backdrop for the best outcome: Allow your worldly/bodily goals to be second to one prevailing desire/goal for peace in mind—the last place we think to look for it. Close your eyes for a moment and offer yourself this one prayer. Go ahead, if even for an instant, set the goal. Don’t worry, you don’t need to throw your worldly goals away, but put them all in a second group called “fuzzy goals.”

(CHECK OUT the October Community Chat in your member portal.)

With so many uncertainties in our world, there’s no better time to practice. Whether it’s isolation, masks, election outcomes, bodily aches and pains or uncertainty about the future, we each have a litany of worldly preferences—some people with similar goals and preferences but no two alike. It’s a great opportunity to use them all to practice and join with the two things we all have in common, the struggle as sentient beings, and the peace we share in spirit.

Here’s how we practice: When you feel things working against you, you can say to yourself, “Ah, yes, I would like ____________ to happen but peace is my goal.” Or, “I see this thing happening in the news and if only it were_______________, then I’d be happy. Oh yeah, peace is my goal.” Nothing is lost. There’s but a gentle shift to a different inner voice.

Here’s the most important part of all! Once the goal for peace is set (remember, you did that a moment ago) its outcome is certain because a peaceful Self is your reality.

That’s number one. Number two, don’t demand inner peace (of self or others) and don’t beat yourself up for not having it! There’s no surer way to delay your inevitable gains than proclaiming your “failure.” Instead gently observe the notion that something can seemingly take your peace away. It goes like this, “Oh, I know my goal is peace, but this _________ is taking my peace away….isn’t that interesting.” We begin by not critiquing the judge! This tiny gap in time, this moment of reprieve is enough to open the mind and your world up to vast, endless and helpful possibilities…all of which will align for the most favorable outcome. It’s called getting out of our own way and it will take a little trust, at first.

One of my favorite movies that exemplifies this so well is The Legend of Bagger Vance with Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Matt Damon. In the end we don’t know if Bagger Vance was a real person or a symbol of Ranulph Junuh’s peaceful mind. I vote for the latter. We all have a wise, healed and whole “Bagger Vance” within, waiting to be known. And if we listen for It (by dimming the chatter of the unhealed, demanding mind) it will guide us closer and closer to Itself and all the things that use to trouble us slip away and life begins to fall into place. You’ll first be OK with the knee pain and then you’ll gently find the way to mend it. If you watch the movie, notice how Bagger Vance has not a judgmental bone in his body, how peaceful he is, how easy the words come, how patient and loving he is…and he’s always there. Watch how Matt Damon’s character tries outwit him and fights for his own limitations. Eventually resistance is laid aside and peace comes.

This is our yoga and the essence of the Avita Practice. It’s why it works. It’s mind over matter time and time again as we work on the matter! We don’t stop working on the body, we just get our priorities straight. If you take the time to read the Yoga Sutras, this is what they point to. It’s not easy but it is simple. Instead of putting the body first, we learn to put it second and get to know the one thing that is constant, eternal and available to all: Lasting Peace. That is out of this world!

That is what we want above all else. Why wait?

Give the Gift of Avita Yoga Online

Did you know you could give the gift of Avita Yoga Online? It is a great gift idea, especially for your friends and family who are staying at home and looking for ways to stay active.

Here’s how to give the gift of Avita Yoga Online:

From the PRODUCT PAGE add a Monthly Membership to your cart
Check the “THIS IS A GIFT” box
Add the email address of the person receiving the gift
Enter and apply a coupon code if you have one
Update the cart
Proceed to checkout
Enter the billing information
Set up your account:
1. Active account and are not logged in – you will be asked to login and choose the payment method
2. Inactive membership account – you will be asked to login to your inactive account and select payment methods for the gift – this will not impact your membership status
3. Not of Avita Yoga Online – you will be asked to set up an account to house your billing information – so that you have access to your account information and the recipient does not
After the purchase is completed, the recipient of the gift will receive an email from Avita Yoga Online with information about setting up their own account and billing

Give the gift of Avita Yoga Online to a friend or family member and enjoy together

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Avita Online community Give Avita Yoga

Different levels of practice: Green, Orange and Red

Avita™ is the only yoga that takes a consistent multi-level approach that works for people of all ages and abilities. It works because it relies on time-tested principles that span three different levels of practice: Green, Orange and Red.

Avita Yoga® Green

This is where the magic happens. Green classes make up the majority of the Avita practice because this is what most people need. Green classes take a reductionist approach to yoga so that neither the body nor the mind are overwhelmed. In fact the soothing pressure induces healing in body and mind for anyone who practices them. In many ways, it’s all we need. People are drawn to the simplicity because it’s where we get the results! Exotic and fancy, will not.

With time and practice you will naturally be drawn to the Avita Orange classes, but there’s no rush. Please don’t rush. This practice is a potent “undoing” that resolves the physical and mental impact of conflict and trauma in the body and mind. With time and desire, you may practice daily, but until you are drawn to it, 3 to 4 days a week is enough.

Green Classes are the essential starting place for anyone with injuries, chronic pain, stiffness or general issues that come with the aging process.

AVITA YOGA GREEN

Avita Yoga® Orange

As mobility and health improve, confidence increases and the student is naturally ready for more time, pressure and complexity in the shapes and movements. By now, the student has developed an understanding of the practice and is aware of the difference between pain and helpful, healing sensation.

Avita Orange classes allow the advancing student to safely experience these additional elements. Remember to reduce pressure and/or time if you are ever in doubt during a class. It’s wise to practice mostly Avita Green two to three times per week and add an Avita Orange class once per week.

AVITA YOGA ORANGE

Avita Yoga® Red

The assumption is made here that the student has worked through chronic pain issues and many of the compensatory patterns that accompany them (which and take months if not years). It does no good to push the body if the hidden pattern remains because when we push the body we fall into the very pattern (and pains) that we’re trying to resolve. This is a very important concept and it is often overlooked in most yoga traditions because we’ve fallen into the trap that we have to do the things we can’t in order to improve. The underlying belief is that once I’m accomplish this or that shape and get it “right,” all will be good and this is simply not true. We can get away with it in our youth, but there are often consequences in later years.

The demand is high, but for those who have honestly worked through the progression of Avita Green and Orange, the Red Classes will be experienced as nurturing and sustainable. If this is not the case, then please spend more practice-time in the Green and Orange classes. Remember, there is a difference between strain, and yogic effort. For the time-being the Red classes are only available as replays on Live Stream.

AVITA YOGA RED

Three to four different classes are recommended per week.

A bolster and a strap are needed for most classes, while two 9.5 pound sandbags and 2 blocks are sometimes used regardless of the class, Green, Orange or Red. You can learn more about Avita Yoga props and purchase them here.

Avita Yoga® brings areas of conflict and rigidity to light where they can be resolved. It is a sustainable practice that generates longterm results with more freedom in body and more peace in mind. If you’ve ever thought that you are too stiff for yoga, then Avita is for you. Start with the Green Classes!

The goal is simple: to remain healthy, mobile and happy for a lifetime.

As such, Avita Yoga is a no frills, results-driven practice. It is a systematic, long-term approach that pays close attention to each individual body and its unique needs. It works for students of all ages, abilities and degrees of mobility. Avita is the yoga for a lifetime™.

Avita Yoga® takes a systemic approach that resolves the restrictions, pains and compensatory patterns that uphold them. It comes in three layers: Avita Green, Orange and Red.

Avita Online Avita yoga yoga for everyone

Show us your face — share your space!

How is your at-home yoga practice going?–We would like to see you.

We know you are enjoying your Avita Yoga Online practice and while we can simulate a studio by having other participants in the videos we are sharing with you…we miss SEEING your beautiful face – so we would like to create a visual experience of the Avita Yoga Online community by posting your pictures of your virtual yoga practice.

Here’s how – take a picture and post it on Facebook and TAG Avita Yoga (@AvitaYoga). Your picture will be featured on our Facebook Page in the community photos and will help to create that visual community experience that we are all missing. And, each week, one lucky person posting a photo will be selected to receive one month free of Avita Yoga Online.

Join the Avita Yoga Online Community: https://www.facebook.com/avitayoga/community/

Building community and connection is critical during this time of isolation. Help us see how you are doing and join the Avita Yoga Online community visually. We can’t wait to SEE all of you. Take a picture today of your Avita yoga practice, post it on Facebook and TAG Avita Yoga (@AvitaYoga).

To “TAG” Avita Yoga, you have to “LIKE” the @AvitaYoga Facebook page if you don’t already.

So… ready? Let’s start connecting visually and strengthen our connections globally.

Avita Online Avita yoga community sharing yoga practice

Jeff Bailey Founder of Avita Yoga

Jeff Bailey, Boulder, CO founder of Avita Yoga

A message from Jeff Bailey Founder of Avita Yoga

Life happens…and then somewhere along the way, the “happening” catches up to us and we find that our bodies don’t function with the same ease and comfort that they did in the past. No one can avoid the effects of time and gravity, not to mention the trauma that life inevitably brings to the body and the compensatory patterns they generate in the body. We often ‘chalk it up’ to old age to justify our condition, but you don’t have to fall into that trap! A consistent Avita practice will reverse the effects of time on your body.

Yoga joins

I’m no different than anyone else. I’ve experienced the trials and tribulations of life, but having discovered yoga at the age of 22 I was sourced with the passion for a better way in body and mind. I never subscribed to a particular method but studied most of them to some degree and found that they tend to pull us apart. But by definition, yoga joins. What does this mean? What are we separate from? And then in the fall of 2010 the answer was given and my life has never been the same. My mind was flooded with light. Years of practicing life’s inner work largely with A Course in Miracles as my guide (fittingly in the midst of one of my life’s deepest challenges) I had the outcome I wanted—the same one we ALL want—unconditional peace and joy.

Love will find a way

One of my greatest assets is the ability to understand a concept and then distill it down to the simple details. I’m also very willing to experiment with my life. This set the backdrop for a deep prayer to find a way to recover from a ski accident that severely impacted my hip. Lying on my back one day after a yoga class, I willed a better way. I know that the prayer of the heart is always answered, and the answer came just a few weeks later. The people and circumstances flowed into my life to begin shedding light on this healing path that was later to become Avita Yoga. It came with great challenge but I know that great things come with challenge. I know the power of commitment and I stayed true to my own prayer for a better way the could be shared with all. My mantra in difficult times is, “Love will find a way” and it continues to guide me today.

A gentle resolution

To experience the power and presence of this continuous Guidance is the goal of Avita Yoga. But because this Constant Love is ever-available to all, it cannot be amplified or increased. It must be gently revealed. Like cleaning the lens of a lightbulb that is always fully on, the Avita practice removes the obstacles to the light. The result is a steady and gentle return to the Light and Love we never left, all the while experiencing the side-effects of a healthier, more mobile body. This is what makes Avita Yoga unique. To be effective, the body must become a vehicle to heal the mind which is then reflected back into the body. The mind is not limited to to the space between the ears, it is everywhere. And so, Avita Yoga is the gentle resolution of inner conflict – both physically and nonphysically—a revelation of the power and presence of Self. There’s nothing like it.

What better goal could exist? It’s what makes Avita the yoga of a lifetime, for a lifetime.

Jeff Bailey – Trainings, Certifications

Jeff Bailey holds four yoga teacher certifications: two 200-hour, one 300-hour, and one 500-hour and currently leads 200 and 300 hour Avita Yoga Teacher Training. As a trained Rolfer, Jeff weaves structurally integrative elements into classes and trainings that have practical applications in life. Jeff brings a diverse background in the yoga traditions of Iyengar, Vinyasa, and Yin and together with his wife Lori, own several yoga studios, Yoga Loft South Boulder and Yoga Loft Gunbarrel – an All Avita Yoga studio in Colorado.

From Jeff

Yoga and the business of yoga is my dharma, a word that aligns us with both practice and purpose. When we find something that works, we naturally want to share it and feel that I have a lot to share.

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Avita Online Avita yoga Jeff Bailey Yoga Loft

Avita Yoga is a moving meditation that heals in body and mind.

There are spiritual or mental practices that are designed to liberate us from the body and world, and there are physical practices designed to make the body more fit and healthy (though fitness and health are two very different things). Rarely do the two mix because the ego will reduce anything and everything to the body. Avita Yoga is a moving meditation that heals in body and mind.

For thousands of years, yoga was about the mind. It was a mental practice—a collection of approaches and practices to liberate the mind from the body. Today, yoga has been turned into a fitness trend that moves the mind into the body thus glorifying the body itself. Search “yoga pose” on the internet and you will see countless images of able-bodied people performing in pristine settings. It’s not wrong. It’s natural to aspire to things we’re good at, but it paints yoga in an image that you have to be young, fit, and able to perform the pose, instead of using it to evolve the health of your body while freeing you from it.

A moving meditation that heals.

Avita Yoga is for those who want a way to stay young and mobile so that they can enjoy the things to which they aspire.

It’s not about the yoga! It’s about the side effects it brings—lasting health and peace.

Avita Yoga is designed to meet you, the aspiring individual that wants a better way, exactly where you are. Avita leads through a step by step series of doable shapes designed to move you from the inside out. And though it often brings quick results, Avita Yoga takes a longterm approach. I make the assumption that every Avita Yoga student will be with me and the practice in 3 to 7 years or more.

Each class is a nearly unnoticeable progression on the previous class.

It is the only yoga I know that is fulfilling on day one and gets easier as time and practice go by. It’s natural to treat Avita like a physical and mental hygiene program. You don’t have to practice every day—just three times a week is enough to bring positive change and keep you youthful in body and spirit.