You teach and are the studio manager at Sonic Yoga. Humor is often used in your teaching and interacting with the Sonic community. How important is it to you that yoga be enjoyable and have a sense of play?
One of the things I am told is that whether I am talking to you on the street or teaching a class I am one and the same person. I think that is true for most of my life regardless of what hat I might be wearing at any given moment. I don’t teach or manage from a lofty place. I try to be true to myself and I am equal to others. Humor comes naturally to me. I often see the light side to any situation and I’m a self proclaimed irreverently reverent individual. I am a cynic and a believer all wrapped into one. I love to show my vulnerable side because I think people can laugh when they realize that they have similar insides and then we can laugh together and rejoice at our human condition.
Your upcoming workshop is called Journey through Chakras with Sound and Light. What has shocked ya about Chakras?
Back when I did my teacher training I was really intrigued by the Chakra work that I did with my mentor Lauren Hanna. The chakras are the 7 energy points along the central channel of the body. Learning about and meditation on these points really started to bring a kind of magic into my practice. Each one directly relates to an emotion or feeling and by simply drawing the awareness towards balancing these points the unbalanced energy that we feel in our everyday will start to balance out. A true meditation like the one we will do in this workshop can be a key ingredient in unlocking stuck energy and clearing out unclear channels. We can use affective learning to change our negative behaviors and to enhance our positive ones. This leads us from suffering and towards a place of sachidananda (truthful knowing bliss).
Meditation will be apart of the evening on Friday. How has meditation helped you?
In its simplest form meditation can simply be a pause, a breath or even slowing down. It creates an awareness. That alone has worked wonders for me in my life. Meditation for me is remembering to be grateful for a sunny day rather that focusing on the one spot of shade in my life. When I take longer pauses to unplug from the things that arguably aren’t leading me to a place of bliss and plug into ideas and thoughts that are leading me to that place, it does wonders to change my overall state of being. Ultimately I’m happier.
How will light and sound be apart of the process to “ignite the seven energy centers situated along the central channel of the subtle body” (as stated in your description of the workshop)?
Sound and sight are two very familiar senses that we can use to change the vibrational energy of the the physical and subtle body from a state of suffering to a state of bliss. Think about listening to your favorite song our by looking out at beautiful sunny day; they can completely change the way you feel. In this workshop we will use these tools coupled with imagination and inner awareness to empower a new state of being. A complete state of bliss that is actually always within us, although we may have forgotten or maybe have never experienced it.
What excites you about being apart of the Sonic family in this moment?
Being a part of something so powerful, like Sonic, is an amazing gift, especially when that power is used to empower people with things like self love and and self care. I believe that self love is the key ingredient to being able to love anyone else. That’s what Sonic does. That’s what yoga does. It gives you super powers. It has the ability to make you your best you so that you can be better for everyone and everything that comes in contact with you. Love is only real love when it is shared and you can’t share what you don’t have. I think Sonic has it and we love to share it.
SIGN UP FOR Journey through the Chakras with Sound and Light with Chris Temple
