When I tell people that I'm a yoga instructor, sometimes the response I get is, "Oh, wow! Yoga! I could never do that! I'm so inflexible."

Usually my response is, "That's OK! Yoga is where we learn to be flexible ... among other things." And then sometimes I go on some rambling monologue about the myriad of benefits of yoga.

Anyway, I'm here to tell you that being naturally flexible is not all it's cracked up to be! Sometimes I wish I were strong and stiff instead of flexible.

For those of us blessed with natural flexibility in the joints, it can be easy to replicate the look of a posture without doing any work. For example, take Dandasana/Staff Pose. If you just look at the shape, you might find it fairly easy to sit with your legs in front of you, in the shape of an L. But this posture can become a lot of work! Engage your feet, pulling the arches toward you, pull your kneecaps toward you, tone your belly and keep lifting your chest with your own strength. Oh yeah, and keep breathing! This is where the yoga is happening, finding all the nuances of the posture. Also, keeping your muscles working is essential to protecting your joints.

I would go so far as to say that yoga is even more beneficial for flexible people! My hypermobility has caused me injuries ever since I was young. When I was in high school, I suffered for a long time with a knee injury, and was constantly twisting my ankles if I stumbled even a little bit. Western approaches like orthotic inserts for my shoes and physical therapy did solve some of my problems. However, I have recently noticed that in spite of being a yoga teacher, I don't always move mindfully when I'm off the mat! I have thrown out my SI joint probably by getting out of bed some sloppy way, and I know that I often sit into a chair in a way that is not so awesome for my knees. I can't always count on my joints to maintain this natural (or unnatural!) flexibility. Muscles must be worked long and strong both to allow joints to work the way they're supposed to, at the maximum range of motion and with the maximum amount of support. This is how we train our bodies to serve us safely for many years. Some us (waves hand) have to work harder on the strong, and some of us have to work harder at the long.

Thank you, Amanda Palmer, for summing up my entire philosophy of ART (capital letters) using my most favorite instrument, the ukulele.

"Art is great that way, you can do anything."

I'll tie this one in to tribal bellydance. I'll wholeheartedly admit to being a "tribal curmudgeon." I love American Tribal Style in is purest form. I love watching it, and I love dancing it. I am satisfied digging as deep as I can into the nuances of the format and giving an entertaining performance. I've reached a point in my creative path where I enjoy simplicity to the point of minimalism and easy communication with the audience. I got all my hard-core analyzing out being an art history and theory major. Now is my time for enjoying the process.

It's nice to have this approach validated by another artist. I often feel that ATS is being increasingly pushed out of the picture by fusion dancers who are going nuts bringing in personal or popular influences into the dance. It was a humbling relief listening to Amanda Palmer's song and being reminded that fusion dancers who challenge the tradition of classical bellydance and tribal style have space for their voice as well. Art is great that way, you can do anything!

Last week, I was venting some frustrations, and with a sympathetic ear, my troupemate listened and then coached me to do something about it. Put my dreams on paper. This was followed by a timely post by Paulette of Gypsy Caravan. Apparently the universe is cooperating to make space for my dreaming. At the moment, this is just a little seed of a dream, an intention I'm sending out into the universe.

I want to teach yoga and dance alongside other mind-body teachers and build community among each other and our students.

I could see it happening formally, in a studio setting. What is more appealing to me, and seems more likely at the moment, is that it would be an informal arrangement in a community center or some other public place. The teachers would work as a collaborative, promoting each other's classes. Once a month we'd a have a "yoga jam" which I imagine would be sort of like a cross between a Mysore-style practice and a yoga hafla.

That's about as far as I've gotten at the moment. I give myself permission to stick to this dream and make it happen, and I'm riding on my troupemate's and Paulette's confidence that the very act of writing an intention starts to put things in action. Maybe one of you is excited about my idea, or knows some one who would be interested in participating.