Skip to content

yogamaris.net

YOGAMARIS

About
- Bio
- FAQs
- Press Kit
Documentary
Everyday Goddesses
In the Media
Online Offerings
Podcast
Work With Me

Podcast

Listen on iTunes!

Click the links below to listen to the episode and read the transcripts.

Prologue

Chapter One: 1,000 Paper Cranes

Chapter Two: The Loaded Gun

Share this:

Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Search for:

What I'm Up To

When do you feel the most JOY? ☀️🙌🏼 This picture was taken the first time I went to Wanderlust (@wanderlustfest) up in Squaw Valley. I can legitimately say it is one of the happiest memories of my life. I loved being surrounded by fellow yogis, I loved trying new teachers and styles of yoga, I loved spending time in nature and having wild beauty all around me. Not only did this experience bless me with a new dream (to someday teach at Wanderlust!), it sparked a fire in me to keep chasing after those moments of joy. ✨ Everything I do now is working towards finding that joy. I’m chasin after it like it owes me money. What are you chasing?

The picture you post ➡️ vs. reality. I love yoga because it’s taught me to love the in-betweens and grey areas. Contrary to popular belief, “self-love” doesn’t mean you suddenly wake up every morning madly in love with everything about you, from your appearance to your personality to your abilities. It doesn’t mean you never have a bad day or never engage in negative self-talk again. A lot of the time, self-love is just persistent work towards greater peace with who you are. It’s a dedication towards learning to come from a place of love with the way you speak to yourself and the way you treat yourself. Nowhere in the description is a “perfect” way to do it. Yoga teaches us to embrace the journey, to fall down and enjoy the practices where we don’t quite nail the pose as much as the times we do. It teaches us that we are ALWAYS a work in progress until the day we die, and the really key is to love yourself even when you’re not hitting some specific goal or marker. So here’s a pic of me falling down, because don’t I look pretty damn happy anyway? 🙌🏼✨

Fact: one time I did yoga in a laundromat in San Francisco. When I look at this photo, I laugh. But I’m also reminded of the fact that we don’t need to take yoga so damn seriously all the time. Chances are, yoga isn’t your job. The world won’t end if you don’t make it to the mat. Find the lightness and joy of moving in your body and expanding your abilities, and don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. If you can only make it to class one or two times a week- do it! You don’t have to be the first one at the 6:00 AM class every morning to be a “true yogi.” You’re choosing to make this a part of your lifestyle, and that means it won’t be a linear progression. There will be ups and downs, but at the end of the day, you’ve committed yourself to living a life of presence, dedication, and exploration. You don’t have to attend a silent retreat if that’s not your thing, or give up all your worldly possessions in an attempt to shed yourself of materialism. All you have to do is commit yourself to the process of growth as an individual, and be prepared to enjoy yourself as you do so.

I’d like to share with you something I’m honored to be a part of: The I Am Phoenix Project (@iamphoenixproject). ✨ I met the founder of this project way-back-when at Just Be Yoga, and I believe in the spirit of this project with my whole heart. I Am Phoenix is designed to help spur healing and spark important conversations around trauma, sexual abuse, and surviving abuse. Their goal is to elevate the voices of victims and ensure that their stories are never lost. The founder of this project spoke with the founding voice of the #MeToo movement and came to a powerful conclusion: we’ve done a great job bringing to light the wounds many of us carry. Now it’s time to create and provide resources to allow the healing to begin. I’m honored to join this project and help them begin to craft these resources, and I would love for you to go check out their work! Follow @IAmPhoenixProject to stay up-to-date and get involved! 🙌🏼💛 #IAm #IAmPhoenixProject / / Cool “I Am” hat from @IAmPhoenixProject, cool buttons from my friends @OldSchoolSantaCruz (you can get yours and support a local business at their store, too!)

I crave the lonely company of trees. I like to walk alone in their shade, Sip in their air, get lost in the shadows That dance in the sun, The sun that hangs in the sky like a heavy lip, And peaks between the branches. Three trees lean in, Whispering to one another. Their weeping tresses brush the earth, Calling me to hide in them, To find a home in their secrets. Everywhere I turn, The earth calls to me. Follow the signs, Made of sticks of the earthen skyscrapers, Their bones which pave the way. Let nothing turn you back, Charge bravely into the maze. I peer up to find a sky that I cannot see, Witness the manzanita pull away its flesh, Watch the eyelashes of the pine fall away. I look back and it’s all a different now. Where did I come from? Where was I headed? The trees have surely danced when I was distracted by their beauty. But oh, it could never matter here, Where the beauty is endless and the creatures are quiet. 🌲 #earthday2018

Someone came up to me in the gym today and said, “How did you learn how to do a handstand?” I was kind of flustered thinking of an answer because there’s SO many components to it. There’s strength, and flexibility, and time, and patience, and dedication. I kinda just said, “Oh I do a lot of yoga! Its taken me awhile.” But thinking about it now, I should I have two things: 1. I’ve fallen down A LOT. The biggest key to learning something is adapting to the idea that failure isn’t the end of the journey, it’s a necessary step towards improving. 2. I’m STILL learning. I’ll always be still learning. This yoga stuff is a lifelong process, and I find that exciting instead of discouraging. We don’t do yoga just to get better at the asana, we do it to get better at life. The journey of learning this tricky pose and sticking with it for years has taught me so much about myself and how to be more patient when working towards my goals than most other things in my life. If you’re looking for somewhere to start, I’ve got a guide all about arm balances and inversions. The link (yogamaris.net/guide) is in my bio if you wanna check it out. 💛🙏🏼

Setting the intention to share more of my art. ✨ #fearlesslyauthentic

The yoga shows us the beauty in embracing the uncomfortable. The asana, the practice on our mats, is intentionally hard. We hold uncomfortable postures and get all hot and sweaty and literally flip our lives upside down all the time. And you know what? We survive. We grow stronger. We learn when to bend so we don’t break. We learn when to rest and when to push on. We are confronted with both our strengths and weaknesses in equally terrifying capacities in every practice. And somewhere along the line, we fall in love with it. We show up, do our work, and don’t see it as a responsibility for anyone but ourselves. We see our teacher as a guide, but they don’t make the magic happen on our mats. We do. We do every chaturanga, every downdog, every salutation. No one is forcing us to do that. As a teacher, my job is merely to make strong suggestions. As a student, my job is to do the work that I know I need.

It's been an exciting week for the I Am Maris movie. We had a lil spot on NPR discussing the film, we premiered at Ashland Film Festival, and some exciting things have been happening behind-the-scenes we can't talk about yet (but desperately wish we could!). This has been, without a doubt, one of the most surreal times of my life. I am grateful beyond words to hear the feedback we received after the screening. Here's what filmmaker Laura had to say about the experience: "Packed house, people standing in back, and they loved it. So many great questions and wonderful compliments... At least 3 people said they were therapists and thanked me for doing such an honest portrayal of mental illness. Older people wanted their grandkids to see it. Everyone asked how they could share it. One therapist said she was so grateful because she’d never seen a hopeful mental illness movie before." Thank you for being a part of this journey with us. This is only the beginning! 🙌🏼✨

Connect

View Maris Degener’s profile on Facebook
View marisdegener’s profile on Twitter
View yogamaris’s profile on Instagram
View yogamaris’s profile on Pinterest
View Maris Degener’s profile on LinkedIn
View Maris Degener’s profile on YouTube

Archives

Pages

About
- Bio
- FAQs
- Press Kit
Documentary
Everyday Goddesses
In the Media
Online Offerings
Podcast
Work With Me

Post to

Cancel

%d bloggers like this: