I love to celebrate Chinese New Year. Last year, I went up to Soho to watch the Dragon procession and on Saturday, I went to Loni Lincoln's "Year of the Downward Dog" workshop at Cafe Mila in Godalming. We learnt about Chinese culture, giving and receiving, did some yoga and were treated to jasmine tea and dim sum. But the best bit of all was the dragon dance!
Loni has Chinese ancestry, and she shared stories past down through her family about these ancient New Year celebrations, dating back at least 4,000 years and she even taught us a few Chinese phrases. Not sure how well we pulled off the pronounciation!
The Chinese Zodiac is made up of 12 animals: Horse, Goat (Sheep), Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig, Rat, Ox (Buffalo), Tiger, Rabit, Dragon and Snake. As the myth goes, a ruler asked the Cat to go out and select 12 animals for the zodiac, but the Rat overheard and beat him to it. You snooze, you lose!
This year is the Year of the (Downward) Dog. Dogs are outgoing, honest and fun loving. They are great team-players. They often worry, and need to practice feeling confident in their abilities.
I felt so inspired when I came home that I immediately set about creating a class plan for YogaCatz on Monday. Expect to see all the animals of the zodiac, a dragon conga warmup and a yoga journey through the myth behind the Chinese New Year celebrations. We'll finish with a relaxing imaginative meditation about dragon treasure!
Gong Xi Fa Cai
(Happy New Year!)