here’s our final “inside the revolution” post for our winter 2012 session of 40 DAYS to PERSONAL REVOLUTION.

bill sums it all up pretty nicely in his post…which tells a few secrets we didn’t think would leak out! but don’t take his word for it, join us in april for the next round of revolution! it will be no re-run, but it will be just. as. awesome.

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Wow.

How’s that for brevity?

As a relative newbie to yoga, I really didn’t have any idea what to expect out of the 40 Days program, only that it seemed to offer the promise of something that would resonate deeply with me. Did it ever! What an amazing experience connecting with a community of people as committed, well-intentioned and nurturing as the ones I’ve come to know at Three Dog. Even more than the specific coursework of the program itself or the physical practice of yoga the human atmosphere of gentle awareness and community creates a feeling of generosity and spiritual elevation I can barely define. It is as though the air I breathe is cleaner, the water I drink is fresher and the light more luminous. Couldn’t have asked for a deeper or richer experience. And I’m still finding myself struggling to even describe how or what has changed. Words don’t feel adequate.

I found myself going back to the 40 Days book over and over again to read and re-read the laws of transformation and get clear on my intention each week. The encouragement and support from Anna each week was instrumental in kick starting the self-excavation questions and led me to several ‘aha!’ moments that I won’t soon forget. Others are still in the soaking-in process and I’m guessing there will be more lightbulbs flickering on in the coming days and months.

The actual yoga classes were probably the easiest part for me. I completely threw myself into that. In fact, my highly individual research led me to the conclusion that, at least at his stage in my practice, 3 power yoga classes in 24 hours is too much by about 20 minutes. I know now what hitting a ‘yoga wall’ feels like and how to spell ‘chaturanga’. And I’m probably in the market for a new washing machine after the unprecedenting thumping mine has taken over the last six weeks or so.

I have to confess, however, that I completely blew off the balancing diet thing. Just let it go. The idea of a fruit cleanse seemed great in theory until I realized the practical reality of the ‘no caffeine’ edict. And peanut butter and chocolate are a fifth food group in my world. But if yoga has taught me anything, it is that the discomfort there probably holds some fabulous rewards. Next time…

Group meetings were, for me, a great chance to share what I was up to and find out what my fellow travelers were experiencing. Our group really felt alive, connected and amazingly enough, given the gravitas of the subject matter, fun. We even pulled off a surprise party for one of ours, who needed to go and get married a day before completion. Apres yoga bubbles, anyone? I totally enjoyed the banter back and forth, whether via e-mail or in real time. I mean, who’d have thought that a personal revolution program would lead to a renewed appreciation of bubble baths? Or provided the opportunity to prove without a shadow of a doubt that we could all shake a mean tailfeather? I think if there hadn’t been a class immediately following our dance party, we’d have gone on until the iPod died. Or the speakers blew. Thanks again for that, Anna. To steal from your own line, you have kickasana taste in music.

Of all the pieces of the program, the most important and the one that probably surprised me the most was the initiation of a meditation practice. I suppose I always thought that in meditation, as with many other things in life, I would ‘do it wrong’. Oh, I giggled at myself and got worried looks from my dog the first time I tried a 5 minute session. I struggled with a numb butt and a sore back. But I persevered, sometimes out of sheer stubbornness more than anything else. And by the 40th day my dog was completely bored and I found myself needing to go to what I now call my ‘sitting still place’. I can’t believe it took me this long to discover something this sweet. But I’m sure glad I did.

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about our guest

Howdy. I’m Bill Elbring. I discovered Three Dog Yoga about 5 months ago after a conversation with my orthopedic surgeon about prolonging the lifespan of my arthritic shoulder before a complete replacement. I actually have a prescription for yoga 5 times a week (didn’t know there was such a thing), and am happy to say that surgery looks like it can wait a good while longer.

I’m the proud father of two amazing children, 7 year old Augie and 4 year old Amelia. I’m also watched over by an 11 year old mutt named Sophie. I’ve been in the wholesale wine business for about 15 years and am an avid cyclist, gardener and wine geek.

our 40 day REVOLUTIONARIES “graduated” a week ago, but they are still ON FIRE! (a reunion is in the works). in today’s post Anne shares how the REVOLUTION worked for her…more REVOLUTION stories coming at you soon!

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I discovered Three Dog Yoga without much intention. I had little yoga experience but was curious. The studio was near my dry cleaner and between my office and house. Seemed like an adventure without much a detour.
With my first class the positivity of the place was inviting, if not overwhelming. I really like the yoga and the attitude. I knew this would be one of those good adventures. So I went sometimes more, sometimes less for about a year. Then I decided to read one of the monthly emails they send out and noticed the 40 day yoga revolution. The idea made me laugh- as it still does. Yoga did seem particularly revolutionary to me. Kind of quiet for a revolution- to say the least. I thought about it for awhile, decided I didn’t have THAT much time for a revolution. Then I thought about some more, read the info again. It was time limited-40days. Again what kind of revolution has a time limit? I signed up, almost convinced it was a good idea. It was better than the usual New Year Resolution to go to the gym more, but not as much fun as my other New Year resolution to drink more scotch.
I am an attorney and have been for almost 30 years. I am straight forward, bottom line, practical, pragmatic, and one of the least airy fairy people on the planet. Honestly I wasn’t sure about this revolution at all. I do have goal of learning 1 new thing every day and I thought the revolution may be helpful in that regard.
My revolution had 3 parts. The yoga part was obvious. I really enjoyed doing lots of yoga with the same people. By week 3 I noticed I was actually improving, that made it more and more fun.
The mediation part was the biggest surprise. I had never meditated before, convinced if I sat still with my eyes closed for very long I would fall asleep. I didn’t fall asleep. I did begin to learn to meditate and it is great. It is calming, joyful, centering and an amazing addition to my life. It has helped me become much less reactive, much more tolerant but participatory in the events of my life. I strongly recommend this.
The third part was the weekly themes and questions. Each week as a different theme all somehow related to personal growth. This really triggered the skeptic in me. Some weeks I didn’t ever understand in a practical sense. Perhaps the questions were too scary to consider. The best week was Equanimity. I keep those principals in a back pocket-very useful.
I do want to comment on the people. Anna does a great job running the show with tremendous enthusiaism and talent. She makes it personal and relevant to each one in the group. The group selects for smart, kind of intense individuals, wanting to make a difference in their own lives, while relating to others. I can’t imagine better community for a revolution.
In short I truly enjoyed this program and strongly recommend it. You should do it. It is fun. You will grow into some marvelous personal insights. You will find joy in the corners of your life you didn’t know were there. You will be way less reactive and smile more without all that much effort.

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about our guest

Anne Hernandez lives in Santa Rosa and has for the last 25 years. Originally from upstate NY, she has family she likes in Jackson Wy and strong ties to the Tetons. By profession she is an attorney and managing partner in a statewide law firm. This is a big career that requires sharp teeth. She has 2 kids, Caen age 14, always her equal, and Tess age 9, her aspiration. They have 2 dogs and 1 bird for now.

as promised, here’s another revolution story. this time, from Dawn…one of the newest members of the three dog family…enjoy!

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I was not looking for a personal revolution. I did not need one. I was looking for community, a group where I could nurture myself by being around people and meditate and do a little yoga. What I got was far beyond what I ever could have imagined.

In October, 2011 I was laid off from my job of 4 years working at a residential Buddhist meditation center and missed the community aspect of my job. As a staff we meditated together 30 minutes each morning before work. I also was able to attend multiday residential silent meditation retreats as well as access to daily meditation classes and teachings. A few months before I was laid off I was feeling very lost in my life. I was not sleeping well, I was irritable and not my happy go lucky self. I did not recognize me nor did I know how to find me again. So when I read the description of the Three Dog Yoga 40 Day Personal Revolution I saw an opportunity to be with community again. Little did I know I would gain much more that I ever could have anticipated.

In the first week the work book brought up a question that lived in the back of my mind but I did not want to face it. I wanted to remain in denial just because that was easier. The question that changed my life was “Where in my life am I flirting with disaster?” Goodness I could not resist going all the way with this question. It was as if the 40 Days to Revolution Program gave me full permission to GO FOR IT!!! And I did. I cut up my credit cards. I suddenly found a new respect for money and myself while having a sense of relief the cards are gone.

Week after week I could feel myself grow stronger physically and mentally and spiritually. I don’t know if I have ever grown muscles in all three areas at the same time. I was completely new to yoga so that was a challenge in itself. During week 3 the famous Equanimity week I learned that I could take all of the skills I learned in Vipassana meditation and apply the same technique of focusing on my breath and let the thoughts pass by like drifting clouds to my yoga practice. If I got frustrated (and I did) I could come back to my breath and surrender to my body. I learned my body is really smart. She can do amazing things if I just stop trying to control her and judge her with my mind!

So here I am in the last few days of my revolution that I thought I did not need. I have a new respect for myself which includes respect for my awesome body! I have met some amazing people who have become friends and I have a spectacular place to continue practicing yoga. I guess I did need a Personal Revolution and during my revolution I found my community and a whole lot more…myself.

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Hi I am Dawn and I am in Love with Life! I love learning ways to evolve and I am passionate about facilitating the empowerment of others to evolve as well. I do this by getting people in touch with their inner athlete as a cycling coach. I also am a support group facilitator for women escaping Domestic Violence. I have maintained a 150 pound weight loss since 2009 through cycling (my favorite activity) and conscious eating (my other favorite activity). I now can add Yoga to my list of favorite things to do after being introduced to it at Three Dog Yoga. I am in love with my wife of 21 years who is the most beautiful person I have ever known. Life is GREAT!

today is the final day of the first REVOLUTION of 2012! what an amazing 40 days! over the next few days, we’ll be offering up some posts from the group…we’re kicking it off with Gina’s…enjoy!

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Here I am, close to the end of another 40 Days. Anna gave me the opportunity to write a bit about my experience, so here goes!


40 Days is like fertilizer for my yoga practice. This is my third time through 40 Days and as I look back on each one of them, I can see that each one has fueled my personal and spiritual growth in a different way. I started my first 40 Days about a year and a half ago, having only 3 private training sessions with Michaela just the week before to introduce me to yoga.


What a shock it was to my system to immerse myself in yoga for the first time ever. My first impression was ‘Can a human being really sweat that much?’ and ‘Why is this so physically strenuous?’ As Anna sometimes jokes….I thought this would be like rolling around on the floor and perhaps chanting Om a few times. I struggled a lot through that first 40 Days. Physically it was really challenging for me, yet by the time it was over, I knew that something about it was right. My soul felt nourished. So the end result was that I knew I was on a path towards finding greater peace in my life. For 6 months after that, I came to yoga classes but struggled to be consistent. I’d stay away for a few weeks at a time, yet kept having a nagging feeling that I needed to be in class and on my mat.


During my second 40 Days (about a year ago), I realized that setting an intention for that period would help me focus on finding greater meaning in my journey. I wanted to develop consistency, and I committed to being in-studio at least three times each week. I still struggled physically to keep up with my practice and although I think I was able to meet the commitment I made, I felt like something was missing for me. I was being hard on myself for not being on my mat more frequently and at some point during the 40 Days, I focused on finding compassion for myself. That focus on finding compassion ended up evolving into compassion for animals, and so in March of 2011, I became a vegan. That was by far the most meaningful transformation and revolutionary thing that came out of my 40 Days experience and it’s a decision that has had the greatest impact on my life thus far.


For this, my most recent 40 Days, I committed to attending classes in-studio 6 days a week and I set an intention to find joy in my practice. I’d randomly survey people in class, asking them ‘Why do you do yoga?’ I got varied answers. ‘It makes me feel good’, ‘I feel healthier’, and ‘It reduces stress.’ All good answers, but I needed to find my own compelling reason for wanting to practice and it needed to be about what I hadn’t quite found yet. It needed to be stronger than any excuse I’d have for not practicing and it needed to sustain me when I stepped off the mat and into the world.


Through the past 5 weeks, I came to class every time I committed to (minus two days where I got sick), and when we’d join our voices together in the sound of Om, I’d set my intention. Find Joy. Be Joy.


I began to experience moments of joy throughout each week. Here’s what some of them looked like:

Silent non-cued movement in our 40 day classes. As we’d be moving through our Sun A and Sun B flows, Anna would stop cueing us and we’d move together, with no sound other than our breathing. Magical moments of joy!

Getting into a pose for the very first time. Anna helped me get into wheel. I still need her help, but that first time actually feeling myself up there in a wheel was pure, pure joy!

Seeing several bigger gals in class. I’m a big girl, hence my earlier description of finding yoga to be very physically challenging for me, and seeing others in my size range coming to classes has given me inspiration and hope that yoga will continue to draw in people of all diversities.

Meeting several newbies at the studio. Their exuberance is contagious and when I see someone come in and they look around, taking it all in, I get such joy out of asking them if it’s their first time at Three Dog, and welcoming them and saying what a special place it is!

Letting tears of joy come out while in Savasana, for no other reason than just being happy to be there.

Watching others get into a pose for the first time! I’m as excited for them as I’d be for myself!

Learning that integrity comes when you do what you know to be right for you and your body. THAT brings me joy!

And so I have a week left before this 40 Days session is over. It’s a week where I try to look at all I’ve experienced and evaluate if the intention I set was something I found. Looking at the moments of joy above, I’d say I got what I was looking for, but if that wasn’t enough, last night gave me such pure joy that it topped off everything I’ve already experienced this time around. I came to class and could see it was going to be a crowded one. A newbie sat next to me. And not just any newbie, but someone like me. I immediately felt a sense of kinship with this person, seeing myself in her and noticing her as she moved through Sun A and Sun B, resting in Child’s pose when she needed to. I wanted to say to her ‘It gets easier, you’re doing awesome!’ As we all went into Side Plank pose, I saw her struggle and she whispered to me ‘This hurts my wrist’. In that moment I channeled Anna and whispered back ‘Slide your hand out a bit and let one knee down.’ As she shifted into that, I cheered for her on the inside and thought ‘You go, Girl!’ Right then, I realized where joy comes from. It’s getting out of my own head and not being concerned with how I’m doing and instead, watching others succeed and be happy. Now I get why Anna is so lit up all the time! She does this every single day with every single one of us! You find joy not by looking for it for yourself but in wishing for it and seeing it in others. When you do that, you can’t help but get it for yourself!

So if you see me in class and I happen to be on the mat next to you, know that even if we haven’t conversed before class starts, I’ll be next to you, silently cheering you on, wishing you joy for your practice, because when I see you experience joy, that will give me joy. I finally get it!

And finally, will this be my last 40 days? Highly unlikely. I’ll need another shot of fertilizer come Spring!

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Hi there. I’m Gina Drummond. I work up the hill from Three Dog Yoga at Agilent Technologies. I’ve been there for 30 years (although I took a few years off in between while I studied and became a massage therapist and then an esthetician). About 2 years ago I noticed the Three Dog sign on my way home from work. I’d never done yoga before and thought about going. I decided that for my 50th birthday, I’d start taking yoga classes and am so glad I landed at Three Dog! There’s no better place to be. I’ve also worked behind the counter at Three Dog and got a lot of joy out of trying to greet everyone with a big smile, making sure folks felt welcomed!

I live with my husband Dan and my most awesome dog Vinnie and our two cats Mittens and Matty. When I’m not working or at yoga, I’m busy with the pets, sewing, soapmaking, knitting, expanding my vegan cooking repertoire, or spending time with my family who live nearby.

welcome to week 5 of forty days to personal revolution.

we have exactly one week left in the program and our theme is CENTERING — acting with directed intention, being concious of how we’re moving through our lives and ensuring that we’re aligning with ourselves as we go through our day to day routines.

it’s really about owning our lives, refusing to be “the victim” and taking responsibility for putting the things we’ve learned throughout the REVOLUTION into action. this week, Jenna shares from the heart what she’s doing this week to come back to center.

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I’ve been thinking about writing this blog post for days now. Honestly, it’s been difficult for me! I write a blog for a living and every day share my feelings with the entire Internet so technically, writing this blog post should have been a piece of cake. But it’s hard.

Hi! I’m Jenna and this is my second Personal Revolution. I love and believe in the program and have seen first hand the benefits of completing it in my own life. However, even though I’ve now (almost!) done the program twice, sometimes I still feel a little guilty because I don’t have a huge proclamation like some people. I’ve never walked away from this program with the intent to quit my job, travel to a foreign country or start something totally new. And to be honest, sometimes I’m jealous of those that do have those life epiphanies! What I have walked away with, though, is feeling grounded in my own life in ways that are unique just to me.

I started this 40 days immediately after training with Baron Baptiste in Colorado, which worked out perfectly because I was on fire for yoga and empowering my life. However, I also started this program at the same time I started a new addiction, and that was reading a hate site directed solely at me. For those of you that don’t know, I write a food blog and anytime you put yourself “out there” you will have criticism. It’s just part of it. It’s how you choose to handle that criticism that dictates how you own your life. Unfortunately, I fell very prey to worrying constantly how others perceived me and let their negative comments and hateful attacks affect not only myself, but also my other close relationships. I felt a little bit like a hypocrite because, on one hand, I was in the studio practicing every day and meditating at night, but in my spare time, I was on my phone reading about how much others hate me. It wasn’t healthy for me and it wasn’t healthy for my 40 days experience, but I really didn’t feel like I could stop, as most addictions go. It finally all came to culmination this week, when a few of my close friends actually staged an “intervention” for me to stop reading this website. I finally realized how much I was hurting myself by reading it and how I was surrounding myself in a big cloud of negativity all the time. By reading the comments that these haters were making about me, I was letting them win. I refuse to do that to myself any longer.

I wish I could say I’m 100% okay with the fact that there are people out there that genuinely dislike me. As a type A people pleaser, I know I have a long way to go. I also know though that I’m not going to let these people run my life for me. My biggest take-away so far during these 40 days is the acknowledgement that I do still worry too much about what others think of me, but I have the power inside to let that go. Their problems are not my problems and I’m not going to waste another second of my time feeding into a negative situation that I can’t control.

about our guest
My name is Jenna Weber. I started practicing yoga about eight years ago and have been hooked ever since. Yoga has helped get me through some very difficult and stressful times in my life—to me, getting on my mat is like coming home. For the past four years, I have always wanted to become teacher certified and have always put it off for one reason or another. Recently, I’ve realized that the time is NOW and plan to get certified with California Power Yoga in the Spring.

I moved to California two years ago from Florida and work as a recipe developer, freelance food writer and writer of the food blog, Eat, Live, Run. When I’m not on my yoga mat, I’m busy cooking in my tiny kitchen and creating delicious recipes for others to enjoy!