Heat & Heart- The Spirit of Pitta in Summer

“And what if who you are keeps blooming?
Season after season. May the parts of your confidence you learned to hide find daylight again.” - Morgan Harper Nichols

Hello dear friends,

I love the image here of blackberries blossoming through vibrant greens. The greens reflecting the Anahata Chakra, the heart, and the fires and sweetness moving through to bring forward rich, potent berries—each in their own time.

And so too, we.

It has been a vibrant season, summer has been full. Work hard, play hard, as they say. Service & sweetness. I hope you, too, are finding your way between what brings you alive and what restores you.

The Year of the Fire Horse feels especially present in this peak of summer. I’ve been thinking about the spirit of the horse: playfulness, endurance, watching and then moving into action, meeting the moment. And not without depletion, either. Feeling well-used, while also knowing this rhythm is soon to change as September approaches.

Truly, it has been a season of fire—and for me, further permission to play alongside service. Light travel, concerts, plays, music, camping, witnessing, indulging in childlike wonder, the intensity and beauty of nature, weekly gatherings and movement outdoors with my fur baby. Our Sellwood Park gatherings have been especially sweet in all the ways!

Times to move, connect, dance, sing, doubt, cry, be in reverence.

It’s all in the spirit of wholehearted living- I'm filled with immense gratitude.

So today, a few practices and resources for your consideration. For integration. Leo season, the peak of Fire Horse energy, Ayurvedic reflections for Pitta season, eclipse considerations, soundscapes to support your spirit, and where you can find me.

As always, take what serves and leave the rest. Soundscapes below, but for the read- Solar Frequency.
(Did you know- you can select the heading of this email and open this in a web browser? Commenting open as well.)

Leo, Heart & Healthy Fire

Leo rules the heart. Confidence, creativity, visibility, courage.

The question and opportunity that have been stirring since Lionsgate on 8/8—and now with this eclipse 8/12—are perhaps simple:

Can you be ready to say yes?

Often, to step more fully into who we already are, something needs to be released: a limiting belief, a pattern, something that has once served but now run it's course, or a way of being that is ready to dissolve and transmute.

Summer is no longer asking us to grow.

It is inviting us to deepen, integrate, and inhabit what has already been cultivated—so that it can be gathered, shared, and lived. All inspirations from sweet thought leaders including The Yoga Almanac, @spiritdaughter, Andrea Rare, and my teachers.

Tending the Fires & Heart of Pitta Season

A few invitations for tending your body, vitality, and spirit:

Rest & luminosity.
Sunrise and sunset. Nature. Joy-filled moments. Pauses of appreciation. Remembering that rest is not the opposite of vitality—it helps us receive it.

Moisture.
Practices and foods that cool, hydrate, and replenish. When there is too much fire, bring forward more water. (see ayurvedic food recommendations in below gallery).

Renewal.
Play. Childlike curiosity. Wonder. The luminous in-betweens that remind us life is not only work and responsibility.

Healthy fire.
Focus. Discernment. Channeling passion with intention. Service and responsibility. Tapas—nourishing self-discipline in relationship to your body, your spirit, and that which you serve.

Breath, Mantra & Making Space

One simple, potent practice to explore with mantra & breath. Inviting you to bring a hand to your heart and a hand to your belly. Or choose a mudra that resonates as you say to yourself:

Breathing in — Fresh Life.
I am.

Pause — Kumbhaka.
Let the mantra rest in the space between breaths.

Breathing out — More Space.
We are.

Pause — Kumbhaka.

Inhale again and repeat for 8+ rounds.

So Hum. Hum Sa.
I am. That I am.
We are.

Soundscapes for the Season

Different moments call for different medicine. Here are four tracks to explore depending on what your spirit is asking for:

Returning to luminosity
For sunrise, sunset, or whenever you need to reconnect with the luminous parts of yourself amidst the daily bustle. Inhabit light vata dosha. Pause. Listen. Return.  Solar Frequency

Cooling excess fire
When there is too much heat, intensity, or nervous-system overwhelm, bring forward the qualities of water: softness, receptivity, cooling, flow. Cooling fires of excess pitta dosha.
OM Sonic — Daphne Tse

Dance & Joy
For the moments when your practice needs less contemplation and more aliveness. Let the body remember that joy is also a form of medicine. Uplifting heavy Kapha dosha's spirit. We enjoyed this track with refreshments post yoga practice this past Saturday! May you Bloom in Motion!

Reverence & Release
For eclipse season, Svadhyaya, and deeper inquiry: the Tryambakam Mantra, a powerful mantra traditionally associated with protection, healing, liberation, and the courage to move through what must be released.
Tridoshic return.

Rather than needing to know every layer of the Sanskrit, let yourself surrender to the richness of taking in the mantra as beginner’s mind. Let the sound itself be enough.

For me, alongside protection, surrender, this mantra brings forward the possibility that “death” can also mean a letting go. A loss. A shedding. The end of something we have outgrown. In coming toward fall season.

If you’d like to explore its meaning more deeply, this resource offers a thoughtful deep dive.

Mark Nepo writes of “dropping all we carry, breath by breath, little death by little death,” allowing what we have constructed as imperative to fall away so we might return to a simpler, more unencumbered way of living.

There is something here about release without force.

Like the ripe fruit, the cucumber on the vine that knows when it is time to let go.

No grasping. No striving.

Just enough space for what is already here to become more fully lived.

Svadhyaya — Eclipse Inquiry

Bringing forward the confidence, creativity, and shining courage of Leo, consider:

Who am I becoming?

What do I already believe about myself?

Where am I still asking for permission to be seen—even by my innermost loving self?

What might I release in order to more fully inhabit the life already here?

Your work right now may not be about adding more.

You are being invited to deepen into the richness.

To notice what has already been cultivated. To allow your inner knowing to become visible—not necessarily to the world, but to you.

"May your mind be spacious. May your body be at ease. May your heart remain open. May your spirit be resilient & free." - Jack Kornfield

Find Me in August

🌿 HeartSpring Health | SE Portland
Small-group therapeutic wellness, community, and movement.
Weekly Schedule Through August (Tues/Thurs change in September)
•  Root & Rise — Tues & Thurs 7:00 AM
•  Somatic Strength — Tues & Thurs 8:15 AM
•  Yoga Therapy (Small Group) — Tues 10:00 AM (Moves to Wed @ 6:15pm beginning October)
•  Slow Flow — Wed 4:45 PM
•  Slow Flow in Sellwood Park — Wed 6:15 PM (donation-based • all welcome through Sept 9th)

☀️ Last Summer Saturday of Season- Sellwood Park- September 12
• Hatha Flow Yoga in Sellwood Park: Sept 12, 9:00–10:30 AM
Refreshments & connection to follow. All levels welcome.
$25 suggested — no one turned away. Advanced registration greatly appreciated

🏡 Practice From Anywhere — via Zoom
Seasonal, Ayurvedic-inspired practices
• Community Circle (Free) — Wed 11:00 AM
• Friday Flow (Pay What You Can) — Fri 8:00 AM
• Yoga Therapy & Individualized Support available year-round

🌿 Additional Community Offering
Providence St. Vincent (Free + Accessible)
Mondays | • 9:00 AM Rise • 10:00 AM Stability  @Basecamp

View the full schedule, details, and summer offerings on my Classes page.

And a little reminder: HeartSpring’s Founders Rate is available through August 31, with monthly membership starting at $79 while space lasts.

September into fall will bring a lighter public teaching schedule as I return to service at Reed College.

Until then, keep living well. Loving well. Playing. Resting. Listening for what is asking to deepen.

In radiance & rest,
With love & light,

Maya