September: Ground Into the Routines That Support Your Dreams
“Life is a dance between making it happen and letting it happen.”
— Ariana Huffington
Hello, wholehearted friends. 🌿
A sweet soundscape for your read. Take what serves and leave the rest as you invite your breathing to smoothe & deepen.
September is upon us. As I come to write to you today, I’m carrying immense appreciation from the vibrancy from summer—and a growing awareness of the season beginning to turn.
This morning with Koba, I noticed the crispness in the air, the softening sun, and leaves beginning to dry and shed among the greens, moving toward gold. The exuberance of summer is beginning to descend, and the natural world is gathering and conserving its energy. The trees are preparing. The earth is beginning to turn inward. What has been growing is moving toward harvest. Greens to Golds.
What if we pause here, too?
To notice how this Year of the Fire Horse is unfolding through you. What have you learned? What has nourished you? What has changed? What has become more alive?
The loving reminder to revisit:
What matters most?—and what daily actions will help your dreams become more fully realized?
Virgo season offers us this beautiful opportunity to refine.
Earth reminds us to ground our vision into reality. Mercury, Virgo's ruling influence, offers the discerning mind—the ability to communicate, organize, and see the interconnectedness of things.
This is where yoga offers us Tapas: nourishing self-discipline. The willingness to lovingly do the things that need doing so we can live more fully into what we want.
Not perfection.
Not forcing.
Some necessary struggle. No lotus without the mud I am reminded.
Thoughtful daily heart in action in service of what matters.
What are the routines that support your happiness?
Let September be a time to simplify, organize, declutter, release outdated habits and return to the practices that help you feel like yourself.
The walk. The dance. The breath.
The chores. The meal. The bedtime ritual.
The practice. The boundary.
The decision to begin again.
These ordinary acts can become sacred when we remember what and for whom they are in service of.
To support your precious, abundance spirit that is meant to shine.
Extend to all your parts within:
My life matters.
My well-being matters.
What I am cultivating matters.
Amidst all that we cannot control, we can lead from within with love.
There is a dance. It is between tending the soil and trusting the seed, the sun, the stars.
“Accept, then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you chose it. Always work with it, not against it.”
— Eckhart Tolle
Work with what is.
Notice where you are.
Care for what is already here.
Then choose your next right action.
You are enough already.
This, too, feels inherent in Virgo's message.
Coming home to the earthly mother within. To the enoughness that is already here.
Virgo doesn't ask us to become someone else. She invites us to tend, refine, and restore—to notice what is working, clear what is unnecessary, and create the conditions for what matters to thrive.
So perhaps the questions for September are simple:
How can I care for what is already here?
What routines support my happiness?
What needs to be cleared so my dreams have room to dance?
This is where I’m bringing in Saucha, the yogic practice of cleanliness or purification—not as a project of perfecting ourselves, but as a gentle invitation to clear the vessel.
Less is more.
Create space.
Return to what nourishes.
And then listen for what wants to grow.
September invitations 🌿
There are just a few more opportunities to gather outdoors for Park Yoga as summer comes to a close.
Sellwood Park Slow Flow Wednesday at 6:15pm through September 9th, weather permitting. If the weather turns, we'll move indoors to Heart Spring Health.
And I'm especially looking forward to our final Saturday Park Yoga Gathering of the season on September 12th at 9:00 AM—Hatha Flow followed by refreshments and connection. I would love to share this last summer gathering with you as we turn toward fall.
☀️ September 12 | Hatha Flow Yoga in Sellwood Park
9:00–10:30 AM | Hatha Flow + refreshments
$25 suggested • all levels welcome • no one turned away
Advanced registration greatly appreciated
Call 503-956-9396 to pre-register
Full schedule is below!
A new rhythm for me, too
This season brings a meaningful shift in my own rhythm. I'll be spending much more time at Reed College, supporting students, staff, faculty, and facilities as campus comes alive again. I'm grateful to continue offering a few classes there alongside my work supervising the athletics department.
I’m also carrying so much appreciation for our Friday Flow online sangha—for everyone who continues to show up, practice, breathe, and connect from wherever you are.
As summer gives way to school, schedules, and familiar routines, there can be a tenderness to this transition. A little grief in letting go of the ease and spaciousness of summer.
But perhaps there is magic here, too.
The magic in the moments, embrace the simplicity, that which is mundane.
The beauty of returning.
The sacredness of tending to what is right in front of us.
My gift in kind to you this season is a reminder:
You don't have to chase a new version of yourself.
You can simply come home to what is already here—and lovingly build from there.
Yoga Practices in September
🌿 Providence St. Vincent | SW Portland (Free + Accessible)
Mondays | • 9:00 AM Rise • 10:00 AM Stability @Basecamp
NO CLASS Labor DAY
🌿 HeartSpring Health | SE Portland
Small-group therapeutic wellness, community, and movement.
• Embodied Yoga Therapy (Small Group) — Tues 10:00 AM
(Through September: 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-weather permitting)
🏡 Practice From Anywhere — via Zoom
Seasonal, Ayurvedic-inspired practices
• Community Circle (Free) — Wed 11:00 AM
30 min centering, nervous system support & connection.
• Friday Flow (Pay What You Can) — Fri 8:00 AM
45 min full body mat based yoga.
• Yoga Therapy & Individualized Support available year-round
View the full schedule, details, and summer offerings on my Classes page.
A simple September morning 🌿
Ayurveda would invite us to begin by cleaning up the vessel: scrape the tongue, clear away the residue of sleep, drink a glass of water with citrus and Himalayan salt.
Then plant your feet on the ground.
Breathe.
And perhaps offer yourself a simple mantra:
I am here.
I am alive.
I choose this moment.
I trust my curious spirit to lead the way.
In gratitude to the teachers, traditions, and thought leaders who continue to inform this path.
May your passion, reverence, and happiness be yours to embody, embrace, share, and shine.
Shine on. ✨
In radiance & rest,
With love & light,
-Maya
✨ Free Resources
➡ Listen: Maya Lake Yoga- Coming Home Playlist.
➡ Read: Insights & Inspirations- Past Blogs & Letters
➡ Follow: Instagram
Centering, Mindfulness & Breath Practices:
➡ Practice: @MayaLakeYoga Youtube
Pitta Balancing • Cooling Breath • Sitali • Heart Opening • Thymus Tapping • Sensory Awareness • 2nd & 4th Chakras • Joy & Gratitude
Centering Through the Koshas with Breath, Heart & Sound | 15 min
Koshas • Ujjayi • Heart Coherence Breath • Rolling Hums • Sound & Vibration • Concentration • Nervous System Support