Hues of Yellow- The Light of Authenticity & Renewal
Some days you are dark & fiery & intense. Some days you are rich and bright and vibrant. Some days you are buttercups and dandelions, and some days you are champagne & a song...
— Becky Hemsley, Yellow's True Colours
What shade of yellow are you today?
I welcome you back with pause and heart—a mindful refresh and a heart-centered visit. Atha Yoga Anusasanam—Now the Yoga begins. Take a deep inhale and a cleansing exhale to release. Allow for a few rounds of intentional breath—a clearing, a dissolving from before, and an arrival to the now.
As March closes and spring’s dynamism unfolds, we witness its shifts—between cold, dark, and wet to light, warmth, and renewal. The aliveness and volatility in all its beauty. I’ve been embracing early morning birdsong, a daily reminder of life’s persistence, and the colors emerging all around. Perhaps nature’s expression mirrors the landscape within you?
Recently, I had the joy of playing with my niece and nephew—witnessing their uninhibited desires, their delight in simple elements, the many questions and curiosities. This season, with its Aries fire, calls us into our own desires, the stirrings of what’s next. Without rush, but with more focus, I extend and embrace the color yellow—to illuminate what is real, to harness its gifts while acknowledging the struggles and aspirations that shape us.
“As the Earth keeps going by turning itself toward the light day after day, we have no choice but to keep turning toward what we feel is real... I have to practice being real by saying what I feel not just once, but continually.”
— Mark Nepo
The Power of Yellow: Manipura & Prana’s Gold
Yellow represents Manipura—the third chakra, our center of personal power. It fuels transformation, clearing stagnation and energizing action.
“I looked up the word ‘yellow’ the other day. I found so many shades of yellow that they had been distinguished by words like gold, honey, daffodil. I found words like fire and sand and champagne and lemon and sunbeam, and I even found a song... Without yellow, we couldn’t make orange or green, and our world would be far less colorful. Yellow’s true colours are not limited to one thing, and neither are yours.”
— Becky Hemsley
What shade of yellow are you today?
We need yellow to create orange and green. Orange—Svadishthana, the second chakra—represents vitality, desire and the right to feel. Green—Anahata, the heart chakra—holds love, connection, and the bridge between living, loving, and dying. Consider a revisit to my last blog The Greenery of the Heart for more on Anahata. The ongoing question—How do we nourish and express through the heart? What does support look like? How do we clear what lingers so our gifts may shine?
Through spring’s shifting grays and rains, we meet Manipura’s fire, a force that rekindles us when we feel stuck or ungrounded. When energy feels sluggish (Kapha imbalance) or restless (Vata imbalance), how can we call upon yellow, fire (Pitta dosha) to restore balance? Aries season sparks life all around us—fire, focus, brightness. What form of yellow do you need to step forward?
If this is a challenging season, the brave choice is to meet yourself as you are. Invoke Satya—truthfulness—for what is real.
Bravely speak life into what is real. In a world that often demands we suppress our truth, survival may mean withholding what feels most alive within us. Mark Nepo writes:
“I have learned to survive by withholding what feels real. I have learned to absorb the hit... but when I do this, my energy is used up maintaining the pretense that nothing has happened. I begin to spin coldly in the dark... It is so simple and yet so brave to say that we are hurt when we are hurt, that we are sad when we are sad, that we are scared when we are scared. This energy of realness changes situations because the immediate expression of our truth releases light and warmth that influences the life we are a part of. This is the way the spirit shines.”
It's important to recognize that not all situations are safe for this expression. It requires resource and for many access is not available. As we can, when we can, we have the potential to cultivate the safe spaces within us, with support. You can choose bravely to be real—with yourself and with others.
“Say what your pained heart chooses.”
— Rumi
Shining from the Inside Out
Mark's and nature's teaching here give me hope and a path. Being who we are releases an extraordinary power that influences those around us. As the sun shines without intent or plan, so too can we emanate our light without reservation. By being itself, the sun warms everything in its reach, never withholding, never choosing selectively where to shine.
Root into steadiness, acknowledge what is real, and invoke your inner fire, your desires, your purpose. With nature as a teacher, spring offers us a return and remembrance that we, too, can rise again.
When your light feels dim, one tool you can use is to call upon the presence of a kind, loving, non-judgmental other—a mentor, a loved one, a guide of present or past that makes you feel seen, understood, welcomed, and appreciated. Who is this for you? You can also call upon nature, upon the brilliance of flowering resilient in their bloom despite the challenges of their environment. You hold this within you, and you do not have to do it alone.
I’m here for you—please join me in any of my offerings, through a class in community or personalized yoga therapy. Take the walk. Nourish the body. Sing and play. Lean into discomfort, fire in fitness or resolve toward unhealthy habits. With kindness, and grace- channel your light into your purpose, your responsibilities, and most of all, your heart.
Yoga this Week
In-Studio @ YoYoYogi
Monday @ 6 PM - Mellow Monday: A 75-minute integrated yin practice. Learn More
Online via Zoom
Tuesday & Thursday @ 8 AM PST / 11 AM EST - Morning Yoga: Rise, Move, Pause. A 35-minute accessible, pay-what-you-can class. $8 recommended, $12+ includes replays. Register Here
Yoga Therapy
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Sign up as a free community member and leave a comment on the post! I'd love to hear from you— Pause and allow the shades of your feelings to move through you. What shade of yellow are you today?
Here with you in practice. In Love & Light.
— Maya
3/31/25