Yoga on the Go!
With Grace Kandl
Thursdays, starting April 3, 12:15-1:15 pm
This 1-hour class offers you a fun and quick refuge from your busy day, and invites you to stretch, breath, smile, and find some inner peace. It’s a lively blend of alignment-based poses that are accessible and energetic—perfect for all levels of students. Learn more about Grace & Ayurveda below.
Alignment, All Levels
with Danielle Fath-Goldstein
Wednesdays, 9:45-11:15 am
Our popular Danielle has changed her teaching schedule (remember her evening classes?) and her last name, but not her wonderful, open-hearted teaching style. Come see for yourself!
Click here for more information about these classes.
|
|
Happy Back Yoga
with Jason Scholder
Sunday, March 23, 1-3 pm
Explore the infinite possibilities of yoga's most versatile prop, using the ergonomically-designed Three Minute Egg® in an alignment-conscious class focused on having a happy back!
• Learn easy ways to find complex opposing actions
• Lengthen, strengthen & restore your back
• Gain a deeper understanding of what makes the Eggs so fun and effective from the inventor himself!
Making Friends with Shoulder Stand
with Cindy Dollar
Saturday, March 29, 1-3 pm
Challenging for many people, salamba sarvangasana is the queen of all asanas. B.K.S. Iyengar calls it a panacea for most common ailments. During this two-hour class, you will use the ropes wall, bolsters, blocks, and a chair to work your way up to a shoulder stand that is appropriate—and friendly—for your body.
Working with other poses as preparation, you will:
- Open the shoulders
- Stretch the hamstrings
- increase abdominal strength
- Stabilize mental fluctuations
All levels will benefit from this class!
Click here to register for these two classes. $30 if you pre-register, $35 on day of class.
Introduction to Ayurveda
With Grace Kandl
Sunday April 6th 1:30 – 3 pm, By Donation
You are invited to this introductory lecture to learn:
- Your own unique Ayurvedic body/mind type
- Ayurvedic perspectives on digestion & disease processes
- How to improve digestion & detox with simple kitchen spice
- How to work with nature to improve health
- Simple Ayurvedic approaches to weight management and menopause
Grace Kandl, RYT500, RN, began the study of Ayurveda with Dr. Vasant Lad in 1987. Along with her 30-year practice of yoga, Grace credits Ayurveda for her excellent health.
|
|
Asana of the Month:
Virabhadrasana II--Sideways Warrior Pose
|
Greetings from Lillah!
It has long been understood by medical professionals that the first movement of the hip joint to be lost is the ability to externally rotate the thigh in the hip socket. This loss of rotation indicates the beginning of degeneration of the hip joints. As we are taught in the Iyengar method, Virabhadrasana II is a foundational pose to create external rotation and healthy hips.
A successful Virabhadrasana II remains challenging for most students in two distinct ways. The most obvious way is that the shortness and power of the inner thigh muscles inhibit the opening of the inner leg, the first action needed in this pose. Because we were originally quadrupeds, our inner thighs are built strong, but prolonged sitting shortens these muscles, which increases the difficulty of this pose.
The second challenge, especially for women, is the lack of tone of the pelvic floor and the transverse abdominal muscles. Without enough lift of the pelvic floor and lower abdominal organs, the lower back loses support, which allows the pelvis to tip forward. This forward tip diminishes the space between the head of the femur bone and the bony ridge of the acetabulum, which forms the socket of the hip joint. In order to not bump bone against bone, it is important to completely externally rotate the front thigh in the socket until the buttock flesh actually drops. When the buttock flesh drops and the lower abdominal organs lift, then the expansion of the front hip is possible in a healthy way. Externally rotating the front thigh in Virabhadrasana II means turning the thighbone in the hip socket until the ball at the top of the thigh bone “seats” in the center of the socket.
The Challenge of Understanding
Many yoga teachers in various styles teach students to square their hips to the front of the room before “seating” the head of the femur bone. This one instruction can lead to hip and knee problems by jamming bone against bone in the hip, which forces the soft tissue of the joint capsule to stress and sometimes tear, as noted in the New York Times article of November 8, 2013. As a result, hip replacements among female yoga practitioners is on the rise.
A Way to Practice
Start with your feet wide apart and your arms extended, with your ankles under your wrists. If you feel unsteady with your legs this wide apart, stand with your back at the wall. Turn your back foot in halfway by pivoting on your heel.
Rotate your whole front leg and foot out 90 degrees to point sideways, allowing your hips to turn so they face the same direction as the back foot.
Move the inner groin of the back leg back to the center of the pelvic floor, and then draw your abdominal organs in and up until you feel your tailbone drop.
As you bend the front knee to 90 degrees, keep turning your top thigh out and under. Again lift your abdominal organs in and up from the top of the pubic bone.
Next comes the opening action:
Coiling your front hip and groin forward while turning the knee back, begin to open the opposite hip as much as possible. Think of the hinge on the gate: the front hip and groin are the hinge and the opposite hip is the gate that swings open.
Root down into both feet and lift your pelvic floor. Dynamically extend your arms as well as your legs.
Success in this pose can be measured by the ease of the bend of the front leg and the firmness of the base of both sides of the buttocks.
Blessings on your practice!
Click here for a link to Lillah's website to read a blog about this asana and to watch a video of Lillah teaching Vira II in a workshop.
|
|
Cindy's Thoughts: Spring Forth!
|
Most of the United States and much of the world changed their clocks to Daylight Saving Time (DST) this past Sunday. DST is a change in the standard time in order to maximize daylight by having the sun rise one hour later in the morning and set one hour later in the evening.
The ”spring forward” reminder to change our clocks is as much a sign of spring arriving as the daffodils sticking their heads up through the thawing earth. Although I’m not a fan of changing the time, I am a fan of daylight and I enjoy the days of longer light and the warmth that Spring brings.
The phrase “spring forward “ has a sense of movement, doesn’t it? To me it sounds rather fun—springing forward. The energy of spring is the energy of movement, of growth, and of expansion. I love this time of year—flowers popping up, longer days, more people out in the park playing with kids and walking dogs. There’s simply more movement! However, uncontrolled movement is just movement… sort of like walking from room to room looking at a house that needs cleaning and never getting out the broom.
For a flower to grow from a bulb or seed, it needs sunlight, air, water, and nutrients from the soil. Somehow, it possesses an intention to grow, a reaching up—a concentration of energy toward a specific direction.
There is a similar intention in yoga, an energy called tapas. It can be thought of as a spiritual force of concentrated energy, of compassionate self-discipline. For humans, tapas is the willingness and ability to harness our own energy to stay steady and on track. Tapas energy brings us through difficulties and out the other side. Without direction, energy can run amuck like weeds taking over a garden. With concentrated effort and direction, we pull up the weeds so the flowers can grow. With concentrated effort, we take ourselves to a yoga class so our soul can grow. Even on the loveliest of spring days, we come to class because we remember that yoga brings us flexibility, stability, clarity, and well being. We remember that yoga is as essential to our growth as sunlight is to a flower. We stay steady in our knowing; we resist the desire to be somewhere else; we show up for ourselves!
Honestly, what happens to your yoga practice during the springtime?
Do you care enough about yourself to show up for class? Your teacher does.
Let’s use this spring energy to move us in a healthy direction. Just as crocuses burst through the ground, can you burst through resistance and make a commitment to attend one yoga class a week (or more) no matter what? Can you?
I’ll see you there.
Namaste,
Cindy
“Self discipline (tapas) burns away impurities and kindles the sparks of divinity.”
--B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
|
|
|
|
Free the Body, Free the Mind
|
|
YOGA WEEKEND WITH GABRIEL HALPERN
April 18-20, 2014
Gabriel Halpern will inspire you to fully experience the physical, emotional, and mental benefits of yoga. Students of all levels are welcome. If you wish, bring a challenging pose you want him to help you with. Be prepared to enjoy yourself as you learn with this dynamic teacher!
Gabriel has been practicing yoga for more than 40 years. He holds degrees in philosophy and health psychology, and is a long-time member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
FRIDAY
5-6:30 pm Release Your Low Back
6:30-7:30 pm Dharma Discourse ~ Honor the Past, Animate the Present,
Imagine the Future
7:30-9:30 pm Fundamentals of Alignment
SATURDAY
8-10 am Pranayama Immersion ~ Basics
10 am-12 pm Therapeutics for Hips/Knees
2-4 pm Yoga ~ Rx for Arthritis
SUNDAY
8-9:30 am Pranayama Immersion ~ Moving On
12-2 pm Free Your Shoulders/Neck
2-4 pm Asanas to Balance the Chakras
Early bird pricing is $245, if paid by April 1, 2014. Thereafter, cost is $295 for entire workshop. Day rates and individual class rates are available. Visit onecenteryoga.com for details about prices and cancellation policy.
Click here to register.
|
|
Emotional Freedom Techniques and Ho'Oponopono
|
 with Gary Schwartz, PhD
Sunday, March 30,
1-5 pm
Learn a technique to balance emotions, release fear, unwind habits, alleviate distress, reduce pain, and cultivate love…all done with a pattern of tapping on your body with your fingers.
EFT, also called tapping, is easy to learn and remarkably effective. Based on balancing the acupressure energy meridians, EFT is simple to learn, easily self-applied--it's an effective self-help tool.
Ho’Oponopono is a clearing process from the Hawaiian Kahuna tradition that is used to heal and transform our responses to difficult people and circumstances.
After 23 years as a psychologist, Gary Schwartz, Ph.D. now teaches a variety of modalities for clearing the mind and body and nurturing the soul.
"These techniques can be used to cultivate unconditional love of onesself and others. Cultivating unconditional love is the opportunity for our time. Side effects include inner peace and freedom."
--Gary Schwartz
Only $30 for this 4-hour workshop.
|
|
 At our next meeting on Sunday, April 6, 5:45-7 pm, we will continue to discuss The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope, Director of the Institute for Extraordinary Living at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. In an engaging and accessible manner, Cope explores the dharma--vocation or calling--of a selection of ordinary individuals and luminaries, such as Jane Goodall, Susan B. Anthony, Henry David Thoreau, and Ghandi. Cope writes in an engaging, accessible style that describes the process of "unlocking the unique possibility harbored within every soul" through simple references to the spiritual classic, the Bhagavad Gita.
Copies are on our shelves! Book club members will receive $5.00 off the hardback book (not in paperback yet).
|
|
20% OFF Selected Clothing!
$48 Gently Used Bolsters
with New Covers!
|
|
2014 Workshops: Save the Dates!
|
Aug 1 - 3, Matthew Sanford
Sept 5 - 7, Mary Obendorfer & Eddy Marks
Oct 3 - 5, Simon Marrocco
Nov 21 - 23, Roger Cole
|
|
Join Cindy for a trip of a lifetime! Spend a week in Bali, at the lovely Villa Boreh. Every day, you will enjoy a yoga class and explore this magical island.
The trip is happening on July 26 - August 2, 2014.
Click here for complete information. |
|
"Living life with zeal and sincerity, the purifying flame is ignited (Tapas), revealing the inner light."
The Secret Power of Yoga,
by Nischala Joy Devi
|
|
|
