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Yoga Heals Us - A Path With Heart
* February 2014 News *
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The slow of life is worth something. It lets us be the person we are more fully. --Ivon Prefontaine
In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.
--Mother Teresa
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| | Sabbath,
Silence,
Solitude,
Sacred
A mountain’s strength
The sky’s expanse.
A lake mirrors
words of wisdom spoken so softly.
Disconnect to reconnect
Listen
that silent sacred space speaks
the inner teacher beckons.
Be present
Wisdom revealed.
Let it heal, repair
a single thread at a time
the web of life so fragile.
Questions emerge
Hold gently
Live their mystery
They answer only when ready
Until then they lie dormant
Ready when ready
Embrace life as it is.
--Ivon Prefontaine
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| | Did I love well?
Did I live fully?
Did I learn to let go?
These simple questions go to the very center of spiritual life. When we consider loving well and living fully, we can see the ways our attachments and fears have limited us, and we can see the many opportunities for our hearts to open.
Have we let ourselves love the people around us, our family, our community, the earth upon which we live? And, have we also learn to let go? Have we learned to live through the changes of life with grace, wisdom, and compassion? Have we learned to forgive and live from the spirit of the heart instead of the spirit of judgment?
The longing for love and the movement of love is underneath all of our activities. All we can do is look into our own hearts and ask what matters in the way that we're living. Am I living my path fully, do I live without regret? What might lead me to greater openness, honesty, and a deeper capacity to love?
--Jack Kornfield, A Path With Heart
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| | Dear friends,
If you spend any time with me lately, you know that I am all about the heart. To me, this is the most important thing and Jack Kornfield says it so well in the questions one might ask at the end of one’s life, “Did I love well? Did I live fully? Did I learn to let go?” I say, why wait until the end of your life to ask these questions. Why not now? Do I love well? Do I live fully? Do I let go? These questions are much easier for me to contemplate from the comfort of my meditation seat or my yoga mat than every day interactions when I’m more likely to behave carelessly, ignore the one in front of me, have a harsh word or judgment. What’s the point of a spiritual life if it only extends to the end of the yoga mat or the meditation cushion? The point of these practices is to shine the light of awareness on our habitual thought patterns, ways of speaking, and ways of behaving. If we want to change we can. It begins with awareness. And practice. You know that saying, "be the person your dog thinks you are." Practice. And be willing to forgive yourself, again and again. You might consider using the Loving-kindness Meditation.
May I be filled with loving-kindness.
May I be well.
May I be peaceful and at ease.
May I be happy.
You begin with yourself because without loving yourself it's almost impossible to love others. And when you repeat these words, imagine being held in the heart of loving-kindness.
Eventually, include others. Use the same phrases substituting "you" or "she" or "he." You may want to hold an imagine of the person in your heart. This is a powerful practice that can be done anywhere and for anyone. Isn't that great! To learn more about this practice, check out Jack Kornfield's book, A Path with Heart.
I'm excited to let you know that I have scheduled a number of workshops for the spring, starting with one near and dear to my heart: Yoga and the 4 Stages of Healing. Something I know about first hand. If you've been longing to learn more about yoga philosophy come to one or more of the workshops. Most of them are scheduled for Connecticut and several are at out of state venues. Information and links are further down this email.
May you be filled with loving-kindness.
May you be well.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
May you be happy.
Om shanti, Karen
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Yoga Classes
Click here for the current schedule of classes. New session begins March 3rd. Join anytime!
Special Events - Southeastern Connecticut
Sunday, February 9th, Yoga Nidra with Tricia
Sunday, March 2nd, Yoga Nidra and Mudra Meditation with Karen
Saturday, March 8th, Yoga and the 4 Stages of Healing in Preston, CT
Saturday, March 22, The Art of Joyful Living with the Yamas and Niyamas
Saturday, April 26, Celebrate Spring Yoga Retreat in Preston, CT
Saturday, May 3, Sankhya Philosophy: Foundation Principles of Therapeutic Adaptive Yoga
Sunday, June 1, Chair Yoga for Every Body: Basics and Flows
Special Events - Outside of Connecticut
Friday - Sunday, March 28 - 30th, Therapeutic Adaptive Yoga for Multiple Sclerosis YTT, Setauket, NY
Friday, April April 4th, Yoga Nidra and Mudra Meditation, Aledo, TX
Saturday, April 5th, Yoga and the 4 Stages of Healing, Aledo, TX
Sunday, May 4th, Yoga and the 4 Stage of Healing, Foster, RI
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Yoga and the 4 Stages of Healing
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Yoga and the 4 Stages of Healing:
Rest, Restore, Rebuild, RememberTM
Therapeutic Adaptive Yoga for People Living with Chronic Illnesses / Autoimmune Diseases
You’ve lost something. You’ve lost your vitality. Maybe it slipped away overnight. Or maybe it seeped out of you so slowly that it’s hard to remember what feeling good feels like. Sometimes the body needs to rest. And illness is one of the ways that can happen.
So, rest is the first principle. And not just any rest, but the kind of rest that allows the body, mind, and senses to relax and let go. Why? By relaxing all the systems of the body, you create the right conditions for the body to restore itself.
When you feel stronger and more vital, the second principle, restore, gradually increases movement activities with gentle joint movements, stretching and breathwork with the intention of moving toward health and well-being on all levels.
The third principle, rebuild, continues with gentle yoga, stretching and strengthening poses, as well as lifestyle modifications to support your growing strength and overall well-being. This includes creating a vision of wellness for yourself and your intention for health and wellness.
The forth principle, remember, is a commitment to your wellness plan. Feeling well is a lifelong pursuit. When we feel well, we have energy to participate and contribute beyond the bounds of our body. The forth principle, remember, is the freedom principle. Freedom to be who we are truly meant to be: loving, generous, involved with our family and friends, and active in our communities.
This workshop, Yoga and the 4 Stages of Healing: Rest, Restore, Rebuild, RememberTM, combines learning with doing so that you take home a commitment to lifestyle modifications and practices that move you closer to freedom.
This is an all levels event that provides CEUs for certified yoga teachers. Open to serious students of yoga, yoga teachers, and individuals who want to feel good again.
Presenter: Karen O’Donnell Clarke, B.S., ERYT500, PYT
Karen found the healing path of yoga as a teenager more than four decades ago. Yoga has informed her life ever since, enabling her to thrive after her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in 1997 and more recently cancer in 2012. She has lived the 4 Stages of Healing repeatedly during her lifetime journey toward freedom.
This workshop will be presented in Preston, CT; Aledo, TX; and Foster, RI. Click here for info.
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Students often ask me about resources that they can use at home. I'm happy to let you know about a few that I use myself for my own healing journey.
Beth Gibbs, Director of the IYT PYT Internship Program, has produced a new Yoga Nidra CD: Relax, Release, and Let Go. Three guided relaxations for body, breath and mind designed to help you increase feelings of well-being, experience positive changes in your sleep patterns, enhance your creativity and manage your stress levels. Click here to learn more.
Vandita Kate Marchesiello, senior Kripalu teacher and long time Director of Kripalu Yoga Teachers' Association, has released her third CD: Vandita Chants. I love her Ram lullaby on her CD Transform, Relax and Rejuvenate. I often play that during yoga class savasana. In fact, I was one of many who encouraged her to produce a chant CD. Click here to learn more.
Lynn Medow, certified Yoga Therapist, has created a beautiful DVD called Graceful Aging that offers 3 levels of practice: Chair Practice, Gentle Practice and Deeper Practice. Lynn offers straight forward alignment based yoga instruction for students with differing levels of ability. Her delivery style is warm and authentic. I think you'll really enjoy this!
I am in love with the work of Swami Prabhavananda. Currently reading Sermon on the Mount according to Vedanta. My first Yoga Sutra book was one written by Swami Prabhavananda (love that name!) and Christopher Isherwood called How to Know God. I'm reading it again. He has a way of writing that I find highly accessible. They co-authored another book, Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God. This is another highly accessible volume. Even though I have other editions on my book shelf, I continue to go back to these. I hope you do too.
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Karen O'Donnell Clarke
karen@yogahealsus.com
860.204.0797
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