For a Balanced & Healthy Spine:
Iyengar Yoga Weekend with Elise Miller
May 1 - 3, 2015
A knowledgeable and supportive instructor, Elise has shaped this dynamic workshop for students and teachers interested in how yoga can improve overall back health and fitness, with a special focus on managing scoliosis or spinal imbalances. She is a remarkable and kind teacher, and we are confident you will learn so much about your body and your yoga practice by studying with her.
 Friday
6 - 8 pm
Yoga for Scoliosis
Saturday
9 am - noon
Yoga for the Spine
2 - 4 pm
Neck, Shoulders & Upper Back
Sunday
9 am - noon
Forward Bends & Twists
1:30 - 3:30 pm
Restorative & Pranayama
 Elise, an internationally acclaimed Senior Certified Iyengar Yoga instructor, discovered how to manage the effects of her own scoliosis through yoga. Her life’s work is to share the healing and therapeutic applications of yoga for people with scoliosis and other back care issues.
Cost: $265 early-bird price, if paid by April 17; thereafter, $295.
For details about individual classes for these workshops, to see prices, and to register, Click Here.
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Iyengar Slow & Mindful Yoga with Cindy Dollar April 28 - May 2, 2015Tuesdays, 6 - 7 pm Join Cindy for her popular 6-week series, geared to students new to Iyengar yoga and those interested in the benefits of this time-honored, wellness-based approach. Perfect for students of all levels.
Learn the basic poses in a sequence designed to be safe and accessible.
Practice at a pace that allows the mind to focus and become clear and calm.
Explore ways to modify poses to suit your body and ability.
Although this is a 6-week series, ongoing students are welcome to drop-in at our standard $16 per class price or use their class series.
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Breathe Easy!
Side Bending Poses
with Kim Drye, HereNowYoga
Saturday, April 11, 11 am - 1 pm
Side bends help stretch and tone the muscles along the outer sides of the abdomen and rib cage, helping to keep the spine supple. Side bends also create interior space for the abdominal organs, expand the diaphragm, and lift the collarbones and sternum. As a result, the breath deepens, allowing prana to flow. All levels are welcome.
Join visiting and popular teacher Kim Drye to practice poses like parighasana, (gate-latch pose), one of several valuable side bends that:
- Balance the sides of the body
- Mobilize the spine
- Bring freedom into the chest and neck
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Stretch Your Soles and Toes!
with Nicole Kintz
Saturday, April 25, 4 - 6 pm
Give your feet a little attention and your whole body will feel better.
It’s important to have healthy feet because they are the foundation for the rest of your body. If you have pain in your feet, or if they are unstable, weak, or mechanically unsound, this can affect your knees, hips, and lower back.
In this two-hour class, you will learn simple techniques and yoga poses to decrease pain, increase mobility and strength, and explore how to take better care of your feet. You only get one pair in this life: give them lots of love!
All levels welcome. If you are new to yoga, this class is a great way to get started!
Cost for 2-hour classes: $30 with prepaid registration, $35 day of class
Click here to register for these classes.
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On Sunday, May 10, from 5:45 to 7:15 pm, we will conclude our discussion of The Places That Scare You, A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chodron.
Our focus will be on the Buddhist practice of tonglen, the Tibetan word for "sending and taking,." In this simple practice, we learn to breathe in the pain and suffering of ourselves and others and to send out happiness to all. In this way, we learn to be present, witness our challenges and fears, and transform that energy into loving kindness and compassion for ourselves and others.
Copies of the book are available for purchase at One Center. Start reading today, and join us for a rewarding evening of discussion and meditation.
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 A friend used the word vicissitudes while talking to me about the recent changes in her life. What a fabulous word! The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word as 1a) change or variation; 1b) the quality of being changeable, mutability; and 2) one of the sudden or unexpected changes or shifts often encountered in one’s life, activities, or surroundings.
The many visual vicissitudes that accompany spring’s arrival cannot be ignored! My eyes feast on the vibrant yellow of forsythia and the magnificent magenta of tulips in our yard. Like flowers, our bodies respond to the vibrancy of spring. These changes are natural and inescapable, but how we relate to these fluctuations is up to us.
An asana practice gives us the opportunity to work with shifting energies all year round, including the fevered, scattered, boundless, sometimes anxious ones associated with spring. We need to recognize and accept these changes, and then learn to balance our energy throughout these natural changes. And because everything changes all the time, we have a happy and blessed opportunity to practice every day! In fact, we are encouraged in yoga sutra I.20 to pursue our practice with trust, confidence, vigor, keen memory, and power of absorption (from B.K.S. Iyengar’s Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali).
On the mat, we balance anxiety with calming forward extensions; we balance lethargy with backbends or inversions. The practices of pranayama and meditation can be calming or invigorating, depending on the style. Our first opportunity is to recognize when we go out-of-balance (sort of like going out-of-town!) and then find equilibrium from there. As always, start where you are.
I encourage you to pay attention to the changes within your life and to respond accordingly from a place of clear seeing and compassion. That’s a practice in its own right. Pay attention. The quality of your life is determined by the focus of your attention. (I think Cheri Huber said that, but I remembered it!)
May you balance the blooming, colorful, often wild, vicissitudes of spring in your life with the grounding clarity of awareness.
Namaste,
Cindy
Ten thousand flowers in spring,
the moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer,
snow in winter.
If your mind isn’t clouded by
unnecessary things,
this is the best season of your life.
--Wun-Men
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The 190-sq-ft office space past the front desk is available for rent. If you are interested or know someone who would be, please contact Sarah at 828-225-1904 for details.
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New Website--Almost Here...
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As you may have noticed, our old website is on permanent vacation while we get ready for the arrival of our fabulous new one. We’re very excited about its attractive design, additional features, and ease of use.
In the meantime, Click Here for our current schedule. You will be able to read the descriptions of the classes and the teacher bios on that page.
For details about new classes and series, read and save this newsletter. Feel free to call us at 828-225-1904 or email us at info@onecenteryoga.com with any questions.
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Upcoming Weekend Workshops for 2015
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SAVE THE DATES!
Sept 11-13, 2015: Dean Lerner
October 16-18, 2015: Mary & Eddy
November 20-22, 2015: Roger Cole
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Vasisthasana: Side Plank Pose
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Vasisthasana was named after a sage in the yogic tradition.Vasistha translates to “most excellent, best, richest”. The pose made national news in the past year after a study showed that its sustained practice improved scoliosis. (Wall Street Journal research report, October 27, 2014. Read more at Wall Street Journal.)
Even if you don’t have scoliosis, you will benefit from practicing this pose because it strengthens the arms, legs, and core, and stretches and strengthens the wrist. The full pose with top leg extended as B.K.S. iyengar shows in Light on Yoga is not possible for many practitioners. Here are two versions that I am confident you can do!
Perform Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog) with heels up the wall.
Then lift and move your left hand away from your hip and slightly toward the right hand. This small move will help you line up your shoulder correctly.
Pick up your left foot and turn the foot so the outside edge of your sole is on the floor, and then stack the right foot on top of the left. (Your knees and hips should be stacked on top of each other.)
Lift the right arm up to the hip and turn your torso to the right. Press down into the left arm and hold your side ribs away from the floor. Raise the right arm straight up, turning the gaze to look up. Work toward staying in this arm balance for 15-30 seconds.
Repeat on the other side.
Modifications
If you have serious wrist limitations, you can modify the pose so the weight is on the forearm and elbow instead of the hand. To do this variation, start by lying on the left side and propping up on the elbow and forearm with you hips, knees, and feet stacked.
Push down into the left forearm and left foot and lift the left side of body from the floor. Press up from left side waist and raise the right arm in the line with your shoulder.
Presented by Rachel Fagan
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The Ultimate Relationship: Opening to Love
with Caverly Morgan
Sunday, April 12,
noon - 4 pm at One Center Yoga
We are deeply conditioned to look for love outside ourselves. In that desperate search, we not only experience the frustration and the futility of grasping, we lose sight of who we authentically are. Join us as we engage in practices that not only remind us of our true nature, but guide us to a direct experience of it. In opening to Love, we open to the remembrance of our own authenticity. Explore how all of our relationships are transformed when the ultimate relationship with who we authentically are is realized.
Activities include group discussion, guided exercises, journaling, visualization, and meditation.
Zen teacher and former monk Caverly Morgan is known for her insight, humor, and real-world perspective. She is the founding teacher at One House of Peace and holds workshops and retreats nationally. Caverly is also the executive director of Peace in Schools, which brings mindfulness to young people in schools, shelters, and social service agencies in Portland, Oregon.
Cost: Sliding scale $50-75
Registration at onehouseofpeace.org
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