Gratitude And Giving
I'm deeply fulfilled from giving and receiving with a wonderful team of 3 teacher assistants, as I led a two-hour Summer Restorative chakra balancing workshop on 8/25 in Studio 1 and 2 at Pure East. Like Thai yoga, when restorative feels delicious for the giver as well as receiver, you know the current is flowing.
I frequently preach the healing benefits of Restorative Yoga: quiet, restful, completely supported yoga postures on bolsters, blankets and props. I'm grateful to lead classes, workshops and teacher trainings in this profound practice. This day, I was touched to discover that a bachelorette party had participated in my Summer Restorative as part of their celebrations. Maria, the lovely bride, asked for pictures with me; I'm delighted to share this photo taken by her mom.
If you have an active yoga practice or other physical practice, or just to balance a busy life, consider a restorative practice as a means to balance the outward flow of energy. Sharing either Restorative yoga or Thai yoga massage both feel for me like the best moments of mothering.
So I'm very pleased to announce dates for my two-hour Holiday Restorative: Nov. 17; and my Restorative Teacher Training: Feb. 22-March 3.
Keep an eye on future issues and on my website for more on each. You may mark the dates though; they are set.
My charity for the Summer Restorative was the Fresh Air Fund. For Mother's Day Restorative in May, it was Habitat for Humanity. I welcome nominations for the November restorative event, although I do have my favorite hunger causes at that time of the year. I am so blessed and grateful to get to share what I share; it is an added joy to share the giving.
Pure Yoga Eastside / Westside
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Svadhyaya: Honor the Self
I'm like a college kid! My thespian husband and son left this week for a road production of "The King & I." My teen plays the crown prince; ironic, as that is what we always call him.
My husband writes "I hope you are getting some peace without two bulls around" and indeed, I do feel like a happy little heifer in a field of clover! I've not lived solo for years! I'm eating from the pantry, using the dishwasher every third day, watching "The Dog Whisperer," ambling home in no hurry, settling in for a long quiet reading or writing session with a decaf cappucino.
Mind you, that's day 3. And I do miss them. But I'm also meditative without effort, I'm going "within" effortlessly, meditatively, while walking and waking and sleeping. I am confronted with the Self and I can either greet it, or see clearly that I am avoiding it. It makes me realize how little we contact our Self when we are easily surrounded by distraction.
And oh, don't we love our distractions! By Day 7, I am in withdrawal mode. I miss them, yes, AND, I also know I miss the convenience of distraction.
Svadhyaya, the 4th observance or "Niyama" in the classic 8-limbs of yoga, means self-study; also sacred study, as the universal Self is sacred. All traditions honor this inner retreat, this seeking of Universal Self. It is not a rejection of communal life: it feeds communal living. Jesus healed and taught the multitudes, then withdrew to a quiet place. My buddhist friend Susan just finished a three-year retreat, and enters a year of silent retreat in January. We met this week to rock happily through a Bollywood class in midtown Manhattan, exiting onto bustling New York streets, I to ride through city traffic, she to the noisy subway platform. Sweat and svadhyaha balance well together.
Find retreat where and how you can. For some, retreating is a morning meditation, or writing in the wee hours of the night. When you find those quiet moments, be it a 10-day silent meditation or a restorative hour, let that sacred self-study soak in. Allow that tent for that time being to be your dwelling place. There is a place where timelessness reigns, where your self is present with all Self. Find it, rest there. Nourish your Self. And rebound joyously back into the fray!
My Men On The Road
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Life Stages Training
My amazing Jedi Princess friend Becca Krauss is a Chi Gung healer, athlete, AcroYogini and all around inspiration. Her honeymoon was a summer-long bike-tent trek through Africa with her equally amazing bridegroom Joachim for charity. I remember Becca "training" for her honeymoon, biking daily between classes and clients, finding the longest routes she could to log in more training miles, through the boroughs and over bridges.
Now our lovely bride lives in Colorado and prepares herself for motherhood. I can't wait to reconnect when she visits soon, to check in on what this stage of life training is offering her, and share notes on our exciting woman warrior adventures.
As I pound through the streets on my bikes, cars and pedestrians dancing to my yogic soundtracks, I remember Becca's honeymoon training, and I feel myself in training. To be fit, healthy and forward-looking on each journey's stage, whatever that is for you, that's something worth training for. Think of your "next" Olympic games, whether in 4 years or next month. For me, I consider a future day when I'm not only a yoga mama but a yoga gramma. I know my crown prince is not yet 17. So, I train for the long term. It's a long ride.
Life training: What role or milestone would you like to train for? Bride training. Mama training. Papa training. Buddha training, Yoda training, Gandalf training. Gramma training.
You choose. You define it. Make it worth your song and dance. Make it worth your smile. Make it worth sharing!
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My Fall / Winter Schedule
Upcoming Events:
9/16 Introduction to Slackline Yoga ~ Pure Yoga East, 2-4PM
9/28-30 Fall Foliage Weekend Reterat ~ Bethel, NY
10/11-14 Restorative Teacher Training ~ YogaFit Indianapolis
11/17 Holiday Restorative Blissout ~ Pure East
2/22-3/3/13 Mother Mary Restorative Teacher Training ~ NYC
Weekly Classes:
Pure Yoga New York ~
M~10:30-12 Slow Flow Meditation, East
T~12:30-1:30 Restorative, East
Th~11:00-12:30 YinYang, West
Th~5:30-6:30 Vinyasa 1/2, East
F~10:30-12 Chakra Slow Flow, West
F~5:30-6:30 Restorative, East
Om Factory Flight School Union Square~
M~5:30-7 Acrobatic Flying Elements: Basics
M~7:15~8:45 Sept Jedi 1 Series: Star Shapes
My website will always have my updated events/classes.
Mary's Website
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Thai Yoga Massage
Thai yoga massage is performed on the floor on a thick blanket or mat, and recalibrates healthful energy flow through facilitated stretches and pressure point application in a seamlessly flowing dance.
Because I hear myself talk so much in teaching full-time, I love the wordless healing dance of Thai yoga. So, although I have not accepted new yoga clients for years now, I'm always delighted to find time to share this dance when I can. I'm grateful to hear reports like this one from last week:
"Thanks so much Mary. I don't know what magic you used this morning, but I have never felt so good for years. My voice is strong, I am standing straight as a ram rod and I feel completely normal! How can we bottle this??
Love
Lucienne"
Lucienne is in her 7th year with Parkinson's Disease on almost zero medication, so this is a huge breakthrough for her, and she is glad to share that with my eNews kula. We are working on finding a Thai yoga practitioner for her in each of the five cities she lives in throughout the year. A special need is Charleston, SC where she spends 7 months per year, so please forward me any information on Thai healers you know there. Paris we have had luck with, but Rome not yet, so I will take referrals for Rome, too. Molto grazie.
Thai Massage
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Congrats to Grads ...
Congratulations to the newest crop of AcroYoga® teachers just graduated from training in Ojai, CA!
Two of them are co-teaching with me September Mondays at Om Factory Flight School in Union Square:
Linda Mittel, Acrobatic Flying Elements: Basics, 5:30
Taylor Dunham, Jedi 1 Series: Star Shapes, 7:15
Equally happy my advanced mentoring graduate Rebecca Claes will assist Restoratve and teach hiking yoga on my Fall Foliage retreat weekend. Felcitations grads!
Om Factory Flight School
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Photo Thanks
Thanks this issue for photos: Maria Vallejo, and mom Diana Acosta; Pure Yoga advisor Anita Vasan, & Restorative grads Patti, Nadine, Alex, Vanessa, Jolene, & Pat; Becca Krauss-Carels & babe; Raul & Raphael Aranas & Theater of the Stars; Linda Mittel & Andy Eisner for park Thai; Ambrose & Florence; Lindsey Britt; Ora Ramat and Wagging Tail Studio; Adi Carter and Rincon Redefining Balance Retreat; Dutch acrobatiic teachers Jim and Det; Linda Mittel & my wonderful Monday Acrobatic Basics students, including the marvelous Higuchi twins, Jessie and Roxy, assistant Kristina; and anyone else I may have missed: mea culpa, & thank you!!
My Website
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Online Yoga Resources: Alignyo
Liz Eustace is editor and founder of this online yoga resource and community in New York. It's like having a circle of savvy yoga buddies that pop by your inbox every week with tips and shout-outs. Read weekly at length or just skim the highlights. See their featured teacher or studio of the week. And you can unsubscribe anytime.
Here is a teacher feature I was in around this time last year! The photo was from Figment weekend on Governor's Island.
"Alignyo is a community that celebrates yoga. Whether you’re a not-so-bendy newbie or a sinewy warrior, we roll out all the in-the-know recommendations, information and inspiration you’ll need to get on your yoga mat... right to your inbox."
My Alignyo Feature |
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Fitness & Wellness YELP
I recently met with CoachOasis, an exciting new web service about to launch this fall in two cities, New York and Montreal, that will allow interactive search fields for all varieties of fitness and wellness services, free to the public.
I vetted their plans and am enthusiastically in favor of supporting this service that will direct and connect people to exactly what they are looking for, or had never imagined but might just love to explore! Keep an eye out for the launching. If you are a wellness professional or studio, reach out and become part of this free service for consumers and providers.
And New York ~ celebrate one more glad reason to live in this wonderful hub of energy and ~ with our help ~ of Ommmm.
Coach Oasis Web Service |
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Fall Foliage Retreat ~ SOLD OUT
So excited! My Fall Foliage weekend retreat sold out after one week of registration. This 9/28-9/30 weekend will feature hiking yoga, 3 styles of meditation, restorative, vinyasa, slackline yoga and AcroYoga, on 100 acres of wooded & fielded land with pristine yoga studio and farmhouse 3 miles from Bethel woods where the Woodstock Festival took place.
We are accepting waitlist requests, and I will update in future ENews my plans for a winter, spring, summer weekend retreat featuring guest teachers and again, a variety of yoga modalities.
Weekend Retreat Info |
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Intro to Slackline Yoga: Pure East Workshop
Not able to come to Fall Foliage retreat to experience my slackline class? No worries! The mountain will come to Mohammed. Introduction to Slackline comes to Manhattan: Sept. 16.
Learn to balance in various body positions on a slackline, in a 2-hour workshop with me at Pure Yoga Eastside, on Sunday Sept. 16. This is an entry-level class so you can come with zero experience and just a desire to gain in your body new memory cues for balance, center of gravity, focus, and core integration, all while having a great deal of fun!
Class size is limited to 12, for maximal practice time and support. I will have two assistants. And as for me, I am one of 69 certified YogaSlacker teachers on the planet! As my sweet Pure East student Jennifer put it: "I have no idea what it is, but I love anything you teach, so I'm coming." Great attitude! If you are ready ~ game on! Surprise yourself with some playful joy & learning this September!
Register online below or phone to Pure East: 212-370-1888
Sept 16 Slackline Intro Workshop |
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Dutch Acrobats; & USA All Star Acrobats!
Lions, Tigers, Bears, oh my! This fall and winter is a wildly extravagant bounty for advanced partner acrobatics in NY and nearabouts! Note these dates:
In October: The Dutch are Coming!
Oct. 19-21 Jim and Det, stellar Dutch acrobatics performers/ teachers, at The Muse in Brooklyn.
Oct. 25-28 Niko Douwes, Dutch acrobat with workshops then retreat, in Brooklyn then Massachusetts.
In December: Acroyoga Awesomeness Again!
Dec. 8-12 Solar Immersion in NYC with Jason Nemer
Dec. 14-16 AcroGasm NYC with Lux and Jason & Chelsey Magness of the YogaSlackers
Facebook group AcroYoga New York is the forum where reminders and links and wild enthusiasm will appear as we approach each of these offerings. And that's just the tip of the Aceberg here in this thriving kula. Not to mention the weekly classes ... the Lunar Immersion in September.... etcetera, etcetera, to quote the King of Siam.
Facebook Group: AcroYoga New York |
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Privacy; Reply; Forward
As always, your email privacy is sacred with me. I only send these ENews to those who wish it, and I never share email lists. You can Unsubscribe at anytime; you can also Reply, and Forward!
If someone forwarded this to you, you can Subscribe directly or by emailing me to join my eNews list, for future event updates & to be part of my cyber sangha!
Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend! See you in September!
Peace, love, & Om
Mary
Mary's Website |
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