Hi,
My class tomorrow is canceled. Sandy is coming through!
Everyone be safe!
Love,
P
Monday, October 29, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
Next week
I am going to sub the following classes next week:
Thursday at 9:00 am, quick fitness
Thursday at 8:15 pm, Go Yoga
Celebrating my boyfriends birthday!
Love,
Patricia
Thursday at 9:00 am, quick fitness
Thursday at 8:15 pm, Go Yoga
Celebrating my boyfriends birthday!
Love,
Patricia
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Niyamas, in a nut shell
Every Thursday at Go Yoga we have been studying the Yamas and Niyamas. Last Thursday was the last installment of the course. Here is what we covered, in a nutshell.
The Niyamas are the personal commitments we make to subdue the mental chatter of our minds. They are as follows:
(from Kimberly Theresa's Yoga Essentials Course I, The Essential Yoga Sutra, Donna Farhi's book Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit: A Return to Wholeness, and T.K.V. Desikachar's The Heart of Yoga)
Shaucha: To be clean.
When we practice yoga, we take care of our studio, our place of practice, we gather our props and neatly place them around us. When we meditate, we clean our space before sitting down, we decorate our altars. We prepare.
When we are getting ready to go out, we shower, clean our houses, etc. We prepare.
All these rituals, or preparations, help ease our practice and create a comfortable space in which we can settle in.
Santosha: To be contented with whatever we have.
This one is pretty popular. Every religion has a different take on this. In our practice on the mat, it is a practice to stay present, to be happy with the current moment. If a pose feels too strenuous, or a pose feels awkward, it is ok to step back. If the teacher is not doing a class as we expected, or if there is a pose that your body just won't do, to honor those emotions and let them go, create peace and dissolve anger.
Santosha should not be confused with "giving up." Santosha is a practice to stay present and content with the present. It means to practice patience.
It is to look at the glass half full, without the expectation of a result.
Tapas: To embrace hardships for higher goals.
The commitment we make every time we go to a yoga class is tapas. The practice, is tapas.
Outside of the mat, the easiest way to practice tapas is to work hard! We have all had goals we want to achieve, and know that the harder we work for them, the better the reward. Tapas is that "burning enthusiasm" that keeps us working hard.
Swadhyaya: To engage in regular study.
When we listen to our bodies and learn about ourselves, we are practicing Swadhyaya. We can only achieve this practice by being open to what it is that we are learning. To be curious about the lessons of every class, and every day.
I have a tattoo that says "I surrender to my teachers." If everyone and everything that is presented to me is a lesson, therefore I surrender to what it is that I need to learn. It is my reminder to practice this.
Practicing Swadhyaya is easy, as long as our hearts are open to lessons around us, within and outside of the mat.
Ishvarapranidhana: Seek our master's blessings, or celebration of the spiritual.
Every book you read about the Yamas and Niyamas will give you a different take of what they mean. Ishvarapranidhana was confusing to me, until I realized that to seek your master's blessings, or to surrender to God means to seek for your own blessings, to follow what works for you, as an individual. And honor it.
We enter the classroom, we Om, we sit in our mat, and we honor ourselves, our bodies and our mind. When we go to church, we honor Jesus. Whatever it is that you do to do to honor a higher power, is Ishvarapranidhana.
Honor yourself, make everything around you joyful, beautiful, a part of your journey, and suddenly, everything is beautiful.
Love,
P
The Niyamas are the personal commitments we make to subdue the mental chatter of our minds. They are as follows:
(from Kimberly Theresa's Yoga Essentials Course I, The Essential Yoga Sutra, Donna Farhi's book Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit: A Return to Wholeness, and T.K.V. Desikachar's The Heart of Yoga)
Shaucha: To be clean.
When we practice yoga, we take care of our studio, our place of practice, we gather our props and neatly place them around us. When we meditate, we clean our space before sitting down, we decorate our altars. We prepare.
When we are getting ready to go out, we shower, clean our houses, etc. We prepare.
All these rituals, or preparations, help ease our practice and create a comfortable space in which we can settle in.
Santosha: To be contented with whatever we have.
This one is pretty popular. Every religion has a different take on this. In our practice on the mat, it is a practice to stay present, to be happy with the current moment. If a pose feels too strenuous, or a pose feels awkward, it is ok to step back. If the teacher is not doing a class as we expected, or if there is a pose that your body just won't do, to honor those emotions and let them go, create peace and dissolve anger.
Santosha should not be confused with "giving up." Santosha is a practice to stay present and content with the present. It means to practice patience.
It is to look at the glass half full, without the expectation of a result.
Tapas: To embrace hardships for higher goals.
The commitment we make every time we go to a yoga class is tapas. The practice, is tapas.
Outside of the mat, the easiest way to practice tapas is to work hard! We have all had goals we want to achieve, and know that the harder we work for them, the better the reward. Tapas is that "burning enthusiasm" that keeps us working hard.
Swadhyaya: To engage in regular study.
When we listen to our bodies and learn about ourselves, we are practicing Swadhyaya. We can only achieve this practice by being open to what it is that we are learning. To be curious about the lessons of every class, and every day.
I have a tattoo that says "I surrender to my teachers." If everyone and everything that is presented to me is a lesson, therefore I surrender to what it is that I need to learn. It is my reminder to practice this.
Practicing Swadhyaya is easy, as long as our hearts are open to lessons around us, within and outside of the mat.
Ishvarapranidhana: Seek our master's blessings, or celebration of the spiritual.
Every book you read about the Yamas and Niyamas will give you a different take of what they mean. Ishvarapranidhana was confusing to me, until I realized that to seek your master's blessings, or to surrender to God means to seek for your own blessings, to follow what works for you, as an individual. And honor it.
We enter the classroom, we Om, we sit in our mat, and we honor ourselves, our bodies and our mind. When we go to church, we honor Jesus. Whatever it is that you do to do to honor a higher power, is Ishvarapranidhana.
Honor yourself, make everything around you joyful, beautiful, a part of your journey, and suddenly, everything is beautiful.
Love,
P
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Falling behind.
Falling behind!
I owe two of my past classes' material. Forthcoming!
And schedule is updated below.
Also, visit my new website! It's in the works.
Love,
P
I owe two of my past classes' material. Forthcoming!
And schedule is updated below.
Also, visit my new website! It's in the works.
Love,
P
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