Archive for the Category » Class-y «

Jan
28

Corporate Yogic Giving…

… that, no doubt, will totally lead to our spending more money on their stuff!  But everybody will feel better about it.

You have to hand it to yoga apparel juggernaut, Lululemon.  Even during tough economic times, they’ve totally found the golden ticket into our wallets-  hmmm… feed the kids? New yoga pants? That’ll be a new pair of Lululemon Groove Pant Organic, if you please.

Seems that despite the tightening in our wallets, we’ve still found that little extra to drop on the clothes we feel assist in tightening our behinds…. or is it in expanding our consciousness?

Whatever drives people into the stores, and now it’s online presence, Lululemon has found what so many other businesses wish they could, a way to double it’s stock over the course of less than a year… in what continues to be economic strife for many!

But, I digress… and while Lululemon certainly doesn’t need the endorsement of a backwoods mommy blogger… I just wanted to mention, that as they continue to grow, making money hand over fist, they do know the value of building community and promoting health.

In that spirit, once a week, Lululemon shops across the continent, push aside their racks of clothing and other products to provide a make-shift studio, and with instructors provided by local studios, offer free yoga, or “the gift of yoga” to the masses.

While the gesture may be extended from an ever-growing corporate entity, it’s a wonderful one, in keeping with the underlying philosophies that are the foundation of yoga.

In particular, it offers those people who can’t afford a yoga class an opportunity to benefit from great instruction at no cost… or those folks who prefer their yoga for free so they can spend their money on yoga wear!

Regardless the motivation on either part, it’s good for yoga and if you’d like to find a class at your nearest Lululemon, visit www.lululemon.com or click HERE for more information.

Category: Articles, Class-y, clothing, Events  Leave a Comment
Sep
14

September: National Yoga Month!

I’m afraid it’s been a busy month in the world of MommyOm… I was under the impression that, as Staples keeps reminding us, “It’s the most wonderful time of the yeeeeeear!” because September means Back to School and thus find myself way behind the 8-ball and totally slow on the uptake in this being National Yoga Month!

For those of you not completely lost in the bliss and sudden abundance of peace and quiet in your lives, perhaps this month might also mean taking advantage of the various specials held at studios around America and getting acquainted with yoga for the first time.  For others, such as myself, it means considering what yoga means in my day-to-day life and perhaps re-committing to a regular practice… or maybe I did that last month?!?!

Whatever.  Whether it’s Back to School or National Yoga Month, do yourself a favour and check out a local yoga class this month.  It might be just what you need to fill up all the time you’ve recently acquired!

Happy Yoga Month!

Category: Class-y, Events, Good Intentions, health, Spirit, yoga  Leave a Comment
Sep
11

Oh Those Canadians: Yoga… ‘Cannabis Enhanced’

Leave it to the Canadians and their legalized marijuana to find yet another excuse to get high:  yoga class!

I suppose to some, yoga and pot are synonymous anyhow.  But to those of us who practice regularly, the high we get from a practice, any practice, from more mellow Iyengar to balls out Bikram, is just so satisfying and remarkable on its own, it keeps us coming back to the magic of the mat as often as we can.

But, apparently there is another faction of yogis that feel there’s just that much more can be achieved through a practice enhanced by the ganja… the herb… the tea… by the cannabis that they’ve developed a series of classes incorporating the hallucinogen to maximize their yogic experience.

Dee Dussault, founder of Follow Your Bliss center and Ganja Yoga classes, told Relaxnews that she has “been smoking marijuana for four years, practicing yoga for 15 years” and “teaching cannabis-enhanced yoga for about one year.”

Classes range in participation from four to fifteen students, and along with mats, towels and water bottles, it’s a strict policy of  BYOP: Bring Your Own Pot.  There is no sharing or mooching and there is certainly no buying or selling.

Classes include “a vaporizer café and chat (approximately 30 minutes), followed by a profoundly trippy yoga class, set to mystical music (approximately 75 minutes). Light munchies served afterward” for about $15 CDN.

Most of us don’t live in the Toronto area to take advantage of this unique approach to yoga, but if you’re interesting in experimenting with your own ganja infused practice, Dee Dussault offers a few pointers:

-  Focus more on the sensations that one feels in the body than on trying to achieve more intermediate or advanced postures while high.
-  Really slow down, focus inwards, let go of your idea of what “yoga” is supposed to look like. Just “be” in different poses. Hang out there, let the ganja take you to new realms of experience. Notice your breath. Notice how the body moves and feels. Do some simple stretches, whatever your body calls for.
- Always listen to your body, and err on the side of doing less than you think you can.
- Stay away from balancing poses unless you are used to them, as marijuana can negatively impact balance for some people. Spend a lot of time in meditative poses.
- If your mind wanders, just come back to your breath. If thoughts interrupt or distract you, see if you can commit to focusing on the breath and the feeling of the body.
- Marijuana is great for making us super-interested in things for the short-term. Be super-interested in things you’ve never noticed about your body before. Continually commit to coming back to the breath, to the body.
- If you feel anxiety or cannabis-induced paranoia, try “Child’s Pose” – kneel on your knees and lower legs, with your hips reaching down towards your heels, and your forehead on the mat. You can have your arms extended over your head, or by your sides. Child’s pose reduces mental tension and anxiety.

Category: Articles, Class-y, health, Just Crazy... In A Good Way, news, Practice, yoga  One Comment
Feb
12

An Exercise in Open-ness

I knew yesterday as I tried to get into my own practice, that I was off in some way. Usually, once the music is on and I get through those first couple of relaxing forward bends and into Sun Salutations, I’m on my way and my body begins to take on a mind of its own. Yesterday afternoon… not so much.

So, last night was my third class. And the one where I felt least prepared. I had not put Filipes through the sequences at all this week and that is infinitely helpful in reinforcing my cueing.

I was lacking focus that afternoon and that carried forth into my getting ready for my class. It was clear the moment she walked through the door of our coffee shop-cum-yoga studio at 7:00, the reason for my lack of yogic centre. I had known there might be a possibility this neighbor and part-time yoga teacher, herself, might be in attendance. She had heard about our little Monday night gatherings- it’s a small place and despite my wanting to keep things ‘mum’ from the masses, in a community this size, it’s almost impossible.

Now, it’s not that I don’t like her, or that I want to make this some exclusive group. I’m just a new, inexperienced teacher- term used loosely- and I am not ready to introduce my teaching (inexperienced, not certified, etc) to a wider audience. Also, the idea of someone so much more experienced in teaching had me rather terrified of judgement and reproach, not to mention resentment and anger for infringing on our miniscule market when she conducts her own sessions for actual money… And there she was. I wish I had been more welcoming to her but I was completely freaked out… in my mind, but I am sure she felt the vibe.

Not surprising… I totally and completely underestimated her. While I will never really know what she thought of the class, she seemed happy to have been there, not responsible for leading the class. Open to a different and new experience with a new, oh-so-very new, teacher. I was crazy nervous and her presence for the first half of the class had me shaken and self-conscious, but all-in-all, after I managed to regain my equilibrium and confidence in my own knowledge and personal experience, not a bad class. I didn’t kick it like last week, but OK, considering.

Afterwards, she said I’d done a great job and that if ever I was interested in feedback or input, she would be happy to help out. Aaaaaahhhhhhh. Thank you, yes. I will certainly keep her in my circle of resources.

Hers is a different form of yoga but, as in the past, I will undoubtedly attend her 6 week session, beginning tonite. I want to keep communication and trust open with her as well as support her in her own budding business in our area. There’s certainly room for all and she was certainly of that mind when she showed up in my class.

Other helpful neighbor/participant has more ideas on where I can improve… even greater exercise in remaining open…

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Feb
11

Flow vs. Detail

I had an interesting conversation with a mate from the class I’m teaching- using term oh-so-most loosely- where she brought to my attention the importance of modifications.  Not only modifications but perhaps a less than acute attention to detail in the postures.  Very nicely, of course.  This particular student of yoga is certainly the most knowledgeable of any of the participants, and is more likely than I towards due diligence in fleshing out the “perfect” posture.

I understand this, particularly from someone who is not partial to a “flow” and prefers to learn a pose, practice and refine it and “be” in, and with, that posture.  Developing a consciousness of the posture.  It is because of this approach to yoga that I listen to her.  I tend towards a focus on the movement as it is guided by the breath and the refinement of the posture may not be of priority.  And certainly as I find the “teacher” in me, trying to maintain the flow of the class, the details of each posture may get lost.

There is validity and benefit to both approaches.

So, thank you, fellow student.  I needed to have my attention drawn more into the details.  At this level of yoga practice for these others, if I don’t someone could, in fact, injure themselves.

I am pleased with this conversation partly because I learned something, but mainly because I returned her call “open” to learning something and accepting feedback.  Something, in a previous life, I would not have been.  I would have been caught up in my ego and my own right-ness and authority as “leader” or “teacher”.

The result.  An open relationship with neighbor and fellow student/teacher.  And, in her gratitude for my doing this, she is getting me a subscription to Yoga Journal.   Wow!

Open heart and mind…. there are many benefits.

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Feb
05

A Great Class… Really

The mind is everything; what you think, you become. ~Buddha

I was prepared to have a really good class. I knew I would have a good class.
I was tired. Not only had I put Filipes through the yogic paces, for over an hour, to work on my cueing, but I had had a pretty intense 40 minute practice earlier in the day. I probably won’t do that again, mind you. My work with Filipes is important to my prep the day of class… but my own practice should be saved for other days.

Anyways. Despite my fatigue and a little nervousness, I got into the groove pretty easily. It felt good. I felt good.

An hour and twenty minutes, including a ten minute Savasana. I also had three new ladies in attendance. Almost a full house! No, not really. But the extra bodies provided an added energy and despite my fear of leading a larger group, it actually helped make the class more dynamic and fun.

It appeared, this week, that everybody liked it. They aren’t a particularly demonstrative bunch, but from the sounds of the pleasantly worked out groans and sighs- smiles, too- everybody was satisfied. Plus, they will all be back next week.

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Jan
29

Lead… Guide… Instruct… Assist… Yup.

On a cold, snowy night.  In a warm, cozy room amid a steady refridgerator hum and the smell of coffee, a yoga class was taught….  For me, great.  I have cleared the hurdle of the scary first.   For the three women in attendance, I’m not sure.  Only one had a real point of reference given that she maintains her own regular, very different, practice.  The other two were newbies and after an awkward silent moment following our final Namaste, we got up to fetch our tea.

I think it was a good introduction to Vinyasa flow.  Given the experience level, it had to be very basic and quite slow.  So despite the nine pages of material I had prepared based on my own 75 minute practice, in 90 minutes we only tackled about three of them.  Perhaps tackled isn’t the most appropriate term to be used when relating to things yogic…  Well, even armed (again, not best yogic terminology) with my nine pages, I really had no expectations.  I felt prepared.  And I planned only to enjoy myself.  Sure, I was really quite nervous, but we got into the swing of things.  It was challenging, yet I felt it was accessible to everybody.

While I didn’t feel right grilling everyone about the practice- and my performance- at last nights inaugural session, next week (yes, everyone enthusiastically agreed to be there) I will begin with a discussion to encourage feedback.

And so.  There it is.  Will practice on dear Filipes this week.  He could use it….

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Jan
25

75 Minutes of Great!

A great 75 minute practice today followed by a nice, if somewhat inadequate, five minutes of Savasana. 

Closing my practice with a good long Savasana is still a challenge and one I will continue to work on.  But I feel so good and I am ready to move on and tackle the demands of this crazy house.  I also knew there was a pair of pretty blue eyeballs staring at me from outside the glass door that provides my only barrier from the rest of the house.  I had an audience.  An audience anticipating my completing practice very, very quickly…  so, I did.

Despite a somewhat rushed ending, I really felt like I had made some progress in a few postures.  Namely anything involving a forward bend.  I am much more conscious of bending at the hips instead of my waist and lower back.  As well, when seated I am pretty effectively combining my breath with the posture and allowing myself to extend through the spine on the inhale and deepen the stretch on the exhalation.  It felt very good today. 

I was also loving the twists.  A good wringing is necessary these days.

I’m feeling pretty zen about this upcoming inaugural class I will be teaching in a few days.  While I was allowing myself to get right bound about it earlier in the week as of yesterday I forced myself to step back and get some perspective.  This is something I have thought about doing for some years, now and I am now fortunate enough to be asked to do so by a close, safe group of friends and neighbors.  It’s all good.  I will certainly expand and grow my own practice through this opportunity while, I hope, providing some fun and oh so beneficial physical activity to some very lovely women.

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Jan
23

Cue… Dammit!

It was a good practice yesterday afternoon.  A first one in a good long time, as is evident from this PLOG o’ mine.  One hour.  With Baron Baptiste.

OK, not really.  Not the man in person, but his voice.  In my Bootcamp in a Box.  I had to admit to my husband last night as we were discussing my upcoming teaching, that I am somewhat of a Baptiste disciple.  As I am trying to work on my cueing, I am listening/watching other practitioners.  While all good, certainly some better than others, I have been practicing the Baptiste method of Vinyasa for so long now, my body just knows it.

OK, so I’ve also been to one of his bootcamps.  It’s a form of yoga I enjoy.  I feel like I have worked out and I feel that I have centred and relaxed through it all at the same time.  This is what I will bring to my class.  Not officially, for any of you out there about to run to Baptiste crying copyright infringement.  But as it is a practice I enjoy and rely on, there is no question it will influence my teaching.

So now I develop my own sequences of postures, in the Vinyasa form.  It was recommended that I literally talk my way through my own practices to work on my cueing.

I’m nervous about cueing.  Stutter….  Uh…… Stammer….  Um……  No way, man!  I’m gonna have it together.  Really….

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Jan
22

She Who Can’t Do… Teach!

Well… an interesting development.  A friend and neighbor has asked if I would teach an informal yoga class every week to a group of other friends and neighbors.  It will be in her coffee shop nearby, after hours.  It’s a fantastic, large but very cozy space with dark, wide hardwood planks, a gas fireplace and coffee and tea time afterwards.

A week from yesterday… 6 days and counting to come up with a good, solid sequence.  An hour long.  Hmmmm…..

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