May 2012 05/14/2012
Hello yogis, Happy May to you. This year of the Golden Dragon is flying by and nearly half of it is gone. I figured it's time to honour the Eastern Dragon before the year is over, and it's time to give you a little gift - bring a friend to the Dragon Dance Workshop, and you both get £1 off (contact me to book your place). In the East, the dragon is considered benevolent and not evil like in the West. The dragon in the East symbolises greatness, goodness and good luck. It is said to bring about Sheng Chi or uplifting energy beneficial to health and well-being. This is why 2012 is believed to be the year of good luck, good health, and longevity. The Eastern dragon is also believed to be in charge of the seasons and of water, rain, hurricanes and floods. Considering how we first had the drought and then the huge amount of rain lately, I think it's best we do the Dragon Dance to make the dragon happy, eh? YOGA DRAGON DANCE The Dragon Dance is fusion of Indian and Taoist yoga. The sequence was created by Paul and Suzie Grilley, well-known American yoga teachers. In the many years that I have been practising yoga, I don't believe I have come across a sequence more beautiful than this one. The Dragon Dance is graceful and strong, grounding and uplifting, and fun and challenging. The story it tells is also fascinating and based on Buddha's teaching of the four aims of life: desire for sensory pleasures (Kama); desire for material success such as job promotion (Artha); personal duty or role in society (Dharma); and liberation from all three (Moksha). In the 1st act, we meet the Hero who is out looking for a dragon to slay. The Hero symbolises Kama or the desire for pleasures, and Artha, the desire for material success and gain. He is the "I WANT". The Dragon is seen turning to look at the Hero in the 2nd act warning him that "Big Brother is watching you". The Dragon is the "THOU SHALT" and it has on each of its scales the rules and laws of the society. In the 3rd act, the Dragon raises its wings as if to say "I will not take this lying down", and in the 4th, it dives back down keeping a close eye on the Hero. The Dragon swings its tail and attacks the Hero, intending to put him back in his place in the society, in the 5th act. The Hero dives under the belly of the beast to avoid the attack. Now what? Will "I WANT" kill "THOU SHALT"? That's the dance of life. How much of your personal desires do you need to give up to keep your family happy? How much of my life can I spend being a good son/daughter, parent, student, teacher, preacher, boss, subordinate, etc., without completely losing my sense of self? Do I choose to please me and ignore the duty that everyone expects of me, or do I fulfill my Dharma and forsake life's pleasures? The Buddha taught that there is one other option - Moksha, liberation from or transcending above all three other aims of life: Kama, Artha and Dharma. By being freed from these three, the Buddha didn't mean we didn't have to do our duty or we shouldn't have desires. We can want to eat chocolate but don't let the desire for chocolate dictate your life. If you haven't got it at home but you have money and time, then go ahead and buy it. If you have no money, don't rob someone so you can buy chocolate! Your duty to society, living within the limits of the law, is far more important than your desire for chocolate. If, however, your new boss decides he doesn't want you to go on holiday even though your previous boss had already agreed to the dates, don't get angry and cancel the holiday. Have a chat and work out what can be done to satisfy both your needs and your duty. That's the 7th act of our dance - the Hero spirals around the Dragon, climbs on top, and they both fly off together - yoking the "I WANT" with the "THOU SHALT" and soaring above them. This dance of life is complicated. Life is all about balance, and balance is not about staying still. Balance is about constantly moving. To find balance, we need to keep on dancing into balance. A bit of me time, a bit of serving other. A bit of pleasure, a bit of work. The Dragon Dance keeps us moving and turning. Performing the Dragon Dance challenges our flexibility and our ability to maintain our balance. Just like performing the dance of life. (The information above is based on my understanding of Bernie Clark's article on the Dragon Dance on www.yinsight.com) DRAGON DANCE WORKSHOP: MAY 27th, 10-12:00, at ESCAPE Join me on May 27th to learn the Dragon Dance. I will be teaching an adapted version of the dance this time, and hopefully, in the near future, I will have the opportunity to teach the original version as taught by the Grilleys. We will begin with some warm up before learning to perform individual poses safely first and then putting them together. We will start with the Yang Dragon Dance which is a faster pace dance with constant movement to create heat and raise the heart rate. We will then practice the Yin Dragon Dance where some of the same poses will be held for longer in order to strengthen the muscles. If we have time, we will end with the Golden Seed as our cool down before relaxation. Both the Dragon Dance and the Golden Seed will open the hips, tone the arms, back, core and legs, and still the mind. It is a complete body, breath and mind workout, suitable for everyone in reasonably good health. Expect to sweat and have fun. Please contact me to book your place and send a cheque of £10 to W SNONGJATI, 18 Imperial Road, Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 3NL. If you'd prefer to do a bank transfer, please contact me and I will give you my details. The workshop is £10 if paid in advance and £13 if paid on the day. Don't wait too long. Book your place now and learn to dance the dance of life! FREE YOGA ~ Go for the Moksha - An interesting talk on Buddha's view of the four aims of life. ~ Flying Dragon - Here is a quick peek at Suzie Grilley performing an advanced version of the Dragon Dance with Paul Grilley instructing. Look at how graceful the sequence is. During the workshop, we will practice a simpler version of this dance, and maybe one day in the future, we can work up to this! All classes are on as normal this month so please come along and learn to live from your deep centre and let the best you shine through. See you in class, at the workshop or just around. May the Golden Dragon bless you with great health, wealth, and good fortune. Om Shanti, Wendy Add Comment April 2012 04/12/2012
Hello Yogis, I hope the wet and cold weather isn't getting you down. What a change from that last week of March, eh? I very nearly got annoyed when the snow came down and made me change my plan for the day. Instead, I consciously chose to enjoy the day sitting on my warm floor chatting with a fab friend while our kids played with Lego. It turned out to be a relaxing for all of us instead of the usual busy-running-around-trying-to-achieve-a-million-things day! There are so many things in life that we have no control over (English weather for one!). Changes happen whether or not we want them to. What we do have total control over is how we react or respond to these changes. You can choose to view them as lessons to learn from, challenges to take on, or you can choose to be upset, annoyed, or to despair. The Buddha once said "Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a giant tree in the midst of them". Visualise doing the Tree Pose or get up now and just do it. For some of you, balancing on one leg is challenging. If you find it easy on flat surface with your eyes open, try doing the pose on a rolled up blanket with your eyes closed. That will give you a taste of what it's like to go through life's unexpected changes. You can't see what lies ahead. You are wobbly and shaky, and you will likely fall over. What do you do next? Stay down, get upset and never do the Tree pose again? Or do you get up, find your Ujjayi breath, connect to your standing foot, engage your core and give it another go? I hope it's the latter. It's always possible to come home to your centre, and find your inner strength and calm to face life's challenges. You don't have to fall apart, or if you did, you could learn a lesson from your fall. Do I give it a go again? Do I do something (s) differently? Or do I move down another path? Our asana practice, when done with mindfulness and with respect for the breath and the body, will help us to tap into our source of inner strength, our deep core, in order to become better aligned, to be grounded and uplifted, and to be strong and light. What you do on your mat will find a way of creating a shift on all levels of your being. When you physical core is strong and you are in your optimum alignment, you will look and feel better. You will gain self confidence which will help you to relate better to others around you. Self confidence allows you to let go of your fears. You can start to live from the place of love and truth instead of from the place of fear. You don't have to wait for the right person to come into your life or for the right job or more money to feel good about your life. You just need to learn to trust in you and let the best you come out and play. APRIL CORE TRANSFORMATION WORKSHOP: Join me on April 29, 10-12:00 at Escape to learn all about the deep core line, how to strengthen the core, and how to live from your deep centre. Please contact me to book your place. CLASS NEWS: - Sun Power Yoga - class is back on as normal from Monday, April 16, 6-7:30 p.m. - Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga - no class on Thursday, April 12. Class will be on as normal on April, 19, 7:30-9:00 p.m. - Baby Yoga - class is on every Wednesday, 11-11:45 followed by half hour of tea and chat time. We're having a fab time with lots of baby girls. If you or anyone you know have a baby aged 6 weeks to crawling, please join us for lots of fun yoga exercises and songs to promote healthy development of the little ones. - Gentle Chair Yoga - Class is on as normal from Friday, April 13, 11-12:00. FREE YOGA ~ 15 Powerful Things Happy People Do Differently - Fantastic article. ~ Finding Centre - Sadie Nardini ~ Ninjasana - Sadie teaches how to use your core and move like a ninja! ~ Ninja Sun Salutation - Once you have learned Ninjasana above, try Sadie's Ninja Sun Salutation. Enjoy the rest of April. It's unpredictable but I know you can still have a good time. It's your choice so choose wisely and be happy, people! See you soon. Best wishes, Wendy March 2012 03/13/2012
Hello yogis, I hope you are loving the sunshine. To those of you who joined our workshop last month, I thank you for sharing your energy with us. I hope you enjoyed finding your connection to the earth and your core as you learned to fully open your heart space. Here is a quick reminder on how to do a safe backbend - breathe, set a firm foundation, draw the pelvic floor in and up, the lower belly in and up, the low back spine in and up, soften the ribs, slide the shoulder blades on to your back, and slide your neck back. In that order and without letting go of or stopping the previous actions. So, don't stop breathing, connecting to your base of support or your core as you open your heart! BOUNDARY AND FREEDOM Looking at the steps toward safe backbend above, you might notice that we have a lot of boundaries. We set our base of support firmly to stop us from falling over. We engage our root and belly "locks" to lift our Prana (life force) upwards. We keep our ribs in to keep our alignment. These are all boundaries without which we would end up seriously hurting ourselves. Life is the same. Without boundaries, this world would be a mess. Parents, you know that if you don't set boundaries for your children, they will get lost. Life becomes chaotic. I can remember my dad forever setting a curfew for me when I was a teenager. If I got home on time every time for a few months, he'd occasionally extend the curfew. If I was late though (and I was pretty often because I was naughty), I'd be grounded for ages! On the mat, setting boundaries help to direct energy in the right direction to the right muscles. When you engage your muscles to set your boundaries, you allow other muscles to relax so you can move more deeply and safely into your poses. Off the mat, boundaries can keep people off our space, keep us off someone else's space, and help us to connect to who we are, our sense of self. When you learn to say "no", you can re-direct the energy that you spend on someone else towards your own project/goal. When you stop trying to invade someone else's space, the same energy can be used to move you forward to being the best you. When you know who you are and connect to your own awesomeness, the chaos in your life stops. Clarity sets in. You become free of all the dramas and your creative energy is free to flow. Join me at the next workshop to see how you can set boundaries in order to create more freedom in your life. CLEAR BOUNDARY; LIMITLESS FREEDOM YIN-YANG YOGA WORKSHOP Join me this month to learn how to set our boundaries in order to achieve greater freedom in our hips and in our lives! The workshop will be on March 25th, 9:30-12:30 at Escape. Please see Workshop for details or contact me to book your place. Have a look at How to Practice Yin Yoga to get an idea of what Yin Yoga is. The Yang part is our Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga which is a dynamic flow style. BABY YOGA Our Baby Yoga class has started. If you know anyone with a baby of 6 weeks to crawling age, please let them know of this class. It's on Wednesdays, 11-11:45, followed by 1/2 hour of tea and chat time. Baby Yoga is a fantastic way to have fun while bonding with your baby and a great way to promote your baby's healthy development. FREE YOGA - "SAY NO"~ Sadie Nardini tells you why it's important to say "no" and create boundaries. - "5 STEPS TO ROCKING YOUR BACKBEND SAFELY" ~ Sadie Nardini - "HOW TO PRACTICE YIN YOGA" ~ Bernie Clark shows you what Yin Yoga is all about and how it's different from the Yang style or the dynamic flow style. Bernie is very funny! - "YIN SPHINX AND SEAL POSES EXPLAINED" ~ Bernie Clark explains how to do the sphinx pose and the seal pose safely. He explains why you should do them, who shouldn't do them, and how to adapt the poses to suit you. Enjoy the start of Spring. Come and practice safe yoga with me to become healthier, get toned and flexible physically, emotionally and mentally, and learn to live more fully from your deep centre. Be well. Om Shanti, Wendy February 2012 02/06/2012
Hello yogis, Isn't it absolutely amazing how quickly a whole month of this year has gone by? I hope you are having a great year so far and that it will only get better. Here we are in the month of love again. I remember sitting here last year around this time writing to you about how much better it is to "stand tall" in love than to "fall" in love! Some of you told me you could really see how you used to "fall" in love and, in the process, lost your sense of self. People do this when they act a certain way, totally against their belief and who they are, in order to gain someone else's love. When you are not true to yourself, you can't be happy. Sooner or later, you start to feel more and more worthless, more alienated from you, and the other person is going to feel it too. When you are true to you, you are allowing the other person to say "yes, you are the one for me," or "no, thank you very much but you are not the one." The second answer may not be nice to hear, but the truth frees them to be on their path, and you to carry on your path and live the life you are meant to live. When you live from the place of truth and love, instead of fear (fear of being rejected, for instance), you are giving your self and everyone else the best gift ever - freedom to live truthfully and be the best that we can all be. Here is a truly inspiring article, Making Friends with Cancer, written by Dawn Nelson, a woman who was diagnosed with cancer. Instead of hating or being gripped by fear of the cancer, she chose to make friends with it. The last line in particular really resonates with me. "You make friends with cancer by not hiding from it or hating it, but by acknowledging it, accepting what it has to teach and continuing on your journey, one step at a time." It doesn't have to be cancer. Replace cancer with any words that describe the situation you're in. You make friends with the job/partner/friend/snow (haha...had to put that in just to remind myself to practise what I'm preaching!). This is not to say that you have to stick with the job or the partner or friend. Some of you have been waiting for love to enter your life in the form of a boyfriend or girlfriend. Instead of waiting and wondering why there is no one out there for you, instead of being annoyed or upset or discouraged, try acknowledging that love is already in your life. Love is within you. Say thank you when you wake up to the fact that you are filled with love. When you are impatient, discouraged and upset, you can't see clearly and you won't learn what you need to learn. Open your heart to the love that is already there, learn the lessons that you need to learn, and then you will know what action to take next. You simply start by acknowledging the reality, accepting the lessons that are there to be learned, and then you take your next step on your journey. That next step could be to look for a new job, end the relationship or to seek counseling, move house, dress better, or just be happy as you are. This is exactly how to live from the place of truth and love instead of fear and hatred. Can you make this month of love the start of your journey to discover your place of truth, compassion and love? Can you begin to acknowledge your reality, learn from it, and then take action based on truth and love rather than fear? Of course, you can. Come and join me at our next workshop to see how your physical practice can help you on this journey. FEBRUARY WORKSHOP: 26th February, 9:30-12:30 at Escape. We will learn to set firm foundation, strengthen our deep centre and then to open our heart and lengthen our front body safely. So, yes, backbends. Come and join me to learn how to lengthen your spine in order to go deeper instead of collapsing into the lower back, or jutting your ribs out and crunching the back of the neck. The focus will be on the spine, what happens during spinal extension, how the breath can help to protect the spine, how it helps to move our body in space, and create space in our body. Many people are afraid of backbends but really backbends have so many benefits when done correctly, mindfully, with control, and with the breath. Rather than being fearful and writing backbends off completely, why not learn to do them safely? With firm foundation, strong core connection, and focus on co-ordinating movement with breath (which, of course, leads to self awareness of what your body can or cannot do at that point), you will be able to express the pose at your level safely. You make friends with backbends not by hiding from them or hating them, but by acknowledging them, and accepting what they have to teach you and continuing on your backbend journey one safe step at a time! As it is quite cold, we will not start with Yin yoga this time, but will go straight into the Core Strength Vinyasa warm up before we work on specific poses and then flow though intelligent sequences. We will spend sometime at the end in restorative poses, meditation and relaxation. Please contact me to book your place. SNOW AND ICE: Please take care when you come to the studio. It can get a little slippery on the little road in front of the studio but the main roads are all fine. ESCAPE TO ESCAPE YOGA RETREAT: March 17th-18th. Join Escape teachers (Jane, Sharon and me) for a weekend of yoga, relaxation, guided walks, massage and more at Escape. See Escape Retreat for more details. This retreat is open to locals and visitors so please tell your friends about it! Thank you. FREE YOGA: Yoga for Friends or Lovers - fab sequence that you can do with your partner or a friend. Yoga for Heart Opening - Another fantastic sequence from Sadie. Make sure you warm up well before trying this. Or just have a look and come to the workshop to learn it with me! Love and the Yoga of Impatience - A great article on love. Wrap up warm. Enjoy life and love your self! Om Shanti, Wendy JANUARY 2012 01/16/2012
Hello yogis. Happy 2012 to you all. I hope you had a lovely time over the Christmas and New Year break. I definitely did and must admit that I am proud of myself for totally letting my hair down and enjoying my holiday fully instead of spending my time worrying about work, or money or whatever. However, now it is time to come back to reality and get working again. This means it's time to get back into the routine of a full-time mum, domestic management (!), a driver, and a yoga teacher. It means getting back into shape physically, mentally and emotionally too so that I can fully and less-grumpily care for my son, husband, dog and home, safely drive, and mindfully share my yoga knowledge with you. As I was thinking of going to my yoga room for my first proper session since the beginning of December, I saw an article in the NYT titled "How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body". Oohhhh..now what? I read it and still I went and did my practice. Have a read and let me know what you think. Before you get turned off yoga by this article, have a look at the following responses:
I believe you can get hurt doing anything if you are not doing it mindfully. If you are fully present, the risk of injuries lessens. When we practise our yoga asanas (the physical practice) without focusing our mind fully on the breath, without listening to and honouring our body, we risk hurting ourselves. But, really, if you were doing the poses without co-ordinating your breath and your movement and with your mind running around all over the place, is that yoga? My wish for all of you and for myself this year is that we become more fully present. May we all live more consciously in the now for the benefits of all beings on earth. Have a wonderful year and see you in class (Sun Power Yoga, Core Strength Vinyasa, or Gentle Chair Yoga) or at our monthly workshops (the next one is on January 29th, 10-12:00). Contact me if you'd like to book a place or if you have any questions about the classes. Oh, and here is a fabulous article by the lovely Sadie Nardini: Who Says Yoga Isn't Great for Weight Loss? There is a 20 minute video to help you burn calories at the bottom of the article. If you find some of the sequences or poses too difficult, come to my class and I'll show you how to modify them to suit you. Stay warm and be well. Om Shanti. Wendy November Newsletter 11/16/2011
Hello yogis. How are you all doing? I have had quite a lot of excitement in my life. Remember that driving test? I passed it. Woo hoo... Am I any less nervous? No way! Now I have to do it all on my own. Yikes. I was asked recently how I coped with the stress of the driving test. I coped with it the way I coped with any other kind of stress - one breath at a time. As simple as that, and yes, as difficult as that! Simple is not easy and you just have to stick with it to make it work. I have also had people say to me "but you are a yoga teacher so why are you stressed?". Yoga isn't like a magic pill that you take and it removes stress from your life. Yoga provides you with tools to cope with the stresses of life. With regular practice, you begin to be aware of situations or triggers that bring on stress, and you can then dig into your "toolbox" for the right tool for you. The one for me is definitely staying with the breath. What's your yoga tool for coping with stress? If you aren't sure, I'd recommend practising yoga regularly and with mindfulness. You will begin to cultivate self-awareness, and from there, discover which yoga tools work for you. This newsletter is going to be very much about how to cope with stress, but let's first start with some class and studio updates and news: WORKSHOP: Our last one for this year is on November 27th, 9:30-12:30 at Escape. We will learn how to create how home practice. In order to have a regular practice without spending too much money, it's a good idea to know how to create your own mini class that you can do at home, at the office or wherever you are and whenever you need it. See workshop page for details and contact me to book your place. Even if you already have a home practice, join us for some fabulous tips on alignment, multi-tasking (adding some breath work to your asana practice), and lots more. NEW DYNAMIC FLOW YOGA: If you are looking for a late evening class or a class that will complement your regular sport, come and try out the new Dynamic Flow Yoga class at Escape, every Tuesday, 8:15-9:45 p.m. CLASSES IN DECEMBER: Please note that I will be away for the whole of December. Classes resume on Tuesday, January 10th, 2012. Now, let's get back to yoga and stress. I cope with stress breath by breath. Here is how. COPING WITH STRESS BREATH BY BREATH: Driving is still stressful for me. Every time I sit in the driver's seat, I spend a few minutes with my breath. Every time I have to over take a biker or tractor, I have to go to the breath. I sit up a little taller and ground my sitbones into the seat. That is how I bring myself back to the very present moment. I get grounded. Then I lift my pelvic floor, lower belly and lower back in and up (trinity alignment of Core Strength Vinyasa) in order to connect to my deep core, which also helps me to come into better alignment and create space for the breath to flow freely. If my hands and arms are free (as in before I drive out of my drive), I spiral them open, lifting my chest, as I breathe in, thinking "breathe in", and I spiral them close as I round my upper spine and breathe out, thinking "breathe out". If my hands and arms are not free (as in when I'm driving), I focus on breathing in to my heart space, still thinking "breathe in", and breathing out from my belly, thinking "breathe out". Feel free to try. I circle back to check that my sitbones are still firmly grounded, my core still activated and then I let the breath flow freely with my mind on it. This, to me, is what meditation is. You are so focused on the breath that the mind cannot chatter or wander away. At the same time, though, you are still fully aware of what is going on around you, and are capable of dealing with things when necessary. You're just not affected by everything. PHYSICAL PRACTICE FROM THE GROUND UP: I make sure that I do my physical practice everyday, even if it's just a few breaths in Warrior pose or Fierce (Chair) twist. If I have at least half an hour, then I do Sun Salutations, and, when life gets really busy, strong standing and balancing (on hands or feet!) poses to keep me grounded. I focus first on my foundation (just like I do with the sitbones when I can only breathe to cope with stress - like while doing my driving test!). If your foundation is not properly and firmly set, it's much harder to connect to your core and to then express the pose without falling over. The same in life. If you are not mindfully connecting to the moment, to reality, how can you work out where to go next? It isn't so much about whether or not you are connecting to reality as such, but it's much more about how you connect to your reality. The reality, the situation, is there whether you like it or not. You can deny it or you can face it. If you choose denial, will it go away? What if you opened your eyes, your heart and mind, and faced it with gratitude and a willingness to learn from this reality? Every reality, desired or not, is a teacher. When it's a reality that you want, it's easy to appreciate it, and so go ahead and be grateful. When it's one that you don't want, still appreciate the teaching. I didn't want to drive. If we were living back in Thailand, I'd have a driver and not drive myself ever. However, the reality is that I'm here in lovely Derbyshire and I need to drive. Driving is my teacher. It gives me the opportunity to face my fear, daily!, learn to trust myself, and just do it. I choose to see this reality as my teacher. How we face our reality is our choice. Choose wisely. After I set my foundation firmly, I begin to connect to my core. In fact, when you connect so deeply to the earth beneath your base of support, your core is slightly engaged automatically! Try it now. Stand up and ground the 3 points of your feet (big toe mound - the fleshy bit below the toe and not just the toe itself, little toe mound, and the centre of your heel deeply into the floor) and feel your legs become active, and your pelvic floor engaging. The beauty of becoming grounded and connected to your core is that you will feel the desire to express the pose from there. You feel your chest lifting and there is a lightness. You're in better alignment and your spine is well supported, and so whatever you choose to do now, you are likely to maintain balance. Again, this is the same in real life off the mat. When you choose to accept reality as your teacher, you will be in the moment and you can "soften and melt into your core" (Sadie's again!). When you stop fighting against your reality, you begin to see your true strength, your deepest centre - the real you! You find compassion there, not just for others but for you. From that place of love and compassion, you can begin to express your best self. From there, you can live your life in the best possible way. You can begin to take the necessary actions right here right now that align with your loving and compassionate self, and move you forward towards your goal. Can it really be done? I believe so. It worked with the driving! I knew the reality was that I needed to drive. I opened myself to it and began to trust in my ability to stay calm. Then I went out and did it. Here I am - a licensed driver. Did I learn to surrender to reality in one day? No, absolutely not. It took a lot of lessons to stop fighting against everything. I was a seriously stubborn person. A few challenges in life and my regular yoga practice have helped me to see the pointlessness of resisting reality. I come back again and again to regular yoga practice. Life is going to happen and has been happening for you since the day you were born. Regular yoga practice is a choice. When you know that yoga is good for your physical health, and what happens on the physical level affects your mental, emotional and spiritual health, why wouldn't you want to keep at it? I know how busy we all are, especially around this time of year. This is why I have decided to focus on helping you create a home practice or a mini practice any time and any where at our next workshop. It's so easy to say "Oh, I haven't got time", or "I haven't got the energy", or " there is not enough space". We can all be pretty creative when it comes to excuses for not looking after our health. Remember that you are the MASTER of your habits. You can make a habit of making lots of excuses or you can make a habit of regularly practising your yoga. What will it be? Choose wisely. Those of you who already have a regular practice, well done. If you need extra tips to improve or to spice up your home practice, join me at the workshop on November 27th. FREE YOGA: Lion's Breath is one of my favourite yoga tools to relieve stress. Watch my teacher, Sadie Nardini, do the Lion's Breath with her cat! Also from Sadie, here is Yoga At Work (or anywhere). You can do the whole thing sitting on the edge of your chair if you don't want to work so hard! That's all for now. Remember when life gets tough, see the lesson, melt into your core, and live from the place of love, instead of fear. See where it takes you. Be well and at peace. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti Wendy October Newsletter 10/03/2011
Happy Sunny October to you, yogis. Hasn't the weather been absolutely gorgeous? Hope you have soaked up as much sun to last through the winter ahead. This is going to be a very short newsletter as I am blessed with so much work this month. So, just the news and less of the preaching!! SEPTEMBER WORKSHOP - Thank you all who joined me at the Transformation Workshop. Do let me know how you're getting on and whether you're finding it easier to conquer Self-Sabotage. Remember that "You are the MASTER of your habits, not the slave of your cravings". Enjoy your transformation. NEW CLASS - I am pleased to let you know that, in addition to my current classes, I will also be teaching every Tuesday evening, 8:15-9:30 (or 9:45 - to be confirmed shortly) at Escape. Please feel free to come along and join me. SWEATY BETTY GET-FIT-4-FREE - Please do check out Sweaty Betty's Get-Fit-4-Free Campaign and call them to book a place at this Wednesday's Vinyasa class, 6:30-7:30 p.m., at Sweaty Betty Nottingham boutique. It'll be fun and you can help me represent our studio and spread the word! If our session has the most number of participants, you will each get a £50 voucher to spend at the boutique. What a great way to get fit! DRIVING TEST - I'm doing my driving test on the 17th of this month. Please do send me some positive vibes. I'm currently learning to trust in my SELF, in my ability to be a safe driver. It's not easy but it's important. I'm also learning to forgive myself for mistakes too. Right now, hugging in is what I need. Hence, I'm not able to spend too much time giving out through this newsletter. I hope you can understand that. What do you do to hug in and give to yourself when needed? Giving to others is important but we must remember to give to ourselves too. If we don't learn to hug in and nurture ourselves, we'd end up with nothing to give out. So, this month, join me on the quest to love and nurture the self at the workshop on October 30th (details below) OCTOBER WORKSHOP: LOVING AND NURTURING OUR 'SELF" - Come and join me on October 30th, 9:30-12:30, at Escape. This will be very much about hugging in, conserving and redirecting our energy to where it is most needed, about releasing tension to encourage free-flowing of energy, and learning to nourish ourselves right down to the cellular level. To book a place, please contact me. FREE YOGA - Here are 2 fabulous videos by Sadie Nardini (who else?). The first one is all about hugging in your front lower spine to move from the psoas. The second one is a great one to do to chill out. Enjoy. Psoas Sun Salutation Cooling Yoga Poses for Chillaxing Have a beautiful October. Hope to see you in one of my classes (don't forget the new one on Tuesday), at Sweaty Betty Nottingham this Wednesday (October 6th, 6:30-7:30 p.m.) or at the workshop on October 30th. Be well and remember to love and nurture yourself. Om Shanti, Wendy September Newsletter 09/12/2011
Hello everyone. I hope you had a wonderful summer. I am so grateful that my summer was absolutely brilliant. It was a joy (most of the time) having my son with me. We managed to catch up with quite a few friends. We spent a week on holiday in Devon and a few other fabulous places nearby. I got older and celebrated the day with my lovely friends. I passed my driving theory test - yes, I did! We also did yoga in the park on September 3rd. Read on and find out what to look forward to this month, and see your free yoga at the bottom of the page. CLASSES: We are back on as normal so please do come along and get healthy while having lots of fun. WORKSHOP: 25TH SEPTEMBER, 9:30-12:30 @ ESCAPE: As usual, we will start with about an hour of Yin Yoga, which works on the deep connective tissues where we tend to hold old patterns and habits. We will then spend sometime warming up before enjoying some flow sequences. This month's focus will be on how yoga can transform your body (great for those who want to lose weight or tone up after summer indulgence!) and your whole life. Please contact me to book a place. ESCAPE ON FACEBOOK: Please do go and like Escape Yoga Studio, Matlock, to get news and updates about various classes and events at the studio. There is much more than yoga happening at our studio. Why not like the page and see what else is on offer that might grab your attention? Aikido, pole-dancing, circuit training - check them out. YOGA IN THE PARK: I had so much fun! Escape teachers were out in full force teaching yoga to each other, kids and adults in the park. We went to outer space and met aliens with Jane Collins during a Yoga Bugs session. We got personal with the earth, woke up our core, and moved gracefully through a few sequences with me in the Core Strength Vinyasa session. Sharon Price (Thursday, 5:30-7:00) guided us along on our path to discover our feet, ankles, legs and bums. TRANSFORMATION It was with the lovely Sharon, in the park, that I learned to face one of my fears - unsupported handstand! I love handstands with the wall behind me. My feet don't always touch the wall but the wall always makes me feel a lot safer. You see, I don't like falling over. I was scared to death of falling out of a handstand. I didn't want to hurt myself or my pride. Can you imagine being a yoga teacher and falling over in public? It doesn't get much more public than at Hall Leys Park on a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon! And fall over I certainly did. I thought I would just do a little hop. One leg up and the other leg bent, knee into the chest - handstand prep. After a couple of hops, I suddenly found myself free-falling, and there was nothing I could do about it. I was too shocked to even think about cart-wheeling out of it. The ground greeted me pretty quickly. I had a moment of total fear, then total amazement that I was not only alive, but, alive and kicking. It was exhilarating (ok, don't do this at home. The grass was soft and I am pretty flexible). It was the most empowering moment I've experienced in a long time. Passing my theory test with a score of 50 out of 50 was pretty good, but nothing like falling out of a handstand in front of loads of people. Why was it so good? Partly because I found out that my body could handle a drop into the backbend (before collapsing in a heap, gracefully-ish). I wasn't going to break in half. We all had a good laugh. Not very long ago I would never agree to do something that could make me look like "a fool" in public. I've had it drilled into me from a very young age that you don't do anything that would embarrass yourself or your family. You don't make yourself "lose face"! I've obviously changed. Yoga has made me realise that, if you are only willing to do what you can, then you won't get to do very much. Time changes, life changes, and if you are not going to learn some new tricks, you're going to get left behind. Whether you want to change or whether you have to change, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you rise up to the challenge. Here is a video interview of a woman whose husband lost his life at one of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. Have a look and be inspired by her ability to accept the changes in life and how she's gone on to help others through their transformation. Maybe right now you feel that you need to make a change in your life. Maybe life is changing for you even though you don't really want the change. Buddha taught that everything changes. We can accept the change and flow with life, or we can resist and lose out on the opportunity to grow. I know I'd rather experience the "growing pain" of transformation that to stay still and miss out on the chance to let the best me shine through. If you too would like to grow and transform into the best you ever, join me at the workshop on September 25th. Here are an article and some cool yoga videos to get you started on your transformation: - article on how Yoga can help you through change. - Double Down Breath with Sadie Nardini - Core Sun Salutation(if this is too strong, have a look at the video below for adaptation. Replace the Dog, Plank, Chaturanga, Up Dog section with cat-cow and use the transition in the video below to come into Lunge.) - Modified Transition to Lunge Practice the Core Sun Salutation at least 3 times a week and you'll definitely see a change in your core strength. Remember that if you're not ready for the full vinyasa like plank and chaturanga, just do the modified version. It's better to do the modified version well to build up strength in the right places than to do the full version when you're not ready as all you'll get is pain! Transformation takes effort and time, but with the right intention and the right action, you will reach your goal. Hope to see you at the workshop or in one of my classes. Om Shanti. August Newsletter 08/10/2011
Hello yogis. Hope you are enjoying summer. August started with a bit of sadness in my house - one of our dogs was put down. She was nearly 10 and that's pretty old for a Goldie. Of course, her being old didn't make it any easier to let her go. It was especially difficult having to explain to our six-year old that death is a part of life. A tough lesson but, as usual, our son somehow managed to end up being the teacher. He cried buckets loads, prayed for Phoebe, and then said he was keeping her in his heart, along with a few others including Michael Jackson! After that, he found something to play with, laughed a lot, and every now and then, came over for a cuddle and a bit more of a cry. That, yogis, I think just about sums up acceptance and letting go. Life is never meant to be all fun and laughter. How would we know what light is if there was no darkness? I take inspiration from him and all children alike. Face life's challenges head-on, feel what you must, cry if it helps, and then look around you to see all the joy that life still has to offer. I think it's a lot harder as a grown-up to find joy but it isn't impossible. The first step is gratitude. When life is hard (and when it's good), make a list (a mental one is fine) of all that you have to be grateful for. Try waking up and being thankful for at least one thing - the bed you slept in, the sunshine, the rain, whatever. I promise you that, before too long, your list will grow and will keep on growing. Maybe it's your yoga practice you are grateful for! Talking of yoga, here are some news for August and September, followed by a bit of information on gratitude and the solar plexus chakra, and yoga for the solar plexus chakra: CLASS NEWS: The following classes will not be on this month as I'm going to be on a little holiday (for which I am very grateful!): - Sun Power Yoga: Mondays, August 22nd and and 29th - Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga: Thursday, August 25th - Gentle Chair Yoga: Friday, August 26th AUGUST WORKSHOP: Please note that there will be no workshop this month. A big thank you to those of you who made it to the July workshop. I hope you enjoyed it. It was, as always, lovely to see you all and to work with you on keeping your shoulders, arms and wrists healthy and toned. SEPTEMBER WORKSHOP: Please give me a few more weeks to sort things out before I confirm the date. It is looking like it will be on September 25th. Please contact me if you'd like a place. I'd also appreciate any suggestions on a theme. 15% DISCOUNT ON ALL ITEMS ON YOGAMATTERS: Don't forget to go to my Links page and click on the Yogamatters banner on the 15th of each month to check on all yoga related items (books, dvds, cds, yoga mats and other accessories). Yogamatters are celebrating their 15th anniversary by offering 15% discount on the 15th of each month. FREE YOGA IN THE PARK: Here is another to add to your list of things to be grateful for, and it's Escape's way of showing you our gratitude! On Saturday, September 3, 2:00-4:00 p.m. Escape Yoga teachers will be leading a free yoga session at Hall Leys Park, Matlock. Come and find us near the bandstand. I will post update on my home page when I have more details. Do pencil it in to your calendar now please. GRATITUDE AND THE SOLAR PLEXUS CHAKRA: The solar plexus chakra, or Manipura, is our powerhouse. Just like the digestive organs located in this area, which receive and convert food into nutrient to nourish the body, the solar plexus chakra receives and radiates life force or Prana. Considering its location, below the breastbone where the diaphragm lives, it is no surprised that it is the main receiver of chi or energy. It is the home of our gut instinct. It is the centre of first impressions or gut instinct. Manipura is also known as the centre of willpower. When in balance, there is a sense of well-being, contentment, and there is no need to struggle for power by getting involved in arguments to prove a point. When out of balance, there is a lack of courage to stand up for oneself, no will to carry out and finish up projects, a sense of being victimised, anger or even rage, and a need to abuse or belittle others. The solar plexus centre is where our inner fire, Agni, resides. Physically, of course, this is where food is burned up to fuel the body. Agni burns the trash that we don't need - all the emotional rubbish and bad habits that don't serve our goals. To keep our Manipura chakra healthy and in balance, we need to keep our physical abdominal muscles toned and stretch them too (see below for Boat pose video). Toning up the abdominal muscles will help to keep our Agni burning, strengthening our willpower to do and be our best. Too much burning isn't healthy so we balance it out by cooling down some using the breath to free up any knots or tension (see below for instructions for 3-PART BREATH as taught by Leslie Kaminoff). Practising being grateful also helps to keep our solar plexus chakra in good health. Gratitude is the energy that feeds our solar plexus chakra. When life becomes difficult, count your blessings. When you face a challenge, thank the challenge for it is your teacher. It provides you with the opportunity to learn something new, and this learning leads to growth, more new opportunities. Be grateful for life's lessons. When you are grateful and open to new lessons, you gain the knowledge, strength, and skills to move to the next step, the step nearer to your destiny. Have a look at this interesting article for more details on the Power Chakra. Try the exercises below to help you cultivate the attitude of gratitude and tone your Manipura. 3-PART BREATH: When lying down or sitting, take the breath first into the chest and upper ribs, and allow it to flow down into the lower ribs, the waist, the lower belly, the pelvic bowl and finally to the pelvic floor. When you breathe out, let the breath flow up and out from the pelvic floor (think lift the pelvic floor muscles up), the pelvis and the lower belly (think lower belly in and up), the waist, lower ribs, and chest and upper ribs. This breathing technique will help to release tensions in your upper belly. Please note that this is probably not the best technique to use for strong poses or vinyasa flows where you need to keep your pelvic floor and lower belly engaged to protect your spine. Keep this breath for when your spine is already supported by the floor and also in seated poses. YOGA FOR MANIPURA CHAKRA: Have a look at Sadie Nardini's Boat Pose and Variations for instructions on how to perform Navasana or Boat pose and different variations and modifications. Watch it through as the video ends with how to stretch out your abdominal muscles after all the strengthening work in Boat. Keep the breath flowing into the chest and the upper back, maybe letting it flow down a little towards the lower ribs but not all the way down into the lower belly. You want to keep the pelvic floor, lower belly and lower back drawn in and up to protect the spine. Each time you breathe out, there is an opportunity to reconnect to your core so make sure that your out-breath moves from the pelvic floor on up. GRATITUDE MEDITATION: Here are two guided gratitude meditation links and a Solar Plexus meditation video too. The Deepak Chopra one is short, but brilliant, and you can carry on after he's done talking. Deepak Chopra: Gratitude meditation Debi Berndt: Ocean of Gratitude Astralshayde: Solar Plexus Meditation That's it for August. I'm still very busy learning to drive. It's going well and I'm grateful I haven't crashed my instructor's car! Will be sitting my theory test at the end of August so wish me luck. Do please let me know whether your life begins to transform for the better when you become more grateful for all that you have. "If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily." ~Gerald Good Enjoy your summer! July Newsletter 07/02/2011
Hello Yogis. I hope you are loving the sunshine and the occasional rain (saves us time watering the plants, eh?). Yes, I have finally started learning to drive and am loving it. What new things have you done lately that involve stepping out of your comfort zone? As one teacher said, while teaching the Crow pose, go "one inch past scary" and you might fly. That is my mantra for the present while I'm learning to drive. Scroll down to find out how learning to drive is like learning to do the Crow pose, cool facts and tips including how to heal from "Yoga Butt" syndrome (or any other kind of inflammatory), but before that, here're some news: JUNE WORKSHOP: Thank you to all of you who made it to the workshop. We had fun learning about our hips, and how to prevent instability in our SI joints and "Yoga Butt". Sarah, one of my first students ever, who is ultra-flexible and pretty strong too, said that she found the shorter and wider stance Warrior poses so much harder to do. I know! Tell me about it. Thanks for sharing Sarah. JULY WORKSHOP - July 24th, 9:30-12:30 @ ESCAPE, MATLOCK This month we will focus on the upper limbs. Please note that this is not an arm balance workshop so do not fear. For more details, see Workshops. Please contact me to book a place. The confirmed date and time is July 24th at 9:30-12:30. DRIVING AND CROW POSE Maybe you don't remember what it was like when you were learning to drive. Try doing an inversion like handstand, or crow or any inverted poses that you've never done before. It's terrifying to begin with but, after a few go's, it's not so bad. Take Crow pose - you start by coming into a squat and place your hands down with the elbows bent. Then for a while you just rock back and forth to get the feel for the balance. You don't just lift up and fly! It is scary, as any semi or full inversions are. Over time, however, you start to understand the physics of the pose. You find your connection to your breath and your core, and notice the lightness in your feet. You begin to rely on your inner teacher and your breath to guide you. You trust in your core strength to keep yourself safe. You start to flirt with the next level of the pose, maybe one foot off the ground. One day you find yourself rocking your Crow! Just like learning to drive, I think. In my first lesson, all I did really was turning the steering wheel to follow the road while very gently pressing the accelerator or less gently "squeezing" the brake pedal with my right foot and keeping my left foot rooted to the floor (yes, it's an automatic!). After an hour, I relaxed a bit, pressed down a little harder on the gas , and was able to stop the car without threatening to launch my instructor and myself out through the windscreen! A few more hours later, I've now gone through a few roundabouts and junctions, scary one lane roads, winding steep roads, and oh, Bakewell, where lots of people mindlessly step onto the road like they own it. I'm a long way from passing my test but the confidence is growing. I am beginning to think that it is not impossible after all. The feeling is a bit like when you rock forward in Crow pose and your feet start to lift a little. You arms feel strong and your breath is steady. You might still keep a blanket in front of you (my instructor has his foot permanently on the dual-control brake pedal) and you're not quite ready to take off, but you know it's coming! Step by step, breath by loving breath, awareness, skills, knowledge and confidence are built, and you get into the Crow, while off I go driving! Yoga has taught me to trust in my SELF. There is nothing we cannot do if we really want to do it. All we need is to make that first step outside of our comfort zone. Driving is definitely way out of my comfort zone, but I know I can do it, one day. The cool thing is that once I pass the test, that comfort zone is going to get bigger. What are you doing to expand your horizon? What can you do to challenge yourself, safely and creatively, in order to grow and enhance your life experience? Can you go "one inch past scary"? Of course, you can. Just do it, as Nike said! Come to the next workshop and let me help you connect to your core and find the courage as well as the openness to try something different. FREE YOGA See Leslie Kaminoff explaining 'Why "Drop your shoulder blades down" will never work'. For more on this, contact me to book a place at the next workshop. Watch Yoga Bakasana by Shana Meyerson to rock "one inch past scary" to your Crow pose. I will give you lots more tips on how to rock your Crow pose at this month's workshop too! INTERESTING YOGA FACTS/TIPS PART 2 - Your pelvis and legs developed from the same block of tissues. When you walk, let each half of your pelvis move with the leg rather than swinging just from the hip joint. - Your shoulder blades came from the same block of tissues as your arms. They are not a part of your ribcage! Allow them to move with your arms. - Our limbs develop in spirals (like our bones and the rest of nature). When we were embryos, as our limbs began to develop, our elbows and knees pointed outward. Then the arm began to rotate out, drawing the elbows down, while our legs spiraled in to bring the knees up. Follow these spirals when you move for optimal alignment and breath flow. - When going into a twist, don't yank your body into it with your arms or you'll only be loading T11-T12 of your thoracic spine. Find the breath and let it move you more deeply into the pose. - Our muscles and connective tissues in the back of our legs and back form a continuous line called the superficial back line. This starts from the soles of your feet and runs up the back of your legs (calves and thighs), over the buttocks, along the back, the back of the neck, the back of the head and round to the space between your eye brows. When doing a forward bend, keep the knees a little soft and gently round the back to stretch this entire superficial back line rather than just stretching the hamstrings. - Doing lots of seated "hip opening" poses or sitting for a long time can bring about instability in your SI joints and can cause the Yoga Butt syndrome, which mimics sciatica. The pain, caused by inflammation of the soft tissues, can start in the lower back, go down the buttock and the back of the leg, or with hamstring injury, it can also radiate upwards. - 4 steps to get rid of yoga butt: 1. Get off your "asana" (butt!); 2. Take anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen; 3. Do strengthening exercises (like short stance warrior poses), 4. Reintroduce gentle stretches, once the inflammation has subsided, with awareness on proper alignment and with appropriate counter-poses. That's all for now, folks! Hope you've found some of the information here useful. Please feel free to leave a comment. Hope to see you in class and at the workshop. Enjoy the warm days ahead. Om Shanti | AuthorWendy Snongjati - full-time mum and wife; part-time yoga teacher; a licensed driver! ArchivesMay 2012 Categories |
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