Yoga Mending Hearts

Yoga can help people who are working through the pain of a broken heart.  Whether the loss is a loved one, a relationship, a job aspiration, or any other thing that can cause pain.  Heart ache and break gives the body a lot of energy and stress to deal with- what better way then to incorporate yoga.  Asana that are great at mending the heart are heart-openers where the heart is up the the heavens and the shoulders are back.  Sometimes it is too much for a newly broken heart to jump right into this kind of asana.  If this is the case back bends are also great heart openers that do not place to much vulnerability on the heart alone.  Create positive mantra for yourself when you are feeling pain.  One I like is "This is the feeling of my heart healing."  Forward bends are great for calming and looking into the self.  One of the most important and healing aspects of yoga is the breath- so don't forget to breathe!!!
"Taking a step on the journey towards self-realization is incredibly empowering.  The gifts we get as a result of heartbreak are far greater than the love that was lost.  It is truly a time of reclaiming the greatest union of your life.  Therefore, incorporating yoga will bring more consciousness to this process- if you allow it." - Mandy Ingber
Light & Love

Yoga Food Drive

I will be teaching classes starting Thursday by food donation for a Yoga Food Drive at Inner Calm Health and Wellness in Spring lake.  

When: October 20th - November 17th
Where: Inner Calm Health and Wellness in Spring Lake

To Benefit The FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties www.foodbankmoc.org
Please Bring only Nonperishable:
Ready-to-eat canned meals
Canned Meat
Canned Tuna
Canned Fruits
Canned Vegetables
Instant Potatoes
Canned and Dry Soup
Peanut Butter
Jelly
Canned Pork and Beans
Canned Juices
Sip-size Juices
Hot and Cold Cereal
Nonperishable milk
Holiday Treats

**please no glass items**

Gifts for the Yogi in Your Life

While starting my christmas shopping early, I thought of a great idea for a blog- an ultimate yogi wishlist.  If you are not a yoga practitioner or are not familiar with many yoga products this could be a difficult task and you may not know where to start.  Here are a few fun ideas for the yogi of your eye.  Whether it is a christmas, birthday, or just because present these will all make a great and thoughtful gift.

10. Yoga Books: Meditations from the Mat, Nourishing the Teacher, Bringing Yoga to Life are all great reads a yogi of all levels will love  
9. Yoga Mix ((check out my Yoga Music log for some you can burn and make a mixtape of))
8. Yoga Mat Bag: for their mat and props
7. New Yoga Gear (or a gift card if your not sure about sizes)
6. Yoga Jewelry: lotus, Om, Ganesh, chakras, gorgeous stones- they will love them all!!
5. Yoga Towel for Hot Yoga : Yogi Toes makes a great skidless towel (also great for beach yoga)
4. Classes to Their Favorite Yoga Studio
3. A Donation to a Cause of Their Choice
2. New Mat : Jade, Manduka, and LuluLemon all make wonderful mats
1. Yoga Retreat : Whether a weekend at Kripalu, or a week in Costa Rica, yoga retreats can be found all over and are a great way for your yogi to relax and divulge in a little svadhyaya (self-reflection).  This can also be a nice bonding time if you go together.

Your yogi will be so impressed by your thoughtfulness and interest in something they love- happy shopping!!

YogaWoman

Tonight was a truly moving night for me; I was lucky enough to catch a screening of the film/documentary YogaWoman at Inner-Calm studio in Spring Lake, NJ.  Maria (studio owner/teacher) put together the screening to raise money for a local women's charity after being inspired by her beautiful (from the inside out) teenage students who would come to to her class with feelings of insecurities- not knowing how truly wonderful and stunning they were.  The room was filled with yoga students, teachers, and other women who were all empowered by the film which talks about the origins of yoga and how yoga was originally taken away from women in India and only practiced by men.  YogaWoman continues by bringing to light all the ways that woman have taken the yoga world by storm and brought it into the lives of so many.  Inspiring female yogis including Sharon Gannon, Seane Corn, Patricial Walden, Shiva Rea and more were in the film. Other inspiring females in the documentary included women battling and surviving cancer, HIV positive, incarcerated, and pregnant women who were incorporating yoga in their everyday life and allowing the healing to change their lives and the lives of others.  I recommend every yoga woman to see this film, it was so inspiring- I could not wait to get home and practice some yoga before bed.
Light&Love

Click to watch the trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QlYfO1R83A8#!

More info on YogaWoman www.yogawoman.tv
More info about Inner- Calm www.inner-calm.com

3pm Pick Me Up

After an early morning, or a long afternoon it's normal to feel as though you need a cup of coffee to get you through the rest of your day and night.  Ditch the latte and instead try some yoga asana for energizing the body.  These asana can be done even if there is only a 5-10 minute break.  These non-strenuous back bends also have the ability to lift your mood.

Suggested Asana : Sphinx, Cobra, Fish

Hot Yoga Class

This morning I took my first Bikram yoga class and it was wonderful!!  I left feeling detoxified and lively.  The class was called Hot 26 and was very appropriately named.  The room is heated to 105F and the sequence is 26 asana  selected and developed by Bikram Choudhury.  The Hot 26 class that I took part in started off with an inspirational reading from the instructor and began and ended with two different breathing exercises.  I was sweating within the first five minutes, dripping after 15, and drenched within a half hour.  I am normally not someone who would do well in heat and was a little nervous to try the class because of it, to my surprise the heat was not overwhelming and the sweating didn't bother me.  The class I took was 90 minutes, and it is recommended that you attend on an empty stomach (try not to eat within 3 hours of class) and be fully hydrated.  You will need a towel for your yoga mat, and also a wash cloth will help in some asana where you will be holding onto your feet, legs, or parts of your body.  Clothing that people had on in class were sports tops, sports bras, tank tops, spandex yoga shorts, or yoga capris, the men had on bathing suit shorts or gym shorts and a tank top.  Yoga long pants and a shirt with sleeves may be uncomfortable for these hot classes.  Other things to bring with you are lots of water, a change of clothes for after class, and of course your mat.  Some of the asana or alignments in this style of yoga may be different then other styles of yoga you are used to, but don't get discouraged or frustrated- it is the diversity in yoga that has made it into the large and beautiful community it is today.  There will always be a yoga class for someone to enjoy whether it is a guided meditation, in a room set to 105F, or at a gym.  I hope this post helps anyone who is curious about hot yoga and encourages you to try it.  Jersey Shore Hot Yoga has a $25 unlimited week for new students and you can try out all different classes by them (it will pay for itself by the second class!).
Light & Love

Looking for some new yoga music???

When first venturing into teaching yoga classes one of the many things that was new for me was the music.  It seemed as if everyone but me had heard of Krishna Das, Stephen Halpern, Soulfood, and MC Yogi.  Without the help of my friend Nadja and the large quantity of CDs she burned for me I am sure I would still not know many of them.
While doing some research on yoga music I stumbled across a DJ known as DJ HyFi (Ian Hyman).  DJ HyFi is a DJ for Yoga Anonymous (yogaanonymous.org) and he incorporates his love for music with his love for yoga.  He travels all over to studios and festivals to share his gifts of music and yoga with others.
Music and sounds can be very powerful healing tools, whether incorporated into yoga or listened to alone.  They are found throughout different cultures and used along side medicine and other healing practices throughout history.  Nada Yoga is a Yoga of sound and different music and sound vibrations are used in the practice to balance the inner energy or essence of the body.  I have also personally attended meditations where the Chakra or crystal bowls are played to bring harmony and healing to body.
Besides all the healing aspects, sometimes it is just great to have new music to take you to your positive and uplifting place while practicing.  Six of DJ HyFi's 1 hour etracks can be found at the link below and are free to download.  The mixes include yoga artists along with other popular artists you love.  Some of the classes are excellent for an early morning practice when you first wake up and are getting your energy going and some are more relaxing then others (awesome for a gentle class).  Whichever one you choose-they all flow beautifully.  I do recommend that if you are a teacher and thinking of using a mix in your class to just make sure you listen to the whole track first (as depending on the mix) because some of them do include rap- which may not be what your looking for in a 50+ class...but could be just a thing for a teen practice!!

I hope you enjoy, I personally love the latest Summer 2011 and Tribal Electricity track.
http://yoganonymous.org/yoganonymix/

Light & Love