This Free Intro to Yoga Playshop will give you the information and confidence you need to start your own yoga practice, no matter what your age or fitness level.
We will start with a brief talk about the history of yoga and the different styles of yoga available. Then, you will be able to participate in a live demonstration of many popular yoga poses. No experience is necessary, and you do not have to be young, fit or flexible to join in. (In fact, you will learn what types of yoga to explore if you have physical limitations.) After the demonstration, there will be lots of time for Q&A. Plenty of personal attention will be given.
Cost: Donations are Accepted and Appreciated
Please:
* Wear comfortable clothes.
* Come equipped your own water.
* Bring a yoga mat if you have one (not required).
* Tell Friends, Family, Colleagues…
Monday, February 8, 7-9 pm
Location
The GATEWAY / a Portal for Growth & Wellness
11674 Gateway Blvd.
Suite C
West Los Angeles, CA 90064
310 – 479 – 0430
* Street Parking Only as with all group venues at The GATEWAY (ample immediate surrounding street parking). Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
As I start 2010 I find myself turning more and more to kundalini yoga in my home practice, with some hatha yoga as my warm-up. I do the hatha yoga to stretch and tone, and the kundalini yoga kicks it up a notch with the powerful breath and meditation techniques. Where kundalini yoga kicks hatha’s ass is in the arena of breathing.
In hatha yoga, pranayama is often divorced from the movement. You don’t do your alternate nostril breathing while doing down dog. Sure, you might coordinate your inhale and exhale with your hatha flow, but that’s not quite the same thing as doing a breath of fire that coincides with your movement as in kundalini yoga.
Hatha yoga definitely makes my body feel good, but there is a definite endorphin rush you get when doing a lot of breath of fire in kundalini yoga (er, well, I hope it’s endorphins and not lack of oxygen to my brain!). That breath of fire, when done in conjunction with movement, seems to relieve stress and frustration in a way that hatha does not. I simply feel mentally better after doing kundalini yoga in a way I do not when just doing hatha.
I like both disciplines, and feel that both have their strengths and weaknesses. I wouldn’t want to give up one for the other. But if you want to really relieve your mental stress, try a little bit of kundalini yoga every day. It’s fabulous.
I was looking for a video that explained breath of fire to email a client. The first one I found was long-winded and a bit tedious to get through…just get to the instruction! So I was happy to find this clip on YouTube…she teaches you breath of fire in a very simple manner, in one minute:
Gurmukh explains how to do the Kriya of Liberation meditation from kundalini yoga:
Note: I’ve been getting a lot of comments on my arms lately…about how in shape they are. I do believe it’s from doing all those kundalini yoga kriyas and meditations that involve holding or moving the arms for various lengths of time. So try it and stick with it!
I had a terrific experience when I took Liz Franklin’s Yoga in Chairs training. Liz is one of the nicest, most genuine, and thorough teachers you’ll ever find. Chair yoga is a fantastic addition to your yoga teaching arsenal – it means you can help seniors and people with physical limitations (including those in wheelchairs). It’s also another form of gentle yoga that has additional applications, such as stress reduction in the workplace. So if you are a yoga teacher looking to expand your offerings to include adaptive yoga, check out Liz Franklin’s Yoga in Chair training. Thus ends this Public Service Announcement to the yoga community.
I have a little yoga peeve I’d like to share. There’s a woman who teaches classes at a gym I teach at, and whenever she sends out an email to the other yoga teachers, she often signs it with hugs and kisses, i.e.:
xox
And maybe a smiley face. Sometimes, if she’s in a hurry, it will just be a double or even a single x:
x
I feel like I have warped back into high school, and if she were writing the note by hand, every “i” would be dotted with a heart on top.
I’m wondering if she’s just really young (I have yet to meet her in person). But maybe coming from a more business-y background, I feel such communication is a bit too intimate as well as immature. As a feminist, I also feel that it infantalizes women when we communicate like that professionally. It makes us appear to be someone who should not be taken seriously.
Now, this is “just” yoga, but I feel that acting professionally and maturely should be something we strive for to a certain extent, and that includes communicating to our work peers regarding covering yoga classes. We’ve got enough sleazy videos on YouTube now of “models” doing yoga in skimpy clothing…to me, yoga is something that should be treated with a small amount of respesct.
Or do I have a bug up my you-know-what? Thoughts and feedback are appreciated.
I am happy to announce I am starting new public yoga classes on LA’s westside at the Gateway Portal for Health and Welness. These are all levels classes with a spiritual focus – one is an hour-long class where we focus on our intentions for the upcoming week. The other is a hatha yoga class with meditation. FIRST CLASS IS FREE!
Use as a seat liner for the back seat in the car while taking your dog to the vet or groomer.
Place under an area rug for no-slip gripping.
Drop off your old mat at an animal rescue group. Most of these places need soft, durable mats, rugs, towels, & blankets to line crates.
Use an old mat in the garage or shop to keep from slipping on the workbench while using power tools on them.
Line kitchen shelves to prevent glasses from slipping and scratching.
Cut the mat into squares and use them as “bases” while playing baseball with the kids. Easy to carry and easy to clean!
Use to kneel on in the garden to protect your knees!
Use as kitchen drawer liners.
Cut it up to make a mouse pad.
Use it on the beach instead of a towel.
Use as grip pads to open jars.
Cut to size and use as foot pads for the bottom of furniture that is on a wood or ceramic floor. Glue on pieces with a non-toxic adhesive.
Place it under your sleeping bag as a sleeping pad while camping.
Make covers for sharp corners like in a parking garage or school.
No more messy packing peanuts! Old yoga mats get a new life as a protector of valuables while moving or shipping.
Make children’s toys: cut holes and create masks, hats, costumes and props; cut into shapes and letters for tub and pool toys.
Cut and put down in front of the kitty litter box to stop the litter.
Plug up drafty places, windows, doors, & under window air conditioners, and save energy!
Great for those hard bleachers when watching sporting events.
Makes a great liner under house plants, you can even cut it to fit each plant!
Donate to nursing homes so that residents do not slip while getting in and out of bed.
Place between your surfboard & car to protect both from abrasion.
Lay it over the dashboard and steering wheel to keep the sun out!
Keep in the car for those spur of the moment picnics, keeping groceries from sliding around in the trunk, or for a myriad of other uses limited only to your imagination!
My number one problem area is my tight hamstrings. My number two problem area is my tight shoulders. Years of doing web design, plus a natural tendency to round my shoulders, has resulted in a lot of tension being held up there. Les Leventhal has put up a nice 30-minute free yoga video working on the shoulders. Hurrah! I need more videos like this one! You can watch it here:
This is a good class for physically fit people who want to work on strengthening the upper body while opening up the chest and shoulder area. The beginning portion is a bit strenuous, particularly for the upper body and core. If you are a beginner, I’d recommend coming to your knees in dolphin plank.
P.S. I love half-hour online yoga classes like these. You can get a decent workout at home without having to invest two or more hours of your time (as when you go to a live yoga class).
