September Announcements

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The Shift to September

Did you know September is National Yoga Month? I didn’t either until yesterday. But National Yoga Month is coming at a good time. People’s schedules are changing. Many of us may be excited to start moving in new directions and put energy into new projects. While these are all good things, it’s natural to also feel a little overwhelmed and unsure about how everything will turn out. These are the times when it’s more important than ever to stick with your regular yoga practice.

Try 2 new classes this month or commit to attending the same class for 4 weeks in a row. These are good ways to start settling yourself into a routine you’d like to continue until the year’s end.

Stand Up Paddle Board Yoga

We have added two Saturdays: September 9 and September 17 @ 10:30 a.m. Call Clearwater Sports to register. We will also continue Wednesdays, weather permitting.

Outdoor Yoga

All outdoor classes have ended for the year. But the weather is still beautiful. Get out there and salute the sun in your backyard while you have the chance!

Master Yoga Schedule

The master schedule will be updated at the end of September. Please let me know if you see any mistakes. I make this to the best of my ability based on the information I have. If there are types of classes you’d like but don’t see on the schedule, comment below or email me.

 

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Good morning, sun.

Family Yoga–Fun for Parents & Kids

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Family Yoga

July’s Family Yoga class at IndyYoga was for parents and children, so that parents could learn some simple songs, games, and postures for practicing yoga at home with their kids. I promised parents that I’d post some pictures and some reminders about how to take it all home with you. So here it is!

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Keep It Playful

Sing, dance, laugh, fall over, have fun, move like no one’s watching you, put your whole heart and soul into. The more energy you put in, the more your kids will be enthused to practice with you. In your yoga pose, you can become an animal, a plant, an object…anything really!

Keep It Consistent

Kids thrive with routine. Begin with the same signal each time, maybe a chime, maybe by taking out a yoga book, or maybe sitting on some fun pillows and saying OM together. I suggest doing a few postures consistently for a few days so your children can feel like they really know it. That’s when your children will be able to whip out a warrior or settle into butterfly pose on their own and say, “Look, Mommy/Daddy! I’m a butterfly!”

Keep It Spontaneous

Sometimes, though, you just have to let the routine go and be spontaneous. If you are taking a walk and something you see reminds you or your child of a yoga pose, bust it out! If you thought maybe you’d do some partner poses today, but your children seem like they really want to be independent with their bodies, go with the flow and do something else.

Keep It Balanced

Just like with everything else, kids do best with balance. Try some really energetic poses (buzzing around like a bee, stomping your elephant feet and waving your elephant truck), then follow them with calming, relaxing poses (child’s pose, relaxation).

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Yoga at Home: YouTube Yoga

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Practicing at Home

Sometimes you just can’t make it to class. Or you find that the only time in your day to do some yoga is…nine o’clock at night. Practicing alone requires tremendous discipline. To do a self-guided home practice longer than 30 minutes or so is also very difficult.

I know.

There’s no shame in YouTube yoga. If you have attended enough classes to know some of the basic poses, I think practicing with YouTube videos can be great. With an instructor’s voice in your head, it is so much easier to tune out distractions that can quickly pop up in your home (like spotting dirty dishes in the sink or a sock on the floor that needs to get picked up and put in the laundry basket).

(Note: For true beginners I do NOT recommend practicing without an instructor.)

Here I am sharing some of my favorites that I have done again and again. In general, these are best for intermediate to advanced yogis, although the Prenatal Yoga video could be done by any pregnant woman who exercises regularly and has received permission from her doctor/midwife to practice yoga.

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One some days, me making it to a yoga class looks like this.

My YouTube Favorites

Kundalini Prenatal Yoga with Sarah Kamrath

This hour-long practice was my absolute favorite during pregnancy. It felt so amazing on my back, hips, and shoulders, especially in the third trimester. But the breathing practices, healing music, and Sarah’s soothing voice as she leads you through spiraling motions for the spine and other flowing stretches will help keep your mind and body in happy, healthy mama-zone at any stage of pregnancy. I even did this video when I began returning to longer yoga practices about 8 weeks postpartum. To be honest, I might even do it again now.

Power Yoga with Bryan Kest

If you have about 50-60 minutes and want to clear your head and return to your body, I recommend these videos with Bryan Kest. He is the teacher my first yoga teacher studied with, so this class reminds me a lot of the classes I took when I became hooked on yoga. There are 3 videos, Power Yoga 1, 2, and 3, all available on YouTube. Try them all! (Also, a young Seane Corn is practicing in these videos, if you’re into yoga celebrity spottings.) “Power yoga” does not mean you will be doing jump squats or burpees. It does mean that you will be engaging deep core muscles and connecting to your true seat of power. Also, these videos are from the ’90s, so keep an open mind about the hair, music, and leotards. Yes, leotards.

Surya Shakti with Shiva Rea

This is a live recording from Wanderlust and is an 80-minute class called “Surya Shakti: Morning Meditation and Prana Flow.” If you have the time, this will seriously supercharge your day! It includes meditation, chanting, and lots of sun salutations.

Advanced Sivananda Class

This is really only for advanced practitioners. There are no guiding visuals and this “video” is really just an audio recording of an advanced Sivananda class given in 2006. But, if you have been practicing regularly with me for a few years and consider yourself a dedicated yogi, you will likely be familiar enough with the practices that you could do most of them. This is like a birthday, holiday, and self-celebration gift to yourself. Two hours and twenty-five minutes long, this class will clear your energy pathways, remove blocks and tension from your muscles, and return you to your blissful, clear-headed true self. (Or this class will at least help you move in that direction…I hope.)

 

How Did You Celebrate World Yoga Day?

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The United Nations declared June 21, 2015, the first International Day of Yoga, or World Yoga Day, in recognition of “the important role healthy living plays in the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals,” which were adopted last year by the UN Member States.

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On Tuesday, June 21, 2016, people all around the world practiced yoga in special ways to celebrate this. If you haven’t seen the Huffington Post’s collection of beautiful group yoga photos, check it out and smile.

I lead four classes on Tuesday. Two were free special events in honor of World Yoga Day. I was so please that lots of new faces showed up to my two classes at Sugarbush. Maybe we should have more yoga holidays! We held class outside by the pool and were able to salute the sun in full and bake our bones in its warmth during savasana.

Kids yoga was also outdoors on World Yoga Day. We OMed long and deep, one breath for each sound A-U-M (kids love this) and made a 9-body snake in honor of the spread of yoga (followed by an extra-long hiss of course).

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By the end of the day, I was a tanned crisp and ready to be inside for class at the Bridges with my loyal Tuesday night group.

That night before I went to bed, I thought about how diverse the group of students I taught had been. Some were practicing for the first time, others were just renewing a practice put on hold for years due to various reasons. And 3-year-olds were chanting OM, something I hadn’t even heard about until I was a teenager!

The word “yoga” means “union” and usually this refers to body and mind, or also individual self and universal consciousness. But I think yoga has the power to unite communities. In just one day the practice brought employees together to release stress in a healthy way, reunited poolside summer friendships, and gathered kids around a shared goal of working together with their bodies and voices. I’m in awe.

Tell me how you celebrated!

 

Wanderlust Stratton 2016

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Instead of writing a recap, I’m just going to tell you why you should sign up for Wanderlust 2017 the day it’s announced, even if you have no idea what you’ll be doing in June 2017 or where you’ll be in your life:

You’re worth it. 

You’ll then know exactly what you’ll be doing in June 2017. Done! One less thing to worry about.

Wherever you are and no matter what’s going on in your life, you’ll benefit from a weekend devoted to turning inward, while remembering that our journeys, as deeply personal and isolated as they seem sometimes, still are and always will be about connections.

To practice yoga mat to mat with people who (most likely) share similar values about the self, body, mind, and what it means to live truthfully and mindfully. It’s powerful.

To do breath of fire in a room of over 100 people and then chanting in the energetic space that you created together. (In my opinion, this should be on everyone’s bucket list. Especially if it’s far beyond your comfort zone.)

To be reminded again and again and again that you are love. You. Are. Love.

Inspirational teachers who provide the most appropriate spiritual guidance for your life at the moment (how do they do it?) and possess the magical ability to lead you into physical asanas you had not known you were capable of. (No real magic involved, I know, but if you practice in the right mindset, some seemingly impossible postures naturally appear. We often need a wise teacher to guide us into these moments of breath-body-mind union.)

In the meantime, find your local yoga community. Go take a class! 

Wednesday Inspiration for Your Yoga Life: Swami Vishnudevananda’s Asanas

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Uplifting Video of Swami Vishnudevananda

Before YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter…people photographed and filmed amazing yogis doing their asanas. Not to show off. Not to boast. Simply to spread and share the practices. To uplift.

I love this video because it shows both the serious and playful side of asana practice, and can potentially debunk some preconceptions about swamis and spiritual devotees. See, it’s okay to practice your headstand on a fence rail with a silly grin!

“My mission in life is to as much as possible raise the vibratory level of the world by positive suggestions and a positive way of life.” Swami Vishnudevananda

Wanderlust Vermont 2016

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Wanderlust at Stratton, Vermont

June 16–19, 2016

This year I am going for a total Wanderlust experience—camping 3 nights and doing 3 full days of yoga, speakeasys, and music. If you will be there and want to link up, let me know!

My schedule this year includes SUP yoga (of course), aerial yoga (for the first time—yay!), Gabrielle Bernstein, Seane Corn, Amanda Giacomini and MC Yogi, kirtan, and self-massage bodywork (as my last session before heading back in the car…).

 

Wanderlust

 

*Note: The only class I will miss in my regular schedule is Sunday 9:30 a.m. (6/19) at the Sugarbush Health & Recreation Center.