Archive for Workshops
Do You Know Your Heart?
This weekend, Plamen Karagyozov will be facilitating a three-hour workshop featuring the heart salutations at Yoga Matrika, an intimate space for yoga, meditation and healing in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh. Acquaint Your Heart will be held from 1:00 to 4:00pm on Saturday, October 1, 2011 at Yoga Matrika.
If you were asked to describe your heart’s desire, most likely, you would immediately formulate a cerebral response that would be conditioned by culture, religion, traditions, expectations and other aspects of your unique human experience. In reality, the heart is the very first organ of intelligence that you formed in your embryonic state. We can learn how to consult the heart, listen to the heart and act on the heart through yoga and movement practices that draw upon our embodied intelligence to gain access to this important source of information.
The Heart Salutations that Plamen will offer in the workshop are a twelve step sequence flow (vinyasa) of energetic seals of the whole body(mudras) and asana that are accompanied by the breath (pranayama). At first, the body is warmed up and prepared for comfortable and effortless movement. Then the sequence is taught in sections with highlights on important details and gradually the entire salutation is practiced, featuring the various aspects of the heart and the circulatory system.Once the Heart Salutation is learned, with each pass through it, we layer in additional material, like Om, Yin-Yang and Tantra, transforming them from an intellectual concept to very palpable and practical aid in practice.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that, in 2006, 631,636 people in the United States died of heart disease. This represents over 26% of deaths that year. In 2010, they predicted that heart disease would cost the United States $316.4 billion. This total includes the cost of health care services, medications, and lost productivity. There is most definitely a cost of life, quality of life and time with those we love when we ignore the intelligence of the heart.
In the Tantric view, we can use our bodies as a tool for liberation in this lifetime. Invest in learning the heart salutations and practice them. Learn how to relieve your cerebral perspective and listen to your heart. Feel your heart’s desire and include this important form of intelligence in how you move through the world.
This post was written by Sharon Rudyk, Owner and Director of Programs at Yoga Matrika and Matrika Prenatal. She hopes you will visit her soon and often at The Mat, an intimate space for yoga, meditation and healing in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, PA, 15217.
Why Restore?
This Sunday (October 2, 2011), Lisa Clark is going to be offering a Restorative Yoga workshop at Yoga Matrika, a most cozy and intimate community-based yoga studio in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh. The workshop is just two-hours long, but the effects will last a lifetime.
You might wonder what the benefits of restorative yoga are, especially if you are healthy, injury free, athletic and tend to prefer active yoga practices with an emphasis on physical challenges. Or, you might know that you desperately need a restorative practice, but can’t seem to justify the investment of time or money. Maybe you aren’t even sure what restorative yoga is, but anything that might give you some peace and quiet for two hours just can’t be a bad thing………..
So, for the curious, here are some of the unique benefits of restorative yoga practices:
- Activate your parasympathetic nervous system to fight illness and support optimum fertility, hormone balance, immune system and clarity of mind.
- Lowers blood pressure. Yes, even the Food and Drug Administration suggests that restorative yoga is highly effective non-drug therapy for hypertension.
- Helps relieve chronic tension that can cause pain such as headaches and digestive disorders such as Irritable Bowl Syndrome.
- Active relaxation improves mood and supports creativity and action sourced from intuition and grace.
- Lower cholesterol and improve circulation
- Better resistance to injury
- Improve range of motion
- Remove toxins from the body and support optimum health for liver, kidneys and endocrine system
- Relieve sciatica and low back pain
- Supports high quality sleep and can help relieve insomnia
The reality is that, for an amount of financial investment equal to a doctor visit co-pay, you can receive these significant benefits. Of course, a regular yoga practice over time is your best investment for optimum health, but you will be amazed at how fabulous you feel after just one restorative yoga session. If you would like to support your health with regular restorative yoga practices, April Lechwar teaches a one hour and fifteen minute restorative yoga class every Sunday evening from 5:45 to 7:00pm.
Here are some excerpts from Judith Lasater’s seminal book, Relax and Renew: Relaxing Yoga for Stressful Times:
Stress Can Make you Sick
Stress begins with a physiological response to what your body-mind perceives as life-threatening.…For modern-day humans, this may be living with the fear of losing a job in a sagging economy, or the health crisis of a family member.
Whatever the stressor, the mind alerts the body that danger is present. In response, the adrenal glands, located above the kidneys, secrete catecholamine hormones. These adrenaline and noradrenalin hormones act upon the autonomic nervous system, as the body prepares for fight or flight. Heart rate, blood pressure, mental alertness, and muscle tension are increased. The adrenal hormones cause metabolic changes that make energy stores available to each cell and the body begins to sweat. The body also shuts down systems that are not a priority in the immediacy of the moment, including digestion, elimination, growth, repair, and reproduction.
To his detriment, modern man is often unable to resolve his stress so directly, and lives chronically stressed as a result. Still responding to the fight or flight response, the adrenals continue to pump stress hormones. The body does not benefit from nutrition because the digestion and elimination systems are slowed down. Even sleep is disturbed by this agitated state.
In a chronically stressed state, quality of life, and perhaps life itself, is at risk. The body’s capacity to heal itself is compromised, either inhibiting recovery from an existing illness or injury, or creating a new one, including high blood pressure, ulcers, back pain, immune dysfunction, reproductive problems, and depression. These conditions add stress of their own and the cycle continues.
Restorative Yoga for Health & Well Being
By supporting the body with props, we alternately stimulate and relax the body to move toward balance. Some poses have an overall benefit. Others target an individual part, such as the lungs or heart. All create specific physiological responses which are beneficial to health and can reduce the effects of stress-related disease.
In general, restorative poses are for those times when you feel weak, fatigued, or stressed from your daily activities. They are especially beneficial for the times before, during, and after major life events: death of a loved one, change of job or residence, marriage, divorce, major holidays, and vacations. In addition, you can practice the poses when ill, or recovering from illness or injury.
This post was written by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, the owner and director of programs for Yoga Matrika and Matrika Prenatal. She hopes to see you soon and often at The Mat in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Spring Preparation #7: Run and Run Safely
Anyone who knows me understands that I personally only run when chased. Or, perhaps, if there is a shout-out for free beer and pizza. Even then, it would have to be really good beer. But, I support all of my yoga students and the yogis “out there” who do run joyfully just for the sake of running and wanted to share information about this fabulous workshop for runners being offered in Pittsburgh on the first day of spring! One of the facilitators, Linda Meacci, is both a fabulous yogini and instructor and has always been supportive of Yoga Matrika. It is my delight to promote her work to share this essential practice and tools for running as safely as possible.
Spring Preparation #6: Make a Commitment
The kind of commitment that I’m talking about is also sometimes referred to as “put your money where your mouth is.” You know that you want to make a commitment to developing your yoga practice, your meditation practice or both. Maybe you’ve been meaning to try yoga for a while. Perhaps, after the 15th article you’ve read this month about the benefits of meditation you feel almost obligated to give it a try. Maybe you’ve let your mat get dusty this winter or it might even be frozen in your trunk?
Whether you’ve never done yoga or meditated before or you’ve been a yogi at heart for forever, this season of renewal reminds us of the value of commitment. Registering for an 8-week small group series with Sharon for this spring is an excellent way to ease yourself back on your mat or cushion or find out what all the buzz is about for yourself for the very first time.
Here are just some of the benefits to committing to a private small-group class over dropping-in on large studio classes:
- You have the opportunity to develop a relationship with your teacher and your fellow students. You know that this small group will notice your absence and you will miss seeing them too and these relationships help you get to class when you aren’t quite feeling up to it.
- You write the dates and times on your calendar and then you make it happen. If you have to arrange a babysitter, then you do it. If you have to figure out what bus you are going to take, you find that schedule. When it is on your calendar, then you do it. Making a class a habit is an excellent way to make sure that you actually attend.
- In a small group you get the attention and support you need to learn new skills. With an 8-week series, the material can be presented in a consecutive way. The instructor can get to know you and your special abilities and is prepared to modify your practice just for you. No more hiding in the back of the room just hoping you don’t hurt yourself!
- Let’s be honest. You spent the money and now you are going to show up.
- When you make a commitment, a whole new realm of opportunities will open up for you. Whenever you make a commitment, it means saying “no” to other things or people. But, it also means that a completely new set of possibilities will be revealed to you.
Stop talking about doing yoga or learning how to meditate and SIGN-UP. See you in April!
This post was written by Sharon Rudyk, an independent yoga and meditation instructor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Read more about Sharon on her website.
Optimize Fertility with Yoga
Read about yoga, stress and fertility here.
Read about classes in meditation and yoga to support optimum fertility here.
Yoga Benefits that Optimize Fertility and Reproductive Health
- stress relief
- hormone balance
- endocrine system support
- increased circulation to reproductive organs
- enhanced quality of sleep
- decreased anxiety and fear
Yoga is a magnificent form of preparation for all creative activities and having a regular yoga practice is a beautiful way to support optimum fertility and reproductive health for men and women. Rather than think of yoga as one more thing you can do to help get pregnant or as an addition to any treatment you may be receiving for an “infertility” diagnosis, we believe that yoga should be something that you do for yourself. Enjoy!
Our classroom environment is kept to a comfortable temperature and we offer non-competitive classes that are ideal for women and men that are actively trying to conceive. All yoga and meditation classes on the schedule are excellent for supporting reproductive health.
Yoga for Optimum Fertility Series
Four-Week Series on Thursdays from 6:00 to 7:30pm ($80)
April 7 through May 5
Check here for description, location and detailed registration information.
Yoga for Seniors
Yoga Matrika will be offering a new 6-week series of yoga classes for seniors in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh. The series will cost $45 for credit card payments and $40 for payments by check. The classes are on Monday afternoons from 1:30 to 2:30pm. The next series starts on Monday, November 8 and will run through Monday, December 13th. There are many benefits for starting a yoga practice and we will:
- Decrease back, neck and shoulder pain
- Relieve stress
- Learn balance skills to prevent falls
- Ease joint discomfort from arthritis
- Improve quality of sleep
- Increase strength and flexibility in the body
- Improve heart health
No experience is required and everyone is welcome.
To pre-register by mail, please mail (or hand deliver if you are in the neighborhood!) a check for $40 made out to YOGA MATRIKA to: 6520 Wilkins Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. Registration is also available online through the Yoga Matrika website. You can call Sharon with questions (412) 855-5692.
Zen Sitting Group of Pittsburgh
Hogen Green has recently posted the new sitting schedule for the ZSGP. Everyone is invited to sit with this group that meets by donation at Yoga Matrika in the Peace Room on some Sunday mornings and Tuesday evenings. The Zen Sitting Group of Pittsburgh has been very generous to Yoga Matrika and it is their beautiful Buddha that creates a sanctuary out of the Peace Room. If you are interested in Zen, I encourage you to contact Hogen directly. He provides orientations for those in the community who are new to Zen if you let him know ahead of the meeting that you are coming and require this introduction.
Here is the focus for the next group of sittings as communicated by Hogen in his most recent e-mail to the group:
Sentient beings are numberless, I vow to save them
Desires are inexhaustable, I vow to put an end to them.
The Dharmas are boundless, I vow to master them,
The buddha way is unattainable, I vow to attain it.
We chant these vows 3 times.
This is not a casual chant we do. Taking a vow, these vows, sitting after sitting is transformative. Can be transformative if we begin to make a connection between how we live in response to the challenge of our life, and what these vows are poinying at. Transformation is the point of Zen practice. But transforming what, from what to what? And how does this happen? How does our life actually change in a way that helps our self and others?
Over the next several months, I’ll be giving a series of monthly talks on the path of the Bodhisattva. We will look at that path from the perspective of Vow, from that of the Prajna Paramita Sutra- the Heart Sutra as well as from the perspectives of what the great teachers of our tradition have offered. I invite you to make a special effort to attend both the scheduled talks and the sittings so that the words of the talks and the experience of investigating the Bodhisattva path can be given life: your life. I would encourage you to deeply question what is said in these talks and if it is helpful, to bring these questions up for exploration.
Tuesday evening May 25th 6:30 zazen
Sunday morning May 30th 9:30 AM, zazen, liturgy and senior’s talk
Tuesday evening June 8th, 6:30PM zazen
Sunday morning June 13th, 9:30 AM zazen liturgy
Tuesday evening June 22d 6:30PM zazen, liturgy
Sunday morning June 27th 9:30 AM, zazen, liturgy and senior’s talk
Sunday Spring Schedule (9:30 to 11:30 am):
May 30
June 13
June 27
Tuesday Evening Schedule (6:30 pm):
June 8
June 22
http://www.yogamatrika.com//contact-us/zen-sitting-group/
Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika. Yoga Matrika is located in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of the City of Pittsburgh.
http://www.yogamatrika.com/
Cabin Fever & Yoga in Pittsburgh
There was one very brave student at tonight’s class. She was new to Yoga Matrika and was curious about what the class title, Mindful Yoga, really meant. I prattled on about Vajra Yoga and not making a distinction between asana practice and meditation and how we create a moving meditation through our practice……….but during our practice together, I started to question the whole thing entirely.
You see, that’s the problem with having an answer to everything—-you miss opportunities for reaching a greater understanding. In this case, I was incredibly inspired by the clarity of this student’s practice and she taught me a lot about mindfulness. So, thank you dear student, and hope you come back soon!
What I realised is that what I don’t know about mindfulness is a lot. While there are so very many things that I hope that my Mindful Flow classes mean, the real mindfulness is in the interpretation. I asked my student to choose an intention for her practice and to anchor that intention with awareness of the breath or awareness of sensation in the body. As we moved through the Vajra Opening series, I made some slight adjustments and made requests of the student to move in different ways or experiment with various modifications.
I was delighted to watch as this student’s mind literally moved from place to place in her body and she fully explored each asana. Thanks to this student and her beautiful practice, I realised that it is possible to see mind. A great gift to a yoga teacher on a snowy night after a long week of being indoors.
I received a similar gift through my dear friend and colleague on the teaching team at Yoga Matrika, Kristie Lindblom. She posted a beautiful entry in her blog about how she is personally experiencing this long week of a storm and nature enforced hibernation. Again, a new lesson on mindfullness. By staying present in the moment, Kristie rides out the storm, the cabin fever and the heavy nature of this weather. Her mindfulness includes all of the wonderful things that are growing, changing, transforming and preparing for birth right under our very feet in this very moment.
Thank you dear student and Kristie for the lessons in mindfulness.
When in Pittsburgh, study Mindful Flow with Sharon Rudyk at Yoga Matrika. Don’t worry, when there hasn’t been a recent snowfall of over 20 inches, there’s normally more than one student! So, not everyone gets watched so closely.
Posted by Sharon Rudyk
Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika
http://www.matrikawellnesscenter.com
http://www.prenatalyogapittsburgh.com
http://www.yogamatrika.com/
Check-out Kristie’s Blog entry here:
http://searchingforsattva.blogspot.com/
Remembering the Beginning
I remember my first yoga class. I was terrified, but also desperate—two emotional qualities that I prefer to limit, never mind experience together! The terror was due to the absolute distrust that I had that my body could “do” yoga. The desperation was due to a mounting level of stress that was starting to rule over my days and nights.
It was a Bikram class in Philadelphia taught by the extraordinary Joel Pier. Why was Joel extraordinary? First, when I went to inquire about the class, he welcomed me in and assured me that my tight, stressed-out, non-flexible and entirely uncoordinated mind and body would only appreciate the task and that it was impossible to fail. Second, while Joel used the standard Bikram script, he added to it a sense of joy and humour while asking everyone to “just kill themselves!”. Third, Joel reminded me to smile. And finally, his patience and insight allowed me to experience the practice on my own, in my own way and safely with respect to my own emotional, spiritual and physical boundaries. Every once in a while, Joel would comment on something personal, but generally he was just glad to see his students and I felt that there was space to just come and go as anonymously as I pleased. Once, when I was unceremoniously dumped by a man I was dating who coordinated the dump with my slow realization that he had been seeing other women for a long time, I started to cry unexpectedly during final relaxation. When I explained to Joel that I had been dumped he said, “Do you know what the saddest thing is? The worst part about this is that he lost a treasure and he doesn’t even know it.” I can still hear his voice and it meant a lot to me. It still does. In yoga, your teacher matters because they speak to you when you are vulnerable and the suggestions that they make enter into your awareness in a way that you wouldn’t be open to at any other time.
For anyone in Pittsburgh who is contemplating taking their first yoga class or signing up for a beginner’s series, I highly recommend Anna Gilbert’s Absolute Beginner’s Series that starts in January. Choosing Anna as your first yoga teacher is an excellent choice! Why? Anna Gilbert makes me smile every time I see her. She is open to love and life in a way that is reflected through her eyes. It’s infectious! You can trust her to guide you into a practice that is right for you while giving you space and time to explore in your own way. Anna is also smart, well-trained and an excellent teacher. I can guarantee you that the voice of your first yoga teacher will echo through the corridors of your mind for a long time to come. Considering this, I don’t think you can go wrong with Anna’s strong, encouraging and sweet voice!
You can register and find more information about Yoga Matrika’s Absolute Beginner’s Series here.
Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika located in Point Breeze, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. Check out all our programs at: http://www.yogamatrika.com/.
OPEN HOUSE: Saturday, December 5
You know you’re curious—-what’s going on in there at 6520 Wilkins Avenue?
Here’s your chance to check out Yoga Matrika’s new studio spaces, share some sweet holiday spirited refreshments and shop for some hand-crafted gifts. There are many items that are under $10 that are great for office presents, gift exchanges, hostess presents and stocking stuffers. This is a great craft sale with NO CROWDS, NO PARKING PROBLEMS and great snacks and activities for children!
EVERYTHING for sale is locally made and includes: jewelry, aromatherapy, herbal and green teas, eye pillows and scented sachets to create passion, promote peace and some even keep moths out of your woolies! We have herbal products for pregnant and new moms like lactation support teas, belly balm and vegan nipple creams. Fleece and knitted hats for babies and young children and felted wool hats—even some handspun and dyed yarn by our lovely local Cosy!
You can also purchase discounted gift certificates and class cards during the open house or purchase a new yoga mat for a friend or yourself!
Gift certificates make PERFECT gifts for expectant and new moms—we offer the only Prenatal Pilates and Exercise class in the city, two postnatal classes a week and five prenatal classes a week. Moms can also use gift certificates for massage, childbirth preparation workshops and to shop for all natural items to keep them comfy and relaxed during pregnancy and after birthing.
We have some coloring pages and toys for young children to play with while you shop. Sharon Rudyk, the studio owner will be around all afternoon to answer questions you might have about yoga in general or the studio.
Hope to see you on Saturday!
Posted by Sharon Rudyk, Owner of Yoga Matrika located in Point Breeze, 6520 Wilkins Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. Check out our website: http://www.yogamatrika.com/