Archive for Practice
Cardio Yoga
I am absolutely delighted to announce that Aleta Howard will be joining the Yoga Community and offering her unique YBB (Yoga Booty Ballet) classes starting February 2nd and through the spring. What is YBB? On the schedule, we are calling it Cardio Yoga. If you think that “yoga” means traditional asana, then you might feel that YBB is more of an exercise class and wonder what it is doing on a yoga studio schedule.
Well, first of all, YBB combines some elements of Hatha yoga that will be recognizable to yogis who do have experience with more traditional yoga classes that are based on asana. Second, YBB includes yoga kriya from the Kundalini tradition and the creation and support of a personal intention is an important part of each and every class. Third, what is yoga? While this is a deeper issue that would require both a lifetime of examination and certainly a much more respectful examination than I can offer here, I would like to suggest that expressing the body with joy, opening and strengthening the heart and learning to hold an intention through an activity are most certainly yoga. It may not be what you have come to expect, but it might be just what you need!
Here is the official description of Yoga Booty Ballet from the creators of this style:
Yoga Booty Ballet is a fun, sexy and spirited workout that will leave you feeling refreshed and inspired. Work your body, engage your mind and lighten your spirit as you practice this East-meets-West amalgam of meditation, cardiovascular dance, ballet, Kundalini and hatha yoga.The results are immediate and long term. Students consistently complete class feeling better about themselves than when they arrive.
The meditation element serves to focus busy minds as well as awaken dull ones. The dance portion improves cardiovascular endurance, promoting weight loss and improved body composition. The ballet section increases strength and agility, building muscle and bone density. The yoga sections promote flexibility, balance and inner wellness. Classes are fun and easy to follow, designed to draw out individual self-expression in a comfortable, non-competitive environment.Various dance styles explored include jazz, hip hop, burlesque, Latin, Bollywood, go-go, and more.
Really, try one of these classes, at least once. For those readers who know me, you know that I am both directionally challenged and learning patterns of body movements is difficult for me. The first time I tried Aleta’s class, I was really nervous because I was truly afraid that I would get lost and not be able to fully participate. About 10-minutes into class I was having the time of my life. I was smiling and moving and sweating and truly enjoying the music and the joyful movements. Was I going right sometimes while everyone else went left? Yes, but, the truth is that it just didn’t matter. Aleta does not even suggest that there is a right or wrong way to do anything and she provides enthusiastic support for participating in this class in whatever way you are able. Once I released the pressure I was putting on myself through my own ego, this is when I started having fun.
Yoga Matrika provides a non-competitive and intimate environment where you can feel safe trying something new. If I didn’t think that Aleta was wonderful or that these classes weren’t a fabulous addition to our current offerings, then I wouldn’t be putting them on the schedule. Especially if you are looking for a class that will help with weight loss or weight management or you need to combine your yoga with your cardio workouts, then you are going to love this class.
When can you try our new Cardio Yoga classes with Aleta?
Friday Night Yoga Dance Parties
Friday, January 27
7:00-8:15 pm
Friday, February 24
7:00-8:15 pm
Friday, March 23
7:00-8:15 pm
Thursday nights, Starting February 2, 2012
5:30 to 6:45 pm
Saturday afternoons, Starting March 3, 2012
12:00 to 1:15 pm
Classes are $15 to drop-in or you can use your current class package. Packages are 4-classes for $50 or 8-classes for $80. We also offer a discounted student package of 5-classes for $35. Please enroll online to save your space. These special classes are going to be very popular and you don’t want to miss out!
Posted by Sharon Rudyk, Director of Yoga Matrika, an intimate space for yoga and healing work in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, PA. Come join us!
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.
Keep Your Unkind Words to Yourself
Walk silently.
I read this today on a sign indicating appropriate behavior while in the hallway at my son’s elementary school. When I read it the first time, it made sense to me. I’m sure that I was trained in the same way and have probably seen this message infinite times in my own elementary school and other institutional experiences and beyond. But, the more I looked at the sign, the less I was sure of what it meant. In my experience, this means, don’t make noise when you walk in the hall. But, how do I know this? Walk silently actually means something very different depending on the context.
There are other messages on other signs. One of those messages is that students should “Keep their unkind words to themselves.” Again, upon initial reading, I immediately knew what this meant. It means that I shouldn’t call anyone a Poopy Head, you know, at least to their face. But, again, the more I saw this message, the less I was sure of what this really meant.
I was even less sure of what it meant when I happened to walk by the lunch room on my way to my son’s classroom and heard a lunch aid yelling at a student who had walked up to her and asked for help because their hands were full of too much hand sanitizer. She said, “You took too much soap. Don’t you have soap in your house?” Seems that someone hasn’t been reading the signs in the hall! First of all, it wasn’t soap, it was foaming hand sanitizer. Second of all, it is not beyond my imagination that this child had never used a dispenser for foaming hand sanitizer before. Third of all, the implication that perhaps this child did not maintain hygiene at home and therefore was ignorant on how to use the sanitizer at school wasn’t very kind.
So, on the third day of school, this poor child was berated for having too much hand sanitizer on his hands. I wanted to walk loudly (if you can walk silently, you can also walk loudly!) right into the lunch room with a paper towel and help that child remove the hand sanitizer. Then, I wanted to use some of the hundreds of unkind words that had immediately come to mind when I watched that Pittsburgh Public School employee talk with complete lack of respect or empathy to that dear child.
What I know is that you can put up all the signs in the world, but the best way to lead these children will be by example. We must show them that compassion is possible and makes the world a better place to live for everyone. It feels really good to be compassionate and express empathy and kindness to one another. We can learn to be loud in our silence and have so many kind thoughts that there is little room for the unkind words.
In our yoga practice on the mat, we first learn awareness. The first time that we sit on our mat and wait for class to begin, we become aware of the hundreds of thoughts, ideas and feelings that travel across our mind in a single moment. Some of those thoughts are unkind and we may, at the end of a long day, have myriad unkind words for our family members and colleagues. But, our practice shows us that it isn’t a sign that should keep us from expressing these unkind words. Our practice brings us to a space where we notice that our thoughts and feelings are constantly in flux. Our unkind words in this moment are no more or less true than the kind words that we might have for the very same person on a different day or in different circumstances. As a matter of fact, after calming the body and mind in a yoga class, we might find that all the unkind words are gone anyway as the intensity of the passion of experience has faded.
What I wish for this lunch aid and all the children and teachers and administrators in my son’s school is awareness. Awareness that they live and work in community. Awareness that their feelings and experiences are important, but always changing and shifting. Awareness that we all make choices in how we express ourselves and that these choices impact other people.
On your mat, the next time that you practice, soften your face and tongue. Relax the muscles behind your eyes and soften your inner ears. Feel the expressed and unexpressed unkind words you carry within you. Free yourself slowly by breathing into the unkind spaces and exhaling the unkind. Let you body relax and watch the breath as you free yourself slowly of unkind words. As you practice, catch yourself if you start to think anything but the kindest thoughts about yourself. Forgive yourself for all the times you used too much soap, forgot to sort the laundry, used the wrong color pen, took the subway in the wrong direction and wore different socks. Once you feel better, offer some forgiveness to everyone else.
Tonight, in my practice, I’m going to forgive the lunch aid. It’s a start.
Compassion and Generosity
For those of you who live in Pittsburgh and use public buses regularly for transportation, you know that the last week has been a nightmare. At all times of day and night the buses are crowded and most service that we had come to depend on every 15-20 minutes is now only coming once every hour. Many bus drivers are frustrated and exhausted and riders are squished and even riders that have no business standing and hanging on for dear life are being asked to do so. With the reduction in service, many buses are too crowded to stop and pick up new passengers along the route. As I looked out the window when we passed stops by there were literally ten to twenty people waiting at these stops who would now have to wait 30-minutes to an hour for the next bus with absolutely no guarantee that one might come that would actually be able to stop and pick them up.
I am currently 30+ weeks pregnant and was riding the bus with my four year old son last weekend since I had promised him a trip to the library. It was the middle of the day on a Sunday and we got onto a very crowded bus. One person in the front got up to give us their seat and I had my preschool age son sit down and I stood in front of him. The way the seat hit him in the back of the legs caused his legs to “fall asleep” during the ride and when we got up to push our way out of the bus his little legs buckled under him and by the time we made it off the bus he was complaining that his knee hurt. We had to go into a drug store for something and, by that point, my son was loudly insistent that his knee hurt VERY MUCH. Upon inspection it was clear to me that it was related to the seat on the bus and would be relieved in a few minutes since the cause of the problem had been removed.
About 5-minutes later, a man wearing exceptionally filthy clothing and pushing around a small cart of equally filthy belongings came up to me in the drug store. In one of his hands, he held out a damaged children’s toy that had, in its day of new glory, probably been a plastic jeep car of some kind, but was now a three-wheeled go cart without doors or a roof—-just the base and three-wheels remained. The man said to me, “Your little boy’s knee is hurt? Would this help him feel better?” I was so shocked that all I could come up with was, “Oh, no, we couldn’t take your car! Thank you so much, but his knee will feel better in just a minute.” But after we left the store, all I could think about was the incredible human capacity for compassion and generosity that is possible regardless of our perceived or actual economic resources.
Here I was, completely self-absorbed in my clean clothes with my floral Vera Bradley purse working through my frustration at having had to wait for a bus and be so inconvenienced by the uncomfortable ride while I searched the shelf for allergy medicine that I could afford to buy for my child and this man, who appeared to have nothing—certainly, he had less resources than I did at that moment—offered both his compassion for my son’s pain and an extension of a gift of all he had. My response was to refuse the physical gift, but the extension of compassion and this generous offer are gifts that will remain with me for a very long time.
So many of us think that we don’t have anything to offer, when, at any given moment, we are given infinite opportunities to extend compassion and generosity to the people around us. While making donations to organizations and individuals who are doing important work in our community and around the world have their place, if we do not have the financial resources to make these kind of donations, there are still opportunities to give and to improve the lives of other people. A kind word, an offer of help, giving your seat on a crowded bus, or an extension of the resources that you do have without any selfish intent—–these are gifts that we can all give to one another.
Research shows that meditation that includes the extension of compassionate thoughts and wishes, even to complete strangers and on a large scale such as an intention for the happiness of “all living beings” has a profound impact on the shape of our brains and, ultimately, our own health. This is not to suggest that we should be compassionate only to reduce our own emotional and inflammatory response to stress, but there truly are benefits to all living beings, including ourselves, when we make this a part of our practice. Instead of thinking that we have very little to offer, we can delight in the fact that being alive gives us myriad opportunities to explore the gift of compassion regardless of our economic status, career choice or lifestyle. Even better news is that every breath we take is a new opportunity, a refresh button of sorts, and a chance to take this moment to improve the experience of all living beings.
Post by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, an independent yoga and meditation instructor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Find out more about comprehensive meditation and stress reduction programs on Sharon’s website.
Frozen Food Month
Seriously, did you know that March was Frozen Food Month? I didn’t know this until I received an e-mail from Giant Eagle supermarkets here in Pittsburgh indicating that there was just one week left to appreciate frozen foods. From Lean Pockets to Ego waffles to Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (my personal favorite of the frozen edibles), we had a whole month to appreciate frozen foods and I squandered it not realizing my loss. But, it’s not too late, there’s still a whole week to take advantage of this special time to explore the delights of our freezers.
Did you know what else March is? Women’s History Month. Yes, women share the glory of this month with frozen foods. So far, President Obama has not yet made an official Women’s History Month 2011 Proclamation. When he does, it will be posted here. Now, while we mere citizens have an entire week to honor frozen foods and the ladies we love at the same time by buying them some ice cream, the President only has one more week to come up with an official proclamation on the topic of Women’s History Month 2011. Might I suggest that he enjoy the convenience of a frozen food while writing? The thing is that I didn’t know that all of the Presidential Proclamations were available like this. I have to admit, it’s a rather curious collection. This month*, President Obama has offered Proclamations on topics ranging from from “Save Your Vision Week” to honoring the 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire to the 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy. It seems that when you are President of the United States, remembering your own wedding anniversary is the least of your problems. So far, nothing yet on either frozen foods or the important contributions of women in the history of the United States.
What does any of this have to do with yoga or meditation? It has everything to do with yoga! Yoga and meditation are practices that encourage us to become aware in this moment. By proclaiming a day, week or month a certain theme, we are suggesting that there are things we appreciate or that we should recognize that we may generally ignore. This is what we do in our practice as well. All day long we breathe, but when we practice, we watch the breath. We see all the qualities of the breath—fast, slow, shallow, deep. We experience the sensation of each in-breath as an in-breath and each out-breath as an out-breath and we feel our body’s response. Setting aside some time each day for your yoga and meditation practice is like proclaiming that the next hour is “Sensation of Breath Hour.” We come to appreciate what we generally take for granted.
Posted by Sharon Rudyk, an independent yoga and meditation instructor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You can find out information about classes and teacher training programs with Sharon at http://www.yogamatrika.com/ and prenatal/postnatal programs and support services at http://www.matrikaprenatal.com.
*Wondering what President Obama proclaimed about this special month in March 2010? Check out the proclamation archives here.
Stir the Sea
And on this first day of spring, the morning after the most magnificent moon, I offer a poem by Shutaku:
Mind set free in the Dharma-realm,
I sit at the moon-filled window
Watching the mountains with my ears,
Hearing the stream with open eyes.
Each molecule preaches perfect law,
Each moment chants true sutra:
The most fleeting thought is timeless.
A single hair’s enough to stir the sea.
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.
Spring Meditation #2: Yoga to Balance the Liver
Spring
The water murmurs
In the old stone well,
And, a rippling mirror,
Gives back the clear blue sky.
The river roars,
Swollen with the late rains of spring.
On the cool, jade-green grass
The golden sunshine
Splashes.
Sometimes, at early dawn,
I climb
Even as far as Lien Shan Temple.
In the spring
I plow the thirsty field,
That it may drink new life.
I eat a little,
I work a little,
Each day my hair grows thinner,
And, it seems,
I lean ever a bit more heavily
On my old thornwood cane.
~Liu Tzu-Hui, Sung Dynasty, AD 960-1278
[This translation from Beinfield and Korngold, page 160]
With the coming of spring, here is a gentle yoga-based exercise to balance the liver energy in the body.
The energy of the liver (or, “Liver Meridian”) starts at the inside base of the big toe and runs up the inside of the leg, goes through the reproductive organs and flows under the front of the ribs into the liver where it circulates upwards through the lungs. This energy line controls the eyes and the nervous system.
Part 1:
For those of you who are familiar with “Bridge Pose” then this exercise will make more sense. If you are not familiar with “Bridge Pose” then check out this description here.
Start: Lie on your back, bend your knees and place the soles of your feet on the floor with your heels as close to your sitting bones as possible. If you can, grab your ankles with your hands. If you can’t reach your ankles or that is uncomfortable, then place your arms by your sides with your palms facing down.
Exercise: Inhale and lift up through your thighs and pelvis and exhale as you slowly lower down. Relax for a few breaths and then come up again as you inhale and stretch up as high as you can through the thighs and belly. Tighten your buttocks then contract a little bit more and really squeeze. Then relax your body as you slowly lower down.
End: Release your ankles and then lie down on the floor. Rest and relax completely with your legs stretched out in front of you and your entire back resting on the floor.
Part 2:
Start: While still lying on your back, reach your arms up so that your palms face one another and your fingers are reaching towards the sky. Take a deep breath.
Exercise: Make fists with your hands and squeeze the muscles in your arms. Slowly exhale as you bring your fists down towards your chest.
Do this four times—–inhale and reaching up through the arms and exhaling slowly lower your fists down towards your chest
End: Relax on your back with your arms by your sides.
Part 3:
Deep relaxation: Lie on your back with your arms by your sides and your palms facing up. Set a timer so that you can completely let go for a minimum of 5-minutes. Relax your body completely and just feel your breath fall into a natural pattern.
SOURCES
Beinfield, Harriet and Efrem Korngold. Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine.
Gach, Michael Reed and Carolyn Marco. The Acupressure Stress Management Book. Acu-Yoga: Designed to Relieve Stress and Tension.
Just Twenty-Days
In just twenty-days it will be spring. For any readers in parts of the country where it hasn’t snowed or dropped ice every week since Thanksgiving or where you have had more than five days of sun in the past four-months, perhaps the significance of this announcement escapes you. But, for my gentle readers located in places in the world where this type of environmental stress has been a part of your daily life for over a quarter of the year, you know in every cell of your body and every corner of your soul what the true meaning of this revelation is.
It means that our faith has not been misplaced. It means that our desire for light, for transformation and creativity is about to be answered. There have already been subtle signs of the changes in energy and season here in Pittsburgh. The sky is lighter earlier in the morning and stays lighter well past 5:00 pm. In the morning, early song birds send their sweet message into the air. In even the darkest corners of the brownest patches of earth there are the tips of bulb greens reaching out, digging out, and pushing towards the sky.
In honor of this special 20-day period, I will be posting a spring countdown message each and every day with a suggestion of a poem, reading, meditation, visualization, nutrition and/or activity to support this change in seasons. As much as we desire spring to be with us right now, this is an excellent opportunity to prepare mentally, spiritually and physically for this change of seasons. I hope you will join me in savoring this release of darkness and moving towards the light and color of spring in a holistic way that recognizes not only what is lost, but also what is gained.
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.