Stress Free Stress Reduction
At the Duke University Center for Integrative Medicine, an 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program costs $454. At Yoga Matrika, Kirsi Jansa is offering a beautiful meditation-based stress reduction program called Healing Relaxation in the Tara Rokpa Style and the 6-week tuition is $150. [ Flyer] While I recognize that even $150 is a singificant investment for most of us “normal” people and, even more challenging may be finding 2-hours free on a Saturday afternoon to make it happen, the reality is that this is an investment of $150 that can change your life. This program is priced competitively in comparison with other programs of similar quality and is open to everyone—-absolutely no experience is required. This is not a religious practice and we are very respectful of all religious and spiritual practices and orientations. If anything, a program like this is likely to deepen your commitment to your current spiritual practice.
How do yoga and meditation help reduce stress? There are a lot of different answers to this question, but one of the most basic ways that these types of practices help you reduce stress is that they teach you how to BE in the present moment. Stress is generally a condition of trying to hold your mind in the future and the past while also participating in the present moment. Concerns about the future,worries, to do lists, goals, obligations and responsibilities, strategies for projects that will unfold in the future, unknown considerations and all the trappings of a better or worse future moment create stress in our bodies.
What kind of skills do you learn in this type of stress reduction course? You learn how to use the tools of your body and senses to keep yourself in the present moment. This slows the central nervous system and the mind down giving your adrenal glands, nervous system and circulatory system a considerable break. The more you practice these skills and learn to use your body as a tool for healing, the greater healing you will feel. Specific skills include:
Breathing Awareness: learning to become aware of the process of breathing. This sounds simple, but really, there are infinite ways of looking at and feeling the breath. And, since you are always breathing, learning this skill gives you something you can do to reduce stress at any time in any place.
Body Scan: learn to feel your body using all of your senses and actively relax all the parts of your body. Can you relax your little toe? Sure you can! You will be amazed at what you discover about your body when you take the time to experience it in a non-judgemental way.
Loving Kindness: use your awareness to extend compassion to yourself and others.
Exploring the mind: without a specific focus for awareness, learn to watch the movements of the mind and do so without becoming attached
Pleae take advantage of this amazing opportunity to change your relationship to time, your body, mind and spirit. Release stress and tension and learn new skills for maintaining equinimity and balance. See the flyer for more details. You can REGISTR ONLINE HERE. The course start on January 28th and runs on six consecutive Saturdays from 4:00-6:00pm.
Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, Director of Yoga Matrika and Matrika Prenatal. If you are not local to Pittsburgh and looking for a Healing Relaxation Course or more information about Tara Rokpa, you can find more information here.
Meditation in Motion
Read more on the benefits of meditation.
Read more on how regular meditation can impact your genetic expression.
Read here on basic instructions for mindfulness meditation.
Meditation in Motion: 4-class Series
Mondays 6:00-7:30 pm, 3/14 through 4/4
Facilitated by: Sharon Rudyk
Cost for 4-class series: $65 (Online Registration HERE)
Research indicates that the benefits of mindful breathing, gentle physical movements and a variety of techniques including visualization and meditation are powerful tools for health and healing. From reversing heart disease to changing the expression of your genes, a regular meditation practice has a significant impact on your quality of life. In this small group series, we will specifically explore a variety of meditation techniques that can be used by anyone regardless of your previous experience with yoga or meditation. We will do some physical movements, but these types of movements are very natural and can be accomplished by any adult regardless of your physical shape or abilities (they can even be done while sitting in a chair!). Relieve stress, relax the body and learn quick and simple ways to improve your quality of life every single day.
Here is a video about walking meditation
Football, Swimsuits and the Yoga of Feminism
As I teach two prenatal yoga classes every week, I have the honor and joy of watching incredibly strong women embody the true spirit of Warrior poses. I can actually see the energy rising up through the soles of their feet and into their core to support the amazing act of creation they carry within them. There is a courage, a dignity and strength of force there that is palpable in the room. It is, for me, an experience and one that brings me, each class, into a new appreciation for the beauty and strength that is woman. The energy of these movements is the embodiment of grace. Grace representing the fact that each one of these women has opened their hearts to the potential for immense joy and immeasurable loss and grief. No words are required. Through movement and intention, the expression of strength and grace is clear and concise.
Last weekend, I was able to catch the very end of the playoff game between the Steelers and the Ravens. While I can’t say that I am a fan of football in general, there is something so very beautiful about watching the Steelers right now. The coordination combined with strength and expression of sheer will as well as the skill combined with brutality and violence is something to behold. Not only are these men amazing athletes, but they have the courage to take a flying leap into a pile of men and to throw their bodies with incredible force and at high speeds into one another. As anyone who knows me can appreciate, if a ball (or anything else for that matter) is coming my way, my only instinct is to duck and cover. Therefore, I have this incredible awe and appreciation for what is being required of these men in this game.
After the game, we were flipping through channels and found the Miss America pagent. It was already the swimsuit competition and about 40-women in identical black bikinis and heals were walking accross the stage in various choreographed formations. Each one beautiful, young, in great shape, smiling and basically, half naked on national television. I don’t have a problem with naked and these women were easy on the eyes to say the least. But, let’s be honest here– a bikini is really underpants and bra made for swimming and, well, you can’t swim in heels and I didn’t see a pool anywhere nearby. Immediately, I thought of the national news stories of the past year that involved mothers being asked to leave airplanes and coffee shops because they were breastfeeding. These mothers were offending those around them by, horror of horrors, exposing some of their breast! The NERVE! Even more GROSS—they were using this breast to, yuck, feed their baby. Did I mention, in PUBLIC? And yet, here before my eyes were lots of breasts and bellies and butts on display all balancing on top of high heels for maximum effect.
And what was the effect? I felt that the effect was that these intelligent, athletic and beautiful women were weakened. After the bikini competition, they all ran off frantically to get on their ballgowns and then they raced around preparing for the talent competition and then they were given the time to answer one significant political or ethical question with a maximum of one sentence. The whole experience gave the image of the ideal American woman as one who is perfect in every way, but frantic and weak as they rush mindlessly around trying to look good and irish dance and talk about globalism all while trying to balance on the tip of a heel on national tv in their underwear. I felt none of the awe that I do in a room full of women doing prenatal yoga or the immense respect for the football players.
The more that I considered the issue, I continued to return to the idea of mindfulness. The weakness of the Miss America contestants really had nothing to do with their dress or the different aspects of the competition, it was due to the frantic nature of the timing. It wasn’t just whether or not they could meet the tasks required, it was about how fast they could meet each task. The pregnant women are focused, the football players are focused, but the contestants were both naked and engaged in a process that took away their ability to be mindful. It made them seem silly and took away from the actual value of their talents and accomplishments. It made the winner seem arbitrary and, most likely, set all of the contestants up for some level of trauma. How long must it take to process that experience when they didn’t even have a chance to experience it?
My conclusion is that there is great strength in mindfulness. My analysis has shown me clearly that frantic behavior weakens even the strongest, most talented and intelligent. The way that our culture supports the idea that multi-tasking is a virtue leads us to weakness and creates a kind of deep seated stress and trauma. Making a commitment in the moment, centering through the intention of that commitment and then following through with grace is the only path to the result that we honestly desire. Yoga and meditation provide us with the means for learning and practicing these skills in a safe environment. No matter how frantic our rush to class was, how crazy our day, how stressed we feel, once we put out the mat and start to breathe we re-gain our strength. We are no longer the young woman in her underwear and heels on tv trying to sing an opera while mentally preparing to answer a question about world peace.
Posted by Sharon Rudyk. http://www.yogamatrika.com/ and http://www.matrikaprenatal.com
What is Restorative Yoga?
Restorative yoga is a practice that brings the energy of the body into balance, releases deeply held tension and calms the nervous system. In this yoga practice, there are gentle movements, breathing exercises and physical poses that are held for five-minutes or longer with the support of blankets, pillows and other props. These longer held poses allow the body to release into the pose with support so there is no physical strain or effort. In this way, the practitioner receives the full benefit of the pose without creating any additional stress in the body or on the nervous system.
This type of practice is counter-intuitive to adults who have come to think that more effort, more work, more sweat and more pain means more and better results. One of the greatest challenges of restorative yoga is accepting the fact that doing less brings the most significant transformation in the body and mind. This is not a gentle, wimpy or easy practice! Restorative yoga is a gentle unfolding of the damage we do to our bodies each and every day through emotional stress, through our repetitive actions and by ignoring the signs of exhaustion, un-ease and chronic pain. Athletes will find that restorative yoga is the most excellent compliment to their activity as it eases the joints and can help heal chronic and minor injuries that would otherwise prevent a quick return to a favorite sport or activity. If you tend to enjoy a more athletic yoga practice, such as Ashtanga Vinyasa or power flow practices, then restorative yoga can help deepen your practice. Yogis of all styles will find that their endurance and strength actually improves through a regular practice of restorative yoga.
At Yoga Matrika, our restorative yoga classes are a combination of mindfulness meditation, healing movement and stretching. No experience with yoga or meditation in any tradition or style is required. Beginners are always welcome to this safe, supportive and non-competitive environment. This is a practice that is equally as wonderful for students with injuries or chronic illness as it is for the healthiest and most robust athlete. The “results” of a regular practice can’t be predicted, but they will be positive and significant. It may be that you have had shoulder pain for most of your adult life and, after two months of restorative yoga practices, you find that your pain is diminished and your range of motion increased. Or, you may genuinely believe that you are a very balanced person without pain, but slowly realize that, with a regular restorative yoga practice, that you lose your temper less often and feel more compassionate towards others—-you might just find that you are happier!
We provide all of the equipment that you need for your practice, but encourage all students in all classes to bring their own yoga mat. We have mats for you to use if you need one, but mats are really a personal use item. Try not to practice yoga on a full stomach, but it is fine to have a small snack (banana and yogurt, a bowl of cereal, etc.) an hour or so before practice if you are very hungry. Wear comfortable, stretchy clothing in layers so that you can wear less when you are moving and put on a layer or two when you are going to relax into a pose for a longer period of time. You may want to bring a water bottle with you.
Join us at 6:00pm on Mondays, starting January 10, 2011, at Yoga Matrika for this unique yoga practice for all levels. Your instructor is Sharon Fennimore Rudyk. If you have questions about this practice or would like more information, please call Sharon directly at (412) 855-5692 or see our New Student FAQ.
This post was written by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, the owner and director of Yoga Matrika, an intimate, community-based yoga studio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: http://www.yogamatrika.com/. For information on prenatal and postnatal programs, please see: http://www.matrikaprenatal.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/