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.
Meditation Series
This fall, Yoga Matrika is offering a 12-week Meditation Series facilitated by Bhante Pema. This is a very unique opportunity in Pittsburgh to study and practice meditation. By making a 12-week commitment, you will start to see the benefits of regular practice over the course of three-months.
Dr. Josephine Briggs, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Alternative and Complementary Medicine, says that, “It is now well established that the meditative state can be associated with changes in electrical function of the brain, and recent imaging studies suggest that there may actually be neuroanatomic changes as well.” In addition, a new study by the Public Library of Science suggests that regular meditation can have a significant impact on stress related illnesses. “The study found that in comparison to a control group of people who had never meditated, a group of regular meditators actually suppressed twice the number of genes that induce stress responses such as high blood pressure and inflammation in the body.Long term effects of the expression of stress-related genes can have very harmful effects on health, including high blood pressure or chronic pain. Those who meditate regularly are thus at a greatly decreased risk for developing these problems.”
According to NCCAM, over 20 million Americans practice meditation for a variety of health benefits. You can find out more about meditation and the types of research that are being conducted now regarding meditation and impact on specific health problems here.
Our course instructor, Bhante Pema, is a Buddhist monk and is currently the resident teacher and abbot of the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center. He is also working on a Ph.D. in Religious Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. While the instructor is a Buddhist monk, the meditation style and techniques that are taught in this course are secular and this is not a religious group and instruction in Buddhism is not provided. Everyone is welcome to learn these techniques to benefit their health and well being.
REGISTER HERE: $130 for 12-week course
Ven. Soorakkulame Pemaratana (aka. Bhante Pema)
Ven. S. Pemaratana was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1986 and received higher ordination in 1997. His monastic training was under the tutelage of the most Ven. Attangane Sasanaratana Maha Thero at Sripathi Pirivena, Diyakalamulla, Kuliyapitiya, Sri Lanka. He holds a bachelor’s degree with first class honors in Buddhist Studies from the University of Peradeniya and a master’s degree in philosophy from the National University of Singapore.
He has lectured at the University of Peradeniya and the Buddhist and Pali College of Singapore. He conducts regular lectures and workshops in Buddhist teachings and meditation. The Transcultural Society for Clinical Meditation in Japan gave him the 2008 Haruki Award for his research paper on Meditation and Cognitive Behavior Therapy. He is currently the resident teacher and acting abbot of the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center.
Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, Owner and Director of Programs for Yoga Matrika, an intimate yoga studio located in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Discover more about our unique programs that explore the incredible healing power of yoga, breath and meditation on our website.
Creative Thursdays at The Mat
Thursday is shaping up to be a very creative day at The Mat! Located on Wilkins Avenue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, Yoga Matrika offers great yoga, pilates and mediation classes and now creative play, creative movement and a knitting group. We are an inclusive community and all of our classes are offered on a contribution basis. Come and play with us on Thursdays!
Each moment rushes from all sides rushes to us the call to love.
We are running to contemplate its vast green field.
Do you want to come with us?
This is not the time to stay at home,
But to go out and give yourself to the garden.
The dawn of joy has arisen,
And this is the moment of union, of vision. ~ Rumi
Creative Thursdays stars with a Creative Flow class for adults. Bobbi teaches this creative yoga class from 8:00 to 9:15 am that includes everything you love about yoga and also provides opportunity to move, sway, jump and roll by adding creative movement into the flow. Absolutely no experience is required. This is an especially great class if you ever find yourself worried about doing the asana “right” as it frees your mind and body to the potential of creativity in the poses.
Starting on October 14th, Malke Frank will be facilitating a Creative Movement class for toddlers ages 1-3 from 11:30 to 12:15 pm. Spontaneous movement is the dance of childhood. Through creative movement, a child becomes aware of the various parts of the body. With this awareness comes both a sense of being comfortable with themselves and the security to explore more movement. Another facet is the development of basic locomotor (walking, crawling, running, galloping, etc.) and non-locomotor movements (bouncing, swinging, pushing, stretching, etc.) Beginning with these and progressing to concepts of space, tempo, and rhythm, the child has the opportunity to discover and explore her/his own uniqueness and creative possibilities. Sounds, too, are an integral part of creative movement. The children have themselves – their hands and feet, fingers, elbows, tongues, voices, etc. – as accompaniment to their movement. Percussion instruments and listening to the sounds of nature add another dimension to the exploration of sound. In a non-judgmental atmosphere which encourages spontaneous and imaginative expression, a child can gain self-esteem and self-confidence.
The Matrika knitting group, which is open to everyone who loves to knit or crochet or embroider or any kind of project you can carry around in a tote meets to Sit & Knit on Thursdays from 11:30 to 12:45 in the Peace Room. Yes, children and infants and any other person in your care are absolutely welcome. We have tea service, but ask that you bring your own mug.
Starting on October 14th, Malke Frank will be facilitating an open-concept Creative Play group for all ages from 2:30 to 4:00pm. Just drop-in during this time and enjoy our open space for creative play. Malke will provide scarves, bean bags, musical instruments and other materials for creative play. We have books, puzzles, wooden animals and other games too. If you would like a cup of tea, please bring a mug. You are also welcome to bring peanut free snacks and we just ask that you not offer your child dried fruit (raisins especially) in the studio as they seem to be the only snack that is near impossible to remove from the floor. Parents and caregivers will enjoy the great adult company too!
University of Pittsburgh Yoga
Yoga Matrika welcomes all University of Pittsburgh students and faculty to our yoga studio in Squirrel Hill. Just a hop, skip and a jump (with busses stopping less than a block away from the studio) from Oakland. We offer a special discount for new students: $10 for 10-classes (valid for 10-consecutive days). After this new student package has expired, we offer a $50 for 7-classes package for full-time students and a variety of economical memberships for adults who are not in school full time. Finally, our weekend classes, starting with Friday’s 5:30pm Happy Hour Yoga, are all by donation. We welcome everyone regardless of your ability to pay or touch your toes to all of our weekend classes!
Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, owner and director of Yoga Matrika, an intimate community-based studio on Wilkins Avenue on the border of the Squirrel Hill and Point Breeze neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. http://www.yogamatrika.com/
Spring Clean Body & Mind
All this great sun and the first little peek at some bulbs starting to rise from the earth here in Pittsburgh makes me think that it is time to refresh the elemental qualities of earth and air in my own body ecology. While I am sure that I have a significant bias, I’d like to offer what I think is both an economical plan and one that will offer wellness benefits for anyone who participates—-
Treat yourself to great yoga and meditation in Pittsburgh!
You can purchase a 10-class card for $100 at Yoga Matrika and take advantage of a wide range of classes from Body & Mind (meditation and pranayama) to Honey Flow (combination of yin stretches for connective tissue and yang vinyasa flow) to more strength and flexibility focused classes like Yoga 2/3 and Matrika Flow. Take 10-classes over these first 3-months of spring and you will help your body adjust to the change in seasons and look your best in your spring and summer little things (uhmmm—you can’t hide your big butt under that coat forever!). Pittsburgh–this is guaranteed to be the best $100 you’ve ever spent.
When you invest in a yoga and meditation program, you will learn skills that you can use every single day to prevent and release stress. Basically, you are making an investment in happiness, joy and feeling your best. Since yoga and meditation can be practiced anywhere and everywhere, this is the ultimate in portable exercise and wellness programs. Take your yoga to the beach or lake this summer, to your hikes in the woods. Use yoga to strengthen the muscles you use for your favorite outdoor sports like tennis and golf. Whatever activities you enjoy, you’ll be able to do them with greater ease and focus if you add a yoga practice to your wellness repertoire.
Yoga Matrika offers such a wide range of classes in different styles and levels, that there truly is a practice available for everyone. You may think that you aren’t a “yoga type,” but I bet you are! Yoga Matrika is a very comfortable and non-competitive neighborhood studio. In a yoga class, you will stretch from head to toe, take your spine in twists and from side to side and build strength in your legs, core and arms. The physical exercises are called asana or “poses” and while they may be unfamiliar to beginners, they are all very natural movements for the body. As a matter of fact, if you watch a 6-month old move around on the floor, you will see them do lots of these poses! So, the yoga is a part of your body’s history and it is just a matter of remembering more than it is learning something completely new.
I invite you to spring clean your body and mind at Yoga Matrika! http://www.matrikawellnesscenter.com
While you are at it, call Cara for an appointment for your $40 introductory 1-hour massage or Greg for your $75 1-hour introductory Thai Yoga Massage or $40 introductory 1-hour Shiatsu massage. DELICIOUS!
See you soon at the Mat!
Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, Director and Owner of Yoga Matrika and the Matrika Wellness Center in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For yoga studio information: http://www.yogamatrika.com/. For wellness center programs: http://www.matrikawellnesscenter.com. For workshops and series: http://www.advancedyogapittsburgh.com.
6520 Wilkins Avenue
(Closest intersection is Beechwood Blvd. and Wilkins Avenue)
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Teaching Children Peace
When I was young, not sure how old, but definitely younger than 11 since my memory of this activity includes me in the bunkbed that I shared with my sister in a small room in an apartment in Brooklyn, my mother obtained a book of guided visualizations for children. This was probably my first experience with meditation and I still remember the very calm way I would enter sleep after one of those “stories.” I was searching for this book online and haven’t found it, but I did find the following two guided visualizations for children online. If anyone knows about a book of guided visualizations just for children, please feel free to comment on this post. ENJOY!
I found these here:
http://www.learningpeace.com/pages/newsletter_18.html
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Calming Exercise: The Magic Box
Have your children close their eyes, breathe deeply, and think about a place they’ve been that made them feel happy, peaceful and safe. Say, It can be as close as your own backyard, or far away as a vacation spot. Make sure each child has a peaceful place to focus on. Share ideas. If someone can’t think of one, have that child focus on the beach this time. An image of their own may come later.
Ask your children to close their eyes or look down and bring their peaceful place fully into their imaginations. Say, Picture every detail and pretend you’re back there now. Ask, What do you see, feel, hear, and smell? Allow time for the children to envision, letting the images expand and grow.
After a few minutes, say, Open your eyes and open your hand. (Model this part).
Say, In your hand is a magic box, and invisible magic box. Open the lid, reach into your imagination, and take out your peaceful place. Shrink it down until it is very tiny. Now put your peaceful place into your magic box. Close the lid and put your magic box into your pocket, and if you don’t have a pocket, put it in your shirt. Your magic box will be with your forever, and you will be able to use it whenever you want from this day on. Whenever you feel upset, angry, frightened, or tense, all you’ll need to do is reach into your pocket, pull out your magic box, open the lid, take out your peaceful place and put it into your imagination. Then close your eyes, breathe deeply, and let your peaceful place fill your imagination completely.
Follow-up: Your children can draw, paint, or write about their peaceful places. Hang up whatever they create to remind them of the power of their imaginations, and the power they have within to calm themselves.
Have your children make a list of several peaceful places they might want to put into their magic box. That way they’ll have a choice of places to envision.
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Calming Exercise: The Beach
Close your eyes and take a nice slow deep breath in through the nose. Bring your breath all the way down into your stomach. Gently expand your stomach like a balloon as you breathe in. Slowly release the breath and let your stomach shrink. Now take another slow deep breath in, expand your stomach, and slowly release it. One more time: breathe slowly in, and slowly out.
Continue breathing slowly and deeply. With your eyes closed. Pretend your mind is a movie screen. Nothing is on it except for the color blue, light blue. Now the blue becomes a big, full sky on a summer day. The sky is filled with fluffy white clouds and a shining yellow sun. Beneath the sky is the beach.
Walk onto the beach and feel the sand under your feet. It is soft and warm between your toes. Look out toward the ocean. The waves are very calm. Watch them roll in and roll out, in and out. Each time a wave rolls back to sea it leaves a shiny imprint on the sand. Touch the cool, wet sand.
Now let water cover your feet. It feels cool and refreshing. Put your hands in the water and feel the droplets of a wave splash on your body. Now walk into the water and let a tiny wave lift you up. You are floating. Another wave comes along and lifts you higher. Your body moves with the gentle motion of the water. And as you float you feel each wave rolling under you,
lifting you up
and lowering you gently down.
The water feels warm and soothing.
The sun shines on your face and arms.
You hear the sounds of seagulls,
you smell the salty water.
You feel a deep sense of peace as you float on the waves.
Now return to the shore. Rest on the beach and let the breeze calm you even more. When you open your eyes you will be perfectly calm and relaxed. This feeling will stay with you throughout the rest of your day and will follow you into your dreams.
Reprinted from Hope and Healing: Peaceful Parenting in an Uncertain World by Naomi Drew, 2002
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Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, owner and director of the magnificent Matrika Yoga in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Located on the border of the Squirrel Hill and Point Breeze neighborhoods of the City of Pittsburgh, Yoga Matrika offers drop-in classes, comprehensive stress reduction programs, massage and professional level workshops and trainings. http://www.yogamatrika.com/ and http://www.advancedyogapittsburgh.com