Finding Comfort in Commitment
Yoga Matrika drop-in classes require pre-registration. Just like we can’t force you to eat Kale, we can’t make you do it. If you decide that you are not able to enroll online for any reason, as space is available, we will still warmly welcome you. In addition, if you have a printed deal or a GROUPON, you will not be able to register online for your first class. But, we would like to hope that most students will use our online system to pay for their class tuition and enroll in classes.
Yes, we are aware that, for most studios in Pittsburgh, you just “drop-in” and that is the way that they work. Yoga Matrika is not like “most studios.” We are an intimate space and try to keep our classes small with maximum class sizes of 10-13 students. This keeps our classes safe and allows your instructor to get to know you and you to get to know your instructor.
When you pay your tuition online, your account is automatically updated to reflect your purchase. When you pay for classes at the studio, we do not have any way to make change and appreciate checks or cash in the exact amount. Additionally, it can take up to 10-days for your purchase to be manually entered into our system and you may have trouble enrolling in classes online.
When you enroll in classes online, we know to expect you! This way, if there is a weather related cancellation or an instructor emergency, we can contact you to inform you of the class change. If you are running a few minutes late, if we see your name on the attendance sheet, we’ll wait a few minutes to see if you arrive. When student enroll in classes online, instructors can prepare appropriately to meet the needs of his or her students and plan a class unique to that group.
You may not want to enroll in classes online because you wonder what the penalty is if you do not actually show up for class. We check our online attendance sheets against the sign-in sheets for classes. If you do not actually take class, your enrollment is cancelled and that class is automatically returned to your package. There is no penalty for enrolling online even if you do not take that class. In other words, you have nothing to lose by enrolling in classes online. We do ask that, if at all possible, you cancel your online enrollment if you know you can’t make it to class. This will free up the space for someone else. There are some classes that are over-booked and we hate to turn people away if there really is space in a class. If you can’t cancel your enrollment, we understand.
In this day and age of Facebook, Twitter and a constant stream of ideas and activities and communications from friends, it might feel better if you don’t tie yourself down. What if you register for a Saturday afternoon workshop and, come Saturday morning your friends all message you that they are planning an afternoon outing you would like to attend? I would like to suggest that making a commitment to your practice is actually a part of the practice. It means that you set aside time for your practice and keep your commitment. You might have to say no to something else, but every yes to something or someone is a no to something else. We may have multiple social networks, but we only have one body. Take your body with you to brunch and you can’t also get to class. Take your body to class and you might have to miss brunch. Either way, something is gained and something is lost.
When you buy a four or an eight class package, we encourage you to enroll in all the classes on that packages at that time. Just sit with your calendar and sign-up for your classes. If you end up changing your mind or something comes up, you can always change your registration. But, if you set your intention and schedule all your classes, it is less likely that your package will expire before you take all of your classes. Our online system will allow you to print out your yoga schedule for the week or you can view it on your smart phone or an iPad. So, if you schedule all of your classes, you can more easily keep track of your yoga commitments.
Finally, learn to find comfort in your commitments. Allow your yoga classes to become a rhythm that you can come to count on and let others count on you. Become a “regular.” There’s nothing wrong with being regular.
We hope to see you soon and often at The Mat!
Enroll in Drop-in Classes Here
Check the Status of your Account Here
Add or update your phone number or e-mail address Here
Forget what classes you enrolled in? Check your schedule Here
Do you need assistance with our online system? Please do not hesitate to call Sharon for help (412) 855-5692. Once you get the hang of it, we hope you’ll find it convenient and comforting to use.
This post was written by Sharon Rudyk, Director of The Mat and Matrika Prenatal programs. She’s always delighted to know that she’ll see you in class!
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!
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.
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
Duh? Breathing is Important!
Apparently, new research has shown that breathing is important. While this may seem ridiculously obvious, the health implications of a breathing practice (aka. pranayama) may not be. What yogis have known for thousands of years is just being discovered again and revealed in this NPR article.
To make a long story short:
- Breathing is good for you
- You can use your breath to calm down
- Breathing is so powerful that it can change your gene expression
If you already have a yoga practice, then you know the profound effects of learning to take deeper breaths. If you don’t, then there is no time like the present. Place your feet on the floor, relax your shoulders and take a deep breath and release it.
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.
Science Experiment
I recently received an e-mail newsletter from a “yoga coach” (the same one that introduced me to the Solid Potato Salad video on the Class Schedule page of the site) and he had a new one that is great fun that I thought you might enjoy.
You’re a Star…..Literally.
In my estimation, of the greatest joys of being a parent is that you get to reconnect with children’s literature. Sure, there are nights when I’m quite sure that if I ever even accidentally trip over a Dr. Seuss book again that I might immediately burst into flames–never mind READ it again. For the most part, I am delighted by the beautiful illustrations, the kind and meaningful tone and the idea that there is such great potential in this life.
Recently, we checked out The Greatest Intergalactic Guide to Space Ever by the Brainwaves from our local library. The illustrations by Lisa Swerling and Ralph Lazar are imaginative and, quite frankly, hilarious. The book is a brilliant collection of facts about space and it is everything that I had hoped my college course on astronomy would be, but without the physics.
Then, on page 25, I read something that awed me and put me in touch with a sense of wonder and wonderment that made me kiss my sleeping blondie on his little head before I continued my new favorite book:
“The Sun is mostly hydrogen and helium, but it also includes small amounts of other elements. Earth formed close to the Sun from the same cloud of matter. Humans are material made from Earth’s elements, so everything in our bodies was once a star.”
Just in case you didn’t catch it—–EVERYTHING YOU ARE MADE OF WAS ONCE A STAR! Now, I’d heard something similar in some yoga or energy text that suggested that our bodies are made up of the same elements that stars are made of, but this is something different entirely because it creates a chronology. The statement in this children’s book suggests a past for all of us, a past when our parts were shining clouds of matter in the night sky. This idea is at once humbling and liberating.
No matter what kind of yoga you practice, the foundation of the practice is a kind of mindfulness that becomes available when we focus the mind and acknowledge the constant stream of thoughts that so many of us make the mistake of identifying with. Maybe that stream slows down somewhat with time and practice, but for many of us, what we can obtain in this lifetime is just an awareness. In many classes, the smallest element that we break our awareness into is the cell. What I would like to suggest is that, based on this idea that our most elemental parts were at one time a star, we spend some time in meditation getting in touch with our inner star.
The first step, and perhaps the most challenging, is to release our physical body—the body of organs and bones and blood and guts. Especially if you are in pain, this may be a considerable challenge. But, to give it a try, just lie on your back and systematically relax from your toes to the crown of your head. Then, just wait for your breathing to naturally slow down and become shallow. Don’t rush it or try to control the breath. Just lie there until you feel everything slow down.
The second step would be to watch the transitions of the breath. Focus on the space where the in-breath becomes the out-breath and the out-breath becomes the in-breath. If you lose your focus, just return to it whenever you realize that you’ve drifted. If you constantly lose focus, then you can try to add counting—-count your inhale (1) and then just listen to the sound of your exhale, count your inhale(2) and then listen to the exhale and so on until you count to ten. Anyone who has tried this before knows that you will probably get lost before you reach ten, but just keep it up and return to one when you realize you are lost.
The third step is starting to feel the way that energy is moving through your body. There is no right or wrong answer. Bring your mind’s eye to your navel and just see how energy is moving from your center to the periphery. Maybe your center feels numb—that’s interesting! Maybe you can only feel your right side—that’s interesting! Please try not to make judgments. Instead, just be incredibly curious.
Finally, start to feel the pulse of energy through the body and give that pulse a golden light. When you feel the energy rise, feel yourself glow. When you feel the energy start to wane, then feel a complete release as your light dulls a bit. Just pulse energy and light like this for as long as you wish, until you fall asleep or until you wake up.
Confirmed by a children’s book—-you ARE a star!
REFERENCES
Stott, Carole
The Greatest Intergalactic Guide to Space Ever by the Brainwaves. London; New York:DK Publishers, 2009.
Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika, a lovely little studio in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: 6520 Wilkins Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. Contact information for Sharon is available on the website: http://www.yogamatrika.com/. Please feel free to share and re-post, but be kind and give credit back to the Yoga Matrika blog and Sharon. Namaste!
Yoga and Hope
In the March 2010 issue of ODE Magazine, there is a thought provoking article, Great Expectations: How hope therapy can help banish mild mood disorders and boost happiness, by Catherine Ryan. Among the many things that I started to think about was the way that yoga promotes hope.
What precisely is hope? Hope is a subtle sensation and state of being, sometimes an emotion, that provides a vague sense that something other than what “is” can be possible. It provides the foundation for every change, every decision and every transition that we find ourselves on the other side of. Without hope, the capacity to love, to move, to grow or to change is stifled and the great shadow of fear and doubt can overwhelm us. Hope is sometimes confused as faith, but although these both require one another, they are quite different. In order to act on hope, one must have faith in the potentially positive outcome of one’s actions. In order to have faith, there must be a song of hope in one’s heart or the faith grows hard like the stone of dogma.
The kind of hope that provides a boost to happiness is based on the idea that change happens. Those of us who practice yoga regularly are able to experience this on our mats in every practice. As we move through asana (poses) or pranayama (breathing), it is impossible not to notice that each breath is different, each moment of holding an asana or transition between the asana creates different sensation. Some of these sensations and changes in the breath are not welcome! But, we become uniquely aware through a practice that nothing is the same. If you have not practiced yoga before, this may sound terrifying. But, if you practice regularly, you are nodding your head and perhaps even smiling as you acknowledge the profound sense of liberation that this type of awareness creates. None of us are stuck. Not only do we have the capacity to change, but change is our natural state of being.
According to the psychologists who provided the data for the ODE article, “Hope, as defined by psychologists, is the belief that you have the skills and energy to make your dreams a reality (Ryan 2010: 53).” They suggest that our current emotional state is often determined by our expectations for the future (Ryan 2010: 53). In general, the idea is that hopeful people are happier (53). If this is the case, then one of the best ways that we can cultivate happiness is to cultivate hope. Research also seems to indicate that building high expectations doesn’t set you up for a harder fall (Ryan 2010:54). In fact, high-hopers seem uniquely prepared to bounce back after a fall due to their ability to quickly evaluate a situation and make changes (54). Yoga can play a role here too. What we learn in our practice on the mat is that when we feel something “not quite right” we take a moment to breathe into it. If things don’t change, then sometimes all we need is a soft blanket under our hip, or a block under our hand and, voila!, it feels just right. What we realize is that it isn’t that we aren’t doing a pose “right” or “wrong,” but rather that a simple modification can create an “ah ha!” moment out of an “uh-oh.”
Yoga also helps us learn how to set specific and achievable goals. Apparently, for adults who do not have high-hopes, one of the first steps of hope therapy is to learn how to set a specific and achievable goal (Ryan 2010: 54). In open level yoga classes, some students can do some amazing things with balance, with their strength, with their energy and some students struggle to just sit on their mat or lie still in savasana—yet they are all doing yoga. When we first start out, we realize immediately that, while yoga shouldn’t be goal oriented, we can determine the types of goals that are and are not achievable. It would not be realistic to think that we could come into an advanced balancing pose if we struggle to maintain balance in Warrior I, but it is not unrealistic to think that we can become more aware of our balance and the position of our feet in relationship to the earth. We also find that great happiness and the complete benefit of the practice is available to us no matter what the poses look like. After class, the person who could do a handstand in the middle of the room—feels great. The person who did child’s pose for most of the class—feels great. A regular yoga practice shows us that there is great benefit in simply being present. If that isn’t hope, then I don’t know what is.
REFERENCES
Ryan, Catherine
Great Expectations: How hope therapy can help banish mild mood disorders and boost happiness. IN Ode Magazine, March 2010, pages 53-54.
Written and posted by Sharon Rudyk, Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.