Tribecca Yummy Mummy
One of my most wonderful yoga instructors in New York, Cate Bruce-Low, does the most creative and beautiful activities with children and documents her most excellent recipees for cooking with children and ideas for keeping in touch with nature (even in the most urban of environments!). Check out her blog for some inspiration:
http://tribecayummymummy-cate.blogspot.com/2010/04/planting-spring-is-here.html
Yoga at Home for $2 a Month
There are a LOT of great reasons to practice yoga at home on your own:
1-You have work and/or family responsibilities that make it impossible to consistently get to a yoga class. This may be especially true for new parents who are juggling jobs, childcare and EVERYTHING!
2-You travel often and wish you had a practice you could take with you on the road
3-It’s a great way to advance your practice and always do the poses and exercises that best support you in how you feel (if you’re calling the shots, then you don’t have to do any handstands if you don’t want to!).
4-If you are not feeling well, are injured or need a modified practice for any reason, you can learn how to do a practice that will help you feel better
5-You want to make yoga a part of everyday—a real part of your life and not just a class or workshop that you take every once in a while.
Many of my students ask me how to start a home practice and how to be consistent about practicing at home. For them, and for you, I have designed a great home practice that can be done anywhere by anyone. In just 10-minutes a day, you will feel a huge improvement in how you feel. I am charging $24 for 12-months of home practice support. Here are the details:
Yoga Matrika invites YOU to Make 2010 the Year
YOU Develop a Home Yoga Practice.
We welcome everyone to become a part of this yoga-based resolution revolution! You don’t have to live in Pittsburgh and we hope that EVERYONE will take advantage of this project that invites you to make yoga and meditation a part of EVERY day of your life in a gentle and flexible way. This program is for yogis of all ages, experience levels and physical abilities.
Here is how it works:
STEP 1: Pay the fees for home practice or make a donation
The cost for the basic home practice and one year of home yoga practice support is $24. You can make a payment online at the bottom of this page.
STEP 2: You will receive a BASIC HOME PRACTICE in the mail to the mailing address you provide when you make payment.
This home practice will take most adults 10-15 minutes to complete. Modifications for practice in a chair or lying down can be provided upon request. The home practice guide will include pictures and text that describe the poses and exercises. If you ever have any questions, there will be support contact information provided in your WELCOME KIT.
STEP 3: Every month, you will receive an e-mail newsletter that will provide an additional 5-10 minutes of practice ideas so that you can slowly expand the amount of time you are spending on your home practice through the 12-months of the program.
By the end of one year, you will have:
1-A basic home practice that you can do anytime and anywhere in 10-15 minutes.
2-Three different 1-hour long home practices that you can do:
#1: Home Practice for Low Back and Hips
#2: Home Practice for Stress Relief
#3: Home Practice to Relieve Tension in the Head, Neck and Shoulders
3-Home Yoga & Meditation practices for anywhere between 10-minutes and 1-hour so you will always have a plan for your home practice no matter how much or how little time you have.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I SIGN-UP?
When you sign-up for home practice support, you will receive a Welcome Kit that will include the BASIC HOME PRACTICE. The basic home practice is designed to take 10-15 minutes and includes some breathing practices, stretching and relaxation. We suggest that you start by making a commitment to doing 10-minutes of yoga a day for 5-days per week. It’s more important that you are consistent about practicing every day than the amount of time you spend every day. You will be amazed at how different you feel with just 10-minutes of practice!
One month after you sign-up for the home practice support, you will begin to receive monthly e-mail newsletters that provide an additional 5-minutes to add on to your basic practice until you have an hour-long home practice with variations for low back and hip care, stress, and tension in head, neck and shoulders. You will also receive yoga and meditation tips in every newsletter that will help inspire your practice and keep it fresh. It is ALWAYS your choice how much or how little of the practice you do. This practice is designed so that, no matter how much or how little time you have, you can always have a great plan for a 10-minute, 20-minute, 40-minute or hour long practice and everything in between.
You don’t need any special equipment or clothing to practice yoga at home. It is suggested that you decide on a place for your practice and consistently use that place (it can be ANYWHERE that you have floor space—kitchen, hallway, ANYWHERE). Many people find that it is helpful to have a yoga mat and to keep it within view so that you can just throw your mat down and practice when you have a few minutes.
We also recommend that you take a minimum of 2-yoga classes a month with a qualified teacher at a studio in your area. It’s a good idea to go to a class so that you can receive adjustments to your poses, be a part of a supportive yoga community and receive the benefits of an inspiring practice. You will learn new poses and new ideas and you can always incorporate what you like the most into your home practice. Practicing on your own and practicing with a group is a very different experience. It’s important to have both of these types of experiences in order to advance your practice AND to keep your home practice fresh and exciting.
Your 2010 home practice will also include reading the following two books:
1. Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul
by Deepak Chopra. 2009
2. The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of
Happiness by Youngey Mingyur Rinpoche. 2007
Each monthly e-newsletter will include information from these texts to inspire your practice and to keep your practice engaged with yoga philosophy.
You don’t have to buy these books, but we think you’ll want to so you can read them again and again and again!—You can borrow them from the library, create a home practice group with friends and collectively own one set of the texts, etc. If you do buy them and you have a local book shop, please order it through them or ask them to carry these titles. If not, then the book titles are linked to information that will help you purchase them online. If you live in or around the Pittsburgh Metro area, we recommend Joseph Beth Booksellers on the South Side. They should have these books in stock for you or they can order them!
If you are interested, please go to http://www.yogamatrika.com//practiceyoga-at-home/
for more details and to sign-up for home practice support.
Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk
Owner and Director, Yoga Matrika
http://www.sharonrudykyoga.info
http://www.yogamatrika.com/
http://www.prenatalyogapittsburgh.com
Resolution Revolution
I’ve been frustrated lately and overwhelmed—-by my work, by my work relationships, by the fact that my husband has become obsessed with watching CSPAN and mostly by what I feel around me in the energetic field. We are exhausted and want more from our leaders, our medical system, our businesses and banks. We want people who have power to start using it in a way that is GOOD and GENEROUS and RIGHT.
Then, this morning, I woke up and I realised that we must have a REVOLUTION. We must have a great social movement in which EVERY PERSON decides to live each day according to their highest self. We must STOP violence against ourselves and open to the potential of every moment because it is in our collective pledge to make every moment, every decision and every interaction one that matters that true REVOLUTION will happen. We will, collectively, create a joyful and responsible energy–an energy where anyone who suggests that not protecting the earth, our heath and our ability to protect and nurture our children will simply feel out of alignment with what is real and right and responsible. And when I say “OUR” I don’t mean American “OUR”—-I mean the “OUR” of humanity and of all living things.
Dr. Seuss tells us this in Horton Hears a Who—-EVERYONE in Whoville had to make a great noise in order to be saved. In this revolution, instead of noise, we will make the silent vibration of positive energy. Energy that creates a force of peace and light and love that can not be ignored. In this lifetime, we can make a lasting vibration for peace that will have an infinite impact on the entire world. We may feel small and powerless, but this is a trick of the mind that we can reveal with yoga and meditation.
Yoga provides us with the support and inspiration we need to make this way of creating peace, energy and connecting to our own higher power. Yoga is not a class, it is a choice—-a choice to move through the world in accordance with our inner guidance. This practice can be done by anyone with a body, even if you can’t move your body or struggle with physical or mental challenges. The practice is not a religion and will only serve to enhance your commitment to any religious or spiritual practices that you are already committed to. This year, in 2010, consider joining the revolution.
Yoga Matrika invites YOU to a YOGA CHALLENGE.
We welcome everyone to become a part of this yoga-based resolution revolution! You don’t have to live in Pittsburgh and we hope that EVERYONE will take advantage of this project that invites you to make yoga and meditation a part of EVERY day of your life in a gentle and flexible way.
Most New Years’ resolutions are about fixing what is broken, making changes, and trying to be better, greater, more than what you are right now. But what if, this year, you became a part of a RESOUTION REVOLUTION to:
PROMOTE PEACE and NON-VIOLENCE starting with YOURSELF
PROMOTE RESPECT for HUMAN LIFE starting with YOURSELF
HAVE NO FEAR by acting according to your HIGHEST SELF and INNER GUIDANCE
If we all do this, then our Resolution Revolution will cause ripples of hope, joy, gratitude and beauty through the entire Universe. Stop “not having enough time” and MAKE TIME. Stop, “being so worried about the economy” and MAKE ENERGY. Stop, “being so mad about the wars” and CREATE PEACE. Stop acting on your fears and INSIST on ACTING from YOUR HIGHEST SELF.
Let’s walk on our own two feet, feel the earth beneath us,
reach for the stars and make 2010 the year we really LIVE!
You might lose weight, get a better job, stop fighting with your partner or screaming at your kids, really start practicing the oboe and get your finances in order—- or you might not. But, I guarantee that if you make an honest pledge to the Resolution Revolution, this will be one of the best years of your life.
Every revolution needs a text, but this revolution has TWO! Our 2010 texts are:
1. Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul by Deepak Chopra. 2009
2. The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness by Youngey Mingyur Rinpoche. 2007
You don’t have to buy these books, but we think you’ll want to so you can read them again and again and again!—You can borrow them from the library, create a Resolution Revolution group with friends and collectively own one set of the texts, etc. If you do buy them and you have a local book shop, please order it through them or ask them to carry these titles. If not, then the book titles are linked to information that will help you purchase them online.
HOW THE RESOLUTION REVOLUTION WORKS
STEP 1: Print out a Revolution Pledge Form, read the pledge and think about your level of commitment to the pledge. If you would like to commit, keep one signed copy in a safe place for yourself and send one to Yoga Matrika in Pittsburgh, PA. In this way, you set a public intention to commit to the pledge.
STEP 2: Make a payment or donation in order to receive your WELCOME KIT and to start receiving monthly e-newsletters with a review of the readings for that month and some yoga tips and hints. The monthly newsletter will inspire you to stick with the pledge and provide great tips for your yoga practice.
STEP 3: Keep your pledge. Practice daily.
STEP 4: Provide feedback and ask for support. Starting in September 2010, we will begin to publish an online journal for the pledge that incorporates the feedback, thoughts, ideas and reflections of participants.
WELCOME KIT
When you make a pledge to the Resolution Revolution, you will receive a reading schedule & monthly email newsletter with a discussion and review of the readings and yoga and meditation exercises that support that month’s topic. You will also receive instructions on a meditation and yoga series that you will commit to doing 5-days EVERY week. This meditation and yoga series takes 15-20 minutes and can be done by EVERYONE. Even if you are not able to move your body or if you are confined to bed, you can DO THIS series with simple modifications that are included in the instructions.
Although the greatest benefit will come from starting on January 1st, you can make the pledge at ANY TIME! You will receive all of the previous e-mail newsletters and the yoga practice so you can “catch up”.
We will also be documenting the REVOLUTION and invite you to submit ideas, thoughts, reflections and personal stories to inspire more participation and to encourage anyone who has “taken a break” from their pledge. You will receive information about this in your WELCOME KIT!
FEES
The cost of the e-mail newsletters and year of yoga practice is $24–$2 per month to change your life and change the world. If you do not have $24, but would like to make this pledge. We honor your current financial situation and offer a DONATION option that allows you to choose an amount that works with your budget. Your purchase supports the costs associated with the administration of the revolution including, but not limited to: web fees, e-newsletter subscription costs and professional fees.
Yoga Works
I’m just about as committed, or perhaps even MORE committed, to the “Why?” as anyone. I think it’s a rather good question to be asked about anything from WHY is the Nobel peace prize winner suggesting that we increase our war activities to WHY do Pittsburghers call sprinkles, “jimmies”. Or, the yoga owner gasps, WHY should anyone do yoga? Just as committed as I am to the WHY, I’m simply frustrated at the infinite number of things that I can’t seem to comprehend or the number of WHY questions that I can’t get a satisfactory answer to. Will someone just give me the satisfaction of a BECAUSE… every once in a while?
If there is one thing that I know to be true and that is that YOGA WORKS. I mean, it works for EVERYONE—children, moms, men, women, older people, teens, injured and sick, athletic and healthy, flexible, idiots and genius alike (generally subjective measurements anyway!)—–yoga works in all cases and without exception. Why? I have no idea! I’m relatively convinced that any answer is only the beginning of an answer or even a fraction of the answer. I don’t care if you got this answer by measuring brain activity, hormone levels, blood chemicals, stress level, decrease in headaches, reported relationship satisfaction, increased fertility, etc. However you get your answer to the why of yoga, it’s only part of the story. The most terrifying thing about this kind of inquiry is that I wonder how many questions I have asked and found an answer to that I really only know the fraction of—maybe WHY just isn’t the right question and every BECAUSE is merely a PERHAPS in disguise?
I can think of two reasons why yoga decreases stress, makes us feel stronger and lighter and gives us energy and a feeling of bliss and joy:
1) We are moving in the most honest of ways and using our body to express, explore and respond to the environment around us instead of privileging the BRAIN and simply dragging the body around as a useful, but mostly frustrating appendage. So many people tell me that they can’t do yoga because they aren’t flexible or because they aren’t “the type.” If yoga was about touching your toes, then I can assure you gentle reader that 20 million Americans wouldn’t be doing yoga! And, I might ask, who is the yoga type and how do you know it doesn’t apply to you if you never try? As you are reading this, I happen to know that you are a live human and you have a body. This being the case, you are, in fact, just the right “type” for yoga. All you need is to be breathing and have a body and yoga will work for you!
2) Yoga is a vacation. When you practice yoga, you lighten your load—you slow down the breath, you take off your shoes and socks, you notice sensations in your body and you shut up. I don’t mean that you just stop talking. I mean that you stop talking, people stop talking to you and you can finally hear yourself think. For beginners, this is a terrifying moment because when you hear yourself think for the first time you can be overwhelmed to discover just how many thoughts you are having every minute or even every second. This flood of thoughts, ideas, feelings, desires, stories and much more just flood over you and once you become aware of this you start to say, “THINKING” and return your awareness to your breath. Ahhh—now isn’t that delightful? It’s not something you can say to your boss–right? Boss sticks her head in your cubicle and starts talking really fast about some immediate emergency double secret deadline and you can’t just say, “THINKING” and turn away! But in yoga, you even get a vacation from yourself and all the trappings and trimmings you have determined as elements of that self. You lighten your load by slowing down, removing obstacles to calm and getting out of your own way. You CAN say to yourself, “THINKING.”
So try a yoga class and move your body and breathe and, well, get out of your own way!
Posted by Sharon Rudyk, Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika (http://www.yogamatrika.com/) and Prenatal Yoga Pittsburgh (http://www.prenatalyogapittsburgh.com) in Point Breeze, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15217.
I’d like to give an appropriate reference to Pema Chodron, a most wonderful writer and teacher who suggests the concept of saying “Thinking” to yourself during meditation when you start to lose your focus or awareness. My personal favorite Pema Chodron title is, “The Wisdom of No Escape,” but you can try any title for excellent meditation information and practical advice and instruction.
Yoga & Pittsburgh Rain
I can’t help but notice that, when it rains, less people come to yoga classes. There’s something about the damp, grey and chilly weather that re-directs intentions and leads people to their home destination rather than to the studio or their mat. Rather than write this to make all of you who have been skipping your yoga classes in Pittsburgh for the past couple of rainy days feel guilty, I am writing this because it has inspired me to think about yoga practice as a way of grounding and coming home that provides the same comfort as skipping school and cuddling with your cat instead.
When we feel this need to “go home,” there are ways to shift our practice so that we create an embrace of asana and breath that warms the heart-mind and body. First, honor your mat. Make a ritual of your practice and have placing your mat on the earth as one of the elements of that ritual. Your mat becomes the sacred place where you can explore the embrace of spirit and mindfulness. When you take your seat and you want to set a cozy tone for your practice, make it a soft seat. You can do this by placing a cushion under your sitting bones and blankets under your ankles and knees. If you are in a cooler space, drape a shawl or light blanket over your shoulders.
Start your practice with a heart warming chant of the seed syllable “Hung.” First, watch your breath and then, as you deepen the breath, sing “Hung” using your diaphragm muscles and slowly allowing the vibration to ease tension in your heart. You can chant this syllable for as long as you like, just repeating it over and over again. Notice where you feel the sound vibrations and give yourself a few minutes after you are done to feel the differences in your body and the quality of your thoughts and breath.
Finally, give yourself permission to stretch and open to movement in your practice in a more organic way. Not sure where to start, get on your hands and knees and so a few cat/cow and see where the spirit moves you. Perhaps, you will want to move into some seated stretches or maybe a series of heart opening back bends? Maybe you will come into downward facing dog and move through a series of lunges and warrior poses. Maybe you will realise that what you really need is to take your legs up the wall and daydream! Whatever it is, keep the cozy intentions of your practice and make yourself feel at home.
Cheer up Pittsburgh!
Posted by Sharon Rudyk
Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika
http://www.yogamatrika.com/
Qigong and Yoga: What is Zhong Dao?
It’s always a risk to put a class on the schedule that has a name that no one recognizes. I have taken just this kind of risk by creating Zhong Dao. But, the name is such a perfect reflection of this combination Qigong Energy work and Yoga class that I just can’t call it by any other name!
First, I think that we can examine what the different elements of the class are for clarity. One aspect of the practice of Zhong Dao is inspired by Qigong. Qigong is a system of exercises that allow the practitioner to “learn how to control the flow and distribution of qi to improve the health and harmony of mind and body (Cohen 3).” What precisely is qi? Qi (pronounced: chee—as if you were going to say cheese without the “se”) has been translated in many different ways, but one that can be helpful for beginners and is especially appropriate for this context, is that qi is life energy. Gong means to work. Qigong is a “wholistic system of self-healing exercise and meditation, an ancient, evolving practice that includes healing posture, movement, self-massage, breathing techniques, and meditation (Cohen 4).”
Second, what is the connection between this Chinese Qigong practice and yoga? “In India, the life energy, prana, is described as flowing through thousands of subtle-energy veins, the nadis. One of the goals of Yoga is to accumulate more prana through breath control exercises (pranayama) and physical postures (asana) (Cohen 26).” One system of Yoga that has incorporated Chinese yin-yang theory is Yin Yoga. One of Paul Grilley’s students, Sarah Powers, has written a beautiful book called Insight Yoga that shows the Chinese energy patterns (meridians) and yoga asana that activate different energy meridians in the body.
Zhong means middle or center and Dao means path or way. Therefore, this practice is the middle way and a way to create a sense of balance and ease in the body and mind. This practice is designed to relieve stress and tension in the body so that there is equilibrium in the spirit, the immune system is supported and optimum health can be maintained. We do some gentle stretching and energy warm-ups followed by a practice of the Eight Brocades and end every practice session with a healing meditation.
Hope to see you on Saturdays for Zhong Dao at 10:30am!
Here are some excellent references for Yoga and Qigong:
The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing. Written by Kenneth S. Cohen. Ballantine Books, New York: 1997.
Insight Yoga. Written by Sarah Powers. Shambhala Publications, Boston & London: 2008.
Yin Yoga: Outline of a Quiet Practice. Written by Paul Grilley. White Cloud Press, Ashland, Oregon: 2002.
Happy Happy,
Sharon Rudyk
Owner and Director, Yoga Matrika
http://www.yogamatrika.com/
http://www.prenatalyogapittsburgh.com
YOGA MATRIKA is located at 6520 Wilkins Avenue in the Squirrel Hill/Point Breeze neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You can reach Sharon by calling (412) 855-5692.
Krishna Das in the BURGH!
I just wanted to send a shout out to HarmoniZing Pittsburgh for organizing a performance of devotional chanting by Krishna Das here in Pittsburgh. You can purchase a ticket online for the April 27, 7:00pm performance in Oakland by going to http://www.krishnadas.com or in person at Journeys of Life in Shadyside.
Please consider going to see Krishna Das live—-it’s just FABULOUS!
Dance
While I have always harbored a love of dance and desire to move with grace and agility, my body has not been the most cooperative vehicle for bringing this love into fruition. I love it, but I can’t seem to get it right. I know this about myself and this awareness has served me well. Once, I went out on a date with a (seemingly) wonderful man who suggested that, on our next date, we go swing dancing. I confidently swung my hair aside and smiled to say that I thought it would be fabulous. Inside, I was already frantic thinking about how I could learn how to swing dance in time for whenever this next date would be. The next morning, I had already signed-up for swing dance lessons and went every night that week to a local club that offered nightly lessons and live music. As Mr. Wonderful never called me again, it turns out that I had an infinite amount of time to learn, but my fear of even the possibility of dancing led me to an immediate obsession with the task. The good news is that I learned to swing dance and enjoyed many fabulous nights of music and movement. The bad news is that I never again met a man that wanted anything more than a second date who thought swing dancing was more fun than a root canal.
All this to say that I love dancing. So, this fall, I decided to add some dance inspired classes to the Yoga Matrika schedule. Mindful movement is therapeutic and Yoga Matrika is delighted to offer a Thursday morning Yoga Booty Ballet class with Aleta and a Thursday afternoon Yoga Inspired Modern Dance class with Mercedes. Get your body moving, heart pumping and limbs shaking and expand your idea of what is possible with your body and mind. Try these new classes and let these new skills inspire your practice. You never know what a little dance might bring into your life!
Yoga for the Wind
Wasn’t that wind storm beautiful? Perhaps, if you were one of the Pittsburgher’s whose car was crushed by a falling tree you might not be able to appreciate the beauty of it just yet, but for the rest of us it was a powerful, sensual and dynamic experience. No rain, lightning, hail. Just wind blowing over 35 miles per hour for over four hours in a row with gusts up to 60 miles per hour thrown in for gusto.
Yoga has many powerful connections with wind. First, and perhaps the most obvious, is the wind of breath. We take the wind of breath in through our nose or mouth and it fuels our bodies with oxygen. Depending on our breathing pattern we can communicate various messages to our brain through our central nervous system. As the breath moves through our bodies we use the internal architecture and organs of the body to accept the winds, move them to the available spaces and take the excess to appropriate avenues of escape. Another, somewhat less obvious connection to yoga(unless you have a ‘thing’ for potty humor or happen to be living with a 3rd grader), are the winds of our digestive system. There’s even a pose called “wind relieving posture” which has been known to massage some winds from a few student’s bellies. While the sound of the escape of these winds through burps and farts (yes, farts are part of yoga too) may cause some embarassment to the yogi, their release creates space and ease in the digestive system.
Finally, we have the winds of the internal energy of the body. Have you ever been really angry? (If the answer is no, then I’m SUPER excited and honored to have you, the Dalai Lama reading my blog!) Your anger might have risen from your belly your heart and you felt the need to amplify your voice to allow the energy of this angry wind escape through your mouth on the vehicle of your words. Illness and health is viewed through many healing traditions as management of the internal winds of the body.
So, today, allow wind to be a part of your yoga. Try inhaling and exhaling through your nose as you allow your shoulders to drop away from your ears. Listen to the sound of your breath. Close your eyes for a moment and look at your internal weather system. Belly full of wind? Heart full of wind? Have all the winds become so sedate that you can’t fly your soul kite today? Whatever your wind status, just spending a few moments to breathe and look at your internal weather might bring you insight and relief. And, if a tree did fall on your car last night, it will give you something to do as you call your insurance company and get placed on eternal hold.