Tag: Pittsburgh meditation

Health Coach for Women

June 22, 2013
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I provide comprehensive, holistic and compassionate care for women of all ages who want to engage in a positive relationship with their pelvis, reproductive health, endocrine system and menstrual cycles.  This includes:

  • Healing for irregular menstrual cycles
  • Learning how to be aware of and track fertility signs
  • Managing chronic pelvic pain, vaginal pain or hip/low back pain
  • Cesarean and birth recovery including nerve damage, anxiety and abdominal and pelvic floor strengthening
  • Working with symptoms associated with PMS (mood, bloating, headaches, etc.)
  • Alternative support for PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome)
  • Infertility, miscarriage and pregnancy loss support
  • Healthy menopause
  • Adrenal Fatigue
  • Anxiety, depression, anger and frustration in relationship to menstrual cycles, fertility, PMS, pelvic pain and infertility

WOMEN’S HEALTH CONSULTATION SERVICES

2-Hour Consultation and Evaluation
$200

50-Minute Sessions
$90

Package of Six Individual Sessions
$500

Package of Consultation and Six Individual Sessions
$675

HOW DO WE WORK TOGETHER?

If you live in Pittsburgh or surrounding suburbs, then we can meet together in person in a beautiful treatment room at Mookshi Wellness Center (401 Biddle Avenue, 2nd Floor above Biddle’s Escape Cafe in Regent Square).

If you live anywhere else in the world, then we can work together using the power of the internet making geographical location and distance irrelevant.  You will need access to the internet and SKYPE or we can use Google to “hang-out.”

WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU COACH PEOPLE TO DO?

The mind and body are always aligned, but sometimes we start living as if this is not the case.  In mind body therapy, I use a variety of techniques to help you feel more connected in mind and body. I choose the techniques that I think will be most helpful to you in meeting your goals: relaxation, mindful movement, breathing practices, mindful eating and meditation are common skills that I instruct my clients in using to support their own well-being.  In addition, I offer instruction in planning menus, improving quality of sleep, using a basal thermometer to track menstrual cycles and other practical and specific lifestyle skills that support your goals.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO SEE RESULTS?

Most women see evidence of benefits to our work together within 6-sessions. In general, the lifestyle changes including diet, exercise and meditation have both immediate benefits and women find that they are able to meet their original goals that were identified during the initial consultation between 6-months to one year.  This is an empowering process where you learn how to improve the quality of your life.  Once you learn the skills, they are yours to keep and use forever.

DISCLAIMER

During our initial consultation,  I will want to make sure that you have sought out appropriate medical care and diagnosis to rule out any medical conditions, illness or disease that can cause pain, irregular cycles, bloating and other symptoms as described above.  I am not a doctor and offer holistic lifestyle consultations and support for women who have chronic reproductive organ and system health concerns that are not treatable through bio-medicine.  While rare, there are serious conditions that can cause similar symptoms to PMS or PCOS, irregular cycles and infertility.  My advice is not meant to replace professional medical care and I will never recommend that you stop taking any prescribed medication or treatment plan that has been prescribed by a doctor or mental health professional.  If you have not already had an exam and evaluation by a medical professional regarding your condition, I will recommend that you do so as soon as possible in our initial consultation.   

ABOUT ME

Sharon Rudyk is a yoga and meditation instructor and birth doula based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  If you are from the general Pittsburgh area, we can meet in a beautiful and private practice space that I use at Mookshi Wellness Center in Regent Square.  If you live anywhere else in the world or it is more convenient for you to work with me using distance tools, I also work with phone sessions, Google Hangout and SKYPE.  All you need for distance sessions is a quiet place, an internet connection and either a phone/computer or electronic notebook/iPad.  Call me at 412.855.5692 for your FREE and absolutely no obligation phone session.

NEW Online Meditation Course

June 13, 2013
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Four Noble Truths: Insights and Meditations

In this five-week online course, we will explore the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism through Phillip Moffitt’s book, “Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering.”  The course includes guided required reading of this text and instruction in a variety of mindful meditations that help build compassion and insight.  Introductory tuition $25.

You can start the course at ANY time and have immediate access to the first unit upon enrollment.  You have five weeks to take the course from the date you start.  There is no schedule to keep to or required group activities.  Read at your own pace and engage with the videos, worksheets and guided meditations in whatever way is most helpful for you.  No grades.  No pressure.  No requirements.

This course is for you if:tangka

  • You want to feel less anxiety, stress and depression
  • You want to learn more about fundamental concepts in Buddhism
  • You need a flexible program that allows you to work at your convenience
  • You wish to increase your capacity for compassion

This course is for yoga and meditation students of all levels who want to know more about Buddhism and wish to learn metta meditation techniques to either start or refresh a daily meditation practice.  This is an intellectual, personal and shared journey into meditation practices that are inspired by insights related to the Four Noble Truths.  These are secular practices that can be incorporated into even the most busy lifestyle.

Dr. Dean Ornish has described the core textbook for this online course as, “…a profound book about the relationship between happiness and suffering.  It is filled with wisdom about how to live a more effective and satisfying life.  I recommend it for anyone who is struggling with change in their lives.” (From the back cover)

Do you want to improve the quality of your health on your own time, at your own pace and in the comfort of your home, office or local coffee shop or park?

Do you need an affordable meditation program that doesn’t require you to also pay for transportation, childcare, meals and housing?

Are you looking for new inspiration and meaning for your existing practice?  Are you a yoga or meditation teacher that wants to incorporate more meditation in your own practice and your teaching?  

Do not delay!  You will learn simple techniques for relieving stress, tension and anxiety on the very first day of the course—even before you read one word of the core text!

Wanting Mind

May 16, 2013
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Love Letter Thursday 5.16.13
Pittsburgh, PA

On this Thursday, I send you some ideas on the wanting mind.  Rooted in desire, the wanting mind is constantly evaluating what we like, don’t like, wish for and don’t wish for.  Although the world keeps changing right underneath our feet, we grasp with the wanting mind and hope (expect?) that somehow we can set the circumstances in place that will allow things to be “just so” and for as long as possible.  This is, exactly, the idea behind the love note itself.  Or is it?

In Phillip Moffitt’s book, Emotional Chaos to Clarity (which, by the way, I can’t recommend highly enough), he explores the difference between expectation and possibility.  And, I argue that, based on his explanation of the difference between the two, a love note is exciting because it is filled with possibility rather than expectation.  Sure, you don’t expect to open my little note on Thursday and find something mean spirited, but the reason why you look forward to these notes is because anything is possible—will it be a poem, a song, a video, a picture, a……….well, anything is possible really and there lies the joy.  But, if you found yourself really liking the love letters with videos and you opened this and didn’t find a video, well then, you might not be able to truly enjoy this love note for what it is.  In essence, your expectation that your wanting mind’s preference for videos in my love notes, when not met, will cause you to have a bad experience of this note even though it is entirely pleasant.

And, according to Phillip Moffitt, we pretty much do this to ourselves all the time.  We allow our wanting mind to determine what we like and when we don’t get it, regardless of how pleasant the reality might be, it is near impossible to let go of the disappointment and appreciate what is possible.

Wow!

Expectations narrow options, limit imagination and create pressure because you can only have a sense of well being if your wanting mind’s expectations are met.  Possibilities, on the other hand, are a request rather than a demand.  Possibilities are based on what is actually happening in the present moment.  Possibilities allow you to consider that there might be something even greater than what you think you want.

TAKE ACTION

What kinds of expectations has your wanting mind brought to your attention today?  Is there anything you expect that you might be able to release and turn into a possibility?  For example, all day long you look forward to your yoga class because you love your teacher.  Just the sound of her voice makes you feel calm and collected.  But, when you show up for class, you find out that your teacher had to fly back to San Francisco to visit with her sick Auntie and there is a substitute instructor.  Can you resist your urge to pack up your mat and head back out, disgruntled?  Can you turn this expectation into a possibility?  Can you give the present enough time to reveal potential?  Can you, just for a few moments, entertain the idea that you might even like the substitute teacher better than your regular teacher?  Or, maybe you will learn something new?  Or, maybe your experience will simply reinforce your gratitude for having found your regular teacher?

In honor of love letter Thursday, I ask you to challenge yourself to turn one expectation into a possibility and share your experience with the community below.

This Love Letter is brought to you from Sharon Rudyk, a Pittsburgh based yoga and meditation instructor, yoga therapist and doula.  Do you want my newsletter brought right to your inbox every Thursday?  Of course you do!  Well, then sign up here.

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Seven Stress Related Health Problems

April 30, 2013
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Here are seven stress-related health problems you can do something about with gentle yoga and meditation.  Remember, stress isn’t a “feeling”–it is a physiologic response to perceived (or real) danger.  It isn’t in “your head” and yoga and meditation provide release of deeply held tensions, fears and anxieties through physical, mental and spiritual exercises.

Heart Disease and Diabetes
Stress raises your glucose levels making it harder to manage Type 2 diabetes.  Mindfulness-based meditation programs have been proven to reverse heart disease.

Asthma
Chronic stress makes asthma worse and children with stressed-out parents are more likely to have asthma.

Obesity
Stress causes higher levels of the hormone cortisol which makes you collect fat around your middle.

Headaches
Migraines and tension headaches.  Enough said.

Depression and Anxiety
Adults who report having stressful jobs (like having a lot of work and very few rewards) have an 80% higher chance of developing depression than adults who do not report a stressful work environment.  It’s unlikely that you can change your work situation overnight, but you can change your response to stress with regular yoga and meditation practices.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome
You have a very smart gut and stress changes your gut’s ability to process food and can be a factor in GERD, IBS and making ulcers worse.

Accelerated Aging & Premature Death
Caregivers have a 63% higher chance of dying prematurely than adults of the same age who are not caregivers.  Life is stressful, but we can use very simple methods of movement and meditation to ease this tension and decrease this risk.

Sign up for my newsletter and you will receive a downloadable/printable PDF with three exercises you can do right now to ease tension and stress (no matter where you are, your physical abilities or what you are wearing—-everyone can do these!).  This is posted by Sharon Rudyk, an independent yoga and meditation instructor based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who has designed a unique movement-based meditation program, Matrika Yoga in the hopes of making yoga and meditation available to everyone and improving the quality of life for as many people as possible.  Namaste.

 

 

Love Letter Thursday 2.28.13

February 28, 2013
Posted by Sharon
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28.2.13
Pittsburgh, PA

I want to live in a world where everyone believes that each new day represents a completely new opportunity.  It really breaks my heart when I talk with my friends, family or students and they feel as though their future has been determined by the mistakes, adversity or experiences of their past.  I see so many of us feeling stuck and in the feeling place of lacking the velocity to bring ourselves out of a trajectory that has us on the wrong track, but we feel like we just aren’t the “type of person” that makes changes “like that” or perhaps we feel doomed to be just like ______________(fill in the blank with the name of some relative).  Sometimes, it is just so hard to see around the obstacles and challenges in our life.

I want you to feel powerful in the face of change and adversity.  

So, I’ve created, just for you, a sweet meditation practice where you take a little bit of time (an hour and fifteen minutes to be exact) to help you learn a practice that will ease any anxiety you are experiencing around change and obstacles in your life.   This practice, which can be done by everyone (no experience, flexibility, sense of inner peace required), is a combination of breathing, hand mudra (a yoga pose for your hands) and visualization.

Right now I want you to go to this private little space on my website, enter the password JEWEL and then follow the directions to RSVP for a meditation practice that will put you in touch with infinity.

It all begins right now (because this moment is the most important moment of all)!  See you on SUNDAY!

With all my love,

Sharon

“When I was a Boy Scout, we played a game when new Scouts joined the troop. We lined up chairs in a pattern, creating an obstacle course through which the new Scouts, blindfolded, were supposed to maneuver. The Scoutmaster gave them a few moments to study the pattern before our adventure began. But as soon as the victims were blindfolded, the rest of us quietly removed the chairs. I think life is like this game. Perhaps we spend our lives avoiding obstacles we have created for ourselves and in reality exist only in our minds. We’re afraid to apply for that job, take violin lessons, learn a foreign language, call an old friend, write our Congressman – whatever it is that we would really like to do but don’t because of perceived obstacles. Don’t avoid any chairs until you run smack into one. And if you do, at least you’ll have a place to sit down.”

Pierce Vincent Eckhart


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Benefits of Meditation

January 30, 2013
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Wondering about the potential benefits of meditation?  Here are just a few scientifically proven benefits of meditation:

1-Change in Brain Shape: meditation has been shown to increase cortical thickness and increased gray matter and hippocampus size

2-Change in how emotions are processed by the amygdala

3-Meditation changes gene expression and DNA

4-It’s not just for women!  The Department of Defense has invested in meditation programs for marines.  Men benefit greatly from meditation.  

5-Meditation is an excellent tool for stress management and stress reduction

6-Meditation has been shown to improve cardiovascular health and prevent cardiac events including stroke

 

Do you need a new meditation cushion?  Buy one HERE.

Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, an independent yoga and meditation instructor based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Find out more at www.sharonrudykyoga.com.

 

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Out of Beer?

November 21, 2012
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Benjamin Franklin said that beer was proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.  But, what happens when you run out of beer?

Matthieu Ricard offers some ideas about happiness in this short talk.  Enjoy!

We Can Be Buddhas

November 21, 2012
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Excellent Ted Talk by Robert Thurman about the ego and that our misperception that what we are is inside our skin.  Short, sweet, interesting and inspiring!

Working the Knots: Yoga and Yarn

June 1, 2012
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NOTE: This is an “older” post from 2012.  I AM offering this workshop on November 15, 2014 at Indie Knit and Spin in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Check out the Indie Knit and Spin website for details and registration information.

 

 

Working the Knots: Yoga and Yarn
Sunday, January 27th, 4:00-5:30 pm
Location: Yoga Matrika
Facilitated by Sharon Rudyk (YOGA) and Cosette Cornelius-Bates (YARN)

Tuition: $15
Pay on-site with any credit/debit card or personal check.

 

Join Sharon  (YOGA) and Cosy (YARN) for this delightful workshop for yogis and knitters of all levels.  The workshop begins with some stretches that are helpful for knitters and techniques for enhancing knitting and creativity in general through meditation and visualization.  Once we are warmed up with all our creative juices flowing, we will explore the sensual and social sides of knitting by discussing our current projects and ideas together and receiving guidance from Cosy on a variety of unique techniques for materials, color work and pattern interpretation.  Then, we’ll knit together and close our workshop with a deep relaxation guided by Sharon.  You’ll leave the workshop feeling both inspired and relaxed!  No experience with yoga or meditation required.  If you are a knitter, we invite you to bring whatever project you are working on currently (or perhaps something from deep within your stash……..) and this is what you will work on during the knitting part of the workshop.  We also invite you to bring any questions that you have about knitting in general, materials, reading patterns or a technique that you have been interested in and/or can’t quite figure out.  If you have never knit before or are a genuine beginner, then we invite you to bring the following materials and we will work with you in a special break-out group for absolute beginner knitters during the knitting time: worsted weight yarn and size 7 or 8 needles (straight or circular is fine).  While this is not a “learn to knit” workshop, due to the nature of the workshop, it is only important that you are knitting curious and not that you know how to knit already.  We hope that this workshop will be inspirational for everyone!