Tag: stress

Barbarians and Blockheads

August 19, 2016
Posted by Sharon

It’s always the same.
Barbarians and blockheads, rival queens and kings,
The drama rolls on and on.
When people honor you,
You are supposed to feel honored.
When you don’t get respect, they expect
You to sulk in indignation.
One minute you are cruising on a throne in the sky,
The next you are standing on some bleak patch of dirt.

~Yukti Verses #102, Radiance Sutras

This verse, part of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra translated by Lorin Roche in his book, The Radiance Sutras, has helped me to put into perspective the characters and actions that grace American politics and the local and global violence, destruction, hatred and greed that unfolds before me on the news, in my social media feeds and in discussion boards where my neighbors complain about a 2% increase in some tax or another.  It is, quite frankly, why I don’t belong to any “mommy groups”.  Quite frankly, I don’t care how you potty trained your little genius and I certainly don’t want to waste time watching an argument between strangers regarding the appropriate techniques to unfold before my eyes in varrying degrees of aggression, shame, and self-absorbed righteousness.  But, I digress!

It is important to recognize that we are not special.  This time is not particularly special either.  The first written version of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra appeared in Kashmir around AD 800.  The drama rolled on and on then and it continues to roll now.  I recently read Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, “Inside the Now: Meditations on Time” and he introduces the book with a very matter of fact listing of all of his little brother and older brother monks who were killed during the colonial war with France in Vietnam.  Young, un-armed monks, shot to death at temples and on the street.  What do we have now?  We have little children gunned down in their elementary schools, the victims of a storm of mental illness and a culture that accepts violence as quality entertainment.  We have marathon runners losing life and limbs and a heroin and opiate addiction problem and college students inebriated and using sex like a weapon against themselves and one another. We do nothing to help new mothers and families with young children, yet we are quick to judge and “click clack” our tongues when we see on the news that some napping mother’s two-year old toddled out the front door in a wet diaper—again.  We are asleep with our eyes open.

The verse ends with a great instruction in how to release ourselves from this cycle of ups and downs and the drama that rolls on and on:

I say, the Sun regards all with a steady eye.
The force sustaining Earth and Sky
Calls everyone to awaken from this trance.
This whole world revolves around an axis, and I am that.

When you are friends with the Friend to All Beings
Nothing is the same.
Rich beyond measure, abundant beyond counting,
You can move through this life laughing.
Opinions of others have no rulership over you.

The Sun Regards All With A Steady Eye

Sometimes, I like to use a visualization with the sun for a sort of quick cleanse.  I invite you to try it too.  No matter what is happening, while sitting or standing somewhere safe and somewhat quiet, feel the soles of your feet growing roots down into the earth.  Feel these strong roots as cool, wide, and deep.  Then, picture a sun, a glowing orb of yellow light, sparkling right above the crown of your head.  Feel the sparkly yellow light cover the whole outside of your body like a sparkle poncho.

Don’t roll your eyes at me!  Give this a real try, then, whether it works or not, start a band named “Sparkle Poncho” and give me a little shout out when you play your first Super Bowl half-time entertainment gig.  Better yet, why not send me a small percentage of the check in gratitude with a little note about how I changed your life and you can’t believe you rolled your eyes at first.  Now, back to the visualization…….

Let your skin soften and relax and feel the boundaries of your body ease into the safety of this bright light of covering.  You may find that all this relaxation has caused all the tension in your body to travel to a specific spot.  For example, you are all blissed out, but your jaw is clenched and mouth tense.  Or, maybe you are wearing your shoulders like earings. Try to let that go too.

Now, allow a gentle warmth to spread into the cellular body, filling your bones with this sparkly yellow light and then your organs and all the fluid of your body.  We are mostly water and you can see yourself like a glistening ocean in the sparkly sunlight.  Feel all of your opinions, identifications, ideas, commitments, priorities, attachments soften with each exhalation until all you are is sparkly light.  Know that this is the same sun that warmed the faces of your ancestors and shines upon all living beings.  Share in this light that is beyond time and space.  In this knowing and sharing, we can access our friendship to the “friend to all beings”.  We don’t have to like everyone or be friendly to everyone or act like someone we aren’t, but we can use this shared light from the sun to enjoy a moment of connection to the “friend to all beings”.

Finally, re-connect to the cool roots through the soles of your feet and feel that earthy energy as it moves up through your legs, hips, belly, spine, middle back, heart, shoulders, arms, hands, throat, neck and face. Enjoy this grounded feeling into your skull and whole head.  You have been cleansed of all negativity and fear by the sparkly yellow light of the infinite sun that shines upon us all equally.  You can not be swayed by winds of this time that attempt to yank you around in swift contradictions.  You are grounded in the truth of the timeless sun that shines equally upon us all.

Here is an MP3 recording of this visualization for you to listen to or download and play whenever you need it.  It is less than four-minutes long.  Just don’t play while you are driving, operating heavy machinery or trying to change a poopy diaper because all those activities require your full attention.

Barbarians and Blockheads

If you ask me to name some people that I think fall into the “barbarians and blockheads” category, I can answer you quickly.  Actually, the list is long and ranges from people I have known intimately to people I just see on television or read about in the Atlantic Monthly.  Recently there has been a video traveling the interwebs of a little five year old Syrian boy who is covered in dust and bleeding from a head and face wound and he is alone in an ambulance. He was in a building that was bombed.  We see this suffering and we don’t know what to do with it.  Even worse, it pulls our own history of suffering out of whatever cave it might have been resting in and chokes us.  We shout out in genuine compassion for this young child who is a victim of circumstances he certainly isn’t to blame for.  But, we also cry from this wounded place inside of us where we have held on to experiences that left us “standing on some bleak patch of dirt”.

Whenever we find ourselves “standing on some bleak patch of dirt” we have options.  I believe we have infinite options.  Sometimes I like to just stand there and sob and then send text messages to anyone I think might read them about how bleak my little patch of dirt is at the moment.  Many times these good friends take a moment to remind me of times when I empowered myself jump off that bleak patch and used that leap of opportunity to shift my enegetic geography.  Many times these good friends stand with me in solidarity and let me know that they see me there in that patch of dirt and, for what it is worth, I’m not alone.  I’m grateful for this message too.  But, Thich Nhat Hanh has a message that releases us from that geographic location of the bleak patch of dirt and provides the instruction that:

Each moment can be all the moments; each moment is an opportunity waiting to be seized.

If you feel that you have been wasting time trying to garden in a bleak patch of dirt or you know you are guilty of engaging with the barbarians and blockheads du jour, Thich Nhat Hanh says that this is ok because you can re-connect with the now.  In this moment, there is an opportunity.  Right now.  Each moment can be all the moments.  The Sun regards all with a steady eye.  Make friends with the Friend to All Beings.

REFERENCES

The Radiance Sutras: 112 Gateways to the Yoga of Wonder and Delight.  By Lorin Roche, PhD. Sounds True Press 2014.   The verse used in this blog post can be found on page 137.

Inside the Now: Meditations on Time. By Thich Nhat Hanh.  Parallax Press 2015.

This was written by Sharon Fennimore.  Please join me for an online course or a class or workshop.  Share this post and guided visualization with all your friends.  Subscribe to my newsletter and never miss a new post and get FREE access to my online course designed to help you clear emotional and physical clutter.

Who Has the Potato Now

April 27, 2014
Posted by Sharon
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Adults, in general, are concerned about doing yoga “right”.  We want to become not only proficient, but good at the skills that we invest time, energy and money into.  This desire is fundamentally at odds with the true nature of yoga and meditation.  It is a practice.  You will never do it “right” as there is no “right” way to do it.

Children, on the other hand, have no concern at all about doing yoga or meditation correctly.  I imagine this may be because they are so newly proficient at almost every skill that they have and they daily are faced with the realities of their limitations—-all the things that they WISH they could do independently, but can’t.  Therefore, they can connect with the practice aspect of yoga and meditation on a much deeper and authentic level almost immediately.

I have found that between the ages of 5-8 that many children, including my own, start to have new anxieties and fears.  Many of these surface at the end of the day and around bedtime and some are illuminated through nightmares and sleep disruptions.  Without really understanding development, my best guess is that this is the time when most children start to feel more independent from their families of origin.  They have friends and teachers and coaches and a personality including a new portfolio of identity markers that are all their own.  In addition, the fact of mortality becomes more available.  That the stability of their life is based on circumstances that could potentially shift and change without notice and at any time is a new possibility that they are aware of.

When this anxiety started to happen in my house at night, I turned to my own yoga practice and offered my son a modified ritual that I use myself.  At night, right before bed, I would lead my son through this ritual:

1. Verbal instructions to relax body: from toes to head, relax body, let body be heavy, relax.
If you try this, be very patient!  Relaxation for a child looks and feels different from an adult.  They will squirm and fidget and toss and turn in bed as you verbally guide them in relaxation.  Do not insist that they stay still.  Allow your child to find their center in whatever way they need.  They are actually listening to their body and it seems to me that some, not all, children require movement to calm the body rather than stillness (adults too!).

2. Ring the bell
I ring a bell three times over my son’s body.  As I ring the bell, I say a prayer or intention that he be free of fear and invite a beautiful sleep.

3. Ask for protection and help from Ganesh
I invoke Ganesh and ask that Ganesh remove any obstacles to peaceful sleep.

4. Chant to Ganesh ten times
Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha

I have placed a small statue of Ganesh given to me as a special gift on my 30th birthday by my friend Tina on my son’s nightstand and some battery powered votive candles around it.

This ritual seemed to work wonders and not only relieved my son’s nighttime anxieties and fears, but also gave us something sweet to connect with at the end of the day.

Then, one day, I heard my son (who is 7) with his two year old sister ask her if she wanted a meditation.  She agreed that it was a good time for meditation and he told her to lie down on the floor and I could hear him leading her through the relaxation.  From the sound of it, my daughter must have been following his verbal instructions because he continued and I didn’t hear any other sounds.  He lead her through a relaxation of the whole body and then I started to hear him chant.  He was saying, “Who’s Got the Potato Now?  Who’s Got the Potato Now?”.  It seems that my chant of mantra to Ganesh sounds a lot like “Who’s Got the Potato Now” and this is how it was interpreted by my son.

Is he wrong?  Actually, no, he is not wrong.  While an adult would want to get the words right, my son found a deeper connection to the sound vibration and created a meaningful way to express that vibration through a mantra.  I did tell my son that the words he had chosen were not the actual mantra to Ganesh, but now we have a special phrase that we use when anyone feels overwhelmed and needs to calm down that is unique to us and our family “Who’s got the potato now?”.  And, really, I can almost feel Ganesha smiling on us as we invoke the spirit of liberation from fear and worry in our own special way.

Do you want to learn how to make yoga and mediation a part of your family’s culture and daily life?  Do you or your children experience anxiety or worry at night that interrupts the quality of your sleep? Please sign up for a FREE 20-minute consultation and consider a Matrika Strategy coaching program that will give you the ritual and skills you need to improve the quality of your life and your entire family’s well being.  While my personal ritual as described here does involve a chant to the Hindu deity Ganesh, I am happy to design a ritual for you that reflects your own spiritual and religious commitments and beliefs or a completely secular ritual.

Written by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, MA, a Pittsburgh-based yoga and meditation instructor specializing in mindful meditation for women and families.

Spring Meditation #2: Yoga to Balance the Liver

March 3, 2011
Posted by Sharon
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Spring

The water murmurs
In the old stone well,
And, a rippling mirror,
Gives back the clear blue sky.
The river roars,
Swollen with the late rains of spring.
On the cool, jade-green grass
The golden sunshine
Splashes.

Sometimes, at early dawn,
I climb
Even as far as Lien Shan Temple.
In the spring
I plow the thirsty field,
That it may drink new life.
I eat a little,
I work a little,
Each day my hair grows thinner,
And, it seems,
I lean ever a bit more heavily
On my old thornwood cane.

~Liu Tzu-Hui, Sung Dynasty, AD 960-1278
[This translation from Beinfield and Korngold, page 160]

With the coming of spring, here is a gentle yoga-based exercise to balance the liver energy in the body.

The energy of the liver (or, “Liver Meridian”) starts at the inside base of the big toe and runs up the inside of the leg, goes through the reproductive organs and flows under the front of the ribs into the liver where it circulates upwards through the lungs.  This energy line controls the eyes and the nervous system.

Part 1:
For those of you who are familiar with “Bridge Pose” then this exercise will make more sense.  If you are not familiar with “Bridge Pose” then check out this description here.

Start: Lie on your back, bend your knees and place the soles of your feet on the floor with your heels as close to your sitting bones as possible.  If you can, grab your ankles with your hands.  If you can’t reach your ankles or that is uncomfortable, then place your arms by your sides with your palms facing down.

Exercise: Inhale and lift up through your thighs and pelvis and exhale as you slowly lower down.  Relax for a few breaths and then come up again as you inhale and stretch up as high as you can through the thighs and belly.  Tighten your buttocks then contract a little bit more and really squeeze.  Then relax your body as you slowly lower down.

End: Release your ankles and then lie down on the floor.  Rest and relax completely with your legs stretched out in front of you and your entire back resting on the floor.

Part 2:

Start: While still lying on your back, reach your arms up so that your palms face one another and your fingers are reaching towards the sky.  Take a deep breath.

Exercise: Make fists with your hands and squeeze the muscles in your arms.  Slowly exhale as you bring your fists down towards your chest.

Do this four times—–inhale and reaching up through the arms and exhaling slowly lower your fists down towards your chest

End: Relax on your back with your arms by your sides.

Part 3:

Deep relaxation: Lie on your back with your arms by your sides and your palms facing up.  Set a timer so that you can completely let go for a minimum of 5-minutes.  Relax your body completely and just feel your breath fall into a natural pattern.

SOURCES

Beinfield, Harriet and Efrem Korngold.  Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine.

Gach, Michael Reed and Carolyn Marco.  The Acupressure Stress Management Book.  Acu-Yoga: Designed to Relieve Stress and Tension.

What is Restorative Yoga?

December 17, 2010
Posted by Sharon
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Restorative yoga is a practice that brings the energy of the body into balance, releases deeply held tension and calms the nervous system.  In this yoga practice, there are gentle movements, breathing exercises and physical poses that are held for five-minutes or longer with the support of blankets, pillows and other props.  These longer held poses allow the body to release into the pose with support so there is no physical strain or effort.  In this way, the practitioner receives the full benefit of the pose without creating any additional stress in the body or on the nervous system.

This type of practice is counter-intuitive to adults who have come to think that more effort, more work, more sweat and more pain means more and better results.  One of the greatest challenges of restorative yoga is accepting the fact that doing less brings the most significant transformation in the body and mind.  This is not a gentle, wimpy or easy practice!  Restorative yoga is a gentle unfolding of the damage we do to our bodies each and every day through emotional stress, through our repetitive actions and by ignoring the signs of exhaustion, un-ease and chronic pain.  Athletes will find that restorative yoga is the most excellent compliment to their activity as it eases the joints and can help heal chronic and minor injuries that would otherwise prevent a quick return to a favorite sport or activity.  If you tend to enjoy a more athletic yoga practice, such as Ashtanga Vinyasa or power flow practices, then restorative yoga can help deepen your practice.  Yogis of all styles will find that their endurance and strength actually improves through a regular practice of restorative yoga.

At Yoga Matrika, our restorative yoga classes are a combination of mindfulness meditation, healing movement and stretching.  No experience with yoga or meditation in any tradition or style is required.   Beginners are always welcome to this safe, supportive and non-competitive environment.  This is a practice that is equally as wonderful for students with injuries or chronic illness as it is for the healthiest and most robust athlete.   The “results” of a regular practice can’t be predicted, but they will be positive and significant.  It may be that you have had shoulder pain for most of your adult life and, after two months of restorative yoga practices, you find that your pain is diminished and your range of motion increased.  Or, you may genuinely believe that you are a very balanced person without pain, but slowly realize that, with a regular restorative yoga practice, that you lose your temper less often and feel more compassionate towards others—-you might just find that you are happier!

We provide all of the equipment that you need for your practice, but encourage all students in all classes to bring their own yoga mat.  We have mats for you to use if you need one, but mats are really a personal use item.   Try not to practice yoga on a full stomach, but it is fine to have a small snack (banana and yogurt, a bowl of cereal, etc.) an hour or so before practice if you are very hungry.  Wear comfortable, stretchy clothing in layers so that you can wear less when you are moving and put on a layer or two when you are going to relax into a pose for a longer period of time.  You may want to bring a water bottle with you.

Join us at 6:00pm on Mondays, starting January 10, 2011, at Yoga Matrika for this unique yoga practice for all levels.  Your instructor is Sharon Fennimore Rudyk.  If you have questions about this practice or would like more information, please call Sharon directly at (412) 855-5692 or see our New Student FAQ.

This post was written by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, the owner and director of Yoga Matrika, an intimate, community-based yoga studio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: https://www.yogamatrika.com/.   For information on prenatal and postnatal programs, please see: http://www.matrikaprenatal.com.

Yoga for Seniors

October 22, 2010
Posted by Sharon
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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.

You’re a Star…..Literally.

June 16, 2010
Posted by Sharon
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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: https://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!

What is iRest?

June 1, 2010
Posted by Sharon
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This Sunday, Mickie Diamond is going to be facilitating a Yoga Nidra: iRest workshop, this Sunday, June 6th from 4:00 to 5:15 pm.  The cost of the workshop is $15.  REGISTER HERE

This workshop is for everyone and no experience with yoga or meditation is required.  Just wear comfortable clothing and keep an open mind—-it will be lots of fun and you will leave deeply relaxed with some skills that you can use in your real life off the mat.

Here is some information about iRest that I have taken from the Integrative Restoration Institute website:

Would you like to live with greater ease of being, feel more relaxed, and sleep more soundly? Would you like to develop “tools for life” that enable you to rise above stress, anxiety, fear, pain, and emotional and mental turmoil? iRest is a deeply relaxing transformative practice that leads to physical, psychological, and spiritual health, healing, and well-being.

A non-movement-based meditation, iRest invites you to discover an intrinsic sense of peace that is always present, regardless of your life circumstances. You will learn to release negative body sensations, emotions, beliefs, and stress that otherwise give rise to self-destructive behaviors.

People who practice iRest report: • Decreased insomnia, • Reduced depression, anxiety and fear, • Decreased chronic and acute pain, • Improved interpersonal relations, • Increased inner peace and well-being. Extensively researched, iRest is used with PTSD-diagnosed soldiers and veterans, students, children, and the homeless, and people experiencing chemical dependency issues, chronic pain, and insomnia.

FABULOUS Yoga Workshops in Pittsburgh

December 3, 2009
Posted by Sharon
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Honestly, I am just delighted, amazed, honored and excited to host these fabulous workshop and special series facilitators—-certainly some of the BEST that Pittsburgh has to offer for yoga, movement and being creative, spiritual and juicy delicious!  Some of these workshops are happening SOON—don’t miss a chance to pre-register and save $$$ and guarantee your space is saved.

SEASON of LIGHT, BODY of PEACE xmas-groovy-bird

Click Here: Video of Elsie about Workshop

Facilitated by Elsie Escobar
Sunday, December 6 from 12:30-2:30 pm
$25 pre-registration/$35 at the door (space allowing)

Set an intention for the holiday season and the approaching New Year and learn some techniques for setting priorities and making time for the beauty and grace available to us during this special time of year.  This is a great way to start a stress free holiday season!

 

 

thumbnailMeditation Session with Bhante Pemaratana

Monday, December 7, 2009
 7:30-8:45 pm
Location: PEACE ROOM (use side door to YOGA MATRIKA)
Cost: by donation  (suggested $5 per session)

Everyone is welcome.  No experience with meditation required. Bhante Pema will lead the group through a guided meditation session and then will answer any questions that you may have about meditation.

No pre-registration.  Just arrive about 10-minutes early to get settled.

 

 

xmas-groovy-bird1Sharon’s Birthday & Holiday Celebration
Friday, December 18, 2009

Class: 6:00 to 7:15 pm (doors open at 5:30 so you find a good spot!)
Party: 7:30 until the cake is all gone!

NO CHARGE, BUT DONATIONS ACCEPTED with DEEP GRATITUDE

Donation class and community celebration of the most excellent instructors at Yoga Matrika.
All donations will be distributed to the entire team of instructors at Yoga Matrika as a holiday bonus!
The class is open to all yogis age 12 and up and the party is open to EVERYONE—bring the babes, babies and the whole family! I need all the help I can get to blow out all these candles!

 

 

orange-lotus-ladyBeginner’s Series
Absolute Beginner’s Series with Anna Gilbert

Fridays from 6:00 to 7:15pm
January 8, 15, 22, 29
$40 for series of 4-classes

This series is for adults who have either never done yoga before or took one or two classes long enough ago that you can’t really quite remember if you actually took those classes or just imagined it!  Anna will provide an overview of what you can expect in a yoga class from the terms that are used, breathing patterns, physical postures and movements to ways to dress comfortably for class and common studio etiquette.  Instructions will be basic, clear and organized in a way that you can build confidence through the series.  After you ”graduate” you’ll be confident and ready to drop-in on any class at Yoga Matrika or any other studio and enjoy your class!

 

 

 

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WILD THING
A Wild Practice to Chase Winter Blahs Away!

Facilitated by Linda Meacci, RYT
January 9, 2010  from 2:00 to 3:30 pm  $20 pre-register/$25 door
March 27, 2010  from 2:00 to 3:30 pm  $20 pre-register/$25 door

“Wild thing, you make my heart sing”: Amp up your practice with a soulful journey into the heart.  Unleash your “wild” side with a cathartic, dynamic practice set to music.  Change up the velocity and rhythm.  Release endorphins.  Renew the SPIRIT and GROOVE on your mat!  This practice is recommended for students who have a minimum of 6-months of experience taking flow-style yoga classes or newer students with an athletic sense of adventure.  We’re offering this fabulous class twice in the winter schedule so you can experiment with the wild side of your practice in January and prepare to let loose for spring in March.

 

Wild Thing Classes


 

 

 brain-with-treeYO GEEK!: Yoga for Cubicle Slaves and the Computer Weary

Facilitated by Elsie Escobar, Anusara Inspired Instructor
Sunday, January 10, 2010 from 12:30 to 2:30 pm
$25 pre-registration/$35 at the door (space allowing)

Sitting in front of your computer a tiny bit too long?  Neck sore, eyes strained, hips tight, lower back achy, and stressed out?  How about learning some:
SIMPLE
EASY
EFFECTIVE
tools you can apply anytime and anywhere to help your body and mind feel so much better!  No prior knowledge of yoga required.  Welcome the new year by learning ways to take care of yourself!

 

 

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PRESCHOOL YOGA
AGES 2-6 with ADULT

Join your delightful instructor, Cathie Sunderman in this age-appropriate introduction to yoga including creative movment, breathing and relaxation.  Cathie weaves story telling, music and movement into thematic classes for young children that provide a joyful and fun introduction to yoga.  While this is not a Baby and Me class (yoga for adults that children are welcome to attend), adults are asked to participate with their child and facilitate the experience for their little one.  We find that, while not a yoga class for adults, most of the parents and guardians that attend have a wonderful time!  There is an emphasis on learning tools for easing stress and anxiety and finding happiness through movement and being mindful.  Children love acting out the movements of beloved animals and using their imagination to create mood and move with grace, strength and joy. 

These classes run in SIX WEEK SERIES and NO DROP IN STUDENTS ARE PERMITTED.  You must pre-register and pre-pay for the entire series.  Due to the nature of these classes, space is limited to ten children.  One missed class per series may be made up as an adult drop-in class that can be taken before the series concludes.  Absolutely no payments are accepted at the studio.  Each series is $60 for one adult and one child or $90 for one adult and two children.   Early bird pricing ($50 for one adult/one child and $80 for one adult/two children) applies to Series I registration BEFORE DECEMBER 20th and Series II registration BEFORE JANUARY 20th.

SERIES I: January 12, 19, 26, February 2, 9, 16  ($60 one child/$90 two children)
SERIES II: February 23, March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30   ($60 one child/$90 two children)

Preschool Registration


 

 

 

 

retro-asian-tree-turquoiseTending the Root of Life: The Fluid Dynamics of the Kidneys 
Facilitated by Mark C. Taylor

Sunday, January 17, 2010
1:00 to 3:00 pm
$30 pre-register/$40 at the door

Your kidney is called the “Root of Life” in Chinese anatomy, and is regarded as the body’s most important reservoir of essential energy.  In addition to the functions of fluid filtration and metabolic balance, your kidneys control the growth and development of your bones and nourish the marrow, which is your body’s source of red and white blood cells.  Impaired kidney function and deficient kidney energy are prime causes of low energy (anemia) and immune deficiency as well as poor memory, inability to think clearly, and backache.  In Tending the Root of Life you will embody ease in your kidneys through meditation, breath exercises, movement, and asana practice, enhancing and supporting their positive attributes: wisdom, rationality, clear perception, gentleness, and self-understanding.

 

 

 

globe-on-backMovement & Memoir
Facilitated by Dana Killmeyer
January 30, 2010

2:00 to 4:30 pm
$25 pre-registration, $35 at the door (space allowing)

Movement and Memoir is a hybrid class blending elements of yoga and somatics with creative expression, primarily autobiographical writing or journaling.  We will focus on observing our environments, both internal and external, as a catalyst for releasing tension and broadening our awareness.  Finding inspiration in our senses and perceptions, anatomy, literature, performance, music, art, meditation,and social critique, we will explore various aspects of observation and expression, stillness and animation.  Expect a gentler, more introspective yoga practice with an emphasis on breathing, as well as wrists, shoulders, and lower back–areas that tend to get overused and neglected after long periods of sitting.  Please bring a notebook and an open mind.

Dana Killmeyer is a Pittsburgh-native and University of Pittsburgh graduate.  She has written two books: Paradise, or the Part that Dies and Pendulums of Euphoria, both published by Six Gallery Press.  Currently pursuing training as a yoga teacher with Joanne VandenHengel (3rd Street Yoga) and as a Somatic Movement Educator with Mark Taylor (BodyMindMovement), Dana draws from a well of experience as a teacher, researcher, writer, and organic farm apprentice. 

 

 

green-treeANUSARA THERAPEUTICS: UPPER BODY

Facilitated by Elsie Escobar
Sunday, January 31st from 12:30 to 2:30 pm
$25 pre-registration/$35 at the door (space allowing)

Have you been suffering from shoulder, neck, jaw, elbow or wrist pain?  Come learn how to get out of pain through the Anusara™ Principles of Alignment™, an elegant system based on the biomechanics of the body.  Get ready to uncover the possibilities to feel GOOD!  No prior knowledge of yoga is required.

 

 

  

shadow-dancerELSIE’S BIRTHDAY BASH

Friday night, February 5, 2010
6:00 to 8:00pm, BY DONATION

PARTY after class! 

What better way to celebrate life than to give the best of ourselves to the community?  An up-tempo and mixed-level class taguth by Elsie Escobar—-full of ENERGY and FUN to raise money for a local Pittsburgh charity!  Plus, share some birthday cake with Elsie after class. 

 

 

 

3827978_thumbnailLOVE YOGA

Facilitated by Elsie Escobar
Friday night, February 12, 2010
6:00 to 8:00 pm
$25 pre-register or $35 at the door (space allowing)

As Valentine’s Day approaches, we receive a lot of messages about expressing love through exchanging gifts, sweets and flowers to our romantic loves.  This approach to matters of the heart put pressure on those in relationships to express love through material gifts and those who are not in relationships to feel lonely.  We advise a NEW approach to Valentine’s Day where we honor the energy of our hearts through a delicious workshop with a focus on heart openers and back-bending—YUMMY!  Join Elsie for some Love Yoga  and experience the bliss, joy and contentment of your heart center.

 

 

 

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CIRCLES of STRENGTH
A Workshop for Women
Facilitated by Linda Meacci, RYT

February 20, 2010
2:00 to 4:00 pm
$25 in advance/$35 at the door

Does a fog of unworthiness shroud your spirit?  Does courage elude you when the going gets tough?  Do you see life as a timeline that is full of obligations and pressures? Do you struggle to be fully present in this moment? 

This workshop, designed just for women, will guide you to:
*  Learn safe ways to build overall body strength
*  Integrate the dance of stability and freedom
*  Channel emotional energy in healthy ways
*  Increase self-confidence
*  Tap into your creative source
*  Appreciate the circular nature of life experiences on and off the mat

This well-balanced practice will blend the yin and the yang–flexibility and strength.  Proper alignment will be emphasized in strength poses such as Caturanga-Dandasana (half plank), and Vasisthasana (side plank) and also in flexibility poses such as Setu-Bandhasana (bridge) and Urdhva-Dhanarasana (wheel).  We will move through sun salutes and warrior postures with stira (steadiness) and sukham (ease).  Backbends will be explored with a focus on stability.  Hip openers will coax the emotional body to release.  We will quiet ourselves with a restorative Savasana.  Find what supports YOUR practice and frees your spirit.  Step into courage.  Bring what you discover into all circles of Life.

 

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 SPRING CLEANING YOGA PRACTICE
 DETOX & RENEW w/Linda Meacci, RYT

March 6, 2010 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm
$25 pre-register/$35 at the door (space allowing)

Balancing out body, mind and spirit through the seasons is an important step in maintaining homeostasis.  In this modern age of twitter, texting, blackberrys and IPhones, it is often forgotten that human beings reflect cycles of nature.  As we move from winter, a time of conservation, rest, storage and reflection, and into early spring, a time to shed and renew, the spirit begins to lift and fly again.  Springtime is a season to detox and rejuvenate!

In Chinese medicine, winter works with the balancing energy in the kidneys, bladder, adrenals, ears and bones.  In the springtime, the attention shifts to liver, gallbladder, nervous system, ligaments, tendons and eyes.  The movement continues season to season with the intention of finding homeostasis, or balance.  Yoga is one tool to aid in this cyclical process.

In this workshop, we will first unwind and then invigorate our practice by:
*  tuning into the eyes–the sense organs of springtime
*  mobilizing our skeletal and muscular structure with fluid slow movements
*  stabilizing and moving into Sun Salutes and Warrior postures
*  vigorously twisting in lying, seated and standing postures
*  toning the kidneys with backbends and the liver with forward bends
*  opening the hips to encourage movement of the emotional body
*  practicing long holds in inversions (such as sarvangasana) to facilitate drainage of the lymphatic system.

Our practice will come full-circle and close with a restorative savasana.  Join us for this rejuvenating practice!

 

 

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Calming the Core: Finding the Space Between
Facilitated by Mark C. Taylor

Sunday, March 14, 2010
1:00 to 3:00 pm
$30 pre-register/$40 at the door

Many of us carry excess tension in our backs or in our frontal organs as a result of inefficient weight flow through the torso.  In Calming the Core you will embody your quiet central spine as a way to allow your core to expand, allowing space for a joyful heart, easy breath, and an unencumbered digestive tract.  As your core releases you will find a more intimate relationshiop with the earth, greater access to sensory awareness, and increased pleasure of movement through your body.  You will strategize ways to sustain an expansive core in your personal practice and in daily life.

 

Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15217.  https://www.yogamatrika.com/