traditional yoga | Paper Clay Nature

I am absolutely delighted to announce that Aleta Howard will be joining the Yoga Community and offering her unique YBB (Yoga Booty Ballet) classes starting February 2nd and through the spring. What is YBB? On the schedule, we are calling it Cardio Yoga. If you think that “yoga” means traditional asana, then you might feel that YBB is more of an exercise class and wonder what it is doing on a yoga studio schedule.

Well, first of all, YBB combines some elements of Hatha yoga that will be recognizable to yogis who do have experience with more traditional yoga classes that are based on asana. Second, YBB includes yoga kriya from the Kundalini tradition and the creation and support of a personal intention is an important part of each and every class. Third, what is yoga? While this is a deeper issue that would require both a lifetime of examination and certainly a much more respectful examination than I can offer here, I would like to suggest that expressing the body with joy, opening and strengthening the heart and learning to hold an intention through an activity are most certainly yoga. It may not be what you have come to expect, but it might be just what you need!

Here is the official description of Yoga Booty Ballet from the creators of this style:

Yoga Booty Ballet is a fun, sexy and spirited workout that will leave you feeling refreshed and inspired. Work your body, engage your mind and lighten your spirit as you practice this East-meets-West amalgam of meditation, cardiovascular dance, ballet, Kundalini and hatha yoga.The results are immediate and long term. Students consistently complete class feeling better about themselves than when they arrive.
The meditation element serves to focus busy minds as well as awaken dull ones. The dance portion improves cardiovascular endurance, promoting weight loss and improved body composition. The ballet section increases strength and agility, building muscle and bone density. The yoga sections promote flexibility, balance and inner wellness. Classes are fun and easy to follow, designed to draw out individual self-expression in a comfortable, non-competitive environment.Various dance styles explored include jazz, hip hop, burlesque, Latin, Bollywood, go-go, and more.

Really, try one of these classes, at least once. For those readers who know me, you know that I am both directionally challenged and learning patterns of body movements is difficult for me. The first time I tried Aleta’s class, I was really nervous because I was truly afraid that I would get lost and not be able to fully participate. About 10-minutes into class I was having the time of my life. I was smiling and moving and sweating and truly enjoying the music and the joyful movements. Was I going right sometimes while everyone else went left? Yes, but, the truth is that it just didn’t matter. Aleta does not even suggest that there is a right or wrong way to do anything and she provides enthusiastic support for participating in this class in whatever way you are able. Once I released the pressure I was putting on myself through my own ego, this is when I started having fun.

Yoga Matrika provides a non-competitive and intimate environment where you can feel safe trying something new. If I didn’t think that Aleta was wonderful or that these classes weren’t a fabulous addition to our current offerings, then I wouldn’t be putting them on the schedule. Especially if you are looking for a class that will help with weight loss or weight management or you need to combine your yoga with your cardio workouts, then you are going to love this class.

When can you try our new Cardio Yoga classes with Aleta?

Friday Night Yoga Dance Parties

Friday, January 27
7:00-8:15 pm

Friday, February 24
7:00-8:15 pm

Friday, March 23
7:00-8:15 pm

Thursday nights, Starting February 2, 2012
5:30 to 6:45 pm

Saturday afternoons, Starting March 3, 2012
12:00 to 1:15 pm

Classes are $15 to drop-in or you can use your current class package. Packages are 4-classes for $50 or 8-classes for $80. We also offer a discounted student package of 5-classes for $35. Please enroll online to save your space. These special classes are going to be very popular and you don’t want to miss out!

Posted by Sharon Rudyk, Director of Yoga Matrika, an intimate space for yoga and healing work in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, PA. Come join us!

PRE-REGISTER for ALL ADVANCED STUDIES COURSES

Advanced Yoga Studies are courses for all adult yoga practitioners, yoga teachers and other professionals who feel that they would benefit from an in-depth study of various aspects of yoga from a physical, mental and spiritual perspective. Whether you have been teaching for years and feel like you need some new inspiration or you have just been practicing yoga for 6-months and have a significant interest in one or more areas of yoga practice, these courses are for you. Most of these courses are required for the 200-hour teacher training program and all of them carry continuing education credits that can be used to maintain your registration status with Yoga Alliance and other professional organizations. While these courses carry credits that are beneficial for yoga instructors, you do not need to be an instructor to benefit from this type of deep study of yoga. Please join us and explore what you have always known to be true—-life is yoga!

Foundations of Practice

Facilitated by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, MA, E-RYT, R-PYT
Mondays from 5:30 to 8:30 pm
5/2/2011 through 5/23/2011

In this course, we explore the intellectual history of yoga through text, physical movement (asana) and the breath (pranayama). American yoga traditions will be presented within the context of their historical roots in India, Tibet and China. Each session will include experiential learning of yoga poses, breathing exercises and relaxation techniques. Learn the names of various yoga styles and the myths and stories that are behind the poses and the practices of yoga. This is a required course for the 200-hour teacher training program, but is open to students of all levels who want to explore the history of yoga, philosophical and ethical implications of yoga, four basic breathing exercises and 30-essential yoga poses. In each session, we will practice some breathing and yoga poses within the intellectual context of traditional Hatha yoga concepts and texts. This is a wonderful course for students who want to learn these aspects of yoga that are not generally covered in drop-in classes, for yoga instructors who want to review the foundations of practice and for adults who are interested in obtaining 200-hour registration with Yoga Alliance.

Shaking Hands with the Subtle Body

Facilitated by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, MA, E-RYT, R-PYT
Fridays 6:00-8:30 pm
4/29/2011 through 5/20/2011

We will explore the answers to the following questions about the subtle body: What is the energetic body? Where are the chakras? What is a bandha? What is the relationship of the physical and energetic body in asana? How do different styles and traditions of yoga consider the energetic body? How can we use the breathe to change the quality of energy in the body? Sharon will draw on her training in Vajra Yoga and studies of Chinese and Tibetan yogas to introduce mutiple ways of thinking about and exercising the energetic body. This is the second required course in the 200-hour teacher training program, but everyone who is interested in exploring various aspects of the energetic body are welcome. It is suggested that all participants have a minimum of six-months of experience with yoga practice before taking this course.

Yoga of Intellect: Exploring Yoga Texts

Facilitated by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, MA, E-RYT, R-PYT
Thursdays 5:30 to 8:00 pm
5/12/2011 through 5/19/2011

All adult yoga practitioners are welcome to take this course. We will explore various sections of Patanjali Yoga Sutras, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Bhagavad Gita and other inspiring classical and contemporary texts. These texts not only provide a philosophical and ethical foundation for the practice of yoga and meditation, but they also inspire our most significant intentions through practice and living our yoga. Yoga is a path of transformation and these texts help ground our practice in the living intellectual and spiritual traditions that have come to inspire the American yoga tradition as we know it. We will also discuss how to apply our own religious and spiritual practices, traditions and texts to our yoga practice so that we can bring balance, in a very personal way, our mind/body/spirit on our mat and in the world.

Physical Body: Embodied Anatomy for Yoga

Facilitated by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, MA, E-RYT, R-PYT
Fridays 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
5/6/2011 through 5/13/2011

This is a required course for the 200-hour teacher training certification course, but is open to all yoga practitioners, teachers and other professionals who want to explore the anatomy of yoga. The anatomy of yoga is different from the anatomy knowledges required for medical science and we incorporate what we know about the subtle body with the aspects of the physical body that are important for the physical postures. Specifically, we pay attention to the spine, shoulders, pelvis, knees and feet that are so important for safe alignment and also areas of the body that students generally have the most complaints with. We will also look at the endocrine system and discuss the specific impact of stress on the physical body and the role that yoga plays in relieving that stress.

Yoga of Teaching: Exquisite Tools for the Professional Instructor

Facilitated by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, MA, E-RYT, R-PYT
Tuesdays 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
5/10/2011 through 5/13/2011

In this practical workshop we will cover the tools that all yoga instructors need to be professional and excellent from sequencing and planning classes to verbal cues for students to making physical adjustments to negotiating your pay and work agreements. This is a required course for Matrika’s 200-hour teacher training program, but all yoga instructors are welcome. You may have a little teaching experience and feel like you want a refresher or more support on these practical aspects of teaching or you may have been teaching for years and feel like you would benefit from some new inspiration. The more diverse our group in experience and yoga teaching styles, the more we will all benefit.