Tag: Practice

Football, Swimsuits and the Yoga of Feminism

January 18, 2011
Posted by Sharon
Leave a comment

As I teach two prenatal yoga classes every week, I have the honor and joy of watching incredibly strong women embody the true spirit of Warrior poses.  I can actually see the energy rising up through the soles of their feet and into their core to support the amazing act of creation they carry within them.  There is a courage, a dignity and strength of force there that is palpable in the room.  It is, for me, an experience and one that brings me, each class, into a new appreciation for the beauty and strength that is woman. The energy of these movements is the embodiment of grace.  Grace representing the fact that each one of these women has opened their hearts to the potential for immense joy and immeasurable loss and grief.  No words are required.  Through movement and intention, the expression of strength and grace is clear and concise.

Last weekend, I was able to catch the very end of the playoff game between the Steelers and the Ravens.  While I can’t say that I am a fan of football in general, there is something so very beautiful about watching the Steelers right now.  The coordination combined with strength and expression of sheer will as well as the skill combined with brutality and violence is something to behold.  Not only are these men amazing athletes, but they have the courage to take a flying leap into a pile of men and to throw their bodies with incredible force and at high speeds into one another.  As anyone who knows me can appreciate, if a ball (or anything else for that matter) is coming my way, my only instinct is to duck and cover.  Therefore, I have this incredible awe and appreciation for what is being required of these men in this game.

After the game, we were flipping through channels and found the Miss America pagent.  It was already the swimsuit competition and about 40-women in identical black bikinis and heals were walking accross the stage in various choreographed formations.  Each one beautiful, young, in great shape, smiling and basically, half naked on national television.  I don’t have a problem with naked and these women were easy on the eyes to say the least. But, let’s be honest here– a bikini is really underpants and bra made for swimming and, well, you can’t swim in heels and I didn’t see a pool anywhere nearby.  Immediately, I thought of the national news stories of the past year that involved mothers being asked to leave airplanes and coffee shops because they were breastfeeding.  These mothers were offending those around them by, horror of horrors, exposing some of their breast!  The NERVE!  Even more GROSS—they were using this breast to, yuck,  feed their baby.  Did I mention, in PUBLIC?  And yet, here before my eyes were lots of breasts and bellies and butts on display all balancing on top of high heels for maximum effect.

And what was the effect?  I felt that the effect was that these intelligent, athletic and beautiful women were weakened.  After the bikini competition, they all ran off frantically to get on their ballgowns and then they raced around preparing for the talent competition and then they were given the time to answer one significant political or ethical question with a maximum of one sentence.  The whole experience gave the image of the ideal American woman as one who is perfect in every way, but frantic and weak as they rush mindlessly around trying to look good and irish dance and talk about globalism all while trying to balance on the tip of a heel on national tv in their underwear.  I felt none of the awe that I do in a room full of women doing prenatal yoga or the immense respect for the football players.

The more that I considered the issue, I continued to return to the idea of mindfulness.  The weakness of the Miss America contestants really had nothing to do with their dress or the different aspects of the competition, it was due to the frantic nature of the timing.  It wasn’t just whether or not they could meet the tasks required, it was about how fast they could meet each task.  The pregnant women are focused, the football players are focused, but the contestants were both naked and engaged in a process that took away their ability to be mindful.  It made them seem silly and took away from the actual value of their talents and accomplishments.  It made the winner seem arbitrary and, most likely, set all of the contestants up for some level of trauma.  How long must it take to process that experience when they didn’t even have a chance to experience it?

My conclusion is that there is great strength in mindfulness.  My analysis has shown me clearly that frantic behavior weakens even the strongest, most talented and intelligent.  The way that our culture supports the idea that multi-tasking is a virtue leads us to weakness and creates a kind of deep seated stress and trauma.  Making a commitment in the moment, centering through the intention of that commitment and then following through with grace is the only path to the result that we honestly desire.  Yoga and meditation provide us with the means for learning and practicing these skills in a safe environment.  No matter how frantic our rush to class was, how crazy our day, how stressed we feel, once we put out the mat and start to breathe we re-gain our strength.  We are no longer the young woman in her underwear and heels on tv trying to sing an opera while mentally preparing to answer a question about world peace.

Posted by Sharon Rudyk.  https://www.yogamatrika.com/ and http://www.matrikaprenatal.com

Duh? Breathing is Important!

December 8, 2010
Posted by Sharon
Leave a comment

Apparently, new research has shown that breathing is important.  While this may seem ridiculously obvious, the health implications of a breathing practice (aka. pranayama) may not be.  What yogis have known for thousands of years is just being discovered again and revealed in this NPR article.

To make a long story short:

  • Breathing is good for you
  • You can use your breath to calm down
  • Breathing is so powerful that it can change your gene expression

If you already have a yoga practice, then you know the profound effects of learning to take deeper breaths.  If you don’t, then there is no time like the present.  Place your feet on the floor, relax your shoulders and take a deep breath and release it.

The McRib is Back

November 3, 2010
Posted by Sharon
Leave a comment

Nestled in between some of the most idiotic political advertisements I have ever seen was a clean and simple advertising campaign from the Mc family of restaurants announcing the “great news” that the McRib was back.  Seriously?  Did anyone miss the McRib?  Obviously, someone did.

For me, the idiotic campaigns of both politicians and this questionably edible treat are both a clear sign that it is time for everyone to do more yoga.  Doing yoga provides us with a clear connection to our deepest intelligence and relieves us of fear and anxiety about the future.  Over time, grounding ourselves in the present moment, with a deep connection to what is most true for ourselves and to our universal nature through breath and mindful movement prevents us from attachment to the forms of suffering that are implicated in these advertisements.

These advertisements indicate to me that these politicians and corporations are appealing to an un-centered population, one that is filled with desires, angers and fears that they can not even name.  Or, perhaps, even more dangerous, they have placed a false name on these deep emotions.  If you can point the finger at a “baby-killer” it releases you from being forced to see the “baby-killer” in yourself.  Of course, I do not mean this literally, but figuratively, placing blame of any kind on someone else or something else is a form of denial of the ways that each and every one of us suffer at the hands of our own desires, judgments and violence. 

Yoga does not have to mean putting on a pair of stretch pants and sitting on a plastic mat in some peaceful room.  It’s a great place to start, but maybe your starting point needs to be somewhere different.   Patanjali’s yoga sutras define yoga as the calming of the mental movements of the mind (1.2 yogas citta-vrtti-nirodhah).  No special clothing or props are mentioned.  What do you do that calms the mental movements of your mind?  Is it your work, spending time with your children, your volunteer work, through creativity, playing music, swimming/running/hiking, your prayer, your community work?  Whatever it is that brings you to a place that is in this moment is your yoga.  You probably already do a lot of yoga and just don’t know it!

Yoga brings you in touch with the present moment.  This moment is real.  Fear, blame, anxiety, desire and everything else implied by these advertising campaigns are all about some different moment—-either a moment from the past that you can’t get back or a moment in the future that is just conjecture.  The more you can be present in the reality of this very moment, the less you are at the mercy of campaigns that appeal to the worst, most suffering and fearful place in yourself.

If yoga isn’t for you, I still have some advice that may be of great import now that the McRib is back: Stay away from processed meat in the shape of bones.  In the words of Hans and Frans, listen to me now and hear me later, there just has to be something better to eat.  Really.

This entry was written by Sharon Rudyk, Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  www.yogamatrika.com

Yoga for Seniors

October 22, 2010
Posted by Sharon
Leave a comment

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
Leave a comment

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!

Yoga and Hope

May 23, 2010
Posted by Sharon
Leave a comment

In the March 2010 issue of ODE Magazine, there is a thought provoking article, Great Expectations: How hope therapy can help banish mild mood disorders and boost happiness, by Catherine Ryan.  Among the many things that I started to think about was the way that yoga promotes hope.

What precisely is hope?  Hope is a subtle sensation and state of being, sometimes an emotion, that provides a vague sense that something other than what “is” can be possible.  It provides the foundation for every change, every decision and every transition that we find ourselves on the other side of.  Without hope, the capacity to love, to move, to grow or to change is stifled and the great shadow of fear and doubt can overwhelm us.  Hope is sometimes confused as faith, but although these both require one another, they are quite different.  In order to act on hope, one must have faith in the potentially positive outcome of one’s actions.  In order to have faith, there must be a song of hope in one’s heart or the faith grows hard like the stone of dogma.

The kind of hope that provides a boost to happiness is based on the idea that change happens.  Those of us who practice yoga regularly are able to experience this on our mats in every practice.  As we move through asana (poses) or pranayama (breathing), it is impossible not to notice that each breath is different, each moment of holding an asana or transition between the asana creates different sensation.  Some of these sensations and changes in the breath are not welcome!  But, we become uniquely aware through a practice that nothing is the same.  If you have not practiced yoga before, this may sound terrifying.  But, if you practice regularly, you are nodding your head and perhaps even smiling as you acknowledge the profound sense of liberation that this type of awareness creates.  None of us are stuck.  Not only do we have the capacity to change, but change is our natural state of being.

According to the psychologists who provided the data for the ODE article, “Hope, as defined by psychologists, is the belief that you have the skills and energy to make your dreams a reality (Ryan 2010: 53).”  They suggest that our current emotional state is often determined by our expectations for the future (Ryan 2010: 53).  In general, the idea is that hopeful people are happier (53).  If this is the case, then one of the best ways that we can cultivate happiness is to cultivate hope.  Research also seems to indicate that building high expectations doesn’t set you up for a harder fall (Ryan 2010:54).  In fact, high-hopers seem uniquely prepared to bounce back after a fall due to their ability to quickly evaluate a situation and make changes (54).  Yoga can play a role here too.  What we learn in our practice on the mat is that when we feel something “not quite right” we take a moment to breathe into it.  If things don’t change, then sometimes all we need is a soft blanket under our hip, or a block under our hand and, voila!, it feels just right.  What we realize is that it isn’t that we aren’t doing a pose “right” or “wrong,”  but rather that a simple modification can create an “ah ha!” moment out of an “uh-oh.”

Yoga also helps us learn how to set specific and achievable goals.  Apparently, for adults who do not have high-hopes, one of the first steps of hope therapy is to learn how to set a specific and achievable goal (Ryan 2010: 54).  In open level yoga classes, some students can do some amazing things with balance, with their strength, with their energy and some students struggle to just sit on their mat or lie still in savasana—yet they are all doing yoga.  When we first start out, we realize immediately that, while yoga shouldn’t be goal oriented, we can determine the types of goals that are and are not achievable.  It would not be realistic to think that we could come into an advanced balancing pose if we struggle to maintain balance in Warrior I, but it is not unrealistic to think that we can become more aware of our balance and the position of our feet in relationship to the earth.  We also find that great happiness and the complete benefit of the practice is available to us no matter what the poses look like.  After class, the person who could do a handstand in the middle of the room—feels great.  The person who did child’s pose for most of the class—feels great.  A regular yoga practice shows us that there is great benefit in simply being present.  If that isn’t hope, then I don’t know what is.

REFERENCES

Ryan, Catherine
Great Expectations: How hope therapy can help banish mild mood disorders and boost happiness.  IN Ode Magazine, March 2010, pages 53-54.

Written and posted by Sharon Rudyk, Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Tribecca Yummy Mummy

April 15, 2010
Posted by Sharon
Leave a comment

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

December 21, 2009
Posted by Sharon
Leave a comment

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  https://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
https://www.yogamatrika.com/
http://www.prenatalyogapittsburgh.com

Resolution Revolution

December 17, 2009
Posted by Sharon
Leave a comment

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.