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Yoga Heals Us
News |
November 2006
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| Dear friends, |
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This is the month of giving thanks and remembering with
gratitude our gifts and challenges. Personally, I have much to be
grateful for, especially the aspects of my life that challenge me to look
closer, to see what's really going on. The closer I look the harder it
gets sometimes.
This involves the practice of tapas. The word tapas means heat.
Sometimes the word is used to describe a style of hot food. In the yoga
context it can mean standing in the fire of your life, open to all the
experiences, light and dark, to be with ourselves in a way that reveals
the truth.
The word tapas is often used to describe asceticism or austerities.
What I learned from Yoganand's workshop at the KYTA conference is that
tapas leads to wholeness, the choice to see what is. Before there was
yoga there was tapas. Yoga evolved from tapas. Tapas is the choice see
what's real, to cultivate an informed practice. Yoga invites us to be
with the self in a way that reveals truth - beyond the self-talk of I
hope, I want, I'm afraid, I screwed up.
Yoga helps us to build a strong container for all the tapas that comes
up. Think of a light bulb with 5 lampshades nested within each other
covering the bulb. The light bulb represents our individual inner light.
Our individual lights are connected to the same power source that
ennervates the universe, all that is. The lampshades represent the 5
koshas or layers of experience. The innermost lampshade, Anandamayakosha,
is closest to the light so it represents our natural state of bliss. The
next lampshade, Vijnamaykosha, represents our consciousness, our witness,
our higher mind, our intuitive knowing. The next lampshade,
Manomayakosha, represents our personality, our thoughts and feelings, our
emotions, our stimulus response mind. This is also the mind that produces
stress. The next lampshade, Pranamayakosha, represents our energy body,
our breath, our life force energy. The chakras are in this body. The
outside body, furthest from the light, is Annamayakosha, the physical body
or food sheath. The body forms the structure or container for the other
bodies.
In some people the lampshades are so thin and transparent that the
light is easily seen through the outermost lampshade. In some people the
lampshades are so thick that the light is barely or rarely seen. In our
culture, the need for instant gratification and feeling good all the time
teaches us to look outside of ourselves for the answers to questions that
can never be answered that way.
The practice of yoga (or tapas) invites us to cultivate awareness so
that we can access the inner light. We start with the physical body and
for some people this is the most important thing. By focusing on the
physical body, we tune into pain and long held tensions. We tune into the
breath and emotions. We cultivate an informed practice through witnessing
our own experience. We ask ourselves, "what's really going on here, what
do I really feel?" By cultivating the witness we cultivate consciousness,
being with ourselves in a way that reveals the truth - not out there but in
here, inside of ourselves, our inner light.
Each time we are on the mat our lives can change. Swami Kripalu said,
"even a little bit of practice is of utmost importance." He also said,
"self-observation without judgment is the highest spiritual practice."
Yoganand suggested that "self-observation without judgment is the highest
tapas."
Breathe, you can relax now.
Peace and love, Karen |
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New class session begins November 4th *
Preston Parks & Recreation |
St. James Church
95 Route 2A, Preston
Saturdays:
9 – 10:30 a.m. Mixed Levels Vinyasa (energetic) Yoga
8 classes * 11/4 – 12/23/06 * $60 Preston residents & seniors (65+) /
$72 non-residents
Tuesdays:
5 – 6:15 p.m. Gentle Mixed Levels Yoga
7 classes * 11/7 – 12/19/06 * $52.50 Preston residents & srs (65+) /
$63 non-residents
Register with Karen (860) 204-0797 * Checks payable to "Preston Parks
& Recreation" |
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Class Schedule |
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| Upcoming Workshops |
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Saturday, November 4, 2006
Create Amazing Classes: Fine Tuning Class Design
Mystic Yoga Shala
107 Wilcox Rd. Stonington CT * (860) 536-0237
Time: 1 - 4:00 p.m.
Cost: $35 Pre-register to reserve your space!
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Marketing Yourself as a Yoga Teacher
with Awareness and Intention
* open to all holistic practitioners *
Blissworks Yoga & Healing Arts
253 State Street, New London, CT * (860) 448-YOGA
Time: 1 - 4:00 p.m.
Cost: $35 Pre-register to reserve your space! |
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Read more |
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Blissworks Yoga & Healing Arts on MTV
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Message from Tricia:
If you haven't yet heard......Blissworks is going to on MTV!!!
The show, MADE, airs Monday, Nov. 6 at 10 p.m.
A local high school student wants to be a ballroom dancer and they
made yoga part of his MADE experience~
It was a whole lot of fun to be a part of it. I went to the final
competition and he rocked!
If you are local and want to gather for the show, a couple of us are
meeting at Hanafin's Pub downtown across from the Garde to watch it.
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Blissworks Yoga |
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| Ganesha Yoga Nidra |
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Friday, December 1, 2006
Blissworks Yoga & Healing Arts
253 State Street, New London, CT
6:30 - 9:00 p.m.
$30 Pre-register to reserve your space!
Ganesha, the elephant headed god, is known as the remover of
obstacles. In this light hearted workshop we'll learn the stories and
symbols of Ganesha, practice asana and a Ganesha mantra and end with
Ganesha Yoga Nidra experience.
(860) 448-YOGA or (860) 204-0797
tricia@blissworksyoga.org or yogahealsus@yahoo.com |
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Mid-session classes at Ledyard Center School and
Gales Ferry School |
Mondays: December 4, 11, 18
Ledyard Center School
5 - 6:30 p.m. Gentle
7 - 8:30 p.m. Intermediate
Wednesdays: December 6, 13, 20
Gales Ferry School
5 - 6:30 p.m. Mixed Levels
7 - 8:30 p.m. Stress Relief
Fee: $30 in advance, $13 single class drop-in
Payable to: Karen Clarke
Please note: These classes are not part of Ledyard Parks &
Recreation. The new Parks & Recreation session begins January 8th and
10th, 2007.
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| Something wonderful to check out! |
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From Matthew's website:
American Public Media 's "Speaking of Faith" with Krista Tippet -
October 2006
The Body's Grace: The Matthew Sanford Story
"Hear an unusual take on the mind-body connection with author and yoga
teacher Matthew Sanford. He's been a paraplegic since the age of 13. He
shares his wisdom for us all on knowing the strength and grace of our
bodies even in the face of illness, aging, and death."
"When Matthew Sanford was just thirteen, his family's car skidded off
an overpass on an icy Iowa road—killing his father and sister, paralyzing
him from the chest down, and changing his life forever. Years later,
yoga would dramatically change it again. In WAKING: A Memoir of Trauma
and Transcendence (Rodale, June 2006), Matthew chronicles his journey from
the intensive care unit to becoming a paralyzed yoga teacher and founder of
a nonprofit organization. Along the way, Matthew gains a deeper
understanding of the connection between mind and body and formulates an
entirely new view of existence as a "whole" person.
For years after the devastating accident, Matthew felt a schism, or
"silence," between his mind and his body. As he grew into adulthood, he
began studying philosophy in an increasingly frustrating search for
answers. Then he discovered yoga. At first, he didn't even know if a
paraplegic could do yoga, but he was willing to try. Guided by his
teacher, Matthew began to explore what it truly means to live in a body,
and discovered new meaning and purpose in the "distance" between mind and
body."
Matthew is an amazing and special person. |
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Matthew Sanford NPR
interview |
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Contact information: |
Karen Clarke
(860) 204-0797
yogahealsus@yahoo.com
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Yoga Heals Us |
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