Mary Oliver Poem

WHEN DEATH COMES
When death comes like the hungry bear in autumn;
When death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse to buy me,
And snaps the purse shut;
When death comes like the measles-pox;
When death comes like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,
I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
What is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?
And therefore I look upon everything as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
And I look upon time as no more than an idea,
And I consider eternity as another possibility,
And I think of each life as a flower, as common as a field daisy, and as singular,
And each name a comfortable music in the mouth tending as all music does, toward silence,And each body a lion of courage, and something precious to the earth.
When its over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it is over, I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.
~ Mary Oliver

Class Passes on Sale - Holiday Special

IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN ~ CLASS PASSES ON SALE
(November 22nd – December 24th)

5 class pass: regular $59; sale $50
10 class pass: regular $109; sale $100
20 class pass: regular $199; sale $190

Stock up on your class passes.... remember, class passes:
expire one year after date of purchase
can be shared with family & friends
have one (or two -for 20 cp) free class(es) for you to bring a new student, someone who's never been to LY before
are non-refundable

Asana focus for weeks 3 & 4

Week 3: Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana (seated half bound lotus forward bend)
Trianga Mukhaikapada Paschimottanasana (one leg back, seated forward bend)
Janu Sirsasana A-C (seated knee to head)

Week 4: Marichyasana A-D


Over time as I considered correct pronounciation of Sanskrit, I have time and time again seen information on Manorama. See the following link for her website with info on CDs available to assist with pronounciation. At some point I will research this more and will probably buy some CDs/see where she is conducting workshops, to further my own study on this topic. Please share any resources you find. http://www.sanskritstudies.org/About/About_Manorama.html

See you Monday!
~Maureen

Second Session of LYTT/DYP

Hello all. Glad to be back together - starting another session. The Bhagavad Gita books are in and although we won't use them until Session III, it's worth having them in advance to get started. We will discuss the History of Yoga on the all day as well as a more in depth discussion on the NiYamas -- the second limb of Ashtanga Yoga.

See link for 8 limbs info: http://www.livingyoganh.com/eightlimbs.htm

See you Monday.

Peace,
~Maureen

Refine Your Practice, Inversions and Yoga Nidra

Here is the info I said I would post:

Benefits of Inversions:
An inversion refers to any posture or position that places the head below the heart. The reversal of gravity's effects helps to take pressure off the heart, decompress the spine, improve circulation, stimulate the endocrine system - and just make people feel good. Handstands, in particular, strengthens the shoulders, arms, and wrists, stretch the abdomen, increase balance, calm the brain and help relieve stress and mild depression.

I'll leave it at that for now.... with Google, Blogs, etc... you can search and explore this to whatever depth you would like, depending on your questions and where your practice is at.


Yoga Nidra:
Yoga is union or one-pointed awareness and Nidra is the Sanskrit word for sleep, that is sleep where the conscious mind is asleep and awareness remains active.

In Yoga Nidra, the state of relaxation is reached by practicing Pratyahara (turning inward), the 5th limb of yoga, moving away from outer experiences. When consciousness is separated from external awareness and from standard sleep, it can be very powerful and can be applied in many ways, for example, to develop memory, increase knowledge and creativity, or transform one’s nature.

Yoga Nidra also induces complete physical, mental and emotional relaxation. Adherents claim that half an hour of Yoga Nidra can replace up to three hours of normal sleep, although its regular use as a sleep substitute is not recommended as the body and mind still requires sufficient rest through standard sleep.

Enjoy!!

Anatomy Book

LYTT/DYP group....
Karen found this book and Jenn Chase also told me about it. Beth and I will review to see if we will use this, in addition to or in place of the anatomy book we planned to use.
"Yoga Anatomy: Your illustrated guide to Postures, Movements, and Breathing Techniques" by Leslie Kaminoff on Amazon.
See you a week from tomorrow!!

living yoga on and off the mat

Hi all!!

In our all day session on October 13th, we will discuss Yamas and living yoga on and off the mat. What does that look like? What does it feel like? Use all the senses to explore this.

Also, reminder to journal about your personal code of ethics for teaching and/or practicing yoga!

Here is one of my favorite quotes, thanks to Beth for bringing this quote to my attention. It's from Marianne Williamson. In yoga we tend to move away from readings/quotes that mention God in respect to different cultures and beliefs. One of the NiYamas is Isvara Pranidhana – faith/trust in a higher being. In some yoga sutra tranlations, it reads 'trust in God'. So, as we do with the sutras or other readings, if your 'higher being' is not God, please substitute that with what it represents for you. We will talk more about this in Session II when we study the NiYamas.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Shine on!!

~Maureen