Yamuna Body Rolling Workshop!

Yamuna Body Rolling is a unique approach to health and fitness that helps people feel better, move more freely, gain strength, and eliminate pain.  Specially designed balls will; increase muscle length, create joint mobility, promote healing of injuries, tone muscles, energize nerve roots and vital organs, dislodge tension and discomfort, enhance blood flow, and stimulate bone.  Carefully planned routines match the body’s own logic and order to re-educate one’s innate body awareness.

Focus: Leg Attachments

In this workshop we will work to free the muscle groups of the legs to establish proper balance, alignment, tone, and length of muscles from the pelvis down through the feet.  Whether you perform a particular sport or general fitness workout, or simply carries on daily life, leg and foot holding patterns become established.  Everyone needs to free their leg patterns to establish healthier and better alignment of the whole torso and to prevent injuries.

Saturday February 4^th 1:30-3:30 p.m.   Cost: $30

Jade Integrative Health

Please call ahead to register: 207-773-5778

Give the Gift of Yoga

Private Yoga lessons are deeply beneficial to anyone looking to begin a yoga practice, anyone who would like to fine tune their practice with individualized attention, anyone working with an injury interested in learning how to modify postures, or for anyone who would benefit from stress management and relief.  I enjoy working with people to create a yoga experience designed to meet their goals.

Treat a loved one to a private yoga experience for $95.

Do you know someone who would benefit from…
-Improving posture and flexibility?
-Building strength?
-Enhancing lung capacity?
-Enhanced balance?
-Reduced stress?
-Having more energy and passion?

Chakra Balancing Yoga

Have you ever been curious about the energy that moves through your body?  Within the body lie seven vital energy centers.  Through these centers, known as chakras, life energy flows and is processed.  In sanskrit, chakra means “wheel” or “circle.”  Balanced chakras can be visualized as spinning vortices, revolving in a clockwise direction at a particular frequency.  These energy centers run along the central channel of the body, from the base of the spine to the top of the head.  How energy moves through the central nervous system and up and down this pathway greatly affects us.  Balanced chakras allow energy to flow freely, promoting health, vitality and harmony.

The Root chakra is associated with our foundation of our being and our identity.  Basic issues include survival, groundedness, nourishment, self-esteem, trust, boundaries and physical health.

The Sacral chakra is associated with our emotions, sensuality, creativity, warmth and confidence.  The essence of this chakra is water, always flowing.

The Socal Plexus chakra is known as the power center, associated with our assertiveness, inner drive, vitality, will, and discipline.

The Heart chakra is associated with our ability to love, be kind, compassionate, accept ourselves, forgive, and hope.

The Throat chakra is associated with sound and has to do with creative self-expression, speech and communication, and the ability to speak honestly.

The Third Eye chakra is associated with sight and seeing, both intuitively and physically.  it is through this chakra that we may tune in to the higher self in order to seek and receive inner guidance.

The Crown chakra is our highest energy center, both in terms of physical location and rate of vibration.  This chakra is associated with wisdom, intuitive knowing, spiritual development, selflessness, and connection with the divine.

Chakra Balancing Yoga is a practice exploring poses, mantras, and affirmations that activate and harmonize the chakras, the seven energy centers in the body. The focus of this class is on exploring the chakras from root to crown using specific yoga poses, guided affirmations and visualizations.  Explore the subtle energies of the body in this awakening and meditative class.  Through chakra work you can learn how to approach your body more lovingly, how to approach your mind more presently, and how to approach your spirit more openly.  The charkas reveal our true potential, the possibilities that we can realize, and the way to self-development.

I will be teaching Chakra Balancing workshops in Portland and Boston.  If interested, feel free to subscribe to my newsletter.

Back to B Yoga this Weekend for 2 Therapeutic Workshops!

Yoga Therapeutics at B Yoga Center

Saturday May 7th 3-5 p.m. in Melrose, MA

$30 for Yoga Therapeutics workshop

or $50 Yoga Therapeutics on Saturday and Restorative Yoga on Sunday

Yoga Therapeutics will be introduced in a way to explore how to give and receive practitioner assisted yoga postures to stimulate and balance the flow of healing energy within the body, opening the areas which are blocked bringing a person deeper into balance and harmony.

Learn how to tailor private sessions and classes to meet the needs of who you’re working with, in a warm, responsive and supportive way.  Assisted yoga postures where there’s a giver and receiver, hands on assists, gentle adjustments will be explored.  This experiential workshop is great for yoga teachers and students who are interested in deepening self-awareness, presence, and ability to meet others where they are.  This is a very hands-on experiential workshop!  All levels of practice welcome.

Call 781.475.2520 to register via phone.

Restorative Yoga at B Yoga Center

Sunday May 8th 1-3 p.m. in Melrose, MA

$25 for Restorative Yoga Class

or $50 Yoga Therapeutics on Saturday and Restorative Yoga on Sunday

Restorative Yoga is a practice of allowing the body to relax and rest deeply.  During deep relaxation, all the organ systems of the body are benefited. Each organ system is stimulated and soothed through the practice. The restorative sequence taught in this class is designed to bring balance into the body and move the spine in all directions, from supported backbends, forward bends, and gentle twists, as well as a restorative inverted posture, which reverses the effects of gravity. The use of props supports us in our total relaxation. Restorative poses help relieve the effects of chronic stress.

The practice of deep rest provides the body an opportunity to renew and heal, as we trigger the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for balancing the body and bringing the response system into equilibrium. Prana, the masculine energy, resides above the diaphragm, moves upward, and controls respiration and heart rate. Apana, the feminine energy, resides below the diaphragm, moves downward, and controls the function of the abdominal organs. Restorative yoga balances these two aspects of energy so that the practitioner is neither over-stimulated nor depleted.  All levels of practice are encouraged to attend!

Call 781.475.2520 to register via phone, or register online:

https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/home.asp?studioid=7500

Upcoming Partner Yoga Workshops!

Partner Yoga is a way to experience directly the root principle of Yoga – union. To experience union, we relax into the present moment and our individual nature. From this authentic connection with ourselves, we realize our essential sameness and unity with others.  Partners work together to heighten balance, energy, and alignment.  Partner Yoga integrates the body-heart-mind-spirit connection through the use of universal principals such as trust, compassion, creativity, and communication.  Partner Yoga positions utilize the principles of individual postures while incorporating the presence of another to deepen the impact of the postures.  Partner Yoga is nurturing, playful, and can deepen self-awareness.  In this workshop you will experience how partner yoga is unique in its approach, pace, and touch, and provides a pathway into Yoga that may have previously seemed intimidating or inaccessible.  We will explore communication, breath awareness and therapeutic poses you can share with a partner.  We will explore how to modify or adapt the postures to make the practice accessible, engaging and therapeutic for both partners.  All levels are encouraged to attend!  Bring a partner or come alone, and we will pair you up!

Saturday April 16th 2-4 p.m. at Yogave in Falmouth, ME

$25 per person

Taught by Maura & Kathleen

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Saturday April 23rd 3-5 p.m. at B Yoga Center in Melrose, MA

$25 per person

Taught by Maura

Workplace Wellness

To achieve and maintain a healthy relationship with work and experience the balance of mind needed for quality of life, it is important to take steps to prevent the onset or worsening of a health condition.  Relaxation techniques such as to deep breathing, yoga, meditation, and progressive muscular relaxation can decrease everyday stress levels and increase our sense of wellbeing, balance, and joy.

Practicing yoga can increase circulation, lower blood pressure, and increase strength, balance and flexibility.   The practice of yoga strengthens and supports our physical health as well as our emotional health.  If your feeling anxious or restless, practice exhaling twice as long as your inhalation.  Perhaps starting by inhaling for a count of 4 and exhaling for a count of 6.  This breathing exercise has a profound effect on the nervous system.  A great yoga posture that can ease anxiety is a gentle forward fold, hinging at the hips to relax and soften into the lower back.  This can also be done seated in a chair, exploring the lengthening action of the spine on the inhalation and the softening and sense of letting go on the exhalation.

If you’re feeling lethargic in your mind and body, practice finding an upright and easeful posture, and matching the length of your inhalations with the length of your exhalations.  Perhaps beginning by inhaling for a count of 4 and exhaling for a count of 4.  To add in movement with this breathing technique, raise the arms overhead on the inhalation and relax the arms by your sides on the exhalation.  Practicing conscious breathing daily increases our self- awareness, deepens our ability to self-care, and can have a tremendous affect on our perspective.  Maintaining a level perspective allows us to respond versus react to stress.  These valuable tools for accessing our inner calm have powerful affects on how we respond to life’s curveballs.

Self-Compassion and Well Being

When experiencing a stressful or upsetting situation or time, take time at the end of the day to reflect upon your experience, and see how much you can reflect in a self-compassionate way.  Think about what you would say to a friend in your position, or what your friend would say to you.  Try to have a sense of understanding and empathy for your own distress.  Perhaps write down what happened from a self-compassionate point of view, writing down whatever it is that you need to hear to feel nurtured, encouraged, motivated and cared for.  Self-compassion is the foundation for being able to accept others, forgive others, and help others.

I recently stumbled upon the work of Kelly McGonigal PhD, a health psychologist at Stanford University.  Her research on self-compassion and well being describes the importance, and how it helps us maintain (not abandon) our standards and succeed at our goals, as well as increase happiness and decrease depression.  She describes self-compassion as not letting ourselves off the hook and being self-indulgent.  It’s about choosing to use our own happiness and our desire to connect with others as our primary motivation as opposed to using guilt, shame and fear as our primary motivator.

Self Compassion & Well Being

• Greater happiness, optimism and social connectedness
• Less anxiety, depression, self-criticism, and unhealthy perfectionism
• Protects against social comparison, social anxiety, anger and close-mindedness

Here’s a recent article from the New York Times on self-compassion:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/go-easy-on-yourself-a-new-wave-of-research-urges/

Yoga & Live Cello Workshop: Exploring Inner Balance

A talented Cellist approached me this past fall about collaborating and working on a workshop to include yoga and live music as therapy.  Robin Jellis has performed cello in Maine for more than 15 years.  As part of her philosophy, Robin teaches “cello therapy” focusing on the breath and flow of a musical phrase and the ringing vibrations of the instrument.  It has been a great match working with her to create this incredible workshop on exploring inner balance.

Key principles of creating balance in the physical body will be explored in this experiential workshop.  The mind-body connection will be emphasized in a slow Vinyasa yoga practice accompanied by a professional live cellist.  The flow of this workshop is based in the tradition of the Yi Ching and music as therapy.  The Yi Ching explains the vibration that affects specific organs.  Through working with each vibration coordinated with working into yoga postures affecting specific organs, we will explore and monitor the inner response.  Linking yoga postures with breath coordinated with the vibration of the cello may lead you to new discoveries, bringing awareness to the mind, body and spirit.  This practice encourages a balance between energizing and accessing a deep sense of calm.

Saturday March 5th 2-4 p.m. at Jade Integrated Health

Sunday March 6th 10-12 p.m. at Jade Integrated Health

Cost: $50

Please call (207) 773-5778 to register.  Only 5 participants per workshop!

Finding contentment by entering into the flow

Most of our stress comes from our inability to accept the way things are.   Really life is not about having things our way all the time.  Life is about entering into the flow, the flow of all things and being the best we possibly can be in all situations.  One of the primary teachings of Ashtanga yoga is santosha, or contentment.   Practicing contentment is one way that we can bring peace to our mind.  We can do this a number of ways; one is through our energetic practices- our asana, pranayama and meditation practice.   We can open up the body to receive energy to start to create a balance.   These energetic practices lend toward contentment.  A mental and emotional practice is to keep a gratitude journal.  Everyday write down the things that you cherish.  These are things that if they were gone tomorrow you would miss them dearly.  So by practicing being in deep sincere gratitude for the things that mean most to us, we can more easily appreciate where we are or find contentment.  The more we do this practice, the more we can express ourselves, and we can really accept things that happen with a little bit more compassion.

Yamuna Body Rolling

Oh how great it is to experience a complete release in muscles that hold resistance, tightness or discomfort!  You may not have heard of or know exactly what Yamuna Body Rolling is, and if you’re in the dark- no worries, it’s never to late to start rolling!  What I love about Yamuna Body Rolling is that the approach is about re-educating our muscles to work effectively as we release unnecessary tension.   I attended my first Yamuna Body Rolling workshop a few months ago with a talented Yamuna practitioner and Yoga Instructor, Marianna Moll at The Yoga Center in Portland.    After that first workshop, I experienced such openness and ease in my body, in the way I felt a lightness walking, sitting, standing and laying down.  Body Rolling is an excellent complement to your yoga practice!  Similar to yoga as it increases circulation and flexibility, this practice is also really empowering, in that we can learn how to take care of our own bodies.  This kind of self-care has lasting effects that help to prolong the longevity doing what we love (whether it’s yoga, running, tennis, golf, painting, gardening… etc).  Since that first workshop I attended a few months ago, I purchased one of the Yamuna Body Rolling DVDs and have been rolling every few days at home.  Melora Gregory at Portland Yoga Studio is a local Yamuna practitioner and inspiring Yoga Instructor, who teaches weekly Yamuna Body Rolling classes.  To be able to experience complete muscle release, sometimes similar to the sensations of receiving a deep tissue massage on your own is really amazing!  Tomorrow I am flying to LA to attend the Phase 1 Yamuna Body Rolling teacher training.  I’m thrilled to deepen my knowledge and understanding of Yamuna Body Rolling for personal benefits, as well as to be able to share this work and empower others.  Later this year as I complete my certification, I will begin teaching small group Yamuna Body Rolling classes at the Jade Integrated Health.  Stay tuned