9/8/05
Dear Yoga Student,
I hope you are doing well and taking time to enjoy these last weeks of summer.
The fall and a new season of great Yoga is upon us. The new schedule is out and available at my website at www.creativeedgeyoga.com. Classes begin this Sunday, September 11th so I hope to see you soon! There are some changes pertaining to the new Haven area classes. They are outlined below.
**Special note: I am happy to announce that I will be able to continue with the New Haven classes with very little disruption to the routine we have become used to. Along with some fellow teachers at Creative Body therapies I will be teaching classes at the Jewish Community Center in Woodbridge, very close to the New Haven line on 360 Amity Road in Woodbridge The space is beautiful I believe will offer the same comfortable and calming atmosphere as was provided at CBT. You do not have to be a member of the JCC to come. At the same time, I encourage you to check out the facilities and service they offer. Class fees will be the same as before—the series rate is $96 for 8 weeks, $15 fee to drop in.
The class times will be a little different. The class times are 6:15--30pm for Yoga Basics and Beyond; 7:45-9:00pm for Open Flow yoga. The schedule will have further details.
On
August 31st, from 6:30-8:30PM, I will be doing another “Posture
Alignment, Pain Relief and Enhanced Living” (aka: Posture, Pain and
Performance) workshop at The
Shoreline Center for Wholistic Health. The information here is
empowering, offering terrific insight for people of all ages into the
mechanism of healthy and dysfunctional movement and their consequences.
There is no need to wait, if you are struggling with pain issues please
contact me to get started in taking care of the problem of pain at its
source.
I will again be teaching at a “Yoga for
Stress and Wellness” class at Branford Adult Education on
Thursdays 7:15-8:30pm. The first of two sessions begins September 29th. Call
(203)4888-1700 or visit the website at http://www.erace-adulted.org/enrichment1.html
for more info.
Ravi Singh and Ana Brett will be back at Raven’s Wing on October 23rd, form 1-4pm. They will present a Kundalini Yoga experience entitled Love and Will--Kundalini Yoga with Ravi Singh and Ana Brett , relating to creating healthy self empowerment and enhancing our capacity for compassion to support our evolution. These issues challenge us daily and this experience should be a great support and joy.. See below for more details.
To keep these yoga fires burning you can supercharge your Holiday season with another offering of "Kundalini Yoga for Relaxation and Renewal--a Holiday Mini-retreat" that I will offer on Saturday, November 19th from 1-4pm at the Shoreline Center for Wholistic Health.
Yoga
Therapy:
Yoga
For Stress Reduction
It is of no surprise to anyone that stress is linked to a host of diseases and disorder that we encounter in our lives. Many psychologists have stated that the dysfunctional attempts to avoid anxiety are at the root of much mental confusion and emotional disturbance. Researchers have formulated notions of “good stress” (Easters) and bad stress(Distress) and created a hierarchy of ways we approach stress and its manifestations. What is certain in any case is that the body/mind must respond in some way to the events of our lives. Any response involves a complex interaction of the different systems and organs of our body. If we are constantly under a bombardment of stressful experience without repose, the same stress response that is designed to mobilize and spur us to creative action now drains and depletes our vitality and erodes our health on many levels. More simply stated, the fight/flight/freeze response generated by the sympathetic nervous system in response to the challenges of our lives gets stuck on and cannot be brought fully to the baseline “re-laxation” by an overwhelmed and unfortified para-sympathetic nervous system.
In
an article from the Yoga Basics website
entitled “How Yoga Heals", the negative aspects of the stress response is
powerfully detailed as follows:
“Chronic stress can lead to
continuously high levels of the {adrenal gland hormone], cortisol. This
hormone at normal levels helps to maintain an active, healthy body
(including regulation of metabolism and blood pressure). But excessive
amounts of cortisol can suppress the immune system and cause sleep
disturbances, loss of sex drive and loss of appetite. High levels of
cortisol can also increase your heart rate, blood pressure and your
cholesterol and triglyceride levels (risk factors for both heart attacks and
strokes). The byproducts of cortisol act as sedatives, which can lead
to changes in mood, especially to feelings of depression.”
It
is no wonder that we have developed a number of approaches, creative and
otherwise, to eliminate or reduce stress and anxiety in our lives.
Our stress responses can fall under the following categories:
1)Solving the problem---operate on the event or stressor to fix the issue at its cause.
2)Re-frame the stressful situation--change perspective or thought process about the stressor to make it manageable or even to re-consider it to be a positive.
3)Reduce
or eliminate the stress response---change
the physiological and psychological reactions to stress through relaxation
techniques, imagery and of course, Meditation
and Yoga.
4)Avoidant or self-destructive behavior--Substance
abuse, compulsive and impulsive behavior, over dependence on caffeine, sugar
and other behaviors that offer short term pleasure and seeming relief from
the stress response at the expense of our overall physical and mental
health. As repeated exposure to stress destroys our natural sensitivity and
responsiveness to life and it seems we need more and more pleasure to drown
out this “volume” of distress. The unconscious pursuit of pleasure that
can arise may overwhelm us and in the extreme threaten our jobs, property
and our most cherished relationships.
The practice of Yoga can impact stress on each of these levels. Indeed, Yoga is among the most immediate ways to address the stress response itself. When we practice Yoga, posture(asana), breathwork(paranyama) and meditation(dyana) we take a clear step toward eliminating the deleterious effects of stress. The combination of these aspects powerfully operates directly on our physiology to return us to health and balance. No previous experience is necessary to enjoy the full power of Yoga. We feel it in the soothed and relaxed muscles, eased nerves, normalized breath and a calmed mind.
Insights gained in our practice often inform our lives off the Yoga mat.
From
the Yogic perspective, stress can be
defined as “Resistance to what is”. As I have discussed in
previous newsletters, this resistance taxes body mind and spirit and sows
the seeds of dis-ease. As the benefits of Yoga infuse us with greater calm
and ease, we can better stay in the moment and more appropriately operate on
the stressors of life as they unfold. Therefore, the ultimate aim of Yoga
can be seen as growing in the capacity to be present, empowered to live our
lives from the only time that truly exists.
Practice:
Perhaps the most powerful ingredient in the “recipe” for stress management offered by the practice of Yoga is the reliance on breath to transform the physical and mental response to stress itself. Breath is the biochemical fuel for respiration, and according to Yoga is the source of prana, our subtle vital energy. Because it is always with us in the present moment, developing facility connecting to and adjusting the rhythm and placing of the breath on and off the Yoga is a tangible way to help anyone to get a handle on their reactions and behaviors. Breath is often the key that unlocks the effectiveness of Yoga asana and movement and deepens the impact that meditation and imagery have on our consciousness.
Often Pranayama(breathwork) is be done seated as a precursor to a meditation practice. However you can also connect to our breath in movement. For those who enjoy a relaxing walk below is a pranayama practice from the by IndiaDivine website.
Pranayama
While Walking:
Walk with head up, shoulders back and with chest expanded. Inhale slowly
through both nostrils counting OM mentally 3 times, one count for each step.
Then retain the breath till you count 12 OMs. Then exhale slowly through
both nostrils till you count 6 OMs. Take the respiratory pause or rest after
one Pranayama counting 12 OMs. If you find it difficult to count OM with
each step, count OM without having any concern with the steps.
Initially
it may be difficult to stay with the breath timing lengths given. Overt
time, build up to the ratios and lengths indicated.
Workshops:
With
Alan Franzi:
“Restoration
Relaxation and Renewal--
a Kundalini Yoga Holiday
Mini-Retreat “
At:
The Shoreline
Center
for Wholistic Health
35
Boston ST
Guilford,
CT
Saturday, November 19th, 2005
1:00-4:00pm
$32.00 pre-registered, 37.00 drop-in
Supercharge
your inner core of light and life for the holiday season with this mini
retreat.
Kundalini Yoga combines Yoga Posture, movement, breath work and meditation
in ways designed to develop strength, tone, flexibility, balance and calm.
Artfully sequenced sets of these techniques will be practiced that are
intended to support physical strength, balance metabolism, restore the
immune system, and enhance mood, vitality and much more!
Learn ways to cut free of the emotional and energetic effects of holiday
stress and tension and enjoy all the possibilities from the connections to
self and others that come from a strong sense of inner peace and balance.
Class is for all levels of experience
Workshop with Ravi and Ana
“Love and Will---Kundalini Yoga with Ravi Singh and Ana Brett”
Sunday
October 23rd, 1-4PM
at: Raven’s Wing Yoga
869 West Main ST
Branford, CT 06405
(1.3 miles north off exit 51 of I95 on Route 1 on the hill in Branford)
Fees: $50 pre-registered $55 drop-in
Kundalini Yoga moves, breathes, stretches, and works.
It's a dynamic inner/outer workout for all levels of your Self. This
workshop will balance an important polarity: the Navel & Heart Centers,
opening you to loving and being loved, and learning to be ruthless in a good
way. The Navel Center or Manipura Chakra (Wheel of Many Jewels) supplies
energy which underwrites the process of our unfolding. In Ravi and Ana's
combined four decades experience as Teachers, they've seen that navel power
is the missing ingredient in many people's halting attempts to transform.
The Heart Center or Anahata Chakra relates to compassion, expanded horizons,
and going beyond, as in “putting your heart into it”. When these
centers are supporting each other one's life becomes powerful and beautiful,
purposeful and profound. Also: the workshop features a sonic healing
to the transcendent sounds of live gong music. This session will be 80%
physical, 20% meditative. All levels are welcome.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please email me with questions, feedback and suggestions for how I may best meet your needs. I thank you for your ongoing support and I hope to see you this fall in Yoga class.
Sat
Nam &
Namaste,
Alan
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