New fall class: BALANCING CHAKRAS WITH ASANAS. By Registration only.
SUN YOGA is starting a new class series, BALANCING CHAKRAS WITH ASANAS, at the south location studio. This special session will be taught by an experienced and a certified yoga teacher, Priya Dasyam**.
This is a 8 week, registered class and we are taking up to 20 students only. Call early to book your spot!
Class type: BALANCING CHAKRAS WITH ASANAS.
Class description: Every week you will explore a new chakra (energy centre). You will learn about all 7 major chakras in the body by using a combination of Asanas, Mudras (hand formations), Pranayama (breathing styles) and Meditation.
Benefits Of Chakra Yoga: Practicing yoga poses that correspond to each chakra in the body release blocked energy and help balance the subtle energy (prana) in the body. This type of yoga helps you focus and go deeper into each asana. By the end 8 weeks you will feel more balanced in both thought and action (mind & body).
Class dates: Sep. 1- Oct. 29, 2015.
No classes on Sep.22 and 24
Classes every Tuesday and Thursday, 6:00 PM -7:15 PM
Ideal for beginners. All levels and ages are welcome.
Cost: $200 ( for all 16 classes)
Early bird fee: $180 (first 10 registrants)
Drop in fee: $15 per class*
Registration deadline date: August 31, 2015.
You can register by phone 780.937.3402 or click on 'Contact' link on the left side of the page. We will answer any questions you may have regarding this class.
* Since this is a progressive class, when you drop in, you will be missing the information from the previous classes. If we have a spot, you are most welcome to try the class!
** Visit the SUN YOGA website under the link 'About' to know more about Priya D.
Real yoga and some real lessons learned...
Last two and a half months have been the most painful, debilitating and yet most awakening for me. After ignoring all cues my body gave me that its hurting, I took my strength for granted and ended up with excruciatingly painful sciatica in my right leg. I couldn't stand, walk or sit without the pain shooting down my leg. My toes got numb within a minute of standing up. No amount of pain killers would bring relief. Just when I was starting to enjoy perfect health and a calm mind, I was hit with this. Just when the students at the studio had started to progress so well and were hoping to go ahead with their yoga learning in summer, I had to stop. More than the pain, what hurt me more was that I could not do yoga or even sit to meditate, something which had become my whole being.
But now the real yoga begins! I now understand that all this happened for a reason. Pain and injury have been my true teachers of the spiritual path and now it was time for me to walk my own talk. Sciatica meant I will not be able to do my favorite Halasana, or rather any of those calming forward bend poses. When you are injured, you have to ask, "Am I really going to do yoga, or am I going to let my nerve pain heal?". Does it annoy me? For sure! But it's my ego that's hurting. So then that is the tapas. That is the real lesson learned. And that's more yoga than just being on the mat and doing the sequence of asanas. I have now known that pain is a necessary spiritual tool in a practice that claims to heal the body and ego and free the person from all limitations.
I kept neglecting the wrong kind of pain and ended up with an injury. I didn't want that but I learnt not to push my body beyond a certain limit. If too much pain does injure a yogi, the bright side is that renewed focus upon bodily healing may hurt the ego as it contemplates its new limitations. And this is good news! The real yoga is the burning up of the ego! It's a pity that there's so much emphasis on harder an stronger postures and comparatively little encouragement of softness and ease. Especially when the latter is a greater challenge. Demonstrating kindness to oneself, exercising discipline of restraint, now that is more inspiring!
The only thing which has helped consistently in pain relief from day one till today is, Pranayama, deep breathing. When nothing seemed to work, pranayama came to the rescue, solidifying my belief in it forever. The teachings of my spiritual Guru gave me mental strength and understanding. I now understand concepts like 'forebearance', 'to accept pain with the knowledge that it will go away' and 'pain is a way to exhaust bad karma'. He reminded me that the ultimate goal of a seeker is self-knowledge and not to be disheartened by road blocks like not being able to do yoga or be thrilled to be able to do it again. I have learnt to set micro intentions, like doing one set of Sun Salutation everyday,(coming down from many rounds to one round is a huge lesson to the ego!). But small baby steps one day at a time, will take me further.
Ask yourself, "What wisdom have you gained from going through a difficult or challenging period in your life"? Remaining equanimous with faith and patience through pain, injury and suffering is hard, but that is where the real inner work of yoga begins. Being strong in yoga isn't about how long you hold a headstand. It's about how much grace you can have in adversity.
Relieve anxiety attacks with yoga.
Many of us experience bouts of anxiety during different times of the day-just before getting up from bed early morning, or when we wake up during the middle of the night. This short, simple practice will calm you down so that you can be in a better emotional state within a few minutes.
1.Prolong your exhales: Sit or lie down. Try to close your eyes if you can. Gently close your mouth. Inhale through the nose and exhale slowly through the nose, making it as prolonged as possible. Breathe without straining, just simple and easy breathing. Repeat it for 2-5 minutes.
Because your heart rate is naturally slower when you exhale than when you inhale, making the exhalation longer than the inhalation begins to slow down your overall heart rate, sending a message to your brain that everything is more calm than it was five minutes ago. This message will reduce your stress hormones, quiet your mind chatter and hopefully quell your anxiety.
2.Bhramari (Buzzing Bee) Breath. This breath practice, in which you make a buzzing sound as you exhale, naturally lengthens your exhalation. To practice a simple version of Bhramari, start by inhaling normally through your nose. Then, keeping your mouth closed, make a low- to medium-pitched humming sound in your throat as you exhale. As you make the buzzing sound—which should last the entire length of the exhalation—tune into the literal vibration of the sound waves in your throat and even in your skull and brain. After you complete your exhalation, inhale through your nose, and if you're comfortable, repeat the cycle. Try to make your transitions into and out of each humming exhalation as smooth as possible.
3. 1:2 Breath: In this breath practice, you actually control the length of your inhalations and exhalations, and aim for a ratio of 1:2, for example, a one-second inhalation and a two-second exhalation or a two-second inhalation and a four-second exhalation.
4. Viprita Asana (Legs up against the wall pose): See previous Blog, dated March 21, 2014 "Easy ways to de-stress".
5. Supta Asana: Lie down with soles of your feet touching and knees apart. Rest your hands on your hips or take the arms behind your head and bend the elbows and relax the arms.
6. Close your eyes and imagine that you are gently pulling the top of your scalp down towards the eyebrows. Keep our pupils focused at any point on the bridge of your nose and jeep breathing gently while imagining that. You can do this exercise while sitting or lying down. Within a few seconds, you feel start to feel calm!
SUN YOGA introduces Karma Yoga classes (FREE classes)!!!
SUN YOGA is proud to introduce weekly Karma Yoga classes! These are FREE Yoga classes to promote the act of selfless giving and giving back to the community. Our teachers are passionate about yoga and sharing its benefits. This is a small effort by SUN YOGA to make yoga accessible to those who may not have opportunity to learn yoga in the city.
Karma Yoga classes are held EVERY THURSDAY and are open to all levels and all age groups.
Time: Every Thursday, 6:00-7:15pm
Location: South side studio, #8 (2nd floor), 3908-97 Street. Edmonton.
Instructor: Margo D.
Relieve spring allergies with Yoga
Sneezings Greetings !!
Let's make this spring season free from runny noses, sneezing and watery eyes. Go out, breathe and enjoy the next few months in nature with these simple yogic techniques.
Interestingly enough, the techniques are not what most of us would think of modern yoga practice as via postures, but a practice of using the Neti Pot to irrigate the sinuses with warm water. This is a practice that falls into the category of shat-karma or “six acts” of Hatha Yoga, and is actually a preparatory practice called jala-neti, in which water with a bit of salt dissolved in it is sniffed up the nose.
Neti is a technique for cleansing the nose, nasal passages and sinuses. It helps clear the allergens and other pollutants from the nasal passages and maintain free flowing breath.
How to do it:
Add teaspoon of salt to a glass of lukewarm water and stir well. Tilt your head to the right side and using the neti pot, pour water into the left nostril. Keep breathing through the mouth in a relaxed manner. The water will start to come out from the right nostril, clearing away any nasal blockages. Now, tilt the head to the left side and pour the water through the right nostril. After using the neti pot in both the nostrils, blow the nose to clear any excess water in the nose. Repeat the process if needed.
It is important to keep breathing through the mouth in a relaxed manner and not to inhale the water while pouring it into the nostrils.
Yoga asanas to help relieve the sinus pressure due to allergies:
The following sequence of yoga poses is worth trying because it relieves sinus pressure and pain while still moving your spine and head into potentially beneficial positions of gentle forward bends, back bends, side bends and mild inversions. The sequence features Mountain pose (Tadasana), Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana), Camel pose (Ustrasana), Triangle pose (Trikonasana), Downward-Facing Dog pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana), and Cobra pose (Bhujangasana), Knees to Chest pose (Pavanmuktasana), Raised Stretched-Out Foot pose (Urdhva Prasarita Padasana), Lion pose (Simhasana), Bow pose (Dhanurasana) and Savasana.
And, for breath work (Pranayama), the Bellows Breath known as Kapalbhatti works wonders!
More importantly, I’d remind us all that yoga has been studied and found to have a positive effect on the immune system, and, ultimately, if the immune system is functioning at its peak, we are going to have the best chance of influencing the course and re-occurrences of sinus problems. That means establishing a regular home practice that is well balanced, and includes pranayama practices, nadi shodhana, as well as seated meditation in addition to our beloved asanas.
Try these practices this spring to find what works best for you. Let me know what you discover!