If your New Year's resolutions include any of the following:

• learning yoga, t'ai chi or tang soo do 
• maintaining a balance in your life through meditation, yoga and t'ai chi 
• taking care of yourself with massage therapy  
• rejuvenating your looks with spa treatments
• eating healthier

 then check out our list of classes and services! We can help you keep those resolutions and create new, healthier habits.  

Join us in welcoming Melody Hardman, who is practiced in the art of Reiki and is available for energy healing. If you missed Katie Roach's demonstration of singing bowls, you can find links to her explanation of them and hear an audio of it here.   

Save and print the yoga poses to refer to later. You can download the pdf here.  

Theresa Franklin, NCTMB, LMT, RYT, CMT

Olivia Kelly, NCTMB, LMT

This 16-posture form stresses balance, body alignment, breathing, flexibility, relaxation and health. It is an excellent form for seniors and people with joint problems and high blood pressure. If you've taken T'ai Chi before and enjoyed it but found the Chen style form difficult, this would be the ideal form for you.

The 16-posture form was created by Yang Zhenduo, Grandmaster of Yang style T'ai Chi as an introductory form for Yang style. Jerry Whitten learned the form directly from Grandmaster Yang at the International T'ai Chi Symposium in 2009.      

Jerry will also be teaching Chi Kung (energy gathering) exercises that are designed to further improve breathing, range of motion and relaxation.  

This 8-week class will be held on Mondays, 10:30 - 11:30 a.m., beginning January 16. The class is limited to12 and costs $48.

Call Jerry Whitten (466-1723) or Be Well Now (462-3900) for information or to sign up.

Tang Soo Do

Jerry has been practicing martial arts 52 years and Tang Soo Do for 45 of them. He holds a masters rank in this Korean style karate. Practitioners learn self-defense skills and gain confidence and fitness in this traditional martial art class for adults and teens.

Tang Soo Do class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Sometimes the Universe presents us with serendipitous moments that bring new meaning to our lives. Massage Therapist Katie Roach experienced one of those moments in Boulder, Colorado more than two years ago when she was finishing up massage therapy school. Her teacher invited two women to the class to play Tibetan Singing Bowls. As the women played on the 100 bowls they brought, Katie had an out-of-the-body experience.

Initially, she was a bit "freaked out" by the experience but said she "just went with it. It totally revolutionized my way of viewing the world."

She decided to learn to use the bowls herself and ended up taking a two-day workshop from Shree Krishna Shahi, a Nepalese Singing Bowl Master.

Singing bowls are used to balance the chakras and in meditation and sound therapy. They are made of seven different metals, namely gold, silver, copper, tin, iron, mercury and lead. A mallet is used to strike the bowl or rub the rim and the pitch of sound depends on the bowl's size, thickness and weight.

Sound therapy provides "massage" for your cells, helping to regulate irregular cellular frequencies (which lead to pain) that are a result of imbalance. This type of therapy also increases a sense of well-being and a connection to your self.

Singing bowl therapy can help alleviate:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Sleep problems
• Overall pain and tension

For information about singing bowl therapy call Katie at 462-3900

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You've heard of meditation and know the benefits are numerous - it reduces your stress level and provides a way to face life with peace and calm. You'd love to give it a try but you just don't have the time to sit for an hour or more every day.

Now you can learn techniques that can be used by busy people in a new workshop, Meditation for Every Day Life. Join clinical psychologist Dr. Dee Evans as she teaches you meditation methods in a four-week group setting. Handouts will help you move meditation from the group to your every day life. You'll also learn what research tells us about meditation.

The only requirement is that you wear comfortable clothes and can sit in a chair. Please bring your own cushion if you prefer sitting on the floor.

Dee practiced meditation from two different religious traditions. She became interested in teaching it after research demonstrated the benefits and psychologists adapted meditation techniques without requiring any particular religious background to practice them.

Whether you've never meditated and are curious to know more or are an experienced practitioner looking for a group experience, you'll find this workshop beneficial.

Introductory cost is $20 per session. Missed sessions can be made up at no cost with prior approval of instructor. Classes are Thursdays Feb. 2, 9, 16, and 23 from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Mountain is a seemingly simple pose but it's a foundation for just about every other pose. Just think of the number of times you center yourself in Tadasana and then move into other poses such as Warrior or Triangle. Practicing Tadasana also improves your posture and increases your awareness of the muscular-skeletal alignment.

The Blueprint

In Mountain Pose, the practitioner stands with feet hip width apart, pressing the crown of the head up while standing with firm legs.

How to do it

1. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Use yoga toes to ground yourself -lift your toes, spread them and place them back on the floor. Evenly distribute your weight over all four corners of each foot and "root" yourself to the floor.
3. Lift your kneecaps by engaging your quadriceps and drawing them upward. Tuck your tailbone and center your pelvis bowl over your hips. Your legs are straight but relaxed.
4. Inhale, lifting your chest away from your waist. Imagine there is a string pulling the crown of your head toward the ceiling as you elongate the spine.
5. Exhale and pull your shoulders down from your ears as you reach for the floor with your fingertips.
6. Soften your throat and make the tongue wide and flat on the floor of your mouth. Soften your eyes.
7. Stay in the pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute, breathing easily.

In this position, imagine there is a line of energy that runs up from the floor, through your legs and torso and then back down your legs. Feel the strength and stillness associated with a mountain.

Don't:

1. overextend your chin
2. lock your knees out

Benefits

• Improves posture through aligning and centering the whole body

• Relieves sciatica
• Strengthens joints and muscles of feet and legs
• Tones pelvis, abdomen and buttocks

Contraindications

• Headache
• Insomnia
• Low blood pressure, dizziness
• Recent or chronic injury to the shoulders