| THE ESSENTIAL CLASS |
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Steady your gaze.
Focus on the breath. Integrate awareness. Practice the Essentials.
Thursdays 6 - 7pm
Fridays 5:30 - 6:30 pm |
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QUOTE OF THE MONTH
April |
To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are.
~Eric Hoffer |
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Improve your yoga practice while getting a massage?
Let Frank's Bodywork show you how with a restorative and deeply relaxing Thai Massage. This ancient healing art form is well over 2,000 years old, and combines rhythmic compression, finger pressure along energy pathways, and gentle passive stretching, all effortlessly woven together into one blissful experience.
"This bodywork therapy is so unique that it really cannot be compared to any other massage experience. It's like a deep tissue massage, yoga, and 90 minutes of meditation all rolled into one."
~ Dawn Hinshaw
Special Offer
If you have never experienced Frank's Thai Massage before, mention this Buddha Blast publication and receive a one-time $20 discount off of your first visit!
For more information or to schedule an appointment, call Frank at 704 258-9611
More About Thai Massage
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| Pose of the Month:
Parvritta Trikonasana |
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Revolving Triangle Pose (Parvritta Trikonasana) is a wonderful heart-opening twist that sometimes gets lost in the balancing aspects of the pose.
Parvritta, which is often translated as "rotating" or "twisting" can also mean a "turning of the heart". In this pose, the actions and alignment you discover at the wall emphasize the turning of your heart out and away - as if your heart were reaching for something. The back muscles are the primary rotating muscles in this alignment, and the belly is soft and stretched. Often, this pose is practiced with the opposite alignment: the top shoulder slumps forward, the back is stretched, and the heart is closed, pointing down. Use your practice at the wall to find the heart-opening alignment.
Read the full article and learn about some inspiring variations of revolving triangle at Asana Insights. |
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| yoga and buddha photos by
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| Issue 3: April Showers |
April 2010 |
Greetings!
Passion for the Practice.
In March, Johnny G. came in for a weekend intensive. I was brought back to my days as a Personal Trainer with all of the alignment principles and anatomy. This flashback moved me to bring some more of that into our classes. So I have created The Essential Class. It is a set format so that the focus will be on breath, alignment, and integrity. A set format will give us all reference point, a place to come back to again and again. To discover where we are today.
Commit yourself to bringing your awareness into all that you do. Bring awareness into the work week, the morning routine, the daily commute, eating meals, answering emails, going to bed.
We spend more time off the mat than we do on it. Cultivate awareness in the Essential Class. Integrate that awareness into your daily life.
From the foundation of our practice we will grow, like the flowers after the rain.
Peace.
Dawn Hinshaw |
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| April Showers... bring May flowers! |
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April Showers...
The excitement of spring is exhilarating, and we are all more than ready to come out of hibernation and spend more time outdoors! But just as the inevitable 'April Showers' may dampen our spirits and seem to restrict our experience of fun, so may the repetition of basic yoga postures that build solid foundations and core strength seem tedious and unnecessary.
We may want to get into challenging postures and difficult arm balances, but first we must understand the necessity of developing our foundation. Just as the rain nourishes the plants for the burst of growth and color to come, core strengthening and devoted practice nourishes our body so that we will be able to get into challenging poses with integrity.
So let's look at the rain as a necessary step in the process of growth. We can appreciate the time that the rain gives us to read a good book or spend time indoors with loved ones. In our Yoga practice, we can appreciate the time developing core strength as a time to understand our bodies more intimately.
...and we will enjoy our picnics--or handstands--even more when they come! |
| Buddha News |
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* The Essential Class
Thursdays 6 - 7pm
Fridays 5:30-6:30pm
* Deep Stretch w/ Serap
Thursdays 4:30 - 5:30pm
* $5 Karma Classes
every Saturday
and Sunday 2 - 3pm
* Treat a Friend to Lunch
every Monday
and Wednesday 12:15 - 1:15pm
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The Essential Class: Our foundational class. Set class format taught in 5 blocks; warm-up, warrior sequence, balancers, core work and cool-down. Basic alignment principles you need to begin or enhance your yoga practice. This class is for all levels.
Deep Stretch: Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape. A perfect way to end your day or begin your evening. Let the postures take you deeper into your body. Move slowly and breathe deeply, this class is for all levels. |
| April Health Points: Allergy Relief |
It's that time again! As beautiful as Charlotte is in the spring, every year the blossoming trees and flowers wreak havoc on our sinuses and respiratory systems. Often the first thing we do is reach for a decongestant or antihistamine, but overuse of these products can leave us feeling less than alert, and can dangerously inhibit our naturally occurring immune responses.
Yoga and Pranayama (breathwork) can give us some safe and effective options during allergy season. When used with Aromatherapy, they can give very effective relief! For best results, Follow the 3 steps below:
1. Aromatherapy: Essential oils are incredibly powerful, so using only one or two drops will do the trick. Bring a pot of water to a boil and remove from heat. Add oil in the water, and hover face about twelve inches away from steam, and cover head and pot with a towel. Breathe deeply, feeling the nasal passages open. Stay here for about 10 - 20 minutes.
Useful Oils: Frankincense - hay fever Lavender - bronchitis and asthma Rosemary and Eucalyptus - respiratory congestion
2. Kapalabhati Pranayama: also called "Breath of Fire". First, come to vajrasana. Focus on your lower belly. Quickly contract the lower abdomen, pushing a burst of air out of your lungs through the nose. When you quickly release the contraction, you will feel your belly "rebound," sucking air back into your lungs. Practice this until you are confident of the movements, then repeat the breaths back to back 8 - 10 times, working toward to a full minute of continuous breath and increasing your pace. Keep a tissue handy! When you are finished, exhale all air out of your lungs, then inhale deeply, coming to a high kneeling position, arms above your head, and hold the breath for as long as you can. Then exhale completely, mouth open, coming to child's pose. Be very careful with this technique if you have high blood pressure or are on allergy medications, because this will raise your blood pressure further for a little while.
3. Matsyasana - Fish Pose: Lay flat on your back with legs active. Place your hands palm side down underneath each buttock. Tuck forearms and elbows closely to the torso. Inhale, and come to your elbows. Exhale, lift the heart to the sky, and extend through the neck to the crown of the head. Very gently let the head fall back to your mat. Very little weight should be on your head.
Breathe here for thirty seconds or so. When you are ready to come out, mindfully lower your torso and head to your mat. Hug the knees into the chest and squeeze, then come to savasana.
In the first couple of attempts, when you are very congested, this pose can make you dizzy or even nauseated because the pressure in your sinuses will be shifting. Give it some time, and you will find relief.
Do not attempt matsyasana if you have any type of neck injury.
By utilizing the wonders of yoga, pranayama, and aromatherapy, we should all be able to appreciate the beauty of spring a little more clearly!
~Dawn Ireland, RN | |
Thanks for sharing your spirit and energy.
Dawn Hinshaw
Laughing Buddha Yoga Studio | |
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