Dear Greetings!

Did the title of this e-mail catch your eye or even startle you a bit? Tisk, tisk...Forget about the "C" word you had in mind, that's for another e-mail. The one I had in mind was "Changes".

Lately, I've been on a sabbatical of sorts. Let's call it a retreat; a place of refuge, seclusion or privacy due to the big "c" word. With new and unexpected Changes in my life, I realize it's become more important and in fact necessary to take time away to reflect and grow. I highly recommend making time to retreat.

One of the best experiences I can share with you from my past few weeks in retreat come from the Caribbean Yoga Conference in Jamaica. Click on the previous link to hear about the treasures I took away from my time there.

I venture off this week to teach in the Dominican Republic and before leaving I'd like to share with you 2 Audio Lessons I recorded just for you:

Hope you find refuge in the teachings offered in each of them.

One more question before I go, this one struck me and I'd love to hear how it impacts you: 

Announcements!

Wellness Coaching Sessions Available Spring 2012

Upcoming Miami Yoga Workshop: Flight of the Yogi: Conquer Your Fear of Arm Balances & Inversions  (CONTINUED)

The Risks & Rewards of Practicing Yoga: NPR

Forward By Liza Pitsirilos

In the last newsletter a New York Times Article entitled How Yoga Wrecks Your Body, sparked a lot of conversation and concern in and beyond the yoga community. 

I asked you the Ambrosia Lifestyle community whether: Is Yoga Healing or Hurting Our Community? I thank you for each of you who responded with your thoughts and ideas. 

In the time that I have been practicing yoga I realize that there is a common cycle in the evolution of each practitioner's yoga development. At first, we are drawn to yoga for the physical benefits yet over time as we become more committed to the practice we realize that it helps us with the emotional constraints and life changes we are dealing with on a day to day level. If we are lucky enough to practice long enough and we are open to the flow of yoga's magic, we one day come to see our practice as one of spiritual importance. 

It is within this third facet of yoga that we learn our importance and contribution to our larger existence in this world.

I bring these 3 different facets of yoga practioners' evolution to shed light on the fact that when you look beyond the occasional physical issues that come up with any physical activity like yoga, you can see that conferences like the Caribbean Yoga Conference, organizations like Off the Mat Into the World and Africa Yoga Project, shed light on the great leaps yoga is making to heal our community. I was fortunate to meet the founders of these organizations and it's changed the way I look at yoga ever since.

I share a follow up article with you called: 

LIZA'S LESSONS: Calming Breath

 

LIZA'S LESSONS: Calming Breath

 

Upcoming Workshops:

Whether It's Your Hips, Neck, Hamstrongs, Shoulders or You Want to Defy Gravity We've Got You Covered! 

 

Save the Dates!

March 1st Celebrate Your Practice (Dominican Republic) 

 

April 6th, 2012  Flight of the Yogi: Conquer Your Fears! (Continued)

April 21st/ 22nd, 2012 Forrest Yoga Week-End Workshops (Shakti Yoga KEY WEST) 

 

Tricycle Talks: Jason Siff on Unlearning Meditation

 

"Why does meditation have to be so hard? According to Jason Siff, there is an inherent tension in meditation practice between your mind as it is and the meditation instructions you use. In his book Unlearning Meditation: What to Do When the Instructions Get in the Way (theDecember Tricycle Book Club selection), Siff encourages us to take a bird's-eye view of our meditation instructions so that we can see the concepts and beliefs that are embedded within them. 

When we get behind the instructions and understand how the concepts within them function, we find that we often sort our meditation experiences into acceptable and unacceptable, right and wrong. This kind of rigid thinking about our practice can lead to both frustration and what Siff calls "meditator's guilt." 

 

READ MORE.... 

Class Schedule

Saturday  (GENTLE YOGA) 8:30-11:15am Pritikin  (CANCELED 3/3)

Wednesday (GENTLE YOGA) 8:30-11:15am Pritikin  (CANCELED 2/29)

Wednesday (FORREST YOGA) 7:30-8:45pm Sports Club-LA (CANCELED 2/29)

-To book private or semi-private yoga sessions please e-mail Liza@ambrosialifestyle.com

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