Mobility and Stability of the Neck & Shoulder in Yoga
with Theresa Elliott and Noel Caraig, PT
January 14 - 15, 2012
Saturday - Sunday, 10am - 5pm LINK 

Pacific Yoga 200-Hour Teacher Training Program

with Theresa Elliott and Kathryn Payne
Open House: Sunday, January 15, 2012

5:30pm - 7:00pm, Hosted by Taj Yoga 

Meet our instructors and find out what makes our 200-hour program different from the rest. This 10-month program starts May 4, 2012. LINK 

Clay Modeling: Knowing the Knees by Working with the Hands

with Jim Strange 

Saturday, February 4, 2012
11:00am - 5:00pm (includes break)
$115 (materials included) LINK 

 This class is perhaps the most effective way to learn joint principles and specifically understand the three dimensions of the knee joint.  

 
Yoga at Your Desk with Theresa Elliott

Session 1: Saturday, February 25, 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Session 2: Saturday, March 31, 1:00pm - 3:00pm  

$40 per session LINK 

Terrific for anyone who spends the day sitting at a desk or a chair, in front of a computer or clients or both!

Mandi Grover Taj Yoga Teacher

On my recent travels to India, I was on a path in search of stillness. In a place that seems to constantly be moving in chaos, this felt like no easy task. With over a billion people in the country, merely finding space where you can be alone and still is honestly quite difficult.  

My guru, Swami Krishnananda, lives in Bangalore, a city with well over eight million people. With the guidance of my guru, I spent my days here sitting in stillness meditating, doing mantra repetition, chanting, practicing yoga asana, and doing pranayama. I did these practices all day, everyday, from well before sun up to well after sun down. When I needed to wash my clothes, this became a part of my yogic practice, I repeated my personal mantra as I washed them. When I needed to cook food, this too became a part of my personal practice, chanting as I cooked. When I craved stillness, I sat in meditation. I practiced yoga asana to keep my body strong. I practiced pranayama to keep my mind and body light. And I chanted and chanted and chanted to open my heart.   

Living this daily life concentrated on the tenets of yogic practice, my focus and concentration became sharp. I was fully immersed in the task at hand, fully concentrated on just one thing. I felt a sense of peace and stillness that I have never before experienced. I was contented and grateful for everything. I felt involved in the present and only the present, never the past or future. And all of this was happening in what can feel like one of the most chaotic places on the planet. I eventually realized that there is a place for stillness among the chaos, especially in a place like India. Even though there is constant movement, not everyone is constantly moving. There is a value placed on stillness in the culture. And when we go inside ourselves and touch that stillness, it comes to life.

In our daily lives, we need to touch this stillness, where and however possible. We can incorporate small practices into our daily routine that brings about this stillness. Whether that is relaxing on your yoga mat in Savasana everyday for 10 minutes when you get home from work, or perhaps repeating a personal uplifting mantra while you do a daily task. American culture can learn and needs to learn to value this stillness, this sense of peace and happiness that comes through these incredible yogic practices. I am filled with gratitude for what I learned as I strive to bring these yogic practices into my daily life here at home in Seattle.

-- Mandi Grover teaches Meditation & Kirtan, Special Needs, and Sivananda classes at Taj Yoga.