SPRING at THE YOGA PLACE
IN THIS NEWSLETTER
STUDIO NOTES
YOGIC BREATHING AND TRUTH
QUICK LINKS
www.benningtonyoga.com
www.shivarea.com
www.kripalu.com
MAR 31 - Jun 29, 2008

Dear Friends, Yogis and Yoginis

Last night I encountered the brilliance of a full yellow moon, again in the middle of the night, light streaming across my pillow and then again this morning, an orange toned presence in the western sky, almost defying the coming dawn.  Similar to holding a yoga posture, the beginning brilliance and hope, the mid-stage breathing and streaming into relaxation and the final arc of last minute holding, just one breath more.  Come to yoga this spring.  Enjoy relaxing into the most minute details......the dignity and grace that enters your being as the posture develops and opens into you and you into it......the breath supporting it all.  Yoga is "yoking"  the physical with the spiritual.  Yoga is opening into the unknown, into adventure, expansion.  Yoga allows you to touch down into the omnipresent infinite resource that you are.  Try it.  You'll feel it.

The Spring Schedule is upon us with a few changes but mostly staying the same.
NEW OFFERINGS:

DEEP INTEGRATIVE RELAXATION (Yoga Nidra).  This 4 week class will draw you into a state of being where you are fully alert and deeply
relaxed, as if asleep and awake at the same time.  In this state, one
is able to access and harness usually unconscious inner resources for
healing at all levels.  At the simplest level, you will learn how to
relax very deeply.  Although we all intuitively recognize that
relaxation is the beginning of the solution to almost any problem,
very few of us know how to find that confident level of relaxation.
This class will change your life.  I will run this class in June if I have enough signed up.  So call Jane:  447-0393.
630PM-745PM. 
Cost: $100 (practice CD included).

DEEPENING YOUR PRACTICE.  Thursdays 730-845 AM.  Ongoing.
This class is geared for those who wish to deepen their experience of
yoga.  We will move inward - exploring pranayams (breathing patterns),
holding and relaxing into asana at a deeper level, and for some,
moving towards a level 3 practice where we release into prana,
allowing life force energy to be our guide.  This is an exploratory
practice of yoga which teaches us about ourselves at the deepest
levels of our being, bypassing the conscious mind and directing us
toward the wisdom of the body-mind, the heart-mind.  Questions to Jane at 447-0393.

TAI CHI.  This class is on hold for now, seeking a mentor/teacher.

ANUSARA YOGA.  With Natasha Judson remains on Wednesdays at
4-515PM.  All levels welcome.  $15/class preregister, $17/class drop
in.

Stress Reduction and Body Awareness Group for Women.   
Women work together to gain insight and understanding about the  powerful interplay between mind and body. This understanding can lead to profound change in how we view and work with the stress in our lives, and can be an opening to deeper respect for ourselves and our lives.  Stress reduction techniques taught will be simple Yoga and stretching, breathwork, meditation and other simple movement practices.  Facilitative activities will include journaling, group process and inquiry into our own direct experience of what we are learning together. Everyone will work at their own pace.  No prior experience necessary.  Call Evita at (802)249-0645 to preregister, get information.

 WEEKEND CLASSES.

ASHTANGA YOGA.  With Nicole Stetson.  Saturday mornings at 9am.

SIVA REA VINYASA FLOW YOGA.  With Tracey Forest.  Sunday mornings at
10am.

ONGOING AND VERY POPULAR CLASSES.

VERY BEGINNER YOGA.  Mondays 5-6PM.

MIXED LEVEL YOGA.  1030AM  MWF with Jane and Carol.  Kripalu and Anusara style yoga.

MIXED LEVEL VINYASA FLOW YOGA.  With Donna Myers.  W545PM and F530PM.

HOT YOGA.  With Lisa Moses.  Tu 530-7PM  and Th 430-6PM

PILATES.  With Donna Menneto.  MWFr  830-930AM.  Mat class with
extended stretching as well as core strengthening.

ANUSARA YOGA.  With Natasha, W 4pm.


CALENDER BREAKOUT
M        830AM - PILATES
M      1030AM - MIXED LEVEL YOGA
M     100-2PM - Benn School Girls
M        500PM - VERY BEGINNER YOGA
M        630PM - Integrative Relaxation (Maybe in June)

T   10-1130AM - Stress Reduction/Body Awareness Women
T         530PM - HOT YOGA

W        830AM - PILATES
W      1030AM - MIXED LEVEL YOGA
W        400PM - ANUSARA YOGA
W        545PM - MIXED LEVEL VINYASA FLOW YOGA

TH       730AM - DEEPEN YOUR PRACTICE YOGA
TH       430PM - HOT YOGA

F          830AM - PILATES
F        1030AM - MIXED LEVEL YOGA
F          530PM - MIXED LEVEL VINYASA FLOW YOGA

Sa        900AM - ASHTANGA YOGA

Su      1000AM - SIVA REA VINYASA FLOW YOGA

FEES: 
DROP IN - $15
VERY BEGINNER - $125/13 WEEKS
ONE CLASS/WEEK PASS - $143.
TWO CLASS/WEEK PASS - $260.
Passes include all classes (excluding Hot Yoga and Pilates) and may be used as you wish but must be completed by end of session.


 
STUDIO NOTES
JANE TO INDIA, OTHERS SUPPORT YOUR PRACTICE.

Jane will be off to Chennai for hip replacement surgery from April 13 to 30th and then probably not teaching until June during the recuperation period, thus hopefully avoiding the risk of femoral fracture.  During my absence (4/13-30th) Donna Myers has graciously agreed to be the Yoga Place contact person for our studio, 802.442-8560.  She will be teaching some of my classes along with Alice McGovern and Tracey Forest.......and you may find some others subbing along the way.....for the entire six week period.  We are all blessed to have such extraordinary teachers.........thank you!  And of course, not to forget that teachers are always informed and brought forward by their students.....thank you! 

If I am clever enough, I will try to make a blog which you can get into to bring you a bit of the flavor of India.  However, I can't even figure out how to put an image into this article so.................:)
 
Yogic Breathing and Truth
Yogic Breathing.

Indra Devi, one of the first women to bring yoga to the West believed that yoga is pragmatic technique for fostering insight.
She taught that the yogic breathing promotes self awareness and that this awareness allows cultivation of positive thoughts and release of negative ones.
Yogic Breathing:  Breathe through your nose.  Let your upper and lower teeth gently touch.  Allow the tip of the tongue to rest lightly at the base of the lower teeth. Let the tongue to relax and the back of the throat to relax.  Then encourage the breath to deepen in a comfortable, easy fashion.
Try this breathing in yoga class, during stressful moments in life,when you awaken with anxiety in the middle of the night, anytime.  You could try breathing in patience, equanimity, confidence and trust and breathing out fear, distrust and self-attack.(summarized from Yoga Journal).


TRUTH.

Apparently
Ghandi wrote a book, "My Experiments with Truth.", believing that lying disconnects us from reality and that truth lies at the very heart of existence.  Pondering this, I realized that the lies and truthes we tell ourselves during our yoga practice bear investigation.

 The Sufis believe that there are 4 Gates of Speech:  Are my words true?  Are these words necessary?  Are these words beneficial?  Are these words kind?

Why not apply these 4 gates to the words we tell ourselves, not only on the yoga mat of course, but throughout our lives? 

So, using yogic breathing, enjoy exploring truth, in your practice on the mat, in your practice off the mat.


 
The Yoga Place welcomes people of all levels and experience.

We believe that yoga is an adventuresome method for exploring and expanding our inner view of ourselves and our perception of our interconnectedness in the world as well as a method for strengthening and bringing flexibility to our bodies, our minds, our hearts and our spirits. Most importantly, we believe that life is good and that practice on the yoga mat offers us opportunities to open to new, more joyful ways of living our lives off the yoga mat.

Sincerely,
Jane Schaeffer
The Yoga Place