New schedule! Starts this Monday, October 19th.
MORE CLASSES!
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Congratulations to the following Honorary Inner Fire Yogis and Yoginis who achieved a yoga milestone this month:
800+ classes
Violet Bracelet
Janet Pruett
600+ classes
Green Bracelet
Yellow Bracelet
Janice Binter
Matt D'Amour
400+ classes
Orange Bracelet
Sue Hogg
Larry Nash
300+ classes
Red Bracelet
Becca Keleher
David Lincecum
Wendi Joseph
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Specials/Sales
Select retail items on sale 30-40% off!
New! Bracelets and necklaces from Dogeared Jewels & Gifts
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Private Yoga
Does your practice need a boost?
Re-charge your practice and exhilerate yourself with a Private Yoga Session at Inner Fire Yoga.
To book a private yoga session, call us at 608-661-0167 or send an email to info@innerfireyoga.com, let us know which instructor you'd like to schedule a private session with, and we will forward your request to your chosen instructor. The instructor will schedule a time to offer your private session in one of our studio rooms between our regularly scheduled class times. If you are not sure which instructor would be best to meet your needs, contact us and we will help |
New Addition
at Inner Fire Yoga
Take a moment to notice the fall bounty in our container gardens.
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Inner Fire Yoga buys green energy to offset the carbon dioxide emissions generated from using our building.
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Moving Inward
"A man of inspiration is humble. He knows he is a branch of the Divine Vine - that the branch can not bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine."
Paramahansa Yogananda
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Inner Fire YogaŽ's mission is to cultivate peace in the world by guiding our community on the path to freedom in body and mind, kindling the inner fire of the spirit. |
Inner Fire Yoga Values the wellbeing of individuals and our greater community, compassion, acceptance, friendliness, kindness, commitment to a disciplined practice, integrity, cleanliness and environmental consciousness.
Inner Fire Yoga's Invitation to our Community
Step through our doors into a warm and cheerful refuge. Replace the noise of your busy world with the comfort of a safe, healing environment. Our supportive community will encourage, stimulate and motivate you to create a life of balance, strength and inner peace. Join us -- our passion for yoga and expert guidance will challenge you to achieve new heights of fitness in both body and mind.
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Lost and Found
If you have left behind any jewelry, clothing water bottles, mats, etc., then please retrieve them asap from our lost and found. It is Inner Fire Yoga's policy to keep items for two weeks before recycling them. Be sure to ask for assistance before entering the teacher's lounge where the items are stored. Thank you.
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Student Spotlight
Karin Medall
I am deeply honored and blessed being a part of the *Inner Fire Yoga Community.*
Yoga nurtures the deepest part of who I am. A daily practice is truly transformative infusing mindful calm awareness. Over time a sense of wholeness within emerges, feeling integrated and balanced *Physically *Mentally *Emotionally *Spiritually. |
Teacher Spotlight
Karen Erstad
 A former UW-Madison rower and a mother of two young children, Karen loves the physical challenge of yoga, as well as the mental clarity and sense of peace, awareness and connectedness she arrives at by the end of a rigorous practice. Karen also loves how the benefits of yoga branch out to every part of her life, and she hopes her fellow practioners at IFY embrace the opportunity to take yoga off the mat since those open to the transformative power of yoga will begin to witness their lives change in wonderful ways. Karen particuarly enjoys teaching and practicing at Inner Fire because it's such a wonderful community. She is always inspired and motivated by the energy and enthusiam IFY yogis bring to their mat week after week. In her classes, Karen guides yogis through an upbeat asana practice geared toward opening and strengthening their minds and bodies so they can reach their edge, go beyond and grow! Earlier this year, Karen completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training certification program, preparing her to teach power vinyasa flow yoga in the tradition of Baron Baptiste. |
The Yoga Path
Self-Study
Autumn has arrived with colder and wetter weather than usual for this time of year. The bleak and grey can be depressing. Luckily however, the practice of yoga helps to realize that a choice exists in how one perceives and reacts to outside conditions. With practice, it becomes apparent that our minds are not like fallen leaves blown across a lawn by the ever-changing wind. Happiness and serenity do not reply upon, nor are they affected by, external conditions. Paramahansa Yogananda, the founder of the Self Realization Fellowship, www.yogananda-srf.org, said, "All the happiness you seek lies within you, in the image of God." Indeed, all that needs to be done is to reach within, to study ourselves, and happiness can be found, no matter the fury of the storm around us. (Read Paramahansa Yogananda's biography, Autobiography of a Yogi, sold in the Inner Fire Yoga boutique.)
Let's face it, there are many aspects of practicing yoga that can push anyone's buttons: classes are too crowded, people walk in late and disrupt the classroom energy with their loud movement, people often place a yoga mat directly in front of another person, the room is too hot, the room is too cold, the person on the next mat is overtly dramatic, the instructor is holding the pose too long, the instructor is holding the pose too short, the instructor's voice is annoying, etc. The postures themselves can set off a cascade of negative emotions when perceived as too taxing, tiresome, uncomfortable or just plain irksome.
Luckily, it is precisely those distractions, disturbances and challenges in yoga class that can help us move into a state of self-study. In other words, by regularly practicing yoga, we learn to quiet our overly-active, often whiny minds and instead begin to pay attention, studying a deeper, calmer reality within. Self-study helps us to become aware of the difference between the objective (external conditions) and subjective (internal conditions). Through this awareness, we are able to, as Paramahansa Yogananda says, "...withdraw restless thoughts from the lake of the mind, [and] ...behold our soul, a perfect reflection of Spirit." This is because, according to yogic philosophy, human beings are much more than our bodies, minds and/or emotions. We are, in fact, extensions of the Divine. We are divine energy, and we can, with practice and intention, tap into this Source of energy and well being.
In other words, we have the ability to rise above the storms and crowded classes (etc.). The objective distractions exist, but they only have an impact on us if we allow them to. Through self-study, we gain control of the subjective, and therefore it is possible to access an unending internal supply of natural serenity and happiness.
"Buffeted by gusts of chance or drenched by rains of misfortune, I nevertheless direct my mind to look always toward Thee." -Paramahansa Yogananda
NOTE FROM DIRECTOR: If you are interested in self study, join Allan Ajaya in his "How to Meditate" class, for beginners and experienced meditators alike, coming soon at Inner Fire Yoga. Read below for more information.
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MENDING THE HEART
A weekend yoga workshop with Steve and Talya
November 20th - 22nd
"Forrest Yoga under the teaching and guidance of Steve and Talya has freed me and allowed me to connect to my Spirit in a way I never thought possible." L.R., Chicago
Steve and Talya are the most senior Forrest Yoga teachers in the Midwest. They are the directors of Turbodog Spirit Center, a non-profit yoga community based in Chicago. They use Forrest Yoga, Toltec, Shamanic and other spiritual teachings to awaken their students to their true selves. SCHEDULE Friday, Nov. 20th - 6:30-9:30pm
2 hr asana + 1 hour group exercise and Native American Ceremony
Learning to Live from Your Heart - A session designed to connect you to your heart in a new way - a deeper and richer way.
Saturday, Nov. 21st - 2-5pm
2 hr asana + 1 hour Shamanic Healing Work
Relationships Living in Your Hips - What stuck energy is living in your hips? What relationships are poising your cell-tissue (past or present)? Use this session to begin to clear that pain out of your body.
Sunday, Nov. 22nd - 9am-noon
2 hr asana + 1 hour Clearing Ceremony
Letting Go - Explore with curiosity the places where you habitually hold tension in your body and play with giving yourself permission to let go.
It takes tremendous courage to walk the path of the Warrior and live with an open heart. It is also the most rewarding way to live your life. Join us for a deeply transformative weekend. Dive into the wounds that keep your heart shut down and breathe new life into your willingness to truly connect - with yourself as well as with others.
FEES $ 40 for 1 session paid by Nov. 19 $ 45 for 1 session paid Nov. 20-22 $ 70 for 2 Sessions paid by Nov. 19 $ 80 for 2 Sessions paid Nov. 20-22 $100 for 3 Sessions paid by Nov. 19 $115 for 3 Sessions paid Nov. 20-22
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How to Meditate
With Yoga Swami Allan Ajaya
Dates and Times
Thursdays: Nov. 5, Nov. 12, Nov. 19, Dec. 3, Dec. 10, Dec. 17
8-9pm
drop-in fee of $8
pre-purchase whole series for $40
This is a class for beginning and experienced meditators alike. It begins with the basic principles of meditation that will assist practitioners to find the experience of peace, joy and ease of being that arise from meditation practice. Different forms of meditation will be explored, so that meditators can practice in the way that works best for each individual. Each week another step will be added in order to progress deeper into the meditative consciousness. Each class includes a guided meditation and time will be taken to answer specific questions. Allan Ajaya has the unique distinction of being both a Swami in the Himalayan tradition (an ancient yoga tradition that is described as... "a tradition of the highest truth...") and a clinical psychologist. He has taught meditation for more than 25 years with the Himalayan Institute and has written several books on meditative practices including Yoga Psychology: A Practical Guide To Meditation. For more information on Swami Ajaya, visit his website; www.beingawareness.org. |
October's Featured Yoga Pose
Eagle: Garudasana
Eagle pose strengthens and stretches the ankles and calves and stretches the thighs, hips, shoulders, and upper back while improving concentration and balance.
- Starting in Tadasana, slightly bend the knees, lifting the left foot up and, while balancing on the right foot, cross the left thigh over the right. Point the left toes toward the floor, pressing the foot back, and then hooking the top of the foot behind the lower right calf.
- Stretch the arms forward, spreading the shoulder blades wide across the upper back. Cross the arms in front of the torso so that the left arm is under the right, and then bend the elbows. The right elbow should be in the crook of left. Raise the forearms so they are perpendicular to the floor.
- Press the right hand to the right and the left hand to the left so the palms face each other. Press the palms together, lift the elbows, and stretch the fingers to the ceiling.
- Hold the pose for 15 to 30 seconds, breathing deeply, and then unwind the legs and arms, standing in Tadasana again. Repeat with the arms and legs reversed.
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SAVE THE DATE! Bryan Kest is coming to Inner Fire Yoga
Bryan Kest will be teaching a master class on Wed. March 10, 2010 in the evening.
Now 45, Bryan Kest has been practicing yoga for more than 30 years. He initially studied in Hawaii with David Williams, the first person to bring Ashtanga yoga to America. He then studied in India with K. Pattabhi Jois, the main proponent of Ashtanga yoga. Kest has been teaching yoga for 26 years. "My primary objective", says Kest, "besides turning more and more people on to a healthier, more peaceful lifestyle that continually challenges them to grow, is to teach a system of exercise that fully integrates the body, mind, and spirit.
The new trend towards yoga is not surprising, given that the body is limited and the mind is limitless. The combination of body and mind creates an incredibly broad range of fulfillment, including top physical condition and a calm, peaceful, clear mind."
"I noticed a difference in the tightness of my body. Some places got a little tighter... like my tummy and that was just after a few classes."
--World Class Figure Skater Tai Babilonia
"It will change your way of thinking. It has changed mine. I'm a true endorser of Bryan's work and only because I've experienced his classes first hand."
--World Champion Figure Skater Randy Gardner
"It's very simple stuff. You don't do anything other than try to lift your arms and legs... That's basically it... And it challenges the most competent athletes."
--World Class Basketball Player Kareem Abdul-Jabar
Visit Bryan's website
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Safety Mindfulness
A hot yoga studio can be a slippery place - with the sweat puddles on the cork floor and water on the floors near the showers. So please tread VERY carefully when walking through the studio at all times. If you are making puddles around your mat during yoga class, please double up on your towels/Yogitoes and bring a special rag capable of wiping up ALL of your sweat from the floor around you at the end of class. Please try to dry off quickly in the shower before exiting in order to minimize the puddling of water on the floors. Take all necessary precautions to prevent the spread of flu this fall and winter season. This includes not coming to the studio if you are ill - including coughing excessively and or experiencing aches/pains/fever. Please keep your hands clean and wash them immediately after class. Use your own yoga mat, and wash frequently with an antimicrobial wash (such as tea tree oil or grape seed oil). Check the CDC's website for further recommendations on prevention techniques (link is http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/preventing.htm). Thank you for your mindfulness in these manners. | |
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