Student Spotlight

Michelle Grosch

A physician friend encouraged me to do yoga to help ease my chronic neck and upper back pain. I didn't think it would really help, since I had tried many things over the years including massage, acupuncture, physical therapy...the works. But I decided to give yoga a try (I figured it couldn't hurt!) I work with a lot of yoga enthusiasts, and asked them where to go-one who has been doing hot yoga for years told me he thinks it is going to make him live forever! With that kind of endorsement, I knew I wanted to try Bikram. It took me awhile to muster up enough courage to come through the doors, but I am so glad I did. It is seriously the best decision I have ever made with regard to my health - physical and mental. I have been coming 3-4 times /week since March 2010, and it has already made a big difference in my life. My neck and back pain are virtually gone (no more ibuprofen or heating pad), I am getting stronger, my balance has improved, and I just feel great overall. Most importantly, I love it! My favorite is the hot yoga, but I enjoy inner fire flow, power flow, yin - all of it. The teachers are compassionate, inspiring and wise, and the staff are welcoming and friendly. I could go on and on, but I will stop here. Simply put: Inner Fire Yoga is the best!"

Community Spotlight

Maria Miller - Ariam Design Group

Eight years ago, I started with vinyasa yoga on and off at various places. It wasn't until early one Sunday morning, while the rest of Madison probably slept, a friend and I decided to try Hot Yoga at the old studio on University. I remember exactly how I felt later that day-AMAZING.. tons of energy... I was hooked and have had a consistent practice for over 4 years. I've had many friends question whether or not I get my heart rate up enough while doing yoga.. anyone who has ever done it, knows just how crazy your heart can get after doing Balancing Stick Pose :) It's become such a huge part of my life, I love telling my family and friends how it makes me feel and usually try to encourage them to try it. It's the most challenging and rewarding experience and I am so thankful to be able to carry this practice thru the rest of my life.

I started Ariam Design Group (www.ariamdesign.com) in 2000. I've always been artistic and love connecting with people. Talking with my client about their idea gives me the chance to help them make it come to life. A logo may start as a thought or sketch on a notebook and by the time my client is done describing their idea, a vision has already come alive in my head and before we leave the meeting, I have a million ideas. My design business is fast-paced and deadline-driven and yoga is completely a part of my creative process. I walk away from yoga clear-minded, energized and ready to turn on my Mac ;)

New Teacher Spotlight

Justin Rivas

I first encountered yoga as a purely physical practice and pursued it with the mental construct of prevention and restoration for sports related injuries. As a soccer goalkeeper and cyclist my knees have been well loved for years. In 2003, while studying in Quito, I enrolled in a basic hatha yogasana course to complement collegiate soccer training. In a few days I quickly resolved which of the two practices required more discipline.

I have dabbled in many styles and schools of yoga, my impetus being learning multiple systems with a careful pursuit of a discipline of best fit. My roots are in the always-humbling Hot Yoga, which I began practicing five years ago while working the desk at Inner Fire Yoga. Today I balance Hot Yoga with a practice that consists of a vigorous Ashtanga based; yet freestyle and breath-focused vinyasa flow. My conviction is that diversity in personal practice informs teaching, and daily it allows for self-education. Undoubtedly, my truest teacher is the practice of compassion and devotion - tenets of my yogic conception both on and off the mat. My 200 RYT training is in Bhakti Flow under Rusty Wells, which I completed in both Bali and San Francisco. I am thrilled to come full circle and serve students through teaching at Inner Fire Yoga.

Justin's teaching schedule:

Sunday 6:30pm Power Flow (60 minute)

Friday 6:30pm Power Flow (75 minute)

The Practice of Surrender

"Through surrender the aspirant's ego is effaced, and ... grace...pours down upon him like a torrential rain." BKS Iyengar

In America we seem to consider surrender a last resort option after hitting the edge of seemingly insurmountable problems, or, as an emergency final response to grief or loss. Many people have understood at one time or another, the power of "giving it over to god," or to admitting "being powerless over a situation" when hitting bottom so to speak. These moments are often the only time we consider surrender an option. In the yoga sutras, Pantajali, repeatedly highlights pranidhana, the last of the five niyamas (inner practices,) as a method of dissolving the endless agitations of the mind, the willing/pushing; striving to get somewhere, become something: in short, the obsession with "I". Ishvara pranidhana is a "big picture" yoga practice which initiates a sacred shift of perspective reminding us to align with, and receive a continuing grace of being alive from Source. Priding oneself on achieving, getting ahead, planning out strategies of winning and dominating others, believing we are our degrees, our jobs, or our problems is a very Western concept leaving us with feelings of disconnect, pain, exhaustion, chronic agitation, and conflicting interests. Wasting time consumed with smallness, jealousy, lust, greed, and notions of superiority is the opposite of Ishvara pranidhana.

I was mesmerized with director Terrence Malick's latest film, The Tree of Life. He artfully and poetically attempts to illustrate the largess, the mystery, and utter incomprehensibility of godlike forces in the universe which orchestrate and infuse everything. By juxtaposing the human dramas of a nuclear family in the 40's with long ballet-like sequences of millions of years of natural phenomenon, this movie manages to frame the narrowness of individual concerns and the great suffering ignorance causes with all manifestations of the divine. Malick seems to be giving a teaching of Ishvara pranidhana, especially as the leading characters finally surrender to "what is" and taste the nectar of divinity through surrender.

In the Yoga Sutras, Pantanjali refers to this sutra as "Inner Listening," to hearing the inner guidance in all aspects of our life. Ishvara pranidhara is the practice of redirecting our energy away from selfish desires, and towards the ultimate pursuit of Oneness. "Ishvara Pranidhana is not about what your yoga can do for you, but about approaching your practice in the spirit of offering." Shiva Rea

In yoga class one practices surrendering by putting aside judgments and criticisms, and simply following the instructions; by arriving onto the mat we empty the residue of the day and tune into the inner compass with humility. Anjali Mudra (putting our hands together at our hearts) is a symbol of surrendering to the divine guidance within. With each Uttanasana we bend forward and bow down to God in a form that has meaning for us. With each Camel pose we offer our hearts.

Krishnamacharya described this sutra as the most important yoga practice in Kali Yuga (a time when all humanity has fallen away from grace.) This advanced sutra is called the "heart fullness" practice; keeping our hearts open to the divine even after asana dissolves. In short, "Let Go, and Let God!"

Yoga Medical News

Study Compares Health Benefits Of Yoga And Exercise


Excerpt:

"...yoga practitioners and habitual exercisers - were similar with regard to self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression. However, the yoga practitioners reported lower prevalence of joint pain and headaches than those who engaged in cardiovascular exercise and weight training. They also had higher scores for mindfulness and coping skills, and lower scores for perceived stress, compared with the exercise group."

1. Come to lie on the back.
2. Bend the knees into the chest.
Open the knees, bringing them towards the armpits.
3. Stack each ankle directly over the knee, so that the shins are perpendicular to the floor.
4. Flex the feet.
5. Hold the outer edges of the feet at you draw the knees towards the floor
This pose is appropriate for both beginners and advanced students.