Whether you are brand new to yoga or just want to revisit the basics, this is the class for you. Absolutely no yoga experience required. Learn how to perform the most common yoga postures and practices in a supportive environment with lots of insturction, demonstration and encouragement. You will flow with confidence and ease into the regular class schedule and your yoga future. This popular 4 -week Saturday-morning session is back at both locations on Saturday mornings. Click here for the Torbay Road session and here for the Mount Pearl Session details.

For those of you who are interested in attending Amy's live concert at the Torbay Road studio this month you may have read the word kirtan and wondered what this referred to. The Sanskrit word itself can be broken into two root words, mana which means the mind, and tra which means to deliver, meaning this practice has the power to deliver the mind from material consciousness or perception, to spiritual consciousness or enlightenment. Jai Uttal, a well known yogi musician, has said, "with Kirtan, we create a temple inside the altar of our hearts, a place of refuge, a place of love, and a place of just being."

When participating in Kirtan simple mantras are repeated over and over, faster and faster. Daily distractions are able to be released and you can pour yourself into the joy of the moment. We often get so preoccupied with our daily problems and concerns that it becomes difficult to remember all that is going well; all the things that we have to be grateful for. Yes, you can chant at home by yourself but vocalizing together with live music and other people adding their energy to the chant is a magical and unifying experience. We all resonate at different frequencies, and this resonance changes according to what we are doing and thinking. When we are all singing the same thing, breathing together, and moving to the same rhythms, our vibrations begin to synchronize and the resulting experience is very powerful, so even if you haven't had a great day kirtan resets your body and attunes you to a more positive way of being. In fact even if you sit and listen only you can feel a shift. The shared experience awakens the spirit that exists in us all.

One reason that this practice is so catharic may be that the repetitive nature of chanting causes us to breathe deeply and more rhythmically. Chanting is a sound meditation. Sound is an energy and when we speak these vibrations move throughout the body. Mark Rider, a clinical psychologist and music therapist, has reported study results indicating that chanting reduces stress hormones and increases immune function. This results in less muscle tension, slower heart rate, lower blood pressure and an increase in the brain wave activation that is present when the body and mind are at ease. 

Amy's event concert will be a combination of concert style performace and kirtan, including the call-response practice often used in Kirtan. So drop by the Torbay Road studio on Thursday, September 22nd at 8:30 to hear some great music from a talented musician and also experience the transformative bliss of kirtan.

We would also like to request that you be mindful of noise inside the yoga room. You may have noticed that many students take the time before class to unwind, release their day and practice meditative contemplation. When speaking with others inside the practice space, please be aware and respectful of those who are choosing to spend this time in silence by keeping your voice low, and avoid making any unnecessary noises.

Thank you for understanding,

Namaste