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Cheryl Thomas, RYT
www.cherylthomas.com
yoga@cherylthomas.com
415-308-3377 |
 The Speeches
What were you doing June 21, 1969, or June 8, 1983 or June 11, 1996 or maybe June 2, 2011. Was it your graduation day? Maybe, like me, you couldn't wait to be gone from college or you were a December graduate or not a graduate at all or you went to a teeny school or couldn't be bothered with the silly speeches. Or, the hangover from the party the night before didn't pair well with sitting in the sun all day with a bunch of parents, aunts and uncles. Whether you received a commencement speech or not, it's an especially auspicious moment in time to be encouraged, entertained, and enlightened by the current and past graduation commencement speeches. With all of the fear about extinctions (including our own), global financial collapses, floating plastic islands and the cost of getting old, it behooves us to take a few minutes away from Facebook and American Idol to listen (or read) some of the classic speeches.
There are some I like -
Steve Jobs - This is from 2005 Stanford University graduating class. He talks about living as if today were your last day and it's quite poignant given his recent passing. I especially like his bit on being enthralled with a calligraphy class in college. His love of the form and grace of the stroke is seen in his font and typeface innovations at Apple. You never know where your random interests will take you. Here it is.
David Foster Wallace - Also gone, this novelist gave the 2005 graduating class commencement speech at Kenyon College, a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. DFW relates our obsession with "blind certainty" with a story about an atheist and believer. "A closed mindedness amounts to an imprisonment so total that the prisoner doesn't ever know he's locked up." If you think you're special, the most important person, the absolute center of the universe, check out his speech here. He suggests self-centeredness is our default setting. There is no experience that you're not the center of. It's a bit humbling.
Dasher Keltner - Mr. Keltner gave the UC Berkeley Department of Psychology's 2012 graduation ceremony. Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and founder of my fave site, Greater Good Science Center. Entitled "Generation Wii... or Generation We?", he encourages us to not be fooled by false claims like "Greed is Good" but "instead. . . [be] guided by the wisdom of the ages, now fortified by science: to care is good, to be thankful is good. There is so much good and beauty to revere in this world." Listen or and Read it..
Conan O'Brien - I am not a Conan fan only because I don't stay up those hours of the day/night. I was raised on David Letterman and no one else quite lives up to his antics. I ran across O'Brien's commencement speech and was thoroughly entertained by the 20 minute stand-up routine. But the meat is in the the final 4 minutes when he shares his personal views on perceived failure, disappointment and reinvention, and changing dreams. Watch it.
There are more. Oh, yes, many more. There are the Obamas, the Clintons and according to this post, 2 moving speeches in 2008 by Bono and R.K. Rowlings.
If you missed your speech and/or are tired of being brow beaten by the negativity of nasty campaigning, those relentless crazy birthers, or the sad, sad state of animals subjected to factory farming, these speeches can have an uplifting effect. So, take a bit of time out of your day to be inspired. You can pretend it's graduation day and like a new grad approach your future with a sense of wonder and excitement.
Did you want to read some of my past columns? You can right here.
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NEW CLASS - Happy Hour Vinyasa - All Levels
Instead of shots of tequila and fried artichoke hearts, spend your Friday happy hour moving and grooving at an all-levels vinyasa flow class.
I am honored and excited to be offered another class at Westside Yoga Studio. On Friday's from 4:30 - 6:00, we'll end each week with an energetic vinyasa flow class. Through building heat from the inside, we'll strip out the stress hormones from the day. A long rest at the end of class will reset our nervous system and prepare us for our weekend.
You'll be done at 6:00!! That'll leave plenty of time for dinner with friends, a movie or a relaxing evening with your pooch. Or, maybe a Chia filled Kombucha or that 100% agave margarita!
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Did You Know
Only 3 classes left of Ann O'Brien's Summer mini-series at Yoga Community in Sonoma: Sunday mornings 8:00 - 9:40 am, June 3, 10, 17, 24. . . . Don't forget to sign up for the Lotus Feed, featuring Chanting the Yoga Sutra with Ann Austin. It's local, yes, right here in Occidental. So go. It's the The Lotus Feed at Taylor Made Farms (thelotusfeed.com). . . . New Class at Westside Yoga Studio. I'll be offering a Happy Hour class from 4:30- 6:00! . . . Yoga Pro and teacher to many, Tony Briggs, will be holding a retreat at Spirit House in Woodacre the weekend of June 29 - July 1. Best of all, you can do a drop-in enjoying a class and yummy meal for $50! Thanks, Tony. Get more info and register at www.turtleislandyoga.com.. . . Along with fine wine and yoga, Sebastopol is home to the dhyana Center Ayurvedic school, offering session, education, panchakarma, herbs, and the like. But, did you know they also have dancing, playing, singing, and yoga, and live music?. . . Study with Judith Lasater on June 16 at Piedmont Yoga Center in Piedmont. It's the "Art of the Forward Bend". We can all use more insight into this, for many, challenging position which limits (or assists us) in so many yoga postures.
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Religious People Less Motivated by Compassion than Atheists
New research suggests "highly religious are less motivated by compassion when helping a stranger than are atheists, agnostics, and less religious people." Seems odd, right? In three experiments, researchers found "that compassion consistently drove less religious people to be more generous."
Interesting. Read UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center article here. |
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Find Another Use for Your Phone
Want to know what "namaste" means? Go to YogaJournal.com. Want some easy yoga poses to do at home. Go to YogaJournal.com. Want to see some free yoga videos. You know where to go.
I subscribe to Yoga Journal's Daily Insight. You can too. Click here and get daily gems like this:
Often, we instinctively categorize experiences or things as either "good" or "bad." We imagine those qualities adhere in the thing itself. But sometimes, it is our approach to those things that creates their value.
Take, for example, your telephone. Few of us would suggest that a telephone would be helpful to a meditation practice. But if we change our relationship to the telephone, we change its meaning into something more positive, beneficial, and relaxing.
Don't let the telephone be one more stressor. Just as Buddhist monks use temple bells to remind themselves to come back to the present moment, let a ringing telephone be a signal to stop and center yourself. Practice "telephone meditation" by never diving for the phone on the first ring. Instead, when you hear the phone ring, stop what you're doing, breathe deeply and smile. Then answer the phone on the second or third ring.
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Got Suncreen?
Do you wear sunscreen? Neither do I. But, I know many people that are fanatical about it. Problem is, most people don't use enough (slather it on) or reapply often enough, especially if you're outside.
Check this out from my favorite go to site: kottke.org. Here's their posting via gizmodo.
"The New England Journal of Medicine recently reported on the 69 year-old man in the photo above. Constant sun exposure to one side of his face resulted in premature aging, though, the other side doesn't look too bad for 69. The condition is called unilateral dermatoheliosis, which I think is Greek for make sure to wear sunblock.
The patient reported that he had driven a delivery truck for 28 years. Ultraviolet A (UVA) rays transmit through window glass, penetrating the epidermis and upper layers of dermis. Chronic UVA exposure can result in thickening of the epidermis and stratum corneum, as well as destruction of elastic fibers. This photoaging effect of UVA is contrasted with photocarcinogenesis."
Yikes! Where's the sunscreen.
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Restorative Yoga
I love the response of students to their first or second or hundredth restorative yoga experience. It's the moment when their nervous system shifts from "yikes!" to "ahhhhhh." They leave with relaxed shoulders and brightened attitude.
It's easy to forget that the body knows exactly what to do. The relaxation response is a built in function of our amazing central nervous system. We just have to let relaxation happen. I know, it seems impossible sometimes. Thus, the popularity of restorative yoga where we learn to put the body in positions and let it do it's thing.
In these workshops you will be allowed to relax and let go while your body is supported with bolsters and blankets and lots more. We will do a bit of movement, chat about stress and the relaxation response and then spend 90 minutes in positions that we will hold for 15 to 20 minutes. This practice is for everyone. Go ahead and put the dates on your calendar now so you won't forget. And, while you're at it, invite a friend.
Sunday, June 17, 2012**
3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
BodyWorks in Petaluma
Once at Month - July 22, Aug 19
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Private Yoga Classes
There are lots of reasons why going to a public yoga class is not always right for you. Maybe the class times are wrong or the location is inconvenient. Maybe you're new to yoga and feel intimidated by a public class or you have an injury or condition that requires some individual attention. Private or small group classes at your location at your chosen time can be the perfect answer.
It's fun to get friends together. Treat your friends to Yoga and Tea rather than Food and Booze. Inviting friends to come together for a Gentle or Restorative Yoga class is a perfect way to enjoy each other's company and do something good for yourselves. Many yoga parties end with tea or champagne and some munchies. Your friends will thank you!
Please call on me if I can help you book a private yoga class or answer any questions. I can be reached at cheryl@cherylthomas.com.
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Schedule of Upcoming Classes |
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