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Cheryl Thomas, RYT
www.cherylthomas.com yoga@cherylthomas.com 415-308-3377 |
Feeling a bit stuck? Does it seem like everyone else is getting ahead and your attitude is that you're just lucky to have a job (or not). Maybe you think it's because you're too old (over 50?). Maybe you think everyone else has a better education or went to a better college or has more money or less obligations. Whatever. It seems advancing is getting harder, even if you still have a job. Does advancing mean changing jobs (good luck) or praying for someone's demise that's above you or screwing your co-workers?
Here's what to do. Be a never-ending giving machine. According to the article "Giving is the Secret of Getting Ahead", Adam Grant, a professor at Warton, is convinced by his research that helping others is the key to it all. For Grant, "helping is not the enemy of productivity, a time-sapping diversion from the actual work at hand; it is the mother lode, the motivator that spurs increased productivity and creativity."
Read the article, he's serious, really. He suggests that the greatest untapped source of motivation is a sense of service to others and that by "focusing on the contribution of our work to other peoples' lives has the potential to make us more productive than thinking about helping ourselves." I don't know about you, but this is heartening news. Not that it's really "news" as many of us intuitively know this. But to find this on the cover of the New York Times Magazine last Sunday--awesome. What would the workplace be like if everyone adopted this attitude? But why just the workplace? Imagine if everyone you met, wanted to make your life better.
The article's author and I, and probably you, are thinking the same thing: "If I'm always giving to others, how will I get anything done? I don't have time for my friends and family now." Here's Grant's response: "I never get much done when I frame the 300 e-mails as 'answering e-mails. . . I have to look at it as: "How is this task going to benefit the recipient?".
Yes, his emphasis is on the workplace, but I think it can apply to our everyday lives, don't you think. Anyway, I'm going to try. Just ask me for something, really, do it. And, before I forget, I want to thank you all for your kind words of encouragement. I think about them each Saturday evening as I put the finishing touches on my newsletter.
Want to read some of my previous articles? You can do it here. Enjoy.
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Did You Know?
Happiness will start an hour later this week at Westside Yoga. Happy Hour Vinyasa will meet at 5:30 - 7:00 due to pre-scheduled teacher training. See you then.
The Self-Massage/Restorative Yoga Gathering at Yoga on Center has a date! You'll find rest and pampering on April 27 from 3-5:30. See below for the goods.
What good fortune for yogis! TWO Sebastopol studios are doing Groupons-- Yoga Studio Ganesha and Devi Yoga Center. Enjoy classes for as low as $2.90 per class!
It's Spring Cleaning Time!! Start purging your Yoga clothes, gathering your old mats, DVDs and yoga books. We'll hang out and swap and shop at at Alive Yoga on May 5. See below for more details.
To all you Ashtanga wanna-bes and Kathleen Carroll fans, find her teaching an "Intro to Ashtanga Vinyasa" at Westside for 4 weeks starting April 30. Go to Westside Yoga Studio's site for details.
Want to know more about Restorative Yoga? See below for 2 opportunities.
Want to get away, but not too far? In April, you can study, eat and hang out with the always popular, Tony Briggs, in Woodacre at a wonderful retreat house. It's beautiful, believe me, I've been there. If you commit the entire weekend, there is a drop-in option. Get info here.
Get boat loads of yoga information and lots of free downloads from YogaU online. Really, tons. It's a great resource for teachers and students. There's one NOW, Free,
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 Restorative Yoga Training
Want to know more about Restorative Yoga? Maybe you're a yoga teacher and are curious about the physiology of the relaxation response and how to modify the positions for your students. Maybe you're a student and think what we do is just "laying around".
Restorative yoga is showing up on lots of schedules at yoga studios and students are beginning to appreciate the time to rest and rejuvenate.
As part of the teacher training program at Yoga by Design, I'll be offering two trainings open to the public. That's you!
Saturday, April 13
1:00 - 4:00
Yoga by Design, Petaluma
Physiology of the Nervous System,
Set-up and Fine-tuning of Basic Poses, Modifications
$55
Saturday, April 20
1:00 - 4:00
Yoga by Design, Petaluma
Additional Poses, Modifications, Q&A
$55
This is perfect for everyone, especially yoga instructors or caregivers who want to know the hows and whys or offering Restorative Yoga.
Questions? Email me at cheryl@cherylthomas.com
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 Yoga Clothing Swap & Sale
It's Spring Cleaning Time! You know you have a few gently worn yoga tops or pants that someone else could enjoy. Or, are you in the needs of some new togs, but don't want to pay the killer $95 for a pair of pants? Do you have some spare yoga DVDs, books, mats or props hanging around.
Join your fellow yogis and friends at Liz Levy's new studio, Alive Yoga. Drop-off time for clothing and items is Saturday, May 4, from 3-5 p.m. Or, make arrangements with me, Cheryl, at cheryl@cherylthomas.com. Don't have anything to share? No worries. Come anyway and hang-out and share your good energy. There will be snacks and live music!
AND, Westside Yoga Studio will be bringing some of their NEW clothes on sale. Do you have something that you'd like to offer the group? If so, let me know.
Yoga Teachers and Studio Owners: We will be raising money for The Ceres Project ( www.ceresproject.org). Would you be willing to donate 5 to 10 yoga classes? We will sell these classes for $5 each. This will be a great opportunity to offer your classes and raise money for The Ceres Project.
Here's the info:
Sunday, May 5, 11 to 1 p.m.
Alive Yoga Studio, 972 Gravenstein Highway (Near Starbucks), Sebastopol
Suggested Donation: $5
Profits will be donated to The Ceres Project
Leftover items will be donated to The Living Room, a daytime drop-in center for homeless and at-risk women and their children.
Share this with your friends. The more the merrier. Ask for a flyer to give to friends, link to your blog or website or post around town! |
 Pamper Yourself - Self-Massage and Restorative Yoga
Liz Levy, yoga teacher and massage therapist extraordinaire, and I will be offering 2 1/2 hours of self-care and yumminess. Liz will lead us in self-massage, freeing up those tight spots. Then we'll spend 90 minutes in restful, luxurious, restorative poses. You'll leave rested and rejuvenated. Go here for our flyer. Date: Saturday, April 27, 2013
Time: 3:00 - 5:30
Register with Yoga on Center. See you there!
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Breaking the 4th Wall Movie Supercut - Press Play
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Supercut of Movie 4th Walls
Leigh Singer gathered more than 50 clips from movies that break the fourth wall (where the characters acknowledge they're in a movie). It's fun to just watch some of the great clips. Gotta love Rick Moranis.
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Daily Dharma - Tricycle Magazine
April 4, 2013
Lighten Your Load
Consider the possibility, and I am only saying consider the possibility, that maybe nothing is unforgivable. Maybe there is a way to find forgiveness even for what we have believed for so long to be unforgivable. Explore this mindfully.
-- Allan Lokos, "Lighten Your Load"
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Be Happy on Friday's
Instead of shots of tequila and fried artichoke hearts, spend your Friday happy hour moving and grooving at an
most-levels vinyasa flow class.
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!
NOTE: On Friday, April 12, class will meet at 5:30 due to teacher training.
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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.
Every Monday
7:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Westside Yoga, Sebastopol
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Get Your Girlfriends Together
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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