Cheryl Thomas, RYT
www.cherylthomas.com yoga@cherylthomas.com 415-308-3377 |
 Louis C.K. - Check Your Neighbor's Bowl
Check your neighbor's Bowl. Ahhhh. Love, love, love that Louis C.K. keeps offering these nuggets of wisdom, as he battles his TV daughter with the "that's not fair" argument. This came from Dr. Christine Carter's outstanding and relevant site and blog, which picked it from Jezebel.com. Find it here.
From Carter:
"Although the lesson is clearly lost on this little girl, I like the message: If you want to be happy, stop looking in your neighbor's bowl to compare it to what you have - and to access whether the amount you have is "fair". Look in your neighbor's bowl to make sure that they have enough."
Louis C.K. served up another nugget on the Conan show about why he's not giving his daughter a cell phone. YouTube video above and here. The Buddhists were all over it as they found the four noble truths nestled in LCK's commentary. Here, here and here are some comments from some Buddhists sites and blogs. It's refreshing to hear men being vulnerable as C.K. offers up:
And I let it come, and I just started to feel 'oh my God,'and I pulled over and I just cried like a bitch. I cried so much. And it was beautiful. Sadness is poetic. You're lucky to live sad moments.
And then I had happy feelings. Because when you let yourself feel sad, your body has antibodies, it has happiness that comes rushing in to meet the sadness. So I was grateful to feel sad, and then I met it with true, profound happiness. It was such a trip.
I love the Neighbor's Bowl analogy that Louis C.K. dishes up. Quit worrying about comparing what's in your neighbor's bowl versus your own. Life is not fair. Sometimes it will work in your favor and sometimes not. It's the way of the world. Our suffering happens due to what we tell ourselves about the bad stuff. The "why me", "it's not fair", "if only, "it's everyone else's fault" will drive you nuts (and your family and friends). It's "you" because why shouldn't it be? Do you wish tragedy on others? Maybe it was really someone else's fault. I promise you, you're not the first person who's been wronged. But it feels like it when it's you, no doubt. We are so busy grabbing and coveting our stuff that it leaves us little time to reflect on anyone else whether that be your family, your literal neighbor, or your community, church or school, much less your country or continent or planet. Most of us do not need to spend our time acquiring another anything. We have plenty and more than plenty. What's it say about a society that sacrifices or abuses the three most important elements for our well-being: sleep and food and human connection. But I digress. OK, there's more Louis C.K. Here's his bit called Of Course, But Maybe. Honest, I say. To lighten things up, here's y favorite on boxer briefs. Hilarious. Maybe we get a bit of wisdom from our books or grandparents or our priests, ministers or preachers. It's nice to get an honest dose from an unlikely source as Louis C.K. |
Love Yoga on Center. I'll be subbing Alese's class on Thursday at noon. It's a Yin/Restorative Yoga combo. That means we'll be supporting ourselves with bolsters and blankets and holding postures for 5-10 minutes.
70 Years, 70 Backbends, 70 Bucks.
Special 3-hour Backbends Workshop for Tony Brigg's 70th Birthday! 8/31 9 a.m. Wellness by Design, Petaluma. Call it a birthday BASH. Food and fun after. More at tonybriggsyoga.com.
Anne O'Brien in back to "Coax Suppleness & Fluidity in Hard to Reach Places". It's Saturday, August 2nd, 3-5pm. at Yoga One
in Petaluma. This is a great opportunity to study with Anne!
Let's get out-of-town. Yoga Out the Door is happening again! See below.
HAH!
Q: What did the yogi tell the door-to-door salesperson who came to his home selling vacuum cleaners?
A: Too many attachments!The always popular Iris Lambert is offering Foundations and Freedom workshop on July 19 and 20, 1-4 pm at thriveyogastudio.com. It is an alignment based workshop focusing on the feet to the hips on Saturday and from the hips to the head on Sunday.
Jeannie Gartin offers Deep Strength Yoga Series starting 7/15 on Tuesday from 6:30 - 8:00. It's at Alive Yoga in Sebastopol. Go here for their new schedule.
Westside Yoga Studio is bringing Manouso Manos for a workshop on 8/13 at 9:15. Mr. Manos is one of the most capable and experienced of the Senior Iyengar Yoga Teachers. He holds one of only two Advanced Senior certificates granted worldwide. I believe it's SOLD OUT, but maybe Westside is starting a wait light?
Tassajara Anyone??? Looking to "get away" for a bit? Here's an opportunity. See below
Improve your Space. See below.
Be Happy on Fridays! Instead of shots of tequila and fried artichoke hearts, spend your Friday happy hour with ME moving and grooving at an
most-levels vinyasa flow class. in an Introductory session on June 15, 2-4:30. Westside Yoga 4:30 - 6:00
My weekly schedule is below (scroll down or click here!). Or, you can always go to my website and click on the always up-to-date calendar to find where I might be.
Right now, get boatloads of yoga information and lots of free downloads including Judith Lasater on Teaching to Mixed Level Classes all at YogaU Online. Really, tons. It's a great resource for teachers and students.
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  Yoga Out the Door!
Sometimes it's refreshing, inspiring and just plain awesome to take your mat and go somewhere different. With friends. That's Yoga Out the Door. We've sun saluted in Grace Cathedral, M.E.L.T.ed in Sebastopol and did headstands on paddle boards (yes, in the water) in Sausalito.
Now we head to Pt. Reyes to ebb and flow in a sweet vinyasa class with the respected and talented, Peggy Orr. We'll share a meal after. I'm taking suggestions.
Date: Sunday, July 27
Time: 10-11:30
Pencil it in. Tell your friends. More details to come!
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Retreat at Tassajara Zen Center
My friend and colleague, Britt Fohrman, is offering a chance at rest and rejuvenation at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center--The Healing Power of Stillness: Restorative Yoga and Zen from July 29 - August 3, 2014
Come explore what it means to deeply rest in your own body and mind through Restorative Yoga and Zen. The retreat will also include dharma offerings, seated meditation, leisure time, gentle movement and stretching to complement our theme of cultivating ease, The setting is magical with hiking, hot springs and pool and vegetarian meals. There's plenty of time of rest and reflection.
Again this year, Britt has asked me to come as her assistant. Yippee! This is a great opportunity to me to work with Britt and her students and to take a bit of a break myself. There are still some spots open if you want to join us. It's wonderful, really.
More info available at: http://www.sfzc.org/tassajara/
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 Improve Your Space
Join Bette Timm as she presents Vastu, the art and science of creating good space.
With some simple understanding of practical tools, Vastu allows us to align our home and business spaces with nature in order to live aesthetically pleasing lives graced with greater happiness, ease, comfort and success.
Topics include:
The origins of Vastu in ancient Indian culture
Universal tools of Vastu including compass directions, building structures and door placements, room placements and basic room arrangement
Individualized tools to foster comfort in family life, romance, wealth, spiritual development and more.
It's August 8, 9 and 10 at Yoga Community in Sonoma. More info here.
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 Brief Meditation Practice Reduces Stress Hot off the Press!! You may already know this, I'm sure, but new research by Carnegie Mellon Researchers show that "Only 25 Minutes of Mindfulness Meditation Alleviates Stress". "[B]rief mindfulness meditation practice - 25 minutes for three consecutive days - alleviates psychological stress. The study investigates how mindfulness meditation affects people's ability to be resilient under stress." |
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Going Barefoot
Gotta love Leslie Kaminoff, yoga educator and head honcho with Amy Matthew of The Breathing Project in NYC.
I've always promoted getting in touch with your feet and, in yoga, we practice sans shoes. If you've been in one of my classes, we often take our feet and toes through their anatomical range of motion, spreading, bending and massaging our toes. Here is Mr. Kaminoff's commentary from an evolutionary and anatomical point of view. Bottom line--when possible, go barefoot!
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Daily Dharma - Tricycle Magazine
July 10, 2014
Liberation Through Insight
The whole point of Buddha-dharma is that liberation comes not by believing in the right set of tenets or of dogmatic assertions, or even necessarily by behaving in the right way. It's insight, it's wisdom, it's knowing the nature of reality. It is only truth that will make us free.
-B. Alan Wallace, "What is True Happiness?"
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Be Happy on Fridays!
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!
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Schedule of Upcoming Classes
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Week of July 13, 2014
Monday
8:30 - 9:45
Sebastopol
Private
Tuesday
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Healdsburg
Private
Wednesday
4:00 - 5:30
Windsor
Private
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Thursday
8:45 - 9:45
Graton Community Club, Graton
Gentle Flow - All Levels
12:00 - 1:00 Yoga on Center Restorative/Yin 4:00 -5:00 p.m. Healdsburg Private Friday (to be subbed) 4:30 - 6:00 Westside Yoga Studio Happy Hour Vinyasa
Saturday (to be subbed)
9:00 - 10:30
YogaOne, Petaluma
All Levels Flow
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Week of July 20, 2014
Monday 8:30 - 9:45 Sebastopol Private Tuesday 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. Healdsburg Private Wednesday 4:00- 5;15 Windsor Private |
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Thursday
8:45 - 9:45
Graton Community Club, Graton
Gentle Flow - All Levels
4:00 -5:00 p.m. Healdsburg Private
Westside Yoga Studio Happy Hour Vinyasa
YogaOne, Petaluma
All Levels Flow
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Graton Yogis Info:
Did you know your class pass (get these from your instructor) are accepted by all yoga teachers at Yoga in Graton?
We Gratonite Yogis have a place to call our own. It's www.
yogaingraton.com. There is information about current and new yoga classes offered in Graton.
Don't live in Graton? No problem. We want you to come anyway.
You cannot be lost if you don't care where you are.
Judith Lasater
When people ask me what equipment I use, I tell them my eyes.
Ansel Adams
"Not to have what we want is stressful; to have what we do not want is stressful." Buddha
Dalai Lama: "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
"Everything will be alright in the end. And if it is not alright, it's not yet the end!" The Magnolia Hotel movie
If your Food can go bad, it's good for you. If it can't go bad, it's bad for you. Originally pinned by Michael Leaming, Ed.D. onto Fitness, Nutrition & Wellness
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