Asanas/Posture of the month:

Chaturanga Dandasana is one of the poses in the Sun Salutation sequence.

From Plank Pose bend your elbows, draw your shoulder blades against your back ribs and press your tailbone toward your pubis.

As you exhale, slowly lower your torso and legs to a few inches above and parallel to the floor.

Keep your torso strong and keep the tailbone firmly in place and the legs active. Don't let the elbows splay out to the sides; hold them in by the sides of the torso and push them back toward the heels. Lift breast bone toward your head to look forward.

Physical Benefits: Strengthens the arms, wrists and abdomen. Good preparation for more challenging arm balances.

Modification: Drop your knees to the floor until you build enough strength to support the body with the arms. Keeping your hips up, bend the elbows and lower your chest and chin to the floor, then come all the way on to belly to transition to Cobra or Upward Facing Dog.

Photo by Leslie Kahan

Courage

Recently, one of my yoga students requested that we work on handstand -- a pose that I don't do very often, because it scares me. When we got toward the end of the class, I got all of my courage together and began to teach handstand at the wall. I showed everyone how to prep for the pose, I let people know that they could take their practice to any stage of handstand or handstand prep that they were comfortable with, and I did the scariest thing of all - I let everyone know that I was scared and I was being very brave in doing this demonstration! And then I told them to get to work - "Be brave!" I called out. And they were. We didn't all go up into a full handstand that day - some of us just practiced kicking up, some of us did the full pose, some did a different inversion that felt right. I was so proud of all of us, for challenging ourselves to try something new, and for listening to our bodies when they told us to stop.

When we think of courage, we might visualize someone standing up to a bully, or jumping onto railroad tracks to save someone who fell. These are big, bold, and very admirable examples, but courage can take little shapes too. Sometimes, getting out of bed in the morning is our first of many courageous acts throughout the day. I think it's important to recognize our acts of bravery, big and small, because they show us how capable we truly are of conquering our fears and growing emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. 

Our yoga practice can teach us so many lessons about the value of being courageous. When we went to our very first yoga class and chanted "om" and moved and stretched in all sorts of new ways, we were being brave. The first time we attempted something that scared us in class, like shifting our weight forward in uttanasana, or lifting a toe off the mat to move into crow pose, we willingly moved from a way of being that was familiar and safe into a new, unknown realm. It was courage that allowed us to make this intentional shift.

Sometimes, our yoga practice can help us learn to be courageous by doing less, rather than doing more. For example, it can take courage to decide we need child's pose, even though everyone else is moving through a vinyasa. It can be a very scary thing to go your own way, and many people worry that they will be seen as weak if they take a rest during class. Listening to your body and honoring what it tells you, regardless of what is happening on anyone else's mat - for some of us, this can be a difficult and humbling act of bravery.

When we learn about the koshas in yoga philosophy, we learn that each person is made up of layers, from the outer, physical layer to the innermost layer of blissful energy. As our yoga practice takes us on a journey inward, we often encounter parts of ourselves that we may be surprised by, that seem irrational, parts that we may not know how to deal with. With patience and compassion, we can meet each of these parts of ourselves, honoring and embracing what is real and learning to let go of those parts that are illusory or no longer serving us. This life-long process of developing self-awareness and self-acceptance may make us truly aware of just how brave we can be.

It might seem odd to call some of these things courageous acts. As if we are somehow devaluing true heroism by putting it in the same class as something that might seem simple, like kicking up into handstand or sitting down to meditate. And it's true that it's not always an act of bravery to get out of bed in the morning - sometimes it's easy. But other times, getting out of bed means facing life, and there are times when life is very hard. Courage isn't about the act itself; it's about conquering our fears. I think it's important to recognize bravery in even the smallest actions, because any time we stand up to fear and choose love for ourselves, we have conquered a strong enemy. When we choose love over fear, we are respecting and nurturing the process of our own growth, making ourselves stronger and more prepared for the next act of courage -- however, wherever, and whenever it might present itself. So go to class, let that off-key om ring out, and know that each little act of bravery is a truly meaningful expression of love for yourself and your life.

YogaKids Training

April 2-17 2013

Held over 6 weekdays (Tues & Wed)

9:00-2:30

Register here

Wed-Sun May 1st-5th

You may attend Module 3 before Module 1 or 2.

05/01/13 WED - Day 1 Methodology
From Skin to Soul - 5 Elements + Koshas, Vayus & Bodies
05/02/13 THU - Day 2 Anatomy
Inner Music of the Soul - Kinesiology Movement Classification & Body Rhythms
05/03/13 FRI - Day 3 Philosophy
Flying on the Wings of Wisdom & Compassion - Preya & Shreya
05/04/13 SAT - Day 4 Yoga Therapy
Peeling the Layers of the Self - Seeing & Reading Bodies
05/05/13 SUN - Day 5 Chinese Medicine & Yoga
Dancing in the Lightness of Chi - Classical Chinese Meridians & Heavenly Stems

Prema Hara live music in Weekend Wind Down

3:30-4:45 pm

Class is usual cost, series or by the class 

Please support the musicians with a donation of your choice

Sunday April 21st

5:00-6:30 pm

$20 in advance $22 at the door

Children are Free

If you're feeling an urge to detox and get rid of any heaviness and stagnation from winter, you're not alone. In fact, you're on the right track according to Ayurveda.

Spring is Mother Nature's detox season. You'll notice that bitter roots, sprouts, greens and berries come into abundance. These pungent (spicy), bitter and astringent foods help us naturally detox any excess fats and proteins out of our system.

This is really important for obvious reasons like disease prevention and immunity boosting. But it's even more important for subtle reasons like being able to listen to your body, following your intuition and your ability to show up fully in life.

Now you might be curious about what to specifically eat during the spring, so here's a quick rundown:

• Eat more foods that are Pungent (Spicy), Bitter, Astringent / Light, Dry, Warm
• Eat less foods that are Sweet, Sour, Salty / Heavy, Cold, Oily
• Schedule a deeper cleanse to fully detox, like a juice cleanse or a plant-based cleanse

Sweet and Spicy Kapha-Balancing Detox Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup spicy sprouts
• 1 tbsp ginger root
• 1 cup turnip greens (or arugula or dandelion greens)
• 2 lacinato kale leaves
• 1 pear
• 1 apple
• 1/2 lemon (juice from)
• 2 pinches of cayenne
• 1 tsp raw honey (optional for extra sweetness)
• 1 1/2 - 4 cups filtered water

Directions

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Melissa Halpern

Certified Holistic Wellness Coach

www.MelissaHalpern.com

melissahealthcoach@gmail.com

917-991-1442