New Year Classes

At this time, I am offering yoga classes on a donation basis.

These are hard times, and nobody needs to miss out on yoga because you can’t pay the full class fee. Suggested donation is $10 per class, but please just pay what you can with a thankful heart. If you have questions, please feel free to phone me at 722-5096.

Always check with your physician if you have physical limitations, to see if yoga is appropriate for you.

Here is the class schedule for January:

Free Beginning Yoga Classes
Tuesdays
5 – 6:30 p.m. at Wayne County Technology Center
The Wayne County Technology Center continues to graciously offer these free classes to the community. They are beginning classes. Class size is limited, but at this time there is space. These classes are held every Tuesday that school is in session, and will begin January 6. You can contact me at 722-5096 or the Technology Center at 722-5495 if you have questions.

Very Very Gentle Yoga
Wednesdays
10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Begins January 7
First Christian Church, 308 South Main St (Hwy 13), Waynesboro
This is a class for people who would rather do yoga from a chair. We will do exercises from a seated position, with a few standing poses using the chair. People interested in this class should be able to stand, and if you have medical issues, it’s especially important to check with your doctor and to let me know before starting class.

Absolute Beginners Yoga
Saturdays
9:30 – 11 a.m.
Four week series January 3, 10, 17 and 31
First Christian Church, 308 South Main St (Hwy 13), Waynesboro
A four week series to introduce complete beginners to yoga. You will learn the basics of starting a safe yoga practice.

Experienced Beginner Classes

Saturdays

11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

First Christian Church in Waynesboro

For people who have had yoga experience and would like a little more challenge. You don’t need to be advanced or extremely experienced, just have an understanding of the basics.

Saturday, January 24 is YOGA DAY
We will have an Open House
11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at
First Christian Church, 308 South Main St (Hwy 13), Waynesboro
Stop by for some refreshments and free 15-minute classes at
11:30, 1:00 and 2:30.

Our Many Gifts

As Christmas approaches, with its season of parties, gifts, and abundant food, many of us find that we’re too busy, too stressed, just plain too overwhelmed to enjoy the fellowship, bright lights, and many gifts of the season.

When we were kids, it seemed like Christmas took FOREVER to arrive. Now, most of us have lost that child-like excitement, and Christmas seems to come too soon.

Look at the last post for a simple stress-relieving exercise you can do just about any time of day or night.

And here’s another stress-relieving tip: Throughout this holiday season, practice santosha, which is usually translated as contentment. Young children have a natural santosha about them – they are easily brought back to the present moment, and almost always quite content to be right there.

Practicing santosha means finding happiness with what you have, who you are, and what you can get done right now. It doesn’t mean “don’t try to improve”! It does mean that you can be content with where you are right now – even as you’re working on a degree, a better job or relationship, or your yoga.

Santosha means joyfully accepting whatever life provides and not wanting more than is at hand. When we are content, our mind is steady and we can be truly happy – in spite of external circumstances.

During this busy season, may we all pause, take a calming breath, and be grateful for what life gives us today.

Merry Christmas, and enjoy the new gifts – and new challenges – that come in 2009!

SAVE THE DATE
Saturday, January 24 is
INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY
Watch for Special Activities in Waynesboro

Breathe Your Way Through the Holidays

Holidays are a joyous time, but they can also be stressful as we do extra shopping, cleaning, cooking, visiting - and continue with everything else going on in our busy lives!

You're always welcome to join us for the free Tuesday evening classes at Wayne County Technology Center, but even if you can't attend a class, here's something you can do to be more at peace as the pace of your life picks up:

• Sit up straight.
• Close your eyes.
• Inhale through your nose.
• Exhale through your nose.
• Open your eyes.

Easy? You bet! The hard part is remembering to do it! The more you do it, the better - you can't overdose on this wonderful easy breath.

May your holidays be joyous and peaceful.

Fall - A Time for Balance

The season of autumn begins with the fall equinox in late September. During that 24 hours, the day and night are equal - balanced.

As the leaves turn and the temperature drops, I'm tempted to just lay around snuggling at home by the wood stove with the kitty on my lap, a cup of hot tea nearby, pondering what would be delicious to bake.

I need to balance those lazy hours with some walks in the woods - and of course, my wonderful yoga practice!

Balance has been an issue for me as I grow older, so almost every day I practice a balancing pose. I'm very right-handed, so I have to be aware of trying to use my left side more - reach for something with my left hand, change the clasp of my hands, bring awareness to both sides of my body in asymmetrical stretches.

When I take off my clothes at night, it's been a challenge to change the way I hold my arms. When I get up off the floor, I have to think about starting on my right side instead of the left. How am I sitting? Is my head leaning one way or the other? Is only one arm on the arm rest of the chair? Can I feel both of my sit bones on the mat or the chair?

Asanas like Tree (Vrksasana), Dancer (Natarajasana) and Headstand (Sirsasana) are helping my body realign itself after years of unbalanced living. Just standing on one foot while I watch TV is a good practice.

Perhaps the most important thing I can do to improve my balance, though, is practicing awareness - being mindful of how I move and bringing attention to using both sides of my body as evenly as possible.

Yoga is such a wonderful way to balance our bodies, minds and spirits. Best wishes for a beautiful, healthy, mindful autumn.

TRY YOGA FREE

Now - you can try yoga at no cost to you!

Thanks again to the wonderful folks at Wayne County Technology Center, you can try yoga for free on Tuesday evenings, 5 to 6:30 p.m., at the Technology Center (next to the high school).

Why might you want to try yoga?

Here are the Top Ten Reasons, according to Yoga Alliance:

Top 10 Reasons to Try Yoga

1. STRESS RELIEF: Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. By encouraging relaxation, yoga helps lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the immune system, as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma and insomnia.

2. PAIN RELIEF: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing yoga asanas (postures), meditation, or a combination of the two reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases, and hypertension – as well as arthritis, back and neck pain, and other chronic conditions.

3. BETTER BREATHING: Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function, trigger the body’s relaxation response, and increase the amount of oxygen available to the body.

4. FLEXIBILITY: Yoga helps improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains. Many people can’t touch their toes during their first yoga class. Gradually they begin to use those muscles, and over time, more poses become possible. Yoga also improves body alignment, resulting in better posture.

5. INCREASED STRENGTH: Yoga asanas use every muscle in the body, helping increase strength – literally from head to toe.

6. WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: Yoga (even the less strenuous styles) can aid weight control efforts by reducing cortisol levels, burning excess calories, and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well-being and self-esteem.

7. IMPROVED CIRCULATION: Yoga helps improve circulation and moves oxygenated blood more efficiently to the body’s cells.

8. CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING: Even a gentle yoga practice can provide cardiovascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance, and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

9. FOCUS ON THE PRESENT: Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware with better mind-body health. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination, reaction time, and memory.

10. INNER PEACE: The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more spiritual, and more satisfying place in their lives.

Yoga in Wayne County, Tennessee

Yoga is for everyone! Natural Bridge Yoga offers beginning yoga to everyone interested in:

♦ Improved posture
♦ Better balance
♦ Increased natural energy level and vitality
♦ Better sleep
♦ Greater flexibility, strength and stamina
♦ Stronger immune system
♦ Increased cardiovascular and respiratory efficiency
♦ Weight regulation
♦ Cleansing and regulating of all the body’s systems

☼ Being more calm
☼ Having greater confidence
☼ An improved ability to concentrate
☼ Increased awareness of body and movement

Weight Management

In addition to burning calories, yoga has poses that stimulate sluggish glands. The thyroid gland, especially, has a big effect on our weight because it affects body metabolism. Fat metabolism is also increased, so fat is converted to muscle and energy. So you lose fat and have better muscle tone and more vitality.

Also, yoga’s deep breathing increases oxygen intake to the body cells, including fat cells. This causes increased oxidation or burning up of fat cells. Yogic exercises induce more continuous and deeper breathing which gradually burns many of the calories already ingested. And yoga practices that reduce anxiety tend to reduce anxious eating. When we’re nervous, we tend to gulp our food without much satisfaction. If, on the other hand, we approach our meals with calmness, whether produced by habits which have calmed our life (like a pause for prayer before a meal), or by yoga, we tend to be less likely to overeat.

See the class schedule on this page, or contact Karen, a Registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance, at nbyoga@gmail.com. You can also phone her at 931 722-5096.