11/13/05  

Dear Student,  

I hope you are well. I hope you are enjoying the wonderful weather this November.

The Fall session of classes is nearly passed and I thank all those who have participated. Remember you can join anytime so consider deepening your Yoga practice as the season changes.

The Holiday series will begin on 11/13 and continue over the holiday season. The schedule is attached and available at my website, www.creativeedgeyoga.com .

Monday evening classes at the Jewish Community Center in Woodbridge , just up the road from our old location at CBT have begun and are going well. Everybody is welcome—no additional memebership is required.Come by and enjoy the fine setting and relaxing atmosphere!

As has become a holiday tradition, the Sunday 9:30am Raven’s Wing class will focus on balancing the chakras throughout this series. Come and see how this approach to the familiar postures and meditation practice can take your understanding of Yoga and Self to a new level.  

The ongoing Kundalini Yoga class continues on Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm .  

Self care is essential in the times we think we can least afford to do it. I encourage you to support yourself through your Yoga practice to thrive in this time of great challenge and that brings the potential of such great joy  

In that spirit, consider these upcoming special events!

On November 19^th I will be offering a workshop entitled "Kundalini Yoga for Relaxation and Renewal--a Holiday Mini-retreat"   at the Shoreline Center form 1:00-4:00pm . Energy is the key to coping with stress. This experience will help bring the vitality to imbue your holidays with the spirit and joy we all seek.  

Thanks to all those who attended the overview workshop experience,  Egoscue Method workshop events at Rituals Spa Wednesday, October 12^th and at the at the Shoreline Center for Wholistic Health on October 15^th, and the three week basic Posture, Pain Relief and Enhanced Living--An extended introductory experience in Postural Therapy for Healing and Pain series that had been running on consecutive Saturdays,  the Shoreline Center.

Feedback has been terrific so to support the progress and process of the “Pain Free” work, I have added two separate extended series of special classes, one 7 week “Yoga and Egoscue” series at Beyond Care in  Branford on Thursday evenings running from October 27-December15th and another 6 week session at the Shoreline Center on Saturdays mornings, November 12th- December 17th. This format allows a deeper immersion into the concepts and practice of the Egoscue method and Yoga as therapy for musculoskeletal conditions. These classes feature specifically performed alignment oriented functional exercise to restore and maintain postural alignment, address chronic pain and keep you in a body that will serve you throughout your life by returning correct musculoskeletal function. Breathing and healing meditation practices will be presented designed to augment and deepen the healing process. Details of these experiences are on my website—click on the links provided here or go to www.creativeedgeyoga.com.  

For more about the Egoscue Method you can check out this recent article --- Egoscue and Posture Therapy . You can also visit the website at www.egoscue.com.  

Thanks to Ana Brett and Ravi Singh for another exciting and transformative Kundalini Yoga experience! Thanks to Sally at Raven’s Wing for the great space and atmosphere.

By popular demand and with great pleasure Christina Sillari and I will again present an afternoon with Ravi and Ana on February 11^th, from 12:00-3:00pm at Raven’s Wing Yoga. Keep the date in mind. Details will follow. Ravi and Ana consistently draw a huge response so please pre-register if you can to assure a spot.

Yoga Therapy

“In summary, the yoga postures are not only a series of physical positions but exercises in mental awareness. The yogi is deliberate in every movement, feeling into every muscle. Only through conscious awareness of one’s own body can tensions be felt; once felt a systematic yoga program can eliminate these tensions.” From “The Purpose of Yoga” from the “ Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health”  

No matter from what tradition we come, at this time of year the holidays are so embedded in the day to day fabric of our lives the effect on our bodies and minds cannot be understated. We are challenged to face the day to day details of gift shopping, event planning, and the numerous additional obligations that can rob us of energy, peace of mind and the spiritual solace we seek from season. On a deeper level, we are often forced to confront personal, familial and professional issues that we may have put on the back burner. Even amidst the “busyness” of the season, issues of loneliness, loss, and isolation can seem at odds to what we “should” be experiencing and that disparity can add even more stress. Moving through the season with enhanced inner strength and energy can allow us to again experience the season as an opportunity for connection, to positively reflect and address the aspects of our lives we know to be most important 
From the point of view of Yoga, this stress, fear or anxiety can be seen as arising from the inner belief that we do not have the resources within us to meet the challenges of our lives. In more chaotic, stressful times it is common to feel as though we need to withdraw or avoid the stressors to marshal resources or to reduce the demand we place upon ourselves. Though these strategies have their role in the temporary management of stress, they can in the longer term weaken us and our resolve in difficult times. Avoidant and self destructive behaviors re-emerge that often dull, numb or even overexcite a depleted body/mind.  At first and in moderation, this can appear to be restorative. Soon, however, it can become clear that there is more energy drain; as well as increased disorder in our lives and relationships. We become stereotyped in our reactions to events and less able to manage these inevitable challenges. We say all those things we don’t want to say, do all those things we know “aren’t good for us” and feel helpless to change the patterns. The net effect can often be a downward spiral into added stress and strain impacting all aspects of life.

In times of heightened stress and challenge, we can utilize a consistent Yoga practice to increase the stores of physical strength, mental calm and focus. Through these techniques we access the core store of energy that animates and vitalizes. Taking just a portion of your day, even once or twice a week to work on your own self can support you in all you do in your life. Students often reflect back to me that this time spent on themselves will usually return its benefits several times over in more efficient functioning, enhanced mood and more energy to meet all the essential obligations of your life.
After the initial challenge of  momentarily “putting the brakes on” your accelerating life; your changing mind and emotions can lead to a healthy process of re-evaluating and changing obsolete traditions and asserting appropriate limits in order to establish more “sane” and supportive habits and new traditions. All this can re-invigorate and restore the spirit of the season for you and those in your life. Sharing this intention and aligning your process with those closest to you can dissolve the resistance and guilt that can come with our efforts to transform our lives. So often we discover that others share our concerns and are as anxious for things to change as we are.  
For some help and a head start on ideas click on the following link for some helpful hints: !!Holiday Stress Reducers!!!  

Yoga Practice:

Kapalabhati (“Skull Shining”) is the Sanskrit name for an energizing and cleansing breathing exercise. This is a kriya or cleansing practice and performed through sharp brief rhythmic exhalations through the nose, in between which air flows in passively. According to Yogic tradition, kapalabhati clears the mind and emotion, clarifies perception. It clears the sinuses, stimulates the digestion and generates heat. 

Sit in a meditative position, spine erect:

Workshops
At:       
The Shoreline Center for Wholistic Health
35 Boston ST
Guilford , CT
Saturday, November 19^th, 2005
1:00-4:00pm
$32.00 pre-registered, 37.00 drop-in 

“Restoration Relaxation and Renewal--
                        a Kundalini Yoga Holiday Mini-Retreat  with Alan Franzi
Supercharge your inner core of light and life for the holiday season with this mini retreat.
Kundalini Yoga combines Yoga Posture, movement, breath work and meditation in ways designed to develop strength, tone, flexibility, balance and calm. Artfully sequenced sets of these techniques will be practiced that are intended to support physical strength, balance metabolism, restore the immune system, and enhance mood, vitality and much more!
Learn ways to cut free of the emotional and energetic effects of holiday stress and tension and enjoy all the possibilities from the connections to self and others that come from a strong sense of inner peace and balance.
Class is for all levels of experience  

Services :

Private, semi private and small group Yoga Sessions, Meditation Instruction, Corporate Yoga Classes
and the Egoscue Method Postural Therapy for Chronic Pain Relief and Enhanced Life Performance. 
Over the past several years I have worked with several students in private sessions in both brief and longer term scenarios.
The sessions have served different purposes for each individual  depending on specific needs and intentions. Students have utilized this time to: