1/15/09
Dear student,
I hope you have had a Happy Holiday Season and a Great New Year!
I want to take just a moment to thank you expressly for your support over this and so many years. I am privileged daily to witness uncommon courage, commitment and dedication students and client make to begin and establish the practices and habits that transform lives. This remains a great inspiration to me to grow in my ability to support you in your journey.
The new Winter
schedule is attached, details of all my programs are available at
www.creativeedgeyoga .com
The Branford Adult Education 8 week series entitled
Yoga and Meditation for Stress Relief & Enhanced Living begins on
Thursday, January 29th. Follow the link or Contact the Adult Ed office at
(203)488-5693 for more information or to register.
Resolve to be “Pain Free” in 2009. Begin and deepen the process of
restoring the musculoskeletal balance and proper alignment and function.
I am again offering an
Align Your Posture---Ease Your Pain workshop on Saturday, February
7th, from 1-3:30pm at the Shoreline Center in Guilford.
Ana Brett and Ravi Singh are coming to Your Community Yoga center, 39 Putnam
Ave in Hamden on March 21st, 1-4PM. Come and enjoying another
terrific Spring Equinox Kundalini Yoga workshop experience! Awaken to The
possibilities of Spring as you dissolve stress and access to the inner
resources, strength and peace we all possess. All levels of student can benefit.
Call me or visit my website for more information as the details are developed.
The ongoing Kundalini Yoga class continues on Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm at the Shoreline Center in Guilford. All levels of student can enjoy this invigorating and transformative practice as a compliment to your present Yoga and meditation practice.
Thanks to those
who attended the holiday Yoga Mini retreat on December 6th. Your
presence and energy is appreciated very much.
Yoga and Functional Movement for Posture Alignment, Pain Relief and Stress
Management classes
continue in Guilford on Saturday mornings at 10:00am. A new series begins on
December 16th. This special application of Yoga and movement as a
special therapeutic approach that aims to help resolve the root causes of acute
and chronic pain as well as a unique fitness practice designed to generate
proper postural alignment and musculo-skeletal functioning for a lifetime of
activity and ease in your body.
Yoga Therapy:
The tao(way) does
nothing, yet nothing is undone.
From the
Tao te Ching by Lao Tze
As we begin this season of resolutions opportunity and optimism reign supreme. The enthusiasm that begins on the path to our goals is a great starting point and touchstone to sustain our commitments to ourselves. For those who have resolved to begin or return to their Yoga and meditation practice the reasons for doing Yoga and the forms a Yoga practice may take is as varied as the personalities and intentions of each individual . A common initial intention of Yoga for many is to relieve stress; and that goal is quickly realized for many, no matter what their skill level. As our practice deepens we can sustain interest in initiative over time as the mechanism by which Yoga brings these benefits becomes more clear, As with most forms of exercise there are the physical changes the body undergoes during the practice---beneficial hormones and other bio chemical reactions that positively impact the functioning of mind and body. Deepening and transforming habits of breathing in practice generate powerful shifts in mind and emotions. The attention and focus needed to perform the poses and meditations can take our mind off the day to day stresses we face and give us a time away from the realities of life. As these basic benefits are integrated and expanded upon possibilities for a more peaceful life on and off the Yoga mat may be realized.
Unlike many forms
of physical culture, yoga asks for full attention to the process of the
practice. For maximum insight, it asks also that we suspend our normal
tendency to judge and manipulate our experience. The net gain for the
practitioner in all of this is the ability to be more fully present and
engaged in what is happening in each moment. With practice there are more
frequent moments in which awareness is becomes more clear and expansive,
unvarnished by the Ego’s wishful thinking, skewed expectations outmoded habits
and illusions. The mind and body that are conditioned to and exhausted by the
buildup of unresolved stresses is changed over time, becoming more resilient and
able to accommodate the inevitable changes of life.
As we grow in our connection to the present moment many find that more and more
often there are moments in which life is accomplished with less and less
struggle. Indeed, as connection to our center (the “Tao” in Lao Tze’s
aphorism quoted above) “in sync” and “in the flow” experiences in life come
more often. We may now lose interest in contention and struggle as we come to
trust and reside in the wisdom and peace we discover at our center. In very
profound and real ways it can be our growing sense in moment of clarity and peace, that
residing more firmly and easily in the "Way" or "Tao", that nothing is done yet nothing
remains undone.
Yoga Practice:
As students of
yoga a common experience initially is that of trying learn and practice particular
practice, poses and techniques, self consciously evaluating our progress with
reference to some criteria based upon the instruction or system from which we are studying. As we begin
to progress in the fundamentals we may begin to experiment in with Yoga as an
expression of energy and consciousness in a more spontaneous way. Yogic
mythology states that the formal Yoga poses we practice are the realization of
enlightened sages giving form to the intuitive expressions of energy coming from
within in their enlightened states. Many teach that these moment of clarity and
expression need not be accessible only to so-called master Yogis but instead can
be the fruit of growing skill and comfort with oneself in your Yoga and
meditation practice.
To support this process and enjoy a deeply absorbing and powerfully relaxing way to practice is to
experiment with Posture Flow. Experimenting with this approach to
practice can be a training ground to bringing the truths of Yoga into your life
in a deeper way. This practice is usually seen as a more advanced practice,
not because it need be a physical challenge, but that it involves utilizing
formal asana practice and the ingrained skills in remaining present to
understand
intuitively and accurately the messages of your inner experience. The usual
prescriptions to practice to safely and responsibly working within your physical
abilities without strain, remain. Their wisdom is often revealed first hand in
this practice when we bring a such clear and focused attention to our body/mind.
Posture Flow is a balanced way to practice allowing “willfully” held classical Yoga Poses(asana) to give way to absorbing periods of surrender into spontaneous movement flows. The flow experience comes as a response to the physical and energetic needs, impulses and expressions that emerge from the challenges of the held posture. There is a deep trust that when utilizing the conscious connection of breath to bodily experience and mindful, compassionate awareness, the energy that informs this spontaneous movement is supportive and healing on a very deep level. Throughout the flow the challenge and the joy is to abandon the tendencies toward struggle and contentions that the residual thoughts and feelings the mind and “ego” may bring forth and follow impulses to move from a place of greater clarity and ease. This “meditation in movement” is the continuing connection of the body movement through the breath with this compassion awareness. As the energy of the flow diminishes you may move back into another held Pose to reorient and build more energy to animate the experience further. You may continue the process for as long as you desire.
Additional Services
I am available for private Yoga instruction, Yoga Therapy with a focus on Postural Alignment Therapy (http://www.creativeedgeyoga.com/posture.htm.
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:
· Evaluate and modify postural issues and musculoskeletal imbalances that may be at the root chronic discomfort and ongoing heath conditions
· Enhance skill, comfort and commitment to Yoga practice in class and at home
· Discover and utilize healing principles and practices designed to support your ongoing wellness and personal growth
· Explore higher breath work and meditation practices to further grow in yoga
· Support transitions toward healthier, more self supportive lifestyles.
· Serve as a powerful compliment to other recovery and healing practices…and more!
In addition sessions are available that employ a meditative healing practice format to support deep inner shifts and transformation that can accelerate your personal growth an amazing ways. Sessions can be held in your home or at my teaching studio locations. For details and to answer questions about how you may benefit from one of these modalities please contact me at (203)488-1700.
I wish to
thank you again and invite you feedback and suggestions for any way I may help
you.
I hope to see you soon in class!
Sat Nam and Namaste,
Alan
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****This newsletter is intended to inspire and stimulate thought and insight according to the general concepts and practices of Yoga and Meditative arts. The use of these opinions and ideas and techniques is no substitute for any and all professional services to suit your specific personal needs. Always consult a competent professional for answers to your specific questions.
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