1/14/10
Namaste,
II hope
you enjoyed this New Year’s season. My best wishes for you in creating the a
happy and healthy life for you and your family in 2010.
Now it is onto the tackling the resolutions so many of us made in moments of
clarity and reflection and transforming our lives according to our own hopes and
desires. Change is challenging and requires energy and internal and
external supports or success. Building the habit of a even a basic Yoga practice
can be the foundation for those changes you are seeking
Toward this end, the new Winter series of Yoga classes begins on 1/17/2010. The
Schedule is attached and more information is available at
www.creativeedgeyoga.com.
This is a reminder that I teach a Sunday morning
“Yoga Basics for Serenity, Stress Relief and Wellness” class at Ravens’
Wing Yoga in Branford. Many take this opportunity as second class in their week
to enjoy the serenity of the setting and the peace of Yoga practice to begin a
restful and relaxed Sunday.
For those seeking a compliment to the more traditional Yoga classes or an
immersion into the higher practice available to them. I
invite you to experience the
ongoing
Kundalini Yoga Basics class at the Shoreline Center for Wholistic Health
on Wednesdays at its new time, 4:30-5:45pm. I hope you will take some
time to try this unique and powerful practice as a way to ignite and deepen your
experience of many of the practices Yoga has to offer.
The Branford Adult Education 8 week series entitled “Yoga
and Meditation for Stress Relief & Enhanced Living”, begins
on Thursday2/4/2010 and runs through 4/1/2010Co. Contact the Adult Ed office at
(203)488-5693 to register.
Also, I continue to offer the Gentle Yoga Class at the Bethany Senior
Center, 40 Peck Rd in Bethany on Mondays in the afternoon from 4:00-5:00PM.
The class is ongoing. Call me at (203)488-1700 for more information or to
register.
Resolve to be Pain Free in 2010!
The journey to wellness is a process. By the time pain issues have become
persistent and chronic, the struggles and frustrations to resolve them can be
frightening, wearisome and at times, overwhelming. On a journey of such
importance, it is often the case that the struggles experienced come from not
having an adequate map to guide the way and/or support along the way. Whether
itis you or someone you care about can enjoy this edition the introductory
Align Your Posture---Ease Your Pain: ----Yoga
and Postural Alignment Therapy for Healing and Pain Relief”
workshop to be held on February 27th at the Shoreline Center.
Drop-in to enjoy the ongoing group class inspired and informed by the
classic wisdom and practices of Yoga and the powerful posture alignment paradigm
developed by Pete Egoscue. The special Saturday class series:
Yoga and Functional Movement for Posture, Pain Relief and
Stress Management
class
continues at the Shoreline Center with the goal of supporting you as you move
from limits and pain and re-establish the fit and functional body that is your
birthright. The time is 10:00-11:30 am and you can drop-in or join the series
anytime!
Yoga Therapy and Practice:
“Much of [Yoga/Meditation] practice is remembering, remembering the breath,
remembering to be mindful, remembering our true nature and remembering the space
it is all floating in”
Stephen Levine,
from “Guided Mediations, Explorations and Healings”
Hanging on....Staying connected with the Thread of Our Practice
Our
resilience and strength as we progress in life and our practice of the healing
arts such as Yoga deepens as we create a vehicle; physical, energetic and
mental/emotional, that can thrive amidst the changes life brings At times
in our lives the demands on our time and energies presented by our commitments
and obligations fluctuate significantly. A vital and supportive practice can and
ought to adjust to these changes. However I do believe there needs to be a
bedrock of strong commitment to yourself that will assure that the thread
of your practice can remain, despite the changing forms it may take at
different times of the year and seasons of your life. After all, for some a once
a week of Yoga class is better than letting practice go because you can’t do the
six or seven days a week practice to which they have become accustomed. For
others a simple five to fifteen minutes quiet sitting meditation or
remembering to do a simple breath awareness or meditations may supplant a more
extensive practice at busier times. Developing these or other simple ways to
remain connected to your deeper self and be of great comfort when at times
your life’s business has gotten in the way of some deeper involvement in your
personal practice.
It is true that for the larger aims and intentions of our work in Yoga our
progress is determined to a degree by the extent of the effort we put into it. Still, Yogis remind us
that even one step moving toward truth is rewarded in kind by even greater
connection to that which we seek in practice. For example, both positive and
more challenging aspects of our lives can come forward at time such as
the holiday season that has just past. The more we come to realize that the
symptoms of stress and our response to them are important factors in how well we
enjoy our experiences, our yoga and meditation has borne important fruit in terms of keeping
our sense of balance and
equanimity regardless of external circumstances..
Therefore, having cultivated a regular Yoga practice previously can support
us in times when opportunity to practice is reduced in time and scope. The
essence of our ongoing practice sustains us as we a have built helps
reservoir of physical strength and tone as well as
the deepened access to inner energy and calm. Most importantly, as Levine attests, our better
habits can lead us more consistently take moments toward “remembering our
true nature and remembering the space it is all floating in”.
It is
important not to minimize the effect of any of our efforts to remain on board
with some sort of Yoga, meditation or self care practice as time an circumstance
close in on us. Yoga students can realize that formal practice can wax and
wane but the thread that remains can be nurtured in the most
challenging times. Keeping practice alive in challenging times helps us survive
and thrive through difficulties and leads us back to a stronger immersion
as times and circumstance permit.
Yoga Practice:
Consistent with the above theme this very simple practice is offered by Stephen
Levine. It can be done as it is needed:
“Breathe in warmth.
Patience slowly on the out breath.
Letting the healing in,
Letting go of suffering.”
The key here is the remembrance as much as the particulars of the practice itself. In my belief and experience this remembrance can be the fruit of your healthy and balanced commitment to your well being as reflected in creating an ongoing habit of Yoga and or Meditation practice.
Fee: $25.00 if pre-registered,
$30.00 at the door.
Take
time to take back your life!
The epidemic of chronic pain threatens health, ruins careers and the limitations
it creates can destroy any semblance of a well-lived life. Discover how
syndromes such as Repetitive Stress injury, Back pain, Tennis elbow, Bursitis,
arthritis, low energy, dizziness and a full array of other chronic conditions
can all have muscular skeletal misalignment their root cause and postural
alignment as the core solution.
In this workshop we will:
* Explore the ways postural misalignment is at the cause of so much
muscular-skeletal pain and dysfunction.
* Perform specific tests to discover the missing causal link to the
symptoms of pain or limitation in your body.
* Learn and practice simple, pleasant functional exercises and Yoga to
restore muscle balance, and eliminate dysfunction at the root of so much
chronic pain.
* Enhance overall strength and flexibility as the pain in your body
resolves
* Understand once and for the possibility all that pain is not inevitable
and that an active meaningful life is possible throughout the lifespan.
This experience provides an extraordinary opportunity to explore principles and practices of a tried and true non-medical intervention that empowers ourselves to restore the body to its design posture and function. Finally take control over your body and mind for once and for all to transform what it means to be well and grow older!
Yoga To Move, Breathe and Be Free
--a Spring Yoga Mini-Retreat-
with Alan Franzi, M.S., C.Y.T.
At: The shoreline Center for Wholistic Health
Date: Saturday, March 20th, 1:00-4:00pm
35 Boston ST
Guilford, CT
Fee: $25.00 if pre-registered, $30.00 at the door.
Supercharge your inner core of light and life and dust off the cobwebs of Winter
with this Spring awakening Yoga mini retreat. Enjoy Yoga Posture, movement
flows, breath work, meditation and healing imagery practices designed to access
and enhance our innate inner resources of vitality, strength, flexibility,
balance and calm.
Facilitate the release and healing of physical tensions and deep stress as you
enjoy the beneficial impact of this energizing and calming Yoga practice on mood
and consciousness.
Learn ways to cut free of the emotional and energetic effects of pent up cabin
fever, stress and tension and to become free to enjoy all the possibilities that
come from a strong sense of inner peace and balance.
This workshop is for all levels of experience to enjoy.
Additional Services:
Home or office, private, semi private and small group Yoga and meditation sessions oriented to the goals and abilities of the individual or group. These include instruction in yoga and Meditation and the more specific therapeutic applications of Yoga, movement, breathwork and meditation. 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:
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.
Again, please let me know of any requests or suggestion that you have for special events and workshops.
I hope to see you soon.
Namaste & Sat nam,
Alan