Question

Hi and Merry Christmas to everyone! (Claire, I loved the poem).

Does anyone know if we were supposed to receive some type of confirmation from Jennifer if we signed up for the video/manual?

Thanks for your help!

Happy New Year,
Beckie

Solstice and Christmas Greetings

I salute you.

There is nothing I can give you which you have not,
but there is much that while I cannot give,
you can take.

No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today.
Take heaven.

No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant.
Take peace.

The gloom of the world is but a shadow.
Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy.
Take joy.

And so at this Christmastime, I greet you,
with the prayer that for you,
now and forever,
the day breaks and the shadows flee away.

Fra Giovanni, 1513

Meditations

Hi, I looked at my notes Claire, and the House of Tang has it correct. So for the review:

1. I know I am breathing in and I know I am breathing out.
2. Breath 1 Om 2 Om.....
3. Body scan, watching where your breath is going when you are breathing in and the same when breathing out.
4. Walking, step by step.

Jennifer's Lecture

Would someone help me recall the four meditation techniques Jennifer taught us on Saturday? This is embarassing but I can't recall all of them - there was the Thich Nhat Hanh inspired "I breathe in, I breathe out" (was that it - or was it "I inhale, I exhale?); then there was counting 1 OM, 2 OM to measure the exhalation and inhalation. What else? Was the walking meditation one, or was that something extra?

Thanks for your help.

Book List

Let's get a book list started. Add your titles by commenting to this post. I'll add them to the "Book Suggestions" list in the sidebar. Anyone wishing Admin rights, let me know. If you are an Admin, you can add titles directly to the list.

Me and my Weeble

This is a photo of me and a regular participant in my health club yoga classes. This man is SUPER-supportive of my teacher training, and can't wait until the classes after training weekends, so I can "try out" all the cool stuff I learn.

He's one of the reasons I love to teach.

(hey, Carrie - how's my alignment?)

Yoga Photos

Some people were taking pictures during the last class. How do people feel about posting them to the blog? It is easy to do. Let me know and we'll get them on there!

If privacy is an issue, the settings can be changed.

Blog Problems

Has anyone had problems posting to the blog? There's not much action on it lately and last time I tried to post, I got an error message. I am trying to figure out what the problem is.

Looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend! The weather is looking snowy for Sunday!

Osteoporosis info

Howdy Yoga Folks,

Way back in October, we had briefly discussed osteoporosis and it's relationship to hormonal changes in the body as we age. I was a little short on the details, but they are amply described here: http://www.healingwithnutrition.com/odisease/osteoporosis/calcium_estrogen.html#A2

Peace,

Marie

What I'm Grateful For...

I very much enjoyed Daniel's invitation that we hold out gratitude at the end of our mediation for this session, though I found that I couldn't speak mine out loud because it caught in my throat. I still wanted to share it, though, and I thought that this would be a lovely forum for putting our gratitude out into the Universe.

I invite you to add your gratitudes to this one - either with a post of your own or in the comments section. So much positive energy in one place matters.


.... I am grateful that so many good people find me worthy of their love and friendship....

Better Late...

I know it's probably a little late to be of immediate use, given that we'll likely take the quiz tonight; and there's probably far more information on the site than we'll practically need, but I found this place and thought I'd share. See you all tonight!

Anatomy Coloring Book

Anyone else having lots of fun with the coloring book? Aaargh! I seem to need more colors and a new set of eyes!

Hello Out There

The blog has been quiet! Is it just that we are all a bit more confident about what to do?

This Friday I leave for a 9 day vacation (planned before enrolling in this course) so I will miss the next session. I hope to store up some Florida sun to get me through the days that are coming - the dark presents a challenge for me. While I appreciate the quiet, subdued time through December, I miss the light. Perhaps a good time to practice candle-gazing?

I will miss everyone and the whole wonderful, expanding experience of learning and growing together during these training weekends.

Be well!!

Anatomy Confusion

I hope it's okay to make this a topic of its own. I was actually responding to Claire's question posted somewhere else, but I am hoping by posting it as its own topic, more people will respond ...

Lateral flexion, I think, would be in standing half moon (ardachandrasana 1). And I think lateral flexion & extension only pertain to the axial skeleton, so the leg (like you said, Claire, in half-moon balance (ardachandrasana 2)) would not be in lateral flexion ... I don't think the spine would be either, because it should be aligned with your back leg (the straight one)??????

I just read some articles online about foot eversion & I think what I was thinking of as inversion is actually eversion. Feet in double pigeon, for example. They are in dorsiflexion, and to avoid sickling, turned so the sole of the foot is turned outward. But I'm not sure about any of this! Does anyone have anything to help clarify?

Sponsoring Child through Sonoma Ashram

I am posting this from Carrie's email so that this information will be on the blog:

Carrie wrote "We will be spending a few minutes next time looking at slides from Bal Ashram in India. Daniel and I would like to make it optional for us, as a group, to sponsor a child at this orphanage in India. If we all chip in $2 a session, we will be able to pay for a child's education for an entire year. We will receive letters and pictures from our sponsored child, and if you so desire you can go volunteer and work at the orphanage which is on the Ganges River in Varnasi (I will be trying to organize a trip like this in the next few years). The orphanage is run by one of my teachers, Baba Hariji of the Sonoma Ashram, and takes in boys who have lost one or both parents, who were living in impoverished situations. There is more info about the ashram in Sonoma (I'll be out there two weeks next summer if anyone would like to join me) and the ashram/orphanage in India at http://www.sonomaashram.org/"

Yoga Anatomy

Hi everyone,
This is great! Thanks to Claire for setting it up. I also bought the Yoga Anatomy book (pretty cheap on Amazon) & it's fabulous. I am using it now to check myself on the homework where we describe the different movements (flexion, extension, etc) in the asanas. I'm sensing lots of index cards in my near future to help with all those terms! --Liz

Thanks, Claire! This is a lot easier than filtering through emails in my inbox.

I just bought the book, Yoga Anatomy, and I wanted to second the recommendation. It's great...

I hope you're all well and that your practices are blooming!

Thanks for putting this together. I am struggling to keep up with yoga homework right now - I'm supposed to defend a dissertation on Nov. 2nd (we'll see??). But I think this will help me keep up while I'm juggling other things.

checking in

Hello and thanks for doing this Claire!
I have been nibbling at the homework bit by bit, I find it's the best way for me to retain information...how about everyone else?

A little confusion with lateral extension in a yoga pose...setting up the binder as Daniel suggested and going over all of our handouts helped too. See you all soon.

Posts vs. Comments

If you have a new idea, question or thought you wish to share, contribute to the blog by adding a post. Find the "New Post" link in the bar on the top right of the screen. Others will then add comments to your post.

If you wish to add a comment or answer a question posed in a post, click on the "comments" link directly under the post. Then leave your comment and publish it to the blog.

Starting the BLOG!

I've invited a few people to see how this works. You can try a post or a comment if you have been invited to be an author.