New Foundations Workshops for the New Year!!!!!

As we all know, time goes by quickly. We never seem to have enough time, although we are all allotted the same 24 hours each day. With that said, I wanted to announce that I will be teaching some body specific classes. The first in this series will be on the feet.

This class will be appropriate for everyone, even folks that do not have any previous Yoga experience. I will be teaching Yoga, bio-mechanics, ball rolling, and lots of fun activities that can be easily incorporated into your daily routine.

One of the first classes will be taught at the Rossville Community Library. I am thinking that the end of January might be convenient for all. I should have a more definite time-slot by mid-December.

Also, next month I will be visiting with my friend, Marta, at WhiteStone Wellness Center (http://www.whitestonewellnesscenter.com/) about incorporating one of her many healing modalities into my class. She is an amazing massage therapist who will be teaching her craft in at least one of my classes. I would love to learn from her how to massage my feet; and what a wonderful gift to give to others!!

I am so excited for this opportunity to share information!

Check back for more details.

  

Wanted: Serious (or soon to be serious) Yoga students to become Yoga teachers

I receive requests to teach Yoga classes in small surrounding towns in rural Kansas on a regular basis. What I would love, love, love to do is work with folks who want to become Yoga teachers. Of course with any sort of teaching, you must love the subject matter and have a regular practice.

So, if you have always wanted to teach Yoga and live close to Delia and Rossville, Kansas, then you should email me your questions.

ardhachandrasana@yahoo.com

This is not a fast-track, teacher training in a weekend type of scenario. I have been practicing for 20 years and teaching for 16 years and I still feel like a beginner. There is always something new to learn or work on perfecting in this life-changing subject. Everything depends on how quickly you integrate this subject matter into your practice and then are able to teach it to others.

Just so you know, this will be a very practical and direct course work. Attending Yoga classes with me on a regular basis is paramount. I will also strongly recommend visiting other teacher's classes to view various techniques and methods. If this interests you, contact me.

ardhachandrasana@yahoo.com

If there is a good response, I will consider renting a space for monthly meetings in Rossville (or somewhere else if necessary). If only 1-4 students respond, I have a small studio where I live with MANY props available along with a rope wall for yoga karunta.

I hope to hear from you soon!

See you on the mat.

Namaste`

~ Cat

Thoughts on alignment

I have been reading and watching videos lately on the body's biomechanics. If I am remembering correctly, I think that Katy Bowman said something to the effect that "there are no unhealthy movements." (I will have to see if I can find the exact quote.) For me that is a freeing thought.....until I come to my hamstring tear. 

Of course, that tear at the origin of my hamstring took many years to perfect. Only when my Yoga teacher, Judith H. Lasater, pointed it out and taught me how to not hurt myself (while in Prasarita Padottanasana) at workshop in Dallas, did I start to feel pain. When I backed off, used my muscles more instead of hanging on my connective tissues, did the pain and healing begin. Luckily, the workshop was "Moving from the Organs" which taught me how to keep that particular injury safe in forward folds. Not only did I learn that I am hypermobile in my joints but that I need to do the poses 50 % less.

What was really fascinating about discovering an injury I caused and then doing less because of the injury, was that the mind is constantly goading me on. I know I can do more and yet I must back off. I love, love, love the cooling effect of forward folds (I am Pitta/Vata dosha) and I am naturally good at them. Actually, too good. So my Pitta mind gets angry, even if it is just internal dialogue, and I become frustrated. Maybe if I wasn't a teacher, I might have just given up. Or maybe not. What I did do was slow down and back off. I listened to my teacher's advice and then incorporated it into my practice.

I feel like one of the luckier ones. Although I do have injuries due to my hypermobility (and most are not because of Yoga asana), I am healing. I have learned enough to then pass on this knowledge to my students.

So what Katy said may have been correct in a body that isn't hypermobile. I would love to think that all movement is healthy. We all know that we need to move more and sit less. I think the next step within the Yoga asana community at large is to address the idea of asana injuries and being proactive in keeping students and teachers safe in and out of the classroom.

Namaste`

I am back!!!

Well, almost. I do have a lot to write about in the coming months.

I have been doing tons of research as of late. And since I am starting to catch up with the overgrowth of weeds at the farm, I should have more time to write and reflect. August has been unseasonably cool this year. I won't complain since the coolness helps me deal better with perimenopause and my pitta nature.

Just last weekend I attended a fabulous workshop taught by Doug Keller at the Yoga School of Therapeutics. Doug is a wonderful teacher, and will be at that same location next year in April. Learning is an on-going process and I highly recommend this excellent teacher.

Please check back on a regular basis. I will be contributing more in the coming months.

Much love,

Cat