Registration is Open for Online Course!

Yoga Empowered Online for Chronic Conditions:

Level 1: Develop Your Personal Yoga Practice Series

6 week e-Course begins September 4th!

Many people have told me that they want to begin practicing at home or outside the studio but don't know where to begin. Even those that do practice at home may find challenge with continued practice and with challenging themselves to continue to grow in Practice. 

If you want to take your Yoga Practice out of the studio and into your daily life this course is for you! If you live with Chronic Conditions that present unique challenge in your life, want to do something to help yourself and are ready to begin a life-long commitment to nourishing your own well-being read on! 

This 6 week online (e-course) Series will introduce you to several Yoga Practices that you can begin to add to your life – meeting yourself where you are right in the comfort of your own home. I want you to find what resonates with you at your leisure. Perhaps you'll write the equivalent of four novels from the journal prompts or never pick up a pen. Perhaps you'll really enjoy the meditations but not get around to the movement.

I want you to think of these personal weekly lessons as creative toolboxes of calm. Want to feel more calm? Grab one of these tools. Does your neck ache? There's a tool for that too. Does your heart hurt? Yeppers. 

If you want to seize creative control over Your Personal Yoga Practice then sign up now and let's get to it!

This e-Course session is FULL! 
Registration is closed as of 8/11/11
Contact me if you'd like to be added to the wait list for the next offering. 
Dates announced mid-September.

Actual Value $65

Registration closes September 1^st. 

Limited to 10 students. 

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

• Learn to meet yourself where you are without judgment. 
• Learn practical and tangible Yoga tools you can use any time to bring yourself to a greater place of balance and ease.
• Begin to see yourself in a more loving light and to let go of fear of the unknown regardless of what Chronic Condition challenges you.    
• Create self care rituals to establish peace, trust and empowered living.    
• Each week learn new movement, breathing and meditation techniques you can use to help manage symptoms, calm your system and soothe your mind.    
• No mat required – all movement practices will be from positions you find yourself in daily.     
 

THIS COURSE INCLUDES:

• Weekly emails (delivered on Sundays) with new lesson (PDF), video and journal prompts.  
• Weekly Practices focusing on adding Yoga Practice to your day.
• Personal video messages delivered to your inbox with a corresponding lesson to print out and add notes to.
• Upon registration for this Series- you will receive an invite to the YE4CC Private Online Forum. You are encouraged to use this site as you'd like to support your continuing Personal Yoga Practice. Get support from me and other Yogis, like yourself, taking this e-course and cumulatively living Yoga Empowered.   
•  All are optional as you are encouraged to find what tools resonate with you.  
  
  

   WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• a Journal or something to write with. (optional)
• a Body    
• Breath
• a Heart 

   THIS SERIES IS RIGHT FOR:

• Those willing to Practice to empower their well-being. Movement and all practices are appropriate for any body - as long as you can breathe – you can do Yoga! 

 

  THIS SERIES IS NOT RIGHT FOR:

• Those that just want a nice ass in yoga pants. 
      

   THEN WHAT?

• Cumulative Practice by You.  
• If applicable - continue to give & receive support for Your Practice on our forum site. 
• Level 2 and Level 3 Developing Your Personal Practice Series will be available in a year or so for you to continue to enrich your Yoga Practice. 
• Level 1 Series must be completed before being able to register for Level 2 Series. 
• Level 2 Series must be completed before being able to register for Level 3 Series.

Find out more: Frequently Asked Questions regarding this e-Course.

COMING SOON!

Beginning Pranayama (Breathing Exercises) and Meditation e-Course.

^o^

 

Yoga Empowered Online for Chronic Conditions e-Course Coming September 1st!

This September ~  Yoga Empowered Online for Chronic Conditions e-Course- Developing Your Personal Practice will be LIVE!

This 6 week e-Course (online course) will teach you how to begin to develop, maintain and enrich Your Personal Yoga Practice! You can begin any time and do your lessons at your convenience.

What to expect?

Every week (on Sunday) for 6 weeks you will receive a new lesson in your inbox (email) with a new lesson, video, journal prompts and more for you to learn at your leisure.

Gain access to Yoga Empowered Online for Chronic Conditions group on NING (Private group) to participate as you'd like in forum discussions about lessons, on-going practice, challenges and more.

Registration will be open soon. 
Cost for this e-Course is a suggested donation of $25. 

Plan to Register early!!!

If you are interested in being involved in the Pilot Series of 4 weeks at only $5.00- contact me at yogaempowered@live.com. This first run will allow me to find things that work and don't work plus give you an opportunity to see if e-Courses are a good fit for you. I will ask for your feedback to make sure these e-Courses (that's right this is just the beginning ;o) are user friendly and worth your time and money. 5 students max- first come first served. Pilot Course begins mid-August.

It is my goal to make a regular Yoga Practice accessible to all regardless of health or financial status. If you want to learn, if you want to empower yourself and if you want to take charge of your health and well-being then this will be the e-Course for you!

More information posted soon... 

Podcast : Introduction to Yoga Nidra

For months- students have been requesting that I record Yoga Nidra practices for them to continue to practice on a regular basis. Nidra practice is a HUGE part of my well-being and my Personal Yoga Practice (and yes, I mean it with Capital Letters). 

This podcast episode is an introduction to what Yoga Nidra is, how to practice it and all the juicy details in between. 

Next podcast will be a Yoga Nidra practice for you - Yoga Nidra for Well-Being!
You can subscribe on i-Tunes or visit the Podcast page.
CD's will be available soon.

Rock Your Practice! 

^o^



Click here for Podcast : Introduction to Yoga Nidra

MOVE: a Body Journey with the Joy Rebel

All to often I find myself practicing Yoga but needing to just get out and move. Going for a walk in the sun or rain is one the most mind clearing activities for me. Sometimes I walk out the door with the intention of no where in particular but to let my feet take me on an adventure. Recently I've found myself on the computer podcasting, writing, editing video and being stuck in my chair. Luckily I've met the Joy Rebel herself- Brandi Reynolds. 

I've been wanting to begin offering e-courses (online courses) but had no idea where to begin. Brandi, a certified Yoga Therapist in Dallas, has graciously invited me to participate in her e-course MOVE so I can see how it's done. It's been a sweet ride so far lemme tell ya! I'm lovin my body and experiencing it in a delicious new light. I thank this lovely Yogini for helping me, teaching me and inspiring me to begin a Yoga Empowered Online for Chronic Conditions Series this fall but mostly for being her amazing self and for re-teaching me how amazing my body is and all she does for me. 

I highly recommend you give it a whirl yourself ... MOVE!

MOVE: a body journey

So often we get tied up in the chore of movement. We have to clean the house and run errands and get some cardio in because someone told us we ‘should’. 

This e-course is about getting rid of the ‘shoulds’ of moving your body. It is about rediscovering the simple joy of movement, of re-discovering play and connecting your mind, body and spirit.   

The next session begins in September!  You can see more details about the course here or sign up to receive Brandi's e-letter so you can stay updated on all the details.

Rock Your Practice! 

^o^ 

 

Breathing and the Three Bears

As we work with Extension in classes, I'm realizing Goldilocks was onto something. "This one's too hot. This one's too cold. This one's just right!", she claimed about porridge. Yoga is the Middle Way. We're beginning to unpack lessons over the next couple of weeks on balance in extension. 

For those of us living with chronic conditions balance becomes key, the goal we aim for. Not over-extending (our time, our bodies, our spirits) and not under-extending (our time, our bodies, our spirits); this is one common challenge we all seem to struggle with. Yoga practice teaches us to find the balance between effort and rest; the balance between smooth steadiness and ease and not so smooth and steady. Our breath is our greatest guide here. 

Throughout your day, begin to bring your awareness to your breath. I'm not talking in Yoga class (there too! ;o) but in your daily life. Notice your breath and how it reflects your day, how your body feels, how your mind feels and ultimately how your spirits are feeling. Are you holding your breath? Is it shallow and stuck in the neck area rather than smooth and steady through your entire torso? Is it smooth and steady and easily moving through you? Does it feel stuck anywhere in the body- the mid-back or the nostrils?

I recommend beginning a Breathing Journal. I'm a huge proponent of writing as a tool to find the balance of what is right for you in any medium. There's something almost confessional about holding a gliding pen over a blank page and letting it rip. You don't need a fancy expensive journal; use the back of already used paper instead of recycling it. The point is to show up and write every day. If writing isn't accessible to you right now, typing is fine. 

Notice your breath upon waking- How does it feel? How does your body feel? How does your mind feel? Notice your breath in the middle of your day and ask again. Notice it while you're traveling from point A to point B, after a conversation with a friend or with a doctor, when you're trying to find a bathroom, whenever... The point is to begin to become aware and practice noticing your breath throughout your day. 

Make no judgment and don't read back quite yet. The idea is to begin is all. We'll meet back here in a few weeks to unpack our findings. For now, carry your journal around with you and numerous times throughout your day ask yourself these three questions....  

How does my breath feel? 

How does my body feel? 

How does my mind feel?

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns and have fun with it. I know things didn't work out for Goldilocks and each of us have our three bears just as she did... once our body, mind and spirit are depleted, over-extended or the opposite once they are underused or abused we begin to lose our balance and our well-being suffers.  

Begin to find what's "just right" for you here and now.

^o^

Video- Living Yoga Empowered: Extension

We are working with Extension for our next six weeks together. The teachings I've learned on Extension (and it has a capital E for sure!) totally transformed my own Practice.

Extension is something you can add to postures, breath, and life. Learning to balance over-extending and under-extending is an art. You'll hear me speak often about working with a balance between effort and rest- in postures, breath, meditation and being.

Here's a quick Practice video to try upon waking in the morning or from a nap. Listen to your body. Begin by meeting yourself where you are and Extending to meet that while managing the balance between effort and rest. Make it yours... 

Let me know how it goes... 

^o^



Video- Living Yoga Empowered: Extension

Video - Living Yoga Empowered: Camping

This is a new segment I'm stoked to present to you. Living Yoga Empowered Videos aren't necessarily meant to be practice videos but moreso to give you ideas about how to add Yoga to your life. 

Guidelines for Living Yoga Empowered are simply to meet yourself where you are and to practice Yoga tools to bring yourself to a place of greater balance and ease. 

This pilot video is a practice I did the morning after camping in the rain. I was achy, creaky and feeling a bit cranky too. In meeting myself there- I couldn't touch the ground as it was rain soaked so I wanted to do a gentle energizing practice to bring my achy body back to balance and my mind to a more present place to continue to refill my well in the final hours spent at "our spot". 

I hope this inspires you to move and stretch your body and breath today! 

Unchangeable by Josh Olechnowski

Josh is a member of our Delight-Filled group and a Facebook friend who often writes beautiful notes on "just Being". Whether it's being present, being true or being kind to ourselves, over the years he's lifted my spirits on many occasions with his prose. I'm happy to be able to share some of his writings with you here.

This piece really affected me, so much so, that I read it, immediately printed it and brought it to class ... I'm so glad I did. It ended up being a help to two students that day that really needed to hear this, just like I did.

Meet Josh Olechnowski, take it away Josh...

Unchangeable 

Being in the midst of (figurative) storms, and still being calm in your heart: 

 Responding to a situation as a bird would whose nest has been raided, 

as a spider would when his web has been knocked down. 

These storms do not change us, nor do they threaten to. 

These storms merely happen, and as humans it is how we respond to them

that reflects what we think of ourselves... 

 Be, as the creatures; but you will know you Be,

no longer asking questions which turn situations into problems and storms.

"I Am". 

Here you will respond to situations as well, but for the greater good. 

Here has peace come, flourishing with delight amidst any seeming storms!

 

Meet Josh Olechnowski: A 200 Hour Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance in Vinyasa Flow, specializing in Meditation Teaching on Long Island, New York. In addition to the fullness of giving and receiving in meditation teaching, he is writing several texts incorporating the one and only focus of the world as the central point: being all that we Are which is already everything---learning to live as one. Website is xavierwallace.wordpress.com. Twitter is @JJXavier3.

Core of Yoga Practice.

We're coming to a close in series classes this week. We're also wrapping up the lessons over the weeks (online & in classes) regarding the Core Strength of Your Yoga Practice. 

We began with learning about Core Strength and what it is. 
We explored ritual, self-study (above), meditation, breath and asana and how it builds core strength or more appropriately how it strengthens Your Core. 

Get the idea yet?!  ...  That's right - it's You!
You are the core.
Yoga provides a flippin awesome way of being your best from the core and at the core! 

How do you get there you ask? Practice. 

How long do I need to Practice? There are lifetimes for practice. 

Whether it's asana, pranayama, meditation, self-study or ritual... You are at the core of Your Practice. Practice from there. Meet yourself where you are. 

Here's a sweet video of a meditation moment spent refilling My well and tending to My Personal Yoga Practice on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

Personal Yoga Practice builds Core Strength. The very heart of your Being. Core strength to weather any storm, to stand firm when others may bring you down, to remain pure at heart and in spirit regardless of what anyone else says, does or believes about you.

Rock Your Practice! 

^o^

** Teaser** 

Next Series will be focused on Extension. 

Extension in postures, the breath, meditation vs. over-extending in life and postures. 
See you July 11th!