Area Yoga Brooklyn

1 Day only!

“Start the new year off with a 2 hour detoxifying yoga workshop”.

  A yoga workshop designed to make you move and sweat!  Join us on Friday January 1^st 2010 to detoxify. The workshop will incorporate a variety of sun salutations, deep twists, invigorating inversions and bandha/core work.

Taught by Erin Teague

Not suitable for brand new beginners.

Friday January 1st 2010

2:00pm – 4:00pm

Cost is $20 or 2 classes from a class card

Gift Cards make a great present.

Now when you buy a card for your loved one, you get a gift card for yourself!!!

Our holiday gift to you!

When you buy a gift card for $100 or more, you receive a gift card for $20 off a spa treatment for yourself!

Treat your loved ones and yourself at the same time!

Just mention this add when purchase the gift.

I have a confession: I love the holidays. I spend too much time planning my gift list and even more time making my own wrapping paper. A student recently asked me what was on my list, and I thought I’d share it on the blog. Fellow Area yogis Candice, Tina, and Melinda also shared their plans with me. Tina reminds us, “We all have so much, of everything, no matter our individual finances and paths.  Although I love the holidays and am no Scrooge, spending time with the people I love trumps $50 yoga tops or yet another book, in my book.” The greatest gift of all: your self.

What’s on your list?

Happy Holidays from our hearts to yours!

Namaste.

To the heart, through the tummy:
* Candice and I agree, chocolate is always welcome. She favors vegan (www.chocalive.com), and I’m partial to Hannah, The Chocolate Room’s delicious combination of caramel and sea salt.

* Candice also suggested tea from Harney and Sons.

* Melinda suggests a box of Numi flowering tea, hand-sewn herbal, black, and green teas that flower when steeped — kind of like your body and mind after your yoga practice.

Care for your body, calm your mind:
* The only thing better than taking a restorative class for relaxation and renewal is a massage, and our sister spa offers quite a few temping ones. Or, get your massage and then take restorative — even better!

* I swear by Dr. Hauschka products, particularly the chapstick, which can also be found at the spa.

* Melinda had a crafty, inexpensive idea for gifts: handmade eye pillows. Home made simple has great how-to instructions for making your own scented eye pillows.

Turn your gaze inside, shine outside:
*Each piece of beautiful Satya jewelry is imbued with meaning inspired by the yoga practice. Tina already bought herself a pearl lotus necklace, while I’m picking out earrings for my sister-in-law.

Stimulate your mind, open up your world:
* I regularly give my two favorite books, BKS Iyengar’s Light on Yoga, and Linda Sparrowe’s The Woman’s Book of Yoga and Health.

* Melinda’a favorite is Jack Kornfield’s A Path with Heart, to inspire and guide your daily life as meditation. 

Tap into your heart, spread the blessings:

* I favor poverty reduction donations above anything else. Universal Giving, an online catalog of charities, can generate a good list of micro-finance organizations; Heifer International takes a unique approach to poverty reduction by providing livestock to isolated communities around the world.

*  Tina embraces ahimsa, nonviolence, against our furry friends by supporting Farm Sanctuary – working to end cruelty to farm animals and promoting compassionate living through rescue, education, and advocacy – and the North Shore Animal League America — the world’s largest no-kill animal rescue and adoption organization.

* Bent on Learning offers instruction in yoga and meditation to students in grades K through 12 in New York City public schools and youth centers as a means of reducing stress and improving concentration, self-esteem, and overall health.

Hanumanasana

The Hindu mythical monkey Hanuman represents pure love and devotion and his corresponding yoga pose asks your body and soul to stretch to their maximum. As we approach our holiday season of charity, giving, and reflection, practice Hanumanasana to bring some fearlessness to your love. 

Tina gives over to Hanuman

Getting In: BKS Iyengar is known to have torn his hamstring demonstrating this pose in his youth. Explore hanumanasana toward the middle of your practice, when your muscles are at their warmest and your energy at its peak. Useful props for this pose are a blanket or towel (for your front foot to slide easily along the floor, as opposed to on your sticky mat) and blocks (to use as support under your hands or underneath your front sitting bone and thigh). Start on bended knee, with your right foot forward and your left knee and top of your left foot on the ground. Consider what is the best way for you to get into the pose with your floor and mat. If you’d like a bit extra slide, place a folded blanket or towel on the floor at the head of your mat and then scoot forward so your right foot is on the blanket and your left knee is directly below your left hip. Be sure your blocks are placed on either side of your waist within easy reach. Begin to allow your hips to sink forward, aiming your right sitting bone toward your right heel. Find the stretch along your front left thigh and begin to lift your right toes off the floor so only your right heel is on the blanket. With the blocks under your hands, slide your right foot slowly and directly forward to explore the depth of the stretch in your left thigh and the new stretch in your under right thigh, under your right sitting bone. (The blanket on a hardwood floor will slide very easily. Take it slow!) Take a look behind you to ensure that your left leg is directly behind you and not off to one side. Align your left foot with your knee and hip. Begin to creep your right foot forward, to extend both your legs. If your hands are on blocks (see photo below),

Using blocks in Hanumanasana

resist the urge to sink your weight into the blocks and instead, think of lifting your hips and body weight up by almost drawing your legs’ energy back in toward you. Once you’ve found your maximum stretch, either keep your hands on the blocks or place one block under your right thigh near your sitting bone at the height appropriate for your stretch. The block has 3 heights, low, medium, and high; choose the one that best fits beneath you. Stick with the stretch and breathe deep and even breaths. Take time to back up out of the pose and to rest in child’s pose before moving to the left side.

Lining Up: Many of these adjustments may require you to get out of the pose and realign yourself. Flex your right foot and use the muscles of your right thigh to draw your right knee cap up your leg, to protect your leg from hyper-extension (especially important if you are not sitting completely on the ground). If your right leg isn’t straight, focus on moving your right heel away from you. Your right big toe and knee should be pointing directly up. Without turning around to look, identify your left toes on the ground behind you and press the top of your left foot into the ground to encourage your left leg to go more straight. Your left knee should be pointing directly into the ground. Use your right heel and the top of left foot in the ground and your inner thighs drawing together to energize your legs in, like scissors, even as you move forward to open into the pose. Your sitting bones knit together underneath you and create a supportive cushion of air and energy. This will help to keep your hips from sinking beyond your control. The scissoring of your legs subtly directs your left hip forward while your right hip crease deepens and sends your right hip subtly back. Draw your abdomen up from your pubic bone to the bottom of your rib cage to send your tailbone down and smoothe out some of the arch in your lower back. Hug in your lower ribs to lift your torso perpendicular to your legs. Roll your shoulders up, back, and down from your ears and slip your shoulder blades together and down your back to open up the front of your chest. If your hands are on blocks, lift out of them to move your shoulders away from your ears. If your hands are not on blocks, find a shape for your arms that best supports your balance and stretch: perhaps hands on your hips, in prayer or lotus mudra at your heart, or above your head in a V-shape. Turn your gaze parallel to the floor or even up and beyond the horizon. Lengthen the back of your neck by reaching the crown of your head for the sky. Let the release of your jaw and your third eye trickle down to help relax and release your hips and legs deeper into the pose.

Hanuman embraces Lord Ram

Tuning In: This demanding pose stretches your calves, hamstrings, hip flexors, and thighs and develops your hip flexibility as the two sides of your pelvis open in opposite ways (your front hip opens underneath, while your back hip opens from above). With your legs extended, see yourself making a great leap of faith that you can stay in this pose with your breath and stretch. In Hindu mythology, Hanuman saved a beloved companion who was kidnapped by an evil demon. Emboldened by love to defy limitation, Hanuman made a flying leap from India to Sri Lanka rescue his friend. By channeling a similar sense of boundless love and devotion into this demanding pose, your experience of the extreme stretch and challenge transform into an offering of love.