*kiss*

I am joyful.

I am searching for restorative yoga classes in Guelph, Ontario. Google has provided me with 2009 workshops, but little else. I am tense, stiff, and stressed – not interested in sweating in a room full of other sweating bodies, nor “working hard”. I wanted to be nurtured. This can’t be too difficult to find. If money was no object, I would consider private classes, but $60/class is not within the current budget.

“Without the Utopians of other times, men would still live in caves, miserable and naked. It was Utopians who traced the lines of the first City…..Out of generous dreams come beneficial realities. Utopia is the principle of all progress, and the essay into a better future.” – Anatole France

“Eager souls, mystics and revolutionaries, may propose to refashion the world in accordance with their dreams; but evil remains, and so long as it lurks in the secret places of the heart, utopia is only the shadow of a dream.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne

Canceling my gym membership + December = Yoga@Home

I love equations as they make everything seem so clear.

I have been hearing some amazing things about Kristin Honey’s yoga classes recently. I think I am going to drop in on a class in the next week or two.

Important Aspects of Restorative Yoga

• Students have come to let go of daily stress
• More importance placed on relaxation, rather than doing or achieving
• Importance is on giving the students the opportunity to let go
• Support creates release – every asana is a variation with the aim of relaxation
• Array of props such as blankets, bolsters, and blocks support the body to relieve muscular tension; used to provide physical support to the students when required; props can “prop up” or they can “anchor”
• An atmosphere conducive to the letting go of stress is crucial
• The aim is muscular release, not to find one’s edge
• Personal attention – look for signs of effort or discomfort
• Quiet, along with mindful transitions

Class Plans – 75 minute classes (10 Week Plan)

Centering – 15 minutes – Vary between weeks

Long Savasana with Guided Meditation

The Instructor is to participate – adopt the role of guide and caregiver

Describe the principles of restorative yoga to students

Warm Up – 15 minutes – Vary between weeks

Warm-Up

Select a different deep relaxation technique to explore.

Place rolled blanket or bolster under knees to help release lower back. Optional neck pillow or
headrest may make students more comfortable. Guide students to rest hands on lower belly
and feel its movement as they breathe.

Asana – 30 minutes – Vary between weeks, depending on the students

Reclining Bound Angle Pose
This pose provides gentle opening to the hips and chest, and is an excellent time to focus on breathing or to introduce a heart-opening meditation. Lean bolster on stack of blankets or blocks. Place rolled blanket under each knee. Strap can be looped behind lower back, over insides of legs and around feet. This allows students to relax any effort to hold feet together.

Supported Bridge Pose
This pose releases tension in the hip flexors, abdominal muscles and chest. Having the head slightly lower than the heart deepens the relaxation response. Place combination of bolster and rolled blankets under lower back and hips. Looped strap can be placed around thighs, tightened just enough to keep knees from splaying apart. Legs can be bent or straight, whichever is more comfortable. If the legs are straight, place a block under the feet for extra support.

Supported Child’s Pose
This pose releases tension in the back and hips. The bolster provides a feeling of security and comfort. Kneel, and place bolster between knees. Fold forward over the bolster, resting the head on it. Blanket may be placed under hips for more support.

Gentle Inversion
This pose provides an inversion for the lower body and is an excellent way to end a restorative practice. The only prop necessary is the wall. A folded blanket placed under the torso provides additional elevation.³

Stress Management – 5 minutes

Select a different stress management technique to explore

Relaxation – 10 minutes

Savasana with Music

My July noon classes at Atlas Studio were successful (and a fantastic learning experience). This coming Wednesday, I have a final early morning class at the School of Architecture in Cambridge, and then I have completed everything schedule-wise. I was a bit hesitant to commit to 7:45 am classes in a different city, but apparently my body *does* know how to successfully rouse itself at 6:00 am. I’m debating having a quiet August, or perhaps arranging some scheduled classes in Waterloo. Decisions, decisions!

Testimonial

I attended an 8 class session of yoga with Rebecca. During the session, I broke my foot. She modified the poses so I could continue my practice wearing my walking cast, at first in a chair and later including some floor work. She’s an inspirational yoga teacher.
- K, Kitchener

About Sahasrara

• Colour: PURPLE
• Sanskrit Name: Sahasrara (thousandfold)
• Element: Consciousness
• Location: Top of head, cerebral cortex
• Glands: Pituitary
• Purpose: Understanding
• Base Issues: Cognition, awareness
• Orientation to Self: Self-knowledge
• Identity: Universal
• Right: To know
• Demon: Attachment
• Addictions: Religion, spiritual practices
• Developmental Stage: Adulthood
• Mantra: No seed sound, resonant sound Nngg (as in sing)
• Hindu Deities: Shiova, Ama-kala (upward moving shakti), Varuna
• Yoga Path: Jnana yoga, or meditation

Balanced Characteristics

• Ability to perceive, analyze, and assimilate information
• Intelligent, thoughtful, aware
• Open-minded
• Spiritually connected
• Wisdom and mastery
• Broad understanding

Healing Practices for the Crown Chakra

• Re-establish physical and emotional connections (in cases of excess)
• Re-establish spiritual connection (in cases of deficiency)
• Spiritual discipline, meditation
• Psychotherapy such as examining one’s belief system, developing inner witness, working with the higher power

Deficiency in the Crown Chakra

• Spiritual cynicism, learning difficulties, rigid belief systems, apathy

Excess in the Crown Chakra

• Overintellectualization, spiritual addiction, confusion, disassociation from body