Renaissance Saturday Morning Yoga Calender

Heather Hixon and I share teaching of the Saturday Morning class at Renaissance Healing Center.

One Saturday Heather teaches and the next I teach...or maybe she teaches two in a row and I teach the following two in a row. It depends. To help folks keep track of who will be teaching when, I made a calendar that takes us from December 2009 through September 2010.

Click here to check the calendar. See you then!

August Teaching Schedule

I will be teaching at Renaissance Healing Center at 10am on the following Saturdays in August:

• 8th

• 15th

• 29th
  

Thai Yoga Massage

On August 15th and 16th I'll be learning some Thai Yoga Massage with Iain of Blue Lotus Ancient Healing.

Thai Yoga Massage is an amazing art that is a dynamic and meditative dance of putting the recipient in yoga-like postures. I've heard it called "lazy man's yoga."

I am very much looking forward to my first Thai Yoga Massage at the end of this month and next month's workshop. The following month I'll be traveling to another Thai Yoga Massage workshop-- this one for five days. The teacher is from the Lotus Palm School.

One of the things that I find most striking is that at the heart of Thai Massage is the idea of metta, loving-kindness.

Stay tuned for more in the coming months...

Restoration and Cellular Repair Yoga:
Saturday, July 25, 1 pm to 4 pm.

This Workshop focuses on stress management, physical and emotional healing and soothing and harmonizing the nervous system. When we experience illness, injury, emotional turmoil or stressful periods of life, our Yoga practice should be supportive and nurturing.

Open to Yoga practitioners of all levels and teachers, we will learn and practice a series of restorative poses, healing breathing techniques, conscious relaxation and peaceful meditation.

Hey, y'all! I'm going to this workshop! Shri is fantastic and it will be great. Sign up at Bliss Yoga Shala

Laura's Teaching Schedule in May and June:

Saturday, May 9 - 10am-11:10am at Renaissance Healing Center (RHC)

Saturday, May 23 - 10am - 11:10am at RHC

Monday, June 8 - 9am - 10:30am at Discovery Yoga Center

Saturday, June 13 - 10am - 11:10am at RHC

Saturday, June 27 - 10am-11:10am at RHC

Chakra Yoga Workshop

March 21st from 1-4pm at Renaissance Healing Center.

Joan E. Ryan, RYT500, is a Certified Professional Integrative Yoga Therapist (500 hours) and Kripalu Certified Yoga Instructor (200 hours). Joan began her study of yoga in 1972 with Eunice Wellington- Siddhi a yogini who lived and studied yoga extensively in India. Moving to Florida, Joan left her corporate career in Human Resources Management. This gave her the opportunity to live her life’s dream of sharing her gift as a healer. Desiring to expand and broaden her healing talents after a bout with breast cancer Joan completed Joseph LePage’s Integrative Yoga Therapy-Professional Yoga Therapist program. She has studied Ayurveda with Dr. Narayan and Scott Blossom. She is also a Reiki Master and sometimes combines this gift with yoga therapy when working with her private and group students. Joan has developed and taught many special interest yoga classes and lessons such as: Alzheimer’s Disease, Anxiety Disorders, Arthritis, Asthma, COPD, Depression, Digestive Disorders, Fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Parkinson Disease, Pre and Post cancer and heart surgery, and Scoliosis. Joan lectures and volunteers her services at hospitals, Hospice, cancer and other support groups in the greater Jacksonville area. She also teaches Yoga for Stress Management at local businesses and Not-for-Profit organizations.

Yoga teachers earn 3 CEUs for a mere $35...so if you want to go too, call 521.4845. For map and location of Renaissance Healing Center, scroll to bottom of blog. See you there!

February Teaching Schedule

Monday, Feb 2 6:30pm-7:40pm

Saturday, Feb 7 and 21st 10:00am-11:10am

Classes at Renaissance Healing Center, 228 3rd Ave. North, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250

Gotta Laugh

One of my favorite yoga teachers is Paula Puopolo at Ocean Yoga because she makes me laugh....I need to go check out the fabulous new digs at the Beach where she teaches.

Anyhoo, laughing during yoga is a must. So says the New York Times! Check out this article about serious yoga and goofy, laughing yoga...and definitely check out Sadie Nardini's chant practiced in the ever-so-cool NYC yoga studios.

I love it when I already know the words to the chant!

More, Better, Different

Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens. -- Chogyam Trungpa

I am attending a meditation retreat this weekend at Discovery Yoga in St. Augustine. We started talking about boredom.

I really understand the desire for more, better, different. I really do. I get bored easily.

As a former English teacher, I also know that the first sign of a student who does not understand the meaning of the words in a passage is when they say, "This is boring!" That means they really don't understand what is going on at a basic, fundamental level-- the level of vocabulary, most likely.

And I've heard so many times people say, "I didn't do well in school because I was bored." As if to say, "I was too smart for school to begin with."

I've found that boredom is often just a desire for entertainment. The kind of thinking which provides learning and the kind of learning which provides growth requires much more than entertainment. It requires discipline.

Meditation practice teaches me to be bored. What it is like to be bored and what it means to be bored. Meditation is all about being okay with boredom and developing a relationship with boredom. Learning to be bored is a beautiful thing. It is teaching the mind to slow down and stop its search for more, better, different.

But there must be some sense of discipline if we are to get beyond the frivolity of trying to replace boredom. -- "The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation" by Chogyam Trungpa

Sunday Mornings at Lululemon

Last Sunday I went to Lululemon at St. Johns Town Center at 9:30am for a free yoga class. It was great. Ken Revell, a wonderful teacher, led us through a series that loosened my hips and strengthened my quads.

Each month a local studio gets to show off its style by leading the practice. Ken represented Bliss Yoga Shala in San Marco. I'm a huge fan of Bliss as it has been a blessing in my life.

Runner's Flow

Thanks to Mike and Joy at Renaissance Healing Center for helping develop the following sequence. It is great for a post-run stretch.

Start in a wide stance with hands on hips. Keep feet parallel.
Bending from the hips, come forward with the chest. Allow hands to drop toward feet, floor, wherever.
Keep a micro-bend in the knees-- locking them is not advised.
Hold for as long as it feels appropriate.

Walk the hands to one foot or the other and bend that knee.
Come into low lunge with back knee on the mat.
Walk the front foot to the side or farther forward.
Make sure the knee is parallel or behind the ankle (not in front of ankle which can compromise the knee).
Hold for as long as you like.

Walk the foot to the opposite hand, preparing for pigeon pose.
If you like, in pigeon, reach back for the foot and give the thigh of one leg a stretch and the hip in the other leg a stretch.

From pigeon, move to seated Half Lord of the Fishes pose by swinging that back leg all the way around the front, bent knee.

Repeat the above on the other side.

To finish out, try a supine spinal twist by laying on the mat, placing the right foot on the left knee, placing the left hand on the outside of the right knee and gently guiding the bent knee across the body. Repeat on the other side.

Look out for Mike's post-run posture flow soon. He's getting his notes together....