Category: Yoga

Yoga

The Heat

Post author By Kay T. Ananda
Post date April 10, 2017

poccari-sweat There was a period in my life (highly stressed) I was really hooked on Bikram yoga – and had the luxury of time to devote into the practice. All the sweating and the sense of accomplishment felt just so good. You do get hooked.
Then.
Life got a bit complicated.
So
I stopped.

(& gained 20+ lbs – no kidding – no worries, got down 10lb being a Ms. YoYo:)

So it was so rewarding to take Christine’s yin class held at – a bit surprised – at a Bikram based hot yoga studio!? It’s so refreshing that it’s actually an “yin” class but still you are breaking a sweat – not the intense Yang class you pass out from over-exertion (& that’s what many of us wanted to quiet the mind – it feels so good) during savasana at the end but just light and clear, as much in a different way. It’s about balance – when there’s so much yang; we need the yin or we burnout or or breakdown. There’s harmony and a flow when there’s balance. She asked me to test drive the heat and if I can stand it (no problem!) sub for her and I am thrilled to. In this studio, there are no props usually needed for a yin style class BUT the heat serves as that prop. As long as there’s ample fresh air for the oxygenated breath we take, then, I still love hot yoga even though I realize that many yogis scorn it. Whatever works, I’d say, to that prejudice. Whatever works in getting that peace within.

Memory of hot yoga class in Tokyo came back where cool towels and bottled water are provided to each student – it’s about hosting a guest and guests are sacred beings in Eastern philosophy. You invite them into your homes, your heart. Thank you Christine for inviting me. You are a pure light and breath of that fresh air. Namaste.

Here’s a scene from …yet another kind of class – use of props 101? Love all:) Haahhhh just chilling by hanging from the hip hinge.

Counter-Indications? High Blood pressure. You can still do them but some techniques to share in tweaking the pose so it’s accessible to everyone.

Healthy Living Yoga

Yoga as Community Service

Post author By Kay T. Ananda
Post date April 6, 2017

The labyrinth circle of learning is supportive and collaborative in alignment with living that yoga ideals that’s not competitive but collaborative; not judgmental but open-minded.
While us yoga teachers do have to sustain ourselves as we all do with our choice livelihood, some are in a more enviable position. This is so great that I had to share – Click Here if you or anyone you know are interested in learning more about yoga, living yoga and giving back to the community … by teaching and spreading the ideals of yoga but cannot afford the high quality teacher training one must undergo for certification with Yoga Alliance, this is such an opportunity. I had no idea that there was such a scholarship… for someone to make a difference. Maybe a college student who has the passion but limited in funds; maybe those in the arts and music …

The Integral Health Fellowship (IHF) Program is an intensive 2-year program that awards need-based scholarships to participants with low-income, to become Certified Yoga Teachers through Niroga’s 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training. Fellows pay forward their scholarship by committing to teach 100-hours of yoga to underserved communities within one year of the completing the yoga teacher training.

While yoga has become more and more commercialized as reflected in the “business of yoga”, isn’t it refreshing that Niroga is really that Karma yoga put into practice. I am so proud to be part of this NPO as a student of yoga therapy, thereby having as teachers, not only the awesome founder, BK Bose, but …with teachers, each with the expertise in their specialization. So far in the last one year, we have covered:

Skeletal System
with Baxter Bell MD, RYT-500

Ayurveda and Yoga
with Durga Leela RYT-500

Muscular System
with Baxter Bell MD, RYT-500

Cardiovascular System
with B.K. Bose, PhD, E-RYT 500 and Rosalind Lwin, CYT

Respiratory System
with Saraswathi Devi

Endocrine System
with Baxter Bell MD, RYT-500

Nervous System
with Antonia Fokken LMFT, E-RYT 500

Immune System
with Mitch Hall PhD, RYT-500

Digestive System
with Baxter Bell MD, RYT-500

The above was last year and this year … the journey continues to focus on special population where yoga can and do make a marked difference for the better:

Aging Gracefully
with B.K. Bose, PhD, RYT-500 and Will Meecham MD, MA

Trauma Informed Yoga
with Antonia Fokken LMFT, E-RYT 500

Prenatal and Postpartum
with Saraswathi Devi

Cancer and Yoga
with B.K. Bose, PhD, E-RYT-500 and Rosalind Lwin CYT

Youth and Education
with Danielle Ancin RYT-500, Annika Hanson CYT, and Jonathan Relucio, RYT

Addiction and Recovery
with Antonia Fokken LMFT, E-RYT 500

Adaptive Yoga
with Saraswathi Devi

Yoga for Life Cycles: Puberty through Adulthood
with Miriam Shipp MD, MPH, CYT and Baxter Bell MD RYT-500

Sports / Occupational Health
with Baxter Bell MD, RYT-500

Chronic Pain
with Tianna Meriage-Reiter, PT, DPT, WHC and B.K. Bose, PhD, RYT-500

Obviously, with each of the module, we can spend a lifetime on that subject but just enough to make a difference as a yoga therapist, and that, is the intention.
I am full of gratitude for the opportunity to delve deeper with these studies.