Seattle Yogini

Summer Yoga!

I thought I'd put the announcement here, in addition to some of the usual places (Teachstreet, Craigslist, etc.):

The summer session of yoga at Maple Leaf Community Yoga begins on June 1 (that's Monday).  We have a new day/time for the Intro to Yoga session, a new teacher, and a new Saturday morning class.  I'll be offering a Purna Yoga Weekend Intensive in June, and a "Building Your Home Practice" home-study practice in July (details for that one are forthcoming).

Also coming up this summer are two workshops that I will offer at Yoga Centers:

Free Yourself from Hand, Wrist and Carpal Tunnel Problems

• Sunday, June 7 from 1 - 4pm
• $50 (pay by 5/31), $60 (after 5/31)

Focus on the Pelvic Floor

• Sunday, July 11 from 1 - 4pm
• $50 (pay by 7/4), $60 (after 7/4)

If you click the links, scroll down to find those workshops...but also take a look at the many offerings throughout June and July!

Yoga Business and Busy-ness

Wow!  What a week!  We wrapped up our inaugural 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training on Memorial Day.  I had a class of three which was awesome because each of "The Ladies" got to really dig deeply into her practice and life.  Purna Yoga Teacher Training, at any level, is such a great opportunity for growth and personal assessment & change.  The assigned readings, the philosophy discussions, the amount of personal asana practice involved and the need to reassess many things that constitutes one's concept of "self" all work together to make a life changing experience...for the better!

The next teacher training will be in the fall, and my plan is to offer a completely different schedule.  This first one was two weekends/month plus one week-long intensive.  That works really great for some folks, but many who work full time and have children weren't able to take weekends for the training.  For the fall training, we'll do a four-hour module on Monday afternoons, another one on Tuesday mornings and one 8-hour weekend per month (four hours on Saturday and four on Sunday afternoons).  That will get 'er done in four and a half months, which is pretty good for a 200-hour program.

In the Purna Yoga system, the 200-hour teacher training is a first step.  It is, of course, enough to qualify for a 200-hour RYT status with Yoga Alliance.  For Purna Yoga Certification, however, we have a rigorous training of 2000 hours (yes, that's an additional zero...not a typo).  So, 200 hours is just the start!  I'm so happy to be able to offer this program to people who want to go deeper into their personal practice.  For those that also want to teach, it is wonderful to see their confidence build as they learn the basics.  In another year or so I should qualify to teach the 500-hour level, which would be an interesting addition to the teacher training I currently offer.

So, a lot of plans for the future are rolling around in me right now, even as I make efforts to stay in the NOW.  My studio, Maple Leaf Community Yoga, will start its summer session of classes this coming Monday.  I'm in the process of creating a job description for the assistant I need to hire.  I'm in negotiations with my landlord for our next lease.  It's basically business as usual!

This will be the first weekend I've had at home...with almost no appointments (there is a staff meeting on Sunday, but that counts as "fun") in about six weeks.  May was full of traveling and teacher training on every weekend.  It was a great month, but I am certainly feeling it.  Thankfully the summer will be a slower pace.

This Week's Knitting Roundup

Hemlock Ring Doily, knitted as a gift for my teachers.  I had trouble deciding on a yarn (it had to be something other than wool) and found this cotton 4-ply in my stash.  It was just barely short of the amount needed to complete the pattern as written, so I bound-off after row 46.  I'm very pleased with it...particularly the fact that it only took two days to knit!

Rob's Blue Dragonhawk Socks  These took me a little while to complete (3 months, to be precise) not because they are difficult, but because they are big...and plain (a.k.a. boring).  They were my travel project for quite awhile, which also slows down the production rate.  He loves them, and I'm happy to make things to warm his feet.

Details for both projects can be reviewed on my ravelry.com page.  Look for Seattle Yogini!

Help for the Body - A Yogic Approach to Dealing with Inflammation

Where there is pain, there is inflammation.  Where there is inflammation, there is imbalance.  As with other physical issues, the root of inflammation may lie within one's diet, stress levels, hydration (or lack thereof), activities, spiritual crisis or lifestyle choices.  Whatever the root issue, Purna Yoga offers helpful tools for dealing with the physical symptom of inflammation while the individual does their own investigation and inner healing to clear up the underlying cause(s).

Aside from pain, other indicators of inflammation include diseases and disorders such as:  asthma, allergies (including skin), heart disease, obesity, arthritis, chronic pain, slow healing of injuries and more.  What we put into our bodies - through diet, skincare products, and environmental exposure - is a critical component of causing or alleviating inflammation.  There is a lot of easily accessible information about inflammation in books and on the web.  What I am offering here is a consolidation of the recommendations I make for all my students...and anyone else wishing to nurture a healthy body:

• Eliminate CATS

• Caffeine (especially coffee, even if it's decaf)
• Alcohol
• Tobacco
• Sugar (specifically processed sugar)

• Include OMEGA FATTY ACIDS

• Great sources include flaxseed oil, nut oils, olive oil, cold-water fish, cod liver oil, fish oil

• Eliminate or Minimize consumption of

• Wheat (at least in the US)
• Dairy (fresh, organic, raw milk...especially from smaller animals such as goat may be okay)
• Meat

• Include inflammation-fighting turmeric in your diet

• Local company Tattva's Herbs makes a quality capsule
• Try the "Turmeric Drink" that is recommended in class and private instruction

• Eliminate or minimize exposure to preservatives, artificial flavorings, artificial colorings, toxic chemicals such as chlorine, pesticides, herbicides, etc. in food as well as body products and household cleaners

It takes a multi-pronged approach to clear up inflammation, but the tips above will help get you on your way.  In addition to increasing awareness about what goes into or on your body, how you use your body makes a big difference.  A regular yoga practice, for example, helps the body handle stress, improves sleep, regulates the endocrine system and much more...ultimately leading to better health and long-term wellness.

Monday Quote - Gandhi

"Civilization, in the real sense, consists not in the multiplication of wants but in their deliberate reduction.  This alone promotes happiness and contentment - and increases the capacity for service."

                                                                 ~  Mahatma Gandhi

My February Lady Sweater - and then some!

I started this fun, simple cardigan in March, hoping it would be an "April Lady Sweater"...that didn't quite work out.  Not to worry, however!  I live in Seattle, after all, where it's been in the fifties and rainy all week - fantastic weather for a lacy wool cardigan!

I'm hoping to get some "action shots" this weekend while we're with family in Milwaukee.  I couldn't fit them in on Wednesday (after sewing on the buttons) before packing it.

I'm almost done with Rob's second sock:

He's very pleased with them and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that #2 fits as well as #1...

This week I started a miniature Hemlock Ring Blanket.  It's a secret gift so I can't share the details here, but I do have a fun photo:

I love this funny jellyfish stage!

I decided to bring it with me for our long weekend away.  It needs to be blocked and ready for the gifting on Memorial Day weekend, so I want to get the knitting completed as soon as possible.  I also brought a new pair of summertime socks for me and - after much waffling - a new shawl project.  I don't know that I'll get to do much knitting aside from on the plane ride to Chicago...but at least I'll get the blanket/doily done and something else underway.

Have a great weekend!

P.s.  I promised a post on inflammation this week, but preparing for the trip got the better of me.  I'll get to it first thing upon my return.

Monday Quotes - Kahlil Gibran

On work:

    "When you work you are a flute
through whose heart the whispering
    of the hours turns to music.
To love life through labor is to be intimate
    with life's inmost secret.
All work is empty save when there is love,
    for work is love made visible."

                       ~Kahlil Gibran

Monday Quote - Rumi

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."

                                                                                        ~ Mevlana Rumi (1207 - 1273)

For many of us, the biggest barrier is owning that we have created barriers...and that we, alone, can destroy them.

What are your barriers?

One for the Knitters

As long-time readers may have noticed, I have shifted my focus from "bits of this and that (plus knitting)" to more yoga, more of the time.  Having written for a little over two years now, I decided that perhaps I should organize the blog a little better and try to zero-in on my list of topics.  I'd certainly welcome your feedback - whether you've been following for awhile or are a new visitor to Seattle Yogini.

 
"Just Enough Ruffles", Blue Moon Fiber Arts scrumptiousness.  A total copycat of the one that the Yarn Harlot made, because I knew it would be the perfect February birthday gift for my best friend, C.

I always wanted the blog to be a forum for de-mystifying my role of "yoga teacher" while inspiring readers to choose joy and mindfulness in their daily lives.  I found that it could also be a way to share my knitting and connect with other knitters.  For a while, most of my content was knitting and/or crafty, and I wasn't sure where the yoga writing could or should fit in (aside from the "This is my life, this is my yoga" kind of writing that I've always shared).  Then Ravelry came along and I realized that I could use that as a much more succinct tool for sharing and tracking my knitting and redirect the blog back toward a yoga focus.  It took me a little while, however, to gather myself (and the time) to tend to the blog's need for a pick-me-up.  I feel that I have it well in hand now, though.

"Uptown Boot Socks" from Favorite Socks.  Made for me in a Blue Moon Fiber Arts "Socks That Rock" medium-weight yarn - colorway (totally the reason I bought the yarn) is "Little Bunny Foo Foo".

Rest assured, there is still knitting going on around here!  Not in the quantities I would like, but it is underway.  I keep track of my projects on Ravelry (I'm Seattleyogini there, as well), but am excited to say that I will continue to post knitting (and other domestic goddess endeavors) on the weekends.  Hopefully this will also keep me motivated to make some headway during the week so that I have some semblance of progress to share on the weekend.

Gluten-free Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies, from the Gluten Free Girl's website.  They were tasty, but her's looked better - much more gooey.  Yum!

I've peppered this post with photos of my most recent projects.  The details are on ravelry (or, will be...once I get the photos uploaded via my flikr account) for those that are interested.  That last picture..well, it was just for fun.

Have a great weekend everyone!