Monday, August 10, 2009

Upcoming Workshops for late August & September '09

From the Ground Up


If the feet and legs provide the pillars of stability in yoga, then the hips are like a roundhouse for agile movement. In this workshop we explore the energetic and structural continuities between the feet, legs and hips. Through hip opening standing poses, forward bends, twists, back bends, forward bends and inversions, we will experience a greater awareness of how to root down, grow and blossom from the ground up.


Saturday, August 22, 12-3 p.m. $45

Space is Limited. Sign up at:

Wendy Fit Yoga & Pilates Studio

13974 W Hillsborough Ave, Tampa

(813) 854-5400 • wendyfit.com

yoga-arts.net




Spread Your Wings


The chest, shoulders and arms comprise a central focal point for identity and self expression. The shoulders and arms are among the body's most mobile and expressive limbs. As such, they must be agile, strong and stable through their connection with the chest and spine. In this workshop we will seek to optimize alignment of the shoulders that they may become more open and secure, allowing for power and freedom in the wings of the arms. Our posture sequence will foster strength, flexibility and balance in the shoulder girdle, as well as help to release tensions in the shoulders and wrists brought on by todayʼs occupations and popular sports.


Saturday, September 19, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. $45

Space is Limited. Sign up at:

Serenity Stream

11954 Boyette Road, Riverview, FL

813-368-6546

serenitystream.com

yoga-arts.net



Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Pelvic Prana Yoga Workshop



























A Workshop by Preston Whaley Jr.


In this workshop we will explore the paradoxical and complementary movement of the life force as it is embodied in the pelvis through apana and prana. Respectively, apana is the downard flow of elemination and prana the upward flow of the life force into expanded consciousness. Our asana sequence will focus on the lower chakra area through pelvic alignment, hip opening and sacral balance — the keys to unlocking the prana of the pelvis.


Saturday, August 8 1-4 p.m.

$45

Yoga 4 All

8824 Seminole Blvd., Seminole, FL

Register contact 727 392-9642

Yoga4all.com


Sunday, May 3, 2009

Spread Your Wings Workshop














Spread Your Wings: Strengthening and Freeing the Shoulders and Arms

A workshop with Preston Whaley Jr. 

The chest, shoulders and arms comprise a central focal point for identity and self expression. The shoulders and arms are among the body's most mobile and expressive limbs. As such, they must be agile, strong and stable through their connection with the chest and spine. In this workshop we will seek to optimize alignment of the shoulders that they may become more open and secure, allowing for power & freedom in the wings of the arms. Our posture sequence will foster strength, flexibility and balance in the shoulder girdle, as well as help to release tensions in the shoulders and wrists brought on by todays occupations and popular sports. 


Saturday, May 30, 2009
2:00 - 5:00 PM
$45.00
Space is Limited. Sign up at 
Wendy Fit Yoga & Pilates Studio
13974 W Hillsborough Ave
Tampa, FL 33635
www.wendyfit.com
(813) 854-5400

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Cheryl Simone visits Yoga Arts studio

This entry is a little late, about a week, due to my finally getting up to speed on blogging. Cheryl Simone, author of Midnights with the Mystic, spoke here at the Yoga Arts Studio last Saturday, Jan. 24. We had a good turn out and we're thankful to everyone who came to hear her remarkable story of seeking enlightenment. My account of what she had to say is just that, my account. Others would no doubt present what she said with different emphasis and perspective but here are, over a week later, my impressions.

Since age 14 she'd had yearnings for something more in life, something transcendent, authentic, a connection with the source and power of life. She'd read widely of spiritual traditions and teachings. She'd hopped on the counter culture train of the 60's and 70's, experimenting with LSD, which she affirmed as mind expanding but temporary. She'd seen her own soul in the body of Baba Ram Dass. She traveled the aiawaska shamanic journey and attended numbers of retreats and workshops on the art of meditation. Yet, no durable breakthroughs. She was still subject to the internal storms stirred up when personal expectations and desire contrast with life as it unfolds. Business seemed to be an especially challenging area. "When biz was good, I was good. When it wasn't, I wasn't (i'm paraphrasing)." She had been a quite successful housing developer out of the Atlanta area. She had a good life, as many would define it — plenty of money, a couple homes, a good 2nd marriage, at least one offspring, a son. But her health was poor, hormones off balance, heart stressed, high blood pressure, low energy, physical pain and spiritual frustration to the point of giving up.

Then she met Sadhguru Vasudev. In his presence she found peace. She offered to host Sadhguru and his assistant at her mountain home for a week. Her book is a vivid account of the six or seven nights she spent at Sadhguru's feet. To make a long story short, through his presence and teachings and through practice of his "inner engineering" techniques, she has recovered her health and achieved contentment of heart. Now she lives to spread the word, promoting her book and devoting many of her resources to the service of helping people discover their enlightened selves.

I most remember the incident she related where Sadhguru answered the question Cheryl was harboring, but never asked. He sliced a knife through a cake, withdrew it and said, most people are unfulfilled because they are like this knife stuccoed with gunk. Life sticks to them. They identify with what sticks to them, the accumulations from infancy till death or even former lives. This becomes their conditioning and habits of being, coupled with bio-genetic proclivities, their karma. The strength of these accumulations stems from their being largely unconscious. My feeling is that through her yoga practice (about an hour/day), the substance of which was only generally disclosed - asana (yoga posture), dhyana (meditation) and pranayama (breath work) — she has been able to maintain and expand upon the gift of Sadhguru's physical presence. The keystone was the guru himself. He opened the window for her. This is uncomfortable terrain. Contemporary culture is full of people falling for the charismatic personality and it turning out badly. Yet, such is the character of numinous and spiritual history. Jesus had disciples. Moses & Buddha had followers. Mohammed ... the shamans of indigenous peoples, the gurus of India, ect. But I actually don't think yoga is a religion. It's a practice, rather than an institutional structure, that leads one toward mental and physical balance and potential spiritual realization. The practice has made a powerful difference in Cheryl's life. For now, proximity to Sadhguru seems to brighten her light. It will be interesting to see how long she will need that proximity and where her journey leads. But my feeling is that she walks her journey as a free being.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Adho Mukha Vrksasana — Downward Facing Tree Pose


This is probably my favorite pose. There is nothing more invigorating than being up on the arms inverted to gravity and stable. To make it happen the hands must be spread wide and suctioned to the ground, arm bones flush in their joints, scapula set on the back ribs. From this base the myofascial core, deep and superficial, from the diaphragm to the pelvic floor contracts around the spinal column. The inner legs, through the heels, cut back. The knees open. Calve muscles lengthen toward the heal and the skin of the foot tightens, length and width-wise, from the heel to the toe roots. Thus, the core is effectively a continuum, from the base of the lungs to the ends of the feet. The launch position is downward dog. You can kick up with both legs to a pike before pulling upright. Or kick up one leg at a time. For example, from downward dog, bring the right foot a half a step forward. Feel the sense of spring in the joints of the toes, ankle, knee and hip. Kick up a few times just for practice. If this is new for you, kick up against a wall. In our example, the right leg is the spring leg. Being long and internally rotated within the hip joint, the left leg leads the body up into the inverted position. Blood roars to the lungs, heart and neck glands. Basil receptors kick in to regulate blood pressure. Confidence fills the body.