YogaNow Email Newsletter
January 26, 2006

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.
- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Class Changes

There are no class changes. Check the schedule and do Yoga…Now!

Gold studio schedule   |  Mountain Run studio schedule

Did You Know?

BKS Iyengar is a master yoga teacher recently in America, teaching and promoting his new book Light on Life.  A few excerpts from an interview on NPR: 

"My poor health was matched, as it often is when one is sick, by my poor mood," he writes. "A deep melancholy often overtook me, and at times I asked myself whether life was worth the trouble of living. Seeing that the general state of my health was so poor, my brother-in-law recommended a stiff regime of yoga practice to knock me into shape and strengthen me up to face life's trials and challenges as I approached adulthood."

Over the next seven decades, Iyengar used his own body as a living laboratory to explore how different yoga postures -- called asanas -- can alleviate health problems. He used props like ropes, belts and bricks to help even the elderly, weak, and inflexible experience yoga's therapeutic effects.

But Iyengar says yoga goes beyond the physical motions: "The practice of yogasana for the sake of health, to keep fit, or to maintain flexibility is the external practice of yoga," he continues in Light on Life.

"While this is a legitimate place to begin, it is not the end... Even in simple asanas, one is experiencing the three levels of quest: the external quest, which brings firmness of the body; the internal quest, which brings steadiness of intelligence; and the innermost quest, which brings benevolence of spirit.

"Often, we hear people saying they remain active and light when they do just a little bit of asana practice. When a raw beginner experiences this state of well-being, it is not merely the external or anatomical effects of yoga. It is also about the internal physiological and psychological effects of the practice."

Read the complete story on NPR's website

Meta's Message

We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly"
- Sam Keen

What a great gift it is to learn to see “an imperfect personal perfectly” – why that would be everyone, yes? 

We are all imperfect and sometimes our imperfections get the better of us and our poor moods takes us to deep sadness as BKS Iyengar says above. 

I’m certain we’ve all experienced this. And that’s why I love yoga – because absolutely without fail, no matter my mood, I feel better, uplifted, and more alive after I practice asana, pranayama and meditation.  I step on the mat and I give myself a commitment to a minimum amount of time and always I want to stay longer. Why? I have such great discipline? But no. Not at all. Because I feel better when I practice yoga, every time.

I hope you feel better, too! Next time the mood takes you down, may I suggest a little yoga?

In peace,
With smiles,

Meta.

(Namaste in devanagari script-“I bow to you.”)

Meta.

Coming up At Mountain Run Studio

Free Introduction to Yoga Class

January 28, 2006 1-2 pm
Mountain Run Studio

Send your friends, bring your buddies …dispel the myths, learn about the class types and try yoga for free!

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Stroking The Inner Fire

Weekend Workshop
With Betheyla and Chitra

Join us for a journey into the ancient practices of yoga and Ayurveda. This workshop focuses on Agni, the Inner Fire: the fire of digestion, the fire of perception and the subtle fire of transformation. In Ayurveda, this fire is responsible for the cellular alchemy of body, mind and spirit that sustains health and balance and births new and innovate ways of experiencing existence. Through movement, awareness, primordial sound and breath we will discover new ways to activate the fire within.