Posted 12/29/10

YOGA TIPS from Tracey

A common question I hear in yoga class is, “how can I begin a home practice?”
Here are some tips to get you started.

Start from what you know: If you are fairly new to yoga you may know fewer poses and pre-yoga warm-ups, but I bet you can remember at least 5 activities to begin your practice.
Take a moment to jot down 5 moves you remember from class.
For example, you have learned to lie on your back, knees up and feet flat and tune into your breathing. With mindfulness, notice each breath as it comes in and out of your body. Do this for 2-5 minutes. Remember suptapadagustasana? That’s the pose you do lying on your back and placing the strap over the ball of your foot to get a hamstring stretch. Come up with a few more like this. Take your list and rationalize the order of activities.
Make your practice only 10-20 minutes in length to start. Nothing liked failed ambition to keep a person off his/her mat. Underestimate what you can handle and how much time you can devote each day. Victory will be yours! 
Do the practice in the exact same order every day for a week. You will etch a groove into your memory with repeated practice. The next week, pick a few different activities that you learned in class. Write them down. Do them in the exact same order every day for a week.
If you have to skip a day, don’t fret. Just pick it up the next day. Keep a yoga journal of your activities so you can see your progress over time. Write your weekly practice plan and a few notes or pages, as you like, on how the practice is going, what you need to focus on, what is going right for you.
Enjoy your yoga. If it isn’t fun and you don’t feel better when you’re done, ask your teacher for help.

Posted 7/30/10

Jeff and I just returned from an advanced studies course with Scott Anderson of Alignment Yoga. We came away with three big ideas that have profound impact on how and why we should practice yoga. The ideas are presented here in a nutshell- join us for class as we incorporate these ideas into action.

BIG IDEA ONE: Psychologist Barbara Fredrickson, PhD has been able to better pinpoint what happen when we  experience positivity. The vagus nerve which leads into the brain has a “tone” and when it is stimulated, we feel deep contentment or positivity. She also quantifed that for each negative experience, we need three positive ones in order to restore the vagal tone. See her website at http://www.positivityratio.com/  and click on take the test or see her video on Youtube. Her non-academic book is titled Positivity.

BIG IDEA TWO: The vagus nerve is attached into the diaphragm. When we breath deeply and rhythmically, we raise the tone of the nerve, thereby creating more positivity. By practicing asana that causes the diaphragm to move and stretch at the crura of the diaphragm (the tendonous structures attaching the diaphragm to the vertebral column), we can increase vagal tone. Asana indicated are twists and inversions. The implication is Do twists- improve your positivity!

BIG IDEA THREE: The fascia or connective tissue that wraps every nerve, muscle, bone, etc runs in unbroken lines or “trains” in the body. Thomas Myers http://www.anatomytrains.com/  studies these facial trains and has proven conclusively that your shoulder is indeed connected to your foot by the fascia. This is important to our study of the body because when your hip hurts we need to look at that whole fascial line to see if there is a disruption anywhere on that line. It may be a problem in your foot!

The body/mind connection is so important and so real. Yoga helps us access and promote the suble yet observable shifts that bring “santosha” or contentment.

Jeff Wright has written a number of articles and books about the many facets of yoga. With his 35 years of daily meditation practice and over 25 years of teaching hatha yoga, Jeff is uniquely qualified to offer guidance and ideas as you pursue your yoga path. Below are recent yoga tips found in our monthly newsletter which is emailed to subscribers. If you’d like to receive our email newsletter, please let us know by sending an email to galenayoga@mchsi.com

YOGA TIP by Jeff Wright                      

 Slow Speed Ahead

In our quest to live in the present, in that thinnest meniscus between the less real realms of past and present, we find superb tools in the practice of yoga.   It’s about the focus on body, breath, and mind, and at least for body and breath, it’s about slowing down.  Once you have a grasp of positions and movements, start decelerating.  Develop each pose so that it can be held for longer periods of time.  Do so by moving its support into the core postural muscles and by seeking out and releasing those little strength draining pockets of stress — in the fingers and toes, the mouth, the neck, the eyes.  In breathing develop strength and control of the diaphragm, pelvic floor, nasal passages so that exhalations lengthen and the passage of breath becomes an ever finer, unwavering current. 

In movement, make seamless transitions between strong poses at the speed of breath.  Solar salutations should be personalized and then practiced until they move at the slowest, smoothest rate that you can manage.  Movement melds with breath.  You begin to look like a film in slow motion. The present expands in a glow of palms, soles, joints, diaphragm and heart center.

As for your more strictly mental work — your mantra practice — you have quite the opposite goal.  It’s full speed ahead.  But that’s a different tip.

Milk and Cookies by Jeff Wright    Feb. 2010

The season of milk and cookies …  For me there has only been one way to approach the good old Oreo.  I carefully pry the sandwich apart and scrape off the sweet white filling with my teeth.  It’s the first thing I do; and it has always been a compulsive challenge to do so without breaking either half.  It involves some gentle skill. 

That image is the best I’ve been able to come up with in explaining the New Year’s resolution I made last month. If you think of the two brown halves of the cookie as past and future – delicious, but not nearly so delicious as the center; useful and pleasant, for after all we learn from the past and plan for the future, but also crumbly and fragile and dry.  Quite unlike the creamy, smooth filling of the present moment with its almost electric sweetness.  The past is attractive, to be sure.  The older I get, the tastier the memories; but how often they fall to dusty revisions, to anger perhaps or grief.  Lifeless delusion.  And the future – hopes and dreams like wisps of incense.  And how often such vision precipitates in expectation and the sour after tastes of fear and greed.  Needless delusion. 

But the filling!  Ah, the filling! In the end isn’t all of our yoga practice about carefully lifting and twisting the past and future away, not to repress or destroy such, but only to get at the sweet, bright meat of life?  The thinner, the brighter; the sweeter this present moment.

Building a Mala by Jeff Wright

In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Dream, the heroes are given a potion that causes them to fall in love with the first thing they see when they awaken. Yoga practice can have a similar effect. Body and mind deliberately brought to stillness bring a freshness of perception and an openness of heart that has us in gentle awe and appreciation as we leave that stillness. For me that has been one of the most important benefits of my practice.

This feeling of gratitude fades, to be sure, as I return to concerns of the day, and yet something of the attitude lingers, pervades, and returns. There comes a faith that the world truly is miraculous, and we begin to act accordingly. It is a fine thing, then, to be indiscriminate about what we first look upon as we leave our practice. One miracle is as good as another. It is an important lesson. But there is another aspect to this as well. We could rest our practice-fresh sensitivities on something that specifically followed the trajectory of that practice. I think it is in that vein that altars are developed. If we gaze first upon the purity of a candle flame, the profound element of water, the beauty of flowers, the image of one who is committed to practice, then we set forth a stabilizing thread in our minds to carry us through times of less wisdom.

In my own practice I have looked in this way toward that which is simple and portable. Over the years I have come to find a string of mala beads an excellent way to ground my breath and mind. Even when not using them I find their presence in my pocket a reassuring reminder of the steady mind. I have also become something of a materialist regarding them; a connoisseur of sorts. Their feel and appearance have become important. For a time I was attracted to the humility of cheap wooden beads. In the moments of my transition from meditation to daily life I would look at them and remember simplicity, the worth of austerity in life style. Then, for several years, I used beads of stone — limestone, again, for its humble, regional qualities — but stone because of its inherent permanence and stability. It was cool and heavy to the touch. In recent months I have used a mala with beads of ivory colored cow bone. It seems to link me with the body, my body, its toughness and its mortality. There is also a feeling of compassion that comes to me when I use them, look at them, have them in my pocket. These beads once were part of a life that felt pain and pleasure, just like me. That life is gone now, as mine will be gone some day. The cow gave her life partially for my benefit. The beads speak to my heart. Those are my thoughts and feelings with this particular mala. Those are attitudes I am particularly interested in cultivating at this time.

When I made a mala for my wife and yoga partner, Tracey, she chose stone beads that were a smoky translucent green with denser bits of green intruded within them. They reminded her of lakes in summer; of the freedom of swimming, and of the peace and density of life inherent in natural bodies of water. She felt it was the course of her spirit. Now I consider the meaning of other materials for other people, of how someone might be attracted to the gentle, cheery hope in the clear, light pink of rose quartz; to the pearly surfaces of shell beads that form small orbs that seem almost to glow from within like the eggs of fish and frogs; or, to the pure deep profundities of night in black onyx beads.

The center bead of a mala, known as the meru, is also a matter of contemplation. In the past I have carved them from walnut and desert juniper. At present I like to use various designs of sterling silver beads. Silver is bright, imperishable, reflective — like the moon. It is important and precious, but not as overwhelming and ostentatious as gold. The meru is the goal, a point of ultimate spiritual reference to be kept in mind, but never quite consumed. And, there is a tassel; a feathery end that tells us without our looking where we are to begin; a bit of lifeline dangling out there from the meru.

If you would like to know more about the parameters of the mala as an interface between deep inward practice and the external world, please get in touch with me. I am also presently filling in certain corners of my life with the construction of malas. They will be displayed for sale at the studio, but I would also invite you to let me help you design your own according to your personality in its present needs and interests from my catalog of materials. I string them from the strongest cord I have found. A mala is both a tool bearing much wear and tear as it moves through your fingers over the years, and an item of contemplation. Basically I charge $50 for my time. Tying a knot between each bead so that the bead won’t shift as you move through the strand takes about 3 hours for each mala. During that process I try to keep a steady mind and do my own japa. Knowing that, you may feel some the mala’s usefulness communicated from me as you use it. I also charge for the materials in your mala and that generally ranges from $15 to $40 depending on the size and type of bead you decide upon. More precious material could cost significantly more. Finally, because there is always some spiritual danger in dwelling upon material forms and values, I urge you to consider this particular opportunity for growth with lightness and the challenge of non-attachment even in the presence of largess.
Namaste,
Jeff   galenayoga@mchsi.com

Individualized Yoga Instruction

Who would benefit from individualized instruction?

• People with special health issues benefit from the privacy and attention of individualized instruction.  Many physicians, physical therapists, chiropractors and mental health care professionals refer their patients to yoga classes in order to augment their primary treatment.  Yoga practice is of proven benefit to a wide variety of health problems including post operative conditions, degenerative diseases, chronic pain, athletic injuries, and stress related problems.  The inherent gentleness and safety of yogic activities along with the privacy and compassionate atmosphere of individual instruction makes it especially attractive to those suffering from anxiety disorders, depression, chemical dependencies, or PTSD/abuse issues.  In addition to learning techniques for re-aligning the body, breathing effectively, and managing emotional difficulties students are aided in the development of effective habits of health maintenance.
• Serious yoga students who have discovered the joys of methodical exploration of their bodies, minds, and spirits, who have found that daily practice is essential and that weekly group instruction is a must, often appreciate a monthly 1-1 session during which they can have the full attention of their teacher to give feedback on their progress and detailed recommendations specific to their needs and interests.
• Athletes benefit from individual analysis of movement and alignment, and specific recommendations of yoga practice that would enhance their performance.
• Students who would attend group classes, but are unable to do so because of their schedules, enjoy the convenience of 1-1 appointments.
• Flexible 1-1 and small group scheduling also allows visitors to Galena to enhance their stay with a refreshing yoga class.

Who is the instructor?

• Jeff Wright took formal vows of commitment to yogic practice in 1972. He has studied with Swami Veda Bharati, William Prottengeier, Nancy Footner, Laurie Blakeney, Zuiko Redding, and Scott Andersen, and has completed a fifteen month advanced training (200 hour) for registration as a Certified Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance. Jeff has been teaching yoga in the Tri-State area since 1986. He is also the author of Dubuque Yoga, essays in understanding the practice, and has had several articles on yoga published in Yoga Journal and Yoga +.
• Jeff holds a BA from the University of Minnesota majoring in philosophy with a special emphasis on Asian systems. He holds an MA in education and has worked as a special education teacher since 1981. He believes this has prepared him to teach creatively, to respect individual needs, and to work patiently in small steps toward solid results. Jeff also studied in a pre-medical curriculum and is comfortable with anatomical and physiological principles.

How do I begin?

• Email us at galenayoga@mchsi.com or call (815) 777-4856 for additional information about our services. Jeff and Tracey will answer your questions, provide instructions for registering, and schedule your instruction time.
• Cost: $50/hour. Some students may wish to attend classes with a partner/spouse or friend(s). Each additional student will be charged $25/hour.
• If you are new to the Galena Yoga Center, your first 1-1 session will include a thorough interview to discuss your medical background and your needs.  At the end of each session you will be provided with a written summary of what we have explored and a ‘prescription’ for independent practice.

What is the Galena Yoga Center?

• The Galena Yoga Center was established in the fall of 2004 by Tracey Roberts (MA, RYT) and Jeff Wright. At present we are the only center in the Tri-State area devoted primarily to yoga instruction.
• Our mailing address is 306 S. Main St., Galena, IL 61036. The Center is entered, however, from Commerce St., across from the Post Office. Climb the outside stairs to the second floor porch. Take a moment to turn around and enjoy our view of the Galena River and historic Grant Park. Upon entering you will find our reception area and beyond that a beautiful expanse of varnished pine flooring, rich and red with age, for our building was constructed in the 1840s. Our practice room extends to a wall of windows looking out onto the colorful bustle of Main Street. In the afternoon the sun lays great patches of light upon the floor. There is a stillness in this space. You will find the Center a place of deep peace.

“I believe everyone can benefit from yoga regardless of age, body type, or infirmity. I am interested in helping people find health, stability, and peace of mind. I believe that effortless concentration is the source of joy in life. Such mindfulness and the deep urge to act on feelings of compassion that arise from such focus are the foundations of my simple spiritual outlook.”
Jeff Wright

Workshops and Special Events at Galena Yoga Center  

 Spring  2011 EVENTS

Be on our mail list for monthlynews updates!

Sign up by writing to: galenayoga@mchsi.com

      **********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

EARLY SPRING YOGA CLASSES IN PLATTEVILLE!

at SW Academy of Ballet Arts 235 W. Main St.

CLASSICAL HATHA YOGA LEVELS 1 AND 2 (must have prior yoga experience)

6 week session: Tuesdays March 22-April 26, 2011 5:45-7:00 PM $72.00

Bring your budding yoga practice to a new level of understanding by learning important concepts about breathing, movement, and stillness. We will allow the body to unfold in the classical 20-30 yoga asana, learn breathing techniques to bring a calmer mind, and work on getting grounded and intuitive about what our bodies are telling us. We will learn more about yoga philosophy as we move our bodies to the rhythm of our breath. Balance poses and twists will be explored.

*******************************************************************************************************************************************

VINYASA FLOW YOGA LEVEL 2 (must have permission of instructor)

6 week session Thursdays March 24-April 28, 2011 New time!! 6:00-7:15 PM $72.00

Go with the flow! Vinyasa flow focuses on the elements of breathing and movement in yoga. Tracey will lead students through series of poses, each sliding to the next at the speed of smooth, deep breath. Be prepared to sweat a little as you build strength and endurance. Because of the more active, less monitored nature of this class, students should have the knowledge and ability to perform the thirty basic yoga poses. ********************************************************************************************************************************************

NEW LOCATION!!

Park Place Community Room 1100 5^th Avenue Platteville

CLASSICAL HATHA YOGA Foundations and Level 1

6 week session: Wednesdays March 23- April 27, 2011 5:00-6:15 PM $72.00 or $60.00 for Young at Heart members

This course is designed for students new to yoga and for Continuing Beginners.

We will revisit the 20 poses that make up the Foundations curriculum and learn at least 10 more.

We will work on our alignment and breathing and build strength and flexibility throughout the course.

Pre-register and pre-payment are required for all courses. Send your check to Galena Yoga Center P.O. Box 27 Galena, IL 61036

Call 815 777-4856 or email me at galenayoga@mchsi.com Web- www.galenayoga.com

********************************************************************************************************************************************************

NEW LOCATION!!

Park Place Community Room 1100 5^th Avenue Platteville

New Class! Young at Heart Yoga (for 50 and better) For Men and Women

Offered at Park Place Community Room 1100 5^th Avenue, Platteville

Five week session: Feb 23, March 2, 9, 23, 30 (no class 3/16)

10:30-11:30 AM $60.00 or $50.00 for Y@H members.

This course is designed for those who want the benefits of yoga but find it difficult to get up and down off the floor. We will learn a number of techniques to ease the joints and build strength in the core. We will challenge our balance and our stability, gain better focus, and improve our flexibility throughout the course. Students will be introduced to principles and strategies which will allow them success within their personal capacity. Please check with your doctor before beginning any new exercise program. We will sometimes be barefooted or in stocking feet, but no yoga mat is required.

Pre-register and pre-payment are required for all courses. Send your check to Galena Yoga Center P.O. Box 27 Galena, IL 61036

Call 815 777-4856 or email me at galenayoga@mchsi.com

Web- www.galenayoga.com

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

WINTER 2011 YOGA CLASSES IN PLATTEVILLE

The following Yoga classes will be conducted at the SW Academy of Ballet Arts

235 W. Main St., Platteville. These classes are for men and women age 16 and older.

Pre-registration and pre-payment is required for all classes. Checks can be mailed to Galena Yoga Center P.O. Box 27 Galena, IL 61036

Five week session:

Foundations of Yoga for Beginning and Continuing Students

Wednesdays Jan 19-Feb 16 5:00-6:15 PM $60.00

This five week course introduces new students to Hatha Yoga and helps continuing yoga students deepen their understanding of the practice. We will explore physical postures and breathing techniques within the context of the larger yogic system. We will challenge our balance and our stability, gain better focus and improve our flexibility throughout the course. Students will be introduced to principles and strategies which will allow them success within their personal capacity. Following completion of this course, students may opt to continue studying Level I yoga practices.

Five week session:

Vinyasa Flow Yoga (level 2)

Wednesdays Jan 19-Feb 16 6:30-7:45 PM $60.00

Go with the flow! Vinyasa flow focuses on the elements of breathing and movement in yoga. Tracey will lead students through series of poses, each sliding to the next at the speed of smooth, deep breath. Be prepared to sweat a little and leave class buoyant, refreshed, and calm. Because of the more active, less monitored nature of this class, students should have the knowledge and ability to perform the thirty basic yoga poses.

Six week session:

Classical Yoga (level 1)

Tuesdays Jan 25-March 1 5:45-7:00 PM $72.00

Bring your budding yoga practice to a new level of understanding by learning important concepts about breathing, movement, and stillness. We will allow the body to unfold in the classical 20-30 yoga asana, learn breathing techniques to bring a calmer mind, and work on getting grounded and intuitive about what our bodies are telling us. We will learn more about yoga philosophy as we move our bodies to the rhythm of our breath.

Six week session:

Yoga from the Chakras (Level 1 and 2)

Thursdays Jan 27- March 3 5:45-7:00 PM $72.00

The 7 chakra system identifies 7 key regions in the body that tend to accumulate energy- pelvic floor, lower belly, solar plexus, heart, throat, forehead, and crown of the head. The chakra system asks us to contemplate the subtle “psycho-energetic” body. In our quest for balance and grounding, we will use the asanas (yoga poses) to explore the 7 chakras and attempt to bring better balance to the body and the nervous system. We talk about clearing “blocks” from the chakras and “balancing” the chakras. This is possible to a point through right yoga practice, right diet, and right thinking. Using our powers of observation to notice where we are “stuck” and working to bring energetic freedom to these centers of vitality can bring more balance and wholeness to our beings.

ALL OF THE ABOVE COURSES REQUIRE A YOGA MAT AND STRAP. These items can be purchased from the instructor at the first class of the session. A yoga rug is also recommended for the Vinyasa Flow and Yoga from the Chakras courses, also available on the first night of classes. If the weather is bad, call 815 777-4856 to see if the class has been canceled.

NEW COURSE AND LOCATION:

YOUNG AT HEART YOGA FOR SENIORS (55 and better, men and women)

Offered at Park Place Community Room 1100 5^th Avenue, Platteville

Five week session: Feb 23, March 2, 9, 23, 30 (no class 3/16) $60.00 or $50.00 for Young at Heart members.

This course is designed for those who want the benefits of yoga but find it difficult to get up and down off the floor. We will learn a number of techniques to ease the joints and build strength in the core. We will challenge our balance and our stability, gain better focus, and improve our flexibility throughout the course. Students will be introduced to principles and strategies which will allow them success within their personal capacity. Please check with your doctor before beginning any new exercise program. We will sometimes be barefooted or in stocking feet, but no yoga mat is required.

Pre-register and pre-payment are required for all courses. Send your check to Galena Yoga Center P.O. Box 27 Galena, IL 61036 Call 815 777-4856 or email me at galenayoga@mchsi.com

Web- www.galenayoga.com

I look forward to seeing you for Yoga in Platteville! Tracey Roberts, MA; RYT

To be on our email list, write to us at galenayoga@,mchsi.com

*********************************************************************************************************************************