Sun Salutations

Great is the Sun

Great is the Sun

Summer solstice couldn’t be more glorious! Nothing better than Sun Salutations in the actual sun! If you’re celebrating summer soltice on this bright and hot day, here is a poem to aid in the speldor of the sun…

Great is the sun, and wide he goes
Through empty heaven with repose;
And in the blue and glowing days
More thick than rain he showers his rays.

Though closer still the blinds we pull
To keep the shady parlour cool,
Yet he will find a chink or two
To slip his golden fingers through.

The dusty attic spider-clad
He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;
And through the broken edge of tiles
Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.

Meantime his golden face around
He bares to all the garden ground,
And sheds a warm and glittering look
Among the ivy’s inmost nook.

Above the hills, along the blue,
Round the bright air with footing true,
To please the child, to paint the rose,
The gardener of the World, he goes.

– Robert Louis Stevenson

SUN SALUTATION FITNESS CHALLENGE 4 THE KIDS

You can put kids in sports. They put themselves in the game…

Karma Yoga offers many teachers and students the opportunity to give back to their community and stay healthy through the asana practice of Yoga & meditation, and this time it’s for the kids.  Between Novemeber 1-7th, Athletics 4 Kids is holding a Fitness Challenge acrossVancouver and BC, and anyone can participate!

Did you know that more than 1/3 of Canadian children cannot participate in sports or recreational activities due to financial barriers? A4K helps raise awareness and funds so that kids can live their dreams and participate in sports, which as we know is fundamental to their development.

The concept behind the challenge is easy; participants sign up with their gym or studio, join a team and choose to tackle a bodyweight workout of 250 – 1000 repetitions based on their personal fitness level. The goal is to finish the exercise as quickly as possible and collect pledges/donations in your community to support your efforts.

This is the 4th year of the Challenge and it has grown by leaps and bounds every year, but we need your help to continue this momentum in order to get the kids in YOUR community off the couch and into the game.

How does Yoga fit into this challenge?

Easy, YogaFORM has hopped on board to teach A Sun Salutation Series at numerous gyms, inVancouver and on theNorthShore and you can participate.

The Sun Salutations will be based on how many you can comfortably perform within a 60min session ~ 250, 500 or 1000 meditative Sun Salutations, you can choose to move through them in a hatha style flow or bring a powerful Vinyasa intention and get your sweat on.

I will be teaching various fun and challenging modifications to this ancient practice of honoring the sun through the dynamic asana sequence Surya Namaskar!

With 3 – 4 classes to choose from throughout the week of November 1st – 7th you can choose to attend one or all of them, join our team and get your pledge on!

The drop in rate for the class will also be donated directly to the A4K Fitness Challenge!

How to join the YogaFORM/ Sarah Jamieson team or register for a class?

Check out my YogaFORM Facebook page for more details on locations and contact information. I you are interested in
participating please comment on our Facebook page or email me at sarah@fittotrain.com and I will send you the karmic details and class A4K Yoga Sun Salutation schedule.

Together we can support kids and their dreams! Let’s get out there and play! Ask your local gym or studio if they are supporting Athletics 4 Kids and get involved!

For more information on A4K visit: www.a4k.ca

For our Team YogaFORM Page visit:  http://www.gifttool.com/athon/OurTeamPage?ID=1731&AID=1666&TID=10689

 

Getting Into The Flow

I am currently going through a phase where I really like Flow Yoga.

With all the different types of yoga out there you might be wondering what exactly is Flow Yoga. According to About.com Flow yoga would be classified under the broad umbrella of Vinyasa Yoga. A breath synchronized class where poses or postures are strung together smoothly. Following your instructor’s lead you are asked to match your inhales and exhales to a specific posture, flowing from one pose to another creating a very rhythmic meditative dance.

Some instructors are very good at creating this illusion of a dance; their choice in poses is well thought out, they synchronize smoothly, the inhale & exhale comes naturally and their choice in music complements the overall feel of the class.

I have run into all different types of Flow classes. That is the beauty of Vinyasa Yoga; it allows for so much diversity in teaching styles that you would never get bored. It does require you to come with an open mind as you might find it can take a few tries to get the teacher you like.

One instructor’s choice in music was not to my liking, but I learned a lot about Plank pose, and Chaturanga. I have found that even if I don’t like everything in a class, there is always something I have learned that I can take from the class.

This past week I was lucky enough to catch a Yyoga flow class with Christie Baumgartner.  She is a wonderful instructor. A beautiful soul packaged in a tiny dancer’s body; playful yet welling with good informational tips on posture and proper alignment.

Her arrangement of postures seems to flow naturally, allowing for maximum breath and ease of motion. Without even thinking, your inhales and exhales seem to flow naturally with each pose she suggests.

This is where the dance begins. She varies her Sun Salutations with enough freshness that it never seems to get dull. She builds each pose upon the previous so that the muscles slowly warm up, yet you do not feel fatigued. From beginning to end I feel as if I have been skilfully guided to achieve what I set out to do; experience my body in all its beauty of movement, to breathe with fullness and to awaken to a new sense of calm.

You can tell that Christie is very passionate about yoga, her enthusiasm is contagious. She makes you want to strive higher, not for her, but for you. To push yourself just a little more in order not to miss a step in the dance she is sharing with you.

She makes yoga fun! She laughs through-out her class and truthfully I appreciate that. Why not have fun?

I have yet to disagree with her choice in music. I literally caught myself singing along.

Even though you will sweat through-out her class, you will be so engaged that you’ll hardly notice until the end; at which time you will be very grateful for those Yyoga showers.

If you get the chance try out one of Christie’s Flow classes at Yyoga Flow Wellness on Burrard Street; I highly recommend it. She just might make you fall in love with yoga all over again.

(Source: jameswvinner.com)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...