We sometimes forget about them but there are 5 to be exact. Deepen your connection with the world, those you love and your own body. Sarah Stevenson, certified yoga instructor with a degree in Psychology & 10 yrs. of behavior therapy experience, will teach you how. Take a journey into embracing your own senses.

Saturday October 16, 2010

1-3pm

Lake Park Clubhouse 1035 11th st.
Huntington Beach

$35 if you Pre-register before October 10th hbsands.org
$40 the day of the event

Come and join in a body beautifying, mind clearing, soul centering experience with The Tini Yogini every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday morning  beginning September 13th. Our Monday and Wednesday practice will begin at 10:30am and every Saturday our practice begins at 9am. We will be meeting at 1st and PCH…Register now and receive 10 sessions for only $76….walkins are welcome at $8 per session.

Register online now HBSANDS.ORG

]]> http://thetiniyogini.com/?feed=rss2&p=1 2 http://thetiniyogini.com/?p=685 http://thetiniyogini.com/?p=685#comments Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:36:24 +0000 sarah http://thetiniyogini.com/?p=685

Yoga Shakti Huntington Beach Schedule

19142 Beach Blvd., Ste FF
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(714) 968-9093

Sundays (Level 1-2)- 10:30am

Mon/Wed (Level 1-2)- 4:30pm

Tues/Thur (Level 1)- 9am

Huntington Beach Location (Springdale and Warner)

5858 Warner Avenue
Huntington Beach, CA 92649
(714) 840-3888

Thursday 6:30pm

I am so thankful for the gift of sight. I have a direct experience with partial blindness. As a child I was considered legally blind…but did not realize it until I was 8 years old. Even my parents were unaware. I took an eye test in the 2nd grade and they were astonished at what I was unable to see. Having never known everyone else’s ability to see I never knew what I was missing….until the day we drove home from the doctor’s office with my brand new glasses on. I have never had an experience like it…even til’ this day almost 25 years later.

I had no idea what trees looked like…before the gift of clarity of vision they were brown stocks with green blobs. We had a lamp in my bedroom that had floral designs on it that I never even knew were there. I no longer had to sit 2 inches from the television and my grades improved right away. It was like I was walking into a whole new beautiful world. I have never taken my eye sight for granted again. In fact I adore bright beautiful colors more than anyone I know…you can see it in the clothes I wear, the house I live in and the pictures I draw.

When I was 25 years old my father gave me yet another gift of sight by paying for laser eye surgery for me. I now can see without glasses perfectly. I know longer have to squint my eyes late at night to see the clock…or reach for glasses to make it to the bathroom…

I have never been entirely blind…but I can tell you that eye sight is one of my favorite senses and I am so thankful I can see.

I began by reading from “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga” by Deepak Chopra and David Simon

Pranayama

“ Breath is the essence of life. You inhale for the first time shortly after arriving in the world even before your umbilical cord is cut. From that moment on you take approximately seventeen thousand breaths each day, which over a lifetime totals about 500 million breaths. In your final moment on this planet, you exhale for the last time; that breath defines the end of your life. Your breathing supports every experience you have from the time of your first inhalation to that of your last exhalation. Breath is life.

In yoga, the breath is intimately associated with prana, which translates from Sanskrit into English as  ‘primordial impulse.’ Prana is the primordial life force that governs all your mental and physical functions. It is the vital energy that animates inert molecules into self-healing, evolving biological beings. It is the primary creative power of the cosmos.

Learning to regulate your prana to calm, balance, cleanse and invigorate your body/mind is a poerful technique of yoga. Your breath integrates many layers of your life-your environment, your repiratory tract, your nervous system your mind, and every cell in your body. “

When breathing it is important that we allow our belly to expand as we inhale and allow the belly to sink in as we exhale. We keep the mouth closed and breath clearly through the nose if possible.

Ujjayi Breath

Inhalation and exhalation are both done through the nose. The “ocean sound” is created by moving the glottis as air passes in and out. As the throat passage is narrowed so, too, is the airway, the passage of air through which creates a “rushing” sound. The length and speed of the breath is controlled by the diaphragm, the strengthening of which is, in part, the purpose of ujjayi. The inhalations and exhalations are equal in duration, and are controlled in a manner that causes no distress to the practitioner.

Ujjayi is a balancing and calming breath, which increases oxygenation and builds internal body heat. The deepening of your practice is dependent on your focuse breath, so this breath should be used throughout your entire practice unless otherwise specified.

Nadi Shodena

Nadi shodhana, or the sweet breath, is simple form of alternate nostril breathing suitable for beginning and advanced students. Nadi means channel and refers to the energy pathways through which prana flows. Shodhana means cleansing — so Nadi Shodhana means channel cleaning. Benefits : Calms the mind, soothes anxiety and stress, balances left and right hemispheres, promotes clear thinking.
How to do it

• Hold your right hand up and curl your index and middle fingers toward your palm. Place your thumb next to your right nostril and your ring finger and pinky by your left. Close the right nostril by pressing gently against it with your thumb, and inhale through the left nostril. The breath should be slow, steady and full.
• Now close the left nostril by pressing gently against it with your ring finger and pinky, and open your right nostril by relaxing your thumb and exhale fully with a slow and steady breath.
• Inhale through the right nostril, close it, and then exhale through the left nostril.

That’s one complete round of Nadi Shodhana –

• Inhale through the left

• Exhale through the right
• Exhale through the left

• Inhale through the right nostril

Begin with 5-10 rounds and add more as you feel ready. Remember to keep your breathing slow, easy and full.

So Hum Mantra

So’hum is a form of meditative breathing, it is the natural mantric sound of the breath… it is a Sanskrit mantra signifying “I Am That”, which identifies the Self as one with the world (Absolute Reality)… So’ …… when you inhale… Hum …… when you exhale so… breathe.

The breath is an amazing tool that we alone posess. It is something that we can use at anytime and in any place. When we learn to control the breath we then can use it to better our internal and external worlds. If you have any questions about what was taught on Saturday or what you are reading today feel free to shoot me an email and I will be happy to help you along the path.

Namaste’

Sarah

Life is constantly changing for us all. I am a creature of habit and when things change my little heart gets shaky, scared and overwhelmed…often having to remind myself to breath and sometimes realizing how much it hurts when I do.

I do believe that when a door closes it’s because another is to be walked through, but at the time of it shutting, sometimes being slammed in your face, pain rises to the top and my heart longs for safety and predictability. I must say each time I have lost something I have found in hindsight that the next door was indeed exactly what I needed and am always thankful for the previous “slam”. Jobs, relationships, possessions have all proved this to me. For without loss there can be no gain.

Life is wonderful, this we must remember. We can not have the new with the old in our space…so even though it hurts and feels unpredictable I will forge on to see what can be found to replace my loss as I always do. The alternative would be to sit in the stagnation of routine and to do that would be to fail to live. As we change as individuals so must our circumstances to grow with us. Part of being human I suppose.
After all this human experience is what we signed up for right?

I am green today
I chirp with joy like a cricket song.
I am gray today
Gloomy and down like a morning fog.
I am orange today
Loud and messy like finger paint on the wall.
I am red today
Hopping mad like a playground ball.
I am black today
Strong and tall a great big bear.
I am purple today
Bright and happy like a butterfly in the air.

I’m a rainbow today
All the colors of the world.
I’m a rainbow today
All the colors of the world.
I’m a rainbow today
All the colors of the world are in me.

I am yellow today
I shine my light out like the sun.
I am white today
Soft and quite like new snow.
I am blue today
Calm as glass and cool like the sea.

I’m a rainbow today
All the colors of the world.
I’m a rainbow today
All the colors of the world.
I’m a rainbow today
All the colors of the world are in me.
All the colors of the world are in me.

People in this world give so little credit to the inner yearnings of our body. Being hungry is such a beautiful way to reach a point of ecstasy.

Next time you eat a mango….bite into it and feel the cold wetness of it between your beautiful white teeth. Let it drip onto your long sleek arms and lick it off them….feel your tongue caressing your beautifully soft warm skin and taste the tropical sweetness on it. Smell the amazing aroma that is released when you crush its skin in your amazing mouth. Touch the smooth cold surface of the mango and feel how incredible it feels as your tongue slides across it. Wow…..I’m excited just thinking about it….and that’s just a mango! See what we’re capable of?

Namaste’…..You are soooo divine…..every inch of this earthly body you chose to inhabit

I believe there are 2 ways to look at this question…both answers having a solution tucked inside it.

The first would have the question posed as such “What is on your mind when you are feeling down?”

and the answer, of course, is…I am thinking of how things “should be” and how I would like them to be any way but the way they are…

I am thinking I am NOT smart enough, dumb enough, weak enough, strong enough, good enough, bad enough, happy enough, sad enough, pretty enough, ugly enough, old enough, young enough…

This list could go on forever and quite often does…

The point I am attempting to make is that the ego requires that we be MORE than what is in the moment…you could fill any word into this spot…in one situation I am to young to succeed and in another I am to old…the statement “If only I were ______ things would be better” This is delusional thinking and will only get you down and keep you there. As well as requiring others to be MORE then what you perceive them to be.

Now, when posed with the question “What do I think about to get me out of feeling down?”

The answer is ALWAYS to grab a hold of the ego with both hands look that little scared girl straight in the eyes…then pat her on the head and tell her “Look, its a tough day…ride the wave, keep your chin up…This too shall pass.” As it inevitably does )

I restructure my thinking the moment the chin drops down, the line between the eyes starts to deepen or the shoulders start to slouch…this takes lots and lots of practice…you need to spend quite a bit of time each day living in gratitude for what you do have, so when the hard times come you can rely on these things.

With out the downs how could one ever recognize up…the rain in our lives puts a longing in our souls for the sun…and once the sun starts shining again it feels better than if it had never gone away. These up and down days is our dance in life…it’s something we signed up for long ago and we simply must take the turns and keep dancing until the dance card is all filled up…I don’t know about you but I have a lot space left on mine