Peace to NYC

Hang in there East Coast yogis! We're thinking of you. photo: Wari Om for
@YJEVENTS

http://t.co/6X9j8gqQ -- Yoga Journal (@Yoga_Journal)

The Soul of Healing Meditation

With one eye open....

Just wanted to suggest listening to The Soul of Healing Meditation, Heart & Sutra Meditations by Deepak Chopra and Adam Plack. It's a very calming track. If you listen to it in bed you'll likely be sleep soon after...

Goodnight

Updated October Class Schedule

Updated October 2012 Class Schedule

Date	Day	Time	Class	Location
October 4	Thursday	5:00 pm	Slow Burn	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 5	Friday	9:30 am	Vinyasa	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 7	Sunday	11:15 am	Vinyasa	Lifetime 40000 High Pointe Blvd Novi, MI
October 11	Thursday	5:00 pm	Slow Burn	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 12	Friday	9:30 am	Vinyasa	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 14	Sunday	11:15 am	Vinyasa	Lifetime 40000 High Pointe Blvd Novi, MI
October 18	Thursday	5:00 pm	Slow Burn	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 19	Friday	9:30 am	Vinyasa	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 20	Saturday	12 pm noon	Hip-Hop Yoga	Mind, Body &Soul Nutrition 73 N. Saginaw St. Pontiac, MI
October 21	Sunday	11:15 am	Vinyasa	Lifetime 40000 High Pointe Blvd Novi, MI
October 25	Thursday	5:00 pm	Slow Burn	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 26	Friday	9:30 am	Vinyasa	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 27	Saturday	12 pm noon	Hip-Hop Yoga	Mind, Body &Soul Nutrition 73 N. Saginaw St. Pontiac, MI
October 28	Sunday	11:15 am	Vinyasa	Lifetime 40000 High Pointe Blvd Novi, MI
October 30	Tuesday	6:30 am	Hatha Yoga (subbing for Claudia)	Lifetime 40000 High Pointe Blvd Novi, MI

Happiness

I’ve neglected the blog for one week and am really tired at the moment but I am also reeeeaaaaallly Happy (with how I feel, where I am and what I am doing!) For a few months now, I have been practicing yoga daily. At the beginning of this month I began teaching yoga daily. I’ll admit my time management skills need improvement but I’m satisfied with spending much of my time on yoga. I’ve learned, felt and experienced so much practicing and teaching yoga this month and am truly grateful for this practice and the opportunities it has allowed me to have.

Photo cc: A Charmed Yogi

Before October, I taught at Lifetime Canton (Slow Burn,Thursday, 5:00pm; Vinyasa,Friday 9:30am) and Lifetime Novi (Vinyasa, Sunday, 11:15am with Martina.) This month I also began teaching Hip-Hop Yoga at Mind, Body, Soul &Nutrition (every Sat at noon,) teaching a few private lessons, volunteering at a DPS (Detroit Public Schools) teaching students yoga through DKWIO (Danielle Karmanos Work it Out,)  hosting Life Power Yoga Teacher Training at Center for Yoga in Ann Arbor and practicing at various Center for Yoga locations.

Full schedule, full smile :D

Brightmoor Grows

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQCHJUOvbzU

The video above is sad and mostly true.
However, Brightmoor is GROWING!





Urban Gardens and new faces are popping up all over Brightmoor!
Many people still love and believe in this Metro Detroit community. 

Rina and I sure do. Check us out getting our yoga on in Brightmoor

Rina in Triangle pose/ Utthita Trikonasana 

Extended Hand-to-toe pose
Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana

Tree Growing in Brightmoor
Tree pose/Vrksasana 

Hip-hop Yoga

FREE HIP HOP YOGA! Tomorrow, 10/20 @ Mind, Body & Soul Nutrition 73 N. Saginaw St. Pontiac, MI 48342 #hiphop #power #Vinyasa #Yoga -- Yoganic Flow (@YoganicFlow)

Now Reading: Ashtanga Yoga The Practice Manual by David Swenson

page 20

"Balance Exist in the Equality of Opposition"

David Swenson

Alles.....Everything

Friday morning I did not have time to meditate, was reprimanded with a ticket for impeding traffic and got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the freeway for a long while. Admittedly, when I arrived to class I was not in the best mood. Still, I smiled and proceeded to teach (I love teaching yoga so the smile was genuine :-) and when the students smiled back and began to share their beautiful breath and energy with me I began to feel a lot better. The irritation passed as I breathed with them. At some point during class, I shared the story of my tumultuous morning and asked them to continue sharing those good vibes and waves of compassion with me by way of their breath. They went deeper, worked harder and really opened their hearts on the mat.  

After class I learned that their determined effort may have been due to the playlist, not necessarily because of my request. Many students came up to me after class and said they loved the playlist:

1. Paul Horn, PT XII Soprano Saxophone
2. Track 5 (random song in iTunes playlist but it was cool. It's Korean jazz!)
3. Sabrina Setlur & Xavier Naidoo, Alles
4. Bob Marley, Don't Worry be Happy
5. Nelly Fertado, I'm Like a Bird
6. Beyonce, Halo
7. John Legend, Refuge
8. Seal, Crazy
9. Hed Kandi, Tell Me Why
10. Maroon 5, Not Falling Apart
11. Ashford & Simpson, Solid (smooth groove remix)
12. Sade, It's Only Love that Gets you Through
13. Snatam Kaur, Long Time Sun
14. Deva Premal and Miten, Om tare Tuttare
15. Riley Lee, Lullaby of the Whale

The morning became even better when 2 students brought up track 3, Alles  by Sabrina Setlur & Xavier Naidoo. They happened to be from Germany and thought it was pretty cool that they were able to practice to German music in a class in the States. One student said, “I've never considered doing yoga to Xavier Naidoo but it worked!” When I left class, I left the obstacles of the morning in the past and walked out smiling because of the present.

Students in this class shared everything they brought this Friday and I am grateful.

 Schüler in dieser Klasse gemeinsam alles, was sie diesen Freitag brachten und ich bin dankbar.

Focused

Better rest + Daily practice= Sharper focus

Heidi Kristoffer

Thanks to Glamour!

After last nights post, I breathed through, the six poses listed by Glamour:

1. Child's Pose/Balasana
2. Forward Bend/Uttanasana
3. Cobbler/Baddha Konasana
4. Easy Spinal Twist/Supta Matsyendrasana
5. Knees to chest/Apanasana
6. Corpse Pose/Savasana

Since I slept so well last night I just practiced them again. Time to get some beauty rest.

 Goodnight 

The Young & Restless Yogi

Best to be sleep well before 1 am when you're getting up at 6 am to meditate!

To go to sleep sooner rather than later and calm
my chitta vritti aka monkey mind I'm going to
get up and try the poses in this article:

 Vitamin G Health & Fitness: glamour.com

If you're also having trouble sleeping, try the poses and let us know if they helped. I'll share my experience in the morning.

Goodnight

Sacred Slow Burn

The sacred journey of Ku-Kai is a series of peace-themed albums by new age artist Kitaro. Volume 1 raised the level of energy and intensity in Slow Burn class last week. The beats seemed penetrative. The students worked harder and went deeper as if they felt the album was powerful, as if they knew it was intended to address personal and global concerns alongside forward-thinking views of spiritual growth.

Kitaro embarked on a spiritual pilgrimage, visiting temples on the island of Shikoku, Japan once undertaken by Buddhist holy man, Ku-Kai, more than 1,100 years ago. Sampling bells sounds from each temple, Kitaro distills their essence with inspired musical landscapes. With guest artist from around the world, it is Kitaro's intention that his message of peace though music will inspire and unify us universally in global and spiritual co-existence. 

Volume one was so good I'm buying the other volumes. So expect to hear Kitaro is the next Slow Burn class:

Thursday, October 11, 2011

5:00 pm, Studio 2

Lifetime
1700 North Haggerty 
Canton, MI

Flowing Off Top

Today I had a really cool teaching experience in Vinyasa class.

Vinyasa is a method of synchronizing progressive series of postures with a specific breathing technique. And so, I plan and jot down the series of postures I intend to teach before each class. After leading students to revolved 1/2 moon/Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana I completely forgot the flow I planned to teach. So, I flowed off top (came up with a series of postures on the spot) and for the first time since I've been teaching at Lifetime nearly the whole class thanked me. Some thanked me for challenging them, others appreciated the music and the postures. I'm not excited by the gratification but by the opportunity to share yoga and its rewards, and leave students with a relaxed yet energized feeling I have when I leave a Jonny Kest, Thomas Mack, Nicole Ferguson  or Courtney Jones class.

National Poetry Day

Happy National Poetry Day

Breathe, Meditate and practice yoga to become present.
When you are present you can experience miracles daily!
Enjoy the poem.


Miracles By Walt Whitman

Why! who makes much of a miracle?
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach, just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love--or sleep in the bed at night with
any one I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with my mother,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive, of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds--or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down--or of stars shining so quiet
and bright,
Or the exquisite, delicate, thin curve of the new moon in spring;
Or whether I go among those I like best, and that like me best--
mechanics, boatmen, farmers,
Or among the savans--or to the soiree--or to the opera,
Or stand a long while looking at the movements of machinery,
Or behold children at their sports,
Or the admirable sight of the perfect old man, or the perfect old
woman,
Or the sick in hospitals, or the dead carried to burial,
Or my own eyes and figure in the glass;
These, with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring--yet each distinct, and in its place.

To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same;
Every spear of grass--the frames, limbs, organs, of men and women,
and all that concerns them,
All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.

To me the sea is a continual miracle;
The fishes that swim--the rocks--the motion of the waves--the ships,
with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?

- Walter Whitman (1819 – 1892) was an urban American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist.

#Detroit #urban #yoga #openmind #openheart #love #hope #everyday #gratitude #miracles #peace #kindness #feel #poetry #appreciation #WalterWhitman #cool #quiet #yourmind #stretch #yourbody 

Know the Yogi- Kerrie

Hi!

I'm Kerrie Trahan. I love & teach yoga. The 1st yoga class I ever attended was in 2005,  in Detroit, MI. It wasn't until I moved to Yeosu, South Korea that I began to take yoga seriously. Soon after, I traveled to Koh Samui, Thailand to detox and learn more about yoga and nutrition. When I returned to the US I joined Lifetime Fitness where I took yoga classes daily. My life started to change. I noticed my habits, weight, skin, energy levels, and attitude improving. I became focused, happy, more calm and less stressed. I wanted to share this feeling, this energy and this practice with my family and friends, so they could also experience the rewards of yoga.

I enrolled in LifePower Yoga Teacher Training to learn how to safely and effectively share yoga. June 2012, I earned my RYT-200 (Registered Yoga Teacher-200-hour Certification) and have been teaching at Lifetime-The Healthy Way of Life Company, volunteering with DKWIO (Danielle Karnmos Work It Out Program) and teaching private lessons and hip-hop workshops for Yoganic Flow. I hope YOU let me share yoga with you so you too can reap the many benefits of yoga.

Namaste

My 1st Yoga Class

My 1st Yoga Class

My 1st Yoga Class

It was winter 2005, my dad realized it was time for him to get in shape and why not help his family get in shape also. He convinced us to commit to a workout plan after many failed attempts. Since the days when my younger sister and I ran cross country in high school, my father hadn't ran or exercised regularly and neither had we. We had all picked up quite a bit of weight. We started with a much needed and appreciated family membership to the Boll Family YMCA.

We were all excited to have a membership to the new Boll YMCA. I enjoyed the YMCA, commuting daily from Southfield to downtown Detroit. I finally decided to change hairstyles and didn't want to invest in anything that would take a lot of time and energy to do. Especially, after "sweating it out" at the gym.

Since, I still wanted to work out, I decided to try yoga. I assumed yoga wouldn't be as intense, certainly not enough to cause sweating. I was told by a tai chi instructor to "try to relax." He forgot to mention that it was actually a challenging sweat-inducing workout. 

As I sat cross-legged on a yoga mat, various thoughts were going through my head, "is this the same as pilates?", "I hope I don't sweat and will be relaxed afterwards", "what kind of music is this?", "what if I'm not that flexible", etc. I learned that the tai chi instructor was right, I was very relaxed afterwards. I found I did not sweat very much after my first yoga class and concluded I had finally found a workout which allowed me to keep my hair and body in shape. I attended several Intro to Yoga and Yoga Basics courses until July 2006.

October 2012 Class Schedule

October 2012 Class Schedule

Date	Day	Time	Class	Location
October 4	Thursday	5:00 pm	Slow Burn	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 5	Friday	9:30 am	Vinyasa Flow	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 7	Sunday	11:15 am	Vinyasa Flow with Martina	Lifetime 40000 High Pointe Blvd Novi, MI
October 11	Thursday	5:00 pm	Slow Burn	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 12	Friday	9:30 am	Vinyasa Flow	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 14	Sunday	11:15 am	Vinyasa Flow with Martina	Lifetime 40000 High Pointe Blvd Novi, MI
October 18	Thursday	5:00 pm	Slow Burn	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 19	Friday	9:30 am	Vinyasa Flow	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 20	Saturday	12 pm noon	Hip-Hop Yoga Workshop	Mind, Body &Soul Nutrition 73 N. Saginaw St. Pontiac, MI
October 21	Sunday	11:15 am	Vinyasa Flow with Martina	Lifetime 40000 High Pointe Blvd Novi, MI
October 25	Thursday	5:00 pm	Slow Burn	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 26	Friday	9:30 am	Vinyasa Flow	Lifetime 1700 North Haggerty Road Canton, MI
October 27	Saturday	12 pm noon	Hip-Hop Yoga Workshop	Mind, Body &Soul Nutrition 73 N. Saginaw St. Pontiac, MI
October 28	Sunday	11:15 am	Vinyasa Flow with Martina	Lifetime 40000 High Pointe Blvd Novi, MI