Dedicated to your Optimal Well Being and Full Aliveness

Issue #1

Dear students and friends:

This is the first issue of the Soma Yoga newsletter. I have put you on this list if you are a yoga student, or someone I think might be interested. If you do not want to receive this newsletter, please put Remove in the subject box, hit Reply, and I’ll remove you right away, with great willingness. I do not want to clog up your inbox with emails you are not going to read.
If, on the other hand, you know someone who might benefit from this newsletter, please pass it on to them. Thank you!
Please remember to put my name on your email white list, so your spam detector doesn’t throw me away.

A Place To Sit

Don’t go outside your house to see flowers
My friend, don’t bother with the excursion.
Inside your body there are flowers…
Sitting there you will have a glimpse of beauty
inside the body and out of it,
before gardens and after gardens. (Kabir)

Yoga and Community
On one level, your yoga practice is all about your relationship with yourself. As one of my students at the government building said recently, “I love it, because it’s a non-competitive sport!” But on another level, yoga is all about community. Doing yoga with people offers you a simple and very profound way of connecting. It’s been a great joy for me to watch deep friendships evolve in my yoga classes over the years. Just by being present, just be showing up, and witnessing the efforts of the people in your class, you offer them a great deal. Don’t underestimate the value of what you are giving and receiving through your yoga practice.

Finding a Yoga Buddy

The more regularly we practice, the more powerful and lasting are the benefits. For those of you who have trouble getting to class on a regular basis, I’m going to organize a yoga/buddy system, which makes your yoga practice easier and a lot more fun. A yoga buddy is someone that you go to class with once or twice a week. You might arrange to go out for tea or lunch afterwards, if that feels appropriate. Basically, a yoga buddy keeps you on track, so that you show up, knowing they are there, even on days when you could easily forget all about yoga.

Please contact me if you are interested in hooking up with a yoga buddy.

The mind/body connection: Yoga supports your learning abilities.

A lot of the more recent research on yoga and exercise has demonstrated quite conclusively that yoga makes you smarter, gives you more brain power. Neuro-scientists and biochemists have discovered that the practice of yoga sends out proteins that nourish our brain cells, and help them to branch out, join together, and communicate with each other in new ways. This branching-out process in the brain is what underlies all of our learning.
In an age of information overwhelm, where we are learning new things at an exponential rate, yoga can give us a strong and steady support for all of the deep learning and evolution that is going on in our brain.  (A major study in this area had been done by Charles Hillman)

Soma Yoga May 07 Schedule

At Shanti Yoga
Upstairs, at Josephine and Baker, across from the Health Food Store

· Tues. mornings:  8-8:30am Breathwork: for rejuvenation, clearing and releasing energy and feelings, and deep relaxation

8:30-9:30am Soma Light (for all levels, great for beginners)

For this class on Tues. morning, you can come for the full 90 minutes, or for the one hour Soma class

· Wed. evening:  7:30-8:45 Soma Yoga

· Sat. mornings:  10-11:30am Soma Yoga

Classes are $10 drop in, 5 class punch pass: $48 (prices include G.S.T.)