Summer Yoga Series -Theme 1: Ahimsa -Non-Violence
Hello Yogis and Christianson Chiro gang!
My summer yoga series is coming up, and if you’re never heard of the yamas and niyamas (the theme for the summer series!) I thought I would describe one of the themes a bit here so you can get an idea of what you would experience in the yoga classes.
What My Yoga Classes Are Like
If you’ve never taken a yoga class with me, I’ll describe my style so you can see if you think it would be a good fit!
Music
I love music! I take quite a while to craft a yoga playlist, and I have created many playlists over my 9 years of teaching yoga! I love to teach classes to the music, my playlists tend to start out calmer and quiet. As the class goes on, the music builds, it gets a bit louder and more energetic and matches the flow of the part of the class we are in. Pump you up kind of music during the more challenging parts, a bit whimsical during the balancing, and then it starts to calm down as we get into stretching, and relaxing music during the relaxation and surrender portion of class.
I am a yoga teacher that uses a wide variety of songs, most songs have lyrics, this isn’t an instrumental only playlist. And you won’t be listening to the same playlist for the whole yoga series, I like variety and tend to mix it up!
Level/Difficulty
I offer many modifications so that class can meet you where you’re at! If you’re thinking, I’m not sure I’ll be able to do a yoga series, let me give you a little background on myself. Last fall I broke my left ankle - in quite an extreme fashion. And at the time of teaching this yoga series I will be 25 weeks pregnant! So my balance will be off what my “normal” used to be, and I don’t have the same mobility side to side. Who cares?! That’s what yoga is so great for! Using both sides of the body and meeting you where you’re at each and every time you are at your mat!
I do tend to teach challenging classes, this isn’t like a yin yoga class, or a very slow paced yoga. However, I like to think I provide you with just enough challenge for where you’re at each class. And we do plenty of feel good stretchy poses too!
Flow
My students tend to tell me that I have a medium flow for class, that it isn’t too fast or too slow, but right in the middle. That you don’t feel like you’re rushing to get from one pose to the next, but that you have time to make your transitions. Another comment I get very often from students is that they like my voice for yoga, haha. I’ve been told I have a calming voice and some of my yogis tease about recording me.
Theme
This is ever changing as I am a variety loving girl! This series is all about the yamas and niyamas which are some of the core principles of yoga. The yamas are things to avoid (i.e. violence, lying, stealing) and the niyamas are things to embrace (i.e. cleanliness, contentment, surrender). There are 10 classes, each one has one yama or niyama as the theme.
Ahimsa: Non-Violence/Non-Harming
The first yoga class will be about Ahimsa. This yama means avoiding violence and harming. If you’re thinking well that’s easy, just don’t physically hurt people. It goes a bit (or a lot) deeper than that. This means not physically harming others, ourselves or nature. Not thinking negative thoughts about ourselves or others. Um how hard is that one right there?! How many of you sometimes have a negative stream of thoughts about yourselves i.e. “I’m not a good mom, I’m lazy, That was stupid, why did I do that? How did I forget to get that done? Ugh, I’m late again, why can’t I be on time? I should’ve done… My house is a mess, I should be neater, more organized etc.” Do you ever have thoughts like that? How about not having negative thoughts towards others - maybe thoughts we have about others driving on the road with us, or someone who says or does something rude, when your spouse or partner is driving you crazy, anytime you’re having an argument with someone. Yes this one is a bit of a challenge. This is one of the main tenants that Ghandi lived by - so we can say it’s something big to live up to!
Ahimsa is about making sure what we do and how we do it is done in harmony. That’s beautiful, right. The world would be a pretty great place if we all embraced ahimsa.
In Terms of Yoga
When we think about Ahimsa in the context of yoga, this implies accepting ourselves completely - no matter what our state of strength or flexibility is that day. Have you ever had a day or moment in yoga class where you think something like “Ugh, I can’t believe I can’t do that today. I had a way better yoga class the other day. I used to do this post better.” When I first went back to yoga and exercising after my ankle surgery and healing, I was shocked how different my mobility/balance was on my left side compared to my right. I could’ve felt really bad (I did feel really bad for myself when I was on bed rest - I struggle with this stuff too!) and been frustrated with the difference side to side. But I decided to embrace my healing journey and think of it like each class is helping my left ankle heal and is giving me more mobility and strength.
How Much Do Our Thoughts Really Matter?
Here’s a quick rundown on the series of events that occur when we have negative thoughts:
negative thoughts put us in fight or flight mode - we secrete cortisol (the stress hormone) - this lowers our immune system - making us more susceptible to illness and physical pain
On the other hand: positive/loving thoughts cause dopamine (the feel good hormone) to be released in the body - this strengthens our immune system
Happiness is contagious! If our friend is happy, we are 25% more likely to be happy ourselves!
Yoga
For each class in this series, I will send out an email ahead of time explaining the theme for the class. Throughout the class I will tell you a little bit more about the theme and mention where it is relevant as we go through class. The poses for the class will be picked with the theme in mind.
I Would Love to Have You Join Me!
Interested? Questions? Contact Me - I’d love to have you join for the class! Starts Monday July 24th, 6:00-7:00 pm!
