Imagine, laying down your yoga mat, reclining over bolsters and blankets, closing your eyes and being serenaded by healing chants, and beautiful instruments like harmonium, acoustic guitar and crystal bowls. In the depth of bliss, a fragrant essential oil anointing takes you further into peace. As a moment of silence comes, it is so full of contentment, your mind is effortlessly peaceful. This is Pratyahara.

Pratyahara: Harmonizing the Senses
Mondays 7:30 – 9 p.m. | February 27, March 26, April 30
Instructors: Nicole Becker & Matthew Anziani
Step into a healing sanctuary for the senses. Rest comfortably while being ministered to with soothing vocals and instruments, anointed with pure plant essential oils, and guided into relaxation with healing imagery meditation. A unique offering from two devoted healers and teachers. Enjoy an individual class or take as a series.
Click here for full details and to pre-register.
(Space is limited so pre-registration is recommended since we cannot guarantee drop-in space on the day of.)

Yoga Nidra is a specialized guided meditation practice. Practiced while laying down, the student is led through a series of relaxation and imagery practices to calm the mind, reduce stress, and heal the body. Yoga Nidra has been researched by major medical universities for it’s profound stress reduction and trauma recovery benefits.

 $18/class or $64 series. Recommended for women in their 2nd & 3rd trimesters

During pregnancy exercise benefits you and baby through increased energy, strength, and stamina. Specific movements encourage the baby into optimal positioning and help the cervix open more easily and labor progress smoothly.  Baby and mama marinate in oxytocin while tuning inwards for the deep transformational dance of childbirth.

Topics in this class include:
       *  Connecting with your baby through specific practices/exercises
       *  Body mechanics and pregnancy posture
       *  Preparing the body and mind to work together (the mind-body connection)
       *  Relaxation, breathing, visualizations, & more
       *  Positions for labor & birth (optimal fetal positioning)

“pelvic motion is really important to many women if they want to give birth with a minimum of pain and discomfort… every pregnant woman should practice exploring the range of motion of their pelvis” (Ina May Gaskin).
Gingi Allen www.mamababyconnection.blogspot.com
ChildBirth Doula, WombWellness Educator, Mother

Day/Time: Tuesdays 4:00-5:00 p.m.

Free Intro Session: Tuesday, January 10 | 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Winter dates:   Jan. 17 – Feb. 14th
Cost: $15 drop-in, $50 full series

Instructor: Lisa Klein is a yogi, storyteller, theater artist, and educator. She’s been an artist/educator (pre-K – university) for 18 years, teaching yoga, movement, improvisation, poetry, creative writing, storytelling and theater arts. Lisa is a certified Yoga Ed instructor, (Yoga Ed Instructor Training, Pre-K – High School, August, 2009), and a certified Yoga Alliance instructor (200 Hour Yoga Teacher Certification, May, 2010.) www.dolphintalesyoga.com

“Lisa’s love for teaching, story telling and Yoga is obvious in her class for children. She mixes story telling and asanas to create an inviting environment for children to learn and explore yoga.”

(Ojas members receive 10% off workshops and special events) – details at the bottom of class schedule page

Thursday, August 4  -  7:30-9:00 p.m. : Free Info night and meditation for “The Art of Living”  Course with instructor, Satinder Grawal.  Meet the instructor, get info and ask questions about the upcoming course Aug.11-14th, and enjoy a 45 minute guided meditation. (full info about the course in Aug. 11 event link below)

Saturday, August 6th 1:00-4:00 p.m.:  Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE) with Brooke Deputy
Practice seven simple exercises that release tension in the muscles, which in turn relaxes the anxiety of our minds. Deep held tensions can be a result of difficult life circumstances, immediate or prolonged stressful situations, or traumatic life experiences. TRE can restore a sense of peace and calm to the body and mind. Click here for more info or to pre-register

August 11-August 14th:  The Art of Living - Relieve stress and anxiety and learn breathing, meditation, low-impact yoga & philosophy as developed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Instructor: Satinder Grewal. Click here to learn more about the Art of Living Course and Foundation. Ojas membership discount does not apply to this event.

Sunday, August 21 1:00-5:00 p.m.  The Pelvis: Foundation of movment, Fountain of Life with Deane Juhan and Nicole Becker. Misalignment of the pelvis during standing, sitting and moving can result in chronic hip and low back pain, sciatica as well as dysfunction in the digestive, reproductive, and nervous systems. Join experts Deane Juhan and Nicole Becker for the first of the “Structure of Movement Series”. Includes movement, hands-on techniques, and discussion. (click event title above for full details and/or to register)

Here’s a description from his website:

We will explore familiar postures in a new way, learning to maintain the calm awareness as well as the diligent effort that are the twin aspects of Patanjali’s stirum sukham asanam. This is not a new way to do asana. It is a way for you to honor your body, your strengths, and most of all, to use your limitations as teachers, not as obstacles to be overcome. The goal is to find “right” effort, not maximum effort, and to feel great about wherever you end up. You will learn to alter the asanas to fit your body, rather than trying to make your body look like those pictures on the yoga calendars.

The class can be strenuous or easy depending on your inclination and intuition. The class follows the viewpoints of Gary Kraftsow (“There is a perfect way to do each posture; it just may be different for each person!”) Erich Schiffmann (“Yoga shouldn’t hurt”) & Richard Rosen (“We have to put the ha back in Hatha”). Diligence, perseverance, and progress are valuable parts of class; but a little lightening up might be a good idea, too.

Tony Wolff is author of Lightening Up: The Yoga of Self Acceptance, to be published in 2011. He is a recovering achievement addict, coming to yoga from Vipassana meditation over 20 years ago. He found that yoga embodied meditation by focusing attention on the actual physical experience occurring through the effort of asana. But he also found himself striving to make his body do things that more experienced practitioners seemed to have mastered. After years of injury and dissatisfaction, the 5 Not So Noble Truths emerged: slow down, pay attention, breathe, relax and lighten up. Those precepts guide his teaching. www.yogaofselfacceptance.com

Enjoy as complete introduction to the practices of Kundalini Yoga, or drop in as time or interest allows. 
Regular class passes can apply, New student pass 3 for $30. Drop-in $18.

Kundalini Yoga, the Yoga of Awareness, consists of simple yogic techniques that can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter his or her age or physical ability. It is a complete science that includes breathing exercises (pranayam), yoga postures (asanas), sound, chanting (mantra) and meditation. It is designed to provide you with the experience of your highest consciousness.

Week  1: Breath and Relaxation
Week  2: Pranayam and Physical / Mental Balance
Week  3: Opening the Spine
Week  4: Moving Energy and Improving Circulation
Week  5: Mental Clarity
Week  6: Circulation and Aura
Week  7: Transforming Sexual Energy
Week  8: Digestion
Week  9: Strengthening the Naval
Week10: Preparation for Deep Meditation
“Sadhu Singh Atehortua is a certified Kundalini Yoga teacher who started practicing Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan PhD. at the age of 10.  He has been teaching beginner/intermediate Kundalini Yoga in the Bay Area since 1995 and is currently working on developing rural and urban yoga centers in Ecuador, where he teaches courses once a year. Sadhu has explored various spiritual paths, martial arts, therapeutic massage, and other healing arts throughout his personal evolution, and applies this knowledge to his yoga classes to provide a wholesome exploration of personal growth, self care, and overall evolution of the self.”

The traditional Surya Namaskar series is made up of 12 postures that correspond with 12 aspects of the Sun. Being essential to Life, the Sun has a special place of honor in many traditions, Yoga being no exception. Each posture in the Sun Salutation is meant to be a meditation on a particular aspect of Light. When taking the postures of a Sun Salute, one is mindful of the corresponding chakra/area of the body and is repeating the mantra internally three times. For example, in Plank, which arrives with an exhalation, the focus is on the throat chakra, and the mantra is “Om Khagaya Namaha“. Khagaya refers to “The One Who Moves Through the Sky”, or “The All Pervading Light”, signifying the unending passage of time and eternal light that pervades it. As we repeat the mantra, we meditate on our own Life and the Light of Consciousness – our eternal nature and also our impermanence in this bodily form. It might occur to you that this could take awhile to contemplate! That is why the mantra is repeated three times (to slow the movements down), and the Sun Salutation series is usually repeated 12 times, or multiples of 12.

Although ever present in modern yoga classes, Chaturanga – that clever yoga push-up – is not part of the traditional Sun Salute series. Instead, Eight-Point Pose (Ashtangasana) follows Plank, still on the exhalation, offering toes-knees-chest-chin to the ground. With the attention to the Solar Plexus/Navel, this posture honors the “Giver of Strength and Nourishment”. Repeating silently “Om Pushne Namaha” we honor the aspect of the Sun “Pushne” which is the source of all our food and thus all our strength.

Inhaling into Upward Facing Dog (or sometimes Cobra), we turn our focus to the pelvic chakra and open the chest, looking upward, honoring “Hiranya Garbhaya“, the Golden Cosmic Self. Signifying the absorption of the individual into the universal Ocean of Light, our small movement becomes a bigger offering to shining interconnectedness. “Om Hiranya Garbhaya Namaha.”

With Downward Facing Dog we repeat inwardly, “Om Marichaye Namaha“. Fingers and toes spread wide, hips reaching to the sky, we shift our focus from pelvis to throat. Like rays of the sun beaming through parting clouds, our limbs mimic the brilliant rays of the Sun. We become “Marichi” – The Light.

Understanding the meaning behind the movements, the Vinyasa becomes much more than just a means to get buff yoga arms, or spice up the practice with extra heat. Each movement becomes an opportunity to connect with an aspect of your self and the Natural Order of Things.

Ultimately, the Sun Salutation is a practice that honors the Inner Light that radiates from our own Hearts. Now maybe that Chaturanga will be a little more enjoyable. Better yet, replace it every once and a while with Eight Point Pose.

(article by Nicole Becker. All rights reserved)

Join Nicole Saturday, June 18 from 3-5 p.m for “Mantras of the Sun”  workshop at her SF Bay Area studio, Ojas Yoga Center. Click here for registration details.