What a cool surprise!

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Hi Everyone!

I know, I know, awfully quick too be writing another blog but my new friends that come to chair yoga were asking if there was a way to write a testimonial or review. I’m not the most website savvy here so I figured I would write a blog and let them comment on it :) Kind of a testimonial, right?

So, anyway, for those that don’t know much about us here at Sukha Yoga, we’ve recently moved to a new location. The new location moves us from the third floor of hustle and bustle Church St, to the first floor of a residential building on College St. (230 College St. Come visit!!!) directly across from the library. There are pros and cons, of course. Our primary reason for moving was to be able to offer a full schedule of classes. So now, we have a nice full schedule with a few more teachers too :) Another pro of the new location is that it’s pretty darn big so we were able to add a small retail shop to offer yoga accessories, ayurvedic supplies and remedies, great wisdom literature and books, and of course, plenty of clothes and jewelry. The store was totally unanticipated and turned out to be a pretty cool bonus. In addition to the store, we were also able to add a massage therapy / treatment room in the back! Boom, another bonus! I’m sure you want to hear some cons too but I’m not feeding into that ;) Why waste anyone’s time with anything negative…? Back to these pros! Over the course of the first month in operation, we were very fortunate to meet many of the people that live in the residential part of the building and make new friendships. If you know me at all (Noah here), you know I like to talk to people and make friends. In making friends with our new neighbors, we’d often get into “who can do yoga talks” and things like that. Some of the folks in the building have been on the planet a little longer than me and they wanted to try yoga! How cool?!? We figured out a time that would work for them and put a donation based chair yoga class on the schedule. I really wanted to make class special for them. As with a lot of yoga in America, what they had seen on the internet was mostly physical postures. Even the internet chair yoga heavily emphasizes the postures/movements and doesn’t seem to integrate the roots of the yoga practice into it. My logic is, they’re all sitting here anyways, why not have a satsang (spiritual discourse or sacred gathering) with some breathing and movement?? That’s how these classes have shaped to be. We start with some chanting, we have some discussion / story telling, we do some vinyasa (vinyasa : linking breath to movement), and we connect to spirit. What a beautiful way to practice Bhakti Yoga. Who would have thought this class would be so sweet?! I feel so fortunate to get to spend some time with these folks and have these deep, meaningful conversations. I am learning so much from their enthusiasm and character. I really appreciate their openness to trying something totally new and quite foreign.

So basically, this is a blog dedicated to thanking our new friends and a small way to show my appreciation for their loving kindness. Right now we are just doing this once a week but maybe this will grow into something bigger. The more the merrier and if you know of any other folks that might want to add some chair yoga / uplifting conversation into their life, we’d love to get more people included. Thanks for reading! Comments and suggestions appreciated below!!

In service, Noah

Happy New Year! New Schedule, more classes, and my morning ramblings...

Good morning and Happy New Year! We're very excited to have added new classes to our 2017 winter schedule.  We are still offering the $65 unlimited monthly passes for all regularly scheduled classes. 

As B. K. S. Iyengar said - “Penetration of our mind is our goal, but in the beginning to set things in motion, there is no substitute for sweat.”  We want you all to be able to practice as much as you can and get a good sweat on.  Maybe we'll even penetrate the mind at some point ;)  No expectations though... 

One quick little thought I wanted to bring up - One must not confuse living in the present moment or the "Now" with shear selfishness.  With all the YOLO, "living in the now", seizing the opportunity, and being in the present moment stuff that comes up around this time of year, we must remember that's not an excuse to just be greedy and out for oneself.   Yes, we should be present, seize opportunities, "live in the now", whatever we want to call it, but it should never harm someone else.  When we make a decision to do something, we should look at how it effects others.  This can be done on a worldly level or a smaller, local level - maybe your work associates, friends, kids, family, partner...   If we're not proud of the decision and wouldn't want every one to know about it, chances are, it's a bad one.  If we need to contemplate whether it's the right thing to do, it may very well not be.  If it benefits us or feeds our desires but could very well hurt others, do we still consider this being present and "living in the now"?  Maybe so, but what kind of "now" is it?   And furthermore, if we're not telling everyone the whole story, then that story is a lie. 

Those are my quick ramblings for the morning.  Thoughts anyone? Who's excited to make some good for everyone decisions this year?!? 

Noah

    

Ram Dass lecture I just started listening to this morning!

Just started listening to this Ram Dass lecture this morning.  He gave it in 1974 after he had returned to America from India.  So far, really good.  I love listening to his experiences.  He says to read the Bhagavad Gita and put yourself in Arjuna, Krishna, Sanjaya, and Dhritarashta's shoes each time that you read it.  Good advice.  I've listened to the Gita quite a few times but haven't ever thought of doing that.  So it looks like I've got to read it another 4 times at minimal, haha.   I'll bet that adds some new understanding.  

Have any of you read or listened to any Ram Dass? What are you reading now? I attached a quick video for you to check out too.  Thoughts? Have an awesome morning!  

Also, it was suggested that we start doing a Sukha Yoga book club.  I'm down for that and would love to listen to everyone's thoughts.  I say we wait until summer and do it outside somewhere. Sound good?  

Very thankful for youtube and the internet and water and heat and...

Hey everyone!  Hope you're all having a great end of the year! Blog post #2!  For those that don't know me, I get up fairly early in the morning daily.  Doesn't matter if it's a weekend or vacation, I'm up.  Generally speaking, I'm up and alone... Something that I like to do during this quiet time is  listen to some sort of audio book, lecture, or interview that will set my tone for the day.  I've attached a short interview / talk with BKS Iyengar that I listened to this morning.  He covers a lot of different subjects.  He starts with talking about yoga and exercise, and at what point, one's exercise (asana, posture) becomes yoga.  He speaks of getting your mind to introduce the intelligence to various parts of the body.  "I'm missing the message, please go and guide" This is how he describes the intelligence reaching the different pores on the skin of the body.  As this intelligence reaches these pores, this is the meditative posture. He says until then, it is not Yoga.  I find this humbling and inspiring.   BKS Iyengar continues to answer questions for the next 28 minutes of this clip.  He covers all types of different subjects from Bhakti Yoga to art to performing the asana in a way that will interest those you are presenting to.  It's all amazing.  Take a listen / watch and tell me what you think.  

I find that listening to this type of stuff in the morning has really helped to grow my yoga practice or should I say life?  How are we bringing our yoga practice into our life?  How are we living yoga off the mat?   Feel free to comment and get some discussion going here :)

I'm not proof reading this so disregard grammar or spelling errors.  I want to get some discussion going here and I know if I wait to post, it won't happen so I write when I have the time.   This is almost like a public journal which is very interesting to me because I don't even keep a private journal or write anything for that matter, haha. 

Noah