June 2007 – Issue 48

Keeping Up With Heather: Following the Sun
Article: Web Resources
Breathing Room: Prana Mudra - Invocation of Energy
Thoughts On: Enlightenment
Updates: Yoga Teacher Training Canada and Australia, Yoga Classes Canberra

Keeping up with Heather

Hello Friends,

Just a week to go before I am flying off into the sun to spend 5 months in Canada. What a lucky life I have, 2 summers and 2 autumns in one year!

In Canada I am looking forward to sharing Yoga, Pilates and Thai Yoga Massage with private clients, and I am taking new clients so please write or ring if you would like to book a session. I will also be teaching classes around York Region, and offering a variety of workshops, so stay posted with the Messenger for details.

Chris will be spending 6 weeks in Canada through August and September, and splitting his time between Orangeville and Toronto where he will be offering private consultations, workshops, and a 5 day retreat. For information please write to Chris at chris@yogatrinity.com

I look forward to returning to Australia in November, when I will begin teaching Yoga and Pilates in Canberra, and offering a Yoga Teacher Training retreat in the Blue Mountains. For more information, stay tuned to the Messenger, or visit www.yogatrinity.com.

Wherever you are in the world we both hope that you are enjoying all your wellness endeavours, and we are wishing you all a Joyful June.

Namaste,
Heather & Christopher.

New Yoga Instructors in Canada:

Monica Temmler-Bell, Tottenham, ON bet25@sympatico.ca

Erika Glenny, Tottenham, ON erikaglenny@hotmail.com

Pam Guzzi, Fenlon Falls, ON pguzzi@nexusisp.com

Fran Stephens, Tottenham, ON f.bonello@hotmail.com

Rosanna Brandonisio, Beeton, ON gilbros@csolve.net

Jennifer Mitchell Tottenham, ON jen_ted@sympatico.ca

Web Resources

Over the past few months a few new sites have come to my attention that you might find helpful, educational, and even inspiring.

Go Veg: www.veggie123.com is a new website offering information and education on what it is to be a vegetarian, and how to balance your diet for optimum health and vitality. Free recipes, downloads, articles and links to veggie-shopping are all quite helpful, and offer tips, techniques and strategies for every member of the family. Why not make one meal a week a "vegetarian" meal, and introduce some new tastes, textures, and nutrients into your diet?

5 Tibetans: I was first introduced to these movements or "rites" by my osteopath who (rightly) thought they might be helpful for me in overcoming a back injury and reducing stress and tension stored in the body. She was right, these ancient movements are ideal for the generally healthy participant in improving health, vitality and balancing the energy. The '5 Tibetans' are five movements that can be practiced daily for improved health and vitality. The 5 Tibetans are known as a "fountain of youth", balancing the energy centres, bringing health and vitality to the body and the mind. To learn more about the 5 Tibetans, please visit http://www.mkprojects.com/pf_TibetanRites.htm. Please remember to check with your health care provider before beginning any new exercise program.

Yoga Mates: is an online Yoga community that offers the opportunity to find Yoga resources around the world, meet like-minded people, post upcoming programs, blog your own Yoga experiences, and read the entries of Yogin's across the globe. Along with their newsletter, my favourite part of Yoga Mates is Yoga TV. Their video interviews of popular Yoga Instructors, personal growth teachers, and inspiring people from all walks of life are fantastic and inspiring. I hope you enjoy visiting www.yogamates.com

MBT's: Masai Barefoot Technology is still making waves around the world as people from all walks of life are enjoying the benefits of these unique shoes. Known as "physiological footwear" these shoes have been shown to dramatically reduce back, hip and knee pain, and improve posture and overall health and wellbeing. Recommended by athletes and physiotherapists around the world, they are worth a bit of investigation to see if they might work for your body. I recently found a site that shares information on the shoes and their development, as well as listing retailers around the world. Visit www.swissmasai.com for more information on the amazing MBT's.

Note: In Canberra MBT's can be found at Mobility Matters in Fyshwick.

Breathing Room
Prana Mudra - Invocation of Energy

Use this technique to bring energy and vitality to the body and the mind. Best practiced on an empty stomach, and in a place that has little distraction.

Find a comfortable seated position to begin. Use cushions or folded blankets to make your body as comfortable and your spine as tall as possible. Sit with legs crossed in easy sitting or half-lotus position. Rest the right hand in the left hand with palms facing up, and take a few minutes to bring the awareness into the breath and the body. Close the eyes and bring the body and mind into a state of relaxed awareness.

When you are ready to begin, inhale deeply as you draw your hands (palms facing up) up the front of the body as though you are drawing the energy of the earth up through the central column of the body. As you reach your chin, open the arms wide with palms up and stretch arms overhead and pause for a moment. As you exhale, turn the palms to face into the body as you draw the hands back to the start position, imagining that you are drawing energy from above down into the body. Practice 10-20 breaths and then rest again in a seated position with right hand resting in left, and take some time to observe the benefits of the practice, and feel the renewed energy and vitality in the body, mind and spirit.

Note: some students like to imagine that as they draw the hands up and down the body they are drawing light or colour or energy through the spine or centre of the body, up to the crown of the head and down to the base of the spine.. If this visualization suits you, it is very helpful in energizing body and mind.

Upcoming Events

Yoga Classes Canberra

Two fantastic new Yoga instructors from Canberra will be teaching Yoga Classes at the ACT Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Yarramundi Reach. Pilates, Hatha Yoga, and Ashtanga Yoga will be offered on Tues and Wed during the school terms.

Tues: Pilates 6-7, Hatha Yoga 7:15-8:45

Wed: Ashtanga Yoga 7:30-8:45

For information please call: Danielle at 0412 696 789 or email: daniellejolly@gmail.com

YTT Canada

Balance Yoga Studio will be offering another 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program from September 2007 to March 2008 in Tottenham, Ontario, Canada. For more information call Shira 905.936.YOGA or visit www.balanceyogastudio.ca

YTT Australia

Space is filling up quickly in our 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training and Personal Development Retreat from Nov 18-Dec 16 in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. Online journaling begins August. Please view the details at www.yogatrinity.com/ytt and register your interest with heather@yogatrinity.com

Fitness Australia has recently awarded the Trinity Yoga Teacher Training program with recognition as an Accredited Program. Fitness Instructors registered with Fitness Australia can earn 15 CEC's when they complete our program. For more information visit www.yogatrinity.com/ytt

Sanskrit Glossary:

Yama: discipline or austerities. Also known as the great vow, the Yama's are the first of the 8 Limbs of Ashtanga Yoga (see Patanjali'a Yofa Sutras) The first of the 5 Yamas, and thus the first stage of any Yoga practice is ahimsa: non-violence. Practicing non-violence towards self, others, and the environment is the first step in leading a conscious, peaceful, and Yogic life.

"When we are firmly established in non-violence, all beings around us cease to feel hostility."
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Zen Stories On... Enlightenment

A student once asked his teacher, "Master, what is enlightenment?"

The master replied, "When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep."

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Before enlightenment chop wood, carry water.

After enlightenment chop wood, carry water.