THEME OF THE WEEK
(11/30-12/4): Self-Study & Side Plank Pose
Self-Study (Svadhyaya)
“Knowing others is intelligence. Knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.”
-Lao Tzu
Self-study is an essential element on the path of yoga. But this isn’t about psychological self-knowledge, or therapeutic self-understanding.
This is about knowing your Self – capital S… which is there before your expression as a separate individual.
Your Self might be called your consciousness, or your essence. It is the intelligence that animates you, which is no different from the intelligence that animates me. We are each an expression of the same Self.
But that Self appears to have broken into many little “selves” – individualized expressions of the One.
Through Self-Study, we come to know what’s real and what’s temporal about ourselves. By shifting our attention to that which is constant – the Self – great freedom can be found.
CLASSES
Yoga Class: SLOW SWEET FLOW
Get into the flow with a nice smooth sequence that will activate joints and muscles throughout your body. Smooth sun salutes, praying warriors, a floating tree. A sweet-feeling flow experience.
Savasana: JUST THIS
A guided meditation to relax main body parts, plus your eyes and facial muscles. Sink into simple presence – just this – and feel how it’s more than enough.
Yoga Class: HARNESS THE FORCES
Tensegrity is the theme of the day – you are made up of a network of tensile forces. When you harness these inner forces, your poses become so much more powerful… and doable! Activate muscles throughout the body – emphasis on strong sun salutes, a strong warrior 2, star pose, and a flying squirrel.
Self-Massage: FEET & CUFFS
Detailed massage of all of your four rotator cuff muscles, plus rub out the soles of your feet!
Yoga Class: SHOULDER SMARTS
Wake up your shoulder joints from every which way in order to build more stability with weight-bearing arm movements – like side plank. In this class we go on an exploratory journey throughout a variety of shoulder conditioning exercises and also hit up some light core work, unique triangles, and strong plank/down dog combos.
Meditation: PROVE YOU WRONG
You ever think thoughts that totally bum you out and make your life smaller? In this meditation you’re going to prove one of those thoughts wrong and plant a new, better thought in your mind.
Yoga Class: ABDUCT YOURSELF
Your outer hips will never be the same again. In this class you will strengthen the muscles that stabilize your outer hips and knees. Expect lots of super cool conditioning exercises leading to half moon pose and side plank variations.
Self-Massage: OUTER HIPS & KNEES
Detailed massage to the stabilizer muscles in your outer hips and small muscle attachments around your knees. So good!
Yoga Class: SIDEWAYS STRENGTH
Strengthen your side body! This class features a whole range of side planks from gentle to tough. Plus other side-strengthening poses like triangle, chair, and gate pose.
Meditation: KNOW THYSELF
Experience the difference between the character you play in this life, and the life force that animates you. Learn to see through the eyes of the Self to gain freedom and peace.