Ever thought about being a yoga instructor? Visit USMMA’s Teacher Training Open House this Friday May 17th at 6:30PM to learn how to deepen your practice and expand your journey. This information session features Lead Instructor Victoria Haffer as well as some great guest teachers. We look forward to seeing you here.
USMMA Instructor Jessie Dwiggins set for continuing education sabbatical
USMMA’s Vinyasa Yoga program has steadily grown in popularity since it was introduced several years ago. This is strongly due to the quality of our Yoga instructors and their constant effort to improve the Yoga experience for students. USMMA’s Instructors are constantly integrating new techniques to apply specific poses to different body types, or introducing new poses to challenge advanced students. USMMA strives to foster this skill by encouraging all of our instructors to occasionally take time to enhance their own practice, which in turn creates a better student experience. We will all miss our beloved Yogi’s on occasion but these brief absences are ultimately what give our instructors the tools needed to help students succeed in their wellness goals.
Jessie Dwiggins has been studying yoga for seven years, and a major portion of this was dedicated to studying Forrest Yoga. This style focuses on the mind/body/spirit connection and uses the transformative power of yoga for personal healing. Jessie combines this style with USMMA’s hot yoga program which focuses on the movement intensive or flowing style of Vinyasa yoga, commonly referred to as “Hot yoga”. What makes each instructor special is how they integrate their individual yoga styles and practices within the Vinyasa platform.
During this particular sabbatical, Jessie will be studying with her mentor, Ana Forrest, during two separate intensive retreats. In her own words she is excited to “take time for myself, to explore my own yoga practice and make me a stronger teacher.” She will be gone from April 11th to May 2nd and is excited to introduce what she has learned when she returns.
Although Jessie will be gone in April her classes will continue at their scheduled times. This is a great opportunity to try out some of the other instructors, who bring their own unique backgrounds into class with the goal of creating the best student experience. If you are interested in finding out who is teaching on a specific night, all instructors are listed on the USMMA schedule page, which can be found at http://www.usmma.org/schedule.html
Safe Kids 2013 - A FREE EVENT AT USMMA!
Interested in a cleanse? Attend this informative session with Lisa Vasile at USMMA, to find out which cleanse is the right choice for you.
Sunday, April 28th
6:30-8:00 PM
http://www.usmma.org
PLEASE REGISTER AT THE USMMA DESK.
WINTER WELLNESS by Jessie Dwiggins
Winter, especially for those of us who live in cold climates, is a perfect time for hibernation. I don’t mean curling up in bed and sleeping for three months (which may sound tempting), but using the decreased daylight to conserve energy, rest, and revitalize body and spirit. Winter is a time of introspection, to reflect and digest the previous year’s experiences, and assess and alter life goals so they become realities. Use the following tips to access your intuition and reclaim your energy:
Practice yoga. Well, obviously! I truly believe that yoga is the answer. If we believe that there are unanswered questions in life, we must also believe that their answers reside within us. Yoga provides us with skills and tools to connect intuitively. No one knows better than you what will serve your health and wellbeing.
Eat for energy. Harness the grounding and energy conserving properties of slow-simmered stews, beans, roasted root vegetables, and warm drinks. Add spices such as garlic, ginger, black pepper, cloves, and basil to increase the warming effect. Minimize your intake of raw vegetables, salad greens, and cold drinks, save the cooling effects of those foods for spring and summer.
Regulate Sleep. Darkness is a cue for sleep. Leverage longer nights to establish a regular sleep schedule. Start your bedtime routine a half hour earlier to get a little more shut-eye. Your body will thank you!
Nourish your heart and spirit. When our energy is depleted in one area of our lives, physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual, it can leave the rest feeling out of balance. We regularly replenish our physical and intellectual bodies, but neglect our emotional and spiritual. Regain balance by reading inspirational works, reconnecting with loved ones, doing one thing you are passionate about daily, or meditating and journaling.
Our bodies are designed to follow the rhythms of nature. Honor the energy conservation qualities of winter to replenish energy so come spring you are filled with an abundance of vitality to pursue your life’s goals
^^^ CLICK ABOVE IMAGE TO ENLARGE FLYER ^^^
USMMA’S YogaFest 2013
USMMA’s fabulous teachers will be rotating every 1/2 hour with an upbeat fun practice the entire day.
Stay for a half day or all day. It’s up to you. This is a perfect opportunity to bring your friends and show them how they too can benefit from all USMMA has to offer. Practice for fun or join USMMA in raising money for Local Charities during our “Saturday Only” Yoga-Thon.
Fabulous Discounts off Memberships, Merchandise and Fun Raffles All day -Win Private Lessons, Yoga Equipment, Yoga Clothes, Free Classes and More - Raffles will be drawn every 1/2 Hour,
Healthy Snacks will be provided by Whole Foods.
YogaFest Demos begin at 11AM on Saturday and Sunday.
Don’t Miss This Event!
Preventing Stomach Aches - by Casey Beksha
One of the best herbs to strengthen digestive fire is ginger. Before each meal, chop or grate a little fresh ginger, add a few drops of lime juice and a pinch of Celtic or Himalayan salt, and eat the mixture.
Ginger tea will also increase the gastric fire and reduce the stomach ache. Boil a little fresh ginger, (grated, chopped or sliced) and drink it two or three times per day. Another way to enliven your gastric fire is to use the common spice bay leaf. Steep ½ teaspoon of crushed or ground bay leaf in a cup of water for about 10 minutes to make a tea. Add a pinch of cardamom, and drink after eating. A probiotic taken daily will strengthen your digestion, immune system, mental and emotional health. Keeping your stomach happy keeps you healthy and happy.
If you suffer from any chronic stomach discomfort you should be getting acupuncture treatments. Acupuncture will alleviate the symptoms by putting your body back into balance. I am available for acupuncture appointments right at USMMA.
I’m Dreaming of a Kale Christmas - by Emily Leahy, RYT, RMT
I get asked all the time it seems this time of year, “Do you eat raw foods in the winter?” The answer is yes, however you won’t find me making raw ice creams and frozen smoothies. I eat my fruits and salads at room temperature and make my smoothies without frozen fruit or ice. I also eat plenty of cooked soups and roasted root vegetables to bring balance to my diet. Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean everything has to be boiled! Tis the season of colds and I find it important to still have some raw greens to keep my immune system strong!
Kale is full of protein, vitamins, minerals and gives your skin a nice glow. It is hands down my favorite green of all! Just make sure if you’re going to eat Kale that you break down the cellular wall by massaging with oil and salt. It makes it easier for digestion and allows you to absorb all those minerals. Massaging the kale “cooks” it down without destroying those digestive enzymes. Here is one of my favorite kale salads and it’s so easy to make! Bon appetite!
Cheesy Kale Salad (Gluten-free | Vegan | Raw)
2 Heads of Kale
2 tbs Sesame Oil (unrefined) or 1 Avocado
Dash of Celtic Sea Salt
1 TBS of Coconut Aminos
1/4 cup Bragg’s Nutritional Yeast
1 Tomato diced
2 Carrots chopped
1/4 Red Onion chopped
1/4 cup Shelled Hemp Seeds
Directions:
1. Wash Kale and cut into bite sized pieces.
2. Place kale in a bowl add oil, salt, aminos and nutritonal yeast. Massage with CLEAN hands for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add chopped vegetables, hemp seeds and toss. Add extra nutritional yeast if you’d like.
We constantly hear the negative comments, let downs, the put downs, and all that crud that fills the air with no positive impact. How many times a day do you feel yourself adding to that catastrophe? You catch yourself loathing, you continue to remind yourself of the things not going your way. Maybe you point something out to someone else who really needs that extra faith, but you’re in such a bad place, you don’t know anything but ill words. STOP yourself now!
When you get on your mat, start finding that intention that helps direct you to a more positive place. Each day try and let something go. Maybe it’s the same thing but it’s ingrained in you so much that you need that extra time to work on it. Whatever it takes to let go of your judgements, do so. Remember, each time you knock yourself down, you judge yourself or someone else your not finding the best you that you can be. At the end of the day, remember that there’s no reason to judge -find the compassion. That compassion being the deep awareness of what’s really going on around you. That whether it’s yours or someone else’s stuff, you have the incredible urge to relieve whatever the situation may be as if you could take the aching or frustrations away.
You don’t know what tomorrow will bring, and you don’t know everyone’s story. So find it in your heart to find the compassion, rather than the negative judgement. It’s well worth it. Don’t fall behind- move ahead-become the best you…YOU deserve it!
How will you know if you can fly if you never try?? Shauna Allocco tried, and what happened was simply amazing!
