All posts by Nancy MacDonald

Summer Solstice mon

Summer Solstice time for healing and releasing the active mind and diving into Self.

Pranayama: Sahaja, Dirgha, KB with holds

Warming up in honor of the Solstice with Salutations two rounds then moving on to deep hip work to help focus our minds inward.  Self study and exploration, we keep many secrets in the hips. So we will allow them to open and see where that leads for meditation.

Meditation tonight with healing & self exploration.

Aromatherapy tonight will be Dharma for Yoga Flow Oils thank you Susan.

Flowing with strength & balance Fri

Pranayama: Sahaja, Dirgha, Sun breath (Surya Pranayama)

Suryanamaskara  (Sun Salute) with additions of strength building of Dolphin, doplhin plank, side plank,warrior 1 with prayer twist.

Standing strength. Balance of opposite arm and leg, Dance of Shiva, toe balance to floor with cobbler toe balance.

Easy twist and stretches, aromatherapy, savasana.

Aromatherapy is Energizing Blend from Yoga Flow Oils thank you Susan

Yogic response to the BP Oil Spill

My teacher Aadil Palkhivala gives his thoughts about the oil spill and how we are all responsible.  See also my tweet for today for an article from  Barbara Streistand about the spill.

Things to think about and meditate on.

In Purna Yoga, everything — from the greatest disasters, to personal challenges, to the seeming insignificance of breaking a glass — must be viewed through the yogic perspective of cause and effect, so that we may take personal responsibility for our lives. Purna Yoga teaches us to look at each of our actions, thoughts, and feelings and to take full ownership of our choices and their effect upon the world. When we break a glass, it may be easy to accept the consequences of our choice: we clean up the broken glass, and resolve to be more aware and respectful of material objects. But when the problem is an oil spill of devastating proportions, it may be a little harder to accept personal responsibility. For, no matter how you look at it, each one of us is personally responsible for this oil spill.

Now before we all want to bury our heads in our hands and never look up, let me tell you that while this burden is shared by all of us, and it only takes a few of us to make a difference.

So, what do we, as yoga students, do? The first thing we have to do is to understand what is really happening and why. Energy sources such as oil and coal were pressed into the earth thousands of millennia ago. These resources were meant to be left alone and were put into the earth to sustain the earth and were never meant to be brought up to the surface. When we go inside the earth and pull out what is meant to be kept inside, there are going to be problems.

Very often you will hear that coal and oil are the black fuel from hell, while solar and wind are the bright energies from heaven. These resources are designed to be used because they are so accessible! However, because solar and wind energies are practically free, there is not much financial gain for large corporations for promoting solar and wind. Having made the decision as a race to use oil, we now need to decide what to do. We have to ask ourselves if it right to use so much fuel. Is this in integrity with our purpose? Are we willing to change in order to save our planet?

Second, we must understand the ramifications of this spill on all of us. The oil is polluting the water and the atmosphere as it evaporates. The oil is turning into tar balls ranging in size from pin heads to golf balls. Since fish do not distinguish between oil and food, when they open their mouth, tiny tar balls are swallowed and become part of the fish. If we consume these fish, or the fish that ate these fish, we are bringing these toxins into our bodies. Very soon we will have to stop eating fish until there is a total disintegration of the oil itself. This may take decades.

Third, we must do our work by inviting Divine Light into the earth and into the oil. We must ask with deep sincerity for the protection and the transformation of this dark energy that has been violated, that has been yanked out from the earth. Therefore it is important that students of yoga bring as much light as possible into the oil spill and into the earth, and ask The Divine to help us find a more peaceful resolution to our energy issues, ones that do not interfere with nature. As Margaret Mead wrote, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” The Divine only needs a small group of people willing to pray with enough sincerity for real and lasting change to occur.

Hold on to your flow- strength tonight with arm balances. Tues

Time to check in again with the arms and give them some work. Tonight we will be looking closely at arm balances.

Pranayama:  Standing Sahaja, Dirgha, Sun Breath.

Salutations with twists and 1/2 Hanumanasana in.  Opening up the arms and shoulders with Dolphin and variations of Dolphin.  Fun times are here   🙂 Arm balances:  Crow with option to hop back to plank.   Hopping forward to Firefly,  Tolasana.

Moving from standing to squat using blocks then to hand balance again.

Release the shoulders with Prone shoulder opener.   Forward folds and twists to settle the mind and body before Savasana.

Aromatherapy is Anxiety Ease tonight thank you Susan.   😀   Savasana wtih Rock the Clock

Aromatherapy is made by Yoga Flow Oils

Chandra’s suggestion– Salutations & variations Mon

Pranayama: Sahaja, Dirgha, Kapalabhati with holds

Chandra suggested we do one of her favorites which is a series of Salutations with lots of options. So we are going to flow through these tonight.  Ending with supine hip openers and twists.

Aromatherapy tonight is Anxiety Ease Blend thank you Susan.

Aromatherapy is from Yoga Flow Oils. 8)

Yoga basics @ LFF Tyrone 430 Tues

Subbing for Tee at LFF Tyrone.  It is a basics class so here we go back to the Yoga Sutras.

Pranyama: Shaja, Dirgha

Toe stretch, top of foot stretch, calf stretch, cat rolls

Sun Salutations: Basic salutation to look at safe movement from runner to Downward dog back to runner. Safe options for plank pushup to Cobra or upward facing dog.  Using blocks during this will help.

Standing strength: Wide Leg forward fold and looking at alignment of hips and feet. Triangle, side angle, Warrior 2, 1/2 moon, Deviasana, Skanda.

Balance:  Tree & Dancer  

Hip openers pigeon/swan with added thigh stretch, double pigeon, twists and forward folds.

Aromatherapy and Savasana

Aromatherapy blend is Shanti Blend from Yoga Flow Oils thank you Susan

Open Hearts with backbends, inversions. Tues 745p

Had a request to go back to some more backbends with inversion of plow so tonight is the night.

Pranayama: Standing Dirgha, Sun Breath and Breath of Joy

Two reg Sun Salutaions not real slow to warm up the body.

Balance: Vrksasana (Tree), Star, Natarajasana (Dancer)

Raja Kapotasana (pigeon) to open the hips. Bhujangasana (Cobra) work, Paripurna Navasana (prone boat), Dhanurasana (Bow), Ustrasana (Camel),Setubandhasana Sarvangasana (Bridge), Urdhva Dhanurasna (Wheel), Halasana (Plow), Ananda Balasana (Happy Baby), Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclined Cobbler)

Janu Sirsasana twists & FF  Mermaid,  aromatherapy, Savasana

Aromatherapy is Open Heart of course from Yoga Flow Oils thank you Susan

Gentle moves & meditation =Bliss mon 7pm

Subbing for Judy tonight for her stretching & meditation class.

Pranayama Dirgha, Nadi Shodhana, Anoloma Viloma.

10 churnings    Yoga therapy foot work with point and flex as well as inversion, eversion.

 Wall work from TriYoga and Karin Stephan gentle moves to open the spine and body to allow easy meditation.  Wall chair to floor for legs up the wall, cradle work, & bridge rolls

Meditation will be Rainbow chakra meditation with aromatherapy Relaxation Blend  😮

Aromatherapy is Relaxation Blend from Yoga Flow Oils thank you Susan

Worshop overview from Chandra mon 530p

Pranayama breath work:  Sahaja, Dirgha, Shining skull breath

Toe stretch, top of foot stretch, calf stretch with arm work. Cat bow 1 &2

Standing series. Prone work  moving from cat to facedown & extended child to facedown.  Forward folds and twist.  

Aromatherapy,  supine twist.

Aromatherapy  Relaxing  blend from Yoga Flow Oils thank you Susan

Pranayama after rolling up new pranayama from my 500 hour training.

Strengthening the arms & moving the spine. Thurs

Prananyama:  Supine in Bridge prep moving with the breath to slowly fill the lungs while also waking the spine with bridge rolls.

Supta Tadasana using different arm movements to lengthen the side body and open the shoulders. Rolling like a ball to warm the spine.  Reverse table to build strength and openness in the upper body as well as balance & strength in the legs.  Cross squat to cat and cat rolls.  From cat moving to opposite arm and leg balance.  Hip circles. Thread the needle for the  shoulders as well as half dog.

Downward facing dog, pigeon,  swan rolls for hips and spine. Chair with Chair twist and balance.

Warrior 1, Revolved Triangle, Pyramid.  Eagle balance, wide leg forward fold, Skanda, forearm plank, forearm dog, side plank with many options.  Face down shoulder opener.

Dandasana, seated forward fold, Navasana, seated wide leg forward fold. Janu Sirsasana with twist, mermaid stretch, cobbler, cobbler/star forward fold.  Aromatherapy and Savasana.

Aromatherapy tonight will be Dharma blend from Yoga Flow Oils thank you Susan 8)