yogamontreal

Yoga dans votre parc

Yoga dans votre parc

Les montréalais ont tendance à profiter au maximum de l’été; et les yogis montréalais aussi, puisqu’une douzaine de cours de yoga à l’extérieur sont offerts durant notre courte mais précieuse saison estivale.

Nathalie Keiller, qui a enseigné dans différents parcs dans les dernières années (incluant ma première classe dans un parc, il y a plusieurs années), dit: “Le parc est un endroit parfait pour une pratique fluide et simple. Les postures sont expérimentées de façon différente à l’extérieur, car il n’y a pas de mur, juste un vaste espace ouvert. Quand on ouvre les bras dans plusieurs postures, on peut ressentir l’énergie de la nature.” Un thème comme celui d’être présent en son centre est très approprié, étant donné qu’il y a beaucoup plus de distractions, ajoute-t-elle. “On se prend moins au sérieux, et nous avons encore plus de plaisir dans la pratique.”

Cet été, elle offre ses cours à l’extérieur au parc Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier dans le Plateau Mont Royal, les mardis matins de 10:30 AM à midi, et les mercredis soirs de 18:30 to 20 :00 PM. Le coût par classe est de $15 et l’horaire entre le 29 juin et le 28 août.

“C’est une grande joie de pratiquer à l’extérieur”, dit Kimiko Fujimoto de Studio Breathe, qui offre une classe de yoga les samedis à 10 :00 AM le long du canal Lachine, près du Marché Atwater. La classe de Kimiko est de type karma: un don de $5 est suggéré et sera remis à la Fondation David Suzuki. “De cette façon, nous pouvons pratiquer dans la nature, et faire un don à la nature.” Si vous n’avez pas d’argent, venez quand même, dit-elle. Cette classe commence le samedi 20 juin, et ce jour-là la classe commencera une heure plus tôt, à 9:00 AM.

Chez Luna Yoga, on salue le soleil chaque dimanche matin dans le parc, à partir du dimanche 14 juin, de 11 :00 AM à 12:30. Tel que le mentionne Jennifer Maagendas: “Le yoga est une pratique pour reconnecter avec la terre, sthira sukham asanam: la connexion à la terre doit être ferme et joyeuse. Quel meilleur endroit pour trouver la connexion que parmi les arbres, les oiseaux et la verdure du Vieux Montréal?”

Entre temps, dans Benny Park à NDG, Malcolm McLean (votre dévoué webmestre chez yogamontreal et auteur de cette lettre) offre le jeudi à 18:00 une classe qui débutera le 18 juin et aura lieu jusqu'au 13 août ($13 à la classe). J'offre ce cours depuis déjà plusieurs années. Je trouve que la pratique de yoga à l'extérieur est ennivrante et énergisante. Il y a un défi bien spécial dans les postures d'équilibre. Par exemple, la première fois que j'ai effectué un triangle, j'ai eu presque le vertige, ayant mon regard (drishti) perdu dans le ciel ouvert, jusqu'au moment où j'ai pu établir de nouvelles références visuelles; ce qui m'a éventuellement aidé à être plus stable dans différentes situations de postures d'équilibre, incluant à l'intérieur.

Pendant que vous appréciez le yoga dans le parc, les gens dans le parc apprécient aussi votre pratique. Cet attribut qui contribue à montrer le yoga en public (sans distraction ni aucune prétention) ajoute une autre dimension à la pratique dans le parc. Tel que le dit Nathalie “c'est un des joyaux d'une ville comme Montréal que de voir ces gens qui se réunissent et qui ensemble se concentrent de façon consciente sur leur corps.” En pratiquant à l'extérieur, vous pouvez sortir de votre routine et faire partie de la pratique du yoga: pour vous même et pour le monde autour de vous.

Tenez nous au courant si vous offrez un cours de yoga dans le parc, ou bien partagez votre expérience de yoga à l'extérieur avec nous.

La Joie chez United Yoga
Depuis le 1er juin, La Joie du Yoga a fermé ses portes et s'est installée en face sur Ste-Catherine pour fusionner avec United Yoga Montreal.

Pour Kelly McGrath, ce déménagement est une question d'équilibre vie-travail, afin de mettre son attention sur la qualité de vie en famille et de se soulager de la responsabilité de gérer un studio. “Les gens chez United sont très ouverts et accueillants, et m'ont rendu la tâche aisée,” dit-elle. Kelly offre maintenant ses cours de yoga Kripalu chez United Yoga.

Fermeture de Ciel et Terre
Daryl Vansier, professeur bien reconnu et mentor de plusieurs professeurs de yoga dans notre métropole, prend son retraite cet été et fermera l’Institut Ciel et Terre (NDG).

Lien:
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Le yogi eclectique

Yoga in Your Park

Yoga in Your Park

Montrealers tend to make the most of their summers; Montreal yogis no less so, as dozens of yoga classes head outside to practice in the open air during our short but precious summer season.

Nathalie Keiller, who has held classes in various parks over the years (including my first class in a park, many years ago), says: “The park is perfect for a flowing class. Postures are very different in the open air, where you have no walls, just open space. When you open your arms in any posture, you can feel the energy of nature.” The theme of staying in your centre is very appropriate, since there are more distractions, she adds. “We don’t take ourselves as seriously, and have a lot of fun in our practice.” This year she offers her outdoor class in Parc Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier in Plateau Mont Royal, Tuesday mornings from 10:30 AM to noon, and Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8 PM. The classes cost $15 and run from June 29 to August 28.

“It’s a joy to practice outside,” says Kimiko Fujimoto of Studio Breathe, who offers a Saturday 10 AM yoga class along the Lachine Canal, near the Atwater Market. Kimiko’s class is a Karma class, with a suggested donation of $5 to the David Suzuki Foundation. “This way, we can practice in nature, and make a donation to nature.” If you don’t have money, just come anyways, she says. This class begins Saturday June 20, and on that day the class will be an hour earlier, at 9 AM.

At Luna Yoga, the sun is saluted each Sunday morning in the park, starting Sunday, June 14, from 11 AM to 12:30. As Jennifer Maagendas puts it: “Yoga is the practice of reconnecting with the earth, sthira sukham asanam: the connection to the earth should be steady and joyful. What better place to find that connection than amongst the trees, birds and greens of Old Montreal?”

Meanwhile, in Benny Park in NDG, Malcolm McLean (your devoted webmaster at yogamontreal and author of this newsletter) offers a Thursday 6 PM class starting June 18 and running to August 13 ($13 per class). I have been offering this class for several years now. I have found the outdoor yoga experience to be exhilarating and energizing. There is a special challenge in balancing. The first time I took a triangle, for example, I found it almost vertiginous, with my gaze (drishti) lost in the open sky, until I was able to establish new visual references; this eventually made my balancing postures more steady in all situations, including indoors.

When you are enjoying yoga in the park, people in the park are also enjoying your practice. This quality of presenting yoga to the world (without getting distracted or egotistic about it) adds another dimension to yoga practice in the park. As Nathalie says: “it’s like a jewel on the face of the city to see people coming together and concentrating deeply on this practice of awareness of their bodies.”

Practicing outdoors, you can step out of your ordinary self, and just be the yoga practice: for yourself and for the world around you.

Let us know about your yoga class in a park. Leave a comment below!

Joy Comes to United Yoga

As of June 1, Joy of Yoga has closed its doors and moved across Ste Catherine St to merge with United Yoga Montreal.

For Kelly McGrath, the move is a matter of life-work balance, as she focuses more of her time on family life and obtains relief from the demands of running a studio. “The people at United have been very open and accommodating, and made it very easy to join them,” she says. Kelly is now offering her Kripalu classes at United Yoga.

Heaven and Earth Closes

After many years teaching and helping to develop other yoga teachers in Montreal, Daryl Vansier retires this June. He is closing Heaven and Earth Institute and moving to the Laurentians, to take care of his own yoga and meditation practice.

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Qu’est-ce que le yoga thérapeutique?

« Une fusion entre la physiothérapie et la psychothérapie », dit Carina Raisman. « Les gens font du yoga pour différentes raisons : problèmes reliés au nerf sciatique, maux de dos, dépression, pour diminuer ou arrêter la prise de médication tels les antidépresseurs et/ou les somnifères, etc. Dans les cours réguliers plusieurs en retirent de grands bienfaits. Dans un cours de yoga thérapeutique en privé, cependant, les professeurs peuvent personnaliser la session, en se concentrant sur la respiration et sur des postures qui s’adaptent aux besoins de chacun, en évitant celles qui pourraient aggraver le problème, et en s’occupant de la source émotionnelle d’où origine ce problème. »

Thé et yoga

C’est devant une tasse de thé, en discutant avec le client de sa santé, de sa digestion et de son état en général, que Carina détermine comment le yoga peut aider. Une pratique de yoga va améliorer l’état de la majorité des gens. « Il ne s’agit que de regarder leur visage, leurs yeux, leur posture … pour remarquer la transformation! Un nouveau chemin neural, de nouveaux comportements, de nouvelles habiletés sont observés. Les tensions musculaires causées par le stress se dissipent. Une meilleure circulation ainsi qu’une oxygénation (prana) améliorée place le corps dans un état positif qui va nourrir à son tour le mental. Ainsi émergent naturellement les réponses du corps vers la guérison. «

Les professeurs de yoga doivent respecter leurs propres limites. « Sauf si l’on possède une formation supplémentaire, ce n’est pas notre rôle de faire un diagnostic ou de prescrire des conseils diététiques. Nous pouvons travailler de façon efficace avec les médecins, ostéopathes, et autres professionnels pour aider les gens qui ont des problèmes de toutes sortes. »

Carina Raisman offre des cours de yoga thérapeutique depuis son studio sur le boulevard St-Joseph sur le Plateau Mont-Royal. Elle offre aussi des cours d’anatomie du yoga pour professeurs et étudiants.

Approche Personnalisée

Rana Waxman dénote que tout yoga est une pratique thérapeutique. « Grâce au yoga, on se sent mieux, on pense et on vit mieux. » De plus, sa propre introduction au yoga s’est faite par une expérience avec approche personnalisée. « Un cours de yoga dans un groupe est un peu comme une expérience de stretching; même si on en retire des bienfaits, l’approche personnalisée quant à elle va beaucoup plus loin. »

« L’histoire personnelle est très importante. C’est notre guide pour trouver les réponses. » Les gens qui, par exemple, souffrent d’insomnie, de maux de tête, de dépression, ou de fibromialgie, peuvent retirer des grands bienfaits d’un programme de cours en privé et de massages. Souvent, une session thérapeutique peut s’avérer comme une pré habilitation, afin d’empêcher des problèmes de sommeil de s’aggraver en troubles de l’insomnie.

Rana offre son amalgame de yoga thérapeutique et massages depuis un espace dans le complexe Queen Elizabeth Health. Ses références proviennent de différents clients. « Lorsqu’un dentiste traite un patient qui a des problèmes de maux de tête, au niveau de la mâchoire, ou bien de douleurs à la nuque, il peut gérer une certaine partie du problème et ensuite m’envoyer le patient afin de gérer la source de la tension. »

La douleur se situe surtout dans le cerveau

Len Blum demande aux gens dans son cours « Yoga pour Votre Douleur » chez United Yoga Montréal, où ils ont mal, et qu’est-ce qu’ils croient qui a causé cette douleur. « Ceci donne de l’information sur le cerveau. La douleur a son origine dans le cerveau, non pas dans les tissus blessés », affirme-t-il. « Lorsque vous frappez votre pouce avec un marteau, le signal envoyé au cerveau est celui d’un changement drastique au niveau de la pression. Le cerveau envoie immédiatement un signe au pouce : « douleur intense ». Les fluides du système immunitaire sont relâchés, le pouce ressent de la douleur, devient rouge, etc.

« Le pouce apparaît sur la « carte douleur » du cerveau pour nous rappeler d’éviter de répéter la cause de la blessure, et pour laisser la blessure se guérir. Après six mois, cependant, la plupart des blessures auront guéries. Mais la « carte douleur » du cerveau peut être quand même active et la douleur devenue maintenant chronique. Dans d’autres cas, la douleur peut être le résultat d’un traumatisme émotif. « Si vous passez deux semaines à vous inquiéter au sujet des résultats d’une biopsie qui pourrait révéler un cancer de la gorge, peu importe le résultat du test, votre corps se souviendra du traumatisme : et pourra se révéler près de la gorge, par exemple par une douleur à l’épaule. »

Par la respiration profonde, en calmant le cœur et le cerveau, la source de la douleur peut être maîtrisée. Par une manipulation prudente ou encore à travers des postures de yoga très spécifiques, les tissus blessés peuvent être apaisés, ou du moins le cerveau être convaincu de retirer cette partie du corps de la « carte douleur ».

Il a remarqué une prédominance de douleurs au cou et aux épaules. « Les postures dans lesquelles les gens travaillent (au bureau, sur un patient, au salon de coiffure, etc.) sont souvent la cause de ces problèmes, « dénote-t-il. Des douleurs au bas du dos sont autant de plaintes fréquentes. Pendant qu’un médecin prescrit un anti-inflammatoire, « je préfère chercher la cause, et aborder le traumatisme aux niveaux physique et mental. Si on prend le temps et qu’on utilise l’intuition, c’est possible. » Les problèmes plus complexes, tel le cancer, nécessitent une approche plus humble, dit-il. « Le yoga thérapeutique peut aider à renverser la douleur, renforcir le corps et améliorer l’attitude, mais le traitement le plus efficace se trouve dans les hôpitaux, et il est très important que les professeurs de yoga n’entravent pas ce chemin. »

Le cours de yoga thérapeutique de Len Blum est maintenant offert sous la forme d’une classe de yoga chauffé, et il offre de l’assistance le vendredi matin chez United Yoga afin d’aider les élèves à gérer la douleur.

What is Therapeutic Yoga?

“Think of it as a fusion between physiotherapy and psychotherapy,” says Carina Raisman. “People come to regular yoga classes for all kinds of issues: sciatica, lower back pain, depression, to get off medications like antidepressants and sleeping pills, etc. In regular classes, many are benefitting. In private therapeutic yoga sessions, however, teachers can customize the sessions, focusing on breathing and postures that are most beneficial to help the condition, avoiding those that may aggravate it, and addressing the emotional matters that may give rise to the physical issues.”

Tea and Yoga

Over tea, Carina learns about a client’s health, digestion, and general condition, and determines how yoga can help. A yoga session will improve almost everyone’s state, she feels. “Just look at their faces, eyes, posture…” you can see a transformation! New neural pathways, new behaviours, new skills come from a yoga practice. Muscular tension held as a stress response dissipates. Better circulation and oxygenation (prana) put the body in a positive state that feeds back to the mind. In this state, more of the body’s natural healing responses emerge.”

Yoga teachers should respect their own limitations, however. “Unless we have other training, it is not our role to diagnose, prescribe or give dietary advice. This way we can work effectively with doctors, osteopaths and other professionals to help people with all kinds of problems.”

Carina Raisman offers therapeutic yoga sessions from her studio on Boul. St. Joseph on The Plateau. She also offers Anatomy of Yoga classes for teachers and students.

One-on-One Approach

Rana Waxman notes that all yoga is a therapeutic practice. “With yoga, we feel better, think better, live better.” However, her introduction to yoga practice was a one-on-one experience. “A large yoga class is more like a stretching experience, and while there are benefits, a one-on-one approach magnifies them.”

“The individual story is really important. It is our guide to developing answers.” People with insomnia, headaches, depression or fibromyalgia, to manetion some of the cases Rana has treated, can benefit from a plan of private yoga classes and massage. Often the therapy session can work as “pre-hab,” for example by preventing sleep problems from developing into acute insomnia.

Rana offers her blend of therapeutic yoga and massage from a space in the Queen Elizabeth Health Complex. Referrals come from various practitioners. “When a dentist sees someone with headaches, jaw or neck pain, he can deal with part of the problem, but may send the patient to me to get at the source of the tension.”

The Pain, Inflamed, is Mainly in the Brain

Len Blum asks people in his “Yoga for Your Pain” class at United Yoga Montreal where they hurt, and what they think causes the hurt. “This gives information about the brain. Pain originates in the brain not in the injured tissue,” he asserts. “When you hit your thumb with a hammer, the signal to the brain is about a drastic change in pressure. The brain immediately sends the signal to the thumb: ‘intense pain.’ Inflammatory agents, immunofluids are released, the thumb feels the pain, it turns red, etc.

“The thumb appears on the brain’s pain map, to remind us to avoid doing whatever caused the injury, and to let the injury heal.” After six months, however, most injuries will have healed. But the brain’s pain map may still be lit up and the pain now chronic. In other cases, the pain may occur as a result of emotional trauma. “If you spend two weeks worrying about a biopsy result that will tell you that you have throat cancer, whatever the outcome of the test your body will remember the trauma: and it could manifest near the throat, for example as shoulder pain.”

With deep breathing, calming the heart and the brain, the pain generator can be subdued. With careful manipulation or through very specific yoga postures, the injured tissue can be soothed, or the brain convinced to take that part of the body off the pain map.

Len has seen a preponderance of neck and shoulder pains. “The positions people work in (at a desk, over a dentist chair, cutting hair, etc.) often cause these problems,” he notes. Lower back pain is another common complaint. While a doctor might prescribe an anti-inflammatory, “I like to find out what caused it, and address that trauma at both the physical and the mental level. If you take time and use informed intuition, this is possible.” More complex problems such as cancer require a more humble approach, he says. “Therapeutic yoga can help turn down the pain, strengthen the body and improve attitudes, but the effective treatment will be found in hospitals, and it is very important for yoga teachers not to get in the way of that.”

Len Blum’s open therapeutic class is now a heated yoga class, and he provides Friday morning counselling to United Yoga practitioners to help them deal with their pain.

A Report from Christine in Costa Rica

Christine Anderson, a much-loved yoga teacher at Ashtanga Yoga Montreal, sends this report from Costa Rica, where she now works at the Rainsong animal sanctuary.

Greetings from Paradise!!!

Finally, I am here at Rainsong and am mostly settled... taking inventory of how your donation has been used since the fundraisers in Montreal nearly 2 months ago. To say that Mary and Simon where surprised to receive over $2600.00 from our friends in Canada, is a grand understatement. They were over the moon! So far, the money has been used to help pay down the debt that builds up at the hardware store during the dry season, (building can only be done in the months from December to the end of April. The hardware store supports the project by allowing Rainsong to carry a large credit on trust.

Since I left last June, Rainsong has been busy rescuing animals and building habitats for the new arrivals: There are 3 new large habitat houses (each cost around $800 to build), 2 medium houses (at about $100 each), 1 new aviary ($1200)... this cost doesn’t even touch the bill for fruit, vegetables, grains, vitamins, surgery and medication. Our monthly budget has now topped over $1000 USD to maintain the animals we care for.

And the new residents at Rainsong are:

2 baby deer whose mother’s were killed by poachers, (when the mother goes grazing, she leaves the baby spread-eagled on the ground, the markings of a deer fawn help to camouflage it from predators. The baby stays there until the mother returns... so many of the babies are found starving to death as they wait for mom to return, not knowing that she has been killed by illegal poachers).

1 Margay / Caucel. Considered to be the most endangered of the wild cats in Costa Rica, (because they are the most arboreal, the loss of habitat hits them hardest). This beauty was hit by a car, and the impact knocked out his left eye. He will never be able to be released because of the loss of depth perception, and possible brain damage he has suffered. (see link below to get a look at this guy).

both of the following large bird species were pursued by hunters for their flesh: 2 breeding pairs of Chachalacas. These beautiful birds have been extinct in this area for almost 40 years (Simon, who was raised in Cabuya, remembers seeing them only as a child). Wild chachalacas are now returning to our area... just this evening we saw a pair sitting in the trees of Rainsong! The offspring of the breeding pairs we have at the Sanctuary will be released, enhancing the genetic pool of the local wild chachalacas, due to the fact that ours come from a distant area of Costa Rica (central Valley).

6 Crested Guans, also extinct in the area since the time of Simon’s grandfather... also to be bred and released.

1 Baby Howler monkey (she is the 5th of the baby howlers to arrive at Rainsong, and if she makes it, she’ll be the first one we save). The other 4 were more than likely electrocuted on the electric wires, and too injured to be saved. Mona Lisa was the victim of an Alpha Coup; This is when a new alpha male moves into a pack of howlers and takes over after defeating the former alpha. Sometimes the new alpha will kill the infants that are not his offspring. Mona will be at Rainsong for life, as she lost her tail in the attack and would need that to survive in the canopy. (see video link).

1 Baby Tepezquintle (paca). The tepes in Costa Rica have been hunted out as a delicacy for years. This one was born to our pair at Rainsong, and because he is a boy, he’ll be traded in for two girls for further breeding and eventual release. (see website for photos).

2 baby goats. Simon paid the owner of the first goat $20 to not eat him... the second was purchased to keep the first one company... Simon has wanted goats his whole life!

1 Resident Volunteer. This species is a rare find throughout the planet-saving community. It is difficult for the majority of volunteers to donate more than a few weeks of service, as the work is sometimes stinky, dirty, hot, and requires hands-in-shit... animal care is not as romantic as it sounds! Mary’s scars from teeth, spikes, and claws, are multiplying daily!

Rainsong Goals for 2009/10: Many of the residents at Rainsong will never be released into the wild due to permanent disabilities. However, we are in the process of building an enclosed, 3000 square meter jungle habitat for our permanent residents to enjoy the freedom of the wild without the danger of predators. For the past five years, Rainsong has been planting native fruit trees and preparing the land for the enclosure. The habitat will be enclosed by walls over 6 feet tall to prevent boas, coyotes and wildcats from getting in and preying on our friends.

Each panel of sheet metal costs $25 and covers less than 1 and a half feet of linear area. The barrier wall also requires a moderately deep trough of cement to prevent predators from digging in under the wall. The frame will be made of homegrown lumber from Rainsong’s windfall trees. The estimated cost is well over $10 000.

All of us here at Rainsong thank you for being a fellow planetary guardian, and taking the time to help us in our efforts to heal our lil’ corner of Costa Rica.

Lokah Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu, om shantih. (May all beings everywhere be happy and free, peace.) Blessings of peace from all of us at Rainsong, feathered, furred, scaly and human.

click here to meet Mary and some of the animals at Rainsong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3XmhatOHWM&feature=channel_page

visit our website here: www.rainsongsanctuary.com

Yogalato

Montreal yogini Emily Finkelstein offers a gustatory appreciation of her favourite yoga studio.

I often find myself in downward facing dog. It’s arguably the most commonly frequented Yoga posture on this side of the Meridian. Most of us Yogis have mastered D-dog as well its alter ego Up-dog. It’s time for some creativity.

Studio Bliss aka my favourite ice cream parlour of Yogic treats offers a variety of classes. The spectrum begins with calm meditative Hatha aka vanilla; it progresses to stimulating Flow aka strawberry; and ends with challenging lululemon-drenching Power/Ashtanga/Vinyasa Yoga aka double chocolate fudge brownie with a peanut butter swirl—it can be a marshmallow swirl if you have nut allergies.

The dedicated instructors infuse their own personal spices into their teaching and interlace spirituality like icing. They teach new postures, add twists to the more common ones, and delve into the Sutras that inspired the art of Yoga. My body greedily devours the physical benefits while my mind revels in the expedition toward awareness.

The Studio is opening their doors for new students to receive 2 months unlimited yoga classes for $99. Sample every flavour of Yoga class! Students are eligible to receive a stand-by massage after their class for $49, space permitting, OR add a massage to the monthly membership for only $40 (reg $70). It’s worthwhile, trust me. A Blissful massage following an invigorating Yoga session at The Studio is always the cherry on top of my day.

www.studiobliss.ca 3841 St. Laurent (just north of Roy ) (514)286-0007

By Emily Finkelstein

Lindsay in Tajikistan

In 2008, Lindsay Schonfelder organized the "Spring Day of Yoga" to help her with a Habitat for Humanity project in Tajikistan. Here is a note from Lindsay about the project, and some photos.

Hey yoga people!.

I hope you're all enjoying the holiday season with your loved ones. I'm home in Calgary with my crew. Its so cold here that we haven't been outside in days. It's a far cry from the 40+ degrees we had in Tajikistan this summer!.

Christmas reminds me of the great gift you gave me in supporting the Spring Day of Yoga. I'm still kind of in awe of the way everything came together so well. I loved knowing that the yoga community in Montreal was behind me in supporting Habitat for Humanity's work in central Asia and i LOVED my experience there. Thank you so much for your help!.

I thought you might like to see a few pictures from the Habitat for Humanity build! The first one is a couple of little girls living next door to the build site. In fact, their house was built last summer, and now they're eagerly awaiting new neighbours. You can see us filling in the cement foundations with buckets in the background. (I'm the one crouched down wearing the big hat). .

The second pic is the base of operations for the Nurek build, where we worked every morning. It was one of twenty earthquake and landslide resistant homes being built on the site. Our little team worked with three families there, helping mix up cement with shovels and pour the foundations by hand. The families building their homes there were an inspiration; the hardest workers I've ever met! They should all be settled into their homes by now:) . The last photo is my team standing on our filled in foundations. (I'm third from the left.) It was the six of us women from Canada, and our hosts from Habitat for humanity Tajikistan. You can see the hand-made bricks stacked behind us. By the time we left, the brick walls were nearly up! . I am so grateful to you for your participation in getting me to Tajikistan. The build was the hardest work I've ever done, but it was incredibly worthwhile. My team and I really got the sense that we were helping a community to build itself up, and we were all so happy to be a part of that! You should be proud for being a part of it too! . With love and prayers for a joyful 2009, Lindsay Schonfelder

Karma Yoga

Montreal Yoga Teachers Cultivate Inner Consciousness for Outer Action

How You Can Be Part of It

This post celebrates three Montreal yoga teachers who feel that the job description goes far beyond the yoga mat and the inner world, to action in the outer world on environmental and social causes. 

As Yasmin Fudakowski-Gow puts it: “Yoga means union. The practice is to unite or bring together the various aspects of our being: to make a mind-body-soul connection. But in fact is more than that. It’s the earth-body-mind-people-planet connection." Yasmin put this view into practice in 2008 when she joined a Climate Change awareness tour of 21 university campuses across Canada sponsored by the David Suzuki Foundation, The Canadian Federation of Students and the Stephen Lewis Foundation. She taught yoga to the people on the tour and students on the campuses, and joined luminaries such as David Suzuki, Stephen Lewis, and Maude Barlow on stage as an opening speaker, addressing the question of Cultivating Inner Consciousness for a Truly Sustainable Outer Environmental Consciousness and Social Justice. Her message looked at the role of marketing in creating an inauthentic identity, playing on insecurity and ultimately leading us to consume more to be less happy.   

“Excessive consumerism/materialism negatively impacts societal values and the environment. After all, the more we prioritize working, earning and spending on luxury goods, the less time we have for ourselves, for family and for friends, and of course, the more resources we unconsciously devour.”

For a yoga teacher, the quality of inner peace is related directly to the quality of peace in the world, according to Jasmin. The work of a yoga teacher can address both sides of this equation.

In November, 2008, Jasmin put on a Sustainable Holiday Fair at her yoga studio on the West Island, Centre Holistique Om West. It was a benefit for the David Suzuki Foundation, raising $450 and raising consciousness of among many particiupants as to how they can address the environment in their own lives, from composting to environmentally friendly holiday shopping.

In 2009, there will be more events at her studio or elsewhere that carry on the outer work, as well as the inner work of yoga. Watch for them on the pages of yogampontreal.com, check her website at www.westislandyoga.com or call 514-836-5578 to find out how you can be involved.

 

Dawn Maurizio's Karmic Connection

For Dawn Maurizio, the karmic connection was inspired by a workshop with Sean Corne, called Off the Mat into the World. “It was a five-day intensive that looked at finding your true purpose in the world, a beautiful experience.”

In 2008, she acted on her vision by organizing 108 Sun Salutations for the Environment, a benefit that provided a great yoga experience on the East slope of Mount Royal, and raised $2,200 for Equiterre, a local environmental organization.

Dawn’s busy world of environmental and social activism includes her role as an ambassador for Lululemon, and a weekly newsletter to an ecological group Better Half, with about 500 members, and ongoing initiatives to promote both environmental and social causes.

“When I ask: What breaks my heart in the world? The answer is abandoned children,” Dawn told us. In 2009 she hopes to follow a seva challenge with Sean Corne to raise money and go to work in an orphanage in Cambodia.

Her approach to yoga combines the methods of Hatha Yoga with Vipassana meditation, and uses them as a means for spiritual activism. Yoga practice does not mean withdrawal from the world, for Dawn Maurizio. “Yoga practice helps you stay grounded and keeps you from being overwhelmed by so much to do; you can avoid that overload sometimes leads to a passive approach to the world.”

Watch for more of Dawn’s events in 2009 on the pages of yogamontreal, or check out her website at http://www.dawnmauricio.com.

 

The Karma of Biological Diversity

Christine Anderson, a yoga teacher at Ashtanga Yoga Montreal, has felt the call to return to the Rainsong Wildlife Sanctuary in Costa Rica. She will leave Montreal early in January 2009.

Last year she discovered this sanctuary at the edge of Costa Rica’s oldest national park, Reserva Natural Absoluta Cabo Blanco, which has the mission of helping to rehabilitate this small and very important part of the earth. “This project is very close to my heart, because I have worked with these guardians of the planet, in awe of the bravery it takes to dedicate one’s life to giving back to our shared earth,” said Christine.

Founded and run by Mary Lynn Perry and Simon Gomez Gomez, Rainsong helps by rehabilitating and releasing injured animals, and has promoted the purchase of land to be preserved in the natural state. It is also helping in the reforestation of lands with hardwoods and other important elements of the natural habitat.

Rainsong operates solely from donations and the heard work of volunteers, so as Christine heads off to Montreal for the call of the wild, Ashtanga Yoga Montreal has scheduled a benefit fundraiser for her last class in Montreal. Montreal yogis who wish to support Christine in her mission to the Rainsong Wildlife Sanctuary are invited to join this special class of 108 salutations to the Sun, on Saturday, January 3rd, at 2:30 PM. For more information, visit http://www.ashtangamontreal.com/files-contents/AYM.jpg  or call 514-875-9642

Célébrons le Jour de la Paix à Montréal

La communauté de yoga à Montréal a marqué le 21 septembre, Jour International de la Paix des Nations Unies, en dansant, en jouant des tambours, en faisant des salutations au soleil, et en écoutant les discours des dignitaires.

Celebrating Peace Day in Montreal

The Montreal yoga community marked September 21, the United Nations International Day of Peace, with dance, salutations to the sun, drumming and dignitary speeches

Yoga au parc

Cet été, les Montréalais reconnectent avec la nature, et avec eux-mêmes, en pratiquant le yoga dans les parcs de notre ville. Jennifer Maagendas, du Centre Luna Yoga décrit les qualités de cette pratique en plein air:

Yoga, c'est la pratique de se reconnecter avec la terre -- sthira sukham asanam: la connexion avec la terre doit être stable et remplie de joie. Quoi de mieux pour se retrouver parmi les arbres, les oiseaux, et la verdure...

Summer 2008 brings yoga to a park near you

This summer, people are reconnecting with nature as they reconnect with themselves in their yoga practice, doing yoga in parks throughout the region of Montreal. Jennifer Maagendas, of Centre Luna Yoga describes the special quality of yoga outdoors:

Yoga is the practice of reconnecting with the earth, sthira sukham asanam: the connection to the earth should be steady and joyful. What better place to find that connection than amongst the trees, birds and greenery...

At François Raoult's Workshop - May 2007

In his May 2007 workshop at Yoga on the Park in Montreal, François Raoult made a deep impression on beginners and experienced yogis alike. Here some notes from his workshop for teachers on Monday May 21, where he shared perspectives on the role of a yoga teacher, offered a wealth of tips from his decades of practise and teaching, and answered questions from a group of teachers and advanced students.

Yoga Anatomy - A must for yoga teachers

How do you learn what is happening to the body during yoga postures? In recent years a flurry of new books has come out to help yoga teachers and students understand and visualize the dynamics and effects of each yoga posture. Perhaps the clearest and most concise is Yoga Anatomy, by Leslie Kaminoff .

The 6.72 billion names of god

Too many names of god,
Cosmologies divergent!
Still, in this thing convergent:
I
Say it’s so.

Too many names and tales!
Enough to say
I am.
And be convincing.

The universe
So vast to know
No certainty is true

It's ours to sail
across the sea
of stars
to know it better

It's ours to peel
our selves away
Till
I am
is enough
And vision's very clear.

It's ours to be
Ascending,
The universe aware!

Our journey's
what it's seeing...
what could there be
More sacred?

Is Yoga A Religion?

Is Yoga a Religion?

Wherein your fearless webmaster chases logic into swampy waters, searching for new answers to a suddenly more pertinent question.

“--- , Otherwise, it’s just gym” is a phrase heard too often in the mouths of yoga teachers. Presumably yoga class is higher and better than the aerobics class that plays loud music next door and disturbs our serenity. After all we address the person’s spiritual development; not just their butt line.

At the Lotus Palm Thai Yoga Massage Introductory 1 course.

At the Lotus Palm School in Montreal: This is the borderland between yoga and massage, meditation and dance.
A school respectful to a Thai lineage and its wisdom,
now well adapted to North America,
and growing rapidly in popularity as a massage technique.

Studios Coming and Going

The past few months have seen many milestones, comings and goings of yoga studios in Montreal.

More Signs of Life

Thanks to the many people who have been asking after my health. It is great!

Modern medical science has rescued me from a congenital heart valve defect that once would have spelled a very short life expectancy and sharply reduced vitality. Yoga made me strong and resilient for the surgery. It helped me deal with the emotional dimension of a heart condition, where the effect of your feelings on pulse, blood pressure, etc. become very obvious. And it has helped me recover solidly from the effects of major surgery.

I am back to a teaching schedule at the YMCA, and after the holidays at Mandala Yoga.

This blog has languished for the past few months, but it too will be showing new signs of life in the coming weeks.

Watch for a major change in the yogamontreal website as well, as the people at Ecohosting help me roll out a new technology platform for the yogamontreal.com website, with interesting new features: more efficient operation by the webmaster, and more features for the website user.

Yogamontreal will be launched out of the 1990s and into 2007 in a single leap!

Touch down - And Go For It!

Erica, back home in Vancouver, sums up her experience in India

More About the Heart

The story about heart surgery continues, as complications occurred. They were overcome, however, and I'm still on the recovery road. Thanks to so many who sent their good wishes.

Malcolm Learns About the Heart

My experience of heart surgery has been a profound wake-up call; and a reminder of the importance of love in the world. On the night before the operation, and the morning of the operation, I opened up to the intentions and good wishes being sent my way in various yoga and meditation practices around Montreal and elsewhere. What a feeling of being uplifted!

I practiced with a sense of urgency that morning, as in: “there’s the last bird of paradise for a while, maybe even forever.” I knew that the practice of yoga asana, meditation and breathing that I have pursued in the past years, and the cultivation of loving kindness that I have been part of in the Montreal community, were important to a successful outcome.

My thanks to the many who sent me their good wishes, by email or by psychic ether. This is where the physical heart and the metaphysical heart merge,
and healing goes beyond muscle and bone.

I wrote some notes about the operation, which follow:

More from Erica at Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram

Continuing our series of posts of reports from yogis on their pilgrimages to India, here is another report from Erica, in a moment of reflection during her course at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai, India.

How to Find Your Yoga Studio and Teacher

Mary Dunlop offers this post on the subject of finding your yoga studio and teacher.

Erica at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM)

Erica reports on her 2 week workshop, The Power of Yoga, at Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram

Hart Lazer's Eponymous Visualization

In the work of yoga, and the relaxation that accompanies it, the mind empties. Cares fall away. And sometimes, even more remarkable things occur; as on this occasion.

Guru: Documentary on Pattabhi Jois

An insightful documentary film about yoga was released this month, in London, England. Guru: A Documentary by Robert Wilkins, was released at a gala premiere on March 5, attended by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, the founder of the Ashtanga yoga system ("If we practise yoga without fail, we will then attain physical, mental, and spiritual happiness and our minds will flood towards the self.").

Morning Practice

The Courage of the Early Morning

Many Montreal yogis are moving into spring by with the help of early morning workshops. Here is a report on various programs being offered in the city.

Mysore in the Year 2020

This report from India is by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes, two of my favourite science fiction writers. Their book Saturn's Race, set in the year 2020, includes a visit to Mysore with a Dr. Jois, a "small, limber, dark man," and describes an Ashtanga class taken there:

Gayatri Mantra (report from Daphnée)

Daphné St-Pierre, a Montreal yoga teacher, is in India for a year of study and seva. Here she writes about the Gayatri Mantra, a powerful chant.

A Thing of Beauty

A thing of Beauty is a joy forever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

-John Keats, one of the great poets of the English language, died of consumption (tuberculosis) at age 25 (1821). His mother had died of consumption, and he nursed his brother through this wasting lung disease. He was very aware of the beauty of breathing.


At his bequest, the following lines were engraved on his tombstone:
"Here lies one whose name was writ in water."


He felt his life had been insubstantial, he was trying to get out of writing and into a respectable career, until he became an invalid. Yet his words still write their way into the hearts and minds of millions. They are carried on paper enough to lay low great stands of trees -- and now on electrons.


This excerpt is from Hyperion

Daphnée's Yoga Practice in Pune

Daphnée St. Pierre, teacher at several locations in Montreal, including Joy of Yoga and the YMCA, has gone to India for study and seva. Here she reports on her experience in Pune.

Lyse in Arunachala

Lyse Michel, a Montrealer who went on the Fountain of Happiness retreat to Arunachala, India, with Mollie Lawson, offers this report:

Hanuman in the streets?

Margo Veitch stayed at  Arunachala, the sacred mountain near Tiruvannamallai in Southern India this fall. The event was a retreat organized by Montreal yoga teacher Mollie Lawson.

Margo, a Montrealer by origin, massage therapist and yoga teacher, now lives in New Hampshire. Among her many impressions from Arunachala: "The monkeys were truly amazing!"

(Photos by Margo Veitch)

Daphnée in India

For many in the Montreal yoga community, India beckons, as the home of yoga, as a pilgrimage to a place that works along different lines.

Daphnée St. Pierre, teacher at several locations in Montreal, including Joy of Yoga and the YMCA,  has gone to India for study and seva. She reported in on Jan 18:

Bikram to the Rescue

I went to London to interview for a Big Job: After two gruelling days of interviews, tests, and disappointment, I caught the last Bikram Yoga class in a packed studio in the City. An oasis in the desert, even if it was a hot as any desert!

Anatomy for yoga

Hatha yogins in India developed an amazing system to develop the physical body. Some of them posited the unfashionable notion that getting to know the body you are in could be a valuable step in the path of self-realization.

Today, many see their path is through a better understanding of anatomy and physiology. Here is a report on an anatomy for yoga class offered in Montreal.

Hot Yoga

Today I took my first Bikram Yoga class in more than a year, at the Bikram Yoga Montreal studio at 721 Walker Avenue. Here are some observations.