Toni Kuhn

Handstand

As you enter the busiest time of the year, you may find it harder to make time for yourself. This year, try to dedicate some time to regroup and recharge your batteries. You will feel much better about yourself and much more capable of handling the holiday season.

Perhaps a private yoga lesson will help you dedicate a little “me” time. Or better yet, give the gift of yoga to a friend or family member. I can provide you with a gift certificate for private yoga lessons with me.

For the month of December, I am offering 10% off all private yoga lessons. This includes package deals! Lessons can be purchased in December, and then used up to 6 months. You can book appointments consecutively or spread them out.  For more information, contact me through my web link, face book  or email.

This week in my classes we will be focusing on inversions to change our perspective, face our fears, and build our self confidence. Inversions take patience, determination, faith, and a little playfulness. Make sure to check with a yoga teacher for any contraindications before practicing any inversions.

Here are some teaching tips for handstand.

•  Place your mat short side against the wall.
• Begin in down dog & make sure hands are shoulder width apart
• Creases of the wrists face the wall
• Step one foot forward and shift your shoulders over your wrists
• Root your palms down and kick u to the wall
• Engage the muscles of the upper arm and keep your arms straight
• Engage your thighs and draw your bottom towards the ceiling
• Hold a few cycles of breath
• Come down and rest in child’s pose.

Take care of yourself. Breathe. Relax. Have Fun!

Extended Side Angle Pose

This week we will be focusing on poses that give us strength. Extended Side Angle Pose is a challenging pose that not only builds leg strength but it also lengthens the side body and helps you to feel grounded. As you practice this pose, let go of any irritation and allow yourself to open up to the pose.

Here are some teaching tips:

• Begin in warrior two, with your right knee bent.
• Have a yoga block handy if the floor seems far away.
• Make sure your feet are lined up right heel to back arch.
• Align the right knee over your ankle an in line with your second and third toes.
• Draw your right hip down as your left thigh presses straight back.
• Reach your right arm towards the right side and then place your hand on the floor or the block, behind your right leg.
• Extend your left arm over head and look up.
• Hold 5 breaths.
• Repeat on left side.

Bakasana

Sometimes we hold ourselves back out of fear and our own insecurities. Arm balances are very challenging and tend to bring up these emotions. This week we will be focusing on arm balancing poses in order to step out of our comfort zones and not only face our fears, but find our playful side. When we can learn to let go of our expectations and our need to be perfect, these poses begin to take shape. So relax, take your time, remember that some of these poses take years to accomplish, and above all, have fun!

Here are some teaching points for bakasana:

• Start in down dog and walk your feet closer to your hands

• Bend your elbows and knees

• Climb your knees one at time onto the backs of your arms

• Draw your belly up and in, and reach your chest forward

• Slowly lift one foot at time off of the floor

• Continue to reach your chest forward and spread your toes

• Hold for a couple of breaths

• Have fun!

Open your heart and discover who you are.

“Listening to your heart is not simple. Finding out who you are is not simple. It takes a lot of hard work and courage to get to know who you are and what you want.”
-Sue Bender

Up dog

Here is another photo from my photo shoot with Shlick Art. This week we will focus on heart openers to help lift our moods as the season changes. Up dog is a very up lifting pose and can help increase flexibility in your shoulders and back.

Here are some tips to get into the pose.

• Start on your stomach and slide your wrists under your elbows.
• Press the tops of your feet down and lift your knees.
• Spin your inner thighs up and draw your buttocks towards your heels.
• Peel your chest up and stand on hands and feet.
• Draw your shoulders back and continue to press your thighs up.
• Hold five breaths.
• Enjoy!

The Yoga Sutra is not presented in an attempt to control behavior based on moral imperatives. The sutras don’t imply that we are “bad” or “good” based upon our behavior, but rather that if we choose certain behavior we get certain results. If you steal, for example, not only will you harm others, but you will suffer as well.
The first yama is perhaps the most famous one: ahimsa, usually translated as “nonviolence.” This refers not only to physical violence, but also to the violence of words or thoughts. What we think about ourselves or others can be as powerful as any physical attempt to harm. To practice ahimsa is to be constantly vigilant, to observe ourselves in interaction with others and to notice our thoughts and intentions. Try practicing ahimsa by observing your thoughts when a smoker sits next to you. Your thoughts may be just as damaging to you as his cigarette is to him. – Yoga Journal