|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Spring 2013
Newsletter |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Friendship
Yoga News
Spring
2013
Spring
classes begin May 6th
Try
a free class Saturday, April 27th,
9-10:30am
For
more information visit www.friendshipyoga.com
Labyrinth Prairiewoods
Friendship
Yoga 15th Annual Spring Retreat
with Eddy Marks
at Prairiewoods Cedar
Rapids, Iowa.
May 17th - May 19th, 2013
Registration now open. www.friendshipyoga.com/retreats
Hello
friends of Friendship Yoga,
I first visited Iowa City in mid
April, exactly 22 years ago. Coming
from the San Francisco Bay Area,
the land of perpetual spring temperatures,
I thought it was kind of nippy here,
and needed to borrow a wool sweater
from the friend I was visiting. Now,
on this rather dreary April afternoon,
as I sit at my desk and look out
my window, I am eager for any signs
that spring is truly here and that
I won’t be disappointed by
a late cold snap or a snow. The daffodils
seem optimistic as they are popping
up in my yard, but I am still wearing
my wool sweater.
The Spring class schedule
is now available on www.friendshipyoga.com and
classes will begin the week of May
6th. I will be teaching
a free class on Saturday, April 27th from
9-10:30 am. Please spread the word.
Your support is vital and greatly
appreciated.
This winter in the upper level
classes, sirsasana (headstand)
has been our “ target” pose.
(Last year it was parivrtta trikonasana
(revolved triangle pose). Every
week I have taught some new way
of studying sirsasana by introducing
a means of support (prop) which
promotes the correct and necessary
actions which the arms, shoulders,
torso, and legs can and must do
in order to safely balance. “Action” is
an important Iyengar term. Movement
is what you do to come into or
out of a pose. You bend sideways
in utthita trikonasana (triangle
pose). Movements are big and obvious.
Actions are subtle; they require
focus and develop concentration.
Every action has an effect. When
I press my heels down, my quadriceps
contract and my legs become firm,
straight, and feel strong. Actions
form a continuum connecting all
the parts of the body, and penetrate
inward to the organs, the nerves,
the mind, emotions and to the deepest
layers of our being. This is the
core of the Mr. Iyengar’s
teaching and why the Iyengar method
is so much more than exercise,
a workout, or physical therapy.
To practice Iyengar yoga you have
to think, as well as reflect. The
changes are subtle and take time.
It is profound, intelligent, and
life changing.
However, for beginners, it can
just seem really challenging! I recall
at the end of my first class about
25 years ago, feeling a bit stunned
by what I had just experienced.
I felt better than I did when I
started the class and impressed
that everyone in the room
seemed to be planning on coming
back the next week. Frankly if
there hadn’t been this cute
guy in the class who chatted with
me afterwards, I probably wouldn’t
have come back! But lucky for me,
he talked me into it. The other
thing that floored me at the end
of my first class was that the
teacher was promoting a weekend
retreat. I remember thinking …. “A
whole weekend of this? ??? I don’t
know about that.”
Well, 25+ years since my first
Iyengar yoga class, here we are
about to embark on the……
15th Annual
Friendship Yoga/Prairiewoods Spring
Retreat!!!!
May 17 -19th, 2013
And I want you to come!!!! Eddy
Marks will be returning and you
can be the beneficiary of his vast
wealth of knowledge about yoga,
anatomy, kinestheology, Iyengar
lore, India, orchids, building
houses, travel, cooking , not to
mention his puppy like enthusiasm
for life. One of the nice things
about a workshop is that there
is lots of time for discussion
and questions, and you will get
some personal attention from an
expert teacher. You will also have
free time to read, draw, socialize
or do nothing!
Prairiewoods is an Iowa treasure.
It is beautiful, peaceful, and
convenient. Every year we arrive
to find interesting new projects
going on, initiated by the dedicated
staff and volunteers. Scholarships
to the retreat are available thanks
to the Maitri Yoga Education Fund. I
am extending the scholarship deadline
to April 19th.
Please email info@friendshipyoga.com
for an application. Otherwise,
everything you need to know is
on www.friendshipyoga.com
|
|
Eddy's
last visit to Prairiewoods
was May, 2011
This
will be my third year at the Friendship
Yoga / Prairiewoods Yoga Retreat
and I am very excited because the
ground is ripe for significant progress
which this weekend of deep study
provides.
Building on the foundation that
I have developed from attending
weekly classes, the concentration
and focus of the weekend of yoga
with a senior teacher always bring
more purpose to my practice when
I return home. This year
I will be working towards 3 defined
goals: embracing the transformative
power of Yoga, mastering Parsvotanasana
and enjoying Sirsasana.
I attended a previous retreat with
Eddy Marks, and I am delighted
he will be teaching again this
year. He
has a very strong presence, is
warm and friendly, and extremely
passionate about the subject of
yoga which I find both stimulating
and highly motivating. During
the breaks between classes and
meals (which are healthy and delicious!),
when walking the trails, or sitting
by myself or with others, I have
found the surroundings of Prairiewoods
to be calming and I become more
contemplative than my normal life
permits.
I can't wait!
Mercedes
Costoyas Perret
|
|
"Yoga
enables the practitioner to perceive
and experience the world within and
around himself , to touch the divine
joy of all creation, and then to
share that nectar of divine wealth
and happiness with his fellow beings".
BKS
Iyengar
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
"...The
teacher has to be able to not only stand on her head, but think
on her feet, as well..."
John Schumacher, Senior Iyengar Teacher |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
