February/March

February

February completely got away from me. Did anyone else feel like February flew by?
In February, we worked on moving with the breath, creating various sequences that combined poses in a dynamic way.
A group of dedicated practitioners scheduled a weekly morning class, making my work hours work for them.
Some other BoT students have been enjoying the benefits of scheduling one-on-one sessions. One-on-one sessions are tailored to the student's individual needs and are wonderful for those who wish to practice yoga privately but aren't sure what to do at home on their own.

At Home Practice

If you would like to begin an at-home practice, start with breath. Breath is the key to a successful yoga practice. Begin by noticing your breath, noticing where it is coming from, noticing the sensations it creates in your body, noticing it as it fills your lungs. Notice it filling your diaphragm like a balloon. The diaphragm is the principle muscle of respiration and it presses downward into a bowl shape on the inhalation to massage the digestive organs. On the exhale, it stretches upward to massage the lungs and heart.
Next, notice your throat. On your inhale, feel a lift in the back of your throat and hear the intake of breath, full and strong. Feel your belly rise and then your chest rise. You can even hold your hands on your belly and on your chest. On your exhale, notice the breath leaving your throat with a "haa" sound, like fogging a mirror, with or without opening the mouth, and notice the chest falling and the belly falling. Work on these steps to creating "ocean" breath. Notice how it calms your body, how it makes you feel as though you are taking in more air than you do during your regular breath and fully emptying your lungs to make space.

March

Looking forward to March, we will continue to explore breath. Pranayama is the control of the breath. Poses can be held as long as our breath is calm and steady. As soon as your breath becomes panicky or uncontrolled, it's time to come out of a pose, resting in a neutral pose like mountain, downward dog or child's pose. By focusing on controlling the breath, we focus on finding our "edge" in our poses and can hold even our most challenging poses, whatever they might be for us. 

Let's keep exploring our breath's ability to completely calm the body and take us further in our practice as the month goes on.

Happy New Year, BoT Yoga

Our Holiday/Winter Themed Class

Thank you to the students who took the opportunity to attend BoT Yoga's first Holiday/Winter themed class on December 21! We had a little fun, starting with "Candy Cane" (crescent stretch) pose and heading on through to try out poses like "Christmas Tree" (seated with arms stretched high and hands in a point) and "Snowball" (rock 'n roll.) Child's pose was accompanied by the reflection: 

Breathe in and let joy in. 

Breathe out and let worry/holiday chaos go. 

Breath in and let calm in. 

Let your thoughts go like snow on a hot rock.

 

I hope you enjoyed this lighthearted class as much as I did. It was a nice way to take a moment to smile and find calm before heading into all of the excitement that accompanies the holidays. 

An Old Year, A New Year

Before 2016 ended, we spent some time at BoT Yoga focusing on Loving Kindness Meditation. Loving Kindness (Metta) Meditation and is popular among yoga practitioners. It's about sending well-wishes toward other people (and yourself.) It always begins with a loving acceptance of yourself and continues forward from there to loving kindness toward others.
Throughout December, we repeated to ourselves during our Loving Kindness meditation:

May I be well.
May I be happy and content.
May I be free from danger and suffering.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May you be well.
May you be happy and content.
May you be free from danger and suffering.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be happy and content.
May all beings be free from danger and suffering.
May all beings be filled with loving kindness.

Don't Forget

In 2017, we will still be offering 10-class passes, which work out to a savings of $2 per class.

Going Forward

Looking forward into this new year, we will continue to journey into kindness toward the self and others. We will move mindfully, with an awareness of how our bodies move and what our bodies' needs are, asking ourselves without judgement if we need a bolster, block or other prop or a moment in child's pose. We can even ask ourselves if we need to push just a little bit further to find "effort with ease" or if we've lost our calm breath and need to hold back a bit. Listening to our bodies is an important and kind thing we can do for ourselves.

Namaste,

T.

BoT Yoga Meets East to West

Learning

This past summer, I travelled to Toronto in May and again in June to further my training at East to West Yoga and Pilates. I took in so much knowledge during those visits and left full of bliss, inspiration and ideas.
In November, I truly set down roots at East to West, travelling there with my fellow teacher in training for the first of 8 weekend training sessions. I learned about Anatomy and Alignment on that trip. It was overwhelming at first, leaving me completely drained and making me wonder what I had started. However, our teacher Susie had warned us we'd feel overwhelmed so I knew I should just push through and see what happened.
At the end of the day and again in the morning, Susie taught a yoga class that really brought what we'd learned together in a way that made it easier to take in. As we continue with our training each month, Susie will return to anatomy over and over, so that we can put it into practice.
In December, just this past weekend, I was back in Toronto for three courses. On the first day, we continued our Yoga Exercise Specialist training with Methodology I. We learned a few new poses, practised teaching them on one another and spent some time focusing on the pelvis and how it moves. On the second day, we studied the use of props for our first class. After lunch, we dove into the study of Sanskrit, a classical Indian language that we use mainly in Western yoga to name poses and various yogic philosophies.
I look forward to returning to Toronto each month for more training. The time is going to go by all too fast. I look forward to sharing what I learn with everyone who joins me at my home studio. If you're curious about what courses I take each month, have a look at the certificates/documents scrapbook on my props shelf.

It has a lot more stuff on it now than when it first went up in the yoga room!

December

I was a little shocked by December's arrival. How did that happen? How is there already a tree in my house, decorated with shiny, sparkly bits and bobs? How are there red and green stockings lined up all in a row on my mantel already? How are my children already singing songs about shepherds that they learned at school and dreaming of gifts dancing down the chimney one by one? How are there lights twinkling on the houses I pass by in every town, on every street and on every road?
Get ready for a Christmas experience here at Break on Through Yoga; the fireplace room, where you'll usually find my mat, is surrounded by a line of tiny stockings, big tinsel trees and many other delights for the eye. Maybe, just maybe, we'll find ourselves doing a holiday themed practice somewhere along the way...
There will be a few class cancellations throughout December; most of those will be on Sundays. If you're a student at BoT Yoga, be sure to keep your eye on the Facebook page, text me, email me, talk to me or call me for updates.

                                           upstairs, the stockings have been hung with care

Looking Forward

Over this next month and into the new year, remember self-kindness. Some suggestions:
*take some quiet time in the morning to turn your face to the sun or to really enjoy your coffee
*call a friend just to chat
*explore your town or city or one nearby-take the time to find out what is really unique about it. take a new route to go shopping or to work. find a new neighbourhood
*let go. let go of guilt. let go of regrets. let go of blame. let go of competing. let go of anything that isn't bringing you joy
*pause. before you do or say something you might regret, practice pausing. take a moment and really think about whether that comment you're writing or saying really needs writing or saying.
*be kind to someone else as well

                                                                          photo by Beau

Namaste,

T.

BoT Yoga on the Road

October 

Is is already half way through October? Did the summer fly by for you as well?  As we all begin to settle into our fall routines, as things settle in a bit before Christmas, maybe it's time to consider adding a little yoga time for yourself...
This month, we've been working on using the wall as a support for our bodies in our poses. We've also been working on opening up our shoulders and chests. As always, we've been working on pairing breath with movement and taking calm and self-kindness into our lives.
How can you be more kind to yourself this month? Consider focusing on yourself, on your needs and, in doing that, letting go of any guilt that comes with self-care. It is okay to take care of yourself; you cannot help others without first taking good care of yourself.

BoT Yoga on the Road

With that said, I'd like to extend kindness to you by making yoga easier for you to access by introducing Break On Through Yoga On the Road.

Looking Forward

In November, I will be travelling to Toronto for further training. This will happen monthly for the next 8 months. I look forward to sharing what I learn with you.

Namaste,

T.

September Schedule

My Summer

This summer’s adventures included a few trips with the kids (hello, Canada’s Wonderland, camping at Paradise Valley and visiting The Toronto Zoo!), starting up classes here at Break On Through Yoga (a big thank you to my summer students) and listening to a lot of yoga music while catching up on my reading.

The song that played repeatedly on this summer’s playlist was Deva Premal’s Brahma Nandam:

Brahmanandam parama sukhadam kevalam jnanamurtim

dvandvaateetam gagana sadrusam tatvamasyadi lakshyam

ekam nityam vimala machalam sarvadheesaakshibuutam

bhaavaateetam triguna rahitam sadgurum tam namaami.

(The universe of bliss, supreme happiness, pure unending knowing

Beyond the dualities, like the infinite space, the sole aspiration of all seeking

The one, eternal, pure, unmoving, the witness in all

Beyond states, beyond the three qualities, salutations to that true Guru.)

My reading list was varied but I really enjoyed “Myths of the Asanas: The Stories at the Heart of the Yoga Tradition” by Alanna Kaivalya and Arjuna van der Kooij. I also read a similar book called “Downward Dogs & Warriors: Wisdom Tales for Modern Yogis,” a book by Zo Newell. In future, I’ll be using these books to put together a yoga program for writers (let me know if this interests you) but for now, they’ve served me well in my classes, especially during Savasana (aka: corpse pose; the relaxation time we take at the beginning and end of class.)

I took some time early this summer for a couple of courses at East to West Yoga in Toronto and will be spending eight weekends there soon to work toward my next level of teacher certification with my fellow Yoga Exercise Specialist, Robin.

I hope your summer was as full of joyful moments as mine was. Let’s make fall just as memorable (hello, school days!)

Schedule

On this month's schedule (emailed to you), you might have noticed a couple of special events that will be occurring on September 11^th and 25^th (there will be more in October!) My teacher Angela Gordyn of Yoga Bliss Fitness is offering Community Classes for $5, taught first by Robin on September 11 and second by me on September 2. Angela spent many months getting us ready to teach and now, she’s giving us the opportunity to share that gift with the whole local yoga community. There are Facebook pages to sign up for the events (find them through Yoga Bliss Fitness/Angela.)

As usual, classes will be held Wednesday, Friday and Sunday nights at 8 p.m. If those times don't work for you though, why not get a group of you and three friends together so we can work out a time that does work for you? You'll get a bit of a discount too ($8/person!) If a group session isn't what you're looking for, book a private session. Though private session fees are a bit more than group session fees, we'll work closely and get to know each other better so that I can work out classes tailored to you. 

Just hoping to join my regular classes? I now have punch cards. For only $80, you get a 10 class pass; that's a savings of $2 per class. 

Grab a business card while you're here! Then, grab 2 more for your friends. 

My sister-in-law Angela designed my logo and my fees, schedule and notes page. I'm really happy with how it turned out and I love the cheerful yellow I get to look at every day on my blog page and on the business cards I ordered.

My Space

We've been working hard to make the Break On Through Yoga space really special. I hope you'll enjoy it too. Here are a few snapshots of what you'll see when you get here:

Looking Ahead

This summer, we've been working on breath & movement together, opening our chests and shoulders and quieting our minds. This fall, we'll continue to breathe, open up and look within. 

What else are YOU interested in working on? Leave a comment to let me know how I can guide you through your practice.

Yours, 

T.

December

Serrrrriously... I have been so busy working that I haven't had time to chat with all of you. I write for a newspaper and from December 1 to December 22, I have had something almost every day for work or family. Then I had a few days off for Christmas but have spent some of them writing up articles. Back at it on the 28th for Silver Stick (Hockey Tournament.)

I'm still here, still alive-I swear! Feeling very out of shape and not so fab since I've slacked a lot in the last...ohhhh...year. I'm still doing Pilates/yoga twice a week but I USED to do Zumba and run as well (Zumba in our town got cancelled.) Since I started working and we had a very cold winter, my running took a serious downhill slide. Hubs and I went shopping and got new shoes (I also got some new running pants for Christmas):

Obviously, I got a new sweater too...and it is not a match LOL I don't plan to run in the sweater anyway. (You can see my full calendar there behind me.)

Our new shoes are pretty fab too actually: 

The kids had a good Christmas (as did we) and we love our new house (did I mention we moved?) so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from us!! <3 p="">

xoxo

TLJ

Another Reminder to Myself

Today, I really need to remind myself to appreciate how far I've come. I worry too much about where I'm going. I am extremely hard on myself; I've been doing yoga every day and keeping a yoga journal to work through this. Yoga, for me, is a beautiful escape. I can't focus on the outside world if I'm breathing and focusing all of my energy into moving from pose to pose. I can't focus on hating my body if it's serving me so well.
My first "leap" was the moment I finally moved into headstand (against the wall-working on doing it without the support of the wall); I didn't think about the coulds and shoulds and musts. I just DID it. I wrote that day: "I finally lifted past that fear and into headstand...I am absolutely elated over it. The joy of achieving this feat that has eluded me for quite some time now is beyond explanation."
Taking my yoga a step further, now that I've found some courage in my poses, I am working towards just BEING in the moment. I'm learning to let go of the thoughts and to just BE in poses. It's liberating but it's a constantly ongoing process for me. Giving myself permission to LET GO is very, very difficult. I NEED to let myself be, to stop creating havoc in my own poor brain and accept me as I am. Recently, I did an outdoor yoga session and that was an experience I would be willing to do over and over again. With the sun beaming down on me and the frogs croaking in the creek, I didn't care about the people behind me or nearby me. I cared nothing about how I measured up. I cared only about the practice...and isn't that what it's really about?

Namaste.