March Theme: Gratitude
Quotation: “Who, being loved, is poor?” Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Irish Writer This week’s Task: Cherish your loved ones: being grateful for those we love and those who love us can sometimes get lost in the busyness of every day. Not this week! On three of these seven days, set aside some time to do something special for someone you love – cook their favourite meal, write them a caring note or offer to do a chore for them to lighten their load. Taken from Every Day Matters Diary by Dani DiPirro TODAY'S RECORDING TO USE ANYTIME THIS WEEK 28.3.21 Stretch & Flow Yoga Recording 75 minute class with option for longer savasana (Dru deep relaxation going through each part of the body twice: physical and subtle) for those who want it. Today’s class celebrates the full moon, the colourful spring festival of Holi and the start of Holy Week for Christians with Palm Sunday. We practise the hissing breath with Akash Mudra to lift our mood, Moon Salutation (Chandra Namaskar) to honour the full moon, lively activations with virtual colour throwing for Holi and a modified Triangle (Trikonasana) releasing tension in the hips and energising our emotions for spring. Plus elements from EBR2. Today’s affirmation is: I am in control of my life! https://zoom.us/rec/share/vf4JcPAgUeR7Yq6UPKoVa1eSSfYUPzEplhLt10BRnjKihkhVuc2huJQNzMM_pSDV.kXtVAAkQ1TB1TRPR Passcode: t&@8*=%I With the full March moon comes the celebration of Holi celebrating the arrival of spring, the end of winter and the blossoming of love. It is a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships. The festival also celebrates the beginning of a good spring harvest season. It lasts for a night and a day, starting on the evening of the Purnima(Full Moon day) falling around middle of March in the Gregorian calendar. It is known variously as the Festival of Love/Spring/Colours and especially known for the tradition of throwing brightly coloured paint over each other. I believe water can also be involved in this colourful free for all of hope, joy, gaiety and silly pranks chasing away evil. This celebration is much loved by everyone so today we joined in throwing virtual colours, washing and blending them with water and marvelling at the colourful display. Food and drink play their part in this festival including thandai and bhang which are similar but different in that thandai is a nutritious, cooling, milk based drink while bhang has the additional ingredient of marijuana leaves, likely to result in a massive hangover the next day, oversleeping and hallucinations if taken to excess. Apparently, Bhang has been consumed for thousands of years (dating back as far as 2000BC) and is reputedly used by Shiva for its calming qualities. For Thandai (without the bhang) you'll need: Almonds, peppercorns, poppy seeds, cardamom, fennel seeds and water melon seeds Sugar, saffron, rose water, whole milk (or alternative) Mix the spices and nuts with milk along with sugar, saffron and rose water. Allow the mixture to absorb the flavours for one hour in the fridge. Then strain using a fine sieve and serve with rose petals and chopped pistachios scattered on top. Thandai should be served chilled (it doesn't taste as good at room temperature) and it's best to use whole milk. However, you can experiment with fat free or milk substitutes if you prefer. Thanks to my friend Madhu for this recipe. For exact measures and more background about Thandai and Bhang plus delicious Holi food check out: https://www.cookwithmanali.com/thandai/ Today is also Palm Sunday and marks the beginning of Holy Week leading up to the events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It is celebrated in churches with the giving of palm crosses remembering Jesus' triumphant entry to Jerusalem, cheered by the crowds who only days later would be calling for his death. Jesus could have written into the city like a king but he chose to enter on a humble donkey. Please let me know how you celebrate Holi or Holy Easter Week in the comments. All contributions appreciated and welcome! Difference between Thandai and Bhang https://www.inuth.com/lifestyle/food/planning-to-get-high-on-bhang-and-thandai-this-holi-know-the-difference-before-mixing-them/ Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Sunday
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Week 12: Task and Affirmation March Theme: Gratitude As we celebrate the Spring Equinox we look forward to warmer, longer days to come. Bookings being taken now for our first outdoor class of the year on Tuesday, 30th March. We'll be meeting under the trees in Lodge Farm Park (or in the bandstand if it rains!). Quotation: “It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.” Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957), US Author This week’s Task: Identify what brings you joy: One way to practise gratitude is to celebrate the many joyful aspects of daily life. This week, at the end of each day write down the everyday occurrences that light you up inside. From the flavours in a blueberry to the smell of fresh linen to the exhilaration of a windy day, be momentarily thankful for each appreciation as you write it down. Taken from Every Day Matters Diary by Dani DiPirro Welcoming spring and the warmer seasons to come. Today’s class celebrated the Spring Equinox with heart openers including gentle preparations for Camel pose, EBR1 and the Seat of Compassion sequence. Week 11: Looking back to last year’s Mother’s Day when the Tesco class was cancelled and I shared You Tube recordings instead. Looking forward to next year when maybe we can be together again in person. And for the present, gratitude that there are other ways to share the gift of yoga. It's hard to believe that it's a whole year since I last taught in the Tesco Community Room. When they first closed the room I thought it would just be for a few weeks and we'd be back. A year down the line and it's still uncertain when, and even if, we can return. Those early weeks were very confusing. I remember feeling adrift and anxious. Yoga became my anchor and luckily my own yoga teacher, the brilliant Denny, stepped straight in with daily Facebook Lives which really saved my sanity. I realised my own students might appreciate something similar from me (although I don't pretend to be anything like the teacher that Denny is!) and my first thought was to send out links so they could make up their own class. The first such email was Mother's Day. I sent virtual flowers in lieu of the flower spray I usually give everyone at the end of the class together with quotations and links so they could make up their own yoga class. I was amazed at how appreciative they all were. By Easter Sunday I was doing my own Facebook Live class which eventually evolved into zoom sessions and the only yoga community we've got now. It's been a long and difficult year for us all. 2020 certainly didn't turn out the way we planned way back in January last year and 2021 has seemed almost harder, but somehow we've got through. I'm teaching more yoga classes now than ever before and we're promised light is shining at the end of the tunnel. I'm taking bookings now for outdoor classes on Tuesday 30th March. You can book and check availability online (maximum five per class - bookings after five will go onto a waiting list). There are two sessions available 11.00am to 12.00 and 1.00 to 2.00pm. If necessary I will open another session from 2.15 to 3.15pm. Numbers are limited to five per class so booking is essential but it's all included in the Gold Membership so there's nothing extra to pay. If you're not already a Gold Member there's still time. There are three weeks left until the next renewal date. Membership is £15 for three weeks (until 2nd April). New members can pay £5 for a week's trial - unlimited zoom classes and recordings, then £10 for the remaining weeks. Email me for more information. March Theme: Gratitude Quotation: “What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered.” Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-188), US Writer This week’s Task: Discover hidden virtues: Identify one thing that frustrates you about life at work or home – it could be a person you interact with, a difficult project, or even an attitude that doesn’t serve you. How could that thing be useful? In what ways could you, in fact, be thankful for it? Remember: it’s often the difficult times that lead us to wonderful things, even if it takes us a while to realise it! Taken from Every Day Matters by Dani DiPirro 7.3.21 Stretch & Flow Yoga Recording 75 minute class with option for longer savasana (Dru deep relaxation going through each part of the body twice: physical and subtle) for those who want it. Today’s class has a Mother’s Day theme of nurturing and gratitude to those who have nurtured and helped you to grow (often that is your mother but it may be your father, a friend, an aunt, uncle, teacher or even a role model who has inspired you). It includes the Moon Salutation (Chandra Namaskar) in honour of last night’s new moon and Eagle (Garudasana) practised today as a supported balance. The recording will be available for a week after today's class - please use and enjoy at your convenience as a Mother's Day gift from me. To become a Gold Member with access to all Body and Soul live zoom classes (and recordings) plus the relaunch classes in Lodge Farm Park on 30th March (subject to space) contact [email protected]. Trial week: £5 Remaining two weeks after that until 2nd April: £10 https://zoom.us/rec/share/xr039rf56mA_Zse3WmQ_-_F6misC9f5YbU-VBFiFZgComBuj7x3WhVz9jaudr6vk.25_l0_w7q82hKonC Passcode: J+0G!*uX Week 10: Task and Affirmation March Theme: Gratitude Quotation: “Every moment of light and dark is a miracle.” Walt Whitman (1819-1892), US Poet This week’s Task: Celebrate both light and dark: Sunshine is a symbol of positivity. Darkness tends to denote the opposite. But, in the darkness, the stars light up. This week think of one thing each day that darkness gives you – from a reason to stay in bed longer to the chance to see starry skies in all their sparkling glory. Consider how elsewhere in life the flipside of a positive situation can provide reasons for gratitude, too. Taken from Every Day Matters Diary by Dani DiPirro This week’s blog explains the role of Shiva and his importance in the Dance of Life – especially relevant now as the festival of Shivaratri will be celebrated on Thursday, 11th March. This Hindu festival takes place at night at a time of the month when the moon is at its darkest, appearing as just a sliver of silver in the sky. Shiva, as the dancer in the circle of life, appears as a destroyer desolving the past and making way for the new. The class today included elements of the dance with Dancer and the Salute to Lord Shiva known in his role as destroyer as Rudra, hence the name Rudrasana. This sequence can be a standing warming sequence before or instead of Surya Namaskara (Salute to the Sun). The word rudra is cognate with the English words "red" and "ruddy" ad the Rudras are identified in Vedic texts as eleven red complexioned devas, intimately linked with Shiva and associated with the principle of destruction. They are devas of space and time and represent the ten forms of life breath along with the intelligence. They live in the liminal space between consciousness and unconsciousness, between hard intelligence and he intuitive world of emotion. Rudra also means "howling". The eleven types of life breath cause everyone to howl when they abandon the mortal body, and that grief is felt most painfully halfway between the heart and the mind. Enjoy the dance of life and embrace all of its experiences. Life isn't supposed to be easy, we have good and bad times, daylight and darkness but it's all part of the dance. Accept it all, go with the flow and out of darkness light will flow ... With thanks to my teacher trainer, Conrad Paul, Founder of Yoga Professionals and co-author of The Complete Guide to Yoga for Fitness Professionals published by Bloomsbury.com. He sadly no longer with us although his teacher training courses are still available through the YMCA. Also acknowledging Avatar Art, Neo-Vedic Paintngs celebrating Life by Steven J. Rosen and Kaisori Bellach. 7.3.21 Stretch & Flow Yoga Recording 75 minute class with option for longer savasana (Dru deep relaxation going through each part of the body twice: physical and subtle) for those who want it. Today’s class is about the Dance of Shiva so includes two versions of Dancer (Natarajasana) and Conrad Paul’s Salute to Lord Shiva with Rudrasana which is an intermediate/advanced pose set into a sequence but practised here using the wall to aid balance. Followed by the Tree of Transformation. There are a few quality issues for the first few minutes but after that it’s fine! https://zoom.us/rec/share/0z5wsGGDmHebubAMLlSuF2jhbXOGvIgd1vU9dpn-v_uEwTWDZ20cWukg4bUbrr3E.LoYzQcywpxrAmbcU Passcode: DyPK?5H^ |
MARY GRIFFITHSI qualified to teach in 2015 but my yoga journey started much earlier, way back in the 1970s. Here I share my experiences and passion about everything yoga. Archives
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