B.K.S. Iyengar on Yoga

"Yoga makes us live in the present. 

 The present is the only state that gives us real happiness and joy."

-B.K.S. Iyengar, in conversation with His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Namaste.

Pamela Nelson

www.plnyoga.vpweb.com



Past and Future

Past and future are in the mind only - I am now.

- Sri Nisargadtta Maharaj

Namaste.

Pamela Nelson

www.plnyoga.vpweb.com

Virya - Vigour

In Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar defines virya as vigour, strength, virility and enthusiasm.  He writes that virya, this "unflagging enthusiasm", is needed to "remove the obstacle of laziness".  Virya helps to promote hope and courage to continue on the path of yoga and "overcome the inertia of the body and the mind."

Yoga is a discipline and should not be practiced in a convenient way, but in a way that every muscle, nerve, and gland in the body is exercised.  B.K.S. says that when we do not use the asanas as a bridge to unite the body with the mind and the mind with the soul then we are merely doing bhogasanas, or asanas of pleasure.

With the official start to spring just days away, let this help renew your enthusiasm to your yoga sadhana (practice).

Namate.
Pamela Nelson
www.plnyoga.vpweb.com

Love

Love is what we were born with.

Fear is what we learned here.

-Marianne Williamson

Namaste.

Pamela Nelson

www.plnygoa.vpweb.com

Questions

All the questions we

are asking are born out

of the answers that

we already have.

-J. Krishnamurti

Namaste.

Pamela Nelson

www.plnyoga.vpweb.com



Winter Items Now on Sale!

Getting ready for Spring...
Sale on items in stock only. Sale from March 10th til April 10th.

Also includes Kids Animal Hats and Mitts - only $10 each.

Many items are on the website under products if you would like to have a look.

www.plnyoga.vpweb.com

Namaste.

Pamela Nelson

March Pose of the Month - Utkatasana

Utkatasana - means fierce or powerful pose or sometimes called chair pose because the pose is like sitting on an imaginary chair.

Begin in Tadasana, keeping the feet together and ground down through the feet without gripping with the toes. Inhale and stretch the arms up overhead with palms facing in. Keep the shoulders moving down the back, the collarbones broadening out to the outer tips of the shoulders and the sternum lifted.

Exhaling, bend the knees and keep the tailbone pointing down and take the hips back as if to sit on a chair until the thighs are parallel to the floor.  Do not drop the spinal muscles or let the chest fall forward.

Bend deeply in the ankle joints and press evenly through the feet.
Stay for about 20-30 sec. Inhale to come up back to Tadasana.


Utkatasanan variation with wall:

Begin in Tadasana, as above, but keep feet hip width apart and parallel. Inhale and raise arms parallel to the floor.

On exhalation sit back and rest sacrum at wall.  The sacrum is the lower triangular shaped bone at the base of the spine.  Keep the tailbone drawing down to lengthen the lower back.  As bend the knees, keep pressing the feet into the floor and keep the thighbone, knee and ankle in line.  Don't let the knees move in our out to create strain on the knees.

 Bend deeper if you can.

 Another option is to begin facing the wall, about an arms length away.  Keep feet hip width apart and parallel.  Inhale and raise arms up parallel to floor with fingers touching wall for balance.

On exhalation bend knees and draw tailbone directly down.  Do not drop the spinal muscles or let the chest fall forward.
Bend deeply in the ankle joints and press evenly through the feet.
Stay for about 20-30 sec. Inhale to come up back to Tadasana.


Benefits:
Tones the back and abdominal muscles, removes stiffness in the shoulders and develops the chest muscles.
The diaphragm is lifted in this pose gently massaging the heart.
The ankles become strong and the leg muscles develop evenly.

Cautions:
Knee, ankle, hip issues. 
Keep arms parallel to floor if have high blood pressure or any shoulder or neck issues.


Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
www.plnyoga.vpweb.com

Words of Wisdom - 15

On this path no effort is wasted,

No gain is ever reversed.

-Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita

Namaste.

Pamela Nelson

www.plnyoga.vpweb.com

Spring 2012 Yoga Schedule for PLN Yoga Studio

The Spring Yoga Schedule for PLN Yoga Studio.

If you would like to register for the upcoming classes to enjoy the benefits of yoga or have any questions, please call me at 306-982-2737.

Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
www.plnyoga.vpweb.com

March Book Review - The Brain that Changes Itself

The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain ScienceBy: Norman Doidge, M.D.

Each chapter in this book is divided into case histories where the discovery of neuroplasticity has helped cure or greatly improve the lives of stroke patients, those with learning disorders and mental disorders, raise IQ's and help even the aging brain to name a few.

In the preface Norman Doidge writes, "For four hundred years this venture would have been inconceivable because our mainstream medicine and science believed that brain anatomy was fixed. The common wisdom was that after childhood the brain changed only when it began the long process of decline; that when brain cells failed to develop properly, or were injured, or died, they could not be replaced. Nor could the brain ever alter its structure and find a new way to function if part of it was damaged."

After becoming more and more interested in the idea of a changing brain, Dr. Doidge began to travel around visiting scientists who had made unexpected discoveries. This discovery was neuroplasticity, where scientists were able to show that the "brain changed its very structure with each different activity it performed, perfecting its circuits so it was better suited to the task at hand."

Each story is amazing to read and gives hope us all. Dr. Doidge writes also that, " The neuroplastic revolution has implications for, among other things, our understanding of how love, sex, grief, relationships, learning, addictions, culture, technology, and psychotherapies charge our brains."

What I learned most from this book is that we need to keep our minds open to all ideas so that our brains stay malleable, like a soft plastic and not become rigid like a hard, brittle plastic.

Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
www.plnyoga.vpweb.com