New Fall Location! New Fall Location!

New Location! New Location! Yoga Sublime - 1998 Central Ave. I am so happy and grateful to have found a new location to teach yoga classes from. Thank you to Tammy Fulton for including me an instructor at your new Yoga Sublime and for the warm welcome and announcement. Below is the announcement from Tammy - owner of Yoga Sublime: We are very excited to announce that, effective September 1st, we will be collaborating with Pamela Nelson of PLN Yoga.  Our studios will be merging at the newly renovated 1998 Central Avenue, giving students the opportunity to access a wide variety of classes and times at a single location.  The details of registration for fall classes will be worked out in July; but it is our goal to give students as much flexibility as possible when they register with us.  Welcome Pamela...we are so thrilled to be sharing the new space with you! Pamela Nelson - Certified IJI yoga instructor Pamela is a member of the Iyengar Association of Canada (IYAC) and certified at the national level.  She has practiced yoga for over 20 years and taught for over 13, training exclusively in the Iyengar system for the majority of those years. She has completed the rigorous and lengthy training program and received her Introductory II certificate from IYAC in October 2010 and her Intermediate Junior 1 Certification in 2014 from the Iyengar Yoga Association of Canada (IYAC).  Pamela will be going for her Intermediate Junior II Certification in October 2015.  Pamela regularly attends Iyengar yoga classes, workshops and intensives held by senior international IY teachers, including travelling to Pune, India to study with the Iyengar family in 2013 and plans to go again in 2017. She is dedicated to lifelong learning and committed to sharing her training and experience with students of yoga. Pamela teaches all level of classes including Beginner, All-levels, Intermediate, Iyengar Flow, Gentle/Restorative, Youth and Kids.  Her teaching style is clear, pragmatic and direct yet filled with gentle humor and joy. “It is through the alignment of the body that I discovered the alignment of my mind, self and intelligence.”  B.K.S. Iyengar  So please watch for more announcements of the class schedule for Yoga Sublime and at the other locations I have and will continue to teach at. Namaste. Pamela Nelson   The Certification Mark is a registered trademark of the Iyengar Yoga Association of Canada used under license.

Here is some summer classes I will be teaching in the Christopher Lake and Emma Lake area. Murray Point campground beach in the Great Blue Heron Provincial Park: Monday's - July 6th, 13th, 27th and August 10th 10:00-11:00a.m. $5 drop in fee July Yoga mini-workshops: Pam's home studio in Christopher Lake Sunday July 5 &/or 12 8:30am-11:30am includes tea and light snack A great way to start your day! Please contact me to register. I am open to teaching also for groups during the summer.  Just email me at: plnyogastudio@gmail.com

Book Review - The Valley of Flowers

 

Book Review  - The Valley of Flowers

The Valley of Flowers is written by F.S. Smythe in 1938.  It tells the story of the four months he spent in 1931 climbing Mount Kamet in the Garhwal Himalayas with five other British mountaineers.

The book is descriptive and entertaining and brings one back again and again to the beauty of nature and the lessons it has to teach us.  The Valley of the Flowers includes photos of the many flowers the botanists found during their trek.  The amazing feat of tiny plants growing and surviving even in the harshest conditions of 7000ft above sea level.  It is also a human story as the trek involved many mountaineers, but also the guides and porters. 

It is worth the read as you can almost visualize the meadows and mountains that surrounded them.

He ends the book saying, " Beauty, health, good comradeship, peace, all these had been mine in the Valley of Flowers. For a while I had lived simply and happily and I like to think, indeed I know, that those about me had been happy too."


Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
Certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor

www.plnyoga.BlogSpot.com
plnyogastudio@gmail.com

 

PLN Yoga Studio - On the move

I will be moving from my current location at the end of June.

Please watch for updates of where fall classes will be located.

I appreciate all the students that have attended and look forward to seeing you in fall!


Here is the email I sent out to current students and students who have attended classes in the past.

PLN Yoga Studio is on the move!

Thank you so much for attending classes at PLN Yoga Studio.
I look forward to Autumn classes  in a new location!

Hello!
As we finish our last week of classes for the spring session bringing it to an end, I will also be saying goodbye to my current teaching location.

I am a bit nervous as I have been fortunate to be here for three great years and I thank all the students who have come to classes as I learn so much from each of you.

I don't yet know all the details on a new location, but please know I plan to be teaching again in September and welcome all my students to join me at that time. I will continue to teach to the highest quality of teaching I can and continue to study and train to serve you better.

I will send out information later in the summer to let you know where I will be located.

Once again, my deep gratitude.
Pamela Nelson

Also, I don't want to haul away more then I need to.
All merchandise is on sale!
Check out the prop packages posted on Facebook or make your own package and we can make a deal!

Namaste.

On Doing Nothing

Chapter VIII in the book, The Valley of the Flowers, written by F.S. Smythe is called "On Doing Nothing".  The book is the story of how the author spent four months climbing in the Himalayas.

At first, especially in our western culture "doing nothing" is not something one can do...
We must be highly effective and busy to be seen as contributing to society.

Smythe writes that, " Amid a welter of conflicting philosophies, I have always clung to on idea - that to get a kick out of life, a man must sample the contrasts of life."

"The positives ceases to exist when there is no negative.  Activity can only be measured against inactivity; therefore to appreciate the joys of activity it is necessary to practice passivity."

So from that an "off-day", but not an off-day as he writes to be "indulged in grudgingly; it is a necessary and integral part of mountaineering, the essential complement to the "on day"".

Mr. Smythe nicely puts it that when we neglect inactivity, we neglect the benefits of contemplation and we cannot appreciate nature otherwise.

This book was first printed in 1938, and written about his mountaineering experience from 1931. 
So, it is interesting that he writes even at that time, "The West assumes its superiority over the East primarily because it is further advanced in mechanical matter, but woe betide it should it continue to associate mechanisms with spiritual progress.

In Garhwal I met a true civilisation, for I found contentment and happiness. I saw a life that is not enslaved by the time-factor, that is not obsessed by the idea that happiness is dependent on money and materials.  I had never before realised until I camped in the Valley of Flowers how much happiness there is in simple living and simple things."

So, give yourself an "off-day" every once in awhile after you have climbed whatever mountain you are working on. Find immeasurable comfort in spending time in nature if you can. Enjoy the moments to contemplate, relax and breathe.

Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
www.plnyoga.BlogSpot.com
plnyogastudio@gmail.com
 




 

July Summer Classes 2015

This July I will be offering a week of morning classes.
I hope you can join me.
A great way to start your day and keep your practice going through out the summer.
I will also be teaching some classes at the Murray Point beach.

Please see poster for details.

 

Pamela Nelson

Certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor

www.plnyoga.blogspot.com

plnyogastudio@gmail.com

 

 



International Yoga Day - June 21st

Join me to celebrate

International Yoga Day on June 21st

 

Please pre-register.

Thank you.

 

Pamela Nelson

www.plnyoga.blogspot.com

plnyogastudio@gmail.com

 



 

Vinadanda

 

 

 

In the Darsonopanishad, the spinal column is referred to as vina danda.
Vina is an Indian musical instrument with strings. So, while one is practicing an asana, pranayama or dhyana, the emphasis is on vinadanda or the spinal column.

Mr. Iyengar writes that the "vina is said to be a perfect instrument on which one can play any raga without accompaniment of other instruments. Raga is a combination of an orderly sound, harmony, rhythm and melody.  Vina represents the human brain and spine.  The head of the vina, the round gourd, is the brain, the sound box is the breathing process and the stem is the spinal column.  The knobs are the spinal vertebrae and the strings are the nervous system."

If the gourd on the instrument is not round, firm and without holes, or if the bridge isn't resting properly or the knobs are too tight or loose the strings with snap or loose their potency. Then the raga can not be played.

As we relate this to the brain and spinal column then as Mr. Iyengar writes, "The brain floats on the head of the spine which is the seat of the savitarka (right logic) and savichara (right reasoning).
If the vertebrae of the spine are not kept trim, then the nerves do not get sufficient nourishment, breathing becomes shallow, affecting the circulatory and digestive systems.  The end part of the vina is the muladhara chakra. So the yogis discovered asanas and pranayama to exercise the spine for the healthy growth of the intelligence.  When the vina is properly tuned, the yogi is in tune with the nada of Brahma and his abode becomes the heaven on earth.  If the spine is neglected then this abode of the atma becomes the place for rogas  (diseases) and lead to hell on earth."

Each asana has a specific function, so many asanas were invented to keep the spine strong and healthy.  The spine is a source of energy and the nerves are nourished by it.  The nervous system is said to be about 7000 miles in length so is why so many asanas are needed to be practiced.

Mr. Iyengar explains the relationship between the vinadanda and the chakras along the spine.
He says, "The vinadanda has seven chambers called chakras.  The chakras are muladhara, svadhistana, manipuraka, anahata, visuddhi, ajna and sahasrara.  Just as there are seven musical notes there are seven charkas along the spine.  The chakras pick up the vital energy from the breath we breathe in and distribute it throughout the body.  When the chakras are synchronized and functioning in unison through the discipline of yoga then the energy of the atma flows like a river through the central channel.

So, if we bring life to our spines like we would a musical instrument - with the perfect amount of force and effort then health will flow though the body and breath and bring peace to the mind.

Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
Certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor

www.plnyoga.blogspot.com
plnyogastudio@gmail.com