Hi Yogis and Yoginis,

Thank you for using yogarathmines.com
We have new courses. Priced to please!

You can join any class at this point. Course structure. Good learning environment.

Book 10 Weeks for only €99.

Class sizes limited to 15 people for your comfort.

If you know someone who would enjoy yoga and would appreciate the tip then please do forward our address.

Monday’s Beginner’s Level 1 & NEW LEVEL 2 Yoga Course

Tuesday’s Ashtanga Course – Beginner’s to Intermediate

Wednesday’s Hatha Yoga Course – Beginner’s to Intermediate

Thursday’s Beginner’s Level 1 Yoga Course

Drop -In option available each night at @ €13
Doing the maths; it pays to book a course.

You can buy ten classes at any time for €99

Regards,
Stuart

To book your course now, please leave your name, email address, and a simple comment e.g. “Hi” or “Happy New Year”. Alternatively, call me on 086 8808 272

New Courses Ten Week Duration EUR 99

Beginners Level 1 Mondays
Instructor: Joanna Collins
Starts 21st June
6.30pm – 7.45pm

Beginners Level 2 Mondays
Instructor: Joanna Collins
Starts 21st June
8.00pm – 9.15pm

BRAND NEW COURSE
Vinyasa Flow Tuesdays
Instructor: Caitriona McColgan
Beginners to Intermediate
Starts 15th June
6.30pm – 7.45pm

Hatha Yoga Wednesdays
Instructor: Peter Duffy
Beginners to Intermediate
Starts 9th June
6.30pm – 7.45pm

Beginners Level 1 Thursdays
Instructor: Geraldine O’Neill
Starts June 10th
6.30pm – 7.45pm

Catriona is holding a Vinyasa Flow class every Tuesday evening at 6.30.
This might be a good opportunity for beginners to step up to the next level.
Watch this space for more details on Vinyasa Flow.

Namaste,
Stuart

One of the great things about yoga, is the fact that you can transport your mat anywhere in the world, for free, unless of course, you declare it as extra luggage. My trick is to fold it into a rectangular shape or square and place it at the bottom of my bag underneath my clothes. Admittedly, its shape will have slightly altered post your flight, however, once you’ve managed a few downward dogs or sat on it, it will be back to its previous shape again.

With a yoga mat in tow, you can practice pretty much anywhere. That said, the shape of many rooms, certainly make it difficult, however, with some furniture removal, you’re certain to find a space big enough for a mat. Go outside if necessary. Maybe there’s a roof space or a garden somewhere.

The effects of long journeys can take their toll on every level of our being – the physical body, our mental state and our emotions, therefore it’s best to listen to your body and it will tell you what it needs. A vigorous practice after stepping off an overnight flight is not to be recommended, especially if you haven’t slept. But some pranayama (breathing exercises) may be just the tonic. Breathing is fundamental to living. It is also the key to yoga – the union of the mind with the body. Breathe in and out of the nostrils, keeping lips gently closed, expanding the abdomen, ribcage and chest on the inhalation, relaxing them on the exhalation. Make inhalation and exhalation of equal length, long, deep and controlled. With each breath, observe the moment at the end of the exhalation, just before you draw in the next breath, and experience the stillness of body and mind. Mindful breathing in itself can vastly improve health and wellbeing, allowing us to take control of our energy. This alone can help combat the energy loss and sleep deprivation associated with travelling. You can also practice this simple breathing exercise, before take off or landing, especially if you have a a fear of flying, or during long delays at airports. No mat required.

Below are some sample asanas or postures for the various stages of your journey.

DURING YOUR JOURNEY

Yes, your yoga practice can begin on the plane. Most airlines now provide a guide to inflight exercises. Make the most of these, and do at least a few of them, since they will help to avoid some of the problems associated with long-distance travel.

A lovely posture for the flight is,

Standing forward bend (Uttanasana)

Find a space somewhere on the plane where you can touch your toes, maybe at an exit door. From standing, bend knees slightly, and fold forwards from the waist, allowing the spine to gently lengthen, with the weight of the head hanging down to the ground. Keep your eyes closed, to avoid the funny looks you’re getting from the other passengers and the crew…After any period of time sitting in one place, it is a good idea to lengthen the muscles along the spine and in the legs, and get some extra blood flowing into the head. Just the action of standing up and walking around helps circulation and reduces the risk of deep vein thrombosis.

Rotations – ankles, wrists, neck (with care) and shoulders.

You can do these while sitting in your seat

Coordinate your breathing with the movement, ie: inhale as you start the rotation, exhale as you complete the rotation. It is also helpful to close your eyes and visualise the joints as you move them, focusing on relaxing them as much as possible. Rotations keep the muscles supple and loosen the joints.

Seated twists

Also in the comfort of your seat, sit upright and keep your chin parallel to your seat back. Place your left hand on the right side of the right knee and use the pressure against the knee to twist to the right as far as you can, looking over your right shoulder. Take five to ten deep breaths in the posture and gently release. Repeat on the opposite side. Twists assist the efficient flow of energy along the central energy channel of the body, and therefore through the whole body.

UPON ARRIVAL AT YOUR DESTINATION

Cat stretch pose (marjariasana)

Kneel on your mat on all fours with knees under hips, hands under shoulders, fingers facing forwards. Inhale, raising the head, pushing the backside upwards, gently depressing the spine so that the back becomes concave. Expand the abdomen fully and completely fill the lungs. Hold pose for around three seconds. Exhale, lowering head, drawing the belly inwards and arching the spine upwards towards ceiling. Draw the hips forwards and the forehead towards the hips. Maintain the stretch for three seconds, accentuating the arch of the spine. This is one round. Practice five to ten rounds. Try to perform this posture breathing as slowly as possible. This combination of spinal stretches helps is particularly good at alleviating backache caused by sitting for long periods of time.

Bridge pose (sethu bandasana)

On a yoga mat, lie on your back with your knees bent and arms at your sides. Peel the spine, vertebra by vertebra, off the floor, starting with the coccyx, elevating the hips. Press down firmly with your feet and draw the buttocks up and under toward the backs of the knees. Keep the thighs parallel. Interlace the fingers and press arms gently down on the floor to help lift the chest. Observe the chest coming closer to the chin. Take five to ten full breaths, then slowly roll down through the back to the floor.This asana helps to draw energy to the base of the spine and exercise the internal organs, stimulating blood-flow into the heart and head.

Spinal twist (shava udarakarshanasana)

On the floor, with lots of room to stretch out (watch out for the furniture!), lie flat on your back with legs and feet together. Bend the right knee and place right foot on top of left knee. Bring your left hand over to hold the right knee. Reach your right arm above the head and stretch out the left leg, extending right fingertips and left heel away from each other. Inhale and guide right knee down to floor with left hand, rolling onto your left-hand side and pinning the knee to the floor. With palm open to the sky sweep the right arm out at full extension to about level with the right shoulder. Then close the eyes. With each breath, relax the right hip, creating space between hip and shoulder, encouraging right shoulder towards the floor. Take five to ten breaths. Roll back to centre and rest, with minimum adjustments, for a few long breaths. Re-align the body and repeat on the opposite side. This stretch opens up the body, giving an excellent twist along the whole of the spine. If you find the stretch with the foot on top a little strong, simply let the knees fall to one side, and the arms to the other for a simple twist. Deep breathing massages the internal organs and gets positive energy into every cell of the body.

Viparita karani

This is one of my favourites. Find a space by a wall. Bring the buttocks about a metre from the wall, lying on your back. Extend the legs upwards and rest the feet on the wall, forming a 45-degree angle with the legs. Close your eyes and let the wall and floor completely support you. Rest and simply observe your breath. Cover your eyes with an eye pillow or towel. This helps lengthen and re-align the spine, gently extending those poor hamstrings shortened by your travels, and helps drain off the toxins that tend to accumulate in the lower regions of the body. This is an excellent posture for rejueventation, especially if you have little time for anything else. It’s a perfect one to try after a day of long meetings.

Finish any of the above, with about ten minutes in:
Corpse pose (savasana)

For this one, all you need is quiet, a warm space and preferably distraction-free zone, where you can lie down.

Lie on your back, feet mat-width apart, toes hanging out to the sides, arms by your sides away from teh body, palms facing upwards. Close your eyes. Take a deep inhalation and, as you exhale, completely let go of tension in the body. Tune into your breathing, letting it become softer and softer.

Savasana has a more powerful effect of relaxing the body and mind than sleep itself. In case you suffer from jetlag (which these postures should help you avoid), just lying in bed in savasana can help to re-adjust your body clock and, before you know it, you may soon drift off to sleep.

Travel safe.
Geraldine

YogaRathmines Ashtanga Teacher

In the beginning of your yoga career, it’s really nice to join a class or follow a video so that you can see first hand what each posture looks like, and of course, be comforted by the fact that everyone else in the class is in the same boat.

However, it’s not always possible to make a class – you miss the bus, you get stuck in work as your boss gives you something else to do just as you were about to bound out the door with your mat.

Therefore, it’s nice to have a back-up plan and that’s when a home practice comes in really handy. Rather than get annoyed with yourself, for not making class, you know that in your back pocket, you have a plan for come what may.

With a home practice, you can do yoga on holidays, down the country when you go to stay at a friends for the w/end, or in these recessionary times, when you can’t afford a class.

My own yoga teacher, with some 25 years experience, said to me recently, “a home yoga practice can start with as little as 10minutes, just sitting on your mat doing some meditation and simply tuning into your breath. This is where it all starts.”

Some simple guidelines for your own home practice

Less is More

In the beginning, a little yoga everyday is likely to be more manageable than trying to squeeze in a longer session a few times a week. Set a clock for the time that you have planned, say 15 minutes and commit to this. Resist the temptation to get off the mat before time.

A good place to start – standing postures.

Focus on a single pose – For example week one, you could focus on downward dog, week two, warrior 1. Try practicing the posture at least once a day. Perhaps consider choosing a posture that your teacher has recently focused on in class, but if only doing one or two postures, always choose a posture from the standing warm up series, as you need to be pretty warmed up, before, you ever get into inverted postures, such as headstand, handstand, or backbends. Hence the reason teachers follow a particular sequence.

Match your Mood

Sometimes you will want to sit in meditation, or in a restorative posture, such as Viparita Karani (a passive supportive variation of the Shoulderstand with your legs up the wall), or other times you will feel like something more invigorating, such as a series of sun salutations. Listen to your body and it will tell you what it needs on any given day.

Slip Yoga into your everyday

Just a few moments of mindfulness sprinkled throughout the day, can go a long way toward helping creating a more balanced and joyful day.

This can happen while you are in the car stuck in traffic, on the Dart or Luas or simply walking to and from home.

Follow a guided sequence from a book or video

Base your practice on an established sequence of postures shows in your favourite book or video. Or check out this video.

Practice with a friend

It’s well known at gyms, and in most sports, that those that train with a friend are less likely to give up. The same holds true for yoga.

So whatever you do, enjoy it. It may prove frustrating initially but once you get into it, the benefits will immediately become apparent.

Finally, you can always ask any of the yogarathmines.com teachers after class and they will devise a simple sequence you can follow at home.

Geraldine.

As we approach Christmas and the end of the year, we put more and more pressure on ourselves to get things done, be that Christmas shopping, catching up with our friends and family, partying, or delivering upon the resolutions we set at the start of the year. All of this expectation can leave us feeling a little frazzled and for some, simply exhausted.

This is a good time to return to our yoga mat, especially if the festive season has resulted in our regular practice falling by the wayside, or perhaps, our home practice has yet to start.

Regardless of the situation and indeed the level of yoga experience, getting on our mat, even for short periods of time, can be the ultimate tonic in a busy time. Returning to the mat, will not only help us tune into our breath and restore our inner balance, it’s the perfect solace from the external malaise, and will restore and replenish, leaving you ready to take on the season.

If your intent is good, but you are still left wondering how to find the time. Well firstly, don’t feel you have to spend an hour or more. 10 minutes each day or consecutive days will help. A yoga practice doesn’t have to include a full asana practice each time. Doing asana after asana may just leave you feeling even more exhausted when your energy has been depleted. Why not sit quietly in Sukasana (cross legged seated), perhaps using a blanket to support, and meditate for a few minutes morning or evening, watching your breath and observing your thoughts pass like clouds, or try some simple pranayama breathing exercises.

Breathing is life. It is one of our most vital functions. From a yogic point of view, proper breathing is all about bringing more oxygen to the blood and to the brain, and to control Prana or the vital life energy, Pranayama goes hand in hand with the posture practice or can sit in isolation.

One Breathing Exercise (Pranayama) you can try, is Alternate Nostril (Anuloma Viloma)

In this Breathing Technique, you inhale through one nostril, retain the breath, and exhale through the other nostril in a ratio of 2:8:4. The left nostril is the path of the Nadi called Ida and the right nostril is the path of the Nadi called Pingala. Anuloma Viloma restores, equalizes and balances the flow of Prana in the body. One round of Anuloma Viloma is made up of six steps, as shown below. Start by practicing three rounds and build up slowly to twenty rounds, extending the count within the given ratio.

The Vishnu Mudra

In Nostril breathing, you adopt the Vishnu Mudra with your right hand to close your nostrils. Tuck your index and middle finger into your nose. Place the thumb by your right nostril and your ring and little fingers by your left.

One Round of Anuloma Viloma (Alternate Nostril Breathing)

Remember, yoga is much more than the physical practice itself. So make a date in your diary, to get on your mat and observe how much more pleasure you glean from the festive season, coming from a place of calm and centeredness.

Geraldine

Hatha Yoga Class Details

Class time: Wednesday 6.30pm-7.45pm

Class Outline.

This is a BEGINNERS/ INTERMEDIATE LEVEL class that will cover loosening/warming-up routines, some flowing sequences including sun salutations, the practice of the range of classical postures with greater understanding, modifications and use of props, breath work depending on experience and ability of students, basic meditative practices, and relaxation.

Apart from the experiential benefits of the practices the student will gain greater understanding of them, and useful ways of overcoming difficulties.

Teaching will adapt to the needs and abilities of the students where thought appropriate.

What is hatha yoga?
Hatha represents opposing energies: hot and cold (fire and water, following similar concept as yin-yang), male and female, positive and negative.

Relaxation and meditation
Hatha yoga attempts to balance mind and body via physical postures or asanas, purification practices, controlled breathing, and the calming of the mind through relaxation and meditation.

Poise, balance and strength
Asanas teach poise, balance and strength and are practised to improve the body’s physical health and clear the mind in preparation for meditation in the pursuit of enlightenment.

How much does it cost?
All classes cost just €10 in December.