tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53462931544196396792024-10-04T22:04:39.938-04:00News about classes at Harmony Yoga of Ann Arbor, articles of interest for Harmony Yoga students and other yoga practitioners.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-58938705106157178462015-06-14T09:44:00.002-04:002015-06-14T09:45:35.729-04:00

With the redesign of the Harmony Yoga of Ann Arbor website, now powered by Wordpress, I've decided to incorporate our blog on the same platform. You'll find it under "News and Links" as Harmony Yoga News. This current Blogger blog will stay for now, since there's good information that I don't want to delete!   At some point I may transfer the most useful content to the new website or

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-17177881371244170742014-12-19T16:52:00.002-05:002014-12-19T16:55:57.400-05:00

There will be no yoga classes at Harmony Yoga from December 21 through January 4, which is the longest break we've had since I opened the studio. So what can you do in the meantime to keep up with your own yoga practice?  Here are a few ideas. Practice Sheets The Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York has two sets of sequences that you can print out for your own use.  These

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-91652680119629012082014-11-30T15:54:00.003-05:002014-11-30T15:59:01.988-05:00

This information will be on the website soon, and there are also flyers at the studio.    Holiday Yoga Classes at Harmony Yoga   Join us for a few fun classes the week of December 15 - December 20. PLEASE READ the information on payments under the schedule!   Monday  December 15   Focus on Hip Openers and Arm Balances    6:

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-51072747971139533412014-11-19T16:17:00.003-05:002014-11-19T16:24:25.138-05:00

Join us again for our yearly Day After Thanksgiving yoga classes on Friday, November 28! This has become a fun tradition here at Harmony Yoga of Ann Arbor. Focus on Twists 10:00 -- 11:15 Work off those mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie with standing and seated twists and other supporting poses.  There may be some inversions if there’s time.   Twists and inversions are great

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-68910934164513467602014-10-26T18:06:00.000-04:002014-10-26T19:31:19.446-04:00

This is not a serious post -- just my little rant about animal yoga pose calendars. I enjoy putting up a yoga pose calendar each year at Harmony Yoga of Ann Arbor.  For a number of years I bought the Yoga Journal wall calendars, and each month we'd be treated to a nicely executed asana that could inspire us for those few weeks, even if it was something that most of us might never be able to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-88111947335701299562014-10-21T22:46:00.002-04:002014-10-26T19:10:25.536-04:00

I recently received a message from a woman who had just returned to my yoga classes after a long absence, saying she couldn't come that day after all because of an emotional upset.  Something was going on in her family that was distressing her, and she thought it was best if she didn't come to class because she wouldn't be able to concentrate. Unfortunately I didn't hear her message

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-66726016764498568572014-10-11T15:41:00.001-04:002014-10-11T15:42:22.043-04:00

Deepen your understanding of different aspects of your yoga practice. These classes may include a combination of talk, demonstration, and asana work. Recommended for people with at least three months recent Iyengar Yoga experience at Level I or higher unless otherwise noted.  Gentle Yoga students will be fine in some of these classes. Contact me if your background is in another style of yoga

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-31859277698131472262014-08-28T16:26:00.001-04:002014-08-28T16:32:26.420-04:00

Utthita Trikonasana - Extended Triangle Pose Photo by Matthew Greenfield on Wikimedia Commons This is a bit of a shameless plug on something I first wrote a few years ago on one platform, but then took it down for various reasons.  I've re-written it for a new platform. Seven Basic Yoga Standing Poses tells why the yoga standing poses are a cornerstone to the practice of

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-84871665649050027602014-08-28T08:46:00.001-04:002014-08-28T08:46:58.857-04:00

B.K.S. Iyengar December 14, 1918 - August 20, 2014 B.K.S. Iyengar passed away last week, on August 20, 2014 at the age of 95.  He had heart failure which led to kidney failure -- basically an age-related death.   He lived an exemplary life and his teaching on the art, science, and philosophy of yoga has inspired hundreds of thousands if not millions of people over the years. Yes, I

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-26741006440278496682014-08-22T20:18:00.000-04:002014-08-24T10:00:05.950-04:00

B.K.S. IyengarDecember 14, 1918 - August 20, 2014"I always tell people 'live happily and die majestically'". To honor the memory of Guruji B.K.S. Iyengar, IYNAUS (Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States) invites us to do the following practice sequence at the same time in our homes or yoga studios on Tuesday, August 26. For our time, Eastern Daylight Time, that is 8:30pm.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-7344729203436636822014-05-30T19:07:00.000-04:002014-05-30T19:20:31.823-04:00

© 2014 The Cleveland Museum of Art. All rights reserved. The Cleveland Museum of Art will be hosting the exhibition Yoga: The Art of Transformation this summer, June 22 through September 7, 2014. This presentation is: "...the world’s first exhibition about yoga’s visual history, [and] will explore yoga’s meanings and transformations over time, including its entry into the global arena; yoga’s

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-77011096383800729042014-01-11T22:44:00.000-05:002014-01-11T23:06:45.192-05:00

 In the most recent issue of The Crazy Wisdom Community Journal ("Ann Arbor's Holistic Magazine") there's a short article written by another local yoga teacher.  It's a nice article, and I like most of what she has to say. (See p. 112,  Spring 2014 issue of the CW Journal.) But partway through she writes: "... I try not to hide the basic premise of what yoga is under a lot of

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-81172907326685617782014-01-01T13:43:00.000-05:002014-01-01T13:48:27.497-05:00

I have been practicing yoga now for 20 years.   That's a significant portion of my life!  Obviously I wouldn't have stuck with it for this long if I felt it hasn't been amazingly beneficial for me. I signed up for my first yoga class in January, 1993, at the Ann Arbor YMCA as a part of a New Year's Resolution to do something good for myself.   I like to tell people that

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-42717522509336261542013-12-08T14:46:00.000-05:002013-12-08T14:46:30.961-05:00

I usually don't promote items like this on the Harmony Yoga blog, but I was looking for a fun Yoga card to celebrate the holidays and I found this on Zazzle. Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Rudolph are shown happily holding some nice-looking yoga poses: Rudolph is doing Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II) Mrs. Claus is in Paripurna navasana (Full Boat) Santa is in Vasisthasana (Side plank named after the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-56778943999693395662013-11-07T16:50:00.000-05:002013-11-07T16:57:11.414-05:00

Those of you who have taken my classes have heard me talk about Mary Dunn, one of my favorite visiting yoga teachers. Mary grew up in Ann Arbor and was the daughter of Mary Palmer, who was instrumental in bringing B.K.S. Iyengar to Ann Arbor in the early 1970s. This was the beginning of the popularization of Iyengar Yoga in the United States.  Mary Dunn was the founding director of the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-86717509026459435942013-10-22T08:20:00.002-04:002013-10-22T08:34:32.771-04:00

Here's a great video for you to get practice ideas from, especially for next week when there'll be no classes at Harmony Yoga. Gabriella Giubilaro is an Iyengar Yoga teacher from Italy who studies almost every year with B.K.S. Iyengar and his daughter Geeta. Notes about the video, and suggestions for practice: The first 3 1/2 minutes are for show only -- to inspire and maybe to make you

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-8389655249032765882013-09-22T10:27:00.002-04:002013-09-24T06:55:01.180-04:00

Yoga students occasionally ask me what books would help them with their understanding of Iyengar Yoga. Here are the four books I would recommend first: Light on YogaMore Info How to Use YogaMore Info Yoga: The Iyengar WayMore Info The Tree of YogaMore Info The books Light on Yoga and Yoga: The Iyengar Way (the first and the third books shown above)  are the first two books that I

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-64183907109125429512013-09-20T15:21:00.001-04:002013-09-20T15:53:15.047-04:00

Photo Credit: FoxTongue on Flickr CC BY 2.0 I have had a few injuries from practicing yoga poses.  That's not really too surprising since I've been doing yoga for 20 years. My injuries have been mostly mild, but a couple times more severe.   They've included pulled hamstring muscles, torn cartilage around the ribs, and an occasional glitchy shoulder or neck.  

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-18132617956329627962013-09-03T12:22:00.000-04:002013-09-03T12:27:14.535-04:00

Halasana - Plow Pose My friend Pam, another Iyengar Yoga teacher, recently wrote a delightful article / blog post Yoga Builds Confidence.  It starts with, "“Are you kidding me lady! You want me to do that?”" and ends with, "They go back to their mats and they, indeed, do that. Because they can. I know they can. And after they strike that pose, they know they can too." I often get

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-89057740669051034592013-08-27T08:39:00.000-04:002013-08-27T08:42:24.096-04:00

I always enjoyed the beginning of the school year when I was growing up.   There was a sense of excitement, with the anticipation of learning something new and of meeting new people.  I think that the beginning of the school year is also a great time to begin a yoga class! I'm offering a couple of opportunities for people to take a free yoga class at Harmony Yoga of Ann Arbor

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-86188770962213808692013-08-21T11:52:00.000-04:002013-08-21T11:52:07.145-04:00

Earlier this summer, I came across the following blog post, Can Iyengar Yoga Attract the Masses? This excellent post lists a number of reasons why Iyengar Yoga classes may not attract as many people as other styles of yoga, and each of these reasons are worth exploring more fully in other blog posts (which I may do later!). But another reason that came up partway through the comments section

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-86568815711761987062013-06-03T08:27:00.000-04:002013-06-03T08:37:23.437-04:00

When I first started taking yoga classes, in 1993, Iyengar Yoga was the most commonly taught method of hatha yoga in Ann Arbor, and in much of the country.   Times have changed, and there are many other methods and styles being taught in Ann Arbor and around the country.   All are a form of hatha yoga, which refers to the physical practice of yoga (if you know anything about

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-50662312503385366072013-05-03T16:59:00.000-04:002013-05-03T17:00:40.779-04:00

Karen in Halasana, photo by Pam Lindberg I had the opportunity to write an article for the current issue of the Crazy Wisdom Community Journal, May - August 2013. The subject could be of anything that was relevant to my practice and teaching of Iyengar Yoga so I wrote, Yoga Builds Awareness ~ The Practice of Yoga,  Done with Awareness and Intelligent Action, Enhances our Physical and

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-63676843941023321602013-01-02T14:18:00.003-05:002013-01-02T14:26:08.286-05:00

 Image of Yoga Holiday Card from YogaDudes Shop There's still room in the rest of the Holiday Yoga classes at Harmony Yoga.  The Thursday 5:30 -- 6:45pm class is especially small.  If you'd like a smaller class, this will be a nice one for you! Go to Holiday Yoga Classes (skip past the free yoga class for new people section) and check the schedule and fees for the final Holiday

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346293154419639679.post-7882349038366412772013-01-01T09:36:00.002-05:002013-01-01T09:52:44.951-05:00

Happy New Year 2013! Was one of your New Year resolutions to practice yoga poses more often between classes?   It's an excellent resolution to make at any time of the year!   If you practice at home in between classes and during times when classes aren't in session, you'll notice a big difference in the ease in doing poses during class and during your own practice.  

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0