Saturday April 7, 8pm: RAGA MOVES Performance at YoGanesh

Thank you all who made this event so special.

Scroll down to read more about the artists. More photos here. 

YoGanesh is delighted to host a very special Spring music and dance event

Please bring your friends ... 

Acclaimed dancer Amanda Turner

Saturday April 7, 8pm

~

RAGA MOVES: An evening of Indian Classical Music and Modern Dance

~ featuring ~

Sundar Das 

on Bansuri flute

and internationally acclaimed dancer 

Amanda Turner 

$15

We have bolsters, blocks and a few chairs to sit on, but bring a favorite cushion if you like to sit on the floor.
Organic teas and cookies will be served

Click here to RSVP on our Facebook Event 
or pay in advance here

or email yoganeshyoga@gmail.com

Call 646 - 326 - 7471

Sundar Das on Bansuri flute

Bansuri flute player Sundar Das has accompanied Kirtan Wallahs including Krishna Das, Shyam Das, Wah, David Newman (Durga Das) & Mira and Jai Uttal. He composes soundtracks for multimedia yoga programs and film, and plays live flute music for yoga classes, Buddhist gatherings and Yoga retreats - his CDs are popular with many yoga teachers. Sundar Das has been practicing Yoga and devotional chanting since 1971 and lived in an ashram for 16 years both in the US and in India where music composing, playing and recording was his selfless service.

Acclaimed international dancer Amanda Turner

Amanda Turner works throughout the U.S. and internationally as a master teacher, choreographer and consultant, and was voted by Dance Magazine as one of New York's Top 10 Women Artists "who are doing it all". She was a solo dancer in The Phantom Of The Opera and has danced Evita, West Side Story, Hello Dolly, Oliver, Beauty and the Beast, Little Me and Damn Yankees, among many other accomplishments. 

Amanda is also a fully certified Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant (ALC), an Ayurvedic Yoga Specialist (AYS) and a member of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA). She brings all of these principles of balance of the mind, body, and spirit to her work.

Amanda Turner bio | Website

We hope to see you there - support YoGanesh and these wonderful artists so they can keep the music alive! 

Thank you to Ganesher Dana Wolf for suggesting that YoGanesh host Andrew, Sundar and Amanda for this performance. Namaste! 

WOW! $30 for 30 days - New Student Special!

$30 for 30 days ... that's our current special for NEW STUDENTS and STUDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN AWAY FOR 6 MONTHS. So take advantage of it!

If you come to a class, please pick up some of our "green groovin' elephant" postcards on your way out to share with friends and family, and leave them in your fave places in your nabe. (We have a special Love Thy Nabe photo album on Facebook to celebrate those business - we're all helping each other support our community in this recession.)

There a loads of new classes - Beginner Basics, Rocket Yoga, classes early, lunch and late, and some great new teachers. Great value!

Our new WEBSITE is in the works. If you just type yoganesh.com you will stumble across it in its scaffolding and the timetable is not connected. Please type the full www.yoganesh.com to get our current one with everything working.

Namaste for your patience! Go to the Yoganesh Schedule.

Coming up April 7, 8pm - a fantastic RAGA MOVES concert featuring Indian Classical Music by Andrew Rai,  Sundar Das and acclaimed dancer Amanda Turner. Mark it in your mental calendar and watch for the next blog post!

VIDEO: Learn to Float with Phil Lynch

Saturday, January 28^th 
4pm - 6pm - $30
(Sign up now at YoGanesh.com)

Expand your practice by adding “flight” to your transitions! This workshop will connect upper body strength and alignments to your lower body control. Strengthening the core will be the focus to take you to a new level of development and understanding. 

Through metaphors, demonstrations and a lot of practice, you will learn principles of lightening the hips and legs while tapping into your upper body power. Various Arm Balances will be explored to break down the practice of jumping back and through; which is especially geared to those that practice Ashtanga Yoga. Lighten your load and your practice and Learn to Float! Level 2/3 regular practitioners recommended. 


VIDEO: Phil Lynch Flow (from Phil's Website)

Ah, the float ...
We're not talking root beer or the giant "Hello Kitty" float at Macy's parades or even the float we all had in our weekly budgets before the recession hit ... we're talking about that oh-so-cool move you see some apparently super human beings doing, mostly on YouTube. Wait, can I learn to do that too?

Yes you can, says Phil Lynch, who is teaching Yoganesh's first ever Learn to Float workshop on Jan 28, 2012.

Stills from the Phil Lynch Flow. 

Floating (or "flying") is a technique taught at more advanced levels of Ashtanga-Vinyasa yoga. It refers to the ability to "hover" the feet - and even the entire body - momentarily in the air when jumping backward or forward from downward facing dog. There are many videos on YouTube illustrating this technique, but check out the terrific "Phil Lynch Flow" which we have reproduced from Phil's website (see above).

We caught up with Phil (floating mid-way between a Crow to a Chaturanga pose) and asked for the inside scoop:

Phil, what exactly is "floating"? 

Landing lightly or silently when jumping to or from the hands. jumping though the hands/arms either back or forth, hovering the feet off the floor while standing on one's hands

What are the key areas of the body involved in making it happen? 

Every part of your body except the facial muscles.

Do you have to be able to do a handstand first, for example? 

No, but it helps.

Do we need wrists of steel? 

I hope not!

What are intermediate milestones we can aim for in getting there? 

Jumping back out of BAKASANA (Crow pose) in to CHATTARUNGA (low push up).

Are there some things to mindful about, who shouldn't do it? 

You shouldn't hold the breath unconsciously or hurt yourself.

How long did it take you to learn, what was your path? 

It just seemed like a natural progression as my body/breath opened and I became strong and flexible. I didn't really "learn it" from any one so I had to break it down or deconstruct it, in order to translate it and attempt to teach it to others. Any description or instruction can help but just like maps, they don't take you any where, you have take action or travel to get it.

And where can we take action? 

My Learn to Float workshop is on Saturday, January 28th 2012 from 4-6 PM at YoGanesh! 

Phil was interviewed by fellow YoGanesh teacher Lynette Chiang

Zentle Yoga: a restorative class taught by founder Norma Kerner (every Wed 4pm)

Zentle yoga is a melding of Asian/Indian influences - Yoga, Qi Gong, Restorative, vibrational and blissful. Come check it out, Wednesdays at 4pm - Norma

Norma, you teach a special and personal class called "Zentle yoga." What exactly is it? 

It's a combination of simple Hatha Vinyasa asanas and qi-gong (energy training) along with vibration and body tapping.  It sounds a bit New Age but Qi-gong and these other things have been practiced for hundreds of years in Asian countries.  

What kinds of modalities do you incorporate? 

Qi Gong is an energy training modality used in many Asian countries. They are gentle movements that move the stagnant energy in our bodies. Medical Qi-Gong is used in hospitals in China as a way to heal energy channels (meridians) in our bodies. The universe is made of energy so it makes sense to use that energy as a healing and restorative tool.  I completed a 200-hour Teacher Training Program in Taoist Energy/Healing at Tao Yoga and I also completed a 200-hour Teacher Training Program in Hatha Yoga at BambooMoves. My diverse teaching style is a melding of these two practices, Indian Hatha Vinyasa yoga and Asian Qi Gong (or Chi Kung). 

Who do you think would benefit most from your class? 

Anyone who wants a more restorative practice and want to give their bodies a little lovin'.  We are constantly abusing our bodies by rushing around and not taking a moment to breath and connect to our bodies. I believe that we have to love ourselves before we can  love others.

How can we expect to feel after it? 

Hopefully, blissed out and renewed!

Anything else to add?

A neuro surgeon, Jill Bolte-Taylor, was on Oprah a couple of years ago.  She had had a stroke and she wrote a book about her experience with feeling people's energy during her coma. She said she could feel the energy of the nurses as they came into the room and whether they had good feelings towards her or not. It was fascinating!  That is what qi gong is all about - feeling one's energy.

   

Why Kripalu? by YoGanesh teacher Erica Arce

Erica (handstanding) with fellow Kripalu instructor Jay Karlinski.

• Erica Arce is YoGanesh's official Kripalu instructor, teaching Fridays at 6pm. | Erica Arce Yoga on Facebook
• Train to be a Kripalu Yoga Teacher at YoGanesh! Feb 9 - Jun 24, 2012

To climb deep down into the rabbit hole of your subconscious and feel within your own mind, body and soul what is present and what comes next ... for me, it was the clearing out of ancient samskaras.

Yoga is pregnant with countless benefits: the unification of the mind, body and spirit; the journey into the realm of non-dualistic nature, and the cultivation of harmony, equanimity and wholeness. It inspires awe - not mention the fact that it just makes you feel really good.

I came to Yoganesh through Co-founder Andrew Tanner, who was my instructor in New Jersey following my Kripalu teacher training in 2009. Andrew was pivotal to the maintenance and growth of my personal practice and thus my teaching. By osmosis, my classes are Kripalu with a sprinkle of Andrew inspiration.

I’m an only child to a single mom, and I had a rough time growing up in New Jersey. There were events from my youth that brought me bouts of impenetrable darkness and all the demons that live there. Through high school and art school, and even through another’s unconditional love, I couldn’t ever really shake the darkness. Not to paint a bleak picture - I certainly had joyful and happy moments, but it wasn’t until my Kripalu yoga teacher training in 2009 that something life changing happened.

Providence brought yoga to me over 10 years ago, however, it wasn’t until 2009, when I completed my 200hr teacher training at Kripalu, that my inner landscape began to dramatically shift. No words could adequately describe it. To climb deep down into the rabbit hole of your subconscious and feel within your own mind, body and soul what is present and what comes next ... for me, it was the clearing out of ancient samskaras (scars), profound healing, the creation of inner sanctuary and life skills, and the road to spiritual evolution.

Kripalu yoga is, among many things, a lineage devoted to bhakti (love, devotion and compassion in its supreme and divine form), Shiva energy (the power of transformation), and asana (postures) as a meditation in motion. I believe that this is what separates Kripalu from any other lineage. Everything I’ve shared in this blog is my reason for why I think you should consistently practice Kripalu yoga and why, if you feel the call to teach, take the teacher training at Yoganesh. It is my hope that as your Yoganesh Kripalu instructor, I can create a safe space and guide you to find your yoga.

By Swami Kripalu:

My beloved child, break your heart no longer.

Each time you judge yourself, you break your own heart.

You stop feeding on the love, which is the wellspring of your vitality.

The time has come. Your time. To live. To celebrate,
and to see the goodness that you are…

Do not fight the dark. Just turn on the light.

Let go, and breathe into the goodness that you are.

Feb 9 - Jun 24, 2012:  Train to be a Kripalu Yoga Teacher at YoGanesh

Related posts:

Kripalu at YoGanesh's 1 Year Anniversary

VIDEO: Easy Proper Pigeon - a piriformis workout for the rest of us!

(Re-produced with the blessings of the GalfromdownunderYoga blog)

Easy proper Pigeon pose: make a "box" with your arms to keep the front foot flexed

One of our more "obscure" muscles (in that, you're not really aware of it on a daily basis like your quads and hammies) is the piriformis. This muscle is located deep in your butt, running from the sacrum to the top of the thighbone.  It's one of the the many hip rotator muscles that collectively turn the hips and upper leg outward (called external rotation), and particularly for athletes, provides stability around the knee when twisting and changing direction.

If you sit in a chair, place the right ankle (flex that foot!) just south of the left knee and tip your body forward, you'll feel the piriformis wake up in that very spot. I call this the Piriformis Desk Jockey stretch, because it's an ideal thing to do at your desk. Sitting cross-legged also activates this muscle. 

Piriformis as viewed from behind.

The piriformis skates somewhat close to the infamous sciatic nerve - the one that often gives grief by sending shooting pains down the leg and sometimes numbing the butt.  This Wiki entry eviscerates the area impressively, showing how the nerve actually passes THROUGH this muscle for a certain percentage of the population. Stretching and strengthening this muscle is thought to help alleviate and and avoid sciatic pain.

VIDEO: Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana)

VIDEO: YoGanesh teacher Lynette Chiang demonstrates an easy way to get into Pigeon pose. 

Apart from sitting cross legged, doing the Piriformis Desk Jockey and a further variation of the latter lying flat on your back (loads of Google images of these moves here) you can kick things up a notch by doing Pigeon Pose.

In its easiest form, it's simply lying face down with one leg tucked under your body, grounding the same side hip down on the mat. 

In its more advanced or "proper" form, the shin is parallel to the end of the mat - rather difficult for all but the most malleably-hipped humans.

I made the video above to illustrate an easy way to get into "proper" pigeon. As you can see I am one of these humans who aren't super open-hipped by design - I'm also one of the child ballerinas who could never really do the splits! None of this genetic stuff need stop you from getting a good approximation to the essence of any yoga move and reaping the benefits.

Yoga Journal describes a more usual way of getting into the pose here. If that's not easy for you, try it my way!

Lynette's Easy Proper Pigeon:

1. Bend the back leg completely
2. Bring front leg shin parallel to mat, flexing foot
3. "Box" that front leg in with the arms as shown below, keeping the front foot flexed to protect the knee
4. Keeping upper body low to the mat, manoeuvre it squarely over your front leg (with flexed foot!)
5. Now - with care - knee-toe the back leg to straighten it, with the entire front of the leg facing the mat. Don't over strain! Drop forehead to mat and exhale to deepen. Stay there a while, all the while "scootching" your back leg to be as straight and long as possible.
6. To come out, the first thing you must do is release the back leg completely, i.e. bend it acutely at the knee. This "unlocks" everything.
7. Stretch out and do the other side.

Just remember 3 things:

1. The FIRST thing you do going INTO the pose is bend the back leg completely.

2. Keep that front foot FLEXED (that's what the boxed arms are for) to protect the knee

3. The FIRST thing you do coming OUT of the pose is bend the back leg completely.

Happy piriforming/pigeoning!

Lynette Chiang aka GalfromdownunderYoga teaches Vinyasa for the rest of us at YoGanesh Manhattan 

Special Christmas Day Class

CHRISTMAS DAY CLASS, 10am-11.15am:

Many yoga studios are offering just one class on Xmas day and so will we, but a little earlier than most - perfect for you to proceed to the inevitable food coma family buffet with a toned tummy! 

To get you in the mood, instructor Lynette will serve some coconut nog and cookies - AFTER the class of course! (this cool Ganesh ornament spotted at http://www.thewholeheartedlife.com/blog/family/christmas-ornament-nostaligia/)

Please RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/events/265759940151648/ so she knows how many treats to bring. Namaste!