Meet Nova Loverro Sprick

Why would you want to do a workshop with Nova Loverro?  

 

To start, Nova has loads of experience teaching yoga.  She has been studying and teaching yoga since 1999.   The studying doesn't stop.  Nova continues to deepen her understanding and offering of yoga by being a student herself.  

In recent years, Nova has faced serious illness and through her dedicated practice appears healthier than ever.  She has also brought yoga to those with great illness.  I've observed Nova's ability to teach to varying levels of students.  The workshop is not just for an advanced practitioner.  All levels of students can participate and be inspired!  

Nova's current offerings include a blend of the Universal Principles of Alignment, rooted in Anusara, and Tantric Philosophy, strongly influenced by ParaYoga.

 

Please join us for the upcoming Yoga Workshop with Nova Loverro at Moab Yoga.  Details on the workshop and individual sessions can be found on our website:  www.moabyoga.com.

Non-Mandatory Slow Down: Good Stuff

I’ve been go-go-going for several months.  There was definitely some good in that going but a lot of it felt anxious and like I was running a race that didn’t have a finish line.  The cool thing about life, and the body, is that it really won’t allow you to do that indefinitely. 

I have been experiencing a mandatory body slow down in the form of a summer flu.  I have been experiencing it over the last two weeks and even though I don’t feel great some really great things are coming out of it.  In an act of resisting the slow down – I cleaned the house, got rid of a bunch of things I don’t want to wear anymore, I’ve made dinner, and I’ve written cards to my good friends. Oh, and I've done a bunch of reading!  I also went thru a box of old photos and found lots of fun memories of a friend that recently passed. 

Somehow, even though I’m sick, I’ve re-connected with myself.  My creative self.  My inspired self.  My self that realizes I don’t have to be doing quite so much.  I don’t wish being sick on anyone.  But what I do recommend is a mandatory or non-mandatory slow down.  It is good for the self. 

Getting to know you

The more I practice the more I hear this song in my head.  The voice in my head singing it is bold and  goofy.  It reminds me not to take myself too seriously as I get to know myself both on and off the yoga mat. 

Awareness is my current obsession .  I'm obsessed with using my body as a tool to feel better and I'm trying to practice using the same awareness with my mind.  The mind, as you might expect, is proving to be a bit more stubborn than the body.

Creatures of Habit

The energy of Spring is a good time to shake up our routines and either start new habits that support our greater goals or release habits that are no longer serving us.

As you can imagine, corporations are willing to spend a lot of money to understand consumer habits in an effort to increase their bottom line.  I recently read a NY Times article that outlined some of the research Target Corporation has paid to have done in an effort to understand the habits of women in their first trimester. 

What they learned is that once our brain recognizes a pattern or habit it remembers it in a way that the next time you do it you use significantly less brain power.  What this means to me is that we check out - we are less connected to ourselves - less yoked between mind and body.

In our practice of yoga - by yoking mind and body we can practice awareness and making choices that support our bigger vision and goals for ourselves.  We can begin to recognize habits and find the source of the reward that has programmed the habit.  If we can 'check in' and understand the motivation driving the habit we can use our mind to re-pattern the habit into something that supports our greater goals.


If you would like to read the article you can find it here:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?ref=magazine

Construction Update

As we found it. . . check out the carpet and all those fans!

View out the front window.

View out the front window at night.

Carpet removed.  New lights installed.  Walls sanded and prepped for paint.

I'm hoping all the labor Aron has put into creating this space will inspire him to use it once it is complete.

Jay working on shelves for the things people bring to their practice that aren't needed for the practice (shoes and more).

Joaquin spraying the first coat of paint on the ceiling.  Four coats later these colors are a distant memory.

Opening Soon! MOAB YOGA

 

Exciting News!!!  Moab Yoga is going to have an official home.  We're opening a yoga studio in Moab, Utah, in the heart of downtown, at 37 E. Center St.  We just started the transformation process.  I'll post some before pictures soon. . .followed by some after pictures because we plan to open 

March 1st, 2012.

Why we chant

I often begin the classes I teach with the Anusara Invocation.  I've found in the past that if I try to use my brain to lead the chant I get lost and can't find the words.  Yesterday, while chanting, I let my mind wander and I was trying to remember a new student's name.  When I brought myself back to the present I found myself consciously thinking to remember the words that came next.  I stalled.  As I hesitated several others followed and stopped chanting. . . but one student continued the chant and, a moment later, the rest of us joined back in.  

This wasn't the first time this has happened in class.  Coming together to chant at the beginning of class whether it is the sound "OM," the Anusara Invocation, or another chant brings the group together as one.  

I learned in my teacher training that sound is rhythm or entrainment sped up.  When things come into line (or rhythm) with another.  The same thing happens with a grandfather clock, women's cycles, lovers, a mother & her baby.

As we tune into the breath, our self, the teacher and the kula a boundary is created.  A boundary between our practice and the rest of our day.  The cells of our body align with the sound, the vibration, and receive psychological benefit.

THE ANUSARA INVOCATION

OM

Namah Shivaya Gurave

I offer myself to the Light, the Auspicious One,

Who is the True Teacher within and without,

Saccidananda Murtaye

Who assumes the forms of Reality, Consciousness and Bliss,

Nisprapancaya Shantaya

Who is never absent and is full of peace,

Niralambaya Tejase

Independent in existence, the vital essence of illumination.

OM

Growth

I have been curious and a little confused over the resignation of two of Anusara's senior teachers: Christina Sell  http://christinasell.blogspot.com/2011/10/context-is-everything.html and Elena Brower  http://www.artofattention.com/announcement-of-gratitude/.

I've been juggling my feelings over this and the affect on my own path.  What I have found is that it is affecting me emotionally and not effecting my actions.  I just signed up for an Anusara Weekend Workshop in December.

What I see is two teachers that have grown in their practice to a place where the Anusara jumpsuit no longer fits.  I'm still sewing my jumpsuit and really enjoying the colors and stitches involved in the process.

Here is a reaction from another Anusara teacher that speaks well on the heart of Anusara:  http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/11/anusara--to-follow-your-heart/.


Last, Amy Ippoliti shares her raw-get real-perspective in Elephant Journal:  http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/11/a-letter-to-the-yoga-community-about-the-anusara-situation--amy-ippoliti/

To be your best self

I have a personal manifesto posted on the bulletin board in my office.  I got the idea from my sister and she got it from one of her college professors.  Included in my personal manifesto is:   

Do your best.  Keep making your best better.

A student came up to me after class yesterday and said, "You're a great teacher, Angela.  Stop apologizing."  Stop apologizing.  It hurt a little.  Not the feedback but the reflection that I was a person that was essentially apologizing for my offering.  Was I not offering my best?  I was.  So why the need to apologize?   

I attempted to bring the light of awareness to understand my habit of apologizing for an awkward transition or including abs or not including abs or being detailed enough in the alignment or not practicing enough myself.  The truth is. . . if I am offering my best there is nothing to apologize for.  

Stop apologizing.  Do your best.  It is enough.

Cowboy Up, Arjuna!

Cowboy Up, Arjuna!

I enjoyed this article by Abby Tucker, a San Francisco Bay Area Anusara Teacher.  What a wonderful reminder to step into our own magnificence and refrain from lusting after what someone else has!

Pray - Beg - Please?

A few years ago I used to sit in the classroom feeling eager & anxious for students to arrive.  I would beg (pray), "Please let someone show up today!"  I wanted to teach but I was also terrified to teach so there is a good chance I was energetically repelling the very students I was praying would show up.

This past week was one of the busiest, for me, in the past year.  I found myself praying, "Please let no one show up!  Please let no one show up!"  I caught myself and laughed out loud.  Seriously Angela?  Someone is going to be there.  Here we go!  You can do it!

Sure enough, I taught one of my largest classes ever.  Now I was really laughing.  The reason I'm sharing this is because I've noticed something.  Even though I didn't move in the practice with the students I felt similar benefits of the practice after class.  The energy - the prana - of the students fueled me for my next challenge just like it does when I show up on the mat for my own practice.  For me this is proof that the practice is so much more than physical (even if I love the physical benefits, as well). 

So what is this really about?  Showing up.  Showing up for life.  The life you've signed up for and the life you choose to live.

Flax

Why would you want to consume Flax?

Flax seeds & flax seed oil are rich sources of Omega 3 Fatty Acids.  Omega 3 Fatty Acids are strong antioxidants - they protect us from the sun, build beautiful skin, lubricate the joints & intestines, and stengthen cell membranes.

A few ideas on how to feed your body flax. . .

Sprinkle ground flax on top of oatmeal, cereal, granola, or yogurt.
Blend ground flaxseeds with water as a substitute for egg whites in baking.
Add flaxseed oil to smoothies.
Add ground flaxseed to homemade bread.
Drizzle flaxseed oil on your salad.
Eat a Handle Bar by Kate's Real Food.

Note:  It is best to keep flax chilled & away from the sun.  I transfer mine to a brown jar & keep it in the fridge after bringing it home.

The following resources were used for some of the above information:

Super Natural Cooking, Heidi Swanson
Healing with Whole Foods, Paul Pitchford.

Another reason to go easy on yourself

Heart disease remains the #1 killer of women in the United States. 

Listen up because this is important:  Being hard on yourself isn't good for the health of your heart!

Dean Ornish, M.D., is a doctor that has focused his practice on the prevention of heart disease opposed to the treatment of heart disease.  He has found that important factors in preventing heart disease are: a healthy diet, plenty of exercise, managing stress and focusing on relationships.

It turns out that positive emotions can actually change what is going on inside of you physically - not just emotionally.  Your emotions effect your physical health. 

I don't know about you but I can be pretty hard on myself when it comes to food & exercise.  I'm trying to lighten up on myself and focus on the big picture.  I want to eat well.  I want to eat what makes me feel good.  If I come back to that after I indulge I can make a different choice tomorrow or even later that day. 

Try this:  if you aren't able to practice yoga, exercise or meditate for an hour see if you can squeeze 10 minutes into your day.  The consistency will be better than choosing not to do it because you aren't able to do it at the level you would like to. 

Embrace Joy.  Focus on what you're doing well!!  Let yourself & your loved ones be human. 

Hanuman Philosophy ~ Bite 2

The following reflection is based on the teachings shared by Douglas Brooks.

Hanuman is a shape shifter.  You go inside and become what you need to for the given circumstances or situation.  This isn't fake - it comes from a place of authenticity.  I am this and I am also that.

Do you ever feel like a dichotomy?  Do you feel like parts of yourself contradict one another?   It is all you.  Beautiful YOU.

For a moment lets apply this to the physical nature of our yoga practice.  The alignment in the different asanas allows us to express ourselves in different ways - the different versions of ourselves.  We make beauty in all asanas- not just one.

Meditation Inspiration

I just started reading Sally Kempton's book, Meditation for the Love of It:  Enjoying Your Own Deepest Experience.  I really liked what she said at the end of the introduction:

"We would feel a lot better if we realized that meditation is like any other intimate relationship:  it requires patience, commitment, and deep tolerance.  Just as our encounters with others can be wondrous but also baffling, scary and even irritating, our encounters with the self have their own moods and flavors.  Like any other relationship, this one changes over time.  And it is best undertaken with love."

The moon shines because it does not escape the night ~ Rumi

Anusara embraces Tantric philosopy which accepts both the good and the bad ~ the beautiful with the ugly.  A couple of days ago I was in a rotten mood with no real explanation and I came across this poem by Rumi.

Painting by Chloe Hedden:  http://www.chloehedden.com/

If you befriend the Beloved

you will never be lonely.

If you learn to be flexible

you will never be helpless.

The moon shines because it

does not escape the night.

The rose is scented because

it has embraced the thorn.

Join me in the 30 Day Meditation Challenge

One of my teachers, Amy Ippoliti, does a great 30 Day Yoga Challenge on Facebook.  The June Challenge is:  10 minutes of meditation practice EVERY day for 30 days.  I'm very excited about this challenge.  A week or two ago I included 10 minutes of meditation in two of my classes.  This is an area of resistance for me (practicing meditation) so I imagine there is quite a lot for me to learn here.  Can anyone relate? 

Yoga Funny

My friend Chloe shared this with me.  I found myself both humored & horrified.  Enjoy!

Beauty Reflected

We were blessed to have Jim Campbell enter our community last week with such grace that I think we all started to believe that he was part of our community:  always had been and always will be.  Jim has a giant spirit and it is really impossible to sum up his personality in a few words.  Although I said it isn't possible, I can't help but try to give you the feeling of his personality with a few adjectives.   Jim is funny, creative, energetic, passionate, fun, and honest.

He invited our kula to participate in his creativity as yoga & spiritual models.  The result, as reflected in his photos, showcases his talent and the beauty that we are so grateful to be immersed in. 

Jim Campbell's photography website:  http://www.omlightphotography.com/

Which style of yoga is best?

All and none.  It seems there are endless options these days to the style or kind of yoga available to practice.  Hatha, Kundalini, Ashtanga, Yin, Bikram, Anusara, Iyengar, Flow -- we're just getting started.  I like this quote taken from the manifesto of the Asmi Yoga studio in Bend, Oregon:  "the best kind of yoga is the one you do."

Read the rest of the Asmi Yoga Manifesto:  http://asmiyoga.com/ourintention/manifesto.html