August 2009 Newsletter

I can’t believe its already been 5 weeks since we’ve opened. I want to thank everyone who has come in for your support. To celebrate our successful first month, we are offering a newsletter only bring a friend special (if you didn’t get this newsletter in your inbox, you won’t be able to take advantage of this special. Sign up for our newsletter to get future promotions). For every friend you refer to us, you get a free class. There is no limit on the number of free classes you can rack up, and we encourage you to refer people to our first free class promotion on our webpage. We will be running this promotion from 8/9/2009 – 9/8/2009. We are also continuing our $8 drop in special for the remainder of the month(this special ended 8/31/2009), celebrating our new yoga studio.

Yoga Eight List of the Month – Eight Reasons to do yoga:

Akemi’s August Recipe

Onigiri (Rice Ball)

Onigiri is a Japanese traditional food. It is easy to make, transport(wrapped in plastic wrap) and easy to eat. When you are busy in the office, you can eat it quickly with one hand.

Ingredients

Konbu

nori

Directions

Moisten your hands,and spread a small amount of salt over the palms.
Put about 3 or 4 tablespoons of rice in one hand and flatten it. Put Konbu seaweed in the center. Then add another 3 to 4 tablespoons of rice over the konbu seaweed.
To make a triangle Onigiri, roll the rice counterclockwise in both hands while maintaing the angle of the right palm to form the rice into a triangle.
Wrap the roll with a small strip of nori seaweed sheet.

You can also enjoy a variety of Onigiri by changing their shapes and with different kinds of stuffing. (like we did with our Bucky onigiri)

Stuffing Variations

Interested in this recipe? We have more information and pictures here.

Sanskrit word of the month

Yoga

Sanskrit is an ancient language, providing the foundations to many modern languages in India and southeast Asia. Sanskrit, Greek and Latin (and many more languages) share a common ancestor, so Sanskrit and English are distantly related. So it is little surprise when you find similarities between the two languages.

Yoga is derived from a sanskrit word “yuj” which means “to yoke” or “to unite”. Much like a yoke joining two oxen together to work for a unified goal, one goal of yoga is to find union between the body and the mind, so that both may work in harmony towards a shared goal.

Yoga Sutra to ponder

The core of yoga philosophy is derived from the yoga sutras, a series of short statements on philosophy. The word sutra itself has the same root as “to sew” (I find the word very similar to suture). You may be wondering if learning about the history and philosophy of yoga is important in order to practice. That decision is entirely with you. I started practicing yoga as a way to build and maintain flexibility, with no desire of anything beyond loosening my hamstrings. I found after the fact that through my practice I had began to discover what was found in yoga philosophy had already integrated itself into my life. I think the quote by David Williams, “Before you’ve practiced, the theory is useless. After you’ve practiced, the theory is obvious.” sums up my experience.

The yoga sutra we will look at today is from Book 1, Sutra 2 (BKS Iyengar translation):

“Yoga is the individual discipline that leads to the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind”

Simply put, through yoga we can find a calm mind. Think of the mind as a clear flat lake, each thought is a stone thrown into the water. Each stone creates ripples, which interact with other ripples created by stones, creating noise and making it difficult to think. By trying to recapture that flat lake, we can find a calmness which allows us to move and breathe with intention and purpose.

Practically looking, we can’t exist in todays world in a state with no thoughts, but taking time throughout the day to find a state of calmness could help lead to a healthier life. Studies have shown that mediation can lead to lower blood pressure without the need of medications which can cause side effects. Try to remember the mind as lake example the next time you are in savasana, and find the same stillness on the surface of that lake in your mind.

Closing Thoughts

I read that this past july was the coldest july on the books for Madison. San Francisco was thankfully a good preparation for chilly summer days (Mark Twain once wrote, “The coldest winter I ever saw was summer in San Francisco”). But after spending 3 years in mostly urban settings, I am glad to be back where I can watch the corn grow as I drive by it day after day. And just as I enjoy watching corn stalks growing taller, I find the same joy watching students progress in their practice. I try to be thankful for everything in life, and I am thankful for you all for being a part of Yoga Eight

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