October 2009 Newsletter

October has come and has brought with it cold mornings and windy days. One of the things I missed most when I was away from Wisconsin was the changing of the seasons. The entire countryside seems to exhale as leaves turn red, orange and yellow. The cyclical movements of the nature presents themselves in a colorful feast for the eyes.

I have started studying kinesiology at the UW, and I managed to forget all about evening exams. This first one has caught me off guard, and I do not have a substitute for it (I have one for my next exam), so as a result the Thursday night classes on 10/8 are cancelled. Normal Thursday night classes will resume on 10/15. I will always keep the schedule page up to date, so you can always refer to it to see any updates or changes. Another great way of staying on top of events and changes at Yoga Eight is to join our facebook page.

Yoga Eight has joined Bicycle Benefits, and are offering our discounted rates to anyone who rides their bicycle to yoga class. Madison has a fantastic network of bicycle paths, one which drops off right around the corner from the yoga studio. We are also offering discounted rates to full-time students, teachers, non-profit employees as well as active duty military members and immediate families and veterans.

Newsletter Only Special Offer

This month we are offering a newsletter only special offer, only available to those subscribed to the newsletter. Our special offer is a 4 class card for $32 ($28 discount rate), but this card is only available for 8 days, until the 10/16/2009. This special class card has a 6 week expiration limit on classes. Come in and get your card today!

Intro to Yoga Workshops

Our second Intro to Yoga Workshop was on September 12th was another success, spreading the yoga experience to new students with our next workshop, scheduled this Saturday. We still have a few open spots for the workshop, so if you are interested or know someone who is, let me know ASAP. The workshop covers the basics of Yoga, pranayama (breath), asana (poses), and touching upon philosophy. Our next workshop is tentatively planned for November 14th.

Sanskrit

Sanskrit is an ancient language, which is derived from an even older proto-indo-european language. English can trace it’s roots back to the same proto-indo-european langauge, which is why you occassionally hear similarities between words. Think of triangle pose, trikonasana. Triangle and trikona sound very similar. In sanskrit tri is three, kona is angle, and asana is pose. You can begin to see/hear the similiarites, due to a shared ancestory, between english and sanskrit.

These days sanskrit isn’t spoken in day to day dealings, but holds much the same place in Indian culture as Latin or Greek does in ours. Much like latin is used in traditional catholic mass, sanskrit is still mainly used as a liturgical language for mantras or chants in India. Sanskrit (the word) actually means “cultured language” and is also referred to as the language fo the gods

Here is a list of sanskrit terms you may hear in yoga class and the accompanying english word:

ASHTA

BANDH

KONA

PAD

SAMA

UURDHVA

I always like to incorporate sanskrit into my classes as much as possible to pay respect in my own way to the tradition of yoga that I have learned, teach and practice. Many names for yoga poses are fairly recent in the overall timeline of yoga, but learning the sanskrit names can help when you take classes with various teachers. I found when teaching ashtanga in Japan, even when my Japanese was far from perfect, students were able to work from the pose names.

My favorite reason to use and learn sanskrit, is learning the interconnectedness between english and sanskrit, two cultures which a decade ago I thought shared nothing in common. I find the more you learn about history (and in this case language), the more you realize how small and interconnected everyone and everything is.

Sanskrit word of the month

Namaskara

Namaskara is derived from the sanskrit word namas, which means to bow or salute. You hear this term when ever we do sun salutations, or surya namaskaras (surya is sun in sanskrit). Namas is also the root word for namaste.

Closing Thoughts

Thankfully yesterday our heating system was replaced. The small floor radiator I brought in from home tried its best, and I am thankful for that. I was also pleasantly reminded the fantastic heating capabilities of combining ujayii breath and suryanamaskaras. Each day when the studio was a little bit chilly (around 65), I would always have to double check the thermostat after the first 10 minutes of class and be amazed that the temperature hadn’t change externally (in the room), but inside my body I was warm and awake. My best advice for the winter months ahead is if you can’t make it into a yoga class, just wake up and do what my teacher Larry Schultz referred to as MDR (Minimum Daily Requirement). Do 5 Suryanamaskara As, 5 Suryanamaskara Bs, and a quick savasana and be on with your day. I guarantee that you will feel lighter and more charged with as little as 10-15 minutes of practice to yourself. (If you have trouble remembering the sequence for suryanamaskaras, I have print out copies of the sequence at the studio, just ask for one)

photos courtesy Michael Turner