Namaste to All! I wanted to introduce GaiamTV. which is a new website where you can watch a wide variety of yoga, wellness, fitness, inspirational and so much more! The best part is that you can watch these videos anytime, anywhere. You can use your phone, computer, tv, ipad.If you need a dose of mind, body, spirit you can simply log in and get what you need in the moment! They’ve put together an amazing collection of over 2000 high quality videos. Whether they are live, taped or acquired, they were hand selected based on the positive impact on you and your life!

This offering comes to us from Gaiam, a leading lifestyle media company. The site is a representation of the exceptional and expansive catalogue they have worked so hard to provide for us! They are a trusted resource for some of the best: health, fitness, wellness and spiritual development in the industry.

Catch one of the many yoga classes from short practices to long ones. Log in to practice with top yogis, such as: Rodney Yee, Seane Corne, Shiva Ray, Kathryn Budig, Tommy Rosen, Kia Miller and Suzanne Deason. Gaiam TV also features today’s most influential spiritual teachers, such as: Deepak Chopra, the Dalai Lama, Wayne Dyer and Jack Canfield.

In addition, they offer expert health information for many conditions from renowned Mayo Clinic™. Here you can find many wellness videos, http://www.gaiamtv.com/category/wellness-center.Don’t forget to check out a collection of uplifting and inspirational films as well as fitness and science videos.There is so much to choose from! There is definitely something for everyone!

Right now, they are offering a 10-day free subscription. Members pay just $9.95 a month for unlimited access. For more details and to check it out; click over to http://www.gaiamtv.com/?v=b

FREE GIVEAWAY!! 1st person to email me at: https://www.facebook.com/stephanie.churchill1  wins a FREE  3 MONTH MEMBERSHIP to GAiamTV !

Next, I will be taking some of the classes and sharing some reviews. Let me know if you find any classes you like!

An empty lot, rare in the center of Philadelphia’s business district, has suddenly transformed from grass and weeds to 32,000 square feet of produce, flowers, and trees. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS),  Independence Blue Cross (IBC), and Brandywine Realty Trust introduce “PHS Pops Up” at 20th and Market Streets, a showcase for PHS’s community greening program and for IBC’s commitment to the health of our community.

“Independence Blue Cross is excited to partner with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society on this project that combines greening and improving the community’s health in a unique way,” said Daniel J. Hilferty, president and CEO of IBC. “The pop up garden beautifies this Market Street corner and offers an original way for thousands of workers, residents, students, and families to learn more about nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. We hope people take advantage of this fun and engaging garden and incorporate what they learn into their everyday lives.

At the pop-up garden, PHS is growing vegetables, herbs, grains, and uniquely manicured topiaries to garner support and awareness for its City Harvest program, which provides fresh produce for underserved residents.

The garden will be open to the public every Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 2 p.m. throughout the summer and early fall, when free, on-site programming will include horticultural workshops on container gardening, cut flowers, organic pest control and other topics. Tours, special events and family programs are also planned at the garden throughout the summer and early fall. A complete listing of activities is available at PHSonline.org.

Independence Blue Cross (IBC) presents “Yoga and Nutrition in the Garden,” a FREE healthy eating and yoga foundations class for the public that offers a break from the ordinary day – in the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s (PHS) Pops Up Garden at 20th and Market Streets. Sessions will be offered on three consecutive Mondays: August 15, 22, and 29 over lunchtime. The garden will be dismantled in late October, but will bloom again next spring in a new location.

Members of the public are invited to enjoy the peaceful environment of the Pops Up Garden for a brief nutrition presentation and discussion beginning at 12:30 p.m., followed by a half-hour of standing yoga instruction, starting at 1p.m. Together, these healthy education elements, part of the IBX Healthy Steps program, will provide soothing tranquility and wellness for the mind, body, and spirit.

The classes are free and open to participants of all fitness levels. Participants can experience the physical and mental health benefits associated with gentle yoga and learn simple and effective ways to achieve a smart diet with emphasis on fresh vegetables and herbs.

“Standing yoga can safely stretch your muscle groups and relieve stiffness, tension, and overall fatigue,” said Dr. Richard Snyder, chief medical officer at IBC. “Yoga can also lower blood pressure and slow the heart rate, which can favorably impact the health of those with high blood pressure and heart disease. For many people, standing yoga offers anti-stress benefits as well, so it may be a great mid-day opportunity for center city Philadelphia workers, residents, or visitors.”

The Pops Up Garden offers a great location to learn or practice standing yoga. Focusing on effective yoga breathing techniques as well as precise alignment, standing yoga poses can be done in the comfort of a home garden or just about any exercise space. Participants must be at least 18 years old, must sign a waiver upon arrival, and are advised to bring bottled water. Appropriate shoes and clothing must be worn and yoga mats are not required.

Thank You Everyone who participated in 2011 Yoga on the Steps!! We had an Awesome Team out this year! We were able to raise $4,000 dollars for Living Beyond Breast Cancer. We had a special donor that matched the contributions we raised and this generous donation was able to make a significant fundraising effort for the Totally Zen Team! Each person was excited about being a part of this noble cause and committed to raising money to contribute to Living Beyond Breast Cancer, an organization that does such exceptional work!

Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) is dedicated to assisting you, whether you are newly diagnosed, in treatment, recently completed treatment, are years beyond or are living with metastatic breast cancer. They are also here for your family members, caregivers, friends and healthcare providers to provide breast cancer information and support.

As a national education and support organization, our goal is to improve your quality of life and help you take an active role in your ongoing recovery or management of the disease, regardless of educational background, social support or financial means.

Their sincere, diligent and outspoken approach is educating and inspiring more local companies and individuals to get involved, participate and make a difference with them!

I have been a proud part of organizing a team for the event the last two years. I feel it is a perfect time to join with others in our community and try to increase awareness and commitment to helping our grandmothers, mothers, sisters, daughters and friends at a time when their life is confusing and challenging.

Each year, on the day of the event, the resident yoga instructor, Jennifer Shelter always offers such a heartfelt, uplifting practice that includes the mindfulness and appreciation for those we honor. The speakers seemed to be extra open and heart centered this year. Something new and super touching was a short story from ten survivors

They shared words about what happened, what they learned and how they have evolved from their experience surviving breast cancer. Their contributions moved many of us to tears!

If you have not ever participated in Yoga on the Steps, please, mark your calendars and make it a point to come out, raise money and awareness!  See you next year !

Come Out on May 15, 2011, Sunday, at 8:30 – 12:30 to the Art Museum to Practice Yoga on the Steps for the Benefit of those who need your support to manage, heal and overcome Breast Cancer!!!!

YOUR HELP CAN Make a DIFFERENCE!

I know it is early! But, It is a Hair Raising, Overwhelmingly Positive Energy Flowing event from Start to Finish!!! Imagine 600 people: some who have breast cancer, some who are in remission, some who’s family or friends who have been affected by breast cancer or others, like me, who want to show their love and support. It is a great event & lots of fun!!!!!

Totally Zen wants you to Help Show Your Support as a Team! Totally Zen has signed up to organize other people to come together for a Very Worthy Cause!!! PLEASE sign up at the following link to be a part of the Totally Zen Team. We will meet at the Art Museum & practice yoga together as a team and part of a larger WHOLE to HELP OTHERS IN NEED!!!

We  plan to give away TOTALLY ZEN t-shirts to those who join the team. I will contact you once I receive notice from LBBC that you have registered. I will get your size and color preference. I am willing to OFFER 100 PEOPLE a FREE T-SHIRT!!

PS. -It would be GREAT to SEE YOU WEAR the TZ t-shirt the day of the event!

Join and Donate the Team:

http://lbbc.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=454660&lis=1&kntae454660=1A9765A7ABF84D5B9E041665BFCB5FAA&supId=0&team=4128948&cj=Y

If you cannot make it, PLEASE DONATE at this site to help Totally Zen reach their fundraising goal:

http://lbbc.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=454660&lis=1&kntae454660=1A9765A7ABF84D5B9E041665BFCB5FAA&supId=324195377

Please note:

• The event will be held rain or shine

• The Healthy Living Expo will be open throughout the event

• Please bring your own mat and/or towel

Schedule

• 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Registration & Check-In

• 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Program & Yoga Class

• 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – Closing & Health Expo

If you do not pre-register online, please come early.

Registration & Fundraising

We need your help! Every participant who raises $75 or more will receive a Yoga on the Steps for LBBC T-shirt.

THANK YOU & NAMASTE!!!

“Rumi fell into ecstasy and felt as his own soul began to whirl. He who had never danced before, who had never practiced the Sama, began whirling round and round in the goldsmith’s shop. For the first time he recognised his own soul, which, like the soul of Shamz his master, rose up majestically from his body, lifting him toward the heavens.”-Idris Lahore, “Rumi and the Soul of the Goddess Samadeva”  (from Dervish Yoga for Health and Longevity)

Inspired by the science of movements taught for centuries in secluded Dervish brotherhoods, and also yoga, tai chi, and more recent methods like eurythmy and stretching, Dervish Yoga or Samadeva Gestural Euphony is a new art of movement that stimulates and harmonizes all our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual resources, allowing us to be more at peace, more creative, and more joyful in our daily lives. Consisting of slow, meditative movements that mobilize and strengthen our powers of attention and dynamic, dance-like movements that fill us with a new energy, Dervish Yoga brings deep harmony to every level of our being. It relaxes and invigorates our body, harmonizes our psyche, sharpens our mind, and we learn through our body to listen to ourselves, to our profound inner being.

Effects of practicing Dervish Yoga

Dervish Yoga has beneficial effects on our muscles, eliminating our unnecessary tensions and giving us the energy we need for our active lives, and also on our physical and psychological equilibrium, the quality of our sleep, our concentration and memory, and all the organs of our body. Practicing Dervish Yoga, we’re relaxed physically and psychologically, and this makes it a superb anti-stress method, helping us stay healthy and fit with just a little practice every day.

Health

We’re healthy when all our organs are functioning harmoniously and when we’re in a state of psychological equilibrium, with a clear mind, ready to adapt to whatever situation life presents us. Like all systems in the universe, we have a self-regulating force, or vital energy, that maintains the equilibrium between our different constituent parts, between the organs of our body, our mind, and our emotions. This self-regulating force keeps us healthy, but troubles start to appear when it’s not circulating correctly. Traditional Eastern forms of medicine like acupuncture, Ayurvedic, Tibetan, and Yunani medicine aim to rebalance this energetic circulation, and certain movement techniques like Dervish Yoga also have this effect of rebalancing our body’s energy flow.

Movements

The Seven Major Arkanas are the cornerstone of Dervish Yoga; this specific series of movements (with evocative titles like “The Cascading Fountain,” “Reeds in the Wind,” and “Sparks of Fire”) has a profound action on all our organic systems and our energetic circulation.

Emotions

Every emotion has two sides, physical and psychological, what we feel and how it manifests. This means it’s possible to rebalance our emotional life by having an action on our body. Above and beyond what we usually perceive, our movements and gestures are the expression of our emotions and our deeper inner movements, and the same is true in the other direction; our movements have an influence on our emotions and our inner life. Practicing euphonic movements like Dervish Yoga has a harmonizing action on our emotions and also a positive action on our unconscious.

Attention

The most important thing when we practice Dervish Yoga is our attention – our attention to our movements, our positions, our breathing, our emotions, and our thoughts. Practicing Dervish Yoga is a privileged moment for returning to ourselves and for being present to other people; with time and practice, it helps us bring into our lives an art of moving, feeling, and even thinking that is in total harmony with the reality of the present moment.

Neurobiology

Recent discoveries in neurobiology shed scientific light upon this ancient knowledge. The effects of attention, asymmetrical movements, and music, and the connection between our movements and our emotions have been studied; new connections in our brain are created, permitting more appropriate movements, more harmonious emotions, and an improved capacity of concentration and memory. The science of psychoneuroimmunology has revealed the molecular connections between our psyche, nervous system, and all the systems of our body, substantiating what the most ancient medical traditions tell us.

Who can practice Dervish Yoga?

Anyone interested in or enthusiastic about different forms of body expression, and also anyone who feels alienated from their body and wants to come back into relationship with it. Dervish Yoga is practiced in very diverse settings: yoga centers, fitness studios, schools, businesses, hospitals, centers for the physically and mentally handicapped, and retirement homes, to name a few. Dervish Yoga stimulates our forces of healing and so is also for anyone who wants to regain or maintain their health, as a complement to medical treatments (that it does not substitute).

The model session

Dervish Yoga or Samadeva Gestural Euphony can be discovered during weekend workshops and classes, and also during weekly model sessions lasting between an hour and an hour-and-a-half. The model session, the heart of Dervish Yoga, always begins with a moment of meditation to clear the day’s problems, followed by stretching exercises to prepare our muscles. The dynamic section includes different forms of traditional dance that coordinate our head, arms, and legs, while the central part of the model session is the Arkanas and Meditative Movements, slow movements that mobilize our capacities of attention. The session concludes with a meditation, a relaxation, and a short verbal exchange.

Order Dervish Yoga for Health and Longevity by Idris Lahore, Ennea Tess Griffith and Emma Thyloch

]]> http://www.totallyzen.com/dervish-yoga-the-sufi-secret-of-eternal-youth.html/feed 0 http://www.totallyzen.com/practicing-yoga-off-the-mat.html http://www.totallyzen.com/practicing-yoga-off-the-mat.html#comments Tue, 28 Sep 2010 23:50:44 +0000 Stephanie http://www.totallyzen.com/?p=737

Practicing Yoga Off the Mat by Being:

• Grounded in your own body, w/nature, & the bigger universe

• Present moment- focus on the period of time now occurring

• Connected to the mind, body and spirit.

• Compassionate, Peaceful with an Open Heart

Yoga has a lot of terms, if you practice yoga, you might have heard the term” practicing off the mat.” One of the Greatest things about yoga is it Can Go EVERY WHERE w/you (& you can even practice any where ). Yoga is so exciting to me because it HELPS TREMENDOUSLY with living a better, more happy, balanced, fulfilled life.

Some people are in better balance before they begin yoga & others are striving to find the way to balance through the practice of yoga. Either way here is are some results you can incorporate into your daily life:

Grounded- While practicing yoga our feet in the Earth, equal weight placed in the ball, heel, left & right side of the foot we can quiet the mind and begin to pay attention to the Earth & our place of connection to the Earth. We settle the body and open ourselves to the miraculous wonder that is the Universe. We are lengthened to the Heavens through our strong, sturdy spine. As we expand our chest with new breath energy. We are where we are NOW.

Present- Being in the moment is -Totally Hard -in this crazed world, nuff said. If you apply yourself, stick with it and desire to receive the many benefits of yoga that it offers on the mat when you leave the mat you will slowly find yourself in the moment fully engaged and present. You will listen to what is being said, done and maybe even meant at the present time w/the present company (if you have any.) There is nothing like absorbing all the stimulus of the environment, the words, the expressions, your mind, your body and your soul on a constant basis. Find a way to Stay Present through yoga.

Connected- Yoga can help you find the connection to the mind, body and spirit. Then you can begin to monitor them. After you begin monitoring the mind for its business or emptiness at work, at play & at yoga you can evaluate where you are & where you want to be. The same goes with your body in terms of: strength, flexibility, connection to mind /body, openness to new postures, flows, teachers, theories your coordination, balance, etc. if you study with a teacher who incorporates a spiritual element into their teachings it is a perfect time and space to check out of your “normal existence” and cultivate the quiet and open spirit. A proper yoga practice can create a way to let your mind rest; so that your body can relax & then your spirit will be at peace. Just say, AHHHHHHHH!

Open- In life, some people grow up smelling roses & others feeling thorns. Some have it easy; others have it hard. Some people stay the same & others change. Whatever the case may be; you can find an open heart in and through yoga. I had to create mine through years of practice to be able to let go of my childhood difficulties that led me in search of spiritual enlightenment. The more we can cultivate peace and tranquility, steady and focused energy that is positive in nature the more we will be compassionate and understanding of others. It feels GREAT!!

No matter where you are in the scale of being happy, healthy & balanced in mind, body & spirit. Yoga practiced regularly will improve and strengthen these attributes and as the become part of you your yoga travels off the mat with you more and more each day. Trust me.

Please consider this:  Baron Baptiste’s upcoming FOUNDATIONS IN ACTION: A BAPTISTE YOGA BASIC TRAINING in Park City, Utah and for a very special event for the Africa Yoga Project!

FOUNDATIONS IN ACTION is a weekend-long immersion into the art and practice of Baptiste Yoga, and for this training Baron has added a special 2-hour workshop dedicated to the Africa Yoga Project. Friday afternoon, join me and several Master Baptiste teachers for The Yoga of Service in Action – Lessons of Possibility and Purpose from the Africa Yoga Project, a powerful asana practice and discussion about the life-changing work of the Africa Yoga Project. We’ll be exploring ways to empower yourself, your practice and your community through the yoga of service, and be discussing what we’ve learned in our work with AYP. Join us for this unique event and take what you learn from this inspiring session back to your studio and into the world!

Baron and the Baptiste Power Yoga Institute have played a very special role in the evolution of the Africa Yoga Project. Baron’s work was foundational in the creation of the vision, commitment and passion to establish the Africa Yoga Project. His continued support of AYP teachers is instrumental in the growth of our organization and the development of our teachers. Baron was just in Kenya in July delivering the second teacher training for the AYP teachers, as well as an immersion for our community in Kenya. In April of 2009, Baron and his team traveled to Kenya to deliver the first Level 1 Teacher Training, Journey into Power, in Kenya to 58 young people. Now there are 40 teachers employed by AYP, earning a living wage by establishing places to teach and expanding the student body. We are delivering more than 100 classes weekly to over 2,300 people in prisons, women’s centers, primary schools, hospitals, and slums throughout Nairobi.

Come experience the power of Baptiste Yoga and the Africa Yoga Project, and learn from my teacher and friend, Baron Baptiste. Register for FOUNDATIONS IN ACTION before August 20th and get your early bird discount on tuition. I hope you will be able to join me, Baron Baptiste and other AYP supporters for this amazing and transformational weekend!

REGISTER NOW:

The Yoga of Service in Action – Lessons of Possibility and Purpose from the Africa Yoga Project.  Friday: 2pm-4pm

Join Master and Senior Baptiste teachers for a powerful Baptiste-Community asana practice and discussion. Explore ways to empower yourself, your practice and your community through the yoga of service. Employing real life examples from the powerful and life-changing work of the Africa Yoga Project, the discussion will revolve around Baptiste Yoga’s fundamental call for creating service through a yoga practice in action.Take what you learn from this inspiring session back to your studio and start changing lives in your community. Join top Baptiste teachers for this powerful session and get into action as you develop new insights and levels of personal expression, contribution and empowerment!

All donations for this class go to the Africa Yoga Project.

Yoga as Service: Community, Connection and Contribution Friday: 7pm-9:30pm

Internationally renowned teacher and author Baron Baptiste offers an evening discussion as a kick-off for his “Foundations In Action” weekend training in Park City, Utah. Baptiste will explore the expansion of a yoga practice beyond the mat, creating action through service and developing new levels of personal expression, contribution, and empowerment. Together you will examine how your personal growth positively impacts to others and how to powerfully support individuals and organizations in your community and throughout the world, all through putting your yoga practice in action. Baptiste’s programs are designed to empower people from all walks of life find more authentic and joyful living now. This discussion is available as part of the weekend training or for a $15 drop-in fee.

Saturday: 9am-8pm, Sunday 9am-6pm FOUNDATIONS IN ACTION: A BAPTISTE YOGA BASIC TRAINING

Get ready to reconnect, recharge, and reserve your space today!

Yoga has become a popular form of exercise and stress management in the United States, for anyone who wants to explore the holistic benefits of combining strength training, flexibility, deep breathing and concentration. But even though this ancient practice has become a mainstream form of exercise and relaxation, there is still a lot you probably don’t know about yoga. Whether you are a yoga enthusiast or novice you might be curious about yoga’s health benefits and risks, or the history of yoga, keep reading:

1. There are 19 types of yoga: The most common type of yoga taught in the United States is hatha yoga, which is a foundational type that teaches breathwork, postures and meditation. Other types focus on chanting and prayer, detox, strength, endurance, and total lifestyle habits like vegetarianism and non-violence.

2. Yoga may be 10,000 years old: Actual records of yoga can be traced back 5,000 years, but because yoga was passed down orally or on delicate leaves and that were destroyed, many researchers believe it is much, much older.

3. Patanjali — one of yoga’s most important figures — was a physician: While yoga was first explored and recorded by priests and mystic seekers, Patanjali, who is one of the most important figures in yoga history and is called “the father of yoga,” was actually a physician. Patanjali wrote down 195 sutras for explaining how yoga should be used in everyday life to achieve enlightenment and a moral life in a text called The Yoga Sutra.

4. There are four periods in the history of yoga: These are: pre-classical, classical, post-classical and modern. During the pre-classical period, yoga was being developed in Northern India by the Indus-Sarasvati people, and then by Brahman priests. This is when yoga was recorded in texts and scriptures. The classical period saw the organization of yoga into the eight-limbed path philosophy that still holds today, while the post-classical period explored the idea that the physical body led to true enlightenment, a severe departure from pre-classical ideals. In the modern period, yoga spread to the West, when Swami Vivekananda visited Chicago in 1893. Hatha yoga became the preeminent form of yoga here.

5. Yoga poses and meditation are inspired by Buddhist influences: In the earliest periods, yoga was practiced as a form of healing and path to self-discovery. Buddhist influences during the 6th century B.C. turned the focus towards meditation, too, and incorporated the practice of postures and poses.

6. Yoga’s eight-fold path to a better life: Patanjali’s eight-fold path is described in The Yoga Sutra. The eight limbs are yama, or social behavior; niyama, or inner discipline and responsibility; asana, or posture of yoga; pranayama, or energy force that flows through us when we breathe; pratyahara, the withdrawal of senses during meditation; dharana, concentrating on a single image or point; dhyana, meditating without an object or distraction; and samadhi, or absolute bliss.

7. Yoga’s original language is Sanskrit: The oldest literary language of India, Sanskrit is also the language of yoga. The word yoga actually means yoke or union, and is translated from the Sanskrit word “yuj.”

8. Your yoga experience is always changing: Some people might think practicing yoga for years or decades is boring because all of the poses are the same. But yoga’s philosophy is built around the idea that your experience or relationship with the yoga poses is constantly changing. This experience is based on your physicality as you become more flexible and balanced, and also your spiritual relation and ability to meditate while doing yoga.

9. Yoga may interfere with natural growth: The American Yoga Association doesn’t recommend that children under the age of 16 years old perform yoga positions, because they may hinder natural growth. And while they can experiment with breathing exercises and stretching, they should not hold their breath while doing so.

10. The number of yoga poses is disputed: In The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga, Swami Vishnu-devananda explained 66 official postures for yoga, and 136 variations. Other yogis have suggested that there are more official postures, or even an infinite number of positions.

This article was contributed by www.NursingSchools.net. We GREATLY APPRECIATE their CONTRIBUTION & FUNDAMENTAL INFORMATION on the HISTORY of YOGA!

Sunlight streams through the window while rhythmic New Age music fills the air. This is the atmosphere specially created by  Stephanie Churchill for yoga practice. It is the early morning, and a fresh chance to shape ourselves for the coming day. What kind of person will we be today? Generous, kind, and humane? The yoga space is ripe with possibilities. It has been too long since I have practiced yoga, yet I sense a new beginning with Stephanie’s expert guidance.

Stephanie begins with meditation and breathing suggestions that form the backbone of the session. Her calm voice encourages the deep breathing that has me inhaling the good and exhaling the toxic. With each breath I feel more centered in my body and more relaxed for the workout to follow. On a spiritual plane, every inhale invigorates my life force for good, and every exhale sheds the negative energy that keeps me from being all I want to be. I meditate, like many others, with eyes closed. I follow Stephanie’s beautiful narrative and breathing suggestions. She suggests that my inhales be white light that I guide to my body’s center. I cheat here. I direct the white light of breath to far reaches of my body, that have been neglected of deep breathing for far too long.

Stephanie segues from meditation and gentle stretching to some more formal postures. She alternates more strenuous postures with relaxing ones, giving my body a respite and my mind precious moments to ponder the postures. At different moments, Stephanie interrupts her own practice to ensure that my positioning is the most that it can be for me. Sometimes she is a brace, and sometimes she lengthens and coaxes a stretch. Stephanie intuits easily when I need an assist.

As the session moves forward, Stephanie juxtaposes the positions of downward facing dog to the cobra. My mind is an empty slate, but then I reflect upon the rich imagery of these positions. I think of the submissive dog, bowed low, simultaneously humble and regal, and intensely loyal. Then I bring to mind the cobra, strong and proud, crown reaching toward the sky, vertebrae elongated. With these two images in my mind, I form the positive intention to live my day with both humility and strength.

Thank you, Stephanie for a meaningful reunion with yoga practice!

Humane League of Philadelphia is joining with Dhyana Yoga for an upcoming yoga class that will be held at their Old City location, 68 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia, on Sunday, August 8 from 6:00-7:30 p.m.

Come join animal rights activists, vegans, yogis, conscious minded people and more for a Vinyasa Yoga class. All proceeds will benefit the Humane League’s work to save animals. It’s welcome to everyone–from yoga novices to an experienced yoga enthusiast! The class will focus on breath and will include meditation.

Pre-registration is not required but is encouraged, and any interested participants can pre-register by emailing dhyana.staff@gmail.com.

A $10-$20 donation is requested and every dollar goes to the Humane League’s life-saving work for animals!

FIND OUT MORE about and how to get involved with Humane League of Philadelphia We strive to create a more compassionate world for animals through education, campaigns, and rescue. Because 98% of the animals that are abused and killed in this country are farmed animals, our primary focus is on working against the cruelest methods of factory farming and in support of vegan eating. We also deal to a lesser extent with issues of animal testing, fur, and companion animals.