Happy, Happy New Year!
I hope this year may be wonderful for you and that, most of all, you realize how wonderful you already are and reward yourself regularly with rest. I love the idea of making better, quality sleep a health goal. Do you know how many hours of sleep you had last night? Were they quality hours of rest? Or did you wake up in the middle of the night and have a difficult time falling back to sleep? Or wake more tired than when you went to sleep? If so, do you have any techniques that may improve your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night and feel refreshed the next day?
This was just on yesterday. Wow! Over half of Americans have sleep problems?!
Consumers spent an estimated $41 dollars this past year on sleep aids and remedies. That number is expected to hit $52 billion by 2020.
Consumer Reports reviews sleeping aids and remedies
The good news is that yoga may help.
The good news is that yoga may help.
In particular, restorative yoga poses and practice teach us how to begin to relax our beings, sometimes just by noticing our tension, so that we may to usher in good, quality sleep. I encourage you to try your own study of 20 minutes every day of your favorite restorative pose and note whether or not and how your sleeping is affected.
To me the sign that yoga students are “advanced” is not how physically active they can be in their practice and what most demanding active pose they can achieve; it is how well can they rest, release and relax while in their active practice and remain attuned to their body and their needs and retreat into Restorative poses as they need even in an active yoga class or practice. I regularly encourage students to ignore me in class, so they may listen more. As they do, I often joke, but really do mean, they are now “advanced.”
Come practice lying down to begin your New Year refreshed and prepared for better sleep and well-rested mornings every day. Have courage to lie down and do nothing regularly. The world will not fall apart. You will feel better for it, and the world will benefit, too.
Please email me to sign up, and I will send you a confirmation email.
What: Monthly Restorative Yoga Class
Location: A Little Space Yoga & Tai Chi
at First Central Congregational Church
421 South 36th Street
Old Parlor on the Third Floor
Day, Date: This Sunday, January 17th
Time: 1-3 p.m.
Cost: $25 or Bring-a-Friend Offer (and save $5 off the total!)
RSVP: Kindly requested by tomorrow, Wednesday, January 13th. Just email me, and I will send you a confirmation email.
THIS CLASS HAS A MINIMUM REQUIREMENT AND A MAXIMUM LIMIT.
Unless class is canceled by me, prepayment is nonrefundable.
No yoga experience necessary.
REMEMBER: To plan ahead, monthly Restorative Yoga Classes usually happen the third Sunday of each month and have been filling up. The next class will be February 21st. If a Restorative becomes full, I will create a waiting list and always let you know by the Friday before class.
February 21st (Payment Due: Wednesday, 2/17/16)
March 20th (Payment Due: Wednesday, 3/16/16)
April 17th (Payment Due: Wednesday, 4/13/16)
May 15th (Payment Due: Wednesday, 5/11/16)
*****
PLEASE NOTE: This month’s Donation-Only/Pay-What-You-Can Gentle Movement Class will also occur this Sunday, January 17th, 11:40 a.m.-12:25 p.m. Please come!
Just a Little Bit of Movement
This Sunday, November 15th, is the sixth meeting of the Monthly Donation-Only/Pay-What-You-Can Gentle Movement Class.
Meet us in the back of the Sanctuary at 11:40 a.m. for 45 minutes of gentle movement and gentle stretches and leave feeling better with some simple ideas of how to take care of yourself throughout the entire month.
No experience necessary. No need to sign up. Just show up. Bring a friend if you would like. It is always more fun with a friend! Be motivated together to feel the best you can.
Monthly Sunday
Donation-Only Gentle Movement, 11:40 a.m.-12:25 p.m.
January 17th — This Sunday!
February 21st
March 20th
April 17th
May 15th
DONATION-ONLY GENTLE MOVEMENT: If you are unsure of yoga and tai chi and what they mean, you may want to try this Gentle Movement class. This class is exactly what its title says: pay only what you can afford and move gently. Learn to approach the body and yourself in a gentle manner through mindful movement, stretching and breathing and discover the effects that just a little bit of gentle movement can have on you and your body. We all deserve to feel the best we can feel, no matter what age or what ailment.
May we all hold space for ourselves to breathe, to be, to lie down, to feel human once more.
Namaste,
Nicole