Yoga Etiquette

Have you ever gone to a class, placed your mat down on the floor, only to have someone from the other side of the room walk all over it to get to the other side of the room? Annoyyyyinggggg and just plain rude, excuse me, I place my face where your stinky foot just landed. Just what are the etiquettes upon entering and leaving a yoga class that people should know about.

Etiquette is Respect. Respect your fellow Yogis.

• Please arrive at least 5-10min early to allow yourself to settle into your spot and so the instructor can start on time
• Please take your shoes off and leave them outside the room
• Please turn OFF your cell-phone before entering, and not just silent or vibrate you never know when there will be a glitch in your phone and it'll ring while it's suppose to be silent and YES we can still here that humming vibrate of your phone, especially during savasana.
• Please do not wear perfume to class, some people have sensitive noses or are allergic and the last thing you want to smell when you're practicing is musty flower perfume
• Please do not walk all over others mats, we don't know what's going on with your feet and that funky odor..keep it to yourself
• Please do not conversate with your friend during class, we know it's fun to connect and catch up on the gossip but yoga class is the wrong place to do so...maybe meet at a coffee shop next time instead
• Please do not leave the practice early, especially during savasana (unless it's an emergency)
• If you borrowed props please place them back where you got them from and in a neat manner
• If you dripped sweat all over the floor around your mat, please use your towel to wipe this area, there may be another class following yours and it's not fun to place your mat in someones sweat or step in it...gross!

Thank you for respecting your fellow yogis!!!

NAMASTE. --the light in me bows to the light in you.

Motivational Monday

Sometimes it's hard to start your days on a high note only to realize it's already late afternoon and you're still feeling like you're on that low note. I have compiled some of my favorite quotes that put a smile on my face. Read these in the morning and continue to think about them throughout the day, maybe asking yourself "what does that mean?" Something to ponder and distract your mind for a moment away from your every day stresses.

Read on and SMILE : )


When you make friends with the present moment, you feel at home no matter where you are. When you don't feel at home in the Now, no matter where you go, you will cary unease with you.

Whatever you accept completely will take you to peace, including the acceptance that you cannot accept, that you are in resistance.

--Eckhart Tolle

Every breath can be a practice. With the inhalation, imagine drawing in pure, cleansing, relaxing energies. And with each exhalation, imagine expelling all obstacles, stress, and negative emotions. This is not something that requires a particular place in which to sit. It can be done when in the car on the way to work, waiting for a stop light, sitting in front of the computer, preparing a meal, cleaning the house, or walking.

--Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

You must learn to welcome consciously the most unexpected events of life, to be entirely transparent in front of them, without any motive, either right or wrong. At that moment avoid all judgement, for you do not know what law is in operation.

--Lizelle Reymond

Yoga teaches that beauty is everywhere if one can learn to see it, and that complete concentration upon a beautiful thought, scene or object will result in relaxation of the mind and achievement of tranquility.

--Nancy Phelan and Michael Volin

This path doesn't always hug the ridge tops; it often falls into deep canyons, sometimes moves along the waterways, across the valleys, deserts, and the tall peaks of your inner self. Its direction may not always seem clear as you venture into the wilderness within.

--Charles Breaux





Lululemon

This morning I had the pleasure of teaching at Lululemon Santa Monica! What a great way to start out your day with a FREE class a couple blocks from the beach. Smell the ocean air before you enter and again as soon as you leave, just that alone calms the senses and brings your mind more present.

Every Sunday morning at 9:30am Lululemon hosts a free class with phenomenal teachers around the Santa Monica area, I was blessed to be included in that category and called in to teach. Considering it was the day after "Halloween" I started out slow to allow everyone's bodies to wake up and then I let the detox begin! : ) We had a nice strong mixed flow which included arm balances and inversions if you were advance enough for those options, either way every one worked up a sweat and ended the practice with a smile.

My love is like my personal assistant/agent. He was there from start to finish taking the class as well as pausing here and there to snap a few photos, below are a few photos that he was able to take for me.

Thank you Lululemon Santa Monica and to all my beautiful students who make teaching such a joy, I look forward to teaching there again!

Meditation Mondays

Love All Equally Meditation

Sitting comfortably, on the floor cross legged or on a chair with feet flat on the ground. Rest your hands palm down on your knees and connect the thumb and the index finger.

Take a look around the room and take a mental photo of everyone in the room, where they are sat, etc.

Close your eyes and take three consecutive deep breaths.
Breathe in deep, breathe out long
Breathe in deep, breathe out long
Breathe in deep, breathe out long
Return to breathing normally

Be aware of the breath coming in and the breath coming out. Feel the air coming in through your nostrils and going out.

If thoughts arise, don't fight them, just observe them as if they where distant clouds, and they will eventually fly by. Just focus on your breath, for 5-10 minutes

Now, recall that mental image of the room. Visualize peoples faces.
Now bring to mind a person whom you love intensly, like, your mum, you, girl/boy friend, Husband/wife.

Think of how warm this person makes you feel, their kindness and their generosity.

Imagine that everybody's face in the room, transforms into the face of your loved one.

The room is filled by loved ones, imagine how nice the world would be if everyone was this nice, this loving, this kind.

Just, focus on your breath and sit in the company of your loved ones.for a while.

Realise that everyone is in fact capable of such love and kindness, for we are all equal, we are all made of the same vibrating energy, that is the fabric of the universe.

You become aware that you can feel love towards anyone in the same way as you love your mum, dad, etc, for they are the same.

Sit observing your breath come in, and go out

When you are ready you may open your eyes, and sit in quiet contemplation.

Living Life

Sometimes things can get a little hectic in my life -- especially cause I work a crazy 9-5 job and right now it's MEETING SEASON which means long days and not enough time or motivation to post a new blog..so, I'm a bit behind but here I am again, back at it! : )

Continue to follow me my webpage www.ladyjyoga.com as well as my facebook. www.facebook.com/ladyjyoga

Ciao y Grazi!

Lady J

Meditation Monday

Chakra Meditation

There are 7 Chakras centrally aligned within the body. We will focus on each Chakra in another blog but to help you with this meditation I will list all 7

Visualise the white light coursing like a liquid through the crown chakra. Visualise white light coursing like a liquid through the third eye. Visualise white light coursing like a liquid through the throat chakra. Visualise white light coursing like a liquid through the heart chakra. Visualise white light coursing like a liquid through the solar plexus chakra. Visualise white light coursing like a liquid through the spleen chakra the sexual centre. Visualise white light coursing like a liquid through the root chakra. Visualise your spiritual chakra centres as being a hollow infrastructure, then as each one fills up with liquid white light. The liquid white light coursing into that chakra and as it does use your awakening perception to inhale breath into that chakra. As you perform this visualisation the chakra centre will become warm and in due time hot.

Now that it is hot you will now know that the chakra centre is completely full with white light, and it's time to move on to the following chakra centre.

Most people haven't done this before, so take time to practise this feel and become intuitively aware of the vibration. The white light has a smooth languid sensation as it courses freely through each chakra centre. By now all your chakra centres are full and they should all be coupled into each other, with an influx of white light.

Journey Into Fall with Yoga at the Beach

I'm back from Costa Rica! Was such a beautiful adventure and a lot of relaxation, which was much needed from my hectic weekly schedule. We spent time at Arenal Volcano zip-lining and then headed over to the Caribbean for some fun in the sun! The weather was perfect, with some days of rainforest rain showers which gave us time to sit and sip some coffee and watch the passerbys.
Every day was spent on the beach sipping coconuts, laying in the sand reading a book, snorkeling for hours on end -came back with a nice back burn ;) - and hiking in the jungle where we came across viper snakes, funky spiders, howler monkeys, sloths and white faced monkeys - i whipped out my banana from my pack and fed them from hand..coolest thing ever!


After 10 days it was nice to get back to the States to the beautiful Pacific Ocean and a comfortable bed. The weekend was started out right with YOGA @ THE BEACH, donation class for ALL LEVELS.
This morning at 9am a group of beautiful souls met at the Crescent Bay Park in Santa Monica, located South of the Pier next to the beach. We had a 1hr 15min. practice in the calming ocean breeze. Practicing to the sounds of the waves and seagulls makes for a peaceful practice, along with the noise of helicopters and passerbys stopping for a glimpse of what is going on - this helps with the practice of becoming centered and present on yourself.
Below are a few shots from the morning....

www.ladyjyoga.com

This was the start of JOURNEY INTO FALL. We will jump around the Santa Monica/Venice areas practicing yoga in the beautiful parks with the ocean as our backdrop

The next class will be :

Saturday September 24th @ 9am

Palisades Park

located around 615 Ocean Ave - Santa Monica

we will meet next to the rose garden

Join me at the next practice to calm your mind, heighten your senses and challenge yourself in poses - all with a smile and a lot of laughs! : ) www.ladyjyoga.com