Notes from Nina
Each weekend I send out the schedule for the following week along with a quick update on all things Yoga with Nina G
News & Notes - January 2025
Hello dear friends!
Here's what you need to know for January...
NEW VIDEO - There's a new video available this week - Posture. It's a shorter practice that can be completed either seated in a chair or standing on your mat. It's all about finding that length in the spine and keeping our posture strong.
THE YOGA OF HOPE - Our practice last week focused on strength - the strength that we need for hope. This week we will continue our exploration of hope by focusing on our resilience.
In other news, our friend Jane Goodall (author of The Book of Hope) received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on January 4th. She received it for her advocacy in empowering individuals and communities to protect and preserve the natural world.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE CHANGES - There will be no class the weeks of January 27 and February 3. Our regular class schedule will resume on Monday, February 10.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES - Our friends in Southern California have suffered extreme loss. As yogis, we are called to right action. This might mean sending positive intention, mobilizing in the area, or any number of other activities. We must do what we can to support others because we know that we are all deeply connected.
I have sent a donation to World Central Kitchen from Yoga with Nina G to help support relief response. In an interesting symmetry, Jose Andres (the man behind WCK) also received a Presidential Medal of Freedom on January 4th. He received it for his unwavering commitment to nourishing communities affected by disasters.
That's a lot of news to share this month! I leave you with this quote...
“Hope is what enables us to keep going in the face of adversity. It is what we desire to happen, but we must be prepared to work hard to make it so.”
With love & hope,
Nina G
The Book of Hope
Hello my friends & Happy New Year!
I hope that you had a lovely holiday with friends and family and now are ready to return to our regularly scheduled programming...yoga!
Early in December I was gifted The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams. It's an interview between them from early 2020 and it focused on Jane's story and world events. As the interview got underway, the pandemic intervened and added another layer of interest to the story.
The question that the book tries to answer is:
In a world that seems so troubled, how do we hold on to hope?
I've been considering this question for the past few weeks. The national and international news hasn't been great and it is so easy to take a deep dive into despair. I really don't want to go there.
So what can I learn about hope from Jane Goodall?
Jane acknowledges all of the environmental, economic, and resource inequities in the world. Those issues can overwhelm all of us. But she believes that we can hold on to hope with our intellect, our indomitable spirit, our resilience, and the power of our young people. She knows that the work is hard and the journey daunting, but it can be accomplished.
“Hope does not deny all the difficulty and all the danger that exists, but it is not stopped by them. There is a lot of darkness, but our actions create the light.
It is important to take action and realize that we can make a difference, and this will encourage others to take action, and then we realize we are not alone and our cumulative actions truly make an even greater difference. That is how we spread the light. And this, of course, makes us all ever more hopeful.”
Yes, we must cultivate hope.
And how will that translate into our yoga practice over the next few weeks? Our practice this week will focus on physical strength. We've got to be strong to change the world! As always, we will develop our resilience. We will connect to our higher selves and work to shine our own light.
Please join me.
Love & hope,
Nina G
Holiday Cheer
Best wishes for a
holiday full of hope and happiness
&
a new year free from fear and anxiety.
Guardian Lion at the Art Institute
Looking forward to practicing with you in 2025!
Love & joy,
Nina G
Turtle Yoga
Dear friends,
We're back to yoga this week. I hope that you took some time to 'sit a bit' while I was gone. We will continue with our deep rest practice again this week, but this time it will be with a focus of turning inward.
I'm calling it 'turtle yoga'!
Sea turtle glyph
What is turtle yoga? Well, when we look to the turtle for our yoga teachings, here's what we learn...
Patience - Turtles don't move quickly - they move slowly and steadily. As we continue in our own practice of yoga, we may be looking for speedy results. However, if the goal of yoga is a deeper understanding of the true self, there's no better way to get there than with a slow, mindful awareness.
Withdrawal - When things get overwhelming, turtles are able to withdraw into the safe space of their shells. What a great practice, especially in this busy time. Too much? Take a break, go inward, and rest. Once rested, we can meet the challenges ahead of us much more effectively.
Strength & Resilience - Sea turtles travel back to their original nesting place to create more sea turtles. They face the waves and navigate around dangerous predators and they don't turn back. When turtles arrive on shore, they are exhausted, but triumphant. Turtles conserve their energy and have one of the longest life spans in the animal kingdom. They demonstrate incredible resilience.
In our practice this week we will be using the Kurma Mudra - the gesture of the tortoise for nourishing the senses. We will move slowly and deliberately, focusing on the breath, and exploring our own strength and resilience. The hope is that by releasing the tension we can find the stillness within. In that stillness, we can relax and restore our bodies and our nervous systems.
That is turtle yoga. Please join me.
Love in stillness,
Nina G
Sit a Bit
Dear friends,
Just a reminder - there are no classes this week.
As I write this, we are well into December - we're getting a few minutes more than 9 hours of sun each day and it is COLD!
It is really the perfect time to stay indoors and sit a bit.
“Sitting is an art. The art of resting first. It’s very important that we learn how to rest. Many of us have lost our capacity of resting. We know that our body has the power of healing itself. But we just don’t give it a chance to heal. We work our body too hard. We don’t know how to allow our body to rest. By eating, by drinking, by working, we make our body suffer. We do not allow our body to rest. If only we know how to allow our body to rest, our body would know how to heal itself.”
It's a busy time of year - there is lots to do. There are many different distractions pulling at us, vying for our attention. But we know that we need to find stillness within. It's what we are practicing this month - the act of deep rest and relaxation.
Our practice last week took us from movement into stillness. And even though we aren't practicing together this week, let's take some time to return to stillness. Take a moment to listen to what your body is telling you. Move around if that's what you need - take a walk, dance, move. And then, when you are ready, come into stillness.
Sit a bit.
It needn't be long.
Allow your body to rest and heal.
Love in stillness,
Nina G
News & Notes - December 2024
Hello my friends!
Welcome to December. Here's the news you need to know:
New Video - It's a busy time of year, so this new video follows the Yoga Break format. It's called Yoga Break: Head, Neck & Shoulders. The entire video is about 15 minutes long and can be done seated OR standing. This one is great to release tension in the upper body. Everyone can give it a try!
Upcoming Schedule Changes - There will be no yoga the week of December 8th and no yoga between December 24th and January 1st. Looking for something to do? Click on my new video!
December Yoga - Since we are so busy during the month of December, our practice will focus on deep rest and relaxation. That's never a bad idea.
Take good care of yourselves, dear ones.
Love & yoga,
Nina G
The Feast of Each Moment
“Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous to be understood.”
Dear friends,
When I first started to practice yoga, I thought that there was something magical that happened each time I took a class. I felt different. I felt more connected. I started to call my yoga mat my 'magic carpet'. I hadn’t done anything special – I wasn’t doing handstands or levitating - I was just going to yoga class.
It was a hard feeling for me to describe, so I kept going back to the mat to experience it again.
And again.
And again.
And even though it has been more than 20 years since my first yoga class I still can’t define that feeling. But now I realize that I don’t have to. This sacred mystery doesn’t need to be solved, it doesn’t need to be understood, it just needs to be experienced.
So that’s what I do.
And I invite you to do the same.
I call it the feast of each moment.
We step onto our mats or sit in our chairs and become mindful of our present moment bounty. We are aware of each breath, each movement, each opportunity for wonder and awe. Every time that we return to our practice, we develop this habit. We savor each moment. We feast on the splendor of this time, this place, this sensation.
We don’t need to analyze it, we just need to experience it.
That’s all.
Let us celebrate the feast of each moment together.
With love & mystery,
Nina G
PS - Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!
Steady & Unshakable
Hello friends,
I usually begin planning my classes for the next week on Thursday or Friday. I teach between 8 and 10 classes each week and once those are finished, I pause and consider what's next.
This coming week I have decided to focus on the idea of Steady & Unshakable. We know that life is a series of unexpected twists and turns. We also know that yoga helps us to find our calm and unshakable core. So, I created a grounding practice to support us as we navigate the unexpected.
Of course, once I got everything planned, I found out that I DO have to report for jury duty on Monday!
While it's not completely unexpected, it's a twist. We can handle it though. We're yogis - we're flexible!
Here are some ideas for a grounding practice that you can do without me:
Take some time to check in with the breath and the body. Wiggle your toes and turn your feet at the ankles. Bend your knees and then circle your hips.
Spend some time walking - it could be indoors or outside. Tune into sensations in the feet, ankles, legs, and hips, as you move mindfully. Notice the connection of each step to the earth.
When your walk is over, find stillness in your mountain pose (tadasana).
Acknowledge that steady calm deep within yourself.
Don't worry, I've saved my notes...we'll be practicing steady & unshakable together soon!
Unshakable love,
Nina G
News & Notes - November 2024
Dear friends,
Here's the news for this month:
NEW VIDEO - There's a new Chair Yoga video on my YouTube Channel - Align the Spine. We follow the vertebrae from the sacrum into the skull and back down again. Give it a try!
UPCOMING SCHEDULE CHANGES - There will be no class on Wednesday evening, November 27th (Thanksgiving Eve). I'll remind you as we get closer.
In other news, I might have jury duty on Monday, November 18th. I am on standby, so I won't know for sure until this Friday evening. Look for an update in next week's newsletter.
OUR YOGA - We celebrate Thanksgiving later this month - let's continue to practice our yoga of right action within the greater community. What's the right action for you? It might be any number of activities, including making a donation to a food bank, or helping at a food pantry. It might be a kind word, a smile, or a simple courtesy. You know what's appropriate for you.
Without a doubt, these small steps will send out ripples of love into our world - love that is so desperately needed at this time.
Love & yoga,
Nina G
The Yoga of November
Hello dear friends,
Welcome November! It got a lot cooler this weekend, so as part of my yoga of November, I'm pulling out my warm sweaters now!
Here are some other ways that we can practice yoga in November:
The Yoga of Right Action - There's a big election on Tuesday and as connected citizens in our local community, our state, and our nation, we vote. Take the time to learn about the issues at every level and cast your vote accordingly.
The Yoga of the Sun - We all had an extra hour of sleep last night due to the time change. The northern hemisphere is tilting away from the sun and our daylight hours are getting shorter. Let's try some sunshine yoga - wake up with the sun; spend time outdoors as the weather permits; treasure those fleeting moments of sunshine!
The Yoga of Falling Leaves - The leaves are making their annual trek down to the earth. They offer no pretense - they fall when it is time. They aren't afraid to let go of the tree either. They just dance! Perhaps we could learn from them and enjoy the freedom that comes from letting go.
I found this great poem called the lesson of the falling leaves
“the leaves believe
such letting go is love
such love is faith
such faith is grace
such grace is god
i agree with the leaves”
With that, enjoy the week ahead and your practice of the Yoga of November.
Love & leaves,
Nina G
Fun Activities for the End of October
Dear friends,
Believe it or not, October is almost over. Here are a few fun things we can do as we wrap up this month:
Go outside and kick the leaves. I spent lots of time outside this weekend enjoying the crisper weather and the steady tumble of leaves around me. It was wonderful!
Forest Preserve on Saturday afternoon
Election day is fast approaching. Vote early this week or make a plan for Tuesday, November 5. I went this past Tuesday and got my sticker. Done!
I am all about that sticker!
Halloween is Thursday - I'm a big fan of M&Ms and Milky Way Bars. Take a moment to enjoy your favorite candy treat this day. Savor it.
All the favorites
And, of course, join me for yoga! Our focus will be on the spine and its healthy movement. I might even throw in a spooky pose or two!
Love & light,
Nina G
Yogaversary!
Hello my friends!
I'm back and I'm looking forward to practicing with you again this week.
It's October, so that means it's my YOGAVERSARY!
Yep, 13 years of teaching yoga and I STILL LOVE IT! (Yes, I need to say that in all caps!) I am so happy to be sharing yoga with all of you. Thank you so much for joining me.
This past year we added a weight bearing component to our practice with our resistance bands. Yoga adds value to the exercise by encouraging us to be in the moment with each movement. We also take the time to tune into the body and notice how the movement makes us feel (interoception). By connecting the movement with our breath, it's all yoga.
Another piece that we've added to our practice this past year has been mudra - a sign or seal with the hands. There are so many different mudras available to us and it has been fun to select an appropriate one each week to incorporate into our practice. It's always interesting to note the subtle changes in the mind/body as we focus on our mudras.
Looking forward, what's next? As always, I am studying about ways to age well. Most recently, I took a course about functional movement and exercise within the realm of yoga. Next weekend, I'm enrolled in an on-line class about somatic subtle body yoga. In my regular weekly studies, the focus is on yoga for chronic fatigue this month. I love to learn about how yoga can serve every body and then I can hardly wait to incorporate those new ideas into a sequence that I can share with you.
Thank you, dear yogis, for allowing me to guide you in your practice. It is an honor to share yoga with you.
Love, love, & love!
Nina G
News & Notes - October 2024
Hello my friends!
Here's what you need to know for October.
Chair Yoga - There's a new video out - The Gesture of the Protective Shield. If you practiced with me live last week, you know that we used a mudra of protection. We created a shield around ourselves and sent out messages of love and kindness to those in need. That's never a bad idea.
Upcoming schedule changes - There will be no classes the week of October 14th. Regular class schedule resumes on Monday, October 21.
VOTE! - In case you haven't noticed, there is a big election coming up soon! Please make your plan to vote. If you are unsure of where to mail your ballot, where your polling place is, or when early voting begins in your area, the League of Women Voters offers help at Vote411.org.
Thank you to all of you that attend my classes and read this newsletter. It is a joy to share yoga with you each week!
Love & joy,
Nina G
Right Here & Now
Hello friends,
I found this beautiful poem about being present and I thought I'd share it with you.
Centering
Here.
Right here, right now, bring your mind to this place and time. Invite it, even if it resists, to sit and witness what it is to be alive. Let there be no ulterior motive in this moment but to be.
Rest on the waves of breath and choose to experience all of it.Let thoughts float through and leave again, as the mind slowly settles like snow inside a shaken paperweight.
This is all there is.Here.
Right here and now.
- Danna Faulds
Please join me on your mat.
Love & presence,
Nina G
Steady & Comfortable
Hello my friends,
We've been working on our transitions these past few weeks - working to stay in the present moment so that we can weather the changes that surround us. We have been focusing on our breath, paying attention to our foundation, expending energy, and yet finding calm in each moment.
One of the yoga sutras (writings about the theory and practice of yoga) explores steadiness and ease.
“Sthira sukham asanam.”
Sthira=steady; sukham= comfortable; asanam=posture. Or, a rough translation into our own language would be: "Asana is a steady, comfortable posture."
It makes sense! When we are on our mats, we want to find stability in the pose - we certainly don't want to fall. That's why we focus on our foundation before we start adding in anything else. Steadiness in our physical body translates to ease in our breath.
After we've found the ease in the breath, it is time to relax into that moment. This is where the real change can occur, our parasympathetic nervous system can turn on and we might see a shift in the nervous system - a movement towards calm.
Now what happens when we take these concepts off our mats and out into our world? It's the same idea, but a different platform.
Once again we need the steadiness to ground us - but not just physically. Off the mat, we want to be grounded in our true selves. We want to offer ourselves honestly to those around us. In this case, sthira will keep us focused and anchored.
The more time that we spend anchored in our own truth, the more sukha or ease we feel in external situations. Each social interaction that we have offers us the opportunity to fine tune the balance between our steadiness and our comfort. It's that balance that allows us to remain fully present in our daily lives. From that place we can begin to shift towards calm.
Join me on your mat and let's find steadiness and ease together.
Love,
Nina G
The Truth of Yoga
Hello friends!
There's been lots of talk about truth in the news these past few weeks. What's true, what's false, and how do we determine which is which? Is truth different from fact? It has been interesting to watch the discussion surrounding this topic. Who knew that truth could be so fluid?
Truth is a part of yoga as well. At the very foundation of yoga are our yamas (restraints) and niyamas (observances). One of the yamas is Satya, or truthfulness.
How does truthfulness come into play in our yoga practice? Well, yoga is the exploration of the self - the true self. Who are we? What do we believe? How can we feel more comfortable in our own skin? Our time on our mat allows us to deepen our understanding of our own truths. We must seek our truth and speak our truth - with kindness - when asked. Truthfulness may not be safe or easy, but it always good.
“Truth has the power to right wrongs and end sorrows. It is fierce in its demands and magnanimous in its offerings. It invites us to places we rarely frequent and where we seldom know what the outcome will be.”
Truth isn't easy, but it is important. It demands our integrity. By returning to our mat, time and time again, we can identify our own truths. We can integrate truth into our lives.
As yogis, we must act from a place of truth. It is the very foundation of our practice. Let us explore together.
Love & truth,
Nina G
News & Notes - September 2024
Hello my friends!
Here's the news for September:
New Chair Yoga Video - There's a new video out: The Eyes Have It! We take some time to practice eye yoga before we move into our standing and balancing practice. If standing and balancing aren't for you, you can end the practice midway, at the 16 minute point.
Seasonal Transitions - With the new calendar page, we know that we are headed into autumn. The temperatures will cool, the days are getting shorter, the leaves will start to swirl around. Our practices this month will focus on the transition into fall. We'll work to ground ourselves in the present moment so that we can be fully aware of the changes that surround us.
“There aren’t many days that shake you from sleep, shout, “Wake up, take all the time in the world today.” Sometimes you have to make those days happen.”
The focus of our September practices will be to revel in each moment. We'll make those days happen!
I look forward to practicing with you.
Love in late summer,
Nina G
Yoga Month & Labor Day
Dear Friends,
Welcome to September!
We celebrate National Yoga Month in September. It's an opportunity to raise the awareness of yoga and its many health benefits.
We're also celebrating Labor Day this weekend. It's an opportunity to celebrate the social and economic contributions of workers and to remember that all work has value.
I'm all in favor of both celebrations!
Enjoy your long weekend.
Love & yoga,
Nina G
Yoga Month & Labor Day
Dear Friends,
Welcome to September!
We celebrate National Yoga Month in September. It's an opportunity to raise the awareness of yoga and its many health benefits.
We're also celebrating Labor Day this weekend. It's an opportunity to celebrate the social and economic contributions of workers and to remember that all work has value.
I'm all in favor of both celebrations!
Enjoy your long weekend.
Love & yoga,
Nina G
The Yoga of August
Hello friends,
We’re headed into the last week of August and there’s no better time than now to practice the Yoga of August.
What kind of yoga can we practice in August?
The yoga of sunshine – Wake up with the sun and bask in the light. Take your morning coffee or tea outside and observe the nature around you.
The yoga of color – There’s a riot of color in gardens, in parks, and in your neighborhood. Take a walk outside and find every color of the rainbow. Eat the rainbow with the bounty of in-season fruits and vegetables you can find at the market.
The yoga of fun – Take a moment to write a list of 5 fun things that you want to do before summer is over. List things that you really enjoy. Commit to doing at least one of those this week. Let’s infuse as much fun into our days as possible!
The yoga of non-attachment – We know that the warm weather and sunshine isn’t going to last forever here in the Midwest. Let’s enjoy the warmth and light of this present moment to its fullest so that we’ll be ready to welcome the transition to autumn when it arrives.
Yoga is more than poses. Yoga teaches us how to be fully present to the world around us.
Please join me on your mat and let's experience it together.
Love in the dog days of August,
Nina G