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
Creative Mindfulness
Hello dear friends!
We’ve shifted gears this week—from bones to creativity. One of the beautiful things about yoga is that it’s spacious enough to hold all of these explorations.
Last week, we played with creative flow—tuning into movement, breath, and thought as a fluid dance. This week, we turn our attention to mindfulness.
So, how does mindfulness support creativity? It invites us to adopt a beginner’s mind, staying open and curious. It helps to lower stress levels, allowing inspiration to arise naturally rather than forcing it. When we’re present and grounded, fresh ideas have space to emerge.
Mindfulness also builds resilience, training us to shift into problem-solving mode when life throws us challenges. Instead of feeling stuck, we find new, creative ways to move forward.
Of course, we’ll explore this on the mat—but here’s a simple mindfulness practice to try off the mat, inspired by How to Train a Wild Elephant by Jan Chozen Bays, MD. It’s called “Mindfulness of Doors.”
Each time you pass through a doorway, pause—just for a second. Take one mindful breath before stepping into the next space. Notice any shift in energy, temperature, or sensation as you move from one environment to another.
It sounds easy, but it is quite challenging! As Bays reminds us, we’re often so focused on where we’re going that we miss the transition itself. These small pauses can be powerful invitations to presence.
Give it a try and let me know what you learn!
Love & mindfulness,
Nina G
Yoga of Creativity
Dear friends,
Lately I've been exploring how yoga supports our creativity. We're all creative. You don't need to be a painter or a sculptor to be creative (see last week's newsletter for some beautiful sculpture!) You can experiment in the kitchen, connect with children, problem solve, play music, write, or do literally millions of other things to be creative.
“Creativity is the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, or interpretations.”
Creativity requires us to experiment; to learn new things; to be open to growth; to take risks and break rules; to make mistakes; and (most importantly) to have fun in the process.
Creativity connects us to something greater than ourselves and can bring happiness and joy into our lives and the lives of others.
It kinda sounds like yoga to me!
This week on our mats and chairs, we will explore how we can slip into the flow of creative thought. We'll work with flowing movements and breath to awaken our imaginations.
Please join me!
Love & creativity,
Nina G
Strength & Grace
Hello friends!
I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Friday was absolutely gorgeous, and I took full advantage of the beautiful weather by spending the day in Chicago, exploring the Myth & Marble exhibit at the Art Institute.
There were 58 ancient marble statues on display. These weren't just bits and pieces of antiquity; they all had been 'restored' to wholeness during the 17th - 19th century. We were able to see the entire form as intended by the original sculptor. These were big, heavy pieces of rock that had been transformed into something beautiful. Each work of art, while heavy and solid, had so much grace and movement within it.
Statue of Athena - late 1st century BCE - early 1st century CE
And all I could think about was our yoga!
You may remember that yoga sutra 2:46 calls us to find a stable, easy pose (Sthira sukham asanam). It tells us to have strength that is not rigid but easeful—rooted and still rising. We employ both effort and ease in our practice, just as these sculptors balanced both force and finesse to unveil the beauty within the stone.
Young girl as Diana (Artemis)
This week in class, we're wrapping up our exploration of yoga to support bone health. We will bring our attention to our overall posture, using what we learned about the sturdiness and structure of our bones to create poses that are strong, but also graceful. We will find the beauty in our power.
Please join me on your mat (or on your chair!), my beautiful friends.
With hope, strength, & grace,
Nina G
News & Notes - March 2025
Hi friends!
Here's what you need to know for March:
NEW CHAIR YOGA VIDEO - There's a new chair yoga video available on my YouTube channel. It integrates all of the components from our Hope practices. Give it a try!
UPCOMING SCHEDULE CHANGES - There will be no classes the week of April 20th (the week after Easter). I'll remind you when we get closer.
OUR PRACTICE - Our practice has been quite active these past few weeks as we explore yoga to support bone health. Yoga moves the spine in all directions, developing our agility, flexibility, strength, and balance. All of that is so important as we continue to flourish in our practice.
Let's not forget that stillness and deep relaxation are also important for our health and wellness, especially in support of our nervous system.
Enjoy this photo of Graycie enjoying her time on our 'Stonehenge' set-up for savasana. As a cat, she is well aware of the importance of deep rest!
Photo by Lois S
Love & yoga,
Nina G
Moving Into March
Hello friends!
...and we're moving into March!
March is all about transitions. We will change our clocks next weekend, we will welcome Spring on the 20th and (we hope) we will be able to spend more time outdoors. The increased daylight often causes us to make changes in our outer world (spring cleaning anyone?). We start to clean patios and outdoor spaces. We clear out the old and welcome new buds, new growth, and the potential for change. There is a lot that happens in March!
Our yoga practice can support us in making these transitions as smoothly as possible. On our mats we practice transitions all the time - we move from one pose to the next; we shift between doing and observing the effects of what we've just done; we are active and then we are resting.
This is all part of our yoga practice and there are specific tools that we use to support us through these transitions.
The most important tool is our mindful awareness. Being present as we shift between poses gives us so much information and feedback about the state of the body and mind. We are then able to transition safely and with proper alignment. When the body/mind knows that it is safe, it is able to relax and move with ease.
Our breath also supports us in this journey. We cultivate that slow, smooth breath and use its rhythm to guide us as we move between poses.
And don't forget those bones and muscles! The physical body plays a big role in our transitions, too. Our bones provide stability and structure, while our muscles offer the flexibility and strength we need to flow through and between each movement. As we connect to both our breath and body mindfully, we find that we can shift from one pose to another with greater ease and grace, embracing the changes within and around us.
Each transition, whether on the mat or off, offers us the opportunity for change and growth. We welcome March as it teaches us to let go and to welcome change.
Love & hope,
Nina G
Make No Bones About It
Hello my friends,
I hope that you are staying warm! The good news is that I think a warm-up is headed our way.
This week, we’re continuing our exploration of yoga to support bone health. As I was preparing my classes, I kept coming across idioms about bones. Our bones are not only the foundation of our physical body but also a powerful part of our shared cultural language.
Consider the following expressions:
Bare Bones – Stripping away all but the essentials; returning to what is most basic.
Bone-Deep – This speaks to something very strongly felt - an inherent part of someone or something.
I Feel It In My Bones – Similar to above, but even more profound. Ever had that intuitive nudge, that deep knowing? It’s the wisdom of your bones speaking. We tap into this deep sense when we trust our selves, when we listen closely to the quiet messages within.
Make No Bones About It – To speak with certainty and clarity and without hesitation. No doubt. No fear. Just truth.
Bad to the Bone – To be thoroughly immoral, wicked, dangerous, or unlawful. This phrase is often used ironically!
There are many more idioms about bones, but I'll stop here. Since our bones are such an essential part of the body's structure and strength, they are the perfect metaphor for concepts that are fundamental, strong, and unyielding.
Our bones are our foundation - our support. As we move through the week ahead, let's focus on the strength and wisdom that our bones provide.
Please join me on your mat.
With love & hope,
Nina G
A February Face
“Why, what’s the matter,
That you have such a February face,
So full of frost, of storm and cloudiness?”
Dear friends,
Mr. Shakespeare may have been onto something when he wrote about February—it seems that the weather was as dreary in Merrie Olde England as it is for us now! But be patient, we're halfway through this month, and we're halfway to April and warmer, sunnier days ahead.
We needn't rely on the weather alone to lift our spirits though. In our yoga practice we have been cultivating a deeper kind of hope—a hope that transcends the cycles of seasons, that endures through challenges, and that gives us the strength to take mindful, right action.
With that hope, we can lose the "February face" and move forward with renewed strength, resilience, and light.
It's the Yoga of Hope and I'm glad that we were able to practice it together.
We shift gears this week in our practice. We move from the psycho-emotional body to the physical body, focusing specifically on the bones. Did you know that we’re born with about 300 bones? Over time, some fuse together, and as adults, we have 206. As we practice this week, we will explore the skeleton and how yoga can contribute to keeping bones healthy and strong throughout our lifespan.
Please join me on your mat.
With love & hope, Nina G
CHAIR YOGA FOLLOW UP: As I mentioned in last week's newsletter, Maine Township will be offering a chair yoga class on Tuesdays at noon. The newsletter announcing this dropped on the 13th and registration will begin on Tuesday, February 18th. Please join me!
News & Notes - February 2025
“Find your reasons for hope and let them guide you onward.”
Hello friends!
I'm back and it's time to do some more yoga. Here's what you need to know:
NEW VIDEO - There's a new video available on my channel - Yoga of Hope: Strength. As promised, it is a video related to our Hope theme. It is a strength practice, focusing on the movement from sitting to standing. Give it a try!
YOGA OF HOPE - Our practice this week will integrate all of those components of hope that we worked with last month - strength, resilience, and light. We will weave these ideas together to close our study of The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall.
*NEW*CHAIR YOGA CLASS - If you live in or near Maine Township, watch for your MaineStreamers newsletter later this week. I will be offering chair yoga on Tuesdays at noon beginning on March 4th. The newsletter comes out this week and registration begins on February 18th. Please join me! Registration is open to both residents and non-residents.
BIRDWATCHING YOGA - Did you take some time to watch the birds? I did! Here are a few that I found while away...
A rooster
An egret
Love & hope,
Nina G
The Yoga of Hope
Hello Friends,
Our practices this month are all part of what I call The Yoga of Hope.
As referenced in the title of Jane Goodall’s book, The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, we are indeed living in challenging times. The constant stream of news can feel overwhelming and leave us feeling discouraged. But we cannot afford to lose hope.
Where do we begin?
For me, it always starts on the mat.
Hope is not passive; it requires our active participation. We cannot simply wish for change; we must cultivate the strength that we need to make a difference.
On our mats, we build physical strength – a strong core and steady balance – empowering us to face the challenges that lie ahead. We are preparing ourselves for the work that needs to be done.
As with all important work, there may be setbacks. Hope also requires us to be resilient.
Our yoga practice provides the tools for building resilience as well. Through mindful movement and practices that enhance neuroplasticity – what I call "brain yoga" – we become more aware of our own inner landscape. This awareness helps us navigate challenges with greater clarity and we are able to respond to stressors with grace and intention.
The first two weeks of January we have focused on strength and resilience. Next week we look at light - light in all its forms. Light as the opposite of darkness; light as the opposite of heavy; light as pure being. There are so many ways to explore this idea of light!
Please join me on your mat.
“Hope is contagious. Your actions will inspire others.”
Love & hope,
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