Flexibility in Yoga

Hello my friends!

The first thing I do every morning is practice yoga. I just feel my mat calling to me in my room upstairs. When it calls, I answer! Some mornings I’m on my mat for an hour, some mornings it’s just 20 minutes, but I’m always on the mat before I do anything else. When I can’t get to my mat because I’m traveling, my body feels different. I know that the yoga serves me well. I love practicing yoga in the morning. Later in the day I usually go for a long walk. Those two activities have saved my sanity during the pandemic.

This past Thursday morning I woke up early and saw the weather warning about the heavy fog. I decided to ignore the call of my mat and to go outside for my daily walk early, while it was foggy, before it burned off.

Game time decision and I don’t regret it.

It was wild to see the fog resting on the fields of Maine Park and the nature center. The sun was trying to burn through, but couldn’t. When I got to the neighborhood streets, they were enveloped in fog as well. I really couldn’t see much past a half a block away. When I finished my walk, about an hour later, the fog had burned off and the outside looked like it normally does.

It was beautiful.

It was yoga even though I wasn't on my mat. I was fully present as I watched the scenery around me reveal itself. I spent some time on my mat once I returned home, but I made the decision to forego my usual routine that morning and I’m glad that I did.

This week our yoga practice focuses on flexibility. Not the flexibility of bringing our ankles behind our ears or turning ourselves into pretzels. Instead, we will focus on the flexibility of our approach to our practice. What happens when we come to our mat with a different mindset? How will our practice change when we look at it with new eyes? Can we be comfortable with taking that early morning walk to see the fog?

Join me and we’ll explore these ideas together.

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More News and Info:

Thanks for checking out my new website, Yoga with Nina G. I appreciate your feedback.

Monday afternoon (4:00 pm) Zoom class is returning on Monday, September 13. I hope that the teachers in this group (and anyone else that wants to!) can join me.

Interested in joining me live? I have a small class beginning on Monday, September 13 at noon in Niles. Click here for more info.

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Monday, August 23 - 8:15 am - Slow Flow with Nina G (The link will be out later this evening.)

Wednesday, August 25 - 7:30 pm - Movement & Stillness

Chair Yoga Video - Footloose (This video is a great warm up for your feet and ankles before you go for a walk.)

Always love,

Nina G

Connect to the Infinite

When we try to pick out anything by itself,
We find it hitched to everything else in the universe.
- John Muir

Hello dear friends,

I went for a walk at the zoo this weekend and this quote was in the buffalo habitat. John Muir wrote it over 100 years ago and it's still true today.

Simple, direct, complete...we're all connected.

Let's imagine that we are each a drop of water in the ocean. Connected, working together, moving with the tides, rising and falling with the water cycle. Each one important but each one so small. Infinite in number and so much more powerful together.

We talk about yoga being the union of body, mind, and breath and we practice that each week. But let's take a step back and look at the bigger picture. What if yoga is the union of body, mind, and breath, as well as the union of the self to the greater good? How do we connect with all of those other drops of water in the ocean? Can we practice this sense of oneness and connection both within and without? Interesting ideas to explore on our mats.

This week our practice returns to healthy aging - utilizing our yoga to help us age well so that we can continue to build those connections. We will move slowly and deliberately, paying close attention to the movement. We will keep the spine safe and work to strengthen the body. In previous classes we identified 4 components of healthy aging: strength, flexibility, balance and agility. Strength is the basis for all of these components. Without strength we can't balance or be agile or flexible.

Strengthening our bodies, strengthening our awareness.

Let's connect to the infinite.

Join me on your mat.

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Important scheduling news:

I will be traveling this week - heading East, connecting with family. This Wednesday class is cancelled as well as next Monday, August 16. Watch this newsletter for updates.

Monday, August 9 - 8:15 am - Slow Flow with Nina G (The link will be out later this evening.)

Wednesday, August 11 - 7:30 pm - NO CLASS THIS WEDNESDAY!!

Chair Yoga Video - Open to Growth

Infinite love,

Nina G

Roy Kent & Yoga

Hey friends!

I don't watch a lot of 'must see' TV, but I do watch Ted Lasso on Apple TV+. It's upbeat, incredibly funny, poignant, well-written…the list goes on and on. It’s definitely worth my time. For those of you that don’t watch it, Ted Lasso is an American football coach who has relocated to England to coach soccer. He doesn’t understand anything about soccer and hilarity ensues.

One of the players on his team is Roy Kent. Roy had been a top player in the league for a long time and he might be past his prime now. He suffered a few injuries and he's slower than most of his younger teammates. Some of the players call him granddad. Roy is always angry, always swearing, and really not fun to be around. He's very self-assured and doesn't care what anyone thinks about him. In his spare time, Roy practices yoga.

Based on the few references to his yoga practice, it doesn't appear to be hot and sweaty yoga but it looks like it's slow-moving, mindful yoga. He doesn’t tell many people about it, but he practices regularly with a bunch of 60-year-old women. When the practice is over, they all watch some British reality TV while drinking rose. Roy doesn't miss his yoga for anything. It’s wonderful!

When he's off his mat, Roy is his usual cranky and cantankerous self, but he keeps going back. I think that he gets glimpses of his softer side and wants to explore it more. I wonder about the back story on his joining the yoga class. What opened him up to the idea of practicing yoga? Whatever it was, it had to have been a powerful force to convince this elite athlete to slow down and get in touch with his inner self.

That's what we're trying to do on our mats. We take a break from the busy day-to-day stuff and check in with the body, the breath and the mind. Whether we're elite athletes, woefully out of shape, or somewhere in between, mindful yoga can serve all of us. We can all have a meaningful practice.

This week our practice will center on our own openness. We’ll explore the concept of being open to growth – growth in our practice and in our lives.

Please join me on your mat.

I do yoga with a group of women in their 60s, they have no idea who I am, it's twice a week and it's really good for my core. - Roy Kent

Monday, August 2 - 8:15 am - Slow Flow with Nina G (The link will be out soon!)

Wednesday, August 4 - 7:30 pm - Movement and Stillness

Wednesday, August 4 - 2:00 pm - Park Ridge Public Library Chair Yoga - Zoom LIVE. I'll be subbing this class on Zoom. There are still spaces available. Visit the library's website to sign up or call the library at 847-825-3123 for more information.

Chair Yoga Video - Calming Breath

Love,

Nina G

Calming Breath

We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.
~ St. Mother Teresa

Hello my friends,

I hope that you had a wonderful week - mine was interesting. My theme last week was to close the umbrella and to open ourselves to the gifts around us. Experience the yoga. I know - sometimes that gets a little bit too 'woo woo'. But I had some interesting feedback last week, when I least expected it.

I had a new student join me in my chair yoga class. She had done a few yoga classes in the past, but she felt like they were too hard. I asked that she be patient and give my class a try. It was very interesting to watch the change in her from the beginning of the class to the end. The tension that was evident in her head, neck, and shoulders visibly disappeared as the class progressed. When class was over, I asked how she felt and her answer was 'calm'.

And that's why I do this.

I want us to be able to find the calm despite all of the other things that are going on in our lives. This is why I'm practicing and teaching yoga for the nervous system and not 'kick your butt' yoga or 'beach body' yoga. This yoga of mindfulness can help us when we feel disconnected from our selves, from our community, from our higher power.

Yoga doesn't have to be complicated. We don't have to do handstands or wrap our ankles behind our ears. We bring our attention to our breath and our movement. The quote above made its way to my media feed last week. I'd like to paraphrase St. Mother Teresa and say 'we shall never know all the good that a simple breath can do.'

So that's what we'll do this week. We'll use our breath to help us find our sense of calm.

Please join me on your mat. And if you know someone else that might need to find that sense of calm, please invite them to join us as well.

Monday, July 26 - 8:15 am - Slow Flow with Nina G (The link will be out soon!)

Wednesday, July 28 - 7:30 pm - Movement and Stillness

Chair Yoga - Experience

Love, always love,

Nina G

Giving & Receiving

Hello my friends,

I visited the Morton Arboretum again this past weekend and finally saw all of the pieces of the new exhibit Human+Nature by Daniel Popper. The sculpture below was my absolute favorite. Just those two hands reaching forward...ready to help, ready to receive, ready to offer support. I love those hands.

In my work this week I've been reviewing lots of the training materials that I have from the past 18 months. I came across the following notation:

There are so many blessings all around us - we put up umbrellas of distraction, of busy-ness, of ego. We need to fold away the umbrella and revel in the blessings. - Kristine Weber

Yep, I need to fold up my umbrella. Lose the busy-ness, lose the distraction, and notice the grace around me. I need to be open to those blessings of wisdom, awe, knowledge, and insight. I will open my hands to be ready to receive them. I want to share those same gifts with everyone I know. My hands are reaching forward to share with you.

We often use that mudra (symbol with our hands) of open hands in our practice. That sense of both giving and receiving is important in what we do. Doing something for you makes me feel good, but until I can receive and allow you that same good feeling, it's not balanced. The umbrella is still open.

We'll use this imagery in our practice this week. Receiving these gifts and sharing them as well. We fold up the umbrella and let the gifts rain down!

Please join me.

Monday, July 19 - 8:15 am - Slow Flow with Nina G (The link will be out soon!)

Wednesday, July 21 - 7:30 pm - Movement and Stillness

Chair Yoga - Forward

Love,

Nina G

Forward

I spent Friday night and all day Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin, visiting my daughter and her fiance. It was a beautiful 26 hours and it was great to take a road trip again. I hadn't been in a hotel in 18 months, so it was interesting to return to some previous patterns. There was eating, drinking, shopping, talking, and walking. It was a fun and holy weekend.

Wisconsin on top of the Wisconsin state building. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

The state motto of Wisconsin is FORWARD. When we visit Madison, we stay and play in and around the capitol building, always under the watchful eyes of Wisconsin. She is the statue who stands on the capitol dome. Her right arm reaches out, symbolizing forward. Every time I visit Madison, I like to shout FORWARD as we move between activities. Time to go to the Farmers' Market? FORWARD! Time to get in the car and drive to a restaurant? FORWARD! You can only imagine how much everyone enjoys that...

The down time of the past 15 months has given me time to reflect. I realize that forward is exactly what I've been craving. I've heard lot of talk about returning to 'normal' post-pandemic. I don't want to return to normal. Normal wasn't necessarily all that great. To me, normal is going backwards. I want to unstick from the past way of doing things. I want to lose those pre-conceived notions of how things ought to be and make them better. I want to proceed forward using what lessons I've learned.

I don't want normal, I want better.

What does better mean? I think it will be different for me than for you, and that's okay. You define how you want to make the world better and I'll do my thing and maybe, together, we can all create better. Each one of us can make our own little ripple out there in the big pond. Together we can effect big change. There's lots of work ahead of us. It's time to begin.

In other news, I'm working to expand the reach of my yoga teaching practice. I'm working on new projects and taking more training (always learning!) to improve my offerings. All of this is to better serve you, my wonderful students. If you know of anyone else that might be interested in the slow, mindful yoga that I teach, please invite them to join us. I'm happy to reach out and welcome them to our group. Hit reply and let me know. Stay tuned to this newsletter for more info.

Wisconsin on top of the dome has it right - let's move forward.

Monday, July 12 - 8:15 am - Slow Flow with Nina G (The link will be out soon!)

Wednesday, July 14 - 7:30 pm - Movement and Stillness

Chair Yoga - Focus & Attention

Forward with love,

Nina G