Rope Yoga with Carrie

In our hyped-up and caffeinated culture, who doesn’t want to do more faster? But you may also crave a break from your over stimulated mind and aspire to a calmer, more intuitive, and present state. It’s easy to lose sight of your main purpose amid the distractions of a frenzied mind.  Slowing down brings you back to the here and now.

Many meditation techniques use one point as an object of concentration. Whether it’s the breath, a mantra, sensations, the thought of love, or awareness itself, the object of concentration can be a doorway to the moment. But sometimes this single focus is too subtle for the mind to track easily. If that’s been your experience, you may find that slow-motion movement, which begins with attention to strong sensations in the body, to be a more tangible and satisfying focal point.

This process of  gradually shifting your attention from the large movement of the asanas to the small movements of the breath is the essence of raja (or classical) yoga. As you attend to the postures, you encounter and release deep-seated tensions. You also refine your awareness by concentrating on the subtlety of your breath and turning inward. YJ 2009

If you observe your mind, there is always noise. It begins the moment you open your eyes in the morning and carries on every single second until you close your eyes at night. Perhaps this chatter prevents you from drifting off to sleep. And when you do finally doze off, it may make that rest fitful. When you examine your mental chatter, you will quickly discern that this unending noise has patterns. One of the most powerful and prevalent is your Voice of Judgment. Over time, negative judgments start to accumulate. Eventually they form a huge barrier that sits squarely in front of you on the path to your ideal life.
During the day, try carrying around a journal—or a file, notebook, or sheet of paper. Categorize the types of mind chatter that assault or beguile. Do this for at least two weeks. Are there wild flights of fancy? Elaborate escapist dreams? If so, try to be specific about exactly what types of accomplishments you fantasize about.
The very act of observing it changes your mental chatter. Shoplifting drops dramatically when department stores install surveillance cameras and post signs that they have done so. Similarly, your mental chatter is less able to take you down destructive paths when you become consciously aware of it. JY 2009

“In Buddhist philosophy, mudita is the third of the four brahmaviharas, the inner “divine abodes” of loving, compassion, joy, and equanimity that are every human being’s true nature. The term mudita is often narrowly translated as “sympathetic” or “altruistic” joy, the pleasure that comes when we delight in other people’s well-being rather than begrudge it. But since in practice it’s all but impossible to experience happiness for others unless we first develop the capacity to taste it in our own lives, many Buddhist teachers interpret mudita more broadly as referring to the inner fountain of infinite joy that is available to each of us at all times, regardless of our circumstances. The more deeply we drink from this fountain, the more secure we become in our own abundant happiness and the easier it then becomes for us to relish the joy of other people as well.

We’ve probably all had moments that have shown us that happiness has virtually nothing to do with the external circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the state of our minds and hearts. We can be drinking margaritas on a Caribbean beach, totally miserable; we can be late for work and stuck in freezing sleet in a traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge, overflowing with bliss.” YJ 2009

10 REASONS TO TRY YOGA FOR LIFE!

1. YOGA FOR STRESS RELIEF: Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. By encouraging relaxation, yoga helps to lower the levels of stress hormone cortisol. Related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the immune system as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma and insomnia.

2. YOGA FOR PAIN RELIEF: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing yoga asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as well as arthritis, back and neck pain and other chronic conditions. Some practitioners report that even emotional pain can be eased through their practice of yoga.

3. YOGA FOR BETTER BREATHING: Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function, trigger the body’s relation responses and increase the amount of oxygen available to the body.

4. YOGA FOR FLEXIBILITY: Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing the range of movement and reducing aches and pains. Many people can’t touch their toes during their first yoga class. Gradually they begin to use the correct muscles. Over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity, making more poses possible. Yoga also helps to improve body alignment resulting in better posture and helping to  relieve back, neck, joint and muscles problems.

5. YOGA FOR INCREASED STRENGTH: Yoga poses use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe. And, while these postures strengthen the body they also provide an additional benefit of helping to relieve muscular tension.

6. YOGA FOR WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: Yoga can aid weight control efforts by reducing the cortisol levels as well as burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well being and self esteem.

7. YOGA FOR IMPROVED CIRCULATION: Yoga helps to improve circulation and as a result of various postures, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.

8. YOGA FOR CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING: Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardiovascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

9. YOGA FOR FOCUSING ON THE PRESENT: Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware and to help create mind-body health. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination, reaction time and memory.

10. YOGA FOR INNER PEACE: The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more spiritual and more satisfying place in their lives. Many who begin practice for other reasons have reported this to be the key reason that yoga has become an essential part of their lives.

 The Law of Giving and Receiving: The universe operates through dynamic exchange – giving and receiving are different aspects of the flow of energy in the universe. And in our willingness to give that which we seek, we keep the abundance of the universe circulating in our lives.I will put the Law of Giving into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps:   

1. Wherever I go, and whoever I encounter, I will bring them a gift. The gift may be a compliment, a flower, or a prayer. Today, I will give something to everyone I come into contact with, and so I will begin the process of circulating joy, wealth and affluence in my life and in the lives of others.
2. Today I will gratefully receive all the gifts that life has to offer me. I will receive the gifts of nature: sunlight and the sound of birds singing, or spring showers or the first snow of winter. I will also be open to receiving from others, whether it be in the form of a material gift, money, a compliment or a prayer.
3. I will make a commitment to keep wealth circulating in my life by giving and receiving life’s most precious gifts: the gifts of caring, affection, appreciation and love. Each time I meet someone, I will silently wish them happiness, joy and laughter.

 

 

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. “

                                                  – Edith Wharton

 

Please Click on Image to Enlarge!

Contact me at: carrie@ropeyogawithcarrie.com

Please Click on Image to Enlarge!

Contact me at: carrie@ropeyogawithcarrie.com

Click on Image to Enlarge!

Contact me at: carrie@ropeyogawithcarrie.com

Rope Yoga, also called RussaYog, is an exceptional form of exercise that unites mind, body and spirit. It is a blending of traditional yoga practice with and without a rope, depending on the asan or posture.

I opened my studio in Nickels Arcade in June of 2008, where I hold sessions with clients on a one-on-one basis or in pairs. My sessions are kept small and private, due to the fact that I want my clients to receive my exclusive attention while honoring this time they have chosen to spend with themselves.

The studio is a place of peace and a place where my clients and I come to, to focus on our inner and outer bodies. Our goal is not only to strengthen and tone our bodies, but also, and more importantly, to let the mind relax into a calm alertness, allowing it to release tension that we may not be aware of. 

At the studio, the focus is on the body and the mind working as a team, one not overriding, or dominating the other. We search for this balance, and we create it when we practice Rope Yoga.

I hope you will visit this site often, as I will be publishing more information regarding prices, one-on-one private sessions for autumn 2008, and releasing new marketing material!

Contact me at: carrie@ropeyogawithcarrie.com

In Chardi Kala

(In Unbounded Optimism)

Carrie

I know I have found my fountain(s) of youth:

• I am a Certified Spinning Instructor and Gliding Instructor. And I find the time to integrate other forms of exercise into my week.
• I practice Rope Yoga 4 times a week (with and without clients), but I also find time to run 12 miles a week, Spin 2-3 times a week (at Vie Fitness and Spa), practice Pilate’s at the Washtenaw Recreational Center on Monday Mornings, Practice Bikram Yoga once a week, and engage in Spoga (Spinning and Hatha Yoga, also at Vie Fitness and Spa) every Friday morning!
• Then, of course, dear to my heart, is sharing Yoga Ball with people at General Dynamics. This I do 2-3 times a week. My goal is to reach out to other like-minded corporations, who beleive that their employees need a break in their day, to re-focus, re-energize and re-fresh!

Staying vital as you mature is so very important. When I turned 42 last year, I decided to change my life and find my vocation, one I love and one that also pays well in return (you only get back what you put out into the Universe).  I put 100% into everything I do, everything I share with my clients. I want to engage them, to re-vitalize them, to show them that feeling good involves not only having a healthy body, but also a positive turn of mind too!

In Sundar (Beauty),

Carrie

Contact me at: carrie@ropeyogawithcarrie.com

Wonderful Photos courtesy of Haley Buffman!