THAI BODY WORK starting Monday June 21 in Livingston

I want to start offering my Thai Body Work sessions on June 21 since it’s the Solstice and a good time to invite new openness within…..

I am so excited to begin incorporating what I learned in Thai Body Work Level II into my sessions. Many, many people have come to me for healing bodywork and many have returned again and again. I'm especially happy to have introduced Thai massage to a number of clients who'd never experienced it. As a way of thanking my current and future clients I want to do something a little gimicky, but fun. From July 1st through the end of September when you come for a massage you'll be entered into a monthly drawing to win a gift certificate for a 90 minute session. You can get into the drawing up to 2 times per month. I'll give away 1 gift certificate at the end of July & August.

Rates: 1 hr: $50 90 min: $65 2 hrs: $85

New clients get $10 off one 90 minute session.

$25 fee is requested if you need to cancel an appointment with less than 24 hours notice

THAI...some history

Thai massage originated 2500 years ago in India, developing out of the Ayurvedic and yoga traditions, with later influence by Chinese medicine. It combines deep compressions, passive stretching, joint mobility and acupressure to relieve muscle tension, enhance circulation, improve flexibility and balance energy. Typical responses to this bodywork include feeling taller and lighter, relaxed and invigorated, and having greater ease of movement. Clients who have experienced yoga and physical therapy often note the similarities to this bodywork. Thai massage is received on a mat while wearing comfortable clothing and is beneficial for people of all ages and lifestyles. I will tailor the session to your needs - whether you want to feel the burn of a deep, intense treatment or have a more gentle experience.

Holistic Benefits of Traditional Thai Massage

• Facilitates relaxation

• Heightens awareness

• Frees blockages in energy flow

• Invigorates the nervous system

• Relieves pain and muscle tension

• Increases ability to absorb nutrition

• Strengthens and rejuvenates the body

• Speeds recovery from exercise and athletic events

• Improves circulation of blood and lymph

• Increases flexibility and range of motion

• Gives a general feeling of well being, balancing body, mind, and spirit

• Enhances elimination of cellular waste and debris due to physical, mental and emotional strain

CALL ME for your appt. (406) 600-1994 or e-mail me at sarayoga3@yahoo.com

GIFT certificates available.....and..... what a WONDERFUL GIFT this is!!

What Janine says about my Thai Bodywork: "A Thai massage with Sara? Any time! Her rhythmically skillful hands pulls you, stretches you, nurtures you in such a delicious & healing way...you can only go into a trance state of deep relaxation!" Janine Fafard, Costa Rica

Hypnobirthing® in Livingston, MT: Childbirth education for safer, easier and gentler birth...

The HypnoBirthing® Childbirth Education Program consists of (5) 2 hour sessions.

New Classes Now Forming: July-August 2010

Sunday July 11, 18, 25, August 8, 15 (5:00-7:00pm)

Course Highlights:

How the mind and emotions affect the body | Why labor hurts and why it doesn't have to | Releasing fear the enemy of labor | Preparing your mind and body for birthing | Avoiding artificial induction and episiotomies | Developing ultimate depth relaxation | Understanding the stages of labor | Preparing your Birth Plan | Tapping Nature's own relaxant | Breathing your baby down for birth

The Fastest Growing Childbirth Education Program in the U.S.!

HypnoBirthing® is a "full-service" childbirth education course, teaching everything NEEDED to prepare mind and body to have a healthy birth.

While HypnoBirthing® is effective and easy to learn at any time during pregnancy, even late third trimester, much can be gained by taking the class early so that proper nutrition, daily relaxation practice, and preparation of your mind and body for birthing can be developed over a period of time. The HypnoBirthing Institute is now recommending that expectant parents begin classes early in the second trimester, so that the relaxation becomes a way of life.

HypnoBirthing is different from most other childbirth education courses in the following ways:

Most births (90-95% of all births) are without problems, at least if we refrain from intervening in the process. Therefore HypnoBirthing® doesn't teach about complications. Why spend hours discussing things that only happen in a few births? Moms and dads often say that after they have finished their hospital childbirth course, they had the feeling that all births have complications and that they would be very lucky indeed to not have any interventions. So we don't go there. You have hopefully chosen your childbirth/obstetric provider wisely and if an unforeseen turn happens in your birthing, you have them to guide you in your options.

Most childbirth courses teach that pain in inevitable during childbirth, and suggest ways to cope and endure. HypnoBirthing® teaches that there is nothing inherently painful about birthing. Birthing muscles are like every other muscle in the body, and when they are functioning properly, they don't hurt. It is actually fear and tension that lead to pain. All childbirth classes teach that if you will relax, it will be easier. HypnoBirthing will give you the tools to do just that. Labor will mostly likely be intense and hard work, but it doesn't HAVE to be painful. HypnoBirthing doesn't promise that birth will be painfree, but many women report that they did not experience pain.

Many childbirth education classes teach what to expect in the hospital, how to be a "good patient" and how to help the mom have the best experience possible. HypnoBirthing® teaches parents to remember that this is also the BABY's birth -- he or she will only get one chance to be born. How would you like to welcome your baby into the world? If you keep your baby's interests in mind, you'll chose your birthing preferences wisely and you will have a wonderful experience too.

What Will I Learn?

HypnoBirthing® is a complete childbirth education program. You will learn what I like to call life tools. The relaxation techniques that you will learn are focused on birth. However, you will be able to use variations of these techniques for the rest of your life!

How Fear Affects Labor

You will learn how the uterus functions normally. This understanding will allow you to release fear and embrace the concept of easier, more comfortable birth.

Preparing Your Mind and Body for Success

In HypnoBirthing you will learn relaxation and visualizations that will see you through your labor and quickly bring about a renewed state of energy following your birth. You will also learn comfortable positions for your birthing day and how to get your body prepared for that very special day.

Breathing Techniques

You will learn three gentle breathing techniques to enhance your body's natural ability and encourage a calm and peaceful birthing experience.

Nutrition

Healthy mommies birth healthy babies. We will discuss good nutrition which is essential for your baby's growth and development. Many late pregnancy concerns can be minimized and even reversed through healthy eating and optimal nutrition.

How the Body Works with You and for You

Childbirth is a normal, natural and healthy function for women. You will learn how your body and baby are designed perfectly for birth. You will understand what the uteran muscles are doing and why, as well as the stages of labor...simplified.

Prenatal Bonding

Getting acquainted with your baby is a very magical experience and you don't have to wait until (s)he is born to enjoy making this connection.

Integral Role for Your Birth Companion

Birth companions are able to experience the joy of supporting mommy and participating in the miracle of birth. Companions are encouraged, however, many single moms have achieved gentle and fulfilling births.

We will also discuss exercise, laboring and birthing positions, birth preferences, breastfeeding and so much more!

Sign Up for HypnoBirthing Childbirth Education

How to Sign Up for Group Classes and Private Instruction

The HypnoBirthing classroom (3-10 couples) program includes (5) 2 hr. weekly sessions (once a week for five weeks). The fee for the classroom program is $250. A $50 non-refundable deposit is required, due before attending the first class, with the balance ($200) due at the end of class 1 unless other arrangements have been made. (Payable by check or cash only). Class Enrollment is on a first pay, first reserve basis. The classes generally fill a couple weeks in advance. There are occasional cancellations. To ensure your placement, it is best to sign up early to save your spot. Your $50 deposit reserves your space and allows for the purchase of your class materials. $250 covers the entire program for mother and birth companion: deposit, all sessions/classes, the textbook "HypnoBirthing- A Celebration of Life, 3rd edition" by Marie Mongan, 2 audio relaxation practice CDs, and class binder.

Private Instruction is offered as (4) 2 hour sessions or as an all day (6 - 7 hour) intensive session. The intensive program is reserved for mothers who are 35+ weeks pregnant and cannot feasibly attend many classes. The standard private option is $475 and the intensive option is $375. Both fees include instruction for mom-to-be and her birth companion(s), textbook, practice CD, and class binder. A $75 non-refundable deposit is required to book your private class(es), with the balance due at the time of your first appointment.

To sign up for group classes and private instruction:

Class deposit submitted ($50 non-refundable). This deposit reserves your space for a group class and allows me to purchase your class materials. For private sessions, this non-refundable deposit books your appointment and covers the first hour of your instruction (please contact me for the mailing address and to notify me that you will be making your payment: sarayoga3@yahoo.com or call 600-1994).

Be a strong WARRIOR 1, pure and simple

This is one of my teachers' way of explaining this pose, and I simply LOVE IT! Thanks Susi.

Start Warrior 1 by stepping back from Tadasana. It easily brings your awareness to your hips and pelvis with safety, strength and stability.

1. Stand in Tadasana. Remember that two things have to happen to make the legs in Warrior 1 work. Your back leg needs to rotate and extend in the hip as the front leg moves into flexion at the hip and knee. Keep this pureness in mind as you step back.

2. If your hips become "unsquare" as you step back, it is a sign that you are going too far back and/or too narrow. So, shorten your stance front to back, or widen your stance left to right. See which stance (or combination of stances) brings freedom so that your pelvis naturally squares back up.

3. Connect into your feet. Feel the center of your heels, the ball of each foot, and the base of your pinky toe. Let your legs be strong but not rigid. Overcontracting your legs will reduce strength.

4. From there, raise your arms up,perpendicular to the floor, parallel to each other and reach actively through the little finger sides of the hands towards the ceiling. Put energy into your hands. Organic energy! Shoulders away from the ears, scapulas firm against your back.

BREEEEEEEAAAAAAAAATTTTHHHHHEEEEEEEE and soften the face by smiling, a happy and peaceful warrior is ALWAYS a much better warrior :)

...and...voila'!

When you work this way, there are no assumptions of how much body awareness exists. This deliberately tells you what needs to happen. As a resuit, your awareness actually rises and there is less of a tendency for overtorquing the spine or pelvis; and there is less opportunity for the front knee to fall inward and for the back to overarch. This is all because you are moving through your pure range of motion, which involves more ease, more balance, and fewer compensatory patterns in the knee, SI joints, or back. As a result, you feel much more grounded while in the pose. (You don’t purposefully try to ground, but by the nature of pure movement, you feel grounded.) And, when you come out, you feel lighter. Try it and see.

Costa Rica-Hawaii-Montana

Hari Om!

We hope you are all well, practicing, teaching and sharing the yogic life. I have been traveling a little, being with my family and enjoying the warm weather. For the past 3 weeks I've been in a Ho’o Nanea which means “a place to pass the time in peace.” The amazing GARDEN ISLAND of Kauai has been our home and we have been blessed by its beauty, friendly people, amazing vegetation, vibrant ocean. I've enjoyed every second walking on the beach, smelling the ocean air, feeling the warm tropical breeze on my skin and soaking up the sun.

Tomorrow we return to the mainland. We will be driving through the coast of Southern California, reuniting with old friends and experiencing this new journey that awaits. We will be back in Montana for the summer and I am blessed and honored to be able to teach yoga at Breathing Room Yoga in Livingston again. Teaching yoga is one of my great joys and I am so happy to return to Livingston for the summer, and to its warm, inspiring community. It is my hope to challenge each person to find your individual edge, maybe break some boundaries -and to also find a collective rhythm as a class-sharing our personal goals, motivations and practice with one another. THE SCHEDULE OF MY CLASSES WILL BE POSTED SOON!

BALANCING in yoga poses

By Dr.Prafulla Dorle - Dr. Prafulla is a Doctor, senior yoga teacher and yoga therapist from Yoga Vidya Gurukul. He has a rich experience in the Anatomy & Physiology of Yoga practices. He is teaching and practicing yoga for the last 10 years along with his medical profession.

The practice of asana involves the practice of balancing oneself. Superficially the balance is at the physical level, but it involves the balance of our mind and thinking processes. The meaning of asana is steadiness and comfort, to maintain the position and balance the body parts.
The physical balance of our body depends on the following factors -

1. The vestibular sense in our ear.
2. The eyes.
3. The sensory impulses from the muscles and the body parts.

The vestibular sense consists of the semi circular canals and the utricle. The semi circular canals are sensitive to the rotator movements of the body parts, while the utricle is sensitive to the linear acceleration of the body. The function of vestibular sense depends on the acceleration, the speed of the movement .So if the speed is more the stimulus is more and maintaining the balance is difficult. On the other hand if the movement is slow balance is achieved faster as the vestibular sense is stimulated less.

The utricle is also stimulated by gravity. The sense of orientation of head and body parts in the space is dependent on the utricle. In the upright position it is stimulated the least and in the inverted positions it is stimulated the most. Leaning of the body in various positions also stimulates this activity.

The eyes are helpful in maintaining the alignment of the body. The cerebral cortex receives signals from the eyes and the postures are adjusted accordingly. Co ordination of both eyes and the movements involves the activity of the cerebral cortex. It is most important for coming in and out of positions. Both the eyes can keep a check on the alignment of the body parts and also the speed of the movement can be checked.

The sensors from all the muscles in the body are continually sending signals to the cerebral cortex. These signals are useful even if the eyes are closed. But many times these signals can be deceiving. Initially for the alignment of body parts it is not reliable to depend on these signals. The eyes are helpful in checking the alignment in such conditions.
The practice of yoga is helpful in improving the functioning of the balancing mechanism, particularly the balancing postures and the inverted positions. The practice of yoga helps in balancing the activity of the nerve impulses generated in this balancing mechanism. During the practice of yoga there is involvement of mind as well as control of breath.

The voluntary involvement of mind and willful control of breath reduces the cortical activity. The autonomic functioning of the cortex is reduced and the functioning is taken over by mind and will. It creates better control over the body functions and the mind. Further it is helpful in improving the balance and co ordination of the body functions. The mind becomes more stable and focused, even the thinking processes are controlled and balanced.

So the practice of yoga helps in balancing the body and at the same time it helps in balancing the mind. The perfect balance of body and mind can be achieved through the practice of yoga.

- Dr.Prafulla Dorle

Pose of the month- VEERASANA

In this classical asana the position of the body becomes like a warrior. It is a great position for strengthening the legs, lower back, opening the hips and stretching the back and abdomen.

The name of this asana does not completely correspond with the Sanskrit name however it roughly means brave, particularly due to the way that the asana is performed as it looks like a brave man taking position to attack his enemy.

STANDING:

1.Step the left leg forward at a maximum distance from the right leg.

2.Bend the left knee at a 90 degree angle (calf to ground 90 deg and calf to thigh 90 deg) and place the hands on the knee, palms joined together.

3.Exhale and while inhaling raise the joined hands up over the head, let the neck fall back so the gaze is towards the ceiling and arch the spine backwards. Continue to maintain the asana, breathing normally.

The asana position:
In this position there should be enough distance between the legs. Ideally the front leg should be bent at a 90 degree angle but whatever is comfortable should be performed. The back leg should remain straight. The arms, neck, back and back of the leg form a nice arch which is desirable in this position. To keep an arch there should be some pressure on the back leg and foot to maintain balance and also to move the strain away from the front knee. The arms should remain close to the ears and the neck bent back.

Releasing the asana position:

1. Slowly straighten the body and the neck, lowering the arms back down so the hands rest on the knee.
2. Straighten the knee and release the hands.
3. Restore the left leg to its place and return to standing position.
4. Practice on the opposite side.

Anatomical focus:
The back, pelvis and legs

Awareness:
Deep breathing, (mostly chest breathing as abdominal breathing becomes little difficult as there is stretch is on the abdomen), awareness of arch of the spine and stretch into the hips

Do:

• Place the right foot at a 45 degree angle to the left foot. (The angle may vary as per the convenience of every individual.)
• Keep the hips and torso facing the front.
• Bend the left leg to a 90 degree angle so the thigh is parallel with the floor if it is comfortable to do so.
• Raise the arms straight over the head with palms joined in Namaskar position.
• Take the arms backwards as far as possible.
• Pull the shoulders back, open the chest.
• Keep both the heels on the ground.
• Stretch the entire body in the backward direction while maintaining the balance and pressing the hips downward.

Don’t:

• Bend the arms or the right leg.
• Try to align the left foot and right foot in one line.
• Loose balance.

Benefits:

• Improves the strength and blood supply to the joints like the ankles, knees, hips, lumber region, cervical region and shoulders.
• Abdominal muscles are stretched so helps to remove fat from the region.
• Helps to maintain the proper balance of the body.
• Improves the flexibility of the spinal column.
• Puts pressure on the digestive organs and increases their efficiency and function.
• Strengthens the legs.
• Puts pressure on the nervous system and improves coordination of the nervous system with the musculoskeletal system.
• Improves balance.
• Relieves tension in the neck and shoulders.
• Expands the chest and diaphragm, encouraging deep breathing.
• Reduces fat around the pelvic region.
• Tones the reproductive organs.

Therapeutic applications:
Obesity
Gynaecological problems
Asthma
Thyroid problems

Precautions and Contra-indications:

• The process of bending backwards should be slow and controlled in order to maintain balance.

Duration: Up to one 1 minute

Variations and tips:
It is important to get the balance of an arch and also a stretch into the legs. Do not try to bend the front knee so much that it is difficult to arch the back. In the same way do not arch the back and prevent the stretch into the front leg.
Make sure that you turn the hips and shoulders to the front before coming into the asana.
Press down with the back leg as well so that there is not too much pressure on the front knee.

A word on traditional yoga

The meaning of the word Yoga is to join. It is a process of synthesis and not analysis. We have to combine everything. The practice of the yogic techniques must be a combination of all. I want to clarify this point in detail.

There are many practices explained in Yoga. There are eight components in Ashtanga Yoga. Each component is further subdivided into a number of practices. There are many, many practices like these. One should not practice only one or two practices only. But at the same time it is also not possible to practice all. So we must select some of them and not only one of them. This selection is also very important from an individual point of view. The selection will also depend on the environment around the practitioner.

How to practice Ashtanga Yoga ?

One should follow the five Yamas and Niyamas as much as he can, in his daily life. He should practice some Asanas daily. The selection of Asanas will depend on his daily schedule. 8 -10 Asanas are required to be selected and practiced regularly.

One must keep some time reserved for the practice of Pranayama, the breathing exercises. He can practice pranayama as he will be learning the techniques slowly.

Some sort of meditation should also be practiced daily. The level of meditation will depend on the spiritual level of the practitioner. This can be started with the plain chanting of Aum or any other mantra.

Here is a recommendation for one hour daily practice.

Start with the chanting of Om 5 times.

Sunsalutations 12 rounds - 10 mins

Different selected Asanas for about 25 minutes.

Pranayama: Deep breathing or selected type of pranayama for 15 minutes.

Meditation on breath or Om - 10 minutes.

Live a yogic life.

Hari Om Tat Sat