Yoga Bound

02/04/2024

It's wild out there.

So wild that the CBRM council voted unanimously to enact a local state of emergency after the province determined a provincial state of emergency was unnecessary. Now the province has to approve their declaration.

The CBRM is acting now anticipating that the state of emergency will be declared, but we can ensure that it is. Write to the Honourable John Lohr and tell him your storm stories. Insist that he (and the Emergency Management Office for whom he is responsible) approve the CBRM's declaration and sets appropriate supports in place.

The Emergency Management Office can be reached here:
https://www.facebook.com/EmergencyManagementOfficeNovaScotia/
Phone: (902) 424-5620
Fax: 902-424-5376
emo@novascotia.ca

The Honourable John Lohr can be reached here:
Constituency Office:
Phone: 902-365-3420
Fax: 902-365-3422
johnlohrmla@gmail.com

Business Office:
Phone: 902-424-6642
dmamin@novascotia.ca

You can also contact your own MLA to press the case.

Stay safe.

The Department of Emergency Management is here to help Nova Scotians prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies.

10/02/2021

Hey y'all!

The sniffles have struck again. I won't be able to teach class today. Krystall is working on a sub but we're not 100% sure that's going to work out. If you've signed up for the class, check with the front desk before heading over to the studio.

See you next week.

06/18/2021

Hi everyone! How's life these days? (Seriously, I want to know!)

I know that studios and gyms are opening up in Nova Scotia with this phase, and I know many of you are excited to get back to class. In light of that I feel like I should clarify that I am not comfortable getting back at it just yet. I want to avoid the bus, and I'm not excited to go back to enforcing restrictions. As I often say, I have no authority, and I don't really want any.

That means that for the next few weeks I'll be sticking close to home. No busses. No groups. And I'm sorry to say, no classes. I'm going to re-evaluate in July. As soon as I get back at it, I'll let you all know!

In the meantime take care! And enjoy the sunshine while it lasts.

04/13/2021

Hello!

How is it going yogis?

The school where I've done the vast majority of my trainings has some upcoming courses that you might be interested in! You can attend in person or via Zoom.

For more info head over to their event page!
https://www.facebook.com/events/797489217523428

And FYI, if you wish I were teaching more classes (more on that soon) you might want to check out an online class with Therapeutic Approach Yoga Studio and Health Centre staff! If you do let me know how you like it in the comments below!

04/06/2021

Hi everyone! Long time no post, apologies. Between school, and work, and life - it's been busy! I wanted to stop by and post this in case you hadn't seen it. (No, I am not teaching at the Y again, but I know a lot of you attend classes there so I wanted to help spread the word.)

Changes at our Employment Centres mean that Y yoga is going to look a little different - classes will be happening in the Spin room in the future! A new schedule will be announced soon to accommodate the Spin and Yoga schedules in the same place.

Read the YMCA announcement below for more details!

Dear Y Yoga Members,

We have exciting news to share and, at the same time, disappointing news.

The YMCA of Cape Breton has been selected as one of four pilot sites across Nova Scotia to offer the EDGE Pilot Program. The YMCA will provide this Early Intervention Pilot Program to 50 Employment Support and Income Assistance (ESIA) youth clients over the next year, providing intensive wrap-around employment-focused services to youth ages 18 to 26.

The revenue we will receive from EDGE will be a much-needed financial boost to our Y after a tough 2020/21 year.

Bringing EDGE on-site will, unfortunately, mean the loss of our Community Room for our yoga program. I understand this comes as a big disappointment. We have been lucky to have had a beautiful dedicated space for yoga.

We are, however, pleased to have a good space option for our Yoga Program. Starting Monday, April 12th, Yoga classes will be held in what is now the spin room. The spin room will serve both as a yoga and spin room.

Sharing this space with two of our popular program offerings will take some adjustments from both you and our amazing volunteer instructors.

Looking at both program schedules, we will have a few conflicts. An updated schedule will be available later this week.

We are so thankful for your commitment to our YMCA and wish to thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as we all work through our new chapter.

To learn more, contact Anita at 902-562-9130 or email: anita.o’rourke@cb.ymca.ca

11/07/2020

Coming to class today? There will definitely be a dDown Dog or two in the mix. And as always, a long Savasana - or two. Join us at Breathing Space at noon for gentle yoga!

10/24/2020

Good morning!

This is a reminder that today all of the reguular classes at Breathing Space are free! Yay! But remember that means that your class may be full when you show up at Studio unless you pre-register.

Classes are filling up fast, so pre-register now if you've forgotten.

See you on the mat.

Realize deeply, the present moment is all you have. Make now the primary focus of your life
Breathing space is happy to be offering a weekend of 11 free classes during these unprecedented times; we are excited to be able to give back to our community and give everyone a chance to relax and experience a little of what our space provides.
There is still a few spots that remain. Sign up through Mindbody (link in profile) or call 902-562-9642 to RSVP your space and see what our studio has to offer.
*if you can, please join us and bring a non perishable food item*
Saturday.
9:30am Hot Yoga with Harry
10:45am Warm Yin with John
12am Gentle Yoga with Mary
2:30pm Hatha with Joyce

10/20/2020

I've added categories to the blog posts that allow you to filter the posts to see the Intro blogs. If you are a person in the Intro Program who enjoys class notes feel free to read them through. Weeks 1 through 6 are up. Hopefully 7 will be live soon. Week 8 is a class, there are no notes.

And remember, as you're reading the blogs that they aren't perfect notes. They were constructed in the time before - props were more heavily featured, and we occasionally made forays into poses that are not included in the core curriculum. By the same token, the discussions that we have in class are not reflected in those blogs so we may have covered something in class in discussion that the notes do not reference. And they're blogified - so I included references and information that go beyond what is expected of a class practice. There are no tests. But if anything piques your interest and you want to chat about it send me a message or come chat after class.

I should note that the blog is unrestricted, if you're interested you can read it whether or not you're in the Intro Program.

MJApr 11, 20194 min“The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.”― K. Okakura, The Book of TeaGuess where I am? I'll give you a hint: As many of you know already, I came to Toronto in March for the Toronto Yoga Conference 2019. It...20 viewsWrite a comment

10/05/2020

I mentioned this conference in class on Saturday. It's a free, international, online conference that allows us to explore various types of body work, including yoga, in our homes. If you're interested sign up. You can only access the live sessions for free, recordings are paid. So if you really want to see it, make sure you set the time set aside.

Embodiment Conference, 10 days of Free access to world-class teachers, practical tools for times of turmoil, and a supportive global community. We’re here to make the world’s embodied wisdom accessible to everyone with access to over 1000 embodied teachers and practitioners.

09/26/2020

How is everyone doing with the most recent adjustment to our collective "new normal"?

You may have noticed that I haven't been posting much. Life is busy! I'm still working full time at the employment centre, and teaching two classes at Breathing Space, and I'm taking advantage of the move to online learning in post secondary institutions. I've signed myself up for 4 full year classes at York University. Maybe busy is an understatement!

One of the classes I'm teaching is the Intro to Yoga program: 8 weeks of slowly introducing new yogis to the practice. This week we started to break down Sun Salutations - Surya Namaskar in Sanskrit. It's important, when we study (and practice) vinyasa that we maintain the integrity of each individual post in the flow. To do that we need to be extra mindful as we move from one position to the other. And we have to be extra conscious of our breath.

On my blog I've written notes on each of the first 7 classes in the program. Those of you who are currently in the class may find the blog useful to review the material between classes. I've also included some additional thoughts, history and philosophy relevant to each week's postures in the blog - things I may not have included in class. Feel free to read them and if you have questions bring them to next week's class.

If you aren't in the intro class, and you haven't read the blog before feel free to check it out anyway. And if you have questions you can always message me, or ask me the next time we're together. I'm always happy to chat about the intricacies of practice with you all.

You can find the week 3 Intro blog here:

https://www.weareyogabound.com/post/few-things-are-so-pressing-that-they-cannot-wait-for-a-moment-of-breath-~-desikacher-intro-1-3

Have a good weekend!

Take care of each other.

Sun Salutations Week 1: Sun Breaths “Whenever you are in doubt, it is best to pause. Few things are so pressing that they cannot wait for a moment of breath.” ― T.K.V. Desikachar, The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice There are many forms of yoga - as many versions of the practice ...