Aging With Yoga

03/07/2024

REUNITED... and it felt so good!!! Jay taught a class . Wouldn't have missed it for the world. Jay talked about not 'thinking' the pose, but embodying the pose. Becoming the pose. This humam is goodness personified in every way possible. Yup, I'm a BIG FAN of

15/01/2024

A brilliantly cold day in Toronto often means sunny blue skies and a brave cardinal. Today is that day!
Thank you to Marina for sharing this beauty!

11/01/2023

Urinary Incontinence - To Kegel or Not:

I've seen countless Pelvic Floor therapists who after an examination said my pelvic floor muscles were either hypotonic or hypertonic, too loose or too tight. And a Urologist who sent me away with a brochure on how to kegel. Has any of that helped? NO!

As I've come to learn so much more about the limited efficacy of kegels (because they target only one muscle group area of the pelvic floor),
I think informing ourselves is paramount. I hope you'll read the article by Leslie Howard that's part of the blog below. It's a great start!

What works for me might not work for you and that's where yoga is such a jewel because it teaches body awareness. I've become passionate about core health. And that's a whole other can of worms. Core is certainly not only the front abs!

If you're taking the time to read this post, you care about your body. Arming ourselves with knowledge and awareness is our best tool. More on 'what is core' soon!

by Leslie Howard After fifteen years of teaching yoga for pelvic health, I’m so frustrated that doctors and other medical professionals still continue to prescribe Kegel exercises as the solution to every pelvic floor problem they encounter in their practices, from pelvic pain to incontinence and ...

01/01/2023

Here's a short movement series you can do in a chair. You'll be surprised how warm and mobile you'll feel after.
Try it first thing in the morning, when you've been sitting too long or when you need a pick-me-up - anytime is a good time. Enjoy 😉

29/11/2022

THIS is why we teach. The privilege to make a difference in those we meet on the mat. Below is an acknowledgement one of my students posted this week. I am humbled and grateful for this privilege. Thank you Pei Czech.

Hi everyone out there in Yogaville 🧘🏽‍♂️!!
I am writing to share that I started taking Anna Chiandet’s “Aging with Yoga” class at the beginning of the Pandemic over two years ago which really kept me going through a very tough time and still do today. Weekly on Wednesdays Anna holds 2 live classes one in the morning and the second in the late afternoon.(EST), taped in case you miss it.

I love Anna’s classes and look forward to them each and every week. Anna spends considerable time mindfully custom creating each class to incorporate some strength building asanas, stretching, meditative moments, flow, core focused work and deep relaxation. This just sets me up for the rest of the week!

Throughout the class she offers clear detailed guidance that takes you to that part of the body that is being highlighted, I can f e e l those muscles working from one posture to the next.

Anna often shares either at the beginning or end of the class an inspirational quote from one of her favourite mentors Judith Lasater that stay with me to meditate on throughout the day. For healthy tips and quips check out her well researched blog all put together with a contemporary Buddhist perspective, practical knowledge so much love thought and care.

A 10++ CHECK IT OUT!

For full details including class times held live, in your area.

Aging with yoga's Anna Chiandet will guide you to a sustainable yoga practice that accommodates the needs of your changing body by respecting, accepting and adapting how you move on the mat.

23/11/2022

In today's class we unpacked the idea of "perfection" and all the baggage around that word. Our mat is the perfect place (maybe the only place) where we can show up authentically and exactly as we are. Our higher Self/the Divine/the Universe doesn't have a playbook for what perfection looks like. It knows we are already perfect. It's definition of "perfection" is to be wholly and completely yourself. Simple!! Our practice was intended to be messy so all we could bring to the mat was wholly and completely ourselves.

03/11/2022

I highly recommend following Barrie Risman Yoga. Each week she blogs wisdom based on the philosophy side of yoga. I wanted to share this week's post because it reminds us of the power of moving with the flow:

Softness is Your Strength

I heard a wonderful anecdote recently about the revered Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, or Brother Thay as he was known by his community and students. It was told by a monk who served as his attendant for many years.

One day, as Thay was getting ready to leave the dining hall of the monastery where he lived, his attendant saw that there was a bottleneck of several hundred people gathered at the door. Because it was part of his job in such situations to make sure Thay had enough space to exit the room, he began to assert himself into the crowd, when suddenly he felt a gentle pull on his robes from behind. It was Thay, who without saying anything indicated that making space in this way wasn’t necessary. The attendant stopped and returned to Thay’s side.

As they approached the crowd, something surprising happened: a path naturally and spontaneously opened up, the way was cleared, and Thay sailed through the sea of people with his characteristic gentleness. The attendant shared that this was a great lesson in humility that he treasures to this day.

As I imagined Thich Nhat Hanh moving through the crowd of people with the grace and ease of a stately flowing river, I had the sense that he was embodying the wisdom of the water element. I recalled this teaching from the Taoist tradition:

Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it.
Tao te Ching, Chapter 78

Imagine living like water, not fighting against the current of your life but moving in complete harmony with it. Flowing like water, you’d respond to every obstacle you encounter with supreme adaptability. There would be no resistance or hesitation.

You would recognize that perseverance and fortitude doesn’t have to mean white knuckling your way through challenges, or rigidly imposing your agenda. It can be about meeting the needs of the moment and trusting that there will always be a way to move forward.

You would understand the wisdom of surrender. And that surrender doesn’t have to mean giving up. It can be a way of letting go into what is before you and allowing the right next step to naturally unfold.

Water is gentle and flexible enough to move around any obstacle it encounters, yet powerful and persistent enough to cut through rock and carve out an entire canyon. Its force doesn’t come from dominating but from yielding. Its constancy is its power, its softness is its strength.


Yours in yoga,
Barrie



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393, route 139, S., Sutton, QC J0E 2K0

Yoga educator, teacher trainer, and mentor. Best-selling author of Evolving Your Yoga: Ten Principles for Enlightened Practice and Creator of online yoga trainings and courses.

03/11/2022

We're back teaching online fresh and re-freshed. I shared this in an email message to my students this week. It's about finding comfort amd safety. How do these 2 words sit with you?:

"I hope each of you finds your immediate world in good shape. Yoga teaches us that we are each a part of the universal collective. That each one of us is linked, in fact yoked to and with both each other and a higher power.

In our current times, I am finding this concept hard to embody and so I'm going smaller. I am linking and connecting with those in my immediate world that share my sensibilities and values of respect, love, compassion, acceptance, tolerance.

This I can embody and experience. This smaller circle provides me comfort. Right now, comfort and safety are two really prominent adjectives in my vocabulary. Where do these two adjectives sit in your world?"

19/01/2022

Yoga teachers never stop learning! Ever! One-on-on pilates pre lockdown with the uber-talented Maura Moves. Taking a break from the Reformer to strengthen side glutes. Hope you try it. Feel the feels!

18/01/2022

REDEFINING MY SELF-WORTH:
As a younger self, my self-worth and value manifested externally: sports and academic awards; scholarships; children; husband(s); career changes and promotions. 

I was valued for my ability, capacity to handle extra-large loads, integrity, care and compassion, smarts, ingenuity, drive, never say “no”.

The girls have grown and left. Husbands have been left behind and corporate careers have been put to bed. All those tangible markers that I could measure myself against – like the yardstick on the wall that measured your height as you were growing, are all gone. They were mirrors that shone my worth. All I had to do was look at them. There they were, shining back a reflection of a job well done - well, maybe not the husbands!
See more:
agingwithyoga.com/blog/redefining-my-self-worth

14/08/2021

A 32 km ride to keep muscles strong and cardio in shape followed by a yoga practice to stretch quads, hamstrings, shoulders, spine. It just doesn't get any better than this! What are you doing this weekend that's just for you?

27/07/2021

Now that things are opening up and we can move about more safely, I do hope you find some time to get away and regenerate. A different viewpoint always provides a different perspective. An opportunity to maybe let go of some ideas, thoughts or beliefs that are taking up precious headspace, but no longer serve us. A lot like that top or sweater we hang on to for no reason other than we're used to seeing it hanging in the closet and once upon a time we liked it.
Change what and how you see and see the change!