Part 2: Our 2016 Yoga Exploration and July's Look

Continuing our Yamas and Niyamas Yoga Exploratory Journey
 
Hello all!  Back in January we launched our year-long exploration of the ‘Yamas’ and ‘Niyamas’ of yoga—essentially, the ethical principles that can guide our yoga practice and the intersection of where yoga meets life, both on and off the mat.  We’ve spent the first half of 2016 studying the yamas - yoga’s ethical restraints.  It is now time to turn our attention to the niyamas - yoga’s ethical observances - as set forth by the ancient yoga teachings of Pantanjali in his Yoga Sutras.  Pantanjali gives the niyamas to us as:
 
Saucha – purity
Santosha – contentment
Tapas – self-disciple
Svadhyaya – self-study
Ishvara Pranidhana – surrender
 
Please join me as we continue this learning journey together.   First, this month's news!
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News:
 
June offered some special opportunities!  I was honored to assist at Amy Weintraub’s LifeForce Yoga® sponsor exhibition space at the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) Symposium on Yoga Therapy and Research, held in Reston, VA.  Her work with yoga for depression and anxiety is always an inspiration to people looking for ways to find greater balance in energy and mood.
 
My functional movement teacher Susi Hately presented at the symposium as well!  It was a joy to see her.  I’m thrilled to return to Calgary, Canada this August to begin her IAYT-accredited yoga therapy certification program and continue my studies on how functional movement can bring greater ease to life and enhance our body-mind connection.

June also brought:

• Heart Tree Yoga joining the Vienna Business Association as one of its newest members!
• Writer and photographer Martha Brettschneider featuring my June blog post as “Carolyn Bagdoyan’s Off -the-Mat” Yoga Lessons for Summer Presence” on her own beautiful site that inspires mindful living. 
• Offering specialized teen yoga class for the U.S. Junior National Team small boat development rowing camp.

This coming September I will again be offering more group classes of therapeutic yoga for shoulders and hips. Stay tuned!

As we fully embark into this summer season I hope you will find your own presence in the everyday moments of life. 
 
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July: Saucha
 
Like you I’m sure, I wear many hats.  I’m also a mom.  I’m also a teacher. No doubt for you too, whatever your circumstance, the many hats we wear means that life is busy and often feels demanding.  For me, it means that the 10-month school year sometimes feels like a long haul and usually by June, I feel ‘fully cooked’.  I’m ready for a shift.  I’m ready for a change.  I feel a little worn out and tired.  I usually feel like I need to take a step back and regroup. 
 
So it was with great gratitude that I began the study of Saucha - Sanskrit for purity.  The first yoga niyama - or yoga ethical observance.
 
There is nothing quite like just-in-time advice. 

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