A BIG THANK YOU!!!

~Sedona Goddess Retreat Recap coming soon....

But until then, I want to send a big thank you to Todd Shreve owner of Red Desert Developments who pulled my new car out of inches of yummy Sedona mud today and then lead me to safety and the highway. Thank you for being my knight in shining armour! :)
-Call me, I owe you dinner sometime when you're down in Phoenix.
Peace everyone-back soon....~Andrea

Tantra Yoga~The Pathless Path...

*Pictured above is Shiva Nataraj, the symbol for Tantra Yoga~telling us all, "It's just a dance...all the world is just a cosmic dance...

The subject of Tantra is you...

This weekend in master teacher training at Inner Vision Yoga we spent three days studying Tantra Yoga with Jeff Martens. Here is a little of what I took from the weekend:

-Tantra asks you to be completely present, to practice complete awareness.

-The greatest courage is to be present, not to run, or numb out or look for distraction~but to face whatever it is head on.

-To accept yourself completely is a path to liberation.

-Tantra says to use all of your senses to have a direct experience of life. To become more aware.

-In Tantra, karma comes from incomplete action. Incomplete action is something you are not fully present for.
**Above all, it is an Experience!

Life is to be experienced!!

Namaste~Andrea

Current Teaching Schedule....

My teaching schedule is changing daily!
So please keep checking back to see where you can find me for a class!
Peace, Love & Light~Andrea

Monday March 8

5:30- 6:30 pm Yoga w/ weights Calming Effects Studio

6:45-7:45 pm All Levels Yoga Calming Effects Studio

Tuesday March 9

3:30-4:30pm Breathe Stretch & Relax Calming Effects Studio

4:45-5:45 pm Gentle Beginner Calming Effects Studio

Wednesday March 10
5:45pm-6:45 pm Yoga w/weights Calming Effects Studio

Thursday March 11

8:30-9:30 am Gentle Beginner Calming Effects Studio

9:45-10:45 am Yoga w/weights Calming Effects Studio

Thursday March 11
7pm Yoga Flow Yoga Deva Studio

*I'll post more classes & subbing soon.
You'll also be able to find me at the Funky Buddha Studio in Chandler very soon!
Thanks!

Patanjalis Yoga Sutra

The Highlights of weekend 1:

YS 1.1: With great respect and love, now the blessings of Yoga instruction are offered.
( As interpreted by Mukunda Stiles).
Thus begins Patanjalis Yoga Sutra.
This weekend in advanced teacher training at Inner Vision Yoga we studied chapter 1-Samadhi Pada of the Yoga Sutras.
In chapter one, Patanjali tells us that yoga is a path of direct experience. You can read about it all you want to, but to know it, you must live it. You must practice. Clarity happens through the practice. Through direct experience only.
Patanjali also tells us that you can use the mind to find freedom. Freedom can be achieved. But freedom is not in the mind.

The Yoga Sutras is one of the original yoga texts that may as old as 2,500 years. Nobody really knows who Patanjali was or when he lived. But his text of sutras (or threads) are flowers that keep blooming and flowering for us still today. Patanjali weaves the threads of ancient yogic knowledge into a detailed map of human possibility for us to navigate, even today.

It is important to know that the process of yoga, as described by Patanjali in the sutras, does not talk about changing the outside world. But rather, doing the work from the inside. From the inside-out. There is nothing wrong with the outside world. You already are what you are seeking, you just have to find the right path to it. Yoga can be such a path.

One last beautiful note on the teachings of this last weekend. *When you are not in the state of yoga (or union), you let the "Chitta Vritti" (chattering mind) drag you around. Drag you around through life. You are no longer the leader, you are the follower. When you follow the mind, you don't know who you are. Be the leader, take control of the mind stuff. Get on your mat, or on your meditation cushion and get in there. Get quiet and find out who you really are.

Fire Module!

Friday January 15th, 2010 marks the beginning of my second module in my advanced teacher training program. I enjoyed the first module~The Water Module~ so much that I can't wait to get started again!
I am SO excited for this next module of training to begin.
The "Fire" module studies consist of:

Yoga Sutras Chapter 1 (Samadhi)

• Jnana Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita (and selections from the Upanishads)
• Backbends and the Anatomy of the Spine
  Vedic Cosmology
  Tantra Yoga
• The Performance Art of Teaching Yoga

So join me! Come along for the journey! Put me on your RSS feed so you receive every update!

I promise again to be more consistent with my posting. As always, life is busy and full of challenges and surprises, but I will try to post what we have learned about in training after every weekend of classes.

Namaste til then! Peace, love, light & blessings~Andrea

Om shanti, shanti, shanti...

Om, peace, peace, peace...

This mantra is an invocation of peace, often repeated at the end of a session or practice of yoga or meditation. It has two purposes. First, it affirms that peace is available to us at any moment that we choose to tune in to it. Second, repeating this mantra helps to create more peace in the world. According to yoga philosophy, when we call something into being with a pure heart and a focused mind, we are using our consciuosness to shape reality. This is the primary purpose of all mantras: They are tools to manifest intention.

To extract the full power of this beautiful mantra, visualize each word's impact as you recite it.

For example, when reciting the first shanti, you can think of it as asking for peace for yourself; with the second shanti, peace for your family and friends; and with the third , peace for the entire planet.

When you do this with full faith, full devotion and focused intention, you will create greater opportunities to call peace into all aspects of your life.

Namaste~Andrea

The End of Water Module...

Today, December 6 th, 2009 and was the last day of the Water Module (one four month module out of four total) in my Advanced Teacher Training studies at Inner Vision Yoga.
This weekends focus was Inversions. The benefits of inversions, the practice of inversions, the teaching of inversions. The knowledge of what glands we are stimulating by practicing inversions (going upside down). Most importantly, that inversions (such as headstand, handstand, plow and shoulderstand) are meant to bring a sense of calm, rather than a sense of panic and fear.

The most important part of this last weekend of training in water module - and of today, this last day of this module, is that we graduate and send three more beautiful master yoga teachers from the program and send them out into the world~to make the world a better place with their teachings. Congratualtions to Kathy, Terese and Colleen!!

I find myself being grateful that I am only in my first module and that I am not finished with this journey of learning just yet. I have taken so much from my first module and am already applying it in my teaching and my everyday life off the mat.

Beautiful call & response from Jeff Martens:
Om so hum
So hum sa-ha

Om so hum
So hum sa-ha

I am that... I am
I am...that I am
I am that...I am
I am that I ....am.


Namaste. Peace, love & light~Andrea