Warrior Friends

Every Sunday at 10 am at Hot Yoga on 20th, Keira and Finnegan help me out teaching a family yoga class.

It's for children ages 3-7 with their parent/guardian to have fun learning yoga poses in an interactive way. It's a karma class so all donations go directly to charity ($5 minimum suggested donation per family). For the next couple of months, donations will be given to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada. This is to help fundraise with my friends Crystal and Darcy who will be running a marathon in April to raise awareness and support for the LLS through Team in Training.

This past Sunday, likely due to the huge snowfall from the night before, unfortunately no one showed up for the family yoga class. That has never stopped us however, as Finnegan and Keira are little yogis who always like to have fun!

Two Down Dogs - I use books, yoga cards, and games to encourage kids (and adults) in the class to try out different poses with the emphasis always on having fun.

Lizard on a Rock - We tried out a lot of the 'partner poses' from the Yoga Pretzel cards. These are really fun cards with lots of great poses for kids of all ages.

Two Boats (I was pretty amazed that they could balance for this one!)

Finnegan - Shark Pose

Keira -Shark Pose

What does a gorilla look like?

Is that a girl or a turtle?

Bridge Pose

I just love this one of Keira in tree pose.

Big brother demonstrating tree pose as well.

And of course some just plain silliness!

Yoga books and more from Awesome books

Last fall, Awesome Books had a contest where they wanted people to post a photo to the Awesome Books facebook page and they would select two winners for 15 pounds towards shopping for books on their site. I had previously bought a few yoga books, plus a number of books for the kids, so of course I was interested in entering.

Unfortunately, I was not a winner....but it was still kinda fun (and it didn't require bmx-ing in the snow!).

Yoga in the Park

In the early fall, we went over to Victoria Park. It was a beautiful clear day - a perfect afternoon for some yoga in the park and a good opportunity to take some photos.

Warrior II - Virabhadrasana II

Bound Angle - Baddha Konasana

Triangle Pose - Trikonasana

Extended Triangle Pose - Utthita Trikonasana

Revolved Triangle - Parivrtta Trikonasana

Nemaste

Family Yoga at Hot Yoga on 20th

Starting October 9th, a family class is going to be offered at Hot Yoga on 20th!


I will teach the class in Hot Yoga's (unheated) studio 2 every Sunday from 10:00-10:45 a.m. It will be a drop-in karma class for children (ages 3-7) with a parent/guardian. We're asking a $5 minimum donation per family, with all proceeds going to a local children's organization each month.
(What does the cow say? MOOOOOO!!!!!)

Little Yogi classes will incorporate books, games, yoga cards and will be very interactive. The focus is always on having fun while learning yoga poses.
(What does the cat say? MEEOOOOWWWW!)

Ladybird Animal Sanctuary 2012 Calendar

Back in July, the Hot Yoga on 20th newsletter had a link to a photo contest for the Ladybird Animal Sanctuary. On the last day before entries were due our family went into the backyard and had some fun with some yoga poses along with Ollie (that dog has the most amazing downward and upward dogs!). We just learned that one of our submissions was selected for the 2012 calendar - whoo hoo!!! Here's the winning photo.


Here are a few others from that day...

Finnegan showing Ollie his downdog.

Both Ollie and Finnegan doing some pretty nice cobras.

My attempt at a bridge.

Tree pose - Ollie wasn't too interested in this one.

Keira's Warrior II

Keira's Star Pose

I'm not sure this one has a name (maybe jelly legs) - good fun whatever you call it!

Check out the full Ladybird Animal Sanctuary calendar when it become available.

Power of Movement - February 27, 2011

Last week, I participated in the Power of Movement Yoga Challenge led by Jan Henrikson, the lovely guru from Joos Yoga Downtown. This was an incredible event organized to raise awareness and support of arthritis and autoimmune research. I certainly wish I had brought my camera to capture an image of the number of people gathered together in Saskatoon for this mega yoga challenge. There must have been about 150 people on their mats last Sunday - so you can imagine the energy in the loft of the Albert Community Centre was pretty amazing. This was the first year the event was hosted in Saskatoon and we had more participants than any of the other ten centres, next to Toronto. Next year's yoga challenge is planned for March 4, 2012.

Later that afternoon, we got the yoga mat out to do a few postures. Keira's favourite is 'hand-to-toe' because that is what "the ballerina's like to do". She is getting pretty good at it too!

Here's mom and daughter both giving it a try!

Here are a couple little videos promoting the Power of Movement that I quite like. Remember - Anyone can do yoga.....

Power of Movement Yoga Challenge

I've registered for the Power of Movement; the largest yoga fundraiser in Canada raising funds for arthritis research! Anyone can do yoga, so why not do it for a good cause to beat arthritis and autoimmune conditions? On Sunday February 27th thousands of Canadians across the country in twelve major cities will come together to practice yoga in their communities. You can also join in online through a virtual challenge.

In Saskatoon, the yoga Mega Session will be held at the Albert Community Centre at 11 am and will be lead by Jan Henrikson, Advanced Certified Jivamukti Yoga Instructor.

If you'd like to register to attend this session you can sign up online, or if you'd like to make a pledge for this event please visit my personal page and support my challenge!

Arthritis is a misunderstood disease. It is not just a condition that the elderly are affected by; arthritis and related autoimmune diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and vasculitis affect people of all ages, even kids. There are over 4.2 million Canadians who need our support!

For more information about Power of Movement visit www.powerofmovement.ca.

Hot, Hot, Hot

For some reason I had the Cure's Hot Hot Hot stuck in my head as I walked to Hot Yoga on 20th this evening.

Hey hey hey!!!
But I like it when that lightening comes
Hey hey hey!!!
Yes I like it alot
Hey hey hey!!!
Yes I'm jumping like a jumping jack
Dancing screaming itching squealing fevered
Feeling hot hot hot!!!

I bet I could even find the cassette tape somewhere in a box upstairs!


I received this photo today of the group of us who completed teacher training with Dallas in the fall. Check out the Hot Yoga on 20th schedule and come feel hot, hot, hot!

Yoga for Little People

Today, I biked over to the Refinery to teach a Yoga for Little People (and their parents!) class but unfortunately no one showed up! Having taught three sessions now for the Riversdale Community Association on Monday evenings from 6:00-6:45 pm, where only my kids, plus my neighbour and sometimes one or two other families would show up, I thought a class during the day might be of more interest to people – perhaps not! Mind you, it was the first time this type of class has been offered at the Refinery so perhaps a bit more patience is needed to spark some interest. Hopefully we will try again in the spring and then the fall. I am totally keen to lead a young children’s class, so I would be interested to know the preferred times and days that would suit family schedule’s best! This JOOS-Y class (as with all the yoga classes at the Refinery) was coordinated through Jivamukti guru, Jan Henrikson, at Joos Yoga Downtown – another fabulous place to practice yoga!

Yoga Training

I recently completed teacher training at Hot Yoga on 20th after an intensive three month program instructed by Dallas Kruszelnicki. Hot Yoga on 20th is a beautiful purpose-built yoga studio which just opened up over a year ago and is conveniently only a 10 minute walk from my house. As of the New Year, there are many new classes being offered (check out their schedule), and new students can go to unlimited classes for a week for just $20 which is an awesome deal. I taught my first class there last Tuesday and will hopefully continue to teach every other Tuesday night at 8 pm; alternating with Wendy, one of the other five fabulous teacher trainees with whom I completed the training.

What really got me started on this yoga teaching journey was my two children. I had been practicing yoga on and off for a few years and somehow picked up a few children’s yoga videos to do with Finnegan and Keira. One thing lead to another and I decided I’d like to offer a class for young kids in our neighbourhood and arrangements were easily made with our local community association to host a class. Having committed myself to teaching a class it quickly dawned on me that though I enjoyed practicing yoga, I really had no clue about teaching it! Fate must have played a hand as I serendipitously learned about Kathleen’s Yoga Studio – Namaskar Yoga and a Level 1 workshop was being offered with perfect timing. While I was crazy nervous at that first workshop, the yoga teaching bug stuck and I’ve been working towards a 200 hour RYT certificate for the past year and a half. This weekend I’ll be completing the 8th out of ten 20 hour workshops.