January 22nd, 2010
Memory serves me all too well the devastation and destruction suffered in the Oakland and Los Angeles earthquakes. Within a week of arriving to complete my last year of college at the San Francisco Art Institute, we witnessed the bay turn into quicksand as the entire marina front disappeared into the ground, the Golden gate twist like a twizzler and the water in the Bay literally swoosh from the Oakland to San Francisco shores as the Oakland bridge collapsed. In the Northridge quake, I lost my home. Both were painful “Acts of God”. Our first response to each disaster once we knew we were ok, was to count how many bottles of water we had responsibly stored in our earthquake preparedness kits. Unlike in the U.S., the existing water crises in Haiti has only deepened as a result of the earthquake. It was hard enough to find daily clean water sources before the earthquake let alone have water storage.
Clean Water for Haiti is a volunteer run, faith based missions and humanitarian aid organization. “Through BioSand Filter projects CWH is able to provide a simple, effective, and affordable solution to the lack of clean water sources for Haitian Families”. Visit www.cleanwaterforhaiti.org to learn more.
The value is in sending support that will raise the people from earthquake survival into a future of clean “self-sustaining” drinking water thereby strengthening community by reducing illness and loss of life.
Black Sheep Pottery strongly supports Clean Water for Haiti BioSand Filter Projects and Potters for Peace Ceramic Water Filters organization www.pottersforpeace.org. Contact Black Sheep Pottery at (610) 584-5877 or www.blacksheeppottery.org for information or to lend support.
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January 19th, 2010
Please click here to view the poster. Please note the celebration has been changed to the 12th, 13th & 14th!
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January 8th, 2010
Yoga has become a familiar part of the health and fitness scene in the United States. Nearly 16 million Americans currently practice yoga. Another nine million say they plan to try it within the year. Although many people turn to yoga to ease stress and improve overall health, a growing number have specific medical aims and are following the recommendations of their doctors.
According to a study in the journal Spine (Sept. 1, 2009), yoga therapy can reduce pain and improve function in people with chronic low back pain. Chronic low back pain—defined as pain that lasts more than three months—is notoriously difficult to treat. Not surprisingly, it drives many sufferers to turn to alternative and complementary therapies in search of relief. The Spine study is the second of two randomized trials to test a specific form of yoga called Iyengar (pronounced eye-en-gar) yoga, which is based on the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar, one of the world’s most well-known living yoga teachers.
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November 2nd, 2009
This is my journey. Breast cancer was and is part of this passage. Shaping the many roles that I fill
as a mother, teacher, daughter, sister, and girlfriend. I didn’t see it as a battle, or a fight against cancer.
There are bigger forces out there fighting that fight. My own journey led me through diagnosis of
Ductal Carcinoma In-situ (DCIS), knowledge overload, biopsies galore, waiting on pins and needles for
results, surgeries, radiation and contemplation about the future. So where does this all leave me?
With a full appreciation of my yoga practice in my life and of life itself.
When I was diagnosed over a year ago, I was also teaching yoga to cancer patients and survivors
at the Wellness Community at the Anne McCouch Center in Lansdale. I went through the process
much like many of my students had with their own diagnoses. I experienced first hand the support
and comfort they needed and the connectivity that not only the Wellness Community but also the
entire yoga community provided. I was drawn to the compassion and understanding like a bee to a
flower.
Yoga has been a part of my life for over a decade, both as a student and a teacher. But I never connected
so completely with my yoga practice until I was diagnosed. I have vivid memories of being in
the pre-op room where the medical staff needed to place a marker at the surgery site. Three hours
later and a pincushion for a breast, the needle was finally in. What got me through that ordeal? Yoga
did in the form of breath, focus, strength, meditation and a very supportive team behind me, literally
and figuratively.
I continued to teach and practice yoga throughout biopsies, surgeries and radiation. During radiation
I started each session with the mantra “I dive into life without fear” and ended each day’s session in
the dressing area going through a few yoga poses either to energize me for the ride home or to relax
me.
As much as this was a difficult journey, I do not regret having cancer. It has led me to deepen my
practice both on and off the mat. It has brought me to wonderful places like Kripalu in Lenox,
Massachusetts, for a yoga retreat. I’ve experienced powerful moments with thousands of other yogi’s
as in the Yoga Unites Day, where a mass yoga class was held on the Art Museum steps. Whatever
your journey is, it falls back on those powerful, life-changing moments that shape you and shape the
world that we are in.
A deep thank you to my friends and family who kept me lifted up and continue
to do so. Gratitude to the yoga community and to my students for providing
an enriching experience, one in which I am always a student.
Diane Kistler, Certified MOYO Teacher
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September 12th, 2009
So often when we experience muscle pain or soreness in our joints, our focus goes directly to the source of the pain as we find ourselves attempting various exercises or rehabilitation strategies for our aching body part. Yoga helps shift that symptomatic focus to a holistic approach for taking care of the body. Knee pain is a common ailment that I am approached with regularly by my students. Recent studies at the University of Pennsylvania have shown yoga to be beneficial for osteoarthritis of the knee and for improving gait in people with knee osteoarthritis. For more information on the research being done at Penn’s Complementary and Alternative Medical center click here.
So, what does this have to do with the hips? A recent study at the Running Injury Clinic has demonstrated that it’s not just flexibility but also strength of the hips that is essential for optimal functioning of the knee and lower leg, especially in women. When people with knee and lower leg pain performed three basic hip strengthening exercises targeted towards strengthening the hip abductors, adductors, and flexors everyday for six weeks a marked improvement in knee and lower leg pain was documented by researchers.
How can you put this research to work for you? Yoga poses such as Pigeon, Double Pigeon, Frog, and Baddha Konasana can help with flexibility of the hip, which can in turn improve the functioning of the knee joint. In addition, poses such as twisting lunges, Goddess, and Warrior I strengthen both hip and knee joints together. Finally, to download the basic strength training program from the Running Injury Clinic in a free .pdf click here. As always, don’t hesitate to ask us at MOYO for more information and personalized assistance!
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May 11th, 2009
1. Enhances Vasodilatation so that more blood is delivered to the muscles. This means that the capillaries that weave around the muscles respond to the heat by dilating. This brings more oxygen to the muscles and helps in the removal of waste products such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid.
2. Allows oxygen in the blood to detach from the hemoglobin more easily. When blood passes through warm muscles, oxygen releases more easily from the hemoglobin. Blood passing through cold muscles release less oxygen.
3. Speeds up the breakdown of glucose and fatty acids.
4. Makes muscles more elastic, less susceptible to injury.
5. Improves coordination, as movements are more fluid, concise and controlled.
6. Reduces heart irregularities associated with sudden exercise.
7. Burns fat more easily. Warmed muscles burn fat more easily than cold ones. Fat is released during stress. The stress of intense exercise causes a deluge of fatty acids into the blood stream. If you exercise with cold muscles, your muscles can’t use the fatty acids, and they end up in unwanted places, such as the linings of your arteries.
8. Higher temperatures improve the function of the nervous system, meaning that messages are carried more rapidly to and from the brain and spinal cord.
9. The heat helps you to naturally sweat and release toxins, through your largest organ of elimination – your skin.
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March 3rd, 2009
Avoid common Chaturanga pitfalls: One tendency is to either sink at the center of the torso (creating a backbend), another is to leave the butt up in the air as the shoulders dip toward the floor (creating a pike). The more you can activate the front of your body so that it supports the back of your body, the more success you will have at avoiding these polarities. Engage the belly and quadriceps by lifting the tops of the thighs to the ceiling and drawing your tailbone toward your heels.
Another pitfall is to put so much energy into reaching the chest forward that you forget to press the heels back. When this happens, you come too far forward onto your toes and lose the strength of the legs, forcing the shoulders to work overtime. If the shoulders carry the pose, they often collapse, sacrificing alignment and creating vulnerability. To prevent this, stack your heels over your toes in Plank, and keep pressing them back even as you enthusiastically extend your sternum forward and move into Chaturanga. When your legs come to the party, your shoulders will thank you.
source: http://www.yogajournal.com/basics/2308?page=2
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December 17th, 2008
I couldn’t begin any letter to our students, without thanking you for your commitment to each other and our studio. It has resulted in an energetic, caring and enjoyable place to practice yoga together. It is your commitment to what we have built together that makes what I am about to share such an exciting gift and opportunity, and I look forward to where this will lead us as a community. Namaste.
Breathe Yoga Center is evolving as a studio, and we are about to embark upon a transition filled with opportunity.
After months of careful deliberation over a new name, we have chosen MOYO. MOYO (pronounced MO-YO) is the Swahilli word for soul. We have begun to refer to MOYO as ‘the soul of yoga.’ We feel the name expresses who we are and where we’re headed.
A number of factors went into this decision, and while it was certainly a challenging one to make, we wanted to use this opportunity as a chance to re-examine the future of our studio. We are excited about the change and know it is a launching ground for great things to come!
With this said, I know you may have attachments to the name Breathe Yoga Center. It has been emotional for me too. But, as students of yoga we have to support one another in our vision to embrace change.
The name change will take place January 1, 2009 and we are excited about the limitless possibilities ahead of us! Thank you for your support and we hope you will continue to enjoy the studio and our commitment to bring you outstanding yoga.
Namaste.
Maureen A. Priest, Director
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