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Dear Yogis and Friends,
May this find you all happy, healthy and well. I am writing you from NYC, where the weather is amazing: low 70's, sunny, and perfect. In Los Angeles, just as I left town, we were being graced with an abundance of rain, a deeply cleansing form of energy to wash off the summer and welcome in the fall.
10-10-10
If you are looking for something to do tomorrow, Sunday 10-10-10, Yoga with Aria is pleased to offer you a new guest column, written by local yogini, mother, writer, environmentalist and film executive Debra Silverman. Debra examines the energy of fall in the context of conscious, social change and 10-10-10. The City of Los Angeles, in partnership with 350.org, is celebrating 10-10-10 through hundreds of local parties and events all around the City.
Navratri:
If you enjoy festivals and mythology, read this month's article on the Hindu Navratri festival, a nine night festival which began yesterday, October 8th, and which celebrates the shift from summer into winter and the abundant energy of the Goddess.
I encourage you all to forge a bit of time for yourselves during this ritual of the shifting seasons. Create conscious relaxation by taking a walk by yourself. Perhaps you would like to add a breathing (Pranayama) exercise to your daily or weekly meditation practice. Check out Dirga Pranayama, this month's breath exercise for more details.
A beatuiful form of renewal is by participating in a yoga class. As a way of promoting my Yogis Anonymous class to you, I am offering a special for my newsletter folks only. One month (8 classes or more) of Structure and Flow classes with Aria at Yogis Anonymous for only $25. Check out the coupon below for more info.
Whatever you may choose to do during these next few weeks, please do so with the spirit of self-love. Time towards our own renewal is crucial. Without it, we wear out quickly. And if we are worn out, we are of no use to ourselves or those that we love the most.
Thanks, as always for your support. Have a lovely weekend.
Blessings.
Live Happily!
Aria |
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| October Pranayama (Breath) Exercise |
 If you are ever feeling rushed, out of sorts, or stressed-out. Dirga Pranayama is a wonderful resource to have available. You can do it anywhere: at your desk, on your yoga mat, or at home, in bed. This is a wonderful, balancing breath. It expands our sense of self. It center us, and lessens the mind of mental chatter.
If you are at home, begin by lying on your back. Try bending your knees out to the sides and bringing the soles of the feet together in supta baddha konasana pose. If that feels awkward, come up to a cross-legged position.
Take a deep, cleansing breath. Allow the breath to fill your lungs and your belly. Feel the muscles in your back spread with your inhale and the vertebrae of the spine grow longer with your exhale. Do this 3X.
Part I
Beginning with the belly: breath deeply into the first and second chakra centers, feeling the area from your pubic bone up through your hip bones expand in all directions. You will feel this breath in your front body as well as your back body. As you exhale, release the belly and draw the navel to the spine. Allow the breath to exit your body completely.
Do this 3X.
Part II
Now, imagine that you are dividing your inhale into two parts. Begin by filling the belly with breath, just as you did above, but only breathe in about 1/2 of your full lung capacity.
Pause and hold the breath for a second.
Now breathe the remaining 50% of your lung capacity, allowing your breath to move higher into the second part of the spine. Your breath will expand your ribs sideways, puffing out your right and left ribcage with fresh oxygen.
Pause, holding the lungs full of breath.
Release the breath from your ribscage first.
Pause.
Then release your breath from your belly, last, pulling the navel to the spine.
Repeat 3X.
Part III
Now you are dividing your breath into thirds, targeting the first through the fifth chakras.
Begin by breathing into the belly, as you did in #1, breathing in one third of your lung capacity.
Pause and hold the breath for a second.
Breathe into your ribcage next, breathing in the second third of your lung capacity.
Pause and hold the breath for a second.
Now, breathe all the way up into the heart, the sternum, the shoulders, the neck and even the jaw, breathing in 100% of your lung capacity.
Pause.
Release the breath from the upper third of your spine, first.
Pause.
Release the breath from the middle third of your spine (ribcage), next.
Pause.
Release the breath from the belly, last, and draw the navel to the spine.
Repeat as many times as you like.
Enjoy!
CONTRAINDICATIONS FOR PREGNANCY: Not appropriate for pregnant women. If you are pregnant and would like to do this breath, please email me and I will send you the proper modifications. Thanks! |
 Navratri |
 Navratri: Nava (Nine) Ratri (Nights) Navratri is a festival that honors the shifting of the seasons from summer into winter and the triumpth of good over evil. The focus of Navratri is on Shakti, the Divine Mother, the Female Essence of God.
The myth of Navratri harkens back to a time when angelic forces were fighting demons. After thousands of years of stalemate, the angels decided to call upon help from the Divine Mother, who arrived in the form of Durga, the Warrior Goddes, and slayed three primary demons: Mahishasura (dullness, heaviness, inertia), Shumbha-Nishumbha (pride and shame), and Madhu-Kaitabh (extreme forms of craving and aversion.)
For those of us coming from a Judeo-Christian perspective, it's important to remember that in Hindu tradition, God is seen as having many aspects, beginning with a Male and a Female aspect. Within those aspects, many other sides of god emerge. The Hindu tradition honors these forms as all parts of the Divine Creator God.
Ceremonial activities during Navratri may include devotees fasting for health and prosperity and offering holy gifts of coconut, sweets and clothes. Flowers and garlands adore shrines. Evenings may include festive costumes and dancing.
The first three nights of Navratri are dedicated to Durga, the goddess of power and energy.
The next three nights are dedicated to Lakshmi, the goddess of peace and prosperity.
The last three nights are dedicated to Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom.
Each of these three nights may contain specifics all to its own. For example, the first three nights of Navratri are dedicated to Durga, the warrior goddess, who is dressed in red and seated atop a lion. Each of these nights honors one of her three aspects: the child in the form of Kumari: the young woman in the form of Parvati, and the mature woman in the form of Kali.
Though I've never witnessed Navratri in person, I can only imagine the preparations and celebrations going on all across the country right now. The amazing thing about these ancient festivals is that there are layers upon layers of ritual from province to province. Each ritual is quite distinct, and yet, each contains a semblance of the others within itself.
It makes me think of some of the principles in Michael Talbot's book The Holographic Universe, in that experiences are felt in parallel ways through different dimensions of Space and Time. In terms of Naratri, the essence of these experiences remains the same: they are merely translated differently within ritual, practice, or devotion.
The deeper aspect of Navratri, for me, lies in a personal hope that one day, all of us human beings on this planet can remember that we are all but aspects of one energy. Sometimes we live in limbo, in stalemate between our hearts and our minds. When this happens, we must call upon the Divine Mother energy within us to free us from our inner demons.
May this time of Navratri be a cleansing, auspicious one for us all
Blessings,
Aria
P.S. The last day of Navratri is said to be quite auspicious for starting up a new venture. HINT! HINT! Start something new on October 16th and according to the tradtion of Navratri, you are blessed with luck! |
| Green Yoga News with Debra Silverman |
 10-10-10 Growing up I loved autumn more than any other season. In Ohio the leaves would turn colors, the weather would become crisp (offering relief from the heat and humidity of summer), apples would appear in the markets, and I'd get a brand new outfit to mark the Jewish holidays. Rosh Hashanah welcomed in the New Year and Yom Kippur reminded me that I could wipe the slate clean, apologize for my "sins," and begin again; another chance to live my life better. Now I've never been a particularly religious person, but I am a spiritual person and I think that's why I've always liked Yom Kippur - it's a solemn holiday but it's magical. It offers everyone the opportunity to begin again, to learn from our mistakes and to treat the year as a book yet to be written - blank pages upon which you can create your own future. I think of it also as a time of healing and a reminder that each of us should do our utmost to tread as lightly as possible upon the earth. This celebration of renewal and new beginnings provides a wonderful opportunity - each of us can make the time to do something that makes at least one person breathe easier and leaves the world a little better. Each day we have choices to make. We can choose to take the path that treads lightly or to go another direction. To tread lightly, to consciously decide to leave the world a little better, we need only take small steps: We can say no to the single-use water bottle, we can take our own bags to the market, we can bike to our friend's house instead of riding in the car, we can decide to see the homeless person on the corner instead of driving right past him, we can really look our loved ones in the eye and truly listen. This weekend, on 10-10-10, 350.org and the city of LA are making it easier for us to choose a path toward healing. Communities around the world are gathering people together to celebrate climate solutions in the form of a Global Work Party. Under the auspices of 350.org, groups, organizations and individuals are committing part of their day to having fun while simultaneously doing something to heal the world. In Auckland, New Zealand, they're having a giant bike fix-up day, to get every bicycle in the city back on the road. In the Maldives, they're putting up solar panels on the President's office. In Kampala, Uganda, they're going to plant thousands of trees, and in Bolivia they're installing solar stoves for a massive carbon neutral picnic. And here in Los Angeles there are hundreds of events planned, everything from solar workshops and the plastic bag challenge to trash pick-up, rainwater harvesting, tire pressure checking and kid-powered groups focused on green legislation. Visit 350.org to learn more and to find a party in your neighborhood. The city of Los Angeles is also using 10-10-10 to launch CicLavia and will close 7 miles of city streets to cars - bicycles and pedestrians only. Seven miles of city streets without traffic! This just might be the beginning of real, meaningful change. Debra Silverman is a mom, writer, environmentalist and film executive who lives in West L.A. with her husband and two lovely boys. |
| Structure & Flow at Yogis Anonymous |
Structure offers alignment, so you can explore challenging poses like arm balances, backbends and inversions safely. Flow gives you that deep, sweaty inner high that comes releasing toxins and tension. This fun, all-levels yoga class will strengthen and stretch you. Chill beats included.
2hrs free parking in the Santa Monica City Lots |
| Looking for a Doula? |
 Many of you know that my daughter, Kaia, was born at home, in the water. The amazing, sacred nature of that experience is beyond anything else I have ever done in my life and has inspired me to become a doula. I am apprenticing with Elizabeth Bachner, LM, CPM, L.aC., DASC Midwife of the Year 2008, and owner of GracefulBirthing. |
| Prenatal Yoga at City Yoga |
Honor your pregnancy. Cultivate a conscious realization of your inner energy. Exercise your need for movement within a safe environment. Relax with deep, juicy stretches. Connect deeply with your baby while you learn meditation and breath techniques that will aid you in labor and delivery. Aria brings her knowledge as a Doula to each and every class. |
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