July, 2009 Newsletter

It’s hard to believe it’s already August!  Not only because we have enjoyed some fall-like days; but also because the time just seems to be flying by.  We are almost ready to head out to Mill Creek Park for Yoga in the Park; the Summer Yoga Challenge is behind us; the kids are heading back to school and with that summer vacations are quickly becoming a thing of the past and Labor Day Weekend is almost here – Wow!  I am so pleased to be able to say that we have had a great summer here at the studio.  It’s been so nice to see so many new faces and so many of you in a regular routine.  We actually had more new people join the studio in July than we did in June.  For that I thank all of you who have been so good about spreading the word about Yoga Fix and what a great practice it is to do yoga. 

As many of you have noticed, August is “Give Back” month at Yoga Fix.  So, please bring in your canned goods and household items for Harvesters.  So many people, adults and children, are in need especially during the summer months when people tend to forget about those who are struggling.  You’ve probably also noticed that this months In-House Special is that you get a FREE class with your purchase of a full-price package.  While that is a great deal – I hope you also noticed that Yoga Fix is giving back 5% Cash for each full-priced package purchase; so I encourage you to buy bigger packages this month so we can give more back!  Plus, when you buy the bigger packages you get a better deal and with 6 months expirations you can easily use 20 classes in 6 months.  So for Example the 16 class card for $165 becomes a 17 class card for $165 – that’s less than $10 a class.  The 20 class card at $200 becomes a 21 class card for $200 again less than $10 a class.  You get a great deal per class, plenty of time to use the classes and the Humane Society gets an $8.25 to $10 donation with your purchase.  Everyone wins; especially those furry little cats and dogs that really need our care.

On that note, I hope you will join us on Saturday morning August 22nd for Yoga in the Park.  This is such a fun event for your pooch and for you.  You can join us early for Doga or come later and do your own practice.  Either way it’s a chance to get outside in this beautiful weather, do some yoga and donate to the Humane Society and/or Harvesters.  We will have all classes as normally scheduled in the studio that morning for those of you who just can’t leave the steamy heat of the yoga room.

Once again I am most grateful to close this with a thank you to all of you who have helped Yoga Fix grow and continue to be a great place to come to work.  In fact, in early October I would like to express my gratitude to all of you by having an open-house.  Watch for more details on that to come.  Please continue to spread the word about Yoga Fix, keep up your practice and I’ll do my part by taking the best care of the studio, the staff and you that I can.

Sincerely,
Mary Horvatin

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Save the Date!
3rd Annual Yoga in the Park at Mill Creek Park
Benefit for Harvesters and The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City
Saturday, August 22nd

Some of you have asked me if the studio will be open while we do Yoga in the Park – YES!  I realize not all of you want to get outside for your practice, so we will have a normal schedule that day.  I do hope most of you though will decide to change it up and come outside to enjoy the beautiful weather.  People yoga will be held from 10:15 – 11:15 am and will be fun and a good workout.

For more information go online to get details.  This is our big once-a-year charity event where we take time out to give back to the community (Harvesters and The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City) and have fun taking our practice outside – toes in the green grass – faces kissed by warm sunny breezes. 

This year we will once again be including Doga (dog yoga.)  Doga will kick off our day with a session beginning at 9:30 am and ending at 10:00 am.  Registration will begin at 9 am.  If you are going to donate to the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City, I encourage you to bring cash donations. 

We will follow Doga with a people yoga session beginning at 10:15 am and ending at 11:15 am.  Registration for yoga is open from 9 am to 10 am.  Once again we will be asking for donations for your participation.  We will have a barrel for Harvesters as well as collect cash donations for the Humane Society.  So bring your canned goods (there is a list of needed items on the web site) or cash.

The Humane Society will also be at the park, so who knows you just might have to take home your own little rescue pooch!

Can’t make it to Yoga in the Park?  We will have a barrel for Harvesters beginning August 1st.  Bring your canned vegetables and fruit, canned meat and tuna, peanut butter, boxed meals such as mac and cheese, pasta roni, hamburger helper, cereal both hot and cold, soap, deodorant, and shampoo.

In the spirit of giving back, Yoga Fix Studio will also be giving a percentage of your purchases to the Humane Society during the month of August.  For every full-priced purchase of a class package, Yoga Fix Studio will give 5% to the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City.  For example purchase a 12 Class Card for $130 and $6.50 will go to the charity.  Plus as your thank you, you’ll get a FREE class with purchase.  So that 12 class card just became a 13 class card.

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Summer Yoga Challenge

Seems like we just started the Summer Yoga Challenge and it’s already over and prizes have been handed out.  I am impressed with how many students signed up for the challenge.  I was not expecting to have so many students over the summer – way to go!  It’s always fun at the end to see the board so full of stickers.  Congratulations to all of you who participated!

Prizes were awarded to:

• Don Maxwell - Most Classes with 26 wins a Recycled Mat Bag
• George Nemmers - Most Classes in 1 Week - 7x wins a 27oz. Klean Kanteen
• Elizabeth Toohill - Drawing for those who completed the Challenge wins an 18 oz. Klean Kanteen and an Eye Pillow.

Congratulations to all of those who participated!

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New Class - Yoga Flow Saturdays 7am to 8am

Some of you have asked for a non-heated class on Saturdays and some of you have asked for an early morning class – well here it is – Yoga Flow.  This 60-minute class will be a flowing class that uses transition poses to create and maintain your body heat and heart rate.  Some of you will remember Lisa Uhl from our old location, some of you will discover her now.  Lisa has been teaching yoga for over 10 years in the Kansas City community and is an excellent teacher.  I encourage you to come try this class.  I know it’s early but it will be worth getting up for, so roll out of bed and start your morning off right!  This class begins Saturday, August 15th.

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Posture of the Month

I wanted to address an article in Yoga Journal.  Some of you take Yoga Journal and might have seen the article on “rounding the back” in the September issue.  There has always been a bit of controversy over the amount of rounding that is “good” for the spine.  Many in the Iyengar philosophy would say to keep the spine straight and then there’s Bikram who says round away.  We are a hot studio and so we tend to lean to the side of “rounding is a natural function of the spine.”   Like most things I think there is a grey area and no one way is completely right. 

When we move with a straight spine we tend to put more stress on the hamstrings and the pelvis.  If we overstretch or push our selves too hard we can tear the tendons.  So we have to be careful not to strain when moving in a straight spine posture.  For instance separate leg stretching forehead to floor we move with as Straight spine so if we pull too forcefully in this posture straining as we stretch we will put stress on the insertions of the hamstrings and could tear a tendon.  So just relax and breathe into your posture and gently stretch and deepen the pose.

Rounding is natural for the spine and keeps it flexible, but comes with its own caution if one rounds to an extreme.  Extreme rounding can put pressure on the spinal column which puts pressure on the disk which is filled with a gel-like fluid.  If the disk ruptures this fluid will seep out and there is no good way to repair this.  A ruptured/herniated disk has to heal on its own and nothing will force it back in.  If you have a ruptured/herniated disc, you need to be careful rounding the spine and not round to the extreme putting excess pressure on the disk.  I think you are fine to do moderate rounding as we round naturally round a little even in straight back postures.  Something to keep in mind when you move in your postures is that we are lengthening the spine before we move.  We lengthen so that we open up the space between the vertebrae before we round or arch to keep pressure of off the spine, especially the disk.  If you keep this in mind when you move you should be fine.  And as always use your common sense and listen to your body when doing your practice, if it hurts and it continues to hurt, ask an instructor so we can find out why and try to advise you.  And of course if you have a ruptured disk/herniated disk the best thing is to see you physician for advice. 

Plow Pose

(Halaasana)

Step by Step Instructions:

1. From Salamba Sarvangasana, exhale and bend from the hip joints to slowly lower your toes to the floor above and beyond your head. As much as possible, keep your torso perpendicular to the floor and your legs fully extended.

For Complete Instructions click here.

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