Googling the new location for Alameda Yoga Station I switched the map to Google Earth and it took me directly to a street called Amy Drive in Oakland. How bizzare.
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Showing posts with label alameda yoga station. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alameda yoga station. Show all posts
December 19, 2010
April 24, 2010
Letting Go and Holding On
This has been a week of letting go and holding on. Seems like a reverse sequence of events, but it makes sense. In canceling my UK trip I had an unexpected feeling of "letting go". The past was suddenly in the past instead of so closely tied to the present. I took notice and realized I was feeling more settled into California and the US when I let go of my trip. My apartment became more welcoming and my my eagerness to do what is right for me became more of a drive. I had been floating down the river, still lightly tethered to the past.
Then today, in our Saturday morning yoga class with Nancy Leigh-Smith at Alameda Yoga Station, I experienced healthy holding-on. The yogis in this class are a welcoming pool of support, providing an anchor for me whenever I am lost at sea. We practiced a stretch where we held hands with a fellow classmate and stretched as far back as we could while holding our joined hands in front of us and our other (deliberately not calling it free) hand behind us. Nancy asked me to demo it with her in front of the class and I instantly felt like we were figure skating partners. It was so much fun. She kept saying, I think you can go back further, you can pull harder.
Next I practiced the stretch with a partner and while I reached my hand back, another partner team, Jeff and Andy, were right there. Jeff and I instantly clasped hands and it became a four person stretch halfway across the room. It made us laugh and smile. We looked to see if we could include more classmates but we were too far away. However, we were all connected through our grasp of California.
Then today, in our Saturday morning yoga class with Nancy Leigh-Smith at Alameda Yoga Station, I experienced healthy holding-on. The yogis in this class are a welcoming pool of support, providing an anchor for me whenever I am lost at sea. We practiced a stretch where we held hands with a fellow classmate and stretched as far back as we could while holding our joined hands in front of us and our other (deliberately not calling it free) hand behind us. Nancy asked me to demo it with her in front of the class and I instantly felt like we were figure skating partners. It was so much fun. She kept saying, I think you can go back further, you can pull harder.
Next I practiced the stretch with a partner and while I reached my hand back, another partner team, Jeff and Andy, were right there. Jeff and I instantly clasped hands and it became a four person stretch halfway across the room. It made us laugh and smile. We looked to see if we could include more classmates but we were too far away. However, we were all connected through our grasp of California.
February 27, 2010
Word of the Day: Calm
Laying in bed this morning I spent some time reflecting on being calm. What do I notice within my body and mind when I am calm? How do I breath? How do I hold my muscles? Then I thought about instances when I am calm or when I am around people who are calming.
This weekend I am going to focus on being around people and doing "things" that are calming and notice the effect it has on me. My intention is to carry this with me throughout the week and use those moments of calm as touchstones.
What I immediately realized is that my Saturday morning yoga class with Nancy Leigh-Smith at Alameda Yoga Station and all my friends there is hugely calming. Later today I will be with my Cousin Diana who has a wonderful calming presence. Tomorrow I plan on taking a hike or possibly a bike ride - both very calming for me.
Calmness allows me to breath deeper, lower my shoulders, relax my jaw, feel comfortable with myself and be a calming presence for others.
This weekend I am going to focus on being around people and doing "things" that are calming and notice the effect it has on me. My intention is to carry this with me throughout the week and use those moments of calm as touchstones.
What I immediately realized is that my Saturday morning yoga class with Nancy Leigh-Smith at Alameda Yoga Station and all my friends there is hugely calming. Later today I will be with my Cousin Diana who has a wonderful calming presence. Tomorrow I plan on taking a hike or possibly a bike ride - both very calming for me.
Calmness allows me to breath deeper, lower my shoulders, relax my jaw, feel comfortable with myself and be a calming presence for others.
October 24, 2009
Unraveling the Muscle
For the past couple of months I've had a difficult time being inspired to do yoga. Yes, I go to my favorite Saturday morning class at Alameda Yoga Station with Nancy but my heart hasn't been 100% into it like before. Then today I had a realization during class - yoga is about unraveling the muscles that we tense all day long.
Because I've been practicing yoga less frequently I could tell that my posture has been getting a little less vertical and a little more scrunched. Today I focused on extending and expanding muscles from their center points to the tips of my fingers, toes and head. Suddenly I was longer, taller and stronger. Perhaps some of this scrunching has to do with the bike injuries I sustained this summer. I've been avoiding my knees and today I gently regained confidence in them.
Further into today's practice I recognized that your mind is also holding on to tension and gets all scrunched up as well. So I allowed my brain to let go - release. Nancy said, "in each pose, pay attention to what needs to be working and what should be relaxing or off-duty." I'm carrying that premise into my day.
Because I've been practicing yoga less frequently I could tell that my posture has been getting a little less vertical and a little more scrunched. Today I focused on extending and expanding muscles from their center points to the tips of my fingers, toes and head. Suddenly I was longer, taller and stronger. Perhaps some of this scrunching has to do with the bike injuries I sustained this summer. I've been avoiding my knees and today I gently regained confidence in them.
Further into today's practice I recognized that your mind is also holding on to tension and gets all scrunched up as well. So I allowed my brain to let go - release. Nancy said, "in each pose, pay attention to what needs to be working and what should be relaxing or off-duty." I'm carrying that premise into my day.
October 17, 2009
All About Alameda
Today was Customer Appreciation Day along Alameda's Park Street. I was feeling the love on Park Avenue, the next street over and the one on which I lived up until six weeks ago. The day started with Yoga with Nancy at Alameda Yoga Station. She brought in a harmonium and we started and ended the class with chanting. I want to do more chanting - it clears your mind and creates a lasting vibration in your heart. My sister Marlene and brother-in-law Mandeep had two harmonium players at their US wedding and I will never forget the sound.
The day continued with a birthday party with my former housemates. Little Asher, has turned three. There were about 15 kids under the age of 8 running around and having fun. I so enjoyed picking apples with them and creating chalk art on the driveway. One mom said to me, "are any of these kids yours?" I told her no and she said that she could tell because I was having fun.
Next I partied with Theron and Elizabeth about 12 houses up the street from my old house. Theron and I use to work together and we both have similar Ike the Bikes. Today we celebrated Theron and Elizabeth's wedding which took place a month ago high up in the mountains of Colorado. The wedding was reenacted and we were in hysterics as they gave us the abridged version thanks to the picnic hostess Cynthia Winton-Henry, co-founder of Interplay. I caught up with friends and colleagues.
From there I biked back to Oakland in the warm, sunny, humid weather we are having this weekend. How lovely to have an extended summer.
The day continued with a birthday party with my former housemates. Little Asher, has turned three. There were about 15 kids under the age of 8 running around and having fun. I so enjoyed picking apples with them and creating chalk art on the driveway. One mom said to me, "are any of these kids yours?" I told her no and she said that she could tell because I was having fun.
Next I partied with Theron and Elizabeth about 12 houses up the street from my old house. Theron and I use to work together and we both have similar Ike the Bikes. Today we celebrated Theron and Elizabeth's wedding which took place a month ago high up in the mountains of Colorado. The wedding was reenacted and we were in hysterics as they gave us the abridged version thanks to the picnic hostess Cynthia Winton-Henry, co-founder of Interplay. I caught up with friends and colleagues.
From there I biked back to Oakland in the warm, sunny, humid weather we are having this weekend. How lovely to have an extended summer.
May 30, 2009
Post-Yoga Snapshots
On my walk home from yoga at the Alameda Yoga Station I encountered some interesting sites including arriving at home to an army of toys.
February 13, 2009
Filling the Void
Since starting the Buddhist meditation classes with Pauletta Chanco and Rebecca Dixon at Alameda Yoga Station I have been noticing tremendous changes in my interactions - both with myself and others. An interesting occurance happened over the past couple of weeks relating to "tension" I have had, for as long as I can remember, in my stomach, chest and throat. For years it has felt like I'm holding back tears, bottling up emotions.
In our class we've been encouraged to notice where we hold tension and also not to attach too much emotional meaning to those areas. Therapy is all about obsessing over your obsessions. Meditation is about noticing. In this noticing the tension moved away from my throat and my chest and down into my belly. That alone was a relief.
Using my Neuro Linguistic Programming training I have been attempting to describe that tension for myself in terms of shape, form, sound and color. Notice, no emotions in that mix. As I describe the "qualities" of the tension I also breath deeply into the area. Last week suddenly (or maybe it took a long time and I suddenly noticed it) the tension was cut-off. As I sat and meditated and even throughout my day I noticed that my "internal reflexes" would try to find or create that tension when I was in certain situations, but the path was short circuited.
The tension is not fully gone, I notice that it is there when I sit to meditate. Feels like a knot in my belly that I keep breathing into to try and loosen. Something else I noticed this week was that I was eating faster and more aggressively. On Wednesday, following an intense client pitch session and prior to Statistics class I ate two ginormous slices of pizza and instantly had a belly ache for the next three hours. My belly was saying, "notice me." I didn't realize this until yesterday when I had eaten yet another meal at lightening speed. The absence of the tension is creating a void that my mind/body/subconscious (?) wants to fill? So very interesting.
In our class we've been encouraged to notice where we hold tension and also not to attach too much emotional meaning to those areas. Therapy is all about obsessing over your obsessions. Meditation is about noticing. In this noticing the tension moved away from my throat and my chest and down into my belly. That alone was a relief.
Using my Neuro Linguistic Programming training I have been attempting to describe that tension for myself in terms of shape, form, sound and color. Notice, no emotions in that mix. As I describe the "qualities" of the tension I also breath deeply into the area. Last week suddenly (or maybe it took a long time and I suddenly noticed it) the tension was cut-off. As I sat and meditated and even throughout my day I noticed that my "internal reflexes" would try to find or create that tension when I was in certain situations, but the path was short circuited.
The tension is not fully gone, I notice that it is there when I sit to meditate. Feels like a knot in my belly that I keep breathing into to try and loosen. Something else I noticed this week was that I was eating faster and more aggressively. On Wednesday, following an intense client pitch session and prior to Statistics class I ate two ginormous slices of pizza and instantly had a belly ache for the next three hours. My belly was saying, "notice me." I didn't realize this until yesterday when I had eaten yet another meal at lightening speed. The absence of the tension is creating a void that my mind/body/subconscious (?) wants to fill? So very interesting.
January 23, 2009
Thriving Health Insurance
Since returning to the US in May I have become more fully aware of the search for health insurance - affordable or otherwise. For the past 15 years I've always been covered by an employer or spouse's coverage. This is the first time since I first moved to California in 1992 that I've had to pursue coverage on my own.
Yes, in the UK there was socialized medicine, which thankfully I never needed to use. But it was there if I did need it. For the past nine months I've purchased short term plans and was on an employer policy for a whole month (sarcastic, wow). Now, I am afraid to admit, I've been without insurance since January 1, 2009. However, this is not by choice. I'm just waiting, waiting, waiting, for the California COBRA (coverage when you loose it from your employer) quote from Kaiser Parmanente. Their big ad campaign is called Thrive! Yeah, I'd like some of that. As I wait I am actually thankful for every day that passes that I do not get sick or injured.
It is a dance I'm playing as I wait for this quote that is now three weeks late. Do I wait to see what outrageous sum they are going to charge me for the equivalent of the coverage I had with my former employer or do I apply for a new policy? I took the leap and applied and today was the deadline. Getting through to Kaiser caused me a total meltdown. This afternoon I went to the local Kaiser office, just a few blocks from my house and across the street from my favorite Alameda Yoga Station. I was told by my friendly Kaiser sales representative that I could use their fax machine to send in my application. If only the man behind the front desk had been willing to make it happen. He wasn't. He barked at me. He barked at everyone so it wasn't personal. But it felt personal. I immediately called the Kaiser help line and started crying. Build up of frustration exploding. The nice woman on the other end helped me figure out a solution for getting my application in on time. I imagine that in the past three weeks I've talked to nearly all of their thousands of employees and the majority are very nice. However, a few are super not-cool. But they do have a fantastic complaint filing system that I've used.
As for processing my application it will take five to six weeks and during that period I still have no coverage. I think I may purchase another short term plan since I do ride my bike for my main form of transportation. Plus, every ache and pain has me worried about it being something bigger than just a cramp. This will give me the peace of mind I need for now.
I know that I'm not alone in this pursuit of coverage. The five to six week wait is because Kaiser is inundated with applications. At least I am one of the lucky folks who can afford health insurance. The policy I have applied for is the bare minimum but I am healthy so it should do the trick. If I wanted anything close to excellent insurance it would cost me nearly the same as my monthly rent. Thrive for a price.
Yes, in the UK there was socialized medicine, which thankfully I never needed to use. But it was there if I did need it. For the past nine months I've purchased short term plans and was on an employer policy for a whole month (sarcastic, wow). Now, I am afraid to admit, I've been without insurance since January 1, 2009. However, this is not by choice. I'm just waiting, waiting, waiting, for the California COBRA (coverage when you loose it from your employer) quote from Kaiser Parmanente. Their big ad campaign is called Thrive! Yeah, I'd like some of that. As I wait I am actually thankful for every day that passes that I do not get sick or injured.
It is a dance I'm playing as I wait for this quote that is now three weeks late. Do I wait to see what outrageous sum they are going to charge me for the equivalent of the coverage I had with my former employer or do I apply for a new policy? I took the leap and applied and today was the deadline. Getting through to Kaiser caused me a total meltdown. This afternoon I went to the local Kaiser office, just a few blocks from my house and across the street from my favorite Alameda Yoga Station. I was told by my friendly Kaiser sales representative that I could use their fax machine to send in my application. If only the man behind the front desk had been willing to make it happen. He wasn't. He barked at me. He barked at everyone so it wasn't personal. But it felt personal. I immediately called the Kaiser help line and started crying. Build up of frustration exploding. The nice woman on the other end helped me figure out a solution for getting my application in on time. I imagine that in the past three weeks I've talked to nearly all of their thousands of employees and the majority are very nice. However, a few are super not-cool. But they do have a fantastic complaint filing system that I've used.
As for processing my application it will take five to six weeks and during that period I still have no coverage. I think I may purchase another short term plan since I do ride my bike for my main form of transportation. Plus, every ache and pain has me worried about it being something bigger than just a cramp. This will give me the peace of mind I need for now.
I know that I'm not alone in this pursuit of coverage. The five to six week wait is because Kaiser is inundated with applications. At least I am one of the lucky folks who can afford health insurance. The policy I have applied for is the bare minimum but I am healthy so it should do the trick. If I wanted anything close to excellent insurance it would cost me nearly the same as my monthly rent. Thrive for a price.
December 13, 2008
Yoga Log PSA
In our yoga class this morning at Alameda Yoga Station with Nancy Leigh-Smith we agreed that we need to broadcast a yoga moment on TV during the holiday season. A Public Service Announcement (PSA) moment of Zen. Something like a Yule Log but actually a Yoga Log.Is a Yule Log uniquely American?
August 14, 2008
Painting with Sound
I am taking a fantastic Buddhist meditation course at my favorite yoga studio, Alameda Yoga Station, and it is fascinating to explore all the different ways to relax your body and mind.
The traditional way to relax in meditation is to follow your breath. Our instructor Martina Schneider is having us try some other approaches such 4 listening to all the sounds that surround you. The challenge, although if it is meditation you shouldn't think of it as a challenge but rather a practice, is to not attach any thoughts or judgment to the sound. Just notice it.
What I am discovering and really enjoying about the sounds is that they are painting a picture with their different qualities. A short, high-pitched sound sounds like a dash of bright color whilst a long deep sound is like a long rich and wide brush stroke of dark, deep color.
As the different sounds play across the landscape I find myself searching and craving for more. As a visual person I appreciate the non-use of my visual senses and instead tuning into what my ears are "seeing".
I am also discovering from this practice that I am enjoying the qualities of sound in my everyday interactions. Last night was a total sound feast as I merged with the excitement of the music at my cousin Michael North Beach jam session. I smiled and laughed all night as the band played around with sound. It was one of the most visual aural experiences I can recall ever having.
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The traditional way to relax in meditation is to follow your breath. Our instructor Martina Schneider is having us try some other approaches such 4 listening to all the sounds that surround you. The challenge, although if it is meditation you shouldn't think of it as a challenge but rather a practice, is to not attach any thoughts or judgment to the sound. Just notice it.
What I am discovering and really enjoying about the sounds is that they are painting a picture with their different qualities. A short, high-pitched sound sounds like a dash of bright color whilst a long deep sound is like a long rich and wide brush stroke of dark, deep color.
As the different sounds play across the landscape I find myself searching and craving for more. As a visual person I appreciate the non-use of my visual senses and instead tuning into what my ears are "seeing".
I am also discovering from this practice that I am enjoying the qualities of sound in my everyday interactions. Last night was a total sound feast as I merged with the excitement of the music at my cousin Michael North Beach jam session. I smiled and laughed all night as the band played around with sound. It was one of the most visual aural experiences I can recall ever having.
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