The Yoga Shala - We are Expanding!

I WANT TO SHARE SOME VERY EXCITING NEWS :)
The Yoga Shala will soon have a brand new home! We will be moving into a 2,100 sq ft. facility close to 1-4, Park Ave, Rollins College, and the Winter Park Village in Winter Park. Our new shala will feature two yoga rooms, a massage room, mens and womens locker rooms, and a retail boutique!

GRAND OPENING SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11TH! STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS ON GRAND OPENING EVENT!

We will have two massage therapists on site to work with the students of The Yoga Shala - all monthly members and rollins college students will receive a 10% discount on massage services.

We are expanding the Mysore program. Beginning October 11th, The Yoga Shala will offer a Morning, Lunchtime, and Evening Mysore program.

With the additional yoga room we will also offer a Beginner Yoga Series on Monday nights, and we will offer two Led Primary Series classes per week. This is the schedule starting October 11th - but as the programs grow we will be able to offer even more great Ashtanga yoga classes.

Private and Semi-Private instruction will still be available.

The Yoga Shala will be hosting Manju Jois' 2010 teacher training and weekend workshop. And we are excited to have Tim Feldmann visit us in November 2010 and Govinda Kai in early 2011!

Laura Daniel is making a gorgeous new website for The Yoga Shala - it will be our online home where all students can go to view the schedule, news and events, purchase classes, and soooo much more. We hope to have that up and running early next week!

Our GRAND OPENING will be Sunday, October 11th! Please stay tuned for Opening Day Events :)

**If you have an interest in the Morning, Lunchtime, or Evening Mysore program PLEASE EMAIL Krista@TheYogaShala.org. - I would like to get an idea of how many monthly mysore students we can plan to see when doors open.

**We are also looking for some additional funding. If you know you will be partaking in any of the Mysore programs, are in a position to pre-pay for six months or one year of your membership, and wish to help in the start up funding efforts, please contact Krista. OR, if you have a desire to help and wish to make a donation of any sort, please email Krista.Thank you for your time! I look forward to sharing this wonderful shala with all of you!

Krista Shirley

The Yoga Shala

http://www.theyogashala.org/

mailto:krista@ashtangayogini.com?subject=new%20shala

407-506-4626

Happy Saturday from Orlando

My blogging sure does slow when I'm in America. I find less time to do it when I'm in America b/c of work, my relationship, and the other million demands that life requires of me here. I'm enjoying life in America right now very much, but there is this lingering desire to get back to India - like NOW! I'm dying to buy my plane ticket and at least plan my next visit; but that too seems impossible right now b/c there are just too many factors at play that are TBD. For the first time in my life, I feel like I don't have control of my own life schedule!

When I look back at my college years I think about how easy life was then; but I always laugh b/c I know that back then, I thought life was sooo much harder than it had ever been. And now, when I look back at even a year ago, I think about how easy life was then; but I laugh b/c I know that back then, I thought life was sooo much harder than it had ever been before! I see a pattern forming...Well I guess such is life, or the nature of things...I will be extremely grateful though, if the next few weeks can provide some clarity as to when I'll be able to travel back to India next year. Wish me luck ;)

On another note, I'm getting really excited b/c it seems Kwang and I are getting a little bit closer to figuring out what part of town we wish to buy our house, and if we are lucky we will find that house soon. Going out with the realtor again tomorrow afternoon. Wish me luck!

Also excited for September to come b/c I'll spend Labor Day weekend with my sister in Georgia! Haven't seen Kama in a while and it will be really nice for us both to get away together :)

Wishing everyone a gorgeous weekend! Hope you enjoy your practice tomorrow ;)

Locks of Love

I got my hair cut last week - my hair went down to my low back, near my bum. Loved having long hair for the last few years, but it was becoming a major pain - it was heavy, it was messy, it was troublesome to dry, it was always in a bun, and it was always and always clogging drains. So I opted to cut my hair short so that I could give away my locks to

LOCKS of LOVE - http://www.locksoflove.org/

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.

Pre-Haircut Picture - pulled back in a bun as ALWAYS!

My man having a little too much fun playing with the fire hydrant

Post-Haircut

Showered, and dressed - and ready for Universal Studios baby!

Zee back of zee wet head ;)

These pictures of my new hair do are for Sonja and Chris :)

hello there ;)

Hello and Happy Tuesday!

Somehow the entire month of June seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye! An amazingly busy, yet extremely rewarding month of June, and so far July is proving to be much the same. The morning Mysore program got off to a great start in June, and is continuing to grow and prosper in July. I love teaching this practice in this traditional method, and feel grateful for the ability to do so.

I am already missing mysore very much...I've been looking online for plane tickets to get back there first of next year. I intended to wait until I knew more about the training with Sharath before making a decision about when I would return to Mysore, but I can't seem to keep myself from planning my next trip. So I'll be sure to keep you posted when I book my flight - sneaky suspicion it will be real soon ;)

I wish everyone a wonderful evening!

Happy Birthday Kristopher!

Want to send a special Birthday wish out to my fourteen year old nephew Kristopher William Shirley! Just had a nice conversation with my sister Kimberly who told me he'd have to call me back once he finished riding his dirt bike! Trying to convince her to let him come down and visit aunt Krista and Mr. Kwang for two weeks this summer. He'd never really been anywhere by himself, and I know he wants to come. Kimberly shocked the heck out of me when I mentioned the idea of two weeks - she was like, "well maybe this first trip we should just do one week, since he's never been anywhere without me before!" I couldn't help but laugh - like Kimberly com'on woman time to cut the cord sis :) I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll agree to two weeks b/c that way he and I can do a week of tons of theme parks, and one week of exploring more of Florida's natural landscapes like the beach and some of the gorgeous natural parks and springs around. I'll be able to teach in the mornings and early afternoons and we can spend the rest of each day playing :) I'm so stoked! Never had one of my nephews down here to visit me without their parents before! Will keep you updated :)

Lake Eola Farmer's Market

Every Sunday Lake Eola comes to life with vendors of specialty items, handmade items, fruits, veggies, and other delicious foods. Tomorrow I'll be out there at Lake Eola promoting my Nysa Yoga products, and the Yoga Shala :) Come out and show your support! I'll be having a drawing for a free month of Yoga at The Yoga Shala - so if you are a local yogi in Orlando and wanna enter for your chance to win - bring your asana down to Lake Eola anytime between 10am and 4pm!

The Yoga Shala Website

Hello and Happy Saturday ;)

So I am having my friend Laura create the website for TheYogaShala.org - but in the interim until she is able to design the site I have put information about the shala up online. So if you want some info check out www.TheYogaShala.org

Have a happy Saturday!!!

Grand Opening!

Hello and happy Monday ;)

The Grand Opening on Saturday went well! I was happy to open the space up to people who wanted to come check it out and enjoy some tastey treats, good films about Guruji, and all around good company!

I sadly didn't get pictures of the 'opening' itself - but remembered to take photos of the shala in the 'after' stage ;) It is still a work in progress, well the garden area outside is anyway. But that is something that I will be working on for quite some time to come! I actually went to Home Depot for the umpteenth time today to get gardening tools, tons of Mulch, and some more pots.

My dear friend and first teacher, Reinaldo, flew down to Orlando from California for the opening - it was the greatest surprise ever! I did my first practice at the shala on Sunday, alongside Reinaldo - the man who introduced this practice to me! It couldn't have been more perfect if I had planned it out myself. I cannot even begin to express in words how amazing the energy is in the shala - I knew I'd enjoy the space b/c I put my heart and soul into fixing it up and making it special - but it is even better than I imagined it could be!

Today my alarm went off at 3:30am and I jumped outta bed, showered and was out the door a few minutes after 4am. I made it to the shala, and swept, lit candles, rolled out my mat, and put my picture of Guruji next to my mat. And at 4:30am I started my yoga practice - which was out of this world delicious! I finished up about 6:15am and had just enough time to wash my face and put my contacts in when my first student arrived!

Today was the first day of Mysore classes, and for me it was a huge success! It will take some time to build the program up but things are off to an excellent start - feel extremely grateful for everything!

It's really an awesome feeling to finally begin a morning Mysore program in Orlando! This program and practice is dedicated to Guruji - and we are all indebted to him for all that he has given this world! I am blessed for this amazing practice, and happy to be able to offer this practice to Central Florida.

Enjoy the pictures ;)