What's going on at The Yoga Shala

Happy Saturday :)

It has been a really exciting month at The Yoga Shala and March promises to be even more exciting!!!

For those of you who don't know much about us - The Yoga Shala is a traditional Ashtanga Yoga Studio located in downtown Winter Park, Florida (just outside Orlando). We are open seven days per week and offer classes to beginners and advanced students.

In addition to our current Morning, afternoon, and evening Mysore Program, our sunday night led class, saturday morning led class, and sunday morning Mysore; we have now added Level 1 Ashtanga Classes Monday-Friday from 9:30-11:00am; Level 1 Ashtanga Yoga Classes Tuesday and Thursdays from 6:00-7:30pm; and beginner series course Wednesdays 6:00-7:15pm and Sundays 2:00-3:15pm. Check out our full class schedule here

Along with these new classes we welcome several new teachers on board: Jaime Shearer, Anat Taggart, and Linda Walker ;) - for full bio's please see our website

Anat Taggart

Jaime Shearer

The first week in March, The Yoga Shala will be hosting Manju Jois's teacher training and weekend workshop. Both events are sold out so it is sure to be a week of amazing energy in the Shala!

And we have been given the most amazing gift: My dear friend Alea has done a life size painting of Gurjui on one of the walls of the Shala - it is truly incredible to do your practice every morning in his presence :)

Happy Valentines Day :)

Good morning from sunny Orlando, Florida ;)

It's about 6:30am and I'm sitting in my cozy apartment with a cup of decaf coffee in my pajamas ;) Kwang is snoring in the bedroom, no sign he'll wake anytime soon. It's Sunday, February 14th - both Moon Day and Valentines Day.

I got home on Tuesday - sick as could be. It seems I ate something not so good about two days before I left India; I started having trouble on Sunday, the day before I left Mysore. Needless to say, the plan rides, layovers, transits, etc from Mysore to Orlando were, well, they were hell on earth! I've never in my life felt so sick or annoyed....But I made it :) And when I got home I called my OB and he had me come to see him asap. He warned me about getting too dehydrated, and said if I did to go to the hospital. Kwang took me to Walgreens to get tons of Pedialite and I went home and drank as much fluid as I could. Yet come Wednesday I felt even worse - so around 12pm I went to the Winter Park Memorial hospital where the pumped me full of IV fluid, ran some tests, and six hours later and a well-hydrated Krista, I was allowed to go home! I've been perfect since then!! Don't know what I had, but whatever it was it is gone now. I was extremely dehydrated and it seems that two bags of fluid was the magic potion I needed to feel better. Little Kaiden man was perfect the whole time :) He was kicking around inside me on the plane, at the hospital - and the doctors joked that he was in a mighty protective shield. My OB told me the next day that it didn't really matter what mama was dealing with, Kaiden was gonna get his nutrition from me, even if it left me with none - that made me feel a lot better!

We had another ultrasound on Thursday too - posting pictures here of Kaiden at 19 weeks, 22 weeks, and 28 weeks :) enjoy!

Kaiden James Park - 19 weeks

Little Man - 19 weeks

Kaiden - 22 weeks :)

Kaiden - 28 weeks!

My little Angel - 28 weeks!

my last friday in mysore

Today has been a really wonderful day! I did have a bit of trouble getting up this morning – my body is tired from the week and I definitely slept as long as possible. Plus with it being led practice today, my mind was very difficult to convince to get out of bed. But I did, and I’m glad I did. It was a rather good led practice; as good as they can get for me at this point in my pregnancy…

I had two lovely coconuts after practice and then hunted down some bread and eggs before heading home to make some delicious breakfast. I got to speak to Kwang for a little while, have some food, and check emails…I did all that before taking a glorious 1 ½ hour nap! Being tired has been a real constant theme in my life as of recent, so that nap today was a true gift from the gods J

Once I got up I took another shower and made my way to Anu’s internet café to do another hour worth of work. Mona met me there so we could head to meet up with Rachel and Ben and Faith for lunch at the stand up. To my total surprise the gang had planned a little going away party for me and Kaiden!!! Isn’t that the sweetest thing ever? Mona told me we absolutely had to stop by Tina’s house before meeting everyone for lunch; and I agreed. When we got there Ben, Rachel, Chris, Phillip, and Tina were waiting for me J We had a feast at Tina’s for lunch and it was quite literally the best meal I’ve had in Mysore! And after lunch Rachel pulled out a delicious chocolate cake she picked up from the Southern Star. It was really so sweet and it touched my heart that they went to the trouble.
After lunch Chris and I headed back to my flat so we could do some training on the mind body online software he’ll be using when he comes to Orlando in April to teach. He caught on super quick and we were finished in no time! So we chatted for a while and also picked out a bunch of really good asana photos of him for our website. It’s always so lovely to spend time with Chris – he’s a truly beautiful spirit and real friend. I feel really blessed to have him coming to Orlando to sub for me while I’m on maternity leave – and I feel even more blessed that my students will get the chance to work with him!

Mona got home a little after 4pm and we headed to town to the bookstore so she could get some kids books for some friends back home. I scored big by finding a nice map of India in English, and two great little books (one on Hinduism and one specifically on Ganesha). We spent a little time trying to find a calendar, but gave up as it’s been impossible to find a wall size calendar for 2010 with nice pictures for the shala. I realize now that I really hit the jackpot last year when I stumbled (quite literally) upon a wee little shop during my travels through North India that had a fabulous wall size calendar for 2009 with different and gorgeous pictures of Ganesha for each month of the year, complete with moon days and all! No such luck here in Mysore – Mona and I have searched high and low throughout Mysore since I arrived. Oh well, poor shala will be barren of a wall calendar from India this year…

I cannot believe how quickly this month in India has flown by…I have two more full days in Mysore…two more practices at the Shala…one more conference…one more breakfast at Tina’s…one more ride to Bangalore. I will leave Mysore pretty early in the day on Monday because the day time traffic to get to Bangalore is rather hairy. I will arrive home in Orlando Tuesday night. I’ll take Wednesday and Thursday to re-coup, address jet lag, unpack, unwind, spend time with Kwang, and go to my doctors appointments with my OB and high risk OB…I shall return to teaching bright and early Friday morning!

That’s all for now…

Manju Jois Workshop and Teacher Training

I've been very busy preparing for Manju's coming visit in March. He'll be at The Yoga Shala March 1-7th. I am really honored to have him visit us, and eager for my students to get to experience working with him. Details are below :)

Manju Jois Teacher Training & Workshop
March 1-7, 2010 

TEACHER TRAINING: In this intense week-long training, Manju will introduce and teach powerful healing elements and techniques that make up the Ashtanga System, including:

•The traditional Ashtanga Yoga practice, a series of asanas (postures) known as the Primary Series of Yoga Chikista (Yoga Healing), followed by the Intermediate Series entitled Nadi Shodhana (Nerve Cleansing). Daily Practice of the asana purifies the mind and body while also healing the nervous system.
•The Nadi Shodhana Pranyama’s traditional breathing exercises, taught using original Sanskrit so that students will benefit from the traditional form.
•Vedic peace chants (Shanti Mantras)
•Meditation practice (concluding each day)
Teacher Training will begin Monday, March 1st and run through Friday March, 5th from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm each day (6 hours per day) with a one-hour lunch break and typically includes:
•2 Hours of practice every day
•1 hour of hands on training
•Breathing exercises
•Vedic Chanting training
•Pranayama
•Yoga Therapy (includes teaching adjustments)
•Questions & Answers

Manju Jois’ dedicated life long mission is to provide training for students and teachers in the ancient traditions of authentic Ashtanga Yoga. He is honored to offer guidance to all who wish to learn and benefit from Ashtanga Yoga’s ancient and time-honored practices. By the end of this week, each student should be able to present the Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga in the traditional form (using Sanskrit commands) as well as teach some of the fundamental pranayamas and chants.

Students Should Bring: A well hydrated and well rested body, refraining from eating at least 2 hours prior to the workshop. When eating, select foods like fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains. Low acidic food choices are optimum. Wear loose comfortable clothes. Bring your own mat, towel, and an open mind, body and spirit.

COST: $750 

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: March 5-7, 2010

Friday Evening: 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm Ashtanga Introductory Class (light practice), Pranayama, Chanting, Discussion / Questions & Answers

Saturday morning: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm: Led Class, Primary Series; followed by 1-hour lunch break

Saturday afternoon: 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm: Pranayama, Chants, Discussion / Questions & Answers.

Sunday afternoon: 12:00-2:00pm - followed by a 15-minute break - Mysore Class (Manju will assist with postures)

Sunday afternoon: 2:15-3:45pm: Pranayama, Chants, Discussion / Questions & Answers / Farewells & Pictures

Students Should Bring:A well hydrated and well rested body, refraining from eating at least 2 hours prior to the workshop. When eating, select foods like fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains. Low acidic food choices are optimum. Wear loose comfortable clothes. Bring your own mat, towel, and an open mind, body and spirit.

COST: $175

If you opt to do the teacher training and weekend workshop you will receive a $100.00 discount.

Week Long Teacher Training and Weekend Workshop will both take place at

The Yoga Shala

927 North Pennsylvania Avenue

Winter Park, Florida 32789

407-506-4626

www.theyogashala.org

My usual ramble

It's nearly 4:30pm Thursday afternoon here in Mysore. My morning students should be up by now getting ready to head to the shala :) My fiance is surely sleeping deeply in our bed at home - Thursdays are his days off so he doesn't even move a muscle til around 10:00am. I am personally quite exhausted today, both mentally and physically. I think its been a long week for me here and I have a lot on my mind getting ready to head home in a few days. I am certainly looking forward to the day of rest of Saturday - my body needs the break and my mind craves a lie in ;)

I'm at my friend Faith's house now working online...I'm sitting next to my friend Ben whom I'm trying to convince to do a new brochure for me ;) He's got some photoshop talent, and tons of time, so I'll let you know if he sucumbs to this pregnant woman's pleas!

I've been very bad this trip and not taken ONE single picture! I don't feel too bad though guys, this is my fifth trip to Mysore and I would have taken photos of the same exact things, just in a different year! I may grab a few of the shala before I leave b/c I could use some new ones for the website - but other than that you can always scroll back through the blog here to years past when I've posted tons of photos!

And regarding pregnant photos - I've been bad with those too - some people do the monthly belly shot to see the progression from beginning to end - I am sorry to say I have not! BUT, I will be doing some lovely photos with a great photographer around month 8-9 and I'll post some big ole belly pictures here and on facebook - I promise!

I'm really getting excited about heading home and getting ready for Kaiden's arrival. Kwang and I hope to make an offer on a home soon, and if things work out we can move in before Kaiden comes and I may even be lucky enough to prepare his little baby room too :) A dear friend and student is giving me her crib and another is giving me her matress. For all the other baby items I'm hoping to get some help with that from friends at the baby shower, which Connie, Jessica and Sasha are planning for me ;) I'm super excited - its gonna be at the College Park Community Center on March 20th! I have no idea what they are planning but I'm very grateful.

Have a most fabulous day ahead, or evening :)

xoxoxoxo
krista and kaiden

a few days left

I'm tired! It's a few minutes after 7pm wednesday evening and this day has been quite full. I had a wonderful practice this morning - not only got a great spot in the shala in the very back row next to the wall, but then randomly the person to end up right next to me was the fabulous Chris from Scotland (my dear friend who will be subbing for me in orlando while i'm on maternity leave) - this is a random act you understand, and one i won't quickly forget. Today was one of those days when the mind - the thoughts just keep coming - monkey mind as some call it...I knew I couldn't stop it, so I consciously decided not to allow it to ruin my practice...Instead, I allowed these thoughts to come and go like the wind, like the inhale and exhale of my breath...and by doing so i didn't hold on to any single thought, just kept breathing, kept moving from asana to asana - and before I knew it I was in the ladies locker room doing my finishing postures..

As I was going to give my respects to Sharath and Saraswati, I entered the office to find Saraswati chanting -- I nearly cried -- it was just such a beautiful moment for me!

When I left to get a coconut I spoke to a lovely lady (don't know her name though) who is here with her child and was here when she was pregnant with him...she asked if I was still doing inversions. I told her yes and she advised me to stop around 8 months and once he moves into position with his head down. I noted her good words of wisdom and thanked her! Not something I'd even thought of yet - good to know! She said she did everything else she had been doing, just left out the inversions.

My morning was filled with work online for the shala of course...8am-1pm flew by in the blink of an eye and before I knew it I was packing my computer away, paying Ganesh for my internet usage, and heading to the coconut stand to meet some friends for lunch!

After a fabulous meal, Faith and Ben and I headed back to Faith's place so both of them could help me ;) Faith with quickbooks and Ben with a graphic thingie ;) And about two hours later ben had created a fabulous graphic for me, faith had helped me with quickbooks (although I must admit i feel slightly dumber after our session - by no fault of faith's - I think I'm just think I'm utterly doomed when it comes to this damn software and accounting in general)....

I'm really at a loss for words about the fact I'm leaving in a few days! Where has time gone??? But, I'm excited to have four more practices at the shala ;)

I wish you a wonderful Wednesday ahead....Sending my love from Mysore!