If you are in NY, close to NY, or just want to be in NY (and who doesn’t?!), check out this amazing opportunity from some of New York’s finest:

~
Join us on Thursday, May 8th for a Sunrise Yoga Experience
7:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Top of the Rock Observation Deck
New York City
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Swarovski, the world leader in cut crystal, The Libby Ross Foundation, OM yoga and the Top of the Rock Observation Deck at Rockefeller Center are partnering together to help win the fight against breast cancer in honor of Mother’s Day.

Bid on a special one-of-a-kind prize Sunrise Yoga Experience for two in New York City. The highest bidder and a guest will have the opportunity to attend the Sunrise Yoga Class on May 8th, 2008 at The Top of the Rock along with a package that includes a $200 Swarovski gift certificate, a $100 Top of the Rock Observation Deck gift certificate, Yoga care package, courtesy of OM yoga, that includes yoga mat, books, CD and T-shirt and a $100 gift certificate to Brasserie Ruhlman where they will dine after the class with an OM Yoga teacher.

Bidding has begun and the last bid will be accepted on April 24th, 2008.
For more information and to bid, click here.
Proceeds from the auction will benefit The Libby Ross Foundation and our fight against breast cancer.

Forty mothers, daughters and sisters who have been touched by breast cancer will be brought together at a Sunrise Yoga class set against the breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline on Thursday, May 8th from 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM at the Top of the Rock Observation Deck at Rockefeller Center.

Reservations are required for the class. To sign up, please call us at 212.831-9592 or email the Foundation if you are interested in attending at yoga@thelibbyrossfoundation.com.

The gentle and restorative OM yoga class, taught by OM certified yoga teachers, will focus on breathing techniques and gentle movements to help integrate body and mind and will allow breast cancer survivors of all stages and ages to share this unique, empowering experience with their loved ones while enjoying the sweeping 360-degree views of New York City from Top of the Rock.

For more information, contact
The Libby Ross Foundation
at (212) 831- 9592 or visit the website click here.

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In today’s Wellness 101 we bring you Rolfing…

Have you heard of Rolfing? Do you know what it is? For years I’ve heard this term tossed around, and I finally decided to investigate. Rolfing is a lot more involved than I expected, and, boy, does it sound amazing!

Rolfing is a technique that actually changes the structure of the body, bringing it into balance in relation to gravity. Over time, as our connective tissues tighten up in various ways, our muscles become restricted from functioning properly. We can end up with poor posture, difficulty in movement, and even injury. Through hands-on manipulation by a certified Rolfer, our connective tissue can be loosened and lengthened to bring our bodies back into proper alignment, thus freeing our bodies to move naturally and effortlessly.

A Rolfer literally stretches the tissues of the body, most often in a series of 10 sessions (a.k.a. the “10 series”). Each session focuses on a different area of the body in a specific order to bring harmony to the body and to produce optimal results. When Rolfing was first practiced, the manipulation was sometimes found to be painful, but over the past 50 years practitioners have found many ways to create a gentle, comfortable approach.

The benefits of Rolfing are far and wide. Rolfing enhances posture, vitality, and well-being. It can ease pain and chronic stress. It improves ease of movement and performance. It also provides an excellent foundation for and complement to other activities such as dance, yoga, and pilates.

If you’re interested in enhancing your vitality, easing chronic pain, or improving your posture, get your “10 series” on with a certified Rolfer now!

~Kristen Kancler

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In today’s Wellness 101, we bring you Kids Yoga…

Are your kids over-scheduled? Do they have after-school activities, homework, and tests to study for? Do they attend a school with a highly competitive environment? In our fast-paced society, kids have a lot of stress to handle. Yes, kids get stressed, too. Have you considered enrolling your child in a yoga class? Yoga for children is a relatively new idea that is rapidly growing in popularity and is a great way to get your kids to slow-down and de-stress.

Kids Yoga uses traditional yoga poses (asanas), but it really is in a class all of its own. The practice was designed especially for a child’s growing body, placing particular emphasis on concentration and strength-building. Unlike adult classes, children’s yoga is not a quiet affair; rather, it is a lively session, mixing strength and patience with playful activities that ignite the imagination. Often times, stories, songs, and animal noises are incorporated to keep things fresh and fun.

Kids are taught in an upbeat, friendly atmosphere and many of the asanas have fun names, like “cat- cow stretch” (where kids meow and moo) and “butterfly” (where they flutter their wings). There is even an exercise that focuses on breathing and uses a stuffed animal as a prop! It’s a fun, yet relaxing environment where kids absolutely thrive.

Aside from having fun, kids also receive other wonderful benefits from yoga. Research has shown that children who study yoga have an increased ability to focus, higher self-esteem, better posture, greater flexibility, more self-awareness, improved test scores, and are able to self-nurture and regulate emotions. The end result is that children will be able to slow down, even enough to stop and smell the roses once in a while.

And, consider the pay-off to you as a parent! Not only will your children will be calmer at home, do better in school, and feel physically stronger, they will also be more likely to entertain themselves, which means fewer interruptions while you try to prepare dinner…. Imagine that!

Kids Yoga classes are growing in popularity nationwide and many studios across the country are adding these courses to their schedule. Call your local yoga studio to see if they offer yoga for kids - many do. You can also search online to find something in your area. Or, if you want to get ambitious, look for books and dvds (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/103-6529696-0134263?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=kids+yoga&x=0&y=0) to try at home.

Have fun with it – your kids certainly will!

-Jennifer Rosen

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Today many people are incorporating yoga into their physical exercise routine. While this regimen is very beneficial in promoting a healthy body, there are many other benefits of yoga. The meditative practices of yoga allows for one to experience calmness, a positive outlook on life, and achieve unity between the mind, body, and spirit.

Because of its many physiological and psychological benefits, yoga therapy is commonly used to manage a wide range of chronic diseases, including breast cancer. Yoga therapy has been proven to improve the overall quality of life in breast cancer survivors.

After having the opportunity to spend some time with a Yoga instructor who provides one- on-one yoga therapy for breast cancer survivors, I was truly inspired by her dedication to her clients and practice.

Christelle Jorge is a yoga instructor for women with breast cancer who practices therapeutic Iyengar Yoga with her clients. Christelle’s yoga practice is influenced by Iyengar yoga and incorporates individual poses that focus on the client’s specific needs and abilities.

Christelle believes that yoga can be very beneficial for breast cancer survivors (whether they are in or out of treatment); however, it is important that they inform their yoga instructors of their health condition and understand what poses and movements can be helpful or harmful to their heath. Christelle emphasizes that a session must be designed separately for each individual client, understanding that every client has different needs (medical or physical), flexibility levels, strengths, and levels of comfort.

Christelle’s one-on-one practice allows her to experience a more rewarding and stronger connection with her clients. She has seen a difference in comfort levels and openness with her clients. Because she is working with them so closely and focusing on their immediate needs through support and touch, she feels that her clients are benefiting from the practice. She describes the trust-building interaction between her and her clients as a “precious gift.” It allows her clients to relax and reach an optimal level of comfort.

Christelle is a mere witness as to how a regimen yoga practice can be very beneficial to the overall health of a breast cancer survivor. Along with physiological benefits of yoga, Christelle focuses on the psychological effects of yoga on her clients. This yoga practice allows for the individual to reap the benefits of stress reduction, decrease of fatigue, self confidence, and achieving optimal comfort levels which enhances relaxation.

Ultimately, Christelle believes that yoga creates a mental and physical awareness, or mind and body connection. She feels that through a therapeutic yoga practice, her clients are able to find and accept certain limits of a posture and then apply that awareness to their overall life. Through this awareness, they are more conscientious of their physical, mental, and emotional needs.

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A teacher recently shared the story of a once thriving monastery where the monks chanted 3 times a day. The monks were told to stop this “frivolous activity” to allow them more time for daily chores. Within a month a drastic shift happened there. The monks were eating the same amount of food, but they were completely worn out and fatigued most of the time. They had trouble carrying out the most basic activities because they were so lethargic and apathetic. Since nothing else was different other than the absence of chanting they quickly realized that chanting was like food for their spirit.

Jeanne Lurie, a Kundalini teacher shares some more insight into the healing power of sound and words with the following article:

Meditation with Mantra
Meditation with the use of a mantra is a very powerful means of silencing the incessant chatter of the mind to offer an oasis of peace, union and creativity, and to raise the consciousness to expanded levels of awareness, it allows one to connect with the vibration of sound and to block other sounds or thoughts from interfering with the silent whisper of ones soul.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.”

Meditating with a mantra is a means by which one can utilize a sound, syllable, word or phrase to elevate or modify the consciousness, connect with the source of intuition and reduce stress. Mantras are sound currents that can be used in meditation to help to direct or to redirect our energy to higher levels of awareness, to eliminate duality, to help to clear negative thought patterns and to help to re-program the mind with more positive or creative patterns of thought.
Mantra literally means man - mind and trang - wave, vibration or projection.
Meditation with mantras forms an intrinsic part of Kundalini yoga, a technology thousands of years old designed to achieve optimum health through control of the body and mind and to elevate the consciousness.

In the beginning was the word…. and in the words of Yogi Bhajan, Ph d. , the Master who introduced Kundalini yoga into the west, “the universe is held together and kept in balance through the vibration of sound or the word.” The word uni –verse says it all, one single verse creating a union. Scientists from NASA have performed studies which seem to confirm the existence of primordial sounds which penetrate the Universe, the sound of the waves, the wind, a baby’s´ cry and the sounds emitted from planets in outer space all reduce electronically to form the same sound or vibration.

Normally a mantra is a sound taken from an ancient sacred language where by the vibration of the sound, or the rhythm or tone creates a physiological response in the mind or body. This physiological response helps to balance and integrate the nervous system with the endocrine system and leads to regeneration of all the cells of the body. It strengthens the immune system, and improves neurological functioning of the brain. Different sounds cause different centres of the body to vibrate or resonate. Primordial sounds can create a positive reaction in the subconscious mind. Even the way in which the tongue strikes the palate when chanting sacred mantras, can activate the 84 meridians in the roof of the mouth to create physiological changes in mind and body. When these points are stimulated they in turn activate the hypothalamus which in turn activates the pineal gland and the pituitary gland, also known as the master gland of the hormonal system and help to bring balance and optimum functioning to the entire system.
Scientific studies performed by the Kundalini Research Institute have shown that meditation with a mantra can help in the recovery of health on all levels, physical, mental and emotional. Meditation with mantras has also been shown to lower blood pressure, lower the heart rate and to reduce the production of the stress hormones or adrenalin, as well as numerous other benefits.
When we chant a particular sound, our body and energy field resonates with that frequency which thereby enables us to attract and connect to situations, people, events and opportunities vibrating at a similar frequency. We can help to create a change in the universe in which we live through the thoughts we think, the words we speak, and the mantras we chant. Without a doubt if more people were meditating everyday on a simple mantra such as peace to the universe, we would be creating a powerful positive transformation in the uni-verse in which we live and we would all thereby become co-creators in a new world based on love and peaceful co-existence.

Jeanne Lurie
Director of Happyyoga – Palma de Mallorca
Center for Kundalini yoga and meditation
www.happyyoga.com

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