Newsletter Bay Area Yoga Center, LLC

February 10th, 2012

Hello Friends

Wow! I see that winter is back! But not for long. Friday morning when I took a peek out the back window the weather was amazingly beautiful. The air looked more like it contained a blanket of fog rather then snow flakes. Thick, peaceful and heavy to the eye. Amazing! Now, an amazingly bright and sunny day awaits me. I love Wisconsin!

I want to let you all know that I had a email glitch for the last month. It is now fixed, I hope! As a result I was not receiving email messages from anyone with a gmail or yahoo account. If you were trying to get in touch with me and I did not reply I do apologize and hope you will try to reconnect.

Our February events are in full swing. We are planning a pot luck on Monday, February 20th. Check the side bar for details. We hope you can attend, we would love to see you there. If you have any questions you can check with Mardi or myself at the yoga center.

How to De-Stress with Yoga

Monday, March 5th * 6:30 – 8pm

Learn techniques and moves to help you shake off stress when it arrives. You will explore simple yoga movements to release the spine and calm the mind. Special breathing techniques will help you ground the mind and alleviate stressful thought patterns. Quick and easy guided meditation and imagery patterns will assist you in maintaining ease in times of stress. All are welcome. No prior experience is necessary. Session led by Kathleen Kelly-Hoffmn ERYT500. Fee $20.

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YOGA TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM STARTS MARCH 2nd, 2012

Download the Manual and application on line. 250 & 500 Hour Teacher Training program starting March 2012. We are registered with the Yoga Alliance and the Wisconsin State Board of Education approval pending. Catalog now available on line. Contact Kathleen with any questions you may have. Applications accepted through February.

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Workshops and Special Classes

See details of events at the web site www.bayyoga.com

Kid’s Yoga re-starting in February

Friday: 9:30am and Monday: 4pm.

The 29 Days of Giving at the Bay Area Yoga Center

Come into the center and share your ideas for offering up your love, friendship and resources to the community we are all a part of. From a friendly smile to a helping hand we have many suggestions to help you make this month grand! What a wonderful way to create a loving and giving February beyond Valentine’s Day! Check out the details at the Yoga Center this month.

Monthly Kirtan with Dennis Hawk

First Thursday of the month.

Next event:
March 1st, 2012 · 7-8:30pm

$10 suggested donation. All are welcome!

ZUMBA CLASS – Ongoing

MONDAYS · Re-starting February 6th.  5:30-6:15PM

4 week session $14. Drop in classes $5

FREE Reiki Share

Thursday, February 16th – 6pm at the Bay Area Yoga Center.

All are welcome to attend. This is a FREE event. Join us in sharing and receiving the gift of touch and healing. Contact Chris with questions. 920-468-5212

Cultivating Health, Wellness and Stress Reduction through Yoga with Kathleen Kelly-Hoffman ERYT 500

Dates:  Saturday March 31st, 2012
10:00am – 12:30pm and 3:30pm – 6:00pm
Sunday   April 1st, 2012     9:30am – 12:00 noon

Cost: $45.00 @ session or $120.00 for all 3 sessions
Contact: Judie Subert at 715-246-3406 or visit http://www.YogaNyou.com

Discover yoga postures and alignment techniques that set a strong foundation for health and reduction of stress to bring wellness into your life.  Stress is an epidemic in our culture!  This workshop will give you tools to improve your posture, avoid injury and release patterns of stress and tension.  Health is dependent on a strong core with balance of strength and suppleness in the hips and shoulders. We will explorer proper alignment of common postures and transitions as a therapeutic approach to cultivating greater health for the spine.  The spine is at the center of our being; by creating a healthy flow of vitality you will create greater physical, emotional and spiritual well-being!

The workshop will begin with yoga asana flow for the first half, we will follow up with breathing techniques to quiet and focus the mind.   Each session will build on the other but are designed to be taken independently as needed.

Yoga Basics Classes re-start on February 1st & March 7th.

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The Vegan Diet

Potluck event

Monday 5:30 pm
February 20th

This February we are taking a look at the vegan diet. Join us for an fun potluck dinner. Whether you are vegan, vegetarian or a person with a wide range of food choices, come and share. Bring your curiosity, recipes, and sense of sharing to the center. Meeting will be informal.

Recipe:

Tofu Scamble
1 tsp  canola oil
1 onion, chopped, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
7 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 pound tofu, fresh
Saute oil and onions 5 min.
Add peppers and mushrooms
and saute 5 more min.
Add seasonings.
Crumble in tofu and mix well.
Cook 5-10 minutes
ENJOY!

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No one is ever turned away due to the inability to pay a fee. If you have financial limitations let us know.

Bay Area Yoga Center logo t-shirts . Pick out your style and color at the yoga center office.

See new schedule online at www.bayyoga.com the last week of December.

Kathleen Kelly-Hoffman ERYT500 and
All the teachers at the Bay Area Yoga Center, LLC
www.bayyoga.com

Quick Links

Bay Area Yoga Center
Centre of Gravity Michael Stone
Mondo Zen Meditation
Hawk Music
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Yoga Center Advanced Studies Teacher Training

Bay Area Yoga Center Advanced Studies 250 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Program 2012

Dear Friends,

The Bay Area Yoga Center is offering an 250 hour yoga teacher training program. Sessions start March 2nd and end December 9th, 2012. Our comprehensive program crosses the boundaries between various schools of yoga which will help the practitioner develop a well formed and mature practice that focuses not just on the physical aspects of yoga but the psychological and spiritual benefits as well. Whether you intend to simply deepen your understanding of this ancient and diverse practice or you aspire to teach and share with others, our training will prepare you for your journey. With an emphasis on Vinyasa Flow based in the rich traditional sequences from Krishnamacharya, this training will provide the participants the knowledge, practice and experience necessary to become a creative, dynamic and inspirational yoga teacher.

Our approach to asana focuses on slowing down the various sequences of vinyasa in order to move through the various postures with attention to the external and the internal alignment. Internal alignment adds to the practice of yoga asana a psychological dimension which focuses on drsti (eye gaze), pranayama (breathing) and bandhas (energetic flow). This method of practice will teach you to refine your skills of observation of your physical and mental states. You will learn new ways to adapt to the present moment and make your practice graceful and free. As the first line from the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali states, “Now, is the practice of yoga”.

During our course of Yoga study we will go on a comprehensive journey of exploration of asana, pranayama, bandha, kriya and meditation. While working with the outer understanding of these practices as form we will also be developing a deep interconnected mosaic of the inner workings of the yoga practice and develop a deeper understanding and the tools to transmit these traditions to your students effectively. An amazing journey into the flow of yoga and life awaits you. Our many years of practice and teaching experience will ensure you a rewarding adventure.

The Bay Area Yoga Center Advanced Studies Program is recognized by the Yoga Alliance and approved by the Wisconsin Educational Approval Board (WEAB). Go to the Bay Area Yoga Center website to download our free program catalog, www.bayyoga.com. Ten months of unlimited yoga classes are included in this yoga training program.

We are looking forward to practicing with you.

Namaste,

Kathleen Kelly-Hoffman ERYT500

Program director, The Bay Area Yoga Center, LLC

Interview with Kathleen Kelly-Hoffman: “Why I teach yoga”

Kathleen Kelly-Hoffman

Q) What first drew you to yoga?
A) When I was 19, a sophomore in college, I was hit by a car. I was hurt and had no health insurance. It left me with pain in my knee and back and neck issues. I couldn’t run anymore. I kept trying different things, and my brother suggested yoga. I thought, “Oh really, who has time for that mumbo jumbo yabba dabba do stuff.” My brother practiced yoga and the woman he lived with at the time, mother of one of his children, Nancy Gilgoff, taught it. One day when we were at my mom’s, Nancy took me through a primary series of Ashtanga Yoga of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. I had been going  to the gym five days a week doing cardio aerobic and circuit training to build my strength, and felt strong, but my back still bothered me. The next day, it surprised me that my muscles were so sore I could hardly move. I thought, “She kicked my rear end!” And it was fun, challenging, an amazing thing.
I liked the focus, ease, and presence of yoga and became more curious. I practiced. The back pain became manageable and my knees immediately quit hurting. Then came my personal inquiry.

There wasn’t anything in the area that could teach me about yoga so I traveled to California and New York. This led to becoming more interested in the more internal practices and meditation.

Q) At what point did you start teaching?
A) I started seriously practicing at age 25, when I had one daughter. Then after my second daughter was in born, I started practicing more. At the time, I was working in advertising at a local retail corporation. It was stressful and time-consuming. Then, I lost my father, brother and grandmother all in one year. Soon after, I was in three car accidents (all rear-endings). I was 32 years old and realized it was time to do something different with my life. Originally, I had planned to go into teaching, as an art therapist, but landed in advertising instead. I knew that I didn’t fit into the corporate life anymore — I wasn’t enjoying it and my passion was elsewhere. I didn’t feel like I could teach, I felt other teachers were more eloquent than me. Yet I decided to go to a three-week teacher training course in California.

I fell in love with teaching!

A year later, I decided to quit my job and open a yoga studio. Everyone thought I was crazy. But I gave three months’ notice and planned the transition, opening the studio gradually. I paid off my debts, the car, and established a one-year plan. I’d do it for a year and if it didn’t work, I would go back to advertising. That was 1993. I never went back. I really enjoy my life.

Q) What type of yoga do you teach?
A) Ashtanga, which is an eight-limb practice in the Yoga Sutras — a stand alone text of yoga study. The Sutras are 196 “threads”, that outline the 8 stages of yoga. The first Sutra is “Now is the time to practice yoga.” Ashtanga is part of these Sutras. Its philosophy is non-harming, not lying, impeccable conduct, right livelihood, self-study and tappas. Tappas mean heat, burning, bringing to its purest form, like being squeezed, polished. Basically, not being comfortable with where you’re at and not looking away, instead you transform inside of the discomfort.
There’s no reason to change when everything is comfy-cushie. Yoga is about finding out who you are on a deeper level; polishing yourself. Challenging yourself.  It’s taught inside the teaching of Asana. On Monday’s, we have yoga off the mat. It is not physical, but meditative.

Q) What would you like your students to get from yoga?
A) What I’d like them to do is go inside of it.

Physically, to:

• Feel stronger
• Feel healthier
• Sleep better
• Have better concentration

Mentally to:

• Feel better about themselves
• Be more connected
• Know themselves better

Spiritually to:

• Experience inter-connectivity
• Connect to something greater than themselves
• Feel viscerally

In the yoga tradition, you can get any of the highs of other religions, sports, etc sitting still. And people have a need to be connected. When you take the time to go into the interior landscape and chip away at holding patterns —
then you’re free.