by:  Nancy Levenson, 500 E-RYT, 1,000 PYT,  Professional Yoga Therapist

This week our clients leaned into themselves, developing a connection with Maitri, (Sanskrit: an unconditional friendship and love of oneself).  It’s easy to forget that self love and friendship is our starting point to exploring and expanding ourselves out into the world. It is through our own awareness of noticing and celebrating our positive self, qualities, skills, and way of being, that can embrace others with the same self love and unconditional friendship. Like carrying around two spheres, one inside ourselves and one outside ourselves, we learn how to find the center where the two spheres merge into one.

In our yoga therapy center, we work with clients to allow all of our desires, emotions and fears to unfold and open like the Lotus flower.  We delve deep inside the Manomaya Kosha, discovering lessons that we’ve learned and have yet to learn.  We develop a deep understanding of how our lessons become spiritual awakenings on our path to embracing our self and ultimately embracing a world with open arms and compassion. Can you sit with your own self in Maitri?  Take the time to explore this five minute meditation into self.

Maitri Meditation

Can you sit in the company of self?
Drop into your inner silence
Peel away the layers of your being
And see that gem that lies deep within

Can you meditate with self?
Open to your own heart, your own emotions
Touch the very essence of your soul
And step away from all that was, to be fully present now

Can you dive deep inside?
Explore the unconditional love of the one you sit with now
Accept compassion and friendship
And all of your experiences as they arise

Open yourself up to the bliss of self
What pierces your heart with love, fear, joy, sadness?
What is calling you from deep inside?
And how can you best serve you

Enter the crucible of Maitri
The unconditional friendship with oneself
Sit in silence, just allow, and just listen
You may discover a beautiful being has been with you all along

©NamasteWorks Yoga + Wellness, 5860 S. Curtice St., Littleton, CO 80120. We are not a walk-in studio, and offer private group classes, individual sessions and workshops for our clients. Also offering 200HR Integrative Yoga Therapy Teacher Training and Free Yoga in the Park – Highlands Ranch.  All classes require a RSVP. www.namasteworksyoga.com – A Place to Discover Yoga as a Healing Art.

Pull out those summer mats, or those beautiful bare feet; throw on some yoga gear, sweat pants, shorts or whatever suits you for the summer and come join us down at Civic Green Park for the start of the 2012 Free Yoga in the Park. Yes, it’s back and opening day is just a few weeks away, Wednesday May 30. Many of you spent the fall and winter indoors with us at NamasteWorks Yoga and we thank you and welcome you to join us outside again. Each practice will be held from 8:15-9:15 am every Wednesday and Saturday morning, with only a few exclusions – Download our 2012 schedule for full details

Eight instructors are back to guide you including Jenny, Sue, Jena, Barbara, Renee, Nancy and two new instructors, Troy and Arianna. We also have a special family day set aside, July 4th – all kids welcome on this day only. So, come meet us all on the mat – this is one summer event you do not want to miss. A great way to introduce new friends to yoga, integrate your body, mind and spirit and connect deeply with the Earth. Join us for opening day and bring all your friends!

Free Yoga in the Park is sponsored by NamasteWorks Yoga + Wellness and the Highlands Ranch Metro District.

NamasteWorks Yoga + Welness is a therapeutic wellness center located in downtown Littleton, offering private sessions, therapeutic sessions for disabilities, diseases and disorders, workshops, retreats, therapeutic teacher training,  and seven weekly evening classes of breath with movement and a beginner’s series for those just dipping their toes into yoga. We strive to support optimal wellness for all our clients on their journey to health or maintaining their well-being. We are truely a place to Discover Yoga As a Healing Art.

Download our 2012 schedule

NamasteWorks Yoga + Wellness, 5860 S. Curtice St., Littleton, CO 80120. We are not a walk-in studio, we operate as a private center for our clients. All classes require a RSVP. www.namasteworksyoga.com – A Place to Discover Yoga as a Healing Art.

Have you stepped into that confusing phase in your life…..peri, pre, or post menopause?
Is your strategy just sweating the whole thing out?
Are you confused by all the messages you hear from friends, the media and your doctor? 

We invite you to take part in our wellness workshop this Saturday, Feb. 4 from 9:30 am-12:30 pm, Navigate the Natural Journey of Meno-Pause.  In this workshop you will be empowered through knowledge and awareness of body, mind and spirit, experience a yoga practice to cool your central nervous system, learn soothing breathing techniques and participate in creative expression.  Drawing from her background in Therapeutic Yoga, Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture and Menopause, Troy Krebs aims to offer you a morning filled with natural approaches to support you during this transition period.

We offer you a private setting to navigate the natural journey of meno-pause. This one-day only workshop is $39 and we still have a few spaces left.   Feel free to call us at 303.725.1434 to reserve a space or send a request via our contact page at www.namasteworksyoga.com. 

NamasteWorks Yoga + Wellness, 5860 S. Curtice St., Littleton, CO 80120.  We are not a walk-in studio, we operate as a private center for our clients.  All classes require an RSVP. www.namasteworksyoga.com - A Place to Discover Yoga as a Healing Art.

Let’s start first with an exploration of this question.  Since yesterday, you’ve probably taken twenty thousand inhales and twenty thousand exhales.  How present were you to any of those breaths?  Did you notice the natural rhythm of your inhale and exhale and the rise or fall of the belly or chest?  Or, hone in on an awareness of one being longer or shorter than the other?  Perhaps you sensed the texture, the length of the breath, or how the breath moved about your own being?  Or maybe your awareness was focused on where the breath began its journey and where it ended inside you?  If not, maybe you want to take a moment now and just be with your own breath. What you will discover is that we all have our own innate breathing pattern, some good, some not so good.

In our therapeutic practice, we aim to help clients learn that there is NO one way to breathe in yoga.  But, there are ways to breathe optimally to enhance our overall health.  Each breath we draw upon infuses our inner being with a lush gift of prana and learning how to honor that gift in how and where we move the breath are all equally important.  In our Breath with Movement sessions, we guide our clients to move their physical body to their own innate breathing, not group movement, but individual movement.  When we allow our body to be guided by the breath, we step into a beautiful flow, a meditative movement that fuels and energies us as well as dispels the body of no longer needed toxins, stress, and dis-ease.

And the way we breathe changes from moment to moment, and practice to practice.  Our trained therapeutic instructors guide you to flow your movement to your breath to enhance all systems of your body.  Using the concept of Langhana or Brahmana breathing, tied to mudras that support,  and yoga movement that awakens,  you will discover that there is no one way to breathe in yoga, but a rainbow of strategies to maintain optimal health.

Private therapy for the respiratory system is also available and guided by Nancy Levenson, PYT-1000.  She will work with you to improve conditions of Asthma, COPD, Anxiety and other taxing disorders to the respiratory system.

NamasteWorks Yoga + Wellness, 5860 S. Curtice St., Littleton, CO 80120.  We are not a walk-in studio, we operate as a private center for our clients.  All classes require a RSVP. www.namasteworksyoga.com - A Place to Discover Yoga as a Healing Art.

Over one year ago I began a search for the perfect yoga class.  I attended several yoga classes that left me feeling more inept than peaceful or introspective.  I was frustrated and disappointed that yoga was taking on a seemingly aerobic and boot camp feel, racing through poses without thought or purpose.  I was going through a particularly stressful period and my brother wanted to give me a birthday gift that would allow me to take time out just for myself and not think about anything else, even if just for an hour a week. 

I was also suffering from low back pain issues that were aggravated by the yoga classes I had tried.  He knew of my interest in yoga and of my frustration in finding a yoga center that fit.  He searched for a studio in the area close to my home and found NamasteWorks Yoga Center.  He purchased an eight week “Breath with Movement” class for me as a Birthday present. 

From the first class, I knew I had finally found the right place and the perfect instructor in Nancy.  This class was exactly what I had been searching for.  In just a few short weeks my lower back pain not only subsided but my body began to feel stronger.  My stress level decreased tremendously and allowed me to function more effectively.  In fact, I remember in my second class with Nancy, having an emotional release that brought me to tears.  It was as though a weight had been lifted. 

My lower back issues were further abated by a private yoga therapy session with Nancy.  She equipped me with a fully customized program with poses that would alleviate my back pain and strengthen those lower back muscles to prevent further injury and pain.  I loved my class so much that I decided to add on another night.  I now attend classes two nights per week with additional participation in several specialty classes & programs when offered. 

My practice has become such an important part of my life that I cannot imagine my life without it.  I have become physically stronger, more flexible and limber, introspective and thoughtful and fulfilled spiritually.  The perfect practice indeed!  The sad part of my story is that my husband has accepted a new work situation in New York which we both agreed would be a positive move & we will be leaving the Denver area this week.  I am so heavy hearted that I have to leave Nancy and my practice behind.  It has truly become such an integral part of my life.  Nancy, I cannot thank you enough for all that you do for all of us and for the profound impact you have on our lives.  You’ve helped us to become physically stronger, emotionally calmed & spiritually fulfilled.  I will miss you and all of my wonderful friends in practice so very much. 

Namaste,
Carol P.
October 10, 2011

This week I was invited to a pre-screening of Emilio Estevez’s new film, THE WAY starring Martin Sheen (Tom).  This film is about an exploration and discovery between “The life we live and the life we choose” – a spiritual journey to discover what is truly important in our life.

The movie has a quirky cast of characters who meet up with Tom on The Camino de Santiago in Spain, also known as THE WAY.  These characters, including Tom have set out on a pilgrimage to resolve  personal issues; cigarette smoking, weight loss, writer’s block, and the death of Tom’s son.   But, as these pilgrims travel together, providing the audience with lots of reasons to laugh, feel joy and sometimes sadness, they, along with the audience, discover it was more than their individual journey’s, it was an unfolding of the rich unity of life.  Like the three musketeers, all for one and one for all.

The film opened this week and I highly recommend you stop in for the journey.

Posted by:  Nancy Levenson, NamasteWorks Yoga + Wellness, 5860 S. Curtice Street, Littleton, CO 80120

200 HR INTEGRATIVE YOGA THERAPY TEACHER TRAINING 
Free Program Spotlight – Tomorrow Evening
September 7th, Wednesday Evening
5:30-6:30 pm

Free Yoga in the Park
8:15-9:15, Saturday 9/3

Please come join us tomorrow morning for the final day of the 2011 Season of Free Yoga in the Park – Highlands Ranch. Our last morning to come together as community over this lovely Labor Day weekend and step into the mind/body park of Civic Green.

Guiding the practice tomorrow is Jenny, along with almost all the instructors who have given of themselves to bring you a summer of Yoga. We hope you can join us, bring a neighbor or two and introduce them to Yoga in the Park! Remember, you can join us indoors this fall, visit our site to see our classes, workshops and retreats – and like us on facebook, tell us what you thought about the program this year and keep up with us until we step together on the mat again!

Namaste
Nancy, Jenny, Sue, Renee, Jena, Barbara, Angie, Sasha & Meghan

Program has been sponsored by NamasteWorks Yoga + Wellness, the Highlands Ranch Metro District and Stonewear Designs.

NO, NO, NO, Yoga in the Park this upcoming Saturday, we had a conflict in the schedule with another event and will not be there on 8/27.  Our last two classes will be next Wednesday 8/31  when Sue leads the practice and we close Labor Day Weekend, Saturday, September 3^rd, with Jenny and Nancy.   Please come bid farewell to the summer series with us on one of these remaining days.

In the style of our teaching at Yoga in the Park this year, Jenny, Sue, Renee and I encourage you to come indoors and join one of our Breath with Movement classes.  8 week class session are $99.  It’s so easy to hibernate indoors  once the sky turns dark, so why not join us and keep centered in your practice and true self.

We also offer many workshop series, including; Finding the Angel Within, The Joyful Warrior, Making Peace with Migraine Headaches and Yoga for Type II Diabetes.  Our classes fill up fast, so we encourage you to review the fall listing and contact us at 303.725.1434 to reserve a space. 

And if you’ve contemplated bringing the Healing Art of Yoga to others, join us for our 200 HR Integrative Yoga Therapy Teacher Training starting January 2012.

Namaste and thank you for sharing the park with us this summer in the collective spirit of community.  Please like us on facebook and keep up with us until next summer.