New Sunday $5 Classes!

[Kathleen Kastner]

"In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway."

-Mother Teresa.”

Dear Friends-

We are excited to announce our new Sunday Community Classes beginning Oct 3rd for $5 (plus tax).  (Classes are included in your new student special, monthly and auto renew memberships.)

Sunday Intro to Ashtanga 10-11am, with Kathleen and Wade  $5! 

Sunday Meditation Class: 11-11:45am with Kathleen and Wade $5!

We will begin with pranayama ( breathing exercises) to quiet the mind, then sit for 15 minutes, break for a spiritual reading, then sit another 10 minutes, so you will not be sitting for 45 min straight!

We all need to work on quieting our minds, so we can deepen our connection with our spirits and God.  Meditation helps you to be more disciplined, conscious and clear about every area of your life such as, exercise, diet, finances, relationships, life purpose and career.  It also helps you to control your addictions, moods and emotions so you are more patient and loving towards yourself and everyone around you.  

Everyone benefits when our minds our aligned more fully with Divine Mind, which is the true meaning of yoga, "to yoke or have union with the divine," the God of your knowing.

NEW College Student monthly auto renew rate: $90, plus tax (3 month commitment)

NEW Prenatal Class on Thursdays with Jessica Rousseau: 3-4:30pm

The prenatal yoga class is a meditative flow connecting breath and postures with intuitive women's wisdom. This class will be centered around helping mama be comfortable in her changing body as the baby grows and develops while providing a comfortable setting with other expecting mothers.  No previous yoga experience is required.

Single class $15 or 8 week session for $80, checks and cash only.  Please email jessi...@gmail.com to sign up for the class.  Payment will go to Jessica directly, not to Maya Yoga.

MAYA MOVIE NIGHT:  Fri Oct 15th 7:30pm!  $5 cash donation- all proceeds will go to film maker.  Bring a pillow and popcorn!

"May I Be Frank" – A film about a transformation from sex and drugs to a vegan lifestyle.

trailer: http://mayibefrankmovie.com/!

May I Be Frank documents the transformation of Frank Ferrante’s life. Frank is 54 years old, obese, depressed and addicted. He stumbles into a local raw, organic and vegan restaurant in San Francisco, Café Gratitude.  When Ryland, a server at Café Gratitude asks Frank “What is one thing you want to do before you die?” Frank replies, “I want to fall in love one more time, but no one will love me looking the way I do”.

Ryland, his brother Cary, and Conor, his best friend, are inspired by the possibility of helping Frank.  For the next 42 days, Frank will eat only raw food, practice gratitude, visit local holistic practitioners, and get a weekly colonic.  Ryland, Conor, and Cary get to support Frank’s miraculous transformation.  Frank gets a new body, a clearer mind, and most importantly, a soaring spirit. May I Be Frank documents the essence of the human condition and what it truly means to fall in love again.

MEDITATION ARTICLE:  I wrote this article a few years ago for Yoga Magazine, I hope it will help inspire you to establish a daily meditation practice.

God is in the Silence by Kathleen Kastner

“Everything else can wait, but your search for God cannot wait.” -Paramahansa Yogananda

The great yogic philosopher, Patanjalim defined yoga as: “yogas citta vrtti nirodaha”, yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.  Notice he didn't say, “He who does handstand best is the most enlightened!”  However, instead of adopting a regular meditation practice, we spend hours on the mat doing MORE asana (postures), in search of clarity, self -acceptance, and a deeper meaning to our lives. Because the ego mind can be preoccupied with fear, worry, and doubt, it is threatened by meditation and therefore encourages us to do MORE physical activity, whether it be asana, jogging, cleaning our house, checking our email, or anything to distract us from our meditation practice.

As yogis, many times we forget that being strong and flexible isn’t the cure all to a happy and peaceful life.  In fact, sometimes we feel even more lost and confused after a strong asana practice, because all kinds of questions begin to surface from the depths of our being and we need more time in savasana and meditation to get quiet and clear.  This is one of the many reasons why it is important to practice the seventh limb, dhyana (meditation), of Patajalim's eight limb path.

 

My first yoga teacher once said, her greatest goal in life was to know God better.  I remember thinking what she said was very commendable, but I definitely didn’t understand the magnitude of what she was saying at the time, because I was more interested in sweating and working out unfortunately.  However, seventeen years later, I think I am beginning to understand what she was seeking in her relationship with God. (Interestingly enough she passed in her 30's and  is now in full communion with God as she desired, bless you Trish.)

 

When we cease the chatter of the mind through meditation, we create space for the Divine to connect with us. God is always trying to communicate with us, but are we listening, or are we too busy trying to get somewhere on the mat, or in our lives? Many times we are reluctant to sit down to meditate, due to a perceived lack of time, or maybe the fear of the unknown; the fear that maybe God has something to tell us that we aren’t ready to face, like the end of a relationship or a career that is not aligned with our highest good anymore.   So in turn, we resist being still and miss an opportunity to change our lives for the better.  We would rather stay feeling confused, frustrated, and physically “fit,” instead of seeking personal growth through connecting with God in the silence.

 

The habit of jumping out of bed in the morning, turning on the computer, radio, tv, coffee maker, and reading the newspaper, only creates more vrttis (chatter) in the mind.  I suggest doing your meditation practice first thing upon waking and spend some quality quiet time deepening your connection with God first, before you go about your morning routine, otherwise it is very easy to run out of time, before you need to leave the house.  I like to sit facing east to feel the sun on my face.  Yogananda suggests getting 10 minutes of daily sunshine,"sun baths," to charge body with the life force of the sun.

Quiet time in the morning will help you be more kind and patient with yourself and everyone you come into contact with throughout your day, such as your partner, children, pets, co-workers, strangers, people in traffic, etc.

Every time you meditate you are helping to align your mind with Divine Mind,  Universal Intelligence, which are thoughts based on love, patience, forgiveness, gratitude and service to the planet.  

You will have a greater ability to make more conscious choices in your life, with less stress and drama!  Meditation will also help you to stop repeating self-destructive patterns and addictions in your life that aren't serving your highest good.  As you deepen your meditation practice, your need  to self-destruct will begin to diminish greatly and eventually all together, because you will begin to love and respect yourself more fully.

I also suggest meditating before you go to sleep, so you can give gratitude for the day's events and clear your mind of any worry, so you can sleep peacefully.

 

Meditation, like asana, just takes PRACTICE and dedication.  The effects are accumulative, so even 5 minutes, two times a day, morning and night, can help you to have a more peaceful and purposeful life.

The use of mantra in meditation can be very helpful to cease the mind "chatties." . The sanskrit word “mantra”, means “instrument for the mind,” and the first mantra ever given to me was by a very hip Presbyterian female minister from San Fran, whom I met in a yoga training at Mount Madona Ashram in CA many years ago.   

The mantra is: ”Be Still and Know.”

 This mantra comes from Psalm 46, “Be still and know that I am God.”

On the inhalation, say silently to yourself, “Be still,” and on the exhalation say, “And know.”

It is as if God is saying to our minds, “Be still and know that I AM GOD, and that I am taking care of all the details of you life, if you would just be willing to surrender them to me.”

 

If you do an inventory of your past, hopefully you will realize how life's challenges always seem to have a way of working themselves out over time, maybe not the way you planned, but they usually work out for the highest good for your soul’s learning and for the highest good of all involved. We must remember this during times of deep despair and crisis-God ALWAYS has a plan.  Meditation helps us to get clear on the divine plan for our lives.

 

I encourage you to make time daily for the most important relationship in your life, the one with God, and experience the unconditional love, acceptance and guidance that resides within you, in every moment.

 

Meditate for yourself and as an offering to peace for ALL beings everywhere. 

 

We hope to see you Sunday- keep practicing and meditating!

love and light,

Kathleen and Wade

www.mayayoga.com

kath...@mayayoga.com

wa...@mayayoga.com

"I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights.  

That is the way of a whole human being." -Abraham Lincoln

End animal cruelty - GO VEGAN!