Queen Street Yoga October Newsletter

[Queen Street Yoga]

Queen Street Yoga Newsletter

This newsletter comes to you a wee bit early because we want to remind of you of our Birthday Celebration on Sunday, September 26th! Please join us for the Celebration with free yoga, good food and great people (one of them being you, of course!). Please see the details below.

October 11th, Thanksgiving Monday classes:

9:30am with Meaghan

6:00pm Level 1-2 with Meaghan

7:45pm Level 1 and Intro Combined with Kunga

New classes to check out:

Mondays 7:45pm Level 1 with Kunga

Wednesdays 6:00pm Restorative Yoga with Lindsay

Thursdays 9:30am Open Level with Lindsay

The Community Class has moved to Thursdays at 6pm

2 for 1 Fridays! When you attend the Friday Noon Express class, you can stay for the 1pm Restorative class for the price of one regular class pass! End off your week to with two sweet hours of Yoga. (If you have an express pass you must use two passes to attend both.)

The News:

1) Our 5th Birthday! Free Yoga Class and Potluck

2) Yoga and Meditation Retreat in Fergus

3) Meditation Courses

4) Partner Yoga with Lindsay

5) Parent and Peanut Classes: Date Change

6) Stress Reduction and Body Awareness: The Life Art Process

7) Handstand Workshop with Leena

8) Home Practice Workshop with Meaghan

9) Yoga for Trauma and Stress with Hart Lazer

10) Intro Classes for October, please share with friends!

11) Our Birthday Sale: $25 off the 3 month Unlimited pass

12) A Note from Meaghan

1) Happy Birthday to all of us!

Wow! This September will mark the 5th Anniversary of QSY.  5 Years! 5 years of stretching and sweating, breathing and moving, of sitting still and being, of being TOGETHER on this path.  I would like to offer a free class, as a tiny token of my gratitude to all of you for making this happen. Following will be a potluck, bring whatever you like to offer to the meal.

 

Sunday September 26th: Meditation 3:00-3:30pm, Yoga class 3:45-5pm, Potluck 5pm - whenever!  We are working on live musicians to entertain us through dinner! Feel to come to any part of this event.

2) QSY 2nd Annual Yoga and Meditation Retreat

With Meaghan and Lindsay at Soul Garden Retreat Centre in Fergus

October 15th - 17th.  Here is the schedule for the weekend:

Friday

6:00-7:00pm arrive, get settled

7:00-7:30pm Introductions

7:30-9:30 Restorative Yoga and Meditation with Meaghan

Saturday

7:00 am light breakfast and tea

7:30-8:30am Embodiment Practices and Meditation with Meaghan

8:30-10:30 Flow and Breath with Lindsay

10:30-11:30 Brunch

11:30-2:00pm Time to Explore: the sauna, the hot tub, a nap, journaling, country side walks and options for creative explorations

2:00-5:00pm Yoga and Meditation with Meaghan

5:30 Dinner at local Indian Restaurant

8:00 Campfire Singalong with Charlena Russell (Hot Tub and Sauna time too!)

Sunday

7:00 light breakfast and tea

7:30-8:30am Embodiment Practices and Meditation with Meaghan

8:30-10:30 Yoga Together! with Meaghan and Lindsay

10:30-11:30 Brunch

11:30-12:30 Closing Activities

After packing up your things, feel free to enjoy the beauty of Fergus and Elora with your relaxed and embodied self.

Cost:

Residential (includes rooms two nights, brunch and snacks Sat. and Sun.) $350 plus HST

Non Residential (includes brunch and snacks Sat. and Sun.) $280 plus HST

Dinner Saturday night, we recommend bringing $20-25

Location: Soul Garden Retreat Centre : http://www.soulgardenretreat.com/ just 40min away in Fergus!

Please register in advance, space is limited!

3) Meditation Courses for October

Drop-in Meditation with Kunga is now at 7:30pm on Tuesdays! Cost is by donation.

BodyMind Meditation with Nancy: Wednesdays, 6-7pm starts October 13th to December 1st.

This 8 week course is designed to gently ease you out of the busy, "stressed out" thinking mind into a place of wholeness that welcomes the felt sense of the physical body. We begin by focusing on the breath, bringing awareness into the present moment. We work with the practice of bringing mindfulness into everyday life - washing the dishes, sitting at the computer or eating a meal. We begin to develop sensory clarity by focusing on body sensations, sight, sound, and the thinking mind, and talk about working with difficult emotions such as anxiety, anger or hurt. Finally, we touch upon forgiveness of others and ourselves. Each class includes a short talk, sitting practice and question time.

4) Partner Yoga with Lindsay! Friday October 1st, 7:30-9:30pm

Cost: $43 (includes HST) for two people. Space is limited, be sure to register in advance.

5) Parent and Peanut Classes with Julie Date Change!

Wednesdays 11am-12:15pm. October 13th- November 17th

$96, includes HST

If you are a new parent, please join us. If you know a new parent, please pass this along to them! Please see the Yoga Styles page on the website for a description.

6) Stress Reduction and Body Awareness/The Life Art Process with Nancy Leach

Sundays 3:00-5:00pm, October 24 to November 28, 2010

Cost: $135 (price includes the HST)

This class is built on a continuous creative interplay between movement, expressive art, reflection, writing and dialogue. Each class begins with a simple movement resource. Immersing ourselves completely in the moment, we give ourselves over to arising sensation, feeling, image or thought. Without reservation or judgment we welcome whatever in us wants to come forward. We cultivate the willingness to witness, surrender, deconstruct, rebuild, not know, let go of attachments to what will happen, take risks, welcome the shadow - and celebrate the breakthrough into a new form or way of being.

* Week One: Self Portrait

* Week Two: Going Deeper with the Self Portrait

* Week Three: Mask and Unmask

* Week Four: Finding Your Animal Ally

* Week Five: Steering into the Skid

* Week Six: Opening and Closing

Please dress comfortably, and bring a pen and journal. Art materials will be supplied. No prior experience necessary.

7) Handstands Workshop with Leena

Saturday October 23rd 1:30-4:00pm. $32 ($25 for students), taxes included

This workshop was sooo successful (as in, we are seeing students pop up in handstands all over the place!) that we are offering again this fall! In this playful workshop we'll look at all the steps to turn your world upside down in a safe and empowering way! You will learn techniques and poses to:

* Strengthen the upper body for greater confidence

* Prevent injury and compression in the wrists and shoulders

* Open the hips for kicking up

* Kick up successfully

* Balance from the wall

* Rest the arms, shoulders and legs well afterwards

Being able to do a handstand already is not a prerequisite for this workshop; however, 3-6 months of consistent yoga study and confidence with downward-facing dog pose is recommended. The workshop will emphasize a progressive approach, celebrating and enjoying each part of the journey, no matter your previous experience with the pose.

8) Home Practice Workshop with Meaghan

2 parts: Monday October 25th and Monday November 1st, 7:45-9:30pm Cost: $45 (HST included) This workshop is limited to 10 people, so please register ahead of time!

If you are trying to practice at home, but finding it hard to get motivated, or are unsure of what to do, then this is the workshop for you. This workshop will be helpful for both beginners and seasoned practitioners.  In this new 2 part format, we will develop a practice plan in the first workshop, and in the second workshop we will bring up questions and refine our practice based on our week's experience.

Why have a home practice? To me, class is where I come for community, inspiration and challenge and my daily home practice is where I get to come home to myself, learn and open to who and how I am, as well as do the poses that my body needs specifically to restore and balance from the demands of daily life. Home practice at first for me was a great struggle, and now is a total joy some days and basic maintenance on others, but always with me.

9) Yoga and Meditation for Stress and Trauma with Hart Lazer

This is some of the best work I have ever done with Hart (teacher of many of the QSY teachers). Through this workshop I felt some real shifts in understanding myself and also dealing with stress in my life.  Please feel free to ask me questions if you are considering this workshop and want to know more.

November 5-7, 2010: Workshop 1

We all have an individualized code for holding tension and stress.

Establish a skillful understanding of your own body’s code and its messages regarding stress and trauma; develop strengths and tools through yoga and meditation in order to build your capacity and be present with these experiences.

Location:  Queen Street Yoga, Kitchener

February 11-13, 2011: Workshop 2 (pre-requisite, 1st workshop or equivalent)

Explore the inner dialogue between our woundedness and its connections to our daily thought processes, our chronic body pain and tension which often masks depression. Through asana and meditation discover how feelings such as guilt, betrayal and lack of self acceptance are held in your body/mind complex. Develop skills to look at and step out of these deeply held body patterns and beliefs.

Location:  Temple Studios, Guelph

Cost:

Individual Workshops: early bird $295 + HST  (by October 15, 2010); late registration $350 + HST (after October 15, 2010)

Both Workshops: early bird $575 + HST (by October 15, 2010); late registration $625 + HST (after October 15, 2010)

10) Introduction to Yoga at Queen Street Yoga

As many of you have taken an Intro with us, you know that we really pride ourselves on this course because we teach how to do yoga in a way that is safe, effective, accessible and fun.  If there is anyone you think would benefit from taking this course, we really appreciate you passing on this information.  Thank you!!

Thursdays, 7:45pm, with Lindsay, October 7th - November 25th

Sundays, 10am, with Kymberley, October 17th - December 5th

Wednesdays, 5:45pm, with Kunga,  October 20th - December 8th

11) Our Birthday Sale

From September 1st-31st take $25 off our 3 Month Unlimited Pass! $5 bucks off for each year we have been together! Birthday Price: $295 (HST included, Reg. $320)

12) A Note from Meaghan

Well, so far this month has been a blur of activity.  The fall is always busy at QSY and we are so happy to get back into the groove with you.

I am relishing my Monday night class, and find it really "interesting" to be dedicating so much time to the administration of the studio.  It is like stretching new muscles for me, being organized, sitting at the computer, really trying hard to get things done, on time, etc.  I am not sure if anyone will even notice, but just like yoga practice, I am stretching these muscles for my own growth, my own capacity! And hopefully with these new muscles I can better respond to the needs of the world around me.

I am off this week to Earth Dance in Mass. for a workshop on embodied anatomy to continue my fascination with movement from my organs! Ask me in person if you want to know about that!

I hope to see many of you at the free class and potluck on the 26th and also at the retreat!  I am really looking forward to both of them!

Here's to flexing new muscles and trying new things!

Yours,

Meaghan and the QSY crew.

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Queen Street Yoga
44 Queen St South
Kitchener

519-741-YOGA
www.queenstreetyoga.com