Yoga Weight Loss Group Training

Dean’s Yoga Weight Loss Group Training

Meets Tuesday and Thursday at 6:45 for 4weeks at the WRAC in Wenatchee, WA 98801

Starting Date: September 17- October 10, 2013

Cost: $79 for the entire session, $20 drop-in

Where:  Gym and Studio

What I know:

Research shows that a regular yoga practice along with a healthy food plan can help achieve weight loss and weight maintenance.   I also know that the commitment to weight loss becomes easier in a supportive community.

You bring:

1.     A compelling reason to lose weight

2.     An openness to follow the program for 4weeks

3.     A desire to be part of a community of like-minded supportive people

What I provide:

1.     A twice-weekly group yoga practice including specific asana (postures) and pranayama (breathing exercises) with a Savasana Meditation focusing on improving your body image and achieving your weight loss goals.

2.     A simple yoga practice you do daily at home.

3.     Guidance for a short meditation practice at home.

What you’ll do:

1.     A fun yoga practice in a group twice a week and an easy, quick practice daily at home.

2.     Pick your own healthy food plan and commit to following it with awareness.

3.     Plan your meals and snacks.

4.     A short daily meditation.

5.     Breathe!

6.     Establish some simple lifestyle habits that increase weight loss and maintenance.

Gentle Yoga Flow

I was asked me to post my basic Gentle Yoga Flow practice. Here it is. Join me tonight at the WRAC at 5:30 if you want to try it out.


Gentle Yoga Flow

1. Starting on the back with knees bent---3 part breath.
2. Move to sitting---6th Chakra clearing
3. Come to all fours for Cat (Valasana) Flow
4. Chakravakasana---On hands and knees--- lifting alternate legs and extending them back---add arms if okay.
5. Balasana---Child’s Pose
6. Slow Ardha Vinyasa 3X---start on all fours (inhale) lower to the floor (exhale), to cobra (inhale), to child’s pose (exhale)
7. Down Dog to standing
8. Easy forward fold (knees slightly bent) Uttanasana
9. Utkatasana (Chair)
10. Warrior Series----I, II, Triangle, Twisting Triangle, Warrior I---repeat on the other side
11. Standing Poses---Tadasana, Parsva Tadasana—side to side, Gurudasana---Eagle, Modified Utthita Pada Gusthasana---standing hands under thigh, Warrior III
12. Slow easy vinyasa to the floor for Salabhasana---modified Locust pose. One arm and leg at a time. Optional both hands and legs
13. Move back to Balasana and Parivritta Balasana
14. Seated Poses starting with supported boat pose, hands on floor behind you---Navasana
15. Janu Sirsasana and then bend the knee for Marichyasana B
16. Baddha Konasana
17. Paschimottanasana
18. Setu Bandhasana---Bridge Pose
19. Dead Bug or Half Shoulder Stand
20. Jathari Parivartanasana---turning around the body
21. Savasana


Namaste,


Dean

September!

Where have I been? Busy enjoying the summer but it is time to get into September. Yoga sutra 1:1, "Atha Yoga Anushasanam!" Now begins the study of yoga!

On Tuesday, September 13, at 5:30 pm, I start leading a Basic Yoga Flow practice at the WRAC. It is 40-45 minutes of bliss! The practice moves at a gentler and slower speed than my Power Class but you still get stronger, more flexible, and dump some stress along the way. The asanas and the progression through them will pretty much stay the same from class to class (with maybe a few surprises) so it is a comfortable practice as well.

I'm still teaching Hot Power Yoga at 6:45 pm on Monday and Wednesdays.

If you want a pass for 3 free classes just let me know!

I went to the R.I.P.P.E.D instructor training last weekend. It was a blast! It shot me right out of my comfort zone---always a good thing! The workout is based on high intensity interval training so it MOVES! Take a look at rippedusa.com.

Speaking of ripped, now go read this article by Tim Henriques on steady-state walking---the opposite of high intenisty interval training.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/get_ripped_get_walking

Greet the day and the new month with a deep breath and gratitude!

Namaste,

Dean

Last night at WVC

The lesson last night was practicing flexibility in all forms.

The room had been double booked and it seems no one had been told. The Power Class went with me to another location off campus but unfortunately the message didn't get to the Back/Gentle Class and they went home. My sincerest apologies.

For the next 3 weeks, the Tuesday night classes will be in Van Tassel in the room across from the cafeteria entrance. That's where we held the first class of the quarter.

Again, I apologize for the mix up. Things should be better for the rest of the quarter. If you have friends or family that would like to try the class---please bring them!

I'll make the Back Class a little longer for the rest of the quarter to make up for the missed class.

I've decided to take a break from teaching at the college. I won't be offering my class either Spring or Summer Quarter. You are always welcome at the WRAC. Come try it out for free. Just tell the front desk you are my guest and you want to try a class. If you decide to continue, the classes only cost $8. It is a great deal.

Namaste,

Dean

WVC Class Starts Tonight

We're starting a new quarter at WVC tonight. It is 5:30 pm for Power and the Back/Gentler Class is at 6:45. There is still time to show up and still time to register even if you can't make it tonight. This class relies mostly on word-of-mouth, so please tell your friends about it. Go to www.wvc.edu and hit Continuing Education.

Tonight's class will not be in the Campus Theater. The Drama department needs the stage just for tonight. Our class will be in Van Tassell in the conference room right across from the Cafeteria. It is a great room with windows. The rest of the classes should be back in the Campus Theater.

I did a bunch of Chatturangas earlier today so my triceps are talking to me. Telling them, "Thanks for sharing," isn't quite getting them to stop complaining. Speaking of talking to your body, try just for a day to talk to your body with encouragement and love. Tell it how great it is. Tell it how much you love it, even if you don't. Everyone does better with encouragement and praise. How about you give it to your body and see what happens? One day---how easy is that?

I hope to see some of you tonight out at WVC!

Namaste,

Dean

Class starts next week

Classes start at Wenatchee Valley College next Tuesday, June 29. Power Yoga is at 5:30 and the gentle, Yoga For Backs class starts at 6:30.

Practicing yoga with a group of wonderful, supportive people in the summer---does it get any better than that?

If you are worried about the Power Yoga class being too much---although you should always do less than you can---come and try it before you register.

To register, go to www.wvc.edu and click on Continuing Education. The classes are under the category, Health and Wellness.

Namaste,

Dean

So Hum

SO HUM---Say it just like it is spelled---SO HUM. Now breathe in and silently say SO. On the exhale, silently say HUM. Close your eyes and keep going. You are using the mantra SO HUM to concentrate on your breath. This is basic meditation.

If you want, find a comfortable seated position with your feet flat on the floor. If your mind wanders, come back to your inspiration, your exhale and SO HUM. Start with 5 minutes and work your way up to 20-30.

SO can be translated as "I am" and HUM can be translated as "That". SO HUM can mean, "I am That"---that breathing through us all.

Namaste,


Dean

Happy 2010!

Winter Quarter class starts tonight at Wenatchee Valley College! It will be great to see everyone. If you know someone on the edge of trying the class have them come and try it out before they sign up. As of this morning, there were still places in both the Vinyasa Power Yoga Class and the Back Yoga Class. We'll do Surya Namaskaras---Sun Salutations---until it is suddenly Spring!

Namaste,

Dean

Falling

In class, I pretty much always say to a person that falls out of a standing pose, "Extra points for falling!"

I don' t want people to hurt themselves, but I don't want them to be embarrassed by coming out-of-balance. As a kid, didn't you love testing your balance? Didn't falling just mean getting up and trying again? We need to cultivate the same quality in our practice and in our lives.

It is only by finding our selves out-of-balance that we are aware of when we are in-balance. So how about feeling some gratitude for falling?

It is recommended that you sit part of the day on the floor. Your risk of falling decreases and your yoga practice improves by simply getting down on the floor and sitting for at least fifteen minutes a day. What a simple elegant practice! Sit down, come to your breath, and you are doing yoga. Now that is balance.

My fall schedule is in full swing! Please feel free to drop in on any class and give it a try.

I'll be teaching at the WALE Conference, October 2, at the Wenatchee Convention Center at 7:15 am and 4:15 pm. Both classes will be gentle with mostly standing poses and restorative chair poses. I don't know the room numbers, but if you are prepared to scout around a little, you are welcome to attend.

Namaste,

Dean

Is it working?

Maybe it is enough to just remind ourselves that no matter however we perform these 5,000 year-old poses they work.

Sometimes I think I haven't progressed at all. I have a lot of the same old obstacles in my practice and my life. My inner dialog usually runs something like this: "You know nothing. How could you possibly teach? Your hips are tighter than ever. You sweat too much. You aren't breathing correctly. Stop enjoying this. Why aren't you enjoying this? Your life is a mess. Look in the mirror. Stop looking in the mirror."

For me the self-criticizing inner voice is where the struggle really is and thank God for the mat. Right there, on the floor, I'm confronted by my ever present fearful and critical self. That voice is unforgiving, never satisfied, and a task master. It is voice of the ego. I know that no matter what pose I'm in, my task is to be aware of that voice and accept it for what it is. I am not that voice. I can't fight it, I can only breathe into it and allow it to slowly quiet down.

The incredible thing about yoga is that no matter how we approach it, it works. What ever position we are in, we're going to come right up against our egos, who think they are running the show and our bodies. The wonderful thing is that there is something else in us that is loving, accepting, and on our side. As we quiet the ego, there it is, just a breath away.

Namaste,

Dean

Back Yoga Class

Dean Marney Back Yoga

THE 10 MINUTE HOME SEQUENCE


Dirgha Pranayama---3 part breath---do 5.

From standing, step back with the right foot and turn it out slightly. Bend the left knee, navel and face forward, raise your arms, palms toward each other and come into Virahabdrasana I, Warrior I. Hold for 3-5 deep breaths.

Turn your body to the right, arms come down to shoulder lever, palms toward the floor, face forward, you are in Warrior II. Hold for 3-5 breaths.
Put your left hand on your left leg and straighten it moving into Trikonasana, Triangle. Hold for 3-5 breaths.

Bend your left knee and come back up to Virahabdrasaana II, Warrior II. Hold for 3-5 breaths.

Turn your body forward raising your arms back into Virahabdrasana I, Warrior I. Breathe deep for 3-5 breaths.

Big breath in and on the exhale bring the right foot up to meet the left letting your hands come to prayer position in front of your heart.

Repeat on the other side.

When you’ve done both sides, take a few minutes to just relax and watch your breath. Just watching without changing your breath leads your mind and body into a wonderful state of aware relaxation.