JLYC News
Namasté: A Class of Appreciation
Namasté is a gesture of honor and respect, a bowing to our common humanity, a conscious moment of gratitude. In recognition of the students who have been with us for many years, Julie taught a class to honor JLYC’s loyal, long time students.
On January 26th, twenty-eight students who had taken classes at JLYC consistently for at least 6 years came together to practice with Julie and reflect on the relevance that yoga has had in their lives.
Below are just some of the comments from the participants when they were
asked to reflect on the relevance yoga has had on their life. The list
is long and varied, but the common thread is that yoga brings sanity,
clarity and peace to busy lives. Yoga is more than a tool for transformation;
it is a lifestyle.
| • I have more endurance and courage |
| • I have learned to turn anger into love |
| • Development of my interior focus |
| • Yoga teaches detachment, acceptance, and contentment |
| • Appreciation of this moment |
| • The ability to run more often and further |
| • I feel like I am slowing the forces of aging with yoga |
| • Not running on nervous energy as much |
| • Connected |
| • Release of anger |
| • A sense of balance |
| • Self-confidence, trust, strength |
| • Lets me know I can continue to do physical things |
| • Carriage and centering |
| • Helps reduce stress |
| • Physical release, relaxation, mindfulness |
| • Reflection, commitment |
| • Slows me down |
| • Respect for my inner self |
| • Yoga teaches me body awareness and how to breathe |
| • Yoga is a grounding thread, regardless of the ups and downs of my life |
| • Peace, acceptance, groundedness |
| • Yoga acquaints me with my body |
| • Yoga gives me a calmness that enables me “do it all” |
| • Flexibility, patience, compassion, openness |
| • Discipline |
| • Hear the silence |
| • Yoga gives me balance, calm and the ability to find good in everyone |
| • Energy and a sense of balance |
| • Calming, centering, relaxing, and flexible |
| • Yoga brings me back to my true self |
| • Yoga practice gives me calm, strength and confidence |
Portland Chosen for Iyengar Yoga Convention
We are happy and honored to announce that Portland has been chosen as the site for the next Iyengar Yoga national convention. Julie Lawrence, Tonya Garreaud and Nina Pileggi put together a proposal for the 2010 convention and it was unanimously accepted by the IYNAUS board. At Geeta Iyengar’s request, the convention is especially for certified Iyengar Yoga teachers and teachers who have passed the teacher-in-training assessment.
The dates are May 12-16, 2010. Mark your calendars, as there will be many opportunities to volunteer your services. For students, volunteering for this event is a great opportunity – you get to participate in the larger yoga community and you might even get to watch some of the classes.
JLYC on the Cutting Edge of Science
The Julie Lawrence Yoga Center is participating in a study funded by the National Institutes of Health that is being conducted by Portland’s Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research. We are excited to have been asked to bring our knowledge and expertise of yoga to this well-designed study. The study focuses on helping overweight teen girls develop a healthier lifestyle and manage their weight. The intervention includes nutritional education for the teens and their parents, suggestions for “found” exercise as well as the active involvement of the teen’s primary care physician. As one component of the intervention, Tonya Garreaud and Jane Carlsen are teaching weekly yoga classes for the teens, offering them an accessible form of exercise, a way to help them reduce stress and feel better about themselves. Julie Lawrence is supervising the yoga portion of this two-year study.
