Welcome, Emma, our newest teacher!

We're thrilled to welcome Emma Silverman into the Mighty family! Trained in the Kripalu style of yoga, she also brings knowledge of Iyengar, Bikram, Ashtanga, Kundalini and Vinyasa flow to her teaching. Meet Emma Monday nights @ 7:30pm, one of our new Pay-What-You-Can classes!

How did you come to yoga?
Emma: I took my first class with my mom when I was 12. It was on and off for awhile, until I moved to the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health and started volunteering there. Since then, I've done yoga every day, whether on or off the mat.

What do you like about Power Yoga?
Emma: Sometimes, the only way to still the mind is to move the body. I believe that there is a style of yoga for us at every stage of our lives; right now, the amazing calm I feel after a Power Yoga class is exactly what I need.

How has your yoga changed since the first time you practiced?
Emma: I used to be a chronic look-around-the-room yogini. I compared myself to everyone. These days, I steer clear of beating myself up if I'm the only person in the room in child's pose. I can't know what the other people in the room have been through to get onto the mat that day-- only what brought me.

Why did you decide to teach yoga?
Emma: In the years preceding my decision to teach, I was first a Project Manager at a software company. I traveled half of the month and worked all of the time. Then I moved to Mexico City and promptly developed a mild form of asthma from the pollution. After those years, my body was wrecked. Yoga made me feel like myself again and, like so many other teachers, I decided to teach my passion and share the love!

Any tips for someone new to yoga?
Emma: The hardest step is showing up. Once you do that, the teachers and the practice will support you.

What is your favorite pose or poses? Why?
Emma: Savasana. A friend once said that they can tell how good a class was for them by how deeply they go into final relaxation. Totally true. I often end and begin my classes in Savasana; I'm a big fan of things coming full circle.

What do you like to do off the yoga mat?
Emma: Biking. I once biked from Ithaca to Ann Arbor, MI and bicycle commute year-round. Ithaca is amazing for hiking, too. After moving here from Madison, Wisconsin, I realized how much I had missed hiking. In nerdier pursuits, I love crosswords, the Sunday New York Times, libraries, and co-ops of all kinds.

What fuels you?
Emma: Banana chocolate peanut butter smoothies.

Fall Schedule starts Monday, Aug 15th!

We've got more classes, more teachers, more fun at Mighty this fall! The new schedule starts next Monday, August 15th, so check out our online schedule to plan your fall mat time!

AND.......

Mark your calendars for our 2nd Anniversary Week Celebration. We're turning 2, and celebrating by offering classes for $2 all week long, from August 22nd - August 28th! So bring friends that week. It's going to be wild!

Welcome to our new teacher, Rachel!

We're so excited to welcome our newest teacher, Rachel VerValin, into the Mighty fold! She grew up near Binghamton and lived in Baltimore, Dallas and Brooklyn, before she called Ithaca her home. We wanted to know about her love of yoga and how she spends her time off the mat. Meet her in person this month on Wednesdays at 7:30pm in our new Pay-What-You-Can classes.

Mighty Yoga: How did you come to yoga?
Rachel: I've always been athletic, really enjoy my own quiet time, and love being in nature. Originally I found the principles of yoga through other sports - running track in high school, I realized I could control my heart rate with the breath. Competitive cheerleading gave me body awareness, and being a flyer (the girl up in the air) taught me the importance of a steady gaze (drishti) to maintain balance. Softball was great - there would be a super stressful moment, with runners on, 2 outs, I would be up to bat, and before I stepped up to the plate I would say to myself "the sky is blue, and it will still be blue no matter the outcome of this game." When I began to take Pilates and yoga in college I really enjoyed the linking of the breath to the body, and the use of breath to control and steady the mind, while getting a great workout.

MY: What do you like about Power Yoga?
Rachel: I love the fluid movement experienced in Vinyasa Flow - it's like a beautiful dance with your life energy. I had always felt something in my yoga classes, and then one day my teacher in Dallas, TX mentioned the prana life force flowing within us, and how this was linked to the breath. It all made sense! Using the flow to really feel the body and get inside helps to release and steady the mind, and then we can just hum through life with light and love.

MY: How has your yoga changed since the first time you practiced?
Rachel: I've become more humble. I've realized that it's not (really, it's not!) about flexibility of the body, but about flexibility of the mind. Humans use such a small percentage of our wonderful brains, and we create such great and magnificent things. Yoga helps to open up another part, peel back another layer - it's exciting to think about. We all have the ability and the control to change whatever we truly want, we just need clear access to a calm mind through yoga as a moving meditation.

MY: Why did you decide to teach yoga?
Rachel: I had always thought about teaching - I just wasn't sure what to teach. During the 2008 recession I was let go from my corporate 9-5 job as a graphic designer, and was able to dedicate all of my time to getting myself healthy and happy. I had been practicing yoga regularly, and I began to go to class almost every day. This daily yoga practice began to leak more and more into my daily life. I decided that this was what I wanted to teach - I knew that people needed the peace and calm I was feeling from yoga. I love to learn about the brain, body, mind, spirit, and share that with others, whether it is on or off the mat.

MY: Any tips for someone new to yoga?
Rachel: Honor YOUR body today - not the teachers, or the person next to you. We all have our own gifts and talents - I promise you that just because you can't touch your toes (and maybe you never will) does not make you less of a student of yoga. Yoga is about being truly present in life. Bring the calm you feel on the mat out into your daily life. Start to think about things happening because you want them to, not because "the world" made them happen to you - you are in control. Oh, and bring a towel to class - we will sweat!

MY: What is your favorite pose or poses? Why?
Rachel: If you can only practice one pose per day, please pick Trikonasana (triangle). This is a pose that encompasses so much, and is great for the body. There's a slight hip opening, a hamstring stretch, a heart opening, a spinal rotation. It's fun, and easy to remember for beginners - the pose looks like a triangle. I also really enjoy finding the tipping point in arm balances. It's great to find that perfect spot between grace and face plant :)

MY: What do you like to do off the yoga mat?
Rachel: I really love spending time with my animals, Mr. Leo the cat, and Vera the dog. Vera and I go hiking, hang out on the front porch reading books, and making things. I really love crafts: quilting, card making, sewing, knitting, pottery. I also really love to garden, cook, and bake. I try to make time to travel as much as possible - I've been all over the US, and internationally travelled to Puerto Rico, Spain, and Japan. I would love to go see Germany, Italy, India, Thailand, Bali - any place really!

MY: What fuels you?
Rachel: Bringing light and love to people, things, and situations each day. Walking with grace and dignity.

"I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel" - Maya Angelou

Pay What You Can in July + FUNdamentals

Visiting teacher from South Carolina, Katie Love, will teach Pay What You Can classes on Wednesday evenings, 7:30-8:30pm for the rest of July, starting tonight! These classes aren’t heated and are designed for beginning yogis. Mighty class passes may be used for these classes as well.

And remember, early bird registration for this Saturday's workshop, Power Flow FUNdamentals w/ Heather ends today! ($25 early bird/ $30 after 7/13). If you're looking for more time and instruction on some essential poses, this workshop is for you. Heather breaks down common poses, and there will be lots of time for practice, individual feedback and questions and answers. FUN, FUN, FUN! Cheesy enough for ya? =)

Feel free to come to either of these classes or workshops, and tell a friend!

Any requests for the Fall 2011 schedule? Let us know!

Though we're still in the midst of summer, we are already starting to plan for the fall schedule. If you have any requests or thoughts about class and workshop offerings, this is the time to let us know in a brief survey we created here. And, to add a little more incentive, those who complete the survey by July 8th can enter a drawing for a free Mighty Yoga T-shirt! So let us know what you'd like to see at the studio this fall. We love to hear from you as we do our best to make Mighty Yoga an even more inviting hOMe!

Survey link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L2DPXSX

Summer Nights @ Mighty Yoga

Still wondering how you're going to spend those long, hot, summer nights? Check out these special summer classes, as featured in this month's newsletter.

Spend the first Tuesdays of the month in Power Melt where we pair vigorous vinyasa with deep stretches that leave you boneless. On the third Tuesday of the month you can get your yoga on to an energizing music mix in Rockin' Flow. If you're looking for more balance in mind and body, check out a new Meditation class Thursday nights. And on Friday nights, learn to balance on your head, shoulders, hands and forearms in addition to your feet in Inversions 101.

See you on the mat this summer!

Power Melt w/ Jamie (all levels)
First Tuesdays of the month, 7:30 - 8:30 PM
July 5th, August 2nd

Rockin Flow w/ Jamie (all levels)
Third Tuesdays of the month, 7:30 - 8:30 PM
June 21st, July 19th, August 16th

Meditation w/ Dana (all levels)
Thursdays, 7:30 - 8:30 PM
$10 regular/$8 student; All passes accepted

Power Flow - Inversions 101 w/ Zainab (all levels)
Fridays, 6 - 7:15 PM

Meditate with Dana Kingsbury, our new teacher!

We're so excited to introduce Dana to the Mighty crew! She will be teaching Meditation Thursday nights (7:30-8:30pm), starting June 9th! Here's a little Q&A to start to get to know her.

Mighty Yoga: How did you come to meditation?
Dana Kingsbury: I was first introduced to meditation in 2008 during my graduate coursework in the Transpersonal Psychology Program at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Naropa is an established contemplative school that bridges Eastern and Western learning modalities to foster the whole student. Contemplative education is an academic setting infused with the experience of awareness, insight and compassion through the practice of sitting meditation and other disciplines. I enjoyed working one on one with a meditation coach during my first two-semesters of Meditation in the MA TCP, Art Therapy program.

MY: What do you like about power yoga/meditation?
DK: Strength and flexibility are the foundations of a good work out. Yoga is a tool to strengthen our core, and align body, mind, and spirit. Meditation is a way to bring great awareness into our physical movements, and to develop a healthy flow of balanced intention. Meditation creates a place of stillness that can be carried into more rigorous yoga workouts offered at Mighty Yoga. Even in the most challenging yoga poses, we can work with our breath and awareness with ease and grace to deepen our commitment to each moment during the workout.

MY: How has your yoga/meditation changed since the first time you practiced?
DK: I feel a deeper sense of embodiment now than I did when I first began my meditation and yoga practices. The breathing exercises and poses have become more natural to me, and I feel a greater sense of flow and presence both on and off the cushion/mat.

MY: Why did you decide to teach meditation?
DK: I am working towards a private holistic healing practice. I felt that Meditation Instruction was the first place to begin, because it represents a practice that is simple, sustainable, and can be done anywhere at any time. It is the basic practice of being fully present with ourselves in each moment. With many distractions and external stressors in today’s culture, the simple act of remaining clear and connected to true inner self through meditation can create a sense of balance and harmony in all that we do.

MY: Any tips for somebody new to meditation?
DK: To begin with curiosity, openness, and a sense of commitment. Also, to keep in mind that there will be challenging times during one’s practice, and that is ok, and is a natural part of starting something new. It is important to remain present and non-judgmental. To practice with love, and to appreciate the challenges as much as the fun times!

MY: What is your favorite pose? Why?
DK: Garudasana, or eagle pose. It calls on the inner stillness that is evoked through meditation to remain balanced and centered.

MY: What do you like to do off the yoga mat?
DK: I enjoy painting, jewelry making, pottery, gardening, reading, biking, dancing, singing, and cooking, to list a few. I also like to contribute to the community in any way I can.

MY: What fuels you?
DK: LOVE. A deep connection to my true self and to all things, and an intention to evoke this fullness of spirit within others.

Meet Dana on the meditation cushion next week!