Abhyasa Pilates and Yoga

Coming soon!
Fun and Fundamentals
A Mat Pilates Workshop for Absolute Beginners…
and anyone wanting a refresher on form

Date: Saturday, January 7, 2023
Time: 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Place: Sedona Fit
Cost: $25; $5 Sedona Fit Members
cash, check, or Venmo -LeFevre

In Mat Pilates, we work with our bodies to:
• increase bone density
• strengthen key stabilizer muscles to improve joint health
• build core strength, back strength, and pelvic stability
• create lean, long muscles
• experience greater flexibility and mobility

During this 90-minute workshop, you’ll learn about:
The Six Pilates Principles (centering, control, flow, breath, precision, concentration)
The 10 Pilates Movement Principles (breathing, lower core/pelvis, neutral/imprinted spine, ab strengthening, lumbo-pelvic stability, spine strength/mobility, shoulder stability/mobility, alignment/posture, release work, and stretching)
Application of these Principles in Mat Pilates through exercises that work in the body in all of these areas.

Happy New Year! Due to popular demand, I've been asked to launch a Beginning Mat Pilates class on Zoom (and in person if you're vaccinated and live in the Verde Valley).

Wednesday evenings, 5:30 CST/4:30 AZ time. Starting this Wed, January 5. $12 per class.

Interested? Drop me a line or ping me for all the details.

Sunday's class will be a hybrid yoga/pilates class, meaning lots of stretching and core work, in addition to balances and a few standing poses. We'll also think about the difference between gratitude and gratefulness--as one of my students recently send this article, which I found compelling. Hope to see you Sunday on zoom or in person. Have a lovely holiday!

The Opposite of Toxic Positivity “Tragic optimism” is the search for meaning during the inevitable tragedies of human existence, and is better for us than avoiding darkness and trying to “stay positive.”

Tomorrow's Gratitude Yoga focuses on balances, and is inspired by the Niyama Santosha, or contentment, and how to find Santosha in the midst of difficulty.
There is a paradox to Santosha: The more we seek it or need it to look or be a certain way, the more it eludes us. We have illusions about contentment; chaos, interruptions, internal or emotional disturbances, disturbances, boredom, depression… all of this, and more, can affect our sense of Santosha. But, being content with our discontentment is itself a gateway to the calm depths within. Building contentment with boredom, sadness, impatience, disappointment, struggle… all builds our ability to be that tall tree so rooted in the earth that great winds can’t topple it.
Swami Rama said: “Contentment is falling in love with your life.”
Please join us. 8 a.m. AZ time, 9 a.m. CST.
Contact me for the link and payment options ($12)

I don’t follow astrology so I don’t know if something was happening celestially, but was this a hard week for anyone besides me? (I hear a resounding YES)
Thinking about this week led me to Tapas, one of the five Niyamas; it literally means “heat,” the heat of the fire in which we find ourselves and through which we must travel in order to discover our true selves.
Tapas can also mean catharsis, self-discipline, spiritual effort, change, tolerance, transformation. Tapas is about “cooking” ourselves in the fire of daily life and circumstances to transform ourselves into something better, brighter, and new.
Tapas is the moment-to-moment choice to burn away non-supportive habits of the body and mind, to create more bounty in our lives. Then to be grateful for the self-compassion we’ve generated in the process.

We’ll generate heat with our sun salutations, do some standing flow, and stretch stretch stretch ourselves into new beings.

I hope you’ll join me. Oct 31, 2021 10:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)
$12

In this Sunday's Gratitude Yoga class (8 AZ time, 10 CST), let's explore finding balance between abhyasa (discipline or disciplined practice) and vairgya (nonattachment and detachment from practice)--the two sister pillars of yoga, which are as necessary as two wings of a bird.

We will balance heart openings with asanas of humility, and balancing poses with poses of groundedness and stability. Using the breath to guide our sun salutations, we'll experience the sixth Yama, Aparigraha, or non-possessiveness, and the true transience of all things.

Join us on Zoom (contact me for link) or in person (vaccinated) in Sedona. $12. Contact us for more info. Namaste!

Hello Sedona and Verde Valley friends: Come to the DORR fundraiser/picnic on Sunday, October 17, 2021
3:00-6:00 pm
Pavilion at Posse Grounds Park
525 Posse Grounds Road, Sedona

I've donated two items to the silent auction:
* A one-hour private mat pilates session
* A one-hour mat pilates session for five people

Bid often and well!

I'll be hanging out at the pinata station if you'd like to say hello or chat.

Cheers!!

Gratitude Yoga Sunday morning at 8 a.m. MT/10 a.m. CST.
$12. Contact us for the zoom link.

Sunday's theme? Finding contentment:
Think about the ways in which you struggle with contentment, with being grateful for what you DO have right now. About how we all struggle with a sense of lack—and how that keeps us from living in the moment and experiencing contentment and gratitude to the fullest. It's called Santosha.