Mindfulness and Yoga

MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness means focusing your complete attention in the present moment.  With training, this stabilizes the mind and gives rise to awareness, clarity, and wisdom. Eventually, even when you are moving quickly or feeling fearful, your mind remains undisturbed.  Mindfulness is often taught during the stillness of meditation, but with practice you can apply it to your daily life. Yoga is an ideal vehicle for cultivating mindfulness.  Through yoga, you begin to deliberately integrate the movements of breath, mind, and body.  As the yoga practice builds heat in the body, it also invites nonjudgmental self-observation and relates to the quality of our actions, both emerging from the stable platform of mindfulness.

YOGA ON YOUR RETREAT

Our morning yoga practice includes a quiet centering meditation and a vigorous asana sequence.  First we ground ourselves and find the breath, establishing a place from which to observe the body and begin the process of self-discovery.  Rather than giving the legs an intense standing pose workout, we focus instead on opening the muscles of the hips and legs.  We emphasize strengthening the back and core, and use backbends, twists, shoulder openers, and side openers to create space within the body.  Balance poses and inversions increase concentration and teach us to face our fears, which directly relates to biking.

The afternoon restorative classes are restful and rejuvenating.  We use bolsters and blocks to support the body as it gently unwinds from the days’ activities.  Poses help drain lactic acid and ease stiff muscles, shortening recovery time and making you sleep better at night.  Practitioners leave feeling relaxed yet alert.

 Jennie Date is certified in the Vajra style of yoga.  Created by Jill Satterfield in New York City, Vajra combines Tibetan Buddhist meditation techniques with an Iyengar-based Hatha yoga. Hatha yoga is the yoga that unites the energetic active and reflective passive principles in each of us.  Jennie has also studied under teachers specializing in Kripalu, Tantric, Vinyasa, and Jivamukti styles of yoga.  Jenn is working towards her certification in yoga through a 200-hour yoga teacher certification program offered by Laughing River Yoga.  She found yoga by dedicating herself to a Vajra style practice.  From there she has branched out to Jivamukti in search of her own teaching style.