yogashalapdx

Greetings!

What a fantastic morning! I got to spend my morning taking Jody’s class yet again. Today I felt so much smoother and fluid with my movements. I was able to be confident with what I was doing because my body is finally getting used to the movements.  Doing the class with confidence also helped me to get more out of the poses and have the time to focus on my breath while doing them. Overall, after getting warmed up to the poses and flow of things, yoga is a much more enjoyable way to start my morning. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed previous classes, however today brought so much satisfaction to my body and spirit. Because of class this morning I am looking forward to the rest of my day. Jody really has a way of making your entire body feel rejuvenated and liberated. Once again, I will be tapping my foot waiting for my next class.

-Jazmine Smith

Hell to you all!

Once again I was lucky enough to snag a spot in Jody’s class. This time fortunately I was a little more stable on my feet. Jody helped to stabilize me by watching the way I positioned my body during poses, and explaining to me small changes I could make in my stance or positioning to keep me balanced. One thing I am having a big difficulty with still is having my hips turn out when I am balancing in any position. I need to train my muscles to have memory of keeping my hips forward; Jody says that this is so difficult for me because I have loose joints (which is a blessing and a curse, as she puts it). I am very easily bent into positions, however I am so flexible that my body likes to go further the I should be going, causing my body to fall off center and loose balance. I am planning on working on some of these strengthening poses at home in order to “toughen up” my muscle memory and be able to easily stay upright instead of going tumbling to the floor within a minute of each pose. In this class it was also very enjoyable to be able to lay down and do breathing excercises while we stretched out our bodies to warm up, and to close the session. Overall this have been a wonderful experience and I cannot wait until Thursday to take her class again!

Until next time,

Jazmine Smith

In my time within the yoga community, whether it be as a student, teacher or administrator/manager, I have done a lot of research on training programs.  I started my findings while living in NYC managing a yoga studio there.  I began due to the fact that the training program given by the studio was in need of a major organization makeover.  By all means, I am not saying that it was a poor program but it was in need of guidence and leadership.  So I took on the challenge and learned so much.  Ieven went through the 200 hour teacher training program at that studio before I decided to leave the city.  It was the start of many changes.

Then I moved to Portland and found my home within the Yoga Shala family.  I once again found myself in the seat of the Teacher Training administration.  But happily, this program was already strong.  I am, still to this day, amazed at how mind-blowing the Yoga Shala program is.  It is so very through, involved, thoughtful and inspiring.  Unlike intensive 200 hour programs of many studios, the Shala offers over 500 hours of study with an emphasis on philosophy.   As I immersed myself into the depths of this program, I soon realized that what many studio emphasis, asana (or the physical posturing) is a shallow look at what yoga really is all about.  Asana is but a tool and only one of many tools within the complex world of yoga.   Through my 200 hour training I realized that in order to truly understand and retain this ancient tradition, 200 hours barely scratched the surface! 

Yoga Shala’s Advanced Studies/Teacher Training program offeres not only a through look at many tools of yoga but they are taught by teachers that have a direct link to the Krishnamacharya lineage.  Whether it is local Portland teachers who studied with TKV Desikachar or with his son Kausthub Desikachar or Teachers respected nationally or  internationally, this program comes straight from the source.  It brings in Leslie Kaminoff from NYC (author of the #1 yoga book YOGA ANATOMY), Chase Bossart from San Fransisco (Yoga Sutra scholar), Gary Kraftsow (internationally known yoga teacher and founder of American Viniyoga Institute), Sonia Nelson (director of the Vedic Chant Center and a student of TKV Desikachar’s since 1975) and many more.

I have been highly influenced and impressed by the quality of this educational institution and highly recommend to anyone that is not only interested in becoming a teacher but to those that only look to deepen thier yoga practice.

There will be an information session on Saturday, September 24 at the N. Williams Yoga Shala, 3808 N. Williams Avenue from 3:00 – 5:00pm. 

Yesterday I was graced with the opportunity to partake in Jody’s yoga class. I found it to be a very peaceful, yet still challenging class; the perfect amount of both worlds. We began the class with breathing exercises; laying on our backs, twisting out body’s in different directions while keeping our breathing steady and patterned to relax and prepare our body’s for the harder yoga to come. After becoming entirely calm and enraptured in my own breathing be began our poses. Everything flowed very smoothly from on set to the next. We began in childs pose, slowly merging into another then another swiftly and fluidly changing from one to the next, leading our bodies to feel free, loose, and liberated. As the class went on, my body did begin to feel fatigued, but unlike classes I had previously taken at a gym or at home from a DVD, Jody slowed things down and adapted the poses to work for my body and skill level. Jody worked with me personally, making sure to know about any previous injuries before we began class so she easily could make adjustment for me while we worked our way through the poses. As a wrap up to the class, we lay back   down on the floor, feeling our bodies merge with the earth underneath us as we closed with breathing and chanting that soothed the soul. I am very excited to take this class again, and every day that I wake up I fly out of bed because I cannot wait for another incredible day at my internship.

-Jazmine Smith

Hello to you all!

My name is Jazmine Smith and I am an intern here at Yoga Shala of Portland from LEP charter high school. During my internship, I will be manning the front desk as well as being able to partake in the yoga classes offered here. After high school I intend to go to college for neuropathic healing, so I figured that dipping my toes into the pool of yoga would be a good first step toward my future goals. Today I was able to participate in my first yoga class here, previously I had only either done home yoga videos or yoga classes in stinky loud gyms; not the greatest experiences. During my class here with Char, my limits were pushed to a new level and began to awaken my body in a way that I had never been able to reach from my previous experiences. We began with some breathing exercises that helped me get into a relaxed state of mind before we got into the more challenging stuff of the session. After we finished up with the breathing exercises, we moved into the positions; holding them and stretching from them. While I started doing this my body began to tremble, I was not expecting this to be so strenuous; I have previously interpreted yoga to be stead breathing and relaxing the body, not poses that challenge my body in ways it never has been before. I am really excited to dive deeper into this and get my body accustomed to the movements of yoga so that i can flow fluidly through poses. My goal is to by the end of my internship, be able to fully complete every pose and not stumble around from the lack of balance. This journey ahead of me has me happy to get up in the morning to see what the day has waiting for me.

Until next time,

Jazmine