BE Yoga...BE positive energy. GIVE of yourself.

"Healthy plants and trees yield abundant flowers and fruits. Similarly, from a healthy person, smiles and happiness shine fourth like the sun."

-B.K.S. Iyengar

Vincent Gerbino, CYT in Natarajasana.    Photo by Kristen Glenn of Kristen Glenn Photography for YogaFit

YOGA IN THE SEASON OF GIVING

Yoga helps us be givers of goodness. Practicing Yoga each day lets us enjoy the season of giving all year round.

We can be giving to all who come in contact with us if we simply emulate positive energy that we feel within us. A good Yoga practice helps a person feel positive about herself.

We don't need to do the poses like superstars-we just need to do them sincerely for ourselves. With each pose we practice sincerely, we show gratitude and compassion to ourselves and learn to see the goodness in ourselves exactly how we are.

When we the the goodness of and in ourselves, it becomes much easier to give positively to others. If we are confident in our own positive energy, we can bring positive energy into the lives of others just by being. This allows for us to give by "doing" in ways that other will be receptive to and prevents us from being invasive in their spiritual space.

When we feel sincerity as we look at ourselves, we can give a material gift that comes from a compassionate idea in our own hearts, rather than "buying to impress" or giving things because our own hearts feel closed.

What we give ultimately becomes what we receive.

Giving is part of every Yogi's practice. The Yogic term for giving is the sanskrit word "dana". Dana includes giving alms, but goes beyond the idea of a definable, quantifiable gift of money or even of time given as a volunteer. It means cultivating generosity within one's world and one's culture.

Jasmine Cherhazi, founder of Yoga District, says we must be grateful for both what we've received AND what we have lost, and for both, we should give thanks. Valuing what we've lost, and what we've learned from those losses, gives an additional meaning to the idea of value.

Our values say it is "better to give than to receive, but if no one received gifts, then there would be no giving. Receiving isn't a bad thing, it simply must be practiced with goodness and with gratitude. If someone buys us something, we may feel compelled to immediately reciprocate the transaction.

 We become better givers by being grateful for what we've received.

In our Yoga practice, we want to acknowledge the giver's gift, but "reciprocation" may be our openness to the person, our acknowledgement of their presence and existence as much as acknowledgement of a physical gift. Sometimes, the toughest part of receiving is NOT reciprocating too strongly. There will always be folks who are not sentimental and simply want you to receive the gift and not "make a fuss". The underlying sentiment of such a gift may be just to truly enjoy it for what it is.

Yoga Philosophy-the true meaning of growth

A tree is a tree as soon as it sprouts and has leaves.

A small tree is no less complete than a big tree.

A young tree is no less complete a tree than an old tree.

Growth is a good thing. 

Live your life sincerely, honestly and compassionately and you shall surely grow as a tree grows-complete in youth but becoming more as you age.

Yoga Philosophy for a Monday....See yourself as tree

Vincent Gerbino in Vrksasana-Tree Pose-Photo By Kristen Glenn for YogaFit Corp.

See yourself as if you were a tree. You grow over time. You are no less complete now than you will be in the future, even though you will grow and be more of yourself than you were.

Yoga Classes in Thornton, CO-Vinyasa Yoga schedule for 2014

 NAMASTE, EVERYONE.

New Yoga classes will be offered in Thornton, CO starting January 2nd, 2014.

Classes are on Thursday evenings from 5:45 to 7:15 

Class location: 

We use a cozy room at the Thornton Senior Center with good mood lighting. We have straps, blocks and blankets for your convenience.

The address is

9471 Dorothy Blvd

Thornton, CO 80229

Don't worry if you have to show up late or leave early...................here's why:

The 90-minute classes are specially structured into 15-minute Vinyasas so that if you have to arrive 15 minutes late, or even 30 minutes late, or leave early, you still get a complete class! 

We understand your busy life!

All skill levels are welcome. A number of students who will be joining us are regulars and we are like a family that always welcomes new members.

Registration opens December 16

                         Register by phone 720-977-5901    

              Register Online www.cityofthornton.net/recreation  

Schedule of class sessions:

136701-A  Th Jan 2 – Feb 6 (6 weeks)

136701-B  Th Feb 13 – Mar 20 (6 weeks)

136701-C  Th Mar 27 – May 1 (6 weeks)

Fees for six-week sessions:

$29 Thornton resident

$32 Non-resident

Real men do Yoga-and play better hockey too............

I started doing Yoga just before I turned 30. I had no idea how much a Yoga practice could compliment one’s ability to perform in other sports. It cleared my mind and made me able to focus on tasks-and on the condition of my body-like never before.

I found myself saying: “I wish I’d known about Yoga back when I was playing youth hockey.”

I'm Yoga would have made me NHL-quality, but most assuredly Yoga would have made me a better hockey player, just as it has made me a better person.

Ryan O'Reilly is of NHL quality, and he says Yoga has improved his game indeed, which tells us two things:

1. Real men do Yoga.
2. Yoga can make you a better hockey player.

For those who don't know, Ryan O'Reilly is a forward for the Colorado Avalanche, an NHL team that came back from the dead and is having a strong season.

This month, O'Reilly told the Denver Post that his Yoga practice is "by far the toughest training and best training I do."

Many of the other Aves players have just gotten a taste of Yoga as well. The Post says that the team had their first collective Yoga class on Sunday, November 3.

Ryan O'Reilly with Dayna Douros

O'Reilly was turned on to the 5,000-year-old discipline of Yoga by his girlfriend, Dayna Douros, who is currently studying to be a Yoga instructor. The two often practice together st the Samadhi Yoga Center in Denver.

Using the Bandha locks to build a better self AND a better body, starting from where we stand.

Besides our backs, the feet are the most neglected part of our body in our culture. We also neglect to realize what we can do to make our whole physical health better when we focus on the feet first. After all, in our culture, going "feet first" is a synonym for being dead. It's time to take off our shoes and to wake up and live.

Connect to a Yoga mat. Yoga s one of the oldest surviving athletic activities that is practiced barefoot. True Yoga practice becomes much like practicing a martial art. We use ancient Yogic exercises called Bandhas, or “locks” to release internal stress from the body and allow the muscles to function normally again. To get better abs from being barefoot, you have to do some Yoga. 

In the cultures of India and the Far East where Yoga originated, the feet are not regarded as a “lowly” part of a person. In the ancient Yogic traditions, people actually touch the feet of their gurus, and sometimes even kiss them, as a sign of reverence. The leading Yoga magazine Yoga Journal calls the feet the foundation of the body as a temple, as well as the body’s physical foundation. All cultural ideas aside, the feet are indeed the foundation of the body.

Using the Pada Bandha. Pada Bandha means “foot lock” in the Sanskrit language. The Pada Bandha is applied to raise the arch in the sole of the foot while standing. This triggers the leg muscles to tighten gently on the leg bones. The trigger from the arch send the same signal through the pelvis and into the muscle groups that create the “pelvic floor”. The muscle groups there support the weight of the abdomen and keep the pelvis from moving too far.

YogaFit Trainer Brett Barnes incorporates the Pada Bandha into the fundamentals of the YogaFit Anatomy classes where he has been training Yoga instructors for many years. He instructs his students to engage to foot lock and subsequently the root lock, or Mula Bandha.

As Lauren Imparato explains on MindBody Green: “In Sanskrit mula means root, and thus Mula Bandha is the root lock. To find it, sit, stand, or even be in an asana, and if you are a man, contract the area between the anus and the testes. If you are a woman, contract the muscles at the bottom of the pelvic floor, behind the cervix. Initially the anal sphincter will also contract, but with time and practice you will be able to hone in on the Mula Bandha region and leave the rest aside.”

The four groups of abdominal muscles are triggered by the same signal from the feet, and they begin to tighten so that the chest lifts and lets the abs work while they remain long-that means you develop them evenly and don’t strain the back. The final phase of the exercise is to engage the Mula Banda, to lock the muscles in the lower, internal abdomen and slightly lift the digestive tract. When the lock is released, the digestive tract relaxes and distress is removed from the interior and the entire body’s stress level is reduced to improve calmness and concentration ability.

So, not only can being barefoot get you better abs, it will make you feel better all over. Using the Bandhas restores the natural length of the abs in the process, so you can develop all of each muscle instead of developing smaller areas that will make your strength, your balance uneven, along with your ultimate well being.

What is completeness?

Completeness of the self is not measured by how much you've accomplished, but rather by how well you connect each part of your being into oneself.

Yogis find peace by being peace

To find peace within yourself, you must first love, accept and BE yourself.

The Yoga of sincerity

The word for today's Yoga class is sincerity.

When we ponder energy we put forth in our Yoga practice, we focus on the sincerity of our intent and of our actions.

If we are truly sincere in our effort to do anything, then effort can never be deficient. If effort were to be poor, then the action would only be as sincere as the effort.

Whenever we are sincere, our effort can't possibly be considered deficient.

We'll be back Monday

I'll be offline this weekend for some family time.

For my wonderful students in my Saturday class at Thornton Rec, Piper will be subbing, so join her for a great class!

The new session of Vinyasa Yoga held on Thursday evenings at 5:45 at the Thornton Senior Center
starts next Thursday.

Register by calling 720-977-5901   or www.cityofthornton.net/recreation

Completeness comes with acceptance

We are capable of feeling completeness when we are able to accept ourselves as we are.


When you set a goal to improve yourself, it should be because you like who you are and therefore want to acknowledge that person that is you, whom you like for being who you are.

Divinity exists in all that is sincere

Reject all that is insincere, for it is false, non-divine distraction.

Accept all that is sincere, for it indeed contains divinity, and nothing that contains divinity can be false.

True Empowerment

Empowerment doesn't come to you when you exercise power over others.

Empowerment happens when you are alone and you are able to sincerely tell yourself:

“I love me for who I am”. 

Photo by Kristen Glenn of Kristen Glenn Photography, for YogaFit Corp.

Satya........Truth....

Deny the truth, and you only acknowledge it.

Continuous denial only forces acknowledgment of what is being denied.

Denying the truth only hinders the acceptance of what truly can't be changed or what truly can't be destroyed or denied. 

Shanti Om!

Welcome to our site

Good evening all. Namaste.

There will be more to come on the new Gaia Yoga of Colorado site.

Thank you for stopping by.  I'm happy to offer Yoga classes in Metro Denver.

Namaste,

-Vincent

More to come soon!