Yogathon for Alzheimer's - latest 2 - events in Sandwich June 15/17th

Chair-based yogathon: Wednesday 15^th June
10.00-10.20 am - taster class : anyone and everyone interested welcome
10.30-11.30am - the usual class but all welcome to come along
at the Age UK Centre, 19-21 Cattle Market, Sandwich, CT13 9AP. Tel. 01304 614237. 

Floor-based yogathon: two hour mixed ability yoga class from 5-7pm on Friday 17th June at Fitness Connection Gym, High Street, Sandwich, tel 01304 614000

Both events are part of the national yogathon fundraiser for the charity, Alzheimer's Research UK.

All welcome - please register in advance with me, Sue via sjyogaandphilosophy@gmail.com or register with reception at Fitness Connection Gym, High Street, Sandwich, tel 01304 614000, where the floor-based event is being held.  Please register at the Age UK centre for the chair-based yoga or contact me, Sue. We look forward to seeing you there.

Please bring donations and persuade your family/friends to support you!  All proceeds go to the charity and will be used to fund research into possible links between stress and dementia. 

13th June - Chair based yoga, Canterbury - new term starts at Canterbury Yoga Studio

This NEW class offers gentle exercise for anyone with limited movement or for anyone who simply prefers to use a chair rather than the floor. 

Canterbury Yoga Studio, Harbledown, CT2 8NH, Mondays 11.30-12.30

 

The new term will start on Monday June 13th - single taster class £6

Sign up for 6 classes – June 13th, 20th, 27th, July 11th, 18th, 25th – for £36 total

Absences known in advance can be deducted, payable at first class of term.

Single classes £8

 The class is aimed at anyone who would benefit from gentle exercise based on a chair.  This could include older people, people recovering from operations, those suffering from stress, office or chair-based workers who would like to learn some new exercise techniques, people with weight problems or with limited movement – in short, anyone who would find chair-based exercise preferable to floor-based work.  Exercises are chair-based, with some standing exercises by the chair where appropriate.  The class always includes some breathing techniques and mindfulness meditation, both of which help with relaxation and aid better sleep.

    For further information about the class or to book your place, please contact:

the tutor, Dr Susan Jeffery, 01304 620467 or email sjyogaandphilosophy@gmail.com

Places are limited; please book your space to avoid disappointment.

See also website www.dsjyoga.com and this blog for updates - dsjyoga.blogspot.co.uk

For more information about the studio, please see website www.canterburyyoga.co.uk

 

Yogathon latest 1 - Friday 17th June 2016 5-7pm at Fitness Connection Gym, Sandwich

There will be a two hour mixed ability yoga class from 5-7pm on Friday 17th June.  This is part of the national yogathon fundraiser for the charity, Alzheimer's Research UK.

All welcome - please register in advance with me, Sue via sjyogaandphilosophy@gmail.com or register with reception at Fitness Connection Gym, High Street, Sandwich, tel 01304 614000, where the event is being held.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Please bring donations and persuade your family/friends to support you!  All proceeds go to the charity and will be used to fund research into possible links between stress and dementia. 

Further details on the class will follow.  Please contact me, Sue, if you have any specific queries now.

We are planning several other events - watch this space!

Yogathon coming to Sandwich 2016 - watch this space!

The Yogathon - mixed ability yoga classes in aid of research into Alzheimer's - will be in Sandwich in the week beginning 13th June 2016.

Watch this space for details!

"This is it!" - some ideas from Jon Kabat-Zinn - Mindfulness

I've made a few notes below on ideas from Jon Kabat-Zinn[i] that we explored in our Gentle Yoga and Mindfulness Meditation classes, Feb-March 2016

1.      a) Remind ourselves from time to time that “This is it”.  This is about accepting the present moment and letting go of wanting something else to happen in this present moment.  It doesn’t mean resignation in the face of what is happening but it does mean paying attention so as to acknowledge that what is happening is happening.

b) Acceptance doesn’t tell us what to do.  What happens next, what we choose to do, that has to come out of our understanding of this moment.

2.      “You can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf.” Think of the mind as the surface of an ocean.  There are always waves, some bigger, some smaller.  Mindfulness does not try to stop the waves, but can help us learn to surf them.  Another image is of thinking as the cascade of a waterfall. We can learn to go beyond or behind our thinking – as if stepping out of the waterfall, resting from the torrent of the “autopilot”.

3.      Patience is a quality that can be cultivated to help mindfulness.  TRY: looking into impatience and anger when they arise.  See if we can adopt a different perspective, one which sees things as unfolding in their own time.  This may help if we are feeling under pressure.

4.      Non-judging.  The judging type of thinking can really dominate the mind and weigh it down, “like carrying a suitcase full of rocks on your head.”  Mindfulness can give us a chance to step back from habitual judgemental thinking (unconscious patterns of liking and disliking), and pause and gain clarity before making a decision. (See 1b above)

5.      Voluntary simplicity – doing one thing and really paying attention to it.  Resisting (at least sometimes) the impulse to squeeze one more thing (task/phone call etc.) into the present moment.

---

[i] From: Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are, Piatkus, London, 2011, Section 1 of the book “The Bloom of the Present Moment”

 

Please email me, Sue, at sjyogaandphilosophy@gmail.com if you have any queries or would like further information.

 

Reviving Yoga - leave the week behind - starts this Friday 8th April

Leave the week behind - stretch, strengthen, relax - revive your body and mind.
This new mixed ability yoga class - suitable for all - starts on 8th April and will run fortnightly on Fridays from 5-6pm at Fitness Connection Gym, High Street, Sandwich, CT13 9EB.  £5 members, £6 non-members. The next few dates are 8th & 22nd April, 6th & 20th May.  Further updates on this blog.
Please book your place in advance at the gym reception 01304 614000 or contact Sue at sjyogaandphilosophy@gmail.com
I look forward to seeing you there! Sue

Sleeping better, breathing better, feet more mobile and less painful, lower blood pressure

All the above are benefits from doing chair based yoga, say those who have attended the first 3 sessions of the new class at Canterbury Yoga Studio, Harbledown.

We all carry far more tension than we need and as soon as you start to stretch, the whole body begins to relax and feels better.  Gentle stretching also stimulates the body’s lymphatic system for removing waste products from our bodies – this helps the body to “de-tox” and heal itself.  Techniques to breathe more deeply help the body and the mind to function better – help you to be alert when you need to be.  Breathing more slowly is also very relaxing and leads to more restful sleep.

Last Saturday (2^nd April), I led a 20 minute taster class at the Health Fair, organised by Red Zebra, at St Peter’s Methodist Church Hall, Canterbury.  Everyone left the session smiling and relaxed!  After just 20 minutes, one woman said her feet felt better and another said that she could feel an improvement in her breathing. 
 
The new term of 6 classes starts at Canterbury Yoga Studio, Harbledown on Monday 11^th April at 11.30am.  Email me, Sue, at sjyogaandphilosophy@gmail.com for further info and to book your place.  I look forward to seeing you there!