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A powerful Level 2 yoga class that builds lots of internal strength and stamina I know that if I asked you who or what you hold valuable and dear you could tell me without much thought. I'm sure that you've thought about how much your family, your homes, your friends, your culture, etc. means to you. I'm sure that now that I've brought your attention to this, you have a clear idea in your head and feel pretty strong about where you place your value. The thing is, that we think about this too much. I mean that we keep that which we value in our thinking mind. We intellectuallize much more than we internalize it, within our hearts. There is a level of detachment that comes with it. Yes, we love our family. Yes, we love our friends. Yes, we value our home. Here's the question: Do your actions, from day to day, from moment to moment honor and abide by that higher intention? If we could graph our daily activity, and our daily thoughts, what truly takes up the majority of our days? What would it show? I know that

This is not a yoga class! This is another episode of Elsie's Yoga Kula, the community facet of my live yoga classes. Here I get a chance to address feedback and add content that isn't a yoga class, but is yogic in context.  In this episode we address some feedback from you guys, including inspiring yoga books, plus we have an awesome interview with the amazing Donna De Lory!

This is a level 2-3 class :)  I had never viewed memory as something alive and tangible. In fact, I don’t believe I’ve ever thought about memories as ‘gifts.’ As I thought about this concept I realized that when I remember something from my childhood or come across a scent I hadn’t smelled in a long time, or find an article of clothing I haven't worn in a long time, it is like receiving a gift. Those memories are gifts I get to open every time I encounter them. They always serve to remind me of what I give value to in my life. One answer that emerged from the Lifelines group is that we should surround people who are forgetting with acts of remembering. People in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease are in danger of forgetting that they can still remember, as are those of us who work with people with Alzheimer's. - Dr. Dienstag Something affected me about this sentence. Yes, it is about folks that have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, but did you catch the last little bit of that quote: as are those of

  It’s when we are about to loose something that we hold dear that we choose to step in fully to do something about it. Why is that? Why must we wait until the situation is dire before choosing to fully engage in our lives, our relationships, our environment, our bodies, our hearts, etc?   Move back into the culture of your body, cultivate it and grow it.   This was the theme of this week’s episode. Inspired by a conversation from one of my favorite podcasts Speaking of Faith . It was regarding manuscripts and the “monastic library that rescues manuscripts from across the centuries and across the world. And there are worlds in this place — on palm leaf and papyrus, in microfilm and pixels — stories of ordinary life as well as the rise and fall of civilizations....In their lives as in this work, the relevance of ancient manuscripts to people of the present and the cultural cargo of the past itself are revealed in a new light.” - Krista Tippet   I don’t have a particular affinity for manuscripts themselves, in

  Yoga Lesson: How do we tune into nature and allow it to deepen our life?   Every day I am brought to back to the application of yoga lessons in my life. Yoga or life as I choose to see it now, becomes a pulsating beneficent opportunity, a gift really, for me to become a better human being. This past week I was given the task of preparing one of my current students to step into an Anusara Immersion with my beloved teachers that has already started. She missed the first weekend, or half of Part 1. My job is to catch her up *gulp*.   Out have come all of my notes and of course the Immersion Lesson plans and the like.   Succinctly explaining the Anusara Philosophy, the 3 As and the UPAs (Universal Principles of Alignment ™) is not the easiest thing when you have crazy time constraints. Arghhh!!!...goodness gracious!   So given that, studentship has been on my mind. I am stepping into the seat of the student as I pour over how to convey all this knowledge in a way that will be optimally soaked in by her. I adore

This is NOT a yoga class! Hello and welcome to episode number 4 of Elsie’s Yoga Kula the special series of Elsie’s Yoga Class: Live and Unplugged Podcast, that’s all about you and all sorts of extra exclusive information about yoga and culture. As always this podcast is brought to you by the Elsie’s Yoga Class Podcast App for the iPhone and iPod Touch available in the iTunes app store for $3.99. Why not have your yoga in your pocket! Listen to the Podcast I am sooooo excited about this episode! Two subjects people, two subjects that I get a ton of email and questions about. The first topic is aimed a bit more toward yoga/fitness/alternative health professionals. I am honored that a lot of you listen to the podcast and am glad that you reach out to me regarding how to grow and supplement your own practices and businesses via new media. I can help you regarding audio stuff, but my video making skills I’m afraid are not as pristine HA! I’m sure you’ve seen at least one of my videos where I cut off my head! Cut o

Upon learning about and delving into the earthquake in Haiti, and specifically the lack of infrastructure within the area where the earthquake hit, and the lack of foundation to receive help, it forced me to look at what was going on in my ‘home’, my heart, my surroundings so that I could help create clarity HERE and NOW. Why HERE and NOW? I donated money. In fact, how could you not? It was made so easy to give, so very easy to give. You saw how fast the human heart can open up and offer. You all experienced a sense of unity did you not? It’s amazing how open our hearts are. I have so much faith in the human race and our ability to open our hearts. I have no doubt. Now, our ability to keep the hearts open and sensitive, to work daily to make choices that will optimize our well being and that of those around us is a different story. I can speak from personal experience as I say that I’m lazy when it comes to that stuff. I often times choose to ‘fix’ what’s broken in the house later. It’s too much of a pain n

I have to be very honest, winter is very challenging for me. I do my best to see all the goodness, I really do, but when winter begins, man does it kick my spiritual booty! I don't often have time to sit and meditate on my themes for my classes. I'm working on being more efficient in my themeing and conveying more of the Anusara Principles of Alignment ™ and Philosophy more clearly, but as I'm sure some of you teachers know this requires work, time and study. The clearer and simpler a teacher's theme is the more skilled and experienced they are (at least that's my observation). It's kinda like watching a great dancer, you only see the beauty of the art, you get pulled into the dance itself, not the specifics of the dance, the steps, how many hours the artist had to rehearse in order to make it seamless... I'm getting more and more adept at allowing nature to guide me into what I teach. This generally happens during my walk to teach my yoga class. I've learned to let go of 'what I have to do' and simply all

Hello All! Here's a new one towards the end of the year! I know I know! It so has been forever. I will now officially stop apologizing. Here's all I have to say about my lack of posts...Hunter. If you don't know who that is..that's my 14 month old daughter. Anyway, This week's episode came about from a lot of your requests for some more meditation/relaxation type stuff. I decided to put this little imagery relaxation to strengthen the immune system as a little treat to get you through the flu season! How about them apples? The music that you hear in the background is by the talented Vic Hennegan off his CD Desert God and the song is called Gaya. The whole thing runs about about 32 minutes all together. Give it a go and let me know your thoughts! Oh and I'm already editing episode 76! and guess what...a level 2 class :) yipeee!  thoughts and feedback: eyogaclass(at)gmail.com or call 310 651 6238! hugs and kisses all!

The voice mail that is played at the beginning of this episode is why I decided to do these episodes that I call Elsie's Yoga Kula. There is so much power to sharing your journey. This practice of yoga can take you to so many absolutely fabulous places, not only on the mat but off the mat. I know that my yoga practice opened up so much for me, in fact it was the catalyst for gigantic growth in my life, and I'm in no way talking about the poses. They are the icing on the cake :) They provided me with the first courageous steps towards something more! Thank you sooo much for sharing Jeanne (sp?) ! I am thrilled when I hear stories like yours, those that are all about stepping deeper into your self, to see the vast goodness that dwells within! NICE! Oh, and I would be honored to have you come to my class! Even though I only teach 1 public class a week...but more to come, promise! As you can hear, this message was actually sent 'quite' a while ago. I'm trying to go back and honor you guys that sent me messages l

Ready to delve into the depth of your Heart? Yikes! One of my all times favorite themes to teach is Sankalpa, or Intention. This isn't a general intention, or a teeny tiny intention but your heart's truest wish, your deepest heart's desire embedded in the richness of your Self. I know that when I was first offered the opportunity to meditate, truly ponder my sankalpa, it began to shift me very deeply. In fact it was the mere asking of 'what is my intention' that facilitated living a more fulfilled and truthful life. It informs my life every day, and now it becomes even more important as it helps guide me to be a better mother. I also must be honest. The power of one's own Sankalpa is very powerful, and at times requires a great shift from us if we are going to align with it fully. I felt my Sankalpa, I knew it in my cells and for many years I chose to 'ignore' it's fullness, for lack of better words. I was not ready to truly embrace what living in my truth would require of me. It took me years, plus the help

A Level 2 Yoga class!!!!! How Do We Truly Know Anything? Man am I always a mess! Believe me, I do try to be neat...and tidy...and organized...but somehow I always end up with fantastic chaos all around me ;) The worst part about this is that I was like this BEFORE I welcomed my beloved baby, so now with her in the picture my chaos(mess) has escalated to new heights. The good thing is that as the mess escalates my need to find clarity also grows and thus came the theme for this week's yoga class :) My teacher John guided me to recognize how one truly begins to know something. How do we acquire knowledge? Deep knowledge? How do we align with anything? You soften, feel and attune. We attune to the Highest. We attune by getting close to that which we wish to know. This learning is not a head thing, but a heart thing as we truly begin to 'vibe' with and resonate with each other at a much deeper level :D Listen and practice to the class and see if you can begin to attune to something bigger! Finally something

The Yoga of Everyday Life and Podcasting! I honestly have tried to post and episode for almost a month. Every day I think about it. Every day I decide THIS is the day to get it all done. Every day the day ends, I'm exhausted and focusing on editing, writing, encoding and uploading is the last thing that my brain is capable of doing :( 3 years ago I began to publish this podcast. 3 years ago Elsie's Yoga Class: Live and Unplugged Podcasts came to life! So much has changed, and so much has stayed the same :) A few things that have stayed the same: My love for podcasting My love for yoga My love for service My love for you guys! My love for legwarmers Although I am no longer the care free legwarmer wearing bicycling full time yoga teacher from Los Angeles and have morphed into the occasional legwarmer wearing full time Mommy/Wife part-part time yoga teacher from Pittsburgh the deepest part of my heart still wants to continue this podcast, PLUS add better content to all those of you who would like it. I may

This week's Yoga Class Online is a beginner yoga class Declare Your Freedom I had the opportunity to teach a yoga class at this year's Annual Mensa Gathering in Pittsburgh! It was quite an exciting experience. It's always such a treat to teach outside of the yoga studio, and it's also very exciting not knowing who is going to be showing up :) I was thrilled to see a pretty good outcome of between 20-25 people. The majority of them did not have yoga mats and quite a few of them weren't wearing what we would call 'yoga clothing'. You see, none of this matters. The practice can be done anywhere, no props nor specific attire needed! How Do Your Choices Reflect Optimal Freedom? This yoga class is what I would call a beginners class. Although one does not need to be a beginner to practice it. We as practitioners can bring complexity to any class as we choose to step deeper into it's nuances and continue to make more meaning with every breath and every movement. Something simple can be ever so fulfilling and can bec

This is NOT a yoga class. This is episode 1 of a new facet of the podcast. More yoga classes comig up next week! Hello and welcome to the First episode of Elsie's Yoga Kula, where we share, cultivate relationship and deepen our yoga by entering the community of the heart, which is both your own heart, AND it's the heart manifesting as the company we keep. I've been talking a lot about getting new facet of the podcast up. And it's finally here! Some of you guys may have been listening for a while so you may be a bit more aware of my story, but some of you may just have started to listen so I'll just do a quick recap. I lived in Los Angeles and taught in yoga in Los Angeles until October 2007. While I was there I was blessed to have lots of fabulous classes and an incredible community of both students and teachers that I could delve into and cultivate. The LA yoga community is thriving and abundant. Now I live in Pittsburgh. I transported to the Burgh for LOVE. I'm very happy being here. I have the best famil

The Power of Fire Hunter and I got the opportunity to see fire at it's most powerful, as it blazed across the street from our home. I was in awe of watching it burn. I had a visceral reaction to the flames, as I felt it's strength and felt it's power of destruction deep into my bones. As much as this fire was destroying the building across the street, I also new that it was transforming not only the building, but the entire neighborhood. In Ayurveda, fire or Agni, is incredibly important. It is this fire that maintains and sustains optimal vibrant health...when it's in alignment :) Listen to this week's yoga podcast and practice along to connect with your inner fire in body, mind and breath :) Love the Feedback! email me- eyogaclass (at) gmail (dot) com leave me a message- 310 651 6238 (I'd love to play you guys on the episodes! Plus you can promote your stuff that way!) or comment on www.elsiesyogakula.com :)

The Path of the Yogi Within Social Networks I’ve been on Twitter since the Spring of 2007, way before it became so CRAZY mainstream. When I first got on Twitter, there were only a handful of people that I had actually met face to face. In fact, the people on twitter that I interacted with were basically all from the podcasting/new media community and 90% of them where out of state or out of the country. There was not one person from my yoga community. That has now all changed. I would say in 2009 the yoga community on Twitter has skyrocketed. I’m in awe of the amazing amount of tweets about yoga, from yoga practitioners, teachers and studios. It’s yoga yoga yoga all the time now! I love it because now I can literally feel my yoga kula around me here in Pittsburgh because many of my Anusara yoga friends in LA and from other parts of the country are now on Twitter, including John Friend (the founder of Anusara Yoga)! Needless to say, that’s some serious growth! In the past 2.5 yrs that I’ve been on Twitter, I h

Always doing SO many things at once.I know for myself it is very rare that I do just ONE thing at a time. Now being a Mom, it becomes even harder. The mind races from one place to the next, things become so cluttered and often times takes us away from our center. Practicing some asana and taking even just a few moments to pause quietly and feel can give us so much access to the vast wealth of steadiness that we all posses. When we see that steadiness, when we find the Center, we can make better and better choices regarding our lives, our health, our relationships and how we choose to step into the world. Let's practice together!Love the Feedback!email me- eyogaclass (at) gmail (dot) comleave me a message- 310 651 6238 (I'd love to play you guys on the episodes! Plus you can promote your stuff that way!)or comment at http://elsiesyogakula.com!Other ways to connect with me: Other ways to connect with me: By Free Marketing Directory This week's class is an uptempo Level 1-2 Yoga Class.You are more than welcom

Aligning and Re-Aligning My baby girl has recently started having solid food. She got constipated. One would imagine that the only thing that it would affect, would be her demeanor, as she was pretty uncomfortable. In fact, this constipation made other things come out of alignment. She was unable to process her food properly because nothing was really moving :( She threw up. A lot. This made me very worried, as she had never done that before! This is this week's yoga class theme. Listen to find out what my very wise Randy had to say and how it all turned out :) Oh yeah, the class was recorded on April 22 at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association Thank you all for your comments! Just to let you all know. I'm plan on supplementing the live yoga classes with little extra episodes sprinkled here and there. Since the yoga classes themselves are so long, I never want to make my intro more than 6 minutes, as you really need to be getting to practicing! Given this predicament, I've decided to address emails, questions a

I'm going to stop saying that I'm going to post more episodes more often. I absolutely don't know! Agh! Mind you, I'm now all set up technically, finally! I've been recording more consistently, so now it's just a about editing and posting :) I have recorded more than one class, and I'm refining my workflow so that I can TRULY post more episodes. I'm sure you all know by now, I'm a new Mom. My little baby is 7 months as I write this post. She has now settled into herself more, which is allowing me time to step into my own self. The only time that I have to upload, edit, post, etc. is when Hunter is sleeping. Those naps are the sacred time when I can do fun stuff like this podcast, PLUS all of the gazillion things that I have to catch up on: dishes, showers, general clean up, answering emails, paying bills, you get the picture. All I can say is that there aren't enough hours in the day to do ALL that I want to do. My life continues to ebb and flow and my biggest focus is on always remembering to constantly re-a