Finding Your Center in YIN YOGA
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As an exhausted mom I often think the ideal yoga class should consist of a couple of sun salutations and a forty-five minute nap. That is when Im making excuses about why I cant make it to class. But heres the thing about yoga, when I go, it always makes me feel better.
I just tried Natalie Lawrences new YIN YOGA class at The Center For Yoga in Larchmont. I left feeling calm, energized, and ready to forge ahead with the details of my life. YIN YOGA is a Taoist form of yoga, and a preparation for meditation. YIN YOGA focuses on holding poses longer than you would in a traditional yoga class so the connective tissues in your muscles release. Rather than pushing through the poses as in a flow class, YIN YOGA encourages letting go which helps guide you to a conscious awareness without rigidity. The class is restorative, but challenging.
Natalie loves teaching YIN YOGA. It allows you to experience you, she said. As we focus inward to stillness we move towards a serene space beyond ego and judgment. Motherhood is anything but serene. We are always focused on everyone elses needs. Thats why I found this class is especially relevant.
Sometimes Natalie brings Zen Tarot cards to class that each student can chose from before they practice. As the students pose, she reads aloud the meanings of selected cards for contemplation. Often in yoga, I am doing the poses while my mind is racing through my many to do lists. Natalie seems to sense just when to interject with a few pearls of wisdom from the cards, bringing me back to the room, my body, and the present.
Being a mom is a balancing act. Yoga is all about balance. So if you feel your kids and life stretching you in all different directions, especially during this holiday season, take a break, and let Natalie and Yin Yoga coax you back to center.
YOGAWORKS
Natalie teaches YIN YOGA Monday and Wednesdays at 7:00 am
and Sunday nights at 6 pm at The Center For Yoga in Larchmont.
Go to
Yogaworks.com for
complete listings around the city.
Lee Rose Emery freelance writer, and mom, lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband and two kids. Lee grew up on the East Coast where she feels LA is given a very bum wrap. She is thrilled to be the LA City Guide Editor, and able to highlight some of the many wonderful things LA has to offer Modern Moms and their families.
Copyright 2007 Modern Mom, LLC. All rights reserved.
