COURTNEY ROHAN YOGA

Courtney’s Fall Schedule    Above Chelsea's Restaurant,  1734 Main Street, Columbia, SC $10 Yoga Classes; 1 1/2-2 hour Thai Massages;  Individual and Group Privates; Donations only Meditation practice- every Sunday!! Class Descriptions Fundamentals  For this class, the fundamentals of building a well-rounded yoga practice will be addressed through a deeper look at the Eight Limbs of Yoga as taught in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Classes will consist of discussion on yamas (abstinence), niyamas (observance) and samadhi (absorption), and movement through asana (posture), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and ultimately, samadhi (bliss) . Beginner's Flow   For this class,  alignment of key poses will be addressed in detail while  building to an accessible, peak pose. Beginners will find ease in the simple and effective flow of isotonic  and isometric movement.  Vinyasa Flow For

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For years, I have been working through a pain in my upper back: the connective tissues of the rhomboids that insert into the scapula. In my inversions, I have noticed my attempt to stay there, to bring my attention to this space and the pain-body that exists there. In downdog, I press into my shoulders more to draw the muscles of the upper back apart, and here, I am able to dig into my hurt. Or, in twists, whenever the shoulder is on the earth, I draw the shoulder joint fanatically into the earth and use gravity to pull the rhomboids apart. Hunching my shoulders up to my ears and rounding the back or a hardy backbend with the scaps depressed into the back and into the belly of the muscle, the heart and throat open, to create the same.  This pain comes from a variety of sources that I have been able to pinpoint. In pictures of me at a young age, I have held my shoulders cocked or tightly. I took pictures with my head to one side, shortening the length of the antagonistic muscles

2012 Energies   I’ve felt it: The swirl of 2012 and since I’ve felt it, I have been speaking with everyone I know about it. That is, I’ve been speaking about “2012 Energies”—that is what I am coining it. It is time of newness; it is a time of old things passing away; it is a time of confusion and clarity. And the polarity of contradiction is huge.  It’s at this mid point that we should stop and take stock of what has passed and what is to come with regard to the energy that can take us for a ride if we are not careful. Energetically, it is not unlike a tornado catching those that are not grounded and those things that are not founded. Ideas run amuck, good and bad. It is now that good friend: family or otherwise, are important. Find the friends-family you trust and listen to what is really be said, inside of you as well as from them. Sit with it all….By that I mean, think about the thought, decision… with as much objectivity as you can find. Pray about it. Meditate on it. Th

Courtney’s July Yoga/ Thai Massage Schedule  ($10 Yoga Classes; 1 1/2-2 hour Thai Massages; Individual and Group Privates) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Vinyasa Flow (10:00-11:00) Chelsea ’s 15 16  Beginner's / Mediation  (11:00-12:30) Home  17 Privates Available  (10:00-3:00) 18 Privates Available  (10:00-3:00) 19 Beginner- Intermediate  (3:00-4:30) Chelsea 's 20 21   Vinyasa Flow (10:00-11:00) Chelsea ’s 22 23 Beginner's / Mediation  (11:00-12:30) Home  24 Privates Available  (10:00-3:00) 25 Privates Available  (10:00-3:00) 26 Beginner- Intermediate  (3:00-4:30) Chelsea 's  27 28   Vinyasa Flow (10:00-11:00) Chelsea ’s 29 30 Beginner's / Mediation  (11:00-12:30) Home  31 Privates Available  (10:00-3:00) 1  (Augu

As a 7th grade English teacher, the appointments I offer are typically in the evening. Summers are perfect to schedule appointments during the day. Check out my July calender (above) for yoga classes or privates. (picture by sagestossel.com)

When I sit for meditation, I take the time to move first. Even if the movement is just rolling through the vertebra in the neck and movement through the stuck places with the breath; I get the chitta vritti (mind chatter) out of the way through the breath and movement. I find compassion for my body as it prepares for the work that is to come next. I create a clear channel for reception. I open my muscles and flesh. Historically, Yoga in India was not just asana (poses). Yoga was meditation, prayer and chanting as well. The compartmentalization of Yoga and the creation of brands have, without a doubt, forced many a beginner to tell their teacher they are not flexible enough; they can not get into the “pretzel pose,” Yoga Nidrasana, which makes Yoga look like circus fun. The segregation of Yoga in studios is definitely one of the many ways practitioners have come to teach one type of asana over another, chant or focus. It is one of the reasons that prayer is left out of the studio and