with: Jen Whitney
when: Saturday, March 20th: 4-5:30pm
cost: $25.00

“With wise dedication and self-inquiry, hatha yoga can become a realization
practice, illuminating the nature of our volitions and attachments, fostering radical
self-acceptance, and weakening the grip of the self and its self-serving perspective”
–Chip Hartranft

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras have been the basis of yoga study for hundreds of years.  In recent
times, yoga has been primarily equated with the asanas, or physical poses. While important,
equating the whole yoga practice to asana is akin to equating a whole forest to one tree.
While asana practice is vital, and useful in ways not even touched upon in the Yoga Sutras,
asana is but one part of the full practice of yoga. Our “on the mat” practice is the training
ground for work we carry “off the mat.” The Yoga Sutras are our teacher, guide, sign-post,
cheerleader, and friend for this transition.

It is only when yoga is approached in its many parts that it is fully practiced. It is only then that
it will be truly beneficial to the practitioner, as well as all beings.

Jen fell in love with the Sutras during her Jivamukti Teacher Training, as the Sutras were
presented to her as a map for self-exploration. We will look at the meaning of individual words
of a Sutra, then put them together in a way that provides a concrete idea of how one can work
with the sutra in their yoga practices. The Sutras are applicable both on and off the mat, and
while Jen will, at times, use asana as an entry point for understanding a sutra, the overall theme
of this workshop focuses on making the sutra relevant to your off the mat practice. They are
the tools to end the divide between on the mat ethics, ideals, goals, rhythm, and state of being
and how we live and experience ourselves and lives off the mat.

Students are invited to bring any translations they own. Photocopies will be
provided of the material. Students are also invited to wear white, the
traditional color worn to satsangs (meetings of yogis), but it is not required

when: 3 Saturday’s in April (10th, 17th, 24th) from 4:00pm – 8:00pm

cost: $325 for all 3 classes paid in full by April 1/$350 for all 3 classes paid for after April 1.

These birth preparation classes will focus on preparing women for the physical opening and mental letting go that must occur during labor and birth, as well discussing how to expand the heart and mind to more completely accommodate new life. You and your birth partner will be guided through movements, breath work, vocalization and meditation that help prepare the body and mind for labor and birth.

General topics include:
• What to expect of early and active labor
• Nutrition and hydration during labor
• What to expect of pushing (normal progress, optimal positions, protecting the pelvic floor)
• Pain coping (non-pharmacological, movement, breathwork, hydrotherapy, massage, positioning), pain medications
• Navigating interventions (how to get more information, the kinds of questions to ask in the moment)
• Cesarean birth
• Breastfeeding basics and maternal recovery

These classes are appropriate both for families planning an unmedicated birth, and those considering or planning for an epidural.
The classes are intended for couples, however single mothers are welcome and they can bring whoever will be supporting them during labor.

Please call or e-mail Kristen Bower at 718-290-4665; heybella@gmail.com if you have questions or concerns about the classes.

Please contact Mala Yoga at info@malayoganyc.com or come to the desk to sign up.

Meditation- with Ricki Jean Trink
Sunday, March 7th 3:30- 4:45pm – Intensive: suitable for all levels ($20)
Mondays, 7:30am – 30min sitting, suitable for all levels ($7)
Beginning March 16th; 8:45pm – 30min sitting, suitable for all levels ($7)

Family Yoga- with Lauren Maples
Sunday, March 28th 3:30-4:30- Bring the whole family (crawling-6yrs) ($25per family)

Community Classes
Mondays, 2:30- 3:30pm – Various Teachers ($5)
Saturdays, March 13th & 26th, 4:00- 5:15pm – Various Teachers ($5)

Coming in April… Birthing Classes to Empower conscious childbirth

When we are fully engaged in a spiritual life, connection and wisdom is all around us. We no longer have to compartmentalize experiences as only physical, emotional, or spiritual. Our spiritual practice adds depth, awareness and understanding to our asana practice, knowing that our physical form is a manifestation of our inner world.

Yoga is a practice of call and response. Our teacher calls out a pose and we respond, answering with our physical form. The teacher speaks of grounding, extension and balance, and we strive to identify these things within us, to call upon them in support and guidance through life. In extended side angle we strive to connect to the earth through the feet, through strong legs, while moving beyond our foundation, reaching forward, up and out energetically. The pose so mirrors much of life in the city to me, like a reverse lightening rod, up from the earth; striking, bold and powerful.
What is mountain pose, if not an invitation to find strength, ease and grace through active stillness. Imagine the power of the mountain within each of us off the mat.
There are many layers of learning, awareness and teaching in any class. See if you can connect one layer deeper this week, within the same posture, the same room, the same practice, what lies beneath is the gateway to ourselves. The Dharma, if nothing else, is the full embodiment of truth, the truth that underlies and supports all of life, even that which we don’t always like or fully understand.

Namaste,
Ricki Jean

The practice of yoga is well-known for bestowing the benefits of balance to body, breath, and mind.  These benefits are doubly important when a practitioner is working with scoliosis, or a lateral curve in the spine that takes an “S” or a “C” shape. This type of curve can cause rotations in the spine, which can cause discomfort and imbalances throughout one’s body.

This is not a flow class. Instead, through the practice of yoga asana, a healthier understanding of and relationship with your spinal curvature is facilitated. We use props to support the “frame” of the body to achieve a feeling of balance, both in the physical body and the breath body.

Through mindful practice with your curve – instead of against it – new length emerges in the spine and weaker muscles in the trunk are strengthened.

Because each person’s curve is unique and everyone’s scoliosis affects him or her differently, this class size is limited to XX students. To participate, please have an idea of what type and/or what direction the curve goes in (right or left). If you are unaware of the specifics of your curve, please contact Angela at angela@malayoganyc.com to set up a 15-minute meeting before or after class for a consultation.

The therapeutic benefits of a regular yoga practice were recently revealed to Killian after an accident. Not only were her serious injuries much less severe than they could have been, but her doctors continue to be confounded by the speed of her recovery. The gift of these injuries has made her a more sensitive teacher, and her continued study of this transformative practice has led her to want to share all that she learns, in order to help others have their own healing experience.

Killian has completed two Anusara Teacher Trainings, is certified in Ma Prenatal Yoga, and continues to study all aspects of yoga. Her classes combine the alignment and philosophy of Anusara, with the flowing grace inspired by her studies in the Jivamutki lineage. She gives loving thanks to all of her teachers.

Elias is honored to study with John Friend, Jim Bernaert, Ellen Sallston and Jackie Prete who infuse him with a passion for aligning the body with the Divine through breath and heart. Elias relishes sharing this beautiful journey called Yoga with his students. He loves to create a fun, safe and sacred place where you are empowered to achieve your full potential and connect to Grace.