Peaceful Hands Yoga Moves To Warren Street In Orange

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changeOver the past 12 years, Peaceful Hands in Orange, Virginia has become a Yoga family and I’m grateful to everyone who has been part of our classes — those who come every week and those who are only able to come once in awhile. You are a special part of the Peaceful Hands Yoga family.

And, now I’m delighted to invite you to our new Yoga home …

Beginning December 31 (New Years Eve!) we’ll be located at the Sedwick Racquetball Courts (in the upstairs studio). The address is 228 Warren Street in Orange … very easy to find (directions below).

This change brings many new benefits. First and foremost, a lot more space to stretch out comfortably and play in a nice wide-open studio! Plus, more parking and easier in-and-out before and after class.

While our address is changing … the spirit of Peaceful Hands Yoga remains the same.

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Look … our Ocean Wall has already arrived!

I hope you and your Yoga mat will take the new studio out for a spin.

(My massage studio will remain in downtown Madison.)

Here’s our upcoming schedule.

*** Last class of our current HOLIDAY session is this Monday, December 15. Be sure you get your Yoga in before the Christmas break. This is our last class in our current studio.

I also have some lovely items available for Christmas stocking stuffers and gifts, including CDs for peaceful meditation and restful sleep, beautiful handmade origami stars and birds for decorating trees and packages, and a limited number of those awesome “sticky” Yoga gloves that keep you from sliding off of your mat.

And, of course, holiday gift certificates for massage or Yoga … or both! Do a bit of shopping before or after Monday’s class!

*** Make a healthy, fit, and vibrant 2015 your New Year’s Resolution!

And, begin that commitment with Yoga classes on New Year’s Eve AND New Year’s Day:

Wednesday, December 31, New Year’s Eve ~ classes at 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. ~

Thursday, January 1, New Year’s Day ~ class at 9:30 a.m.

$13/class.

And, what could make these classes even sweeter? What if they were free?? If you sign up for the upcoming 8-week Winter Session (which begins Monday, January 5), you can get one — or BOTH — classes for Free!

Here’s the Free-Deal … Come to class on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, and if you sign up and pay for the upcoming 8-week Winter Session … take ONE of these classes for Free.

Or, an even “Free-er” Free-Deal … Sign up for the UNLIMITED class option and BOTH the Wednesday AND Thursday class are free for you!

Our 8-Week 2015 Winter Session will begin on Monday, January 5.

Classes on Mondays & Wednesdays

4:30 p.m. ~ Level 1

6:00 p.m. ~ Level 1 / Level 2

8 Classes ~ $72 (take any eight classes during the session that work for your schedule)
Unlimited ~ $120 (take as many of the Monday/Wednesday classes during the session as you like)
Single Class ~ $13

Peaceful Hands Yoga Studio

228 Warren Street
at Sedwick Racquetball Courts
Orange, Virginia

Directions:
From The North End of Orange via Route 15: Turn left at the McDonald’s onto May Fray Avenue. Cross the train tracks and go through the light at Main Street (7-11 intersection). Go approx. 2 blocks and follow the orange Route 20 Detour signs which will guide you to a right turn onto Warren Street. The road curves around and then you’ll see the gold metal building on the right — that’s the place!

From the South End of Orange via Route 15: Turn right at the signal light at Route 20 (Dairy Korner/Exxon intersection). Go approx 1/4 mile. Turn left onto Warren Street (the Rescue Squad is on the corner). Go about 1 block and the gold metal building is on your left!

General: An online map to the studio is here: http://mapq.st/1GzfCwR

There’s no sign on the building at the moment, but that will be coming soon!

You may park anywhere in front of or along side the building, or in that big open area to the right of the building. Enter through the front door. (Please do not use the side entrance steps; that door will be locked.) The Yoga studio is on the second floor.

* * * *

May your holidays be filled … with Peace … Love … & Yoga! 🙂

A Special Message For "Team Bunny"

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Every spring I ask for your help collecting fresh clover & dandelions for the patients at the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

(I always feel a little odd asking for your garden weeds!)

As always, the response is wonderful! Thank you, thank you! Randy has delivered many bags of garden greens to the Center over these past many weeks.  Here are some of your delicious greens “in action”:

Garden Greens are YUM!

Here’s a message for you from Dr. Kelli, one of the Wildlife Center’s Certified Wildlife Rehabbers … 

I can’t thank “Team Bunny” enough for the natural greens that they are providing for our patients. They’ve already helped to feed the 126!!! juvenile eastern cottontails that we’ve admitted this year since our first young bunny arrived on April 2nd. 
We are on track for a record year of cottontail admissions considering we admitted 402 cottontails in total for the entire year of 2013. 
We also feed the clover and dandelions to other patients like our bear cubs which we are transitioning onto whole foods and they LOVE leaves and greens.  Our box turtles enjoy the greens as well which we food process into “turtle bulk” along with greens that we purchase like kale, collards and dark green lettuce varieties.
If there are any gardeners out there that grow greens and lettuces in their garden, those are welcome too.
Keep those natural greens coming Team Bunny!
Thanks again-
Kelli

____________________________

For more information on Team Bunny click here.  I hope you’ll join our squadron of greens-pickers!  

Thank you all again for helping animals and for opening your heart to the wild!

"Team Bunny" Needs You (& Your Dandelions!)

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I received an email from Randy at the Wildlife Center of Virginia the other day and here’s what it said:

“It’s time to activate TEAM BUNNY!”

During the last couple years, many of you have been vital parts of our “Team Bunny” efforts.  And, so the Wildlife Center of Virginia has come to us for help again this year.

It’s the Wildlife Center’s annual spring influx of rabbits (many are very young orphan bunnies) — more than 100 came in during the past month and more are arriving daily.

It’s clear these furry patients don’t particularly like the regular “hospital fare” the Center provides. (And, really — who DOES like hospital food?) But, what baby bunnies and their friends DO love is snacking on dandelions and clover.

Would you be willing to donate a bag of dandelions and clover from your yard?


Last year, Peaceful Hands Yoga Students & Massage Clients provided many, many, many pounds of greens to feed the bunny patients. In recognition of this kindness, some of the Wildlife Center staff have named the Peaceful Hands’ Family “Team Bunny.”

Join “TEAM BUNNY” by donating a bag — or 2 or 3 — of greens and help feed the bunnies!

Here’s how …

If you’re out in your yard, garden, or pasture (in untreated, pesticide- and chemical-free areas only, please) and you wander across some dandelions and/or clover, the Wildlife Center would love to have them! (Fresh is better, of course, so if you’re coming to yoga class or have a massage scheduled, pull them up in the morning sometime and then bring them in with you. Or drop them off at my massage studio any time during the week.)

Just dandelions (especially the green leafy parts) and clover. A little bag. A big bag. Every little bit helps. (And the dandelion flowers are fine to include.)

The rabbits will need the bounty for many weeks to come … and soon the goslings and ducklings will benefit from your donations as well. And, a happy, eating rabbit is a healing rabbit (or duckling or gosling or possum), and that makes the job easier for the Center’s Vets and Rehabbers.

Email me with questions at jackie (at) peacefulhands.com.

Thank you in advance for helping out these wildlife patients.

Thanksgiving: Rekindling Our Light

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From our Thanksgiving Yoga classes this past week …

To infuse your Yoga with the spirit of gratitude during this Thanksgiving season, dedicate your practices this coming week to those who support you, inspire you, and keep your heart warm.

As Albert Schweitzer once wrote:

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”

We show gratitude to the family and friends who support us and embrace us, as well as those teachers who inspire us with their words and actions from afar.

And, why limit yourself to just Thanksgiving week? The next time you unroll your Yoga mat, offer up a simple dedication to someone in your world. Give them the fruits and spirit of your Yoga. Join your heart light to theirs. And, see where you go …

 

Feeling Blessed? Here’s more on gratitude from our Yoga classes over the years …

Click here for the timeless and inspiring Thanksgiving blessing from W.E.B. du Bois.  It is the blessing that I share at the end of every Yoga class at Thanksgiving: Give Us Thankful Hearts

Click here for the Gratitude Savasana and Energy Bridge instruction:Thanksgiving Yoga ~ A Blessing, Part 1

Click here for another beautiful blessing that guided our meditation at the end of one Thanksgiving Yoga class: Thanksgiving Yoga ~ A Blessing, Part 2

Here The Buddha explains why we should be thankful, click: So, Let Us All Be Thankful

And, for a beautiful poem of Gratitude from Harriett Kofalk that served as the foundation of another Thanksgiving Day Yoga practice click: I Give Thanks

I am most grateful to you … if you’ve unrolled your Yoga mat with me once, twice, or countless times over many years … I am grateful for the kindness and inspiration you give me. May you have much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.

Namasté

Pratyahara: Turning Down The Volume

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There are eight limbs of the Yogic path.

Review them all, click here.

We often forget that there are eight.

It’s very easy to simply enjoy our time on our Yoga mats – stretching and reaching and curling and twisting. Asana, the limb of physical movement, is especially popular here in the West because, while our lives may be quite active, our movements often aren’t.

So, we come to our mats to revitalize our physical bodies.

Nothing wrong with that … I would be awfully lonely in my Yoga studio if you all didn’t love to stretch and fold and twist on your mats with me each week!

In almost every Yoga class, there is also time to focus the breath, practicing breathing with direction and purpose.  The limb of Pranayama.

Next up is Pratyahara, the limb of withdrawing the senses inward. This means to turn off the distractions that surround you, in preparation for mediation or simply a bit of peace.

I call it, “turning down the volume on the day.”

While people can get very excited over accomplishing a headstand or a handstand, they often write off the value of just going inward.

In  truth, the movement of Asana and the direction of breathing are simply tools to help us reach the higher limb of Pratyahara.

Pratyahara can be a nourishing part of any Yoga practice on the mat. But, it’s even more nourishing when you find ways to incorporate the practice into your daily life.

I wrote about Pratyahara “off the mat” on my other blog this week.

Click here to read about the little kid who showed me how it’s done.

Each Step Must Be A Goal

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I sometimes think that goal-making sends our awareness and attention only to the end result — the goal we seek to achieve.  And, then we miss the journey itself, the effort, the adventure, the process. And, it’s that process that is probably the most important benefit. ~ NamastĂ©

“It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal & a step likewise.” ~ Goethe

 

Here Alone Is The Peace You Are Seeking

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During this week’s Yoga classes … I shared this wisdom of Selvarajan Yesudian, a Yoga Teacher and Physician (most known for bringing Yoga to Sweden in the 20th Century):

“Yoga never demands the sacrifice of our reason. It only bids us: use it a thousand times more.

Yoga does not require us to give up our active lives. It says simply: act, but know how to act.

Yoga does not by any means wish us to push our understanding aside. It only tells us: discriminate correctly and act fearlessly.

Yoga does not expect us to flee from the world and to retire into the Himalayas. It assures us: the refuge you seek, you will never find in the outside world. It is within you.

Leave the stormy world of the senses behind you, raise your consciousness to the central point of your being and realize that here alone is the force, here alone is the peace and here alone the refuge you are seeking.

Yoga teaches us: do not condemn the world. Deify the world with your deeds, purify the world with your utterances and ennoble the world by your presence.”

~ Selvarajan Yesudian, Yoga Teacher & Physician (1916-1988)

Always Cheer The Underdog & Other Good Advice From Mom

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I try not to cross-pollinate my blogs.  I just have two and each serves a different purpose.

But, what are rules, if you can’t break them from time to time?

With Mother’s Day quite close, I thought I would share with you my post about my mom. 

It has nothing to do with Yoga, but it has everything to do with love. And, isn’t cultivating love what our Yoga is really all about?

So, if you’d like to take a look, you can click on my “Baseball, Yoga, Life (& me)” blog by clicking here

If you’re interested, you can sign up to receive emails whenever I post on either of my websites.  There’s a sign up for this website on this page.  And, you can subscribe to receive posts from my “Baseball, Yoga, Life (& me)” blog (just go to the “Home” link on that site and you’ll see the “Follow By Email” option on the right-side column). 

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom who left too soon … and to all the moms out there who fill the world with so much love!

Namasté

Finding Simplicity & Peace ~ Inside & Out

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I came across this peace prayer quite awhile ago.  It seems especially relevent during times when the fast pace of news and life can seem to overwhelm us and our senses. 

It’s important during these stressful times to come back to the Yogic practice of Pratyahara — drawing our senses inward for the peace, quiet, safety, and wisdom that our heart can offer.

I adapted the prayer so that it could serve as a Savasana Yoga meditation this week.  As we keep the Earth Day spirit in our hearts, perhaps this meditation can be of benefit.

A Blessing of Simplicity & Peace


We give thanks for simplicity and peace.   Let us find such places within ourselves. We give thanks for places of refuge and beauty. Let us find such places within ourselves.

We give thanks for place of nature’s truth and freedom, of joy, inspiration and renewal, places where all beings may find acceptance and belonging. Let us search for these places in our world and in ourselves.  Let us restore them. Let us strengthen and protect them.  Let us create them.

May we mend our outer world according to the truth of our inner life. And, may our hearts be shaped and nourished by nature’s eternal wisdom.

Namasté