Shree's Expert Teacher Focus: Terry Cotter

By Jessica Addeo 

Terry Cotter, E-RYT 200 with Anusara Elements 

Next up in our expert teacher focus is Terry Cotter. Although Terry may be new to our class schedule, he is not new to yoga or Shree. Yoga has been a part of Terry’s life for the past eight years. In 2013 Terry decided to pursue teacher training at Shree Yoga and obtained RYT 200 with Anusara Elements. As he joins our team he brings with him his experience teaching to a variety of adult populations in all different stages of wellness. This experience makes Terry an excellent resource to teach the upcoming back care class.

Terry's classes will inform you on how to safely move your body leaving you feeling not only nourished by your practice but empowered with knowledge. You're bound to have a good time and laugh while you're at it! Below Terry clues us in about what he is practicing, reading and doing to keep himself healthy!

What does your personal practice consist of?

Some warm-up and lots of stretching.  Hanumanasana,  Pigeon, Shoulder openers.

What's on your bedside table?

Somatics: Reawakening The Mind's Control of Movement. By Thomas Hanna 

Any special self care you are currently practicing?

I've been focusing on diet and eating more of the foods that are good but I don't particularly care for. I was born and raised eating quite literally meat and potatoes; oh yeah, eggs and bacon too, cream and sugar in my coffee, I'm starting to shake just thinking about it. I've always been athletic and wasn't happy when I realized that no matter how many miles I rode on my bicycle or how many sets of tennis I played, my hour glass figure was fading!! I read a book titled "Eat Right for Your Blood Type" and it said I should be a vegetarian!!! Well believe it or not I avoided meat for almost 2 years. I tried to eat more vegetables and finally came to the compromise that I'm living with. I avoid red meat, pork, lamb, but I eat chicken. My challenge ha been, and I'm all over it, is no caffeine, and more vegetables. 

How do you keep yourself healthy in winter (spring, summer, fall)?

My Yoga practice and cycling. In the winter I take spin classes and ride a stationary bike at home. 

Want to try one of Terry’s classes? He has varying times and types of offerings:

Monday 6:30 to 7:30 am Early Morning Yoga 
Wednesday 6:30 to 7:30 am Early Morning Yoga
Wednesday 4:00 to 5:15 Yoga for Back Health 
Coming up in March, another one of his popular Yoga for Men series.

The Power of Practice

 

 We've been watching a lot of America's Got Talent in my house, and although much of it makes me somewhat nauseous (there was a professional regurgitator on the last episode - I didn’t even know that is officially something you can be since spell check can't even seem to figure it out…), the level of dedication it takes to achieve success in your chosen talent is inspiring to watch.  As we watched last weekend, my 2 older children commented on what they were seeing - my 12-year-old saying things like "His parent must be a musician/diver/dancer", or "That level of talent is so rare".  My 9-year-old says things like "How much do you think they had to practice?" And (for the younger talent) "Do you think they have time to go to regular school too?"

This is so who they are - the older off the charts book smart, has a nearly eidetic memory, and doesn't have to work very hard to do really well in school.  The younger is emotionally intelligent, wildly creative and artistic, and has spent his life constantly trying to "live up" to his older brother.   I'll give you one guess which one is the harder worker.  And as much as this dynamic makes me cringe sometimes as a parent, I also recognize that in terms of qualities that will ensure success, the one who knows how to work really hard to get what he wants (even if it happens to be approval) will always come out ahead.  He knows how hard he has to work to be a rainmaker.

In researching the traits most conducive to success in a given field I found numerous studies that followed people that are leaders and innovators in their chosen field, the elite “achievers”.  Intelligence and talent only shows up in a couple of these studies, and never at the top of the list. The leading qualities that the most successful people in the world have are dedication, deliberate practice, self-discipline, perseverance, conscientiousness, and passion.  Blogger Raymond T. Hightower, president of WisdomGroup, summarizes a study in Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers: “In the early 1990s, a team of psychologists in Berlin, Germany studied violin students. All of the subjects were asked this question: “Over the course of your entire career, ever since you first picked up the violin, how many hours have you practiced?” By age twenty, the elite performers averaged more than 10,000 hours of practice each, while the less able performers had only 4,000 hours of practice.” To quote Thomas Edison: “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”

In yoga, we call this quality tapas. One of the definitions of tapas is “discipline”. It’s the choice you make every day to get on the mat, to commit again and again and again to your practice.  It's the discipline of saying no to late nights out because you want to get up early and meditate.  It's what gets you on the mat after a long day when a glass of wine and mindless TV is so much easier.  It's the "no excuses" principle. Tapas is also related to heat or fire.  It’s the heat that builds by doing over and over until you get it right, in spite of frustration, roadblocks, challenges. It's the fire that stokes your passion to pursue a single-minded uplifting goal, that gets you back up after falling down again and again.

 

One fascinating point of the study referenced in Outliers: No “naturally gifted” performers emerged. If natural talent had played a role, we would expect some of the “naturals” to float to the top of the elite level with fewer practice hours than everyone else. But the data showed otherwise. The psychologists found a direct statistical relationship between hours of practice and achievement. No shortcuts. No naturals.

What is natural or innate is the impetus of the desire, the passion for whatever it is you are passionate about which arises from a place deep inside yourself.  Tantric scripture tells us that any thought you have, any desire for greatness flows into you from the One Source of Being.  It's not natural talent that starts us on a particular path, but the will of the Divine to experience life through you as you. Whatever you want to achieve in your life is the same as what the Universe wants for you. Tapas is the burning desire to connect to your highest, it is the heat of transformation. It's the passion in your heart to live to your fullest. Heat facilitates your evolution by burning away your self-limiting patterns and false identities. When these "impurities" are burned away, your authentic radiance shines through.

Last week we talked about the power of the Shakti, how we are innately powerful beings and have the choice to use that power on our own behalf in ways that lift us and those around us up, or otherwise. In the Hindu myths, the demons don’t get rewarded by doing “good” or “evil” – they become powerful because they practice tapas – they are single minded in their focus. Nature rewards success. Danny Arguetty says: “We are free beings living in a stream of potentiality – how we participate in the world, make connections and align our intentionality allows us to harness this power to either build or destroy.”

So that’s the good news and the bad news.  You are immensely powerful. You can partner with the Shakti to create whatever it is you want for yourself.  But you have to do it.  During this challenging week when I have found it particularly easy to feel helpless, remember that your actions matter.  Your tapas can move you in whatever direction you choose as long as you are willing to put the time in, to dedicate yourself fully to what you are passionate about. And when others are using their own power – the same power you have - to move things in a direction you aren’t happy about it’s all the more important to do just that. May the light of awareness shine through all of us, and may our dedicated practice help shift the world around us in the direction we wish to see it move in.

Shree's Expert Teacher Focus: Valerie Herzog

 By Jessica Addeo

From a student's perspective - the reason I come to Shree, class after 
class and now going on 7 years, is the quality of the teachers. All the
teachers have so much experience, integrity and compassion and when, 
once in a while, I do go elsewhere, it's just not the same.  Even when there is a challenging 
pose which I just cannot master I never feel like I'm not getting something valuable out of the process. - AS

What makes a great yoga teacher is not just years of training, bountiful knowledge of human anatomy, powerful alignment instructions or a way with words (although these things all help). What makes a great yoga teacher is authenticity, a commitment to the practice and a willingness to share of slice of themselves to help others on their paths of practice.  In that spirit, we will be sharing little tidbits of info about the teachers at Shree. Some will share yoga related practices and some will share insights into daily life off the mat. In either case, what we hope to offer is a deeper sharing of ourselves to deepen our connections all throughout the Shree community.

Valerie Herzog, RYT 500, Anusara-Inspired Yoga Teacher

Valerie’s classes are upbeat, always include an inspiring soundtrack and speak to her passion for blending yoga with psychotherapy, as “yoga is a form of therapy that is transformational”.  In this week’s spotlight, she gives a peek at what she is up to both on and off the mat and one of her favorite year round beverages to keep her healthy and practicing!

What pose are you currently working on?  How?

So, very basic, post hip-replacement; left leg forward into a lunge, without assist.

Continuing PT in my practice, each and every day.

What is your biggest mental challenge?

Constantly working on letting go of self-judgment. Powerful demon in my life but I feel I'm making progress!

How do you keep yourself healthy in winter (spring, summer, fall)?

Fire Cider: daily dose of this spicy brew, handcrafted in Brooklyn

Check out where Valerie gets her fire cider here:

https://firecider.com/

Or try out your own at home with the following recipe below (adapted from Wellness Mama)

 

Be sure to stop in for one of Valerie’s classes at the following times:

Thursday 6:00 to 7:15 Aligned Flow I&II Yoga

Thursday 7:30 to 8:45 Level I Yoga

Sunday 8:30 to 9:45 Aligned Flow I&II Yoga

Friday January 27th 6:30-8:00 Yoga Core Fusion 

 

Fire Cider Recipe

·        1 medium onion, peeled and rough chopped

·        1 head of garlic, peeled and rough chopped

·        3 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated

·        Apple cider vinegar (organic with “the mother”)

·        Raw organic honey

·        2 teaspoons cayenne pepper powder

Instructions

1.     Place onion, garlic, and ginger in a quart size mason jar.

2.     Add apple cider vinegar to cover the herbs.

3.     Cap tightly and leave in the jar for 2-3 weeks, preferably in a sunny or slightly warm place.

4.     Strain and discard the herbs.

5.     Mix with equal parts raw honey and add cayenne powder.

6.     Store in the fridge and take 1 teaspoon as needed daily or when illness strikes. I’ve taken as much as 1 tsp an hour during illness until I felt better.

Growing Your Practice

 

I’ve been hearing from many friends and students that 2016 was a tough year for them, and how happy they are to be moving forward to the next chapter.  January, one of the darkest months of the year, is optimal time for turning inwards as the season encourages, allowing ourselves to look deep into our hearts and let go of what needs releasing in our lives to make space for something new.  Once that space is made, like hoeing the rows in your garden to plant bulbs in the spring, this dark time in the cycle of the year is an ideal time to sow the seeds for what you wish to grow in the coming months. 

The word Shree means “life-enhancing” or “auspicious”.  It is our goal at Shree Yoga to always be moving towards that goal, both for ourselves and for our students, and we have added numerous ways to do that beginning this week.  We have added several new regular classes to the schedule including Early Morning Yoga, Yoga for Men Series, Master Your Balance, Tame Your Stress.  Upcoming workshops include Inversions for Beginners, Core Fusion, the and popular Melt Method and Intro to Yoga Series.

The teachers at Shree have also committed to a Personal Yoga Challenge for 2017 and we would love for you to join us! This is all about growing your personal sadhana (practice) in ways that will bring more Shree to your life. For example, Chaya is committing to sitting for morning meditation 5 days per week and attending 2 classes per week.   Valerie will practice 3-5 times per week either in class or at home, and include a 1-minute arm balance each practice. Jessica pledges to stay connected to her practice by aiming to take 5-10 minutes daily to practice, whether that be meditate, go for a walk, take a brief restorative or just take a quiet moment.   I (Rachel) am committing to 2 full practices (60-75 minutes) per week, at least one of them in a class, and working on press handstand 5 days per week.  Those are our personal challenges - now you!  Check out the website for suggestions, or speak with your teacher before or after class to create a plan to help you live your most meaningful and inspired life.   

Beginning January 1^st register for the Personal Yoga Challenge either online or in the studio.  The program will run for 6 weeks, you pick the start date and what you want to work on.  Then create a page in the Challenge book in the studio (markers & stickers available to make it as beautiful as you are!) with your name, your goal, start and end date. Each class you take, each time you meet your challenge, log it in the book. Each week you will receive an inspiring email written by one of our expert teachers delivered right to your inbox to keep you connected and motivated.  When you’ve reached the 6-week finish, tell your teacher and we’ll all celebrate with you.  A special prize will be awarded to everyone who completes their personal Challenge.  For more info and to register click here.

As always, we look forward to another amazing year of alignment and grace both individually and as a community.  We treasure each and every one of you and what you bring to make our world more Shree.  Wishing you all a blessed and peaceful 2017.

The Gift of Yoga by Jessica Addeo

THE GIFT OF YOGA
by Jessica Addeo

Present over perfect.

Quality over quantity

Relationship over rushing.

People over pressure.

Meaning over mania.

-Shauna Niequist 

The holidays are upon us and as always it is a shiny, bright, and dazzling time of year. All year round life has the capacity to be beautifully busy and full. However, during this particular season, the fullness feels ever-present. As the expectations and commitments pile on, it can all start to feel overwhelming. The to-do lists are long, but connected to something meaningful. How do we stay connected to the meaning of it all? We practice.

 

We practice on our mat. As we move our body and breath to the tempo of the instructor we begin to come back to ourselves. Slowly the only thing that matters is feeling your foot on your mat, or feeling your shoulder blades wrap around the back of your heart or even just your breath. You leave class feeling refreshed, nourished, and grounded. In this space you begin to remember why you do all the things you do this time of year. The to-do list shifts from a never ending set of expectations to carry on your shoulders, to a representation of the love you feel and want to share. How do we keep this feeling with us as we move off of our mat and into our daily lives? Again, we practice. 

 

This time we practice off of our mat. As we go about bringing to life the traditions we hold near to our hearts we feel the four corners of our feet underneath us and know that we are grounded. We feel our breath and know that we are present. We hear our teacher’s words whispering in our head and we keep coming back to ourselves. We shift to a place of awareness inside where we begin to feel everything around us more fully and clearly, without the overwhelm. The beauty this time of year has to offer becomes the center of it all.  This is the gift of our practice. It is what makes yoga at Shree so meaningful and special. And most importantly it is what keeps you connected to the meaning, your meaning of the holiday season, and not just to all of the external factors that this time of year elicits.

The “perfect” holiday is one where people come together who are happy, connected and present. You can show up for your loved ones with perfectly executed traditions but on the inside feel frazzled and disconnected. Or you can choose to practice, both on and off your mat, and bring to the holidays a grounded, present version of you. Taking a yoga class when you have so much else to do can seem like just one more thing on the to-do list, but when you realize the present this practice has to offer, it seems like the perfect addition to your festivities.

Check our schedule to see when you can give yourself the gift of yoga.

Happy Practicing and Happy Holidays from Shree Yoga 

Samavesha celebration

Abpve the timber line

Recently Chaya and I went to northern California to the Samavesha festival, which is an annual gathering of Anusara yogis, both teachers and students and I wanted to share some of the experience with you.  It was held at the Mt. Madonna Center, in the redwood forest, and although we had been travelling all day, we took the longer route via the incomparable Route 1 up the Pacific coast and couldn’t help but stop at one of the many beaches to walk through the waves and breathe the sea air.  The Center itself was quite beautiful, located “above the timber line” (more on that later) overlooking Santa Cruz and the ocean. In addition to housing a Yoga School, a private K-12 school, and the College of Ayurveda, it is also home to an intentional yoga community, many of whom had lived there for 20+ years. At the center of the grounds was a Temple dedicated to Hanuman, where they did an arti or offering service each day which added music and blessing to each morning.

Hanuman taking his famous leap

Stopping at the beach along Route 1 to put our toes in the sand

Anusara Yoga, or now ASHY (the Anusara School of Hatha Yoga) has been very busy establishing itself as a teacher-led school.  There is a core group of teachers and leaders who have been purposefully refining the amazing system first created by John Friend, and the method is stronger now than ever before. There were participants from all over the world and it was so awesome to meet so many like-minded folks speaking the same language of yoga and holding the unique vision we all hold so dear. 

 

A couple of big updates:

·      ASHY is now officially a non-profit organization, with all the benefits that entails.

·      ASHY has just elected its first Board of Directors, hailing from 9 different countries – including our own Chaya Spencer!

·      ASHY Immersions and Teacher Trainings are currently ongoing in 15 different countries.

·      Immersion and Teacher Training materials have been reworked to present one of the most in-depth, comprehensive and well-respected yoga methods worldwide.

Chaya being honored as part of the first Board of Directors

I have to admit that I was a little nervous heading to the retreat, but it was such a relief and a renewal to see Anusara alive and well and flourishing worldwide.  The highlight of the week for me was being there with our own amazing Chaya.  She does not like this kind of attention so she downplays it, but really everyone, we have a rock star in our midst.  At every session and meal we attended together dozens of people would come up to thank her for staying with Anusara, for helping to create and hold the vision for the school of yoga we study and practice. She was honored as one of the first Board Members, and was asked to introduce the sublime Sally Kempton who was there teaching a couple of sessions.  Sally spoke about her time at the Siddha Yoga ashram 40 years ago when she and Chaya were roommates, practicing and studying yoga together.  What an unbelievable gift we have to be able to study with someone who helped to shape modern yoga as we know it, who learned directly from some of the greatest yogis our generation has known and is right here in Saddle River bringing those teachings to us!

Chaya introducing Sally Kempton

Old friends reunited

Sally led us in 2 beautiful guided meditation experiences, and they were the high point of all the sessions I attended. We were invited to invoke the goddess energy of Bhuvaneshwari, imagining her sweet and loving motherly presence in our own hearts, and then in the space behind the heart.  We did this in partners and we were invited to sense the space behind our partner’s heart, and the goddess presence there. It was a sweetly transcendent moment of connection, feeling the oneness of all beings reflected back to you in the eyes of another. It was a true moment of being “above the timber line” in my own awareness, and an experience I will carry with me for a long time as one of being loved and held by a divine energy that loves and holds the entire universe. 

Although what we teach at Shree is modern yoga at its best, this is not “exercise yoga”.  It has the support and framework of a thousands-year-old tradition of freedom and connection to the divine at its heart and as its ultimate goal. Chaya, our director and leader, carries with her the blessing and wisdom of a lifetime of study and practice, and is an equal among peers that are some of the most well respected teachers and practitioners of modern yoga.  I am refreshed and renewed by the direction ASHY is heading.  I have never been prouder to be an Anusara Yoga teacher, and to hold a place on the roster of teachers at one of the oldest, most well-established, intentional yoga schools in New Jersey. I hope you’ll join me in congratulating Chaya on her appointment, and celebrating our part in this ever evolving and growing school. Join us for one of our many inspiring Anusara classes soon to do it in person!

Sunrise over the mountains

Beautiful outdoor meditation space

Bill Mahoney sharing the wisdom of the Upanishads

Kirtan with Shantala

Lots of heart-opening yoga

Mt. Madonna Center

Acorns and Enlightenment

(We live in) a self-organizing and self-correcting universe: the embryo becomes a baby, the bud becomes a blossom, the acorn becomes an oak tree. Clearly, there is some invisible force that is moving every aspect of reality to its next best expression.

– Marianne Williamson

We have a huge oak tree right next to our property that has been dropping acorns all over our driveway for weeks now.  I am always grateful to this tree during October as the days get darker and my mood usually follows, because each little acorn is the reminder of the potential of every small being in creation. (I have kept a bowl of them on my altar for years for this very reason). Acorns, like all seeds, hold the potential of the entire tree inside themselves. It’s from the tiniest of sources that some of the biggest beings on earth spring from, and whenever I feel small I meditate on my acorn collection as a way of connecting to what is contained inside these little tidbits and myself. 

In our yoga practice, one way we move towards our fullest potential is through cultivating enlightenment.  I used to think “enlightenment” was some aha moment, like in cartoons when a light bulb pops up over someone’s head, and that when it “happened” to me I would suddenly and miraculously be free from the challenges and pitfalls of modern life.  I actually think it does happen that way for some people, albeit few. For most of us though, the spiritual path towards "enlightenment” is a slow steady progression of little awakenings and a shift in how we see the world and our own experience.  Danny Arguetty in his book the 6 Qualities of Consciousness says “Enlightenment is a never ending process that simply continues to illuminate more and more.” It is a daily practice of waking up and choosing to see a little more light in the world than you did the day before. It takes a wide angle lens to see this perspective or else the path of enlightenment can be discouraging.  We have to look back past yesterday to 2, 3, maybe 10 years back to see what shifts have happened and see the progress we've made and how far we've come. 

In the acorn/oak analogy, enlightenment is bringing the dormant, potent qualities of the entire oak contained within the seed to fruition which takes a certain cultivation - the right soil, water, sunlight, fertilization.  In our own lives, we bring our own potential to realization through not only our yoga or meditation practice, but meaningful work that fulfills us, through the people we choose to surround ourselves with who help us nurture our own unique and powerful qualities, through study and contemplation and soul cultivation.  As Tantrikas we are not looking to transcend life, but to enlighten the life we already have, to bring more awareness, love, joy, and ease to the here and now. We become “enlightened” when we realize that although our experience on the physical plane is most often the acorn, we are really the oak.

Tantra teaches us that we are all unlimited divinity which has chosen to take the form of a limited body, and it is paradoxically only through that form that we are able to reveal the infinite possibilities of who we really are. That is the “invisible force” Ms. Williamson is referring to; it is woven into the fabric of our being, the coding of our DNA and it is our life's spiritual work to uncover it. It is the force contained in the oak and in the acorn, it is in you and me, moving us towards our next best expression. Whether it lies dormant because it wasn’t offered the right conditions to flourish is entirely up to you.

It is easy to come to the mat and feel full, divine, spectacular. But it’s when we leave the room that we really begin our practice, and that we take those sparks of connection we touch on on our mat or meditation cushion and put them into practice.  With that in mind, be aware this week of when you feel small, insignificant, unimportant.  Let each acorn you see – and you should see a lot this time of year – be the reminder of what is contained inside you.    

Once again, the great Marianne Williamson:

From a mind filled with infinite love comes the power to create infinite possibilities. We have the power to think in ways that reflect and attract all the love in the world. Such thinking is called enlightenment. Enlightenment is not a process we work toward, but a choice available to us in any instant.

For the Anusara Junkies:

Open to Grace: With the fullness of your breath, feel fullness of your own potential.

Feel the inner body bright with limitless divinity.

Fill up with the limitless potential within the limitation of your skin.

Muscular Energy: Firm your muscles like the shell of the acorn containing potential within.

(From the earth to the FP) Like tree roots drink water, draw energy up.

Side Body Long: Let your body lengthen from hip to armpit and feel your unlimited potential grow inside you.

Lengthen the side body and feel the oak inside your acorn begin to flourish.

Inner Spiral: Widen your sitbones let your acorn blossom open.

Broaden inner thighs back and apart and open to new possibilities lying in the seed of your being.

Outer Spiral: Root your tailbone down into the fertile soil of your soul’s potential.

Organic Energy: Blossom like the mighty oak.

Bring forth the light of your own potential through the form of the pose.

“Enlighten” your pose with the knowledge of your own oak nature.