February Newsletter— New Beginnings

New Beginnings

Master Zi, Rob, and I would like to welcome you all back for a wonderful new year. Shakti’s Elements has many new and exciting programs to share with all of you this year. We are looking forward to helping you attain your goals for 2007.

Yoga Naga
Master Zi will be teaching a new yoga program this Winter and Spring. It is a culmination of all of his years of study and teaching in India. He will be assisted by his student, Aras Baskauskas. Please join us for this special and unique class of Yoga Naga.

New Yoga Classes
Recently, Forrest Yoga, a local and very well respected School has closed its doors. While unfortunate, we have been blessed to be able to bring some of their amazing teachers to Shakti’s. We have also added many new, completely original classes to our schedule, which we invite you to experience.

Children’s Classes
These classes include a new children’s yoga class, and pre and post-natal yoga classes!

Workshops
In addition, we will be hosting workshops for several different Masters; among them are Oso Mfundishi Tayari Casel, Julius Baker & Shelly Mazer, Phillip Wong, Zhang Hong Mei, Pandit Jana and more. If you have the opportunity, check out one or all of these great, world-renowned teachers through out the year. For a list of upcoming workshops click HERE.

Bodywork
We have also made some great additions to our bodywork center. Master Zi and Paige Olsen, our phenomenal bodywork practitioners, welcome our latest addition to the Shakti’s wellness team, Sanjay Bardwag, an amazing physical therapist. Stop by our Bodywork center and find out more about our strength, weight loss and wellness programs and packages…

New Open Gym Program
Our new open gym program allows students to take advantage of non-scheduled time in the studio. Come practice Yoga, Tai Chi, and use our free weights, spinning bike, and more. As an additional perk, if Master Zi is available, he may give some basic instruction worth its weight in gold! Cost is only an additional $50 for current students, or $100 for non-students.

Changes for Yoga Program
In order to continue to grow our yoga program at Shakti's Elements and to provide you with better services, we have switched our yoga program from "donation only" to a member based payment system. Our new program prices are as follows:

1) Single Class - $15
2) 10 Class Pass - $120 (3 month expiration)
3) Yoga Unlimited - $130/month*
4) Deluxe Package $190/month* (Tai Chi, Chi Gung, and Yoga Classes)

* (Includes free mat rental and 10% off bodywork)

When you come to take a yoga class, pay and sign in at the front desk. Annual rates are available at a reduced price. Work-study programs are available based on financial need and availability.

New Year Commitment
Last but not least, we are excited to be a part of your process for another year. We look forward to pushing the boundaries, challenging you, and being there to support you in any way we can. Please let us know if you have any questions, suggestions, comments, or good advice. Shakti’s Elements is our space that only blossoms through a strong community. Yoka Boka (For us all)…

Peace and Prosperity,
Master Zi & Nisha Malonga, and Rob Hoffman

A MASTER’S WISDOM

Written by Oso Mfundishi Tayari Casel

Greetings to the Wonderful Blessed Students of Shakti’s Elements,
I wanted to share some thoughts with you for the opening months of 2007, as we have recently passed through the Winter Solstice -- that point where the Northern Hemisphere is leaning farthest away from the sun than any other time of the year.

Solstice means...
standing-still-sun

What occurs when we stand still?

We can become more aware of our surroundings and ourselves.
When quiet and still, we are drawn into deeper thoughts.
That stillness provides fertility for introspection and reflection.
It can transport us to emotions that are associated with those thoughts.
Afterwards we can be inspired to act on those thoughts, thus bringing life to our stillness.

Let us take this time to plant the positive thoughts within our being so that as we move toward the Vernal Equinox, which signifies the rebirth, they will bring forth dynamic actions that will germinate in the Spring.

Practice your Tai Chi, Think Positive, Offer Kindness, Allow Forgiveness, Appreciate Love Received and Give Love.

I am looking forward to seeing you all very soon.

Peace & Blessings,
Oso Mfundishi Tayari Casel

February Self-Healing Tips —Traditional Chinese Medicine

written by: Julie Festa, L.Ac.

The winter’s solstice was upon us this year on December 21st. It is the shortest day of the year, the end of one planetary year, the beginning of a new one, and the official beginning of winter. Winter a season of reflection, and it is ruled by the Water element. It is also a time of consolidation and storage. We warm and store the yang energies deep within the body while the outer body cools. The way to harmonization with winter’s energies is to embody our more yin qualities. We can do this by becoming more receptive, introspective, and storage-oriented. It is a good time to rest, to meditate deeply, and to store physical energy while staying active enough to keep the spine and joints flexible.

Salty and bitter flavored foods assist us through the cold season. These promote and sinking and centering quality and increase the capacity for storage. They also cool the surface of the body while bringing body heat deeper and lower. Since we are in Southern California, we have the luxury that we can generally tolerate salads as a part of our diet all year round. Leaf lettuce is cooling in nature, bitter and sweet in flavor, dries damp, promotes diuresis, and has a calming action on the nervous system. It is rich in chlorophyll, iron, and vitamins A and C. Miso is a salty fermented soybean paste thought to have originated in China 2500 years ago. It contains up to 20% protein, amino acids, lactobacillus, which aids in digestion, promotes an alkaline internal environment, and promotes a healthy immune system.

Chinese Nutrition Self-Healing: Miso-Tahini Dressing

Try this: Find yourself some good organic lettuce leaves, whether endive or romaine is no matter. First soak your leaves in a diluted solution of vinegar (apple cider vinegar is fine and 1 tbsp vinegar to 1 gallon water) to remove parasites and microorganisms. Then combine 1 tbsp miso, 1 tbsp tahini, ¼ cup lemon juice, and ¼ cup water to make a thick miso-tahini puree. Add water until a consistency is achieved that suits your fancy for your salad dressing. If you want to make this more warming, try adding some dried ginger, fresh garlic and fresh scallions to your miso-tahini dressing.

Chinese Self-Acupressure: Bladder 40

With cooler weather and rampant Kidney-yang deficiency, many people experience weakness, tightness, achiness, or even forthright pain in the knees. Bladder 40 is an excellent point for self-massage that has an immediate and profound effect on the openness of the energy flow through the knee, up into hamstrings and down through the calf muscles and lower leg; it also strongly impacts the low back. Self-massage daily here can greatly help those of us who are limited in what we can do because of difficulties in the knees, the legs, and low-back, or for anyone who suffers pain in any of these areas.

Bladder 40, Wei Zhong, or Bend Middle, is located in the center of the crease behind the knee. Many of us are tempted to not go poking around back there, because of how tender it is, but I assure you that the slight discomfort will be worth it. To find it just reach around and feel your way to the center point between the big tendons on the back of either side of the knee. The energy of this point is somewhere between the size of a pea and a quarter, depending on your size and the flow of your energy on any given day.

Try this: Give yourself gentle massage at Bladder 40 on both legs twice-daily – before bed, before your practice, while watching television, or even as a work-day break at your desk and feel the tissues all around the knee joint, up and down the leg, and in the low-back become more spacious and free.

NEW INSTRUCTORS

Below you will find a little more info about our new instructors. Please help us welcome them to Shakti’s Elements. Try one of their classes if your schedule permits…

Maralyn Facey Leski (Kundalini Yoga, Mon/Fri., 10:30-12:00) is a life skills coach, an award winning motivational speaker, author, athlete, and a certified yogini. She has been teaching Kundalini yoga for 10 years.

Mestre Raiul (Capoeira, Wed. & Fri., 5-6pm) has been practicing Capoeira for over 30 years and has been teaching for 25 years, playing a significant role as a member of the second generation of Capoeira Masters from Sao Paulo. He is known throughout Brazil and has a teaching style which accommodates everyone.

Gabriella Nagy (Kids Yoga, Wed., 3-4pm) has taught classes at Jiva Yoga in Pacific Palisades, Exhale in Santa Monica, Sunshine Preschool in West L.A., and the Juan Cabrillo Elementary School. She seeks to give children the ability to use Yoga skills as a tool to achieve a lifetime of health and well-being.

Shayna Reid (Prenatal Yoga, Mon. 12-1:15pm & Wed. 12:30-1:45pm) Shayna Reid is a licensed massage therapist, Craniosacral practitioner and Certified Forrest Yoga Instructor. With individual attention she creates a safe, loving environment, nourishing personal transformation.

WORDS TO LIVE BY:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
-Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural speech

“Without love it’s just a lot of hard work.”
-The 14th Dalai Lama

New Classes

Schedule Changes

Workshops

New Beginnings

A MASTER’S WISDOM

February Self-Healing Tips —Traditional Chinese Medicine

NEW INSTRUCTORS

WORDS TO LIVE BY: