Author: Staff Reporter (Page 1 of 2)

Peninsula Pulse Features Junction Center’s Restorative Yoga

October 21, 2019 / Staff Reporter

Aleah Kidd, reporting for the Peninsula Pulse, dropped in for a class to get a feel for what restorative yoga is.

“I found a balanced blend of inner focus work – breathing and quieting the mind – and basic yoga movements that focus on alignment, flexibility and balance. Throughout the class, the primary intention is to stay present and practice one of yoga’s core principles: unifying the mind and body.”

In her session, she says, “four men and eight women attended, which is a standard group size for most classes. Ages ranged from those in their 60s to those in their 80s. According to Navis, men have become more frequent practitioners at the studio after word got out that practicing members were seeing improved performance in their golf game.”

CLICK to READ the full feature article…

How to Breathe by Leo Babauta

January 26, 2016 / Staff Reporter

Your day is getting hectic, and you’re tired, or anxious, or distracted, or full of doubt. You’re a bit lost, feeling without direction.

Take a breath

By Leo Babauta

Turn the spotlight of your attention from all the worries of your day to your breath, as it comes in and then goes out.

Breathe normally, not more slowly or deeply than usual — the only thing that has changes is you’re now paying attention.

Your mind will wander, and that’s OK. Just gently return your attention to your breath, noticing your thoughts as they arise, then going back to the breath.

It’s a gentle thing, the breath: it fills you, then leaves softly, without you noticing most times, without you needing to worry about it.

Your mind wanders, and you come back. You pay attention to the quality of the breath, and your body as your chest rises and falls, your shoulders move, your back is slumped a bit, your butt is perhaps a little sore from sitting.

You notice this moment, and realize that in this moment, everything is OK. This moment is complete, without the worries and distractions.

When you return to your anxieties, fears … these emerge from the mind unbidden, just as all your thoughts do. They are temporary conditions, like clouds passing. They aren’t of any consequence if you just notice them, acknowledge them, let them move on.

You return to the breath, and the anxieties are forgotten for a second as you see the breath.

Your mind wanders again, fears arising, desires for distractions and pleasures coming up. These are selfish little things, the fears and desires, that are looking for comfort and trying to avoid discomfort.

You go back to the breath, and notice the body, and your surroundings, all perfect in this moment. For a second, your worries about the comfort of your self is forgotten. The self is not a concern when you’re fully in the moment, though it will assert itself again.

The self and its fears and desires and anxieties and urges return, then you go back to the breath and they’re gone.

Like the ebb and flow of tides, the self and the moment surge back and forth, with you caught up in the waves between them.

You stay with the breath for a moment, and for that moment … you are no longer there.

There’s just the breath, the body, and all that’s around you.

From Zen Habits…

Explore the Benefits of Yoga with Beginner’s Classes at Junction Center

November 2, 2015 / Staff Reporter

There is no doubt that yoga has become a way of life for many individuals. It may best be described as a fitness lifestyle, one that builds the connection between your body, mind and spirit. Yoga is also a unique discipline, one that gets easier to do the longer you practice it and the older you get.

Kathy Navis teaches and encourages anyone, at any age to begin exploring yoga as a means to better health and wellness.

Yoga is an ancient practice, one that originated in India over 5,000 years ago. Whether it’s the immediate reduction in levels of stress or the measurable improvements in circulation and blood pressure, practicing yoga is one of the most enjoyable forms of “preventive medicine” that you can take. After a few sessions you will begin to notice improvements in your flexibility and balance. Over time, Yoga is also a strength builder.

Kathy’s free introductory class will provide beginners with some basic knowledge and practice of yoga including an explanation of the philosophy, the postures (asanas) and breath work (pranayama). The benefits of Yoga do not occur overnight, but the results are indeed long lasting. As you become fit and flexible most practitioners will begin to notice an increase in overall vitality and a greater sense of wellness.

The different poses or Asanas each focus on gently improving the functional capacity of your skeletal joints, muscles and connective tissue. By linking the actions to the breath, one also begins to “quiet the mind” – to hush that endless stream of thoughts that some mistake for consciousness.

Yoga students will also begin to take greater notice of their posture as they gain awareness of the alignment and range of motion inherent in their own musculoskeletal system. According to a notable physiologist, we become less flexible as we get older mainly because of certain changes that take place in the connective tissues as our bodies gradually begin to dehydrate. It is believed that stretching stimulates the production or retention of lubricants between the connective tissue fibers, thus preventing the formation of adhesions. Perhaps the greatest realization you will experience in taking up the practice of yoga is that you are actually capable of changing and improving your range of motion.

Classroom attire in Yoga sessions is freeform, but dressing in layers is advisable so you can peel them off depending on the level of exercise and temperature of the room. Students will often wear leotards, shorts, t-shirts and tank tops under a layer of sweats that can be removed.

Join us in beginner’s classes at Junction Center. All of the equipment is provided in a warm and comfortable environment. Beginner’s classes are for all ages, male and female and for any level of fitness or ability. Call 920.823.2763 to join or visit Junction Center Yoga Studio to learn more.

Junction Center Celebrates Valentine’s Day Each Year with a Partner Yoga Workshop

January 31, 2015 / Staff Reporter

Join us on Valentine’s Day for a Partner Yoga Workshop with Kathy Navis.

Partner Yoga is designed to bring community and play into our yoga practice. It’s a way to develop trust , connection and playfulness through assisted yoga postures. It’s a very enjoyable way to work together in a number of different ways to extend your practice. You will also share the bond of communicating and cooperating with a fellow yoga practitioner, regardless of your relationship or skill level.

Partner Yoga, whether with a friend, a partner or someone you’ve never met, has some incredible benefits:

Deepen your connection to others,
Build trust and compassion,
Deepen your practice in discovering how to safely stretch further than usual,
Acquire a sense of balance that cannot be experienced working solo,
Learn to move with greater awareness and recognition of how our movements affect others,
Enhance your communication skills using verbal as well as non-verbal communication,
And it’s so much fun!

The workshop will conclude with class participants sharing some delicious snacks and beverages from Greens N Grains Natural Food Store.

No experience necessary, partnering with a friend is optional but not mandatory. We will find a partner if you come solo! The cost is $20 per person or $35 if you come with a friend.

Please, reserve your place by calling 920.823.2763 or e-mailing kathy@JunctionCenterYoga.com.

Is yoga a sport or a spiritual practice?

April 21, 2014 / Staff Reporter

While Debate.org says the vote is split 50/50 (now 43/57 after my post) on this discussion, most serious practitioners will agree that yoga is instead, a way of life.

It can best be described as a fitness lifestyle, one that builds the connection between your body, mind and spirit. If yoga is a sport, it is one of the few that you actually get better at, the longer you practice it and the older you get.

“There is only one way to find out how plastic your body really is, and that’s by using it,” says Kathy Navis. “Regain flexibility and range of motion rather than watch it slip away over the years.”

She teaches and encourages anyone, at any age to begin exploring yoga as a means to better health and wellness with a variety of yoga classes available the year ’round at Door County’s oldest yoga center: Junction Center Yoga Studio in Jacksonport.

Yoga is an ancient practice, one that originated in India over 5,000 years ago. Whether it’s the immediate reduction in levels of stress or the measurable improvements in circulation and blood pressure, practicing yoga is one of the most enjoyable forms of “preventive medicine” that you can take. After a few sessions you will begin to notice improvements in your flexibility and balance. Over time, Yoga is also a strength builder.

Kathy invites regular students to bring along a friend anytime for a free class… help expand their knowledge and practice of yoga philosophy, the postures (asanas) and breath work (pranayama).

The benefits of Yoga do not occur overnight, but the results are indeed long lasting. As you become fit and flexible most practitioners will begin to notice an increase in overall vitality and a greater sense of wellness. The different Asanas each focus on gently improving the functional capacity of your skeletal joints, muscles and connective tissue. By linking the actions to the breath, one also begins to “quiet the mind” – to hush that endless stream of thoughts that some mistake for consciousness.

There is only one way to find out if yoga is right for you. Sign up for a free beginner’s class at Junction Center. All of the equipment is provided in a warm and comfortable environment. Beginner’s classes are for all ages, male and female and for any level of fitness or ability. Call 920.823.2763 to join or visit the Website at JunctionCenterYoga.com‎ to learn more.

Post by Junction Center Yoga Studio in Door County.

Restorative Yoga and Vibrational Sound Healing at Junction Center, April 26

April 11, 2014 / Staff Reporter

Bobbi Silverstone and Ceci Parrella travel and share their Restorative Yoga and Sound Healing classes at different yoga studios across the USA.

They are each certified as instructors in both Yoga and Integrative Breath Therapy. On Saturday, April 26 from 5:30 – 7 pm, they will be here in Door County at Junction Center Yoga Studio, providing an opportunity to enjoy a unique encounter.

“Experience deep relaxation as layers of tension and stress melt away,” says Bobbi Silverstone. “In this state of relaxation, the body is nurtured and healed from within.”

The poses in their distinctively sensual yoga class are done lying on the floor, using bolsters to support your body. Breath awareness, hot stones, essential oils, singing bowls and drums are added to induce and enhance the process of relaxation and vibrational healing.

Bobbi Silverstone hails from Gladstone, MI where she has been teaching yoga, breathwork and sound therapy for more than 15 years at her home studio. Her Facebook Page may be found at Serenity Yoga and Breathwork. Ceci Parrella is from Hilton Head, SC and also teaches in her home studio. Her Facebook Page may be found at Flowering Breath.

Together, they will present a delightful evening session that you may never forget. The cost to attend is $40. Call 920.823.2763 to reserve a space as class size is limited.

Celebrate the Gratitude Tree at JCY&Z!

December 23, 2013 / Staff Reporter

It all started with the Door County Maritime Museum’s “Merry-Time Festival of Trees.”

Peg Lowry, owner and manager at the Blue Dolphin House in Ephraim, was one of the many local businesses and organizations that created a unique Christmas tree donation.

She decided to fashion a Gratitude Tree, adorned with tiny bundles of thankfulness notes. Every tree went home with a lucky winner on December 10 at the museum’s “Jingle, Jingle, Mix & Mingle” raffle! Nancy Erickkson, a regular Junction Center yoga practitioner, also works at the Blue Dolphin and attended the museum festivities. When she won the tree, she decided it belonged at Junction Center… (Thanks so much Nancy!)

You are encouraged to bring non-perishable food or personal care items to Junction Center as a donation to Lakeshore CAP (Community Action Program). The CAP’s motto, “Increasing economic self-sufficiency in Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc and Sheboygan Counties,” is reflected in their programs to educate families, protect youth, secure shelter, deliver skills training, promote entrepreneurship and to provide food for the needy throughout northeastern Wisconsin. Your contribution will be delivered to Door County’s CAP located at 131 S. 3rd Avenue in Sturgeon Bay.

The Gratitude Tree has a pair of scissors hanging from one of the branches and a card that explains, “In return, please take with you one of the little polka dot bags filled with notes of appreciation and pass them on to others to whom you are grateful! May the spirit of Gratitude remain with you!”

Each of the cards in the packets has a different saying about gratitude and a place to write 3 reasons why you are grateful to the specific individuals that you choose give a card to. So, plan on sharing the joy next time you visit Junction Center Yoga Studio and have a Merry Holiday Season!

Searching Yoga Journal Archives for Asanas and Pranayama to Support Your Immune System

October 14, 2010 / Staff Reporter

Arm yourself against this year’s bug with a gentle asana practice.
By Angela Pirisi

Ask a dozen sniffling, sneezing people to talk about the bug they’ve caught, and you’ll likely discover a pattern. Chances are good that before they came down with the cold or flu, they were working long hours, eating on-the-go, getting little sleep, operating at full-speed ahead. While not always the case, many people report that these winter afflictions creep up on them in times of stress, when they’re pushing themselves too hard.

More and more, it seems that science backs up this observation. According to William Mitchell, N.D., a Seattle-based practitioner who teaches advanced naturopathic therapeutics at Bastyr University, studies show that many viruses and bacteria quietly reside within us until something within the body’s internal environment becomes unbalanced. Then they rally into action and attack.

As many longtime yogis can attest, asana practice provides a gentle, natural means of supporting the immune system on a day-to-day basis—no matter how hectic your schedule might be. Yoga helps lower stress hormones that compromise the immune system, while also conditioning the lungs and respiratory tract, stimulating the lymphatic system to oust toxins from the body, and bringing oxygenated blood to the various organs to ensure their optimal function.

“Yoga is unlike other forms of exercise that focus only on certain parts of the body,” says Kathleen Fry, M.D., president of the American Holistic Medicine Association in Scottsdale, Arizona. “Yoga works on everything.”

, from Wikimedia Commons”] By http://theholisticcare.com [CC-BY-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons Mitchell, who teaches Paramukta Yoga (Yoga of Supreme Freedom), points to a number of poses that can help a practitioner get through a winter cold.

Kurmasana (Tortoise Pose) supports the thymus.
Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog) encourages blood flow to the sinuses—although Mitchell adds that most inverted postures or forward bends will focus the immune system on the sinuses, ultimately helping to ease congestion.

These particular types of poses also work to prevent the complications of secondary infections by draining the lungs.

If bronchial congestion has you gasping for air, Mitchell suggests you practice:

Ustrasana (Camel Pose),
Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose), and
Balasana (Child’s Pose) with arms extended in front, moving into
Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose) to open the chest and prevent pneumonia.

Should you come down with the flu, however, it’s best not to practice yoga at all, since the condition requires absolute rest. The one exception to this rule, according to Alice Claggett and Elandra Kirsten Meredith in their book Yoga for Health and Healing: From the Teachings of Yogi Bhajan (1995), is in the case of fever. Sitting in Sukhasana (Easy Pose), with the backs or sides of the hands resting on the knees, thumb and index finger touching in gyan (or jnana) mudra and breathing through a U-shaped tongue for a minimum of three minutes will help reduce a temperature.

It seems reasonable to focus preventive measures on the areas of the body that fall directly under siege: namely, the nasal and bronchial passages. But the yoga tradition also suggests that colds and flu result from poor digestion or an energy imbalance originating in the digestive tract, which results in a build-up of mucus and phlegm that moves into the lungs. The theory, suggests Gary Kraftsow, a Viniyoga teacher based in Maui, Hawaii, is that improper digestion causes toxin build-up, which in turn manifests as disease anywhere in the body. Poses that gently compress, twist, or extend the belly can help a host of digestive ailments.

Pranayama Power

While the asanas make up the cornerstone of infection prevention, yoga’s benefits don’t stop there. Since both colds and flu attack the bronchial passages, it makes sense that conditioning the lungs and maximizing one’s breathing capacity through pranayama would build resistance to preying organisms.

Kraftsow, in his recent book Yoga for Wellness (Penguin, 1999), explains that cold and flu infections, allergies, asthma, and other chronic respiratory conditions are “directly linked to a weakened immune response” due to “disturbed, irregular habits of breathing.”

Drs. Robin Monro, R. Nagarathna, and H.R. Nagendra, authors of Yoga for Common Ailments (Fireside, 1991), also emphasize breathing exercises. Sectional breathing and rapid abdominal breathing (Kapalabhati) “increase the resistance of your respiratory tract,” they advise, while the nasal wash and alternate-nostril breathing “increase the resistance of your sinuses.”

Recent findings from a Penn State University study involving 294 college students support this. Those who irrigated daily with saline experienced a significant reduction in colds.

Finally, meditation also reduces the incidence of infectious ailments by de-stressing the body and mind. Ample research has shown that just 20 minutes of meditation a day increases endorphins, decreases cortisol levels, and fosters positive states of mind to promote better health.

So how does one begin an immune-boosting yoga program? Rest assured that whatever your current yoga practice entails, it already strengthens your resistance.

But if you want to take extra steps to avoid infection, take this advice from Richard Rosen, frequent Yoga Journal contributor and instructor at Piedmont Yoga Studio in Oakland, California. He explains that modified versions of forward bends, backbends, and twists can all lend a hand in supporting and strengthening the immune system. Practice the sequence regularly throughout the winter to better your chances of staying healthy. And if you do succumb to illness, you’ll find these poses provide just the R & R you need to get better.

Finding Presence of Breath, Ease, Joy and Kindness in Asana Practice, June 1

May 24, 2010 / Staff Reporter

…a workshop taught by Ranjani Cobo MD on June 1, 2010.

ranjani-cobo-450

Many students joined us on Tuesday for the opportunity to work with one of Yoga’s longtime practitioners, a physician, dedicated gardener and master of the practice of asana, Ranjani Cobo, to explore the profound healing experience of yoga practice.

Using your body and breath to facilitate a greater depth of experience in asanas that are selected to be comfortable for yoga practitioners of all levels can have a profound impact on how we communicate in body language. Based on a deep understanding of individual postural alignment, core body balance and hands-on contact, this yoga workshop will also transform your individual practice in unexpected ways.

We worked with alignment through the concept of Therapeutic Partner Practices (TPP) and Hands-on Energy Practices in small groups. This gathering will be a celebration of our journey – many years of practice – in both life and yoga, crossing paths and ALL that we experience in between.

We played with New Ways of Relating and Caring for One Another

Ranjani Cobo (aka Dr. Mary Elaine Cobo) has spent several decades studying and apprenticing in India under the guidance of Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois, B.K.S. Iyengar, Sri Desikachar, and Indra Devi. She has synthesized her experiences in India to bring to the yoga community a very rare blend of the Iynegar and Ashtanga traditions. She integrates the practice of yoga with a deep understanding of our connection to the Earth, our diet, and our relationships. Her life-long commitment comes through very clearly in the creative and enthusiastic spirit of her personal practice and teaching. Her workshops have been well received in over 20 countries including Latin America, Europe, India, and the U.S.

Among many modalities of the healing arts, Ranjani is certified by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York and has also extended knowledge in Oriental and Chinese Medicine. She continues to study with Charlotte Joko Beck in the Zen Meditation tradition.