The Zoga Yoga Graduation - with the Amazing Joseph

While the teacher trainees in the Bronx celebrated at the beautiful Bhavani Mandir, Sensei Joseph had his graduation ceremony earlier in the week @ The Harmony By Karate Dojo where much of his training took place. Sensei Joseph is an amazing person & beloved friend. He is a Kung Fu and Karate Black Belt/Instructor, a Reiki Master, a Crystal Healer, A Talented Dancer, an Ordained Minister, an AMAZING Friend and now a 200 Hr Yoga Alliance Recognized Yoga Instructor, through ZOGA YOGA. While the list of achievements is probably longer, Joseph is possibly one of the most humble people I know. Just before his Teacher Training journey, together He & I did Reiki Master Training & Master Crystal Healing Training together, with the amazing Mary of Mukti Healing. When training began, Joseph spent weeks in intense training, learning Yoga Asana, Pranayama, The Koshas, The Sutras, The Bhagavad Gita, Ayurveda & Doshas types, Meditation, Asana Adjustments, Sequencing, Oneness Blessing, Mantras, Traditional Surya Namaskar and various other deep spiritual aspects of the Eight Limbed practice we call Yoga. He also had the privilage to learn Inversions with a wonderful Dharma Yogi/friend Amitai & ACRO Yoga on his last day, with a lovely Dharma Yogi/Friend, Agustin. As part of his program he will take Master Class with Sri Dharma. Ironically, Joseph, Sensei Joseph has been one of my Karate Instructors, and as a Sensei has literally flipped me over his head in class (at the speed of light), and challenged me in ways that have saved my life.....So I made sure to give him a dose of the ASANA Challenge at times. We had such fun exploring poses, advanced Sequencing, Gentle Sequencing and more ADVANCED Sequencing....It was fun!!! The look on Joseph's face when I would guide him through some sequences and demonstrate to encourage him to play was priceless. Soon he was very eager to play and explore the Yoga Asana with Advanced Variations, Adjustments, Mantras, and special Pranayama. Joseph has taught me so much and I am so honored to have been part of his Yoga Journey. I know he will go on to transform lives and bring people closer to God, as he himself is truly receptive to that portion of God in his heart. As most people know, I am blessed to teach Yoga full time, every day, nearly all day....and in my temporary absence from NYC, I am happy to leave some of my private students under the Instruction & care of Joseph, because he is AMAZING!

The teacher training experience is a remarkable chance for self discovery and deepening of the Yoga Practice. It is a chance to heal, grow, learn and find God. Whatever your religious belief....Yoga makes a Christian a better Christian, A Hindu a Better Hindu, a Muslim a better Muslim, a Jew a Better Jew.....and I know this because I have students of every faith, and that has been their experience that they share with me. While the fitness benefits of Yoga are inevitable, the Spiritual and Mental benefits are enormous.

I am grateful to have been on this journey with Joseph, and I know he will inspire many people worldwide. As Zoga Yoga is on its way to be a Global Experience that helps people, and inspires people to help others, I am fully confident and grateful to have Joseph and all the other Newly Certified Teachers in this Army of Love. Thank you Joseph for being so AMAZING!

Yoga Inversion Workshop with Amitai

Today my student & Karate Sensei Joseph embarked on the "Inversion Workshop" requirement for his Teacher Training. For those who don't know, Joseph isKung Fu & Karate Black Belt, A Reiki Master, A Crystal Healer, an ordained Minister, and an amazing friend. While my friend and fellow Yoga Instructor Agustin was set to teach the class, he sent his friend Amitai instead. Both Amitai and Agustin are remarkable Dharma Yogi's. I have taken many classes with Amitai at Dharma East, and he truly has a remarkable gift for teaching, and a humble energy that one can only attain with sincere devotion to the practice of Yoga, and their Guru. The class was at the Reebok Sports Club in the Harmony by Karate Dojo. Amitai entered and introduced himself to Joseph. After a very challenging yet beautiful weekend, I was excited to deepen my asana practice too. Even though many people think my asana practice is strong, I personally think it could be stronger, and never hesitate to share that, and continue to take classes to learn and grow. After our Om, Amitai began with beautiful guided meditation/pranayama using the chakras & alternate nostril breathing which is a common exercise Sri Dharma does after Master Class. We progressed into Bandhas, Surya Namaskar and then straight into inversions. Amitai gives amazing verbal cues, and assists in ways that make you feel like you can do everything upside down. He lead us through many variations of forearm balance, hand standing, and scorpion with highlighting the importance of how the prana flows, the importance of bandhas, the proper alignment of our body, and it was super fun!!! It goes without saying that Amitai's demonstration of poses are inspirational, and more than once Joseph and I turned to each other with a full "OMG" expression on our face after Amitai would effortlessly demonstrate!!! Thank you Amitai for an incredible experience. Thank you Joseph, it was so amazing to alternate forearm standing variations with you.

Photo: 1) Joseph working into Scorpion 2) Ambria, Amitai & Joseph

Karate meets Dance

Thursdays are Harmony by Karate are always a chance to grow and learn. I entered the dojo, still sore from overworking my back in a few advanced yoga classes, but excited to be there! All I hear is the glorious sounds of the Tibetan Singing Bowls. This sound is so beautiful! Before class, myself and Sensei Joseph give Sempai Fariha a lesson in Ohashiatsu Body work, and she learns how to work on my "bladder meridian"....ahhhhh relief! Thank you Sempai! Fast forward to the kids classes, and surprise Sempai Karen is awarded with a yellow belt black stripe (yeaaahhh we match!!!) both the classes end with Sensei John circling the students up to discuss the powerful "philosphy of the week", and when it's time to meditate the bowls are played. Beautiful.

Now it's time for the adults class, in walks Sensei Oscar. Sensei Oscar leads us through an amazing class that is inspired by the free movement of dance. Sensei taught us to keep our body free when throwing punches, when moving our hips, and work with our breath. With a gradual progression into sweaty fun, we lined up and worked on punches, pushes, and body movement that I would almost compare to a Vinyasa yoga class, only the Karate version. Whenever I see Sensei Oscar, Sensei Joseph, Sensei John, Sensei Adam, Sempai Farrihah, Sempai David, and Sensei Leonard move with such quick agility and ease, I am in awe, and truly admire and respect their obvious dedication to their practice. That being said, I don't have a poker face, so sometimes during the demonstration of the exercise, I have a mini look of fright (which I am working on) because I am unsure if I can recreate such mastery, actually, in the moment I am pretty sure I can't. That was the case tonight, Sensei Oscar demonstrated quick punches and movements, and I had that expression of "OH WOW". Sensei Joseph tends to catch my looks and it results in a moment of laughter for him and I.

When it was time to partner up for technique exchange, I was initially with Sensei Joseph, and while he sees my fear, he is such an amazing instructor that he helps me identify it, sees right through it, and coaches me to work around it. He is so amazing at watching a student and guiding them to shift out of their comfort zone. So when Sensei Joseph was coming at me with Bruce Lee style punches and kicks, (seriously he was really coming at me) and I reverted to an automatic "Oh My goodness, this guy is really coming at me!" reaction which tells my body to cower and run away in fear, he simply said, just breathe. The irony, that a yoga teacher is being told, "just breathe", I love it!!! Breathing being a verbal cue that I guide my students in throughout yoga class, was being instructed to me, and it could not have come at a more appropriate time. When we are faced with a situation that brings out fear, the best and first reaction should be, breathe, and then we can react with ease. Thank you Sensei Joseph, once again for sharing your amazing energy.

The class left us all drenched in bliss, and aware that we will feel the fruits of our labor the next day. The best part, Sensei Oscar had us finish class laying on the dojo floor in a similar fashion of "Savasana", and the singing bowls echoed us into a dreamless sleep.

Some people ask me, why as a yoga teacher do you want to learn Karate of all things? Well, I believe it can improve strength, focus and confidence, and I love to learn. Along with that, I can scare easily, if I watch a movie that is even slightly scary, don't be surprised if I scream and jump into your lap if you are next to me....so I am working on changing that habit. When we want to change anything in our lives, it requires action. Even just the small moments where I learn to just breathe through my fear during technique exchange, kick or punch at the given target, and even avoid choke holds are precious lessons that are bringing about the change I desire. Whenever I seek to learn, grow, and challenge my body, I seek out the best people to learn from or model after, then only do we have a proper benchmark. Thank you Harmony by Karate for providing the best platform for this amazing experience!
Photo: Ambria, Sensei Joseph, Sempai Karen, Sensei Oscar

Vipassana Inspired Yoga Class

Every Monday nights yoga class at Bamboomoves, promises to challenge the body, inspire the soul, and relax the mind. I like to switch up the play list with a variety of music selections like Radiohead, Coldplay, MC Yogi, Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Pearl Jam, The Dead, My own originals (Ambria), Sade, and many more amazing music selections. Sometimes we have live music, sometimes we have an entire night of music selections that are inspired by one particular artist. As a musician, and a practitioner of Yoga, I believe in the vibrational energy that we all are made of. Scientists are now discovering how Samuel Barbers Adagio for strings has the ability to create a euphoric change in the human body, creating a sense of getting high. If you have listened to your favorite music and got lost in the amazingness of it, you know that high that this study is speaking of. This study was predated with the ancient Yogis, who found the connection of certain instruments, and frequencies to specific chakra (energy points) in the body.

While it is awesome to have great music in a Yoga class, it is also awesome to challenge yourself to a quieter class. Since I love to change things up, this coming Monday night will be a "Vipassana" inspired Yoga class. Vipassana is a popular meditation practice done worldwide. Many people spend a week in total silence at Ashrams that offer this practice, with guided meditation and pranayama. Respecting tradition. No words.

Students at Bamboomoves will enter in silence, meditate in silence, practice in silence, and challenge themselves to remain in "silent obedience" as (Sri Dharma Mittra calls it) to the practice of Yoga. Without any regard to the student next to them except for mentally offering love and compassion, and instead digging deep for the purpose of self transformation. This type of yoga practice is meant to bring self transformation through self observation and introspection. It is a powerful and ancient way of practicing Yoga.

While it is fun to joke with friends, and catch up in a yoga class, especially if you have a "Cheers" like vibe as Bamboomoves does, sometimes it is good to challenge yourself to step out of your comfort zone. Challenge yourself to go within. These silent moments can bring about life changing epiphanies, but people must be open to the opportunity. Yoga Journal and many Yoga publications debate over the concept of Yoga Etiquette.... Are we respecting the practice when we talk? Are we respecting the instructor when we talk? Are we respecting our classmates when we talk? Are we allowing the Mind-Body-Spirit connection to take place? Are we embracing our pranayama practice? We must always remember, group fitness classes are fun & engaging, and yoga is too, but it can also be a spiritual opportunity for fellow students to discover and uncover things they avoid facing. Ultimately, the energy of the class is usually facilitated by the Instructor. In truth, when we talk too much, can we allow our minds to calm and quiet? Can we find Samadhi when we are always chatting/giggling? While I tend to talk through class, and even crack jokes, especially in my Fitness inspired class "Zoga-laties", I am excited to deepen students focus and spiritual experience in this Monday nights level 2 Yoga class. Light instrumental music may echo in the class, and Spiritual transformation will take place.

Ironically, this week when I assisted in the Harmony By Karate Kids Class, Sensei Joseph challenged the kids to go through their katas, and drills in total silence. The focus that kids displayed was amazing! The energy that was created was outstanding! To witness how creative the kids got was truly inspiring! I felt like Sensei Joseph had read my mind, when he introduced the exercise to the class. If kids can do it in Karate, so can adults!!!

How to Choke a Yogi?...Harmony by Karate Style

How to choke a yogi? Actually it's more like how to teach a Yogi to choke, and escape from a choke hold. Growing up my older brother enjoyed practicing wrestling moves on me, and I admit I loved being "airplane spun in the air" and various other activities that big brothers put their baby sisters through. Physical challenges have always excited me, last year I was happy to do the Fire walk with the Tony Robbins UPW event. This year, I challenge myself with the ongoing physical challenges in my weekly Karate class. I find myself slightly nervous when I enter the class. The instructors and classmates at Harmony by Karate are awesome!!! They are so helpful in the process of educating people in martial arts. Kudos to Sensei Oscar who guided us in a beautiful breath work movement based class in December, it really was awesome. Kudos to Sensei Adam who introduced Choke holds this week. WOW, was I nervous! I am not a fan of choking, kicking, hitting etc, and I am challenging my limits by diving into this awesome weekly class, so I am still working through the nerves! I cam sing in front of crowds of thousands, no nerves, teach group and private yoga classes to just about anyone, and no nerves, but ask me to spar with another person, and a different energy starts to spark inside me. It really is not in my nature, and I love the challenge! If I had the choice of styles of battle, I would prefer a battle of wits over anything physical, but unfortunately wits cannot get you out of every situation.

Once again, we partnered up and practiced "choking" and escaping. Sensei Adam demonstrated many methods and had us go through the movements. Towards the end of class I was partnered with my friend, Sensei Joseph. Sensei Joseph is no joke, he is an accomplished Black Belt, and while he is my friend, he is not afraid to challenge me. He could see my intimidation, and talked me through, pushed me to use my body and escape. While I tend to giggle in excitement/mini celebrate when I do the given task, especially because I consider myself still very new to the world of martial arts, I quickly learned it is more than just going through the motions. The amazing thing about Karate is "focus". A situation can arise within a second, and if you lose focus, you can lose a lot. Sensei Joseph literally flipped me over, and I did not even see it coming!!!?? It reminded me of days when my big brother would flip me over! I have to admit, it felt awesome, but it taught me the importance of "focus" in Karate and martial arts. In Yoga our focus in inward, observing our spirit, mind and body, inevitably becoming detached to the world, which is beautiful. In Karate, we have to have focus inward and outward because we are dealing with another persons spirit, mind and body, which is also beautiful. Karate teaches you to maintain focus in order to be ready for any circumstance. In true Sensei Adam style, we ended the class with grueling drills, that apparently someone does to him??? Maybe that is why he enjoys putting us through the gauntlet? Thank you so much to the family at Harmony by Karate for enlightening me, challenging me, and teaching me to deepen my focus.

Officially a Yellow Belt Black Stripe

Another amazing surprise from the incredible family I have at Harmony By Karate, my yellow belt. This week is promotion week at Harmony by Karate. It is exciting for the Sensei's, Sempais, the kids and the parents, as all their hard work and dedication is recognized with the promotion ceremony. While I was helping with the kids class, teaching them some yoga stretches, Sensei Joseph asked me to confirm the spelling of my last night. He is so sneaky and casual, I just told him no "s" at the end of my last name, and carried on with the jumping jacks that we were going into. When the ceremony time commenced, I stood on the side of Sensei John, passing the new belts to Sensei Joseph, and watched as the kids classes stood awaiting their belts and certificates. Finally, after everyone was awarded, and applauded, Sensei John called my name! Since I was awarded my yellow belt black stripe awhile back, Sensei John made it official with my certificate, and reintroduced me to the parents and caregivers who stood by watching. I have been awarded My Yellow Belt Black Stripe Certificate of promotion in Chowakai Karatedo of Japanese Origin. What an incredible honor! I know that I am blessed to be in the company of Harmony by Karate because of the regular compassion, kindness and genuine dedication I witness every week. As a former NYS teacher, I look for excellence in fellow educators. Regardless of if you teach in a school, yoga studio, martial arts, wherever the venue, it is important that you connect to the spirit of the student. When I look for a teacher, a colleague, or a team I want to be working with, I always search for people who share the same qualities and standards of excellence I strive to adhere to, and people who inspire me to be better. I look for people who inspire, have creativity, have fun, understand students, practice what they teach, create classes with relevance to humanity, have humility, and most importantly have compassion, and these are qualities I see in all the staff at Harmony By Karate. Sensei John himself teaches such relevant philosophies to his students, and has been part of a national Anti-Bullying campaign that has recently been featured on the Oprah Radio Show. Thank you to everyone at Harmony by Karate for being part of my journey, for teaching me so much, and for promoting me to Yellow Belt Black Stripe, it truly is an honor. Once again, I left the dojo full of smiles!
Picture: Sensei John awarding me with my Certificate of Promotion

Karma Side Kick to my own Mouth

Thursday night is here. Finished my Ohashiatsu Final Exams, taught some yoga, assisted teaching the Kids Karate class, and waiting in my Gi for the adult Karate class to begin. I am chatting with Sensei John at Harmony by Karate, when we realize that it's time for me to be in Karate class. I notice Sensei Oscar is in the Dojo, YEAAAHHH!!! Sensei Oscar gives a fun class, that is moderately challenging and conscious of breath work. I walk towards my friend Sensei Joseph, full of smiles, and notice Sensei Adam is here too??? Sensei Adam gives the "Challenging Class", which is putting it gently. I don't know why, clearly the Bronx is rubbing off on me, because I literally joyfully, blurt out to Sensei Adam "Sensei Oscar is teaching class, HA HA HA", and Sensei Adam kindly responds "Actually Sensei Oscar is here to take class, and I will be teaching class". Everyone laughs at me, I attempt to hide my blushing face in the cupboard as I realize that I "Karate Side Kicked my own foot" in my mouth so hard! So Sensei Adam is all smiles, apparently the reaction of class being hard is a compliment.

The night before I taught the ever famous, and challenging "Yoga-laties" "Zoga-laties" soon to be renamed again, and often referred to as "the Torture Class"at Bamboomoves, so my body was feeling every aspect of tonight's Karate class. The entire experience is Karma at it's finest! Ironically, Sensei Adam does a lot of exercises we do at Bamboomoves during "the Torture class". After we did burpees, push ups, pull ups, mountain climbers, wall squats, and dive bombers, he announced that we will be "Grappling". HUH? Come again, Sensei Adam? Sempai Ferrihah quickly motioned that we will be partners, YEAAA! Without a moments hesitation, Sensei Adam decides he will make the partners. I am put with Sensei Joseph (yeaaaahhhh, my wonderful friend!). Sensei Joseph looks at me with his intensity, and calmly says "I'm gonna take you down to the floor". Pardon me? HUH??? Umm Jo Jo? My nervous giggle begins, and quickly I am brought down to the floor. Sensei Joseph proceeded to "grapple" me through how to get out of the situation. It was amazing! The energy that I am blessed to enjoy at Harmony by Karate is evident in every student, Sempai, and Sensei. While I am the only one with the Yellow Belt in the primarily Black Belt adult class, they all take time and kindness to show me how to improve and better myself in the Karate style they are practicing. Thank you all for making Karate such an amazing experience, and thank you Sensei Adam for another wonderful class.

Harmony By Karate- How Karate Saved my Life

Years ago, when I taught the PreK class in the Reebok Sports Club, one of my friends/co-workers (Sensei Joseph) introduced me to Sensei John. Sensei John and the team of Black Belt Instructors at the Karate school always displayed a genuine kindness that always stood out to me. Fast forward to 2010, I was invited to participate in a lovely meditation at the dojo led by my friend Sensei Joseph. The meditation was in honor of the 9/11 tragedy, and was meant to bring unity within diversity, and celebrate humanity despite tragedy. The meditation was beautiful. It was there that Sensei John asked me if I knew anyone who could help the kids classes, in exchange learn Karate. Though my schedule has been pretty busy, I volunteered myself because I was reminded of the outstanding energy I always experienced with the family of workers at Harmony by Karate.

Twice a week I have the great privilege to join the brilliant team of Sensei's at Harmony By Karate, located in the Reebok Sports Club, to teach the Kids Karate Class. I bring the Yoga stretching to the kids and witness a beautiful way to teach kids discipline through Karate. These kids learn traditional forms, drills, and exercises while the Sensei always ties in inspiring words and things to think about.

Initially, I was reluctant to do the Karate for myself. The work outs are no joke, and force me to use my muscles in different ways than I do in yoga. While I know that martial arts was inspired by yoga, by nature, I am not aggressive, confrontational, or anything like that, so I was intimidated to be in this black belt Karate class. Unlike in yoga, there is no "childs pose" in Karate. In the class I have been doing katas, kicks, punches, chops, rolls, drops, kart wheels, hand stands, push ups, one arm push ups, and much more!!! One night we worked on yelling "STOP!!" to our partner and pushing them. This was hard for me, as my partner was my friend, Sensei Joseph. Each time I looked at his face I found myself smiling and giggling. He forced me to dig deep, and I did it.

This simple exercise nearly saved my life the following weekend. When I was on the subway, traveling early to Manhattan to teach Yoga, a man sat next to me, placed his arm around my shoulder and kissed my cheek within one second (literally when I blinked). I was so startled, I yelled "Ewww Gross, Please get away from me!" and pushed myself free. The man was startled and moved, I walked to another train car. While it may seem funny that I used the word "please" when I yelled, a year ago, when I was faced with a similar scary incident on the subway, I just froze in fear. This time, thanks to my experience at Karate, I diverted a potentially life threatening situation! Thank you to Sensei John, Sensei Joseph, Sensei Adam, Sempai Ferriha, Sempai David, and Sempai Leonard for welcoming me to your team and providing me with tools that I will cherish forever.

Many women have the limiting belief that it is not in their nature to be aggressive. The necessary confidence and skills can be taught with a wonderful self defense class or Martial Arts.

Pictured: Sensei Adam, Ambria, Sensei Joseph, Sempai David