Happy 74th Birthday Sri Dharma Mittra!

Wishing a Happy 74th Birthday to Sri Dharma Mittra! 

The teacher who continues to inspire hearts everywhere to deepen their yoga practice.  I am sure that Dharma Yoga West was buzzing with Yogis.  I recall a few times we celebrated Dharma ji's birthday and it was always beautiful with some Vegan Treats!  Thank you Dharma ji for being such a jewel for the Yoga Community. 

Wishing you tremendous blessings on this beautiful day!

Yoga with Mary

After my time at the Zendo, my very first Yoga class was with Mary Krensavage, 10 am-ish at the Reebok Sports Club. Mary is an amazing Dharma Yoga Instructor who teaches wonderful Yoga Classes. Her classes are creative, challenging and incredibly balancing to the mind-body & spirit. She was actually subbing the class this particular morning. I had taken class with Mary before, when she had played her "Rock" playlist. Like many yoga teachers she has a few "playlists" to pick from for her yoga classes. The "Rock" - playlist yoga class had us flowing through sweaty vinyasa flows where we did push-ups after every chuturanga, it was awesome!

I knew I was in for an awesome challenge at 10 am with Mary, on a Monday morning, after coming from a week of sitting hours and hours.....oh WOW!

This particular class was packed, and she played her "Zen" playlist. An amazing play list of soft music that echoes in the heart and soul. I was joined by my friends/Sensei's, Joseph & David. The playlist couldn't have been more fitting for me personally, since I was fresh from the Zendo. Amazing, peaceful music that guided us through a class of mega hip-openers. She started class with a lovely meditation, integrating a story of the new timers set on the walk/don't walk street signals. She was telling us to embrace our own time, and avoid pushing or rushing to nail a pose and rather just be present to where our body needs to be. Mary had us flowing through a wildly creative, and challenging vinyasa, with her harmonious voice to lead us in the occasional breath cue. Mary gives breath cues almost like a song, you can't help but extend your inhalation as she swoops the word into a magnificent crescendo. During the beginning of class, a crystal that I had kept in my sports bra popped right out and onto my yoga mat, Joseph noticed it, and we both shared a little laugh.

The class had a deja-vu moment for me.....So here we go, flash back years ago, when Dharma East was the main Dharma Center in NYC, it was packed with the regulars, amazing bendy, flying yogis, and I was in class with my ankle bandaged up. I was in a little bit of pain, but wanted to take Dharma's class so badly, that I had taken a cab from my Upper West Side yoga class, just to attend. I was so grateful to be there, even if I knew physically it would be a challenge. We went through a literal "race" of Surya Namaskar. Sri Dharma challenged the entire room to "beat him", of course none of us did, and a specific song played when I rose my head up to the last Tadasna, simultaneously, Mary Krensavage, who I didn't know personally, except as a familiar friendly face at Dharma's, with her hair in adorable pig tails, was directly across from me in this Massive Ocean of yogis packed into Dharma East, smiled at me. Her smile made me feel so amazing. Energetically she was sending me love & positive energy. I had a moment of feeling like I didn't belong in the Master Level class, since I knew my ankle was a little sore, but her comforting smiles made me feel reassured to stay with my breath and my heart filled with gratitude. As we progressed through class, Dharma came and adjusted me into a deeper variation of Pigeon, it felt heavenly.

So Fast Forward to this DE-JA-VU moment....Well, in this "Zen" class, I am in a forward fold, hands wrapped around my calves, and the same song comes on, I slowly stand up and see Mary smiling. A flood of grateful tears began to fill my eyes, as the moment couldn't have been more perfect.

I thanked Mary after class for another brilliant experience, and told her about my Deja-vu experience. We hugged, laughed and her eyes started to tear, as she actually remembered that specific moment.

Regardless of if you have an injury that forces you to modify your practice, or apprehension due to a break from your regular Yoga practice....Embrace the moment, embrace each breath, surrender to that Portion of God within your heart, and cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Yoga has an amazing way to connect your mind-body-spirit and remind you of the beauties of life.

Thank you so much Mary for amazing classes! I love to practice with you! ~ Om Shanti

Another Amazing Dharma Class

While I am slowly preparing to say a temporary Au Revoir to NYC for a while to spread the awareness of Yoga in Canada & visit family, I am also soaking up as many amazing Yoga classes as I can. Therefore, it is only expected that I would be immersing myself in as many Dharma classes as possible! Last night I went to Dharma (again) and was met with two soon to be certified Yoga Instructors, Stephanie & Jessica. Both women spent months with me and a variety of other amazing Instructors in the Zoga Yoga Teacher Training experience, hosted at Excel Yoga Studio. We sat and waited in the lobby and I introduced the ladies to my friend & founder of Yogi Beans, Lauren. We chatted and waited for class. We walked into the Temple and laid our mats in the back, I mentioned how my body was slightly sore from a kick butt Karate Class with Sensei Joseph @ Harmony By Karate, and both the ladies told me they were a bit tired too. This class was Jessica's first experience, but Stephanie had been to Dharma before. Dharma led the class in an amazing Yoga Asana experience, with his wise words weaving through the sequence, and occasional jovial quips. Sri Dharma made fun of the entire class at one point when all of us mixed our right from our left. The energy at the Dharma Yoga Center is incredible, like nothing else. Not only do you learn from an incredible master, you are also encouraged to copy and learn from some incredible Yogis who practice regularly with Dharma too. One thing I noticed is that some poses that you normally do not do in your regular asana practice can be done at Dharma's and I have to say it must be because of the amazing energy in that beautiful Temple. At the end of class Dharma speaks for sometime and reminds us about the depth of the practice beyond the asana, with advice on diet, meditation, the importance of being receptive to the Grace of God and much more.

He is a blessing to NYC. As always I recommend every person who practices Yoga to take a class at Dharma, and it is actually part of the requirements of the Zoga Yoga Teacher Training that students must attend one Dharma Master Class. We could not stay afterwards to request a picture with Sri Dharma because he was teaching his Stress & Anxiety Talk, so we left, bought some shirts (btw Thank you Stephanie for the lovely gift) and took a picture by an amazing photo of Sri Dharma doing his famous Headstand on the streets of NYC. Thank you ladies for sharing this amazing experience, and thank you Sri Dharma for another incredible class!!!

Photo: Stephanie, Ambria & Jess in front of Dharma's famous picture @ Dharma West