Quote of the Day - Mother Teresa

It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters. ~ Mother Teresa

Sri Dharma Mittra

Sri Dharma Mittra is well known as a teachers teacher. He is heralded in NYC and around the world as a Yoga Guru. If you have seen the famous picture with 908 yoga poses, you might already know that the "model" or yogi in the pictures is the wonderful, Dharma Mittra. Before I decided I wanted to get certified to teach yoga, I thought I wanted to do my training with Dharma Mittra. After extensive research, I appreciated his authentic approach to the spiritual path and self realization that Yoga really offers. Unfortunately, due to a few physical injuries my asana practice suffered and I was highly intimidated to do my teacher training with Sri Dharma Mittra. For over a year, I have written in my journal a list of things to do, and attending a Dharma Mittra class was one of them. Somehow, a music gig, a yoga session, studio session etc became reason or excuse for me putting it off. I also knew that my asana practice has yet to embrace a strong headstand practice.

Recently, Andrew, the founder of Bamboomoves and devoted student of Sri Dharma Mittra encouraged me to go. He told me that the vibration of the studio was enough to help me get past my own yoga asana needs. I listened and went to the studio as a student (Thank you Andrew). From my first step into the studio, I was transported to the peaceful energy that I have felt every time I stepped off the plane when going to India. If you have been to India, you know what I speak of. A serene, spiritual energy, joy, vibration that is out of this world. Somehow, Dharma Mittra has captured the essence of India in his NYC studio. The simple studio, with Indian Music playing softly, fragrant incense burning, lovely garland adorned photos of yoga gurus, and the "vibration" that Andrew mentioned. I took a Beginner class with a wonderful instructor, Amitai. My yoga mat faced a picture of Paramahnsa Yogananda who is one of my favorite authors (Autobiography of a Yogi, Laws of Success, The Yoga of Jesus, Metaphysical Meditations, and many more) I knew as I looked to Paramahnsa's photo during my warrior poses, that I was meant to be there. I hope to go back to the lovely Dharma Mittra studio, and take more classes. It is important for Yoga Instructors to take classes, and be a student as well, thank you Amitai for providing a lovely experience. Hopefully, I will get the chance to take a class with Dharma Mittra one day. If you have a chance to take a yoga class at the Dharma Mittra studio, it will be an experience you will embrace forever.

Picture: Sri Dharma Mittra

Sade at Bamboomoves

Every week the people of Bamboomoves line up there yoga mats and are ready for class. The devoted regular people usually have their favorite spot, and are prepared to sweat and deepen their practice. Since I am a musician first, I believe in the importance of music. From a yogic perspective we are all made of vibration, our chakras are all awakened with certain tones and this is another reason why music has such healing abilities. This is a Science that today in the West is regarded as "new" alternative treatment called "music therapy" while in the East, for centuries, the Yogis understood how music has the power to heal, hence, the reason for our Om and various other chants done on specific notes. Normally I provide a play list of songs that flow through some Indian Classical music, chants, and a variety of soft rock/pop songs by popular musicians that I enjoy like Norah Jones, Sting, Anoushka Shankar, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Dixie Chicks, Coldplay, Bob Marley, Lenny Kravitze, Sade, and Ambria (myself of course.....I figure I have a captive audience so I include some of my original music on the play list) and many more artists. Well, this Saturday, one of my devoted adult yoga students, Martha, mentioned how she has the new Sade album, (me too, I am a HUGE Sade fan, LOVE the new album) and said she would let me borrow it to use in our class play list. She gave me a brilliant idea, and I just played my "Sade" play list on my Ipod. In the past I veered away from doing this, because I feared I would forget that I am the teacher, and just start singing along, but class was awesome, and I saved my singing along till when we were all on the floor doing supine stretches. When the song "King of Sorrow" came on, ironically we were in an intense pose, so I made sure to point out the irony of this, which brought a nice chuckle to the group. Sade is number one after years of what many fans looked at as retirement, only to return with an awesome new album at NUMBER #1 on the charts, as a HUGE fan, I am not surprised. From a Yogic perspective, her music touches upon all aspects of love which opens the heart chakra, and tonally, in my opinion the vocal and instrumental frequencies resonate at a chakra level.

Both my 9:30 level 2 Yoga class and the 12 noon Yoga level 1 yoga class had a tougher class this week, as I took it up a notch, so I was very impressed with how many of the budding yogis returned for the 4pm Yoga-laties class, which was another sweaty challenge. As the title of the blog was "Sade at Bamboomoves", I could only dream that it would happen, instead her music just filled us with inspiration for our class. Sade if you ever read this blog, I LOVE YOU! Did I mention, I am a HUGE fan....If you want a Yoga session, I am your girl...better yet, I'm "By Your Side" as you sing in your song, and while you have the coolest band EVER, if you need a background singer or even a tambourine player....call me :) ~ Peace & Hugs, Ambria

My favorite Indian Restaurant, Spice Village

Growing up eating the yummiest of yummy Indian Food, from my mom's home cooking, to my relatives, and the best of Indian cuisine during my frequent trips to India, I consider myself to be a good resource of TASTE quality. Unfortunately, many people think that Indian food is just spices which translates into heat and indigestion. It is actually flavor heaven. Indian dishes use Spices that are meant to add flavor and enhance the health benefits of the food. We use turmeric which is a common spice in Ayurvedic medicines, we use cinnamon which helps regulate blood sugar, cumin & coriander which add flavor and help to strengthen the stomach lining, as well as promote a healthy colon. While I can go on and on listing the health benefits to various ingredients in Indian food, this post is about my favorite Indian Restaurant. Spice Village in Tuckahoe, NY (take the Metro North West to Tuckahoe and you will find it) is by far the most authentic Indian Restaurant I have been to. Most times when I go there, I speak with the friendly staff in Malayalam which is the Indian dialect that both they, and my parents speak, this adds to the homey atmosphere for me. But the taste of the food.....WOW!!! The chefs are from my parents hometown area (Kottayam, Kerala, India) and make everything taste delicious, and very much like home cooking. This is THE BEST INDIAN RESTAURANT to go to. They offer a wide variety on the buffet with both North and South Indian items. Both vegetarian and non vegetarian options. The food is healthy and tasty. I have been to many Indian restaurants and found that the food was too spicy, too salty, too creamy and I could taste if it was fresh or not. This restaurant is PERFECT! As I type this blog post, I am joyfully digesting another amazing lunch from Spice Village. While my stomach is adjusting to coming off my 30 day fast, I make the sacrifice and "take one for the team" as they say when it comes to this place. If you want to eat Indian food and love it, go to Spice Village. Everyone I have sent there so far, have gone back repeatedly, brought friends and been so grateful to have found this cuisine treasure. For Holidays they tend to offer more items on the buffet so here are some pics of my Valentines Day lunch. Some of my favorite items include cabbage thorin, masala dosha, vada & sambar, gulab jamun, dal, and the chilly cauliflower dish that is on my plate in the picture above ~ Peace & Hugs, Ambria

Pictured:

1) Ambria with a plate of masala dosha, mouth watering strawberries, chilly cauliflower, mushroom curry, okras and a giant smile of delight on my face.

2) the wide variety of delicious buffet items

3) the Valentines Holiday Indian Dessert table (THE BEST & FRESHEST sweets you will enjoy)

LOVE at Bamboomoves

Recently the amazing kids yoga class at Bamboomoves has been working on Headstand (sirsasana), sometimes known as the King of all yoga poses, as well as Pigeon Pose (eka pada rajakapotasana). Both poses require focus. Last week our lovely veteran girls spelled out the word "love" using headstand variations and pigeon. Their eagerness to do new poses, and find joy in encouraging each other during yoga class impresses me every week.

Pictured: Milta, Jaylene, Imergen, Julissa

PreNatal Yoga At Bamboomoves

While our Yoga classes at Bamboo are growing in numbers with mats wall to wall, we are still growing the Pre Natal Yoga class. Often times it is only a few expectant moms who venture out to the studio and stretch their bodies, chant, learning calming breathing techniques and deepen the connection with the baby. Hopefully we will have some more young ladies that embrace Pre Natal Yoga to increase flexibility, strength, focus, strengthen the pelvic floor and most importantly support each other in the celebration of new life. For some time I have had the privilege to work with Julisa, a first time expectant mom. Her flexibility is amazing and she is grown in her yoga practice. Today, she brought her hubby (Rich) and they both told me that they are having a Girl!!!! Yea!!! It is so wonderful when Dad's-to-be participate, and assist moms in the healthy approach to pregnancy. We laughed, stretched, and chanted, which brought some more laughing out of all of us, and did some pranayama (breathing exercises). Rich had the chance to learn some prenatal Yoga partner poses/assists. Congratulations to the both of you! ~ Peace & Hugs, Ambria

Pictured: Julisa is doing a Heart Opening Stretch that alleviates lower back pain which can be common during pregnancy. She leans back into my back and focuses on deep breathing.

Building a Carin with Yogi Beans

For weeks I have had the privilege to teach Kids Yoga with an amazing, high energy, brother duo at the Yogi Beans Studio . Like many boys, it is not always appealing to color mandalas, sing songs, and do yoga poses as it may not always captivate their attention as much as it would for young girls. Often times even the regular education system takes for granted that boys have more energy than girls, and often times think in a more mathematical way. These two boys have inspired me to find new ways to make meditation, yoga poses and breath work fun for them. I love to watch them progress and encourage each other every week. They truly bring joy to my every Sunday. While I want to do yoga exercises that are catered to their physical needs as well as emotional desires, I want them to embrace a sense of calm and mediation. This Sunday we had a meditation breakthrough!!!! I decided to pull out the Block Pile or Carin. A Carin is also known as a man made pile of blocks. These blocks are cut in various jagged ways, and kids are required to focus as they slowly create a pile with these oddly shaped blocks. This activity improves and spotlights a child's spatial reasoning. So far any kids I have worked with never get the pile higher than 3 or 4 blocks, and it usually wobbles the entire time. This Amazing Brother duo had me in total amazement as they piled up all the blocks with ease, humility and precision. They even described why they would position each block where it was. In all honesty, I don't know many adults who would be able to get the pile passed 3 blocks, let alone build the entire pile....And these boys did it repeatedly!!! WOW! While I know I am drawing many comparisons it is only to highlight how we are all unique and gifted in our own ways. While some of us have talents in arts, some may have talents in math or science etc. These two boys had joyful focus like nothing I have seen. Paul & William you are the engineers of the future. Thanks for making my Valentine's morning so thrilling!!!