Please note this workshop is sold out. We will be posting upcoming dates soon!
Category: Surya Daya News
Meditation as Self Care – Loving your whole self
Earlier this month Anna Karuna Egan led us through this workshop with her beautiful light, pure heart, and deep wisdom. We are honoured she is coming back to offer a second sacred afternoon with us in March. If you missed the opportunity, we hope you are able to join us at this next session. Please give us a call to reserve your space, the last session filled quite quickly.
From Amber’s Mat
We want to thank all of you for your incredible gifts of donations, energy and time a few weeks back at our gentle yoga and gong relaxation class earlier this month. We held a special karma class for Hub Hospice, an amazing local organization that helps to support individuals with life threatening illness’s and the preparation for their death to be supported in their homes. Hub Hospice also provides support to the families and caregivers who assist in the care of their loved ones. Every life should be lived with dignity until the very last breath. So many of you came out to support this important cause and between community donations and our SEVA fund we raised $310 dollars for Hub Hospice. We want to extend a huge thank you to all of you in our community. The afternoon was especially powerful thanks to your openness. The photo’s attached to this post are from a special meditation we did in honor of those we’ve lost. These little hearts, combined with the hearts created at our Interval House fundraiser, will remain here wrapped in light and our prayers. If you would like to find out more about Hub Hospice you can find them at http://www.hubhospice.com
This past weekend we welcomed Anna Karuna Egan back to our space for a profound afternoon engaged in the exploration of meditation as self care. Anna also allowed us the opportunity to dive into Buddhist philosophy and lead us masterfully through some very beautiful practices. It was a truly sacred afternoon with a focus on opening the heart and nourishing ourselves in the simple awareness of our breath and our bodies. Anna reminded us of our impermanence in these beautiful human bodies, we are here for a brief time to experience the world in this form. Allow yourself the invitation to embrace your experience in all of it’s layers. Reach out to those who truly support you, breathe a little deeper, take time everyday for your practice – whatever practice resonates with your heart, explore and experience different ways of caring for yourself, and first and foremost be kind to yourself – it’s all a journey and an exploration – you deserve as much kindness and compassion as you so freely share with others. If you missed Anna’s workshop, she is offering this powerful afternoon in our space again in March. Contact the studio directly if you’d like to sign up for this second offering, space is limited and preregistration is necessary. She will be joining us Saturday, March 16th, from 2 – 5 pm, and the cost for the workshop is $55 (HST inclusive).
Somebody asked me about my vision, why I get up in the morning and do the work I do. My vision is a world where we’re kinder and gentler to ourselves and others, where things aren’t so complicated between our species, and where people are more comfortable and at ease in their bodies and their minds. If one person breathed a little deeper, found a moment of peace between their thoughts or moved with a little more comfort as a result of the work we do at the studio, then I know I have succeeded in this lifetime.
Yours in health and wellness, and my heart full of love
Amber
Wednesday, February 13th
While our roads get tended to and our town resurfaces all of our morning classes are cancelled today, including our noon hour Kundalini class (our teacher is snowed in). We look forward to seeing you next week.
Our hip series will be on this evening.
Make sure in your thoughts about Valentines Day tomorrow, you include yourself with some practices to bring in self care and self love.
Yours in Health and Wellness, Your Yoga Family at Surya Daya
Studio Updates – From Amber’s mat
Good morning and Sat Naam!
We have had a wonderful week at our studio, and in our community, and we wish for you a rejuvenating weekend!
This Sunday afternoon we have a karma class for hub hospice from 2:00 – 3:30pm. So incredibly grateful to have this resource in our community. Death and chronic illness is a topic many people shy away from, but it’s part of our reality – every single one of us is touched at some point in our lives. Hub Hospice Palliative Care is a local organization that is here to help someone with a life-threatening illness who is being cared for at home in the Mississippi Mills and North Lanark area. They have a dedicated and compassionate team offering care in many forms to help during an incredibly important and very difficult stage of life. Our karma class this Sunday (February 10th) is being held in their honor – for the hub hospice team, for the families in our community caring for their loved ones, and for the people who are at the end stage of life journeying through the transition. Reflecting back on my own time in Victoria,BC and my involvement with the BC Cancer Agency and the Victoria Hospice Palliative Care unit, it really hits home how lucky we are to have hub hospice and how important it is for this work to be supported and to be able to continue. Our class on Sunday will be a very gentle yoga class, with a meditation honoring those we’ve lost, and an extended relaxation with the gong. We hope you can join us, and please remember no donation is to small – for some it’s the powerful donation of the intention of your practice and the hopes for the work to continue.
This Sunday we also have our early morning kundalini sadhana practice from 4:45 – 7:00 am. Yes, you did read that right – it does start at 4:45 am. We start with a listening meditation called japji and at around 5:15 we move through the physical postures in a kriya before we start our chanting meditation with the Aquarian mantras (found on our website). It is really a beautiful way to start the day, in the early sacred hours while the earth is still quiet. Please join us for the whole practice, or just the parts that resonate with you. The cost is free, but if you’d like to donate to our Lanark County Food Bank basket it is always just outside our studio open to receive non perishable food items.
We apologize for those of you who didn’t’ receive the notification and journeyed out Wednesday night for our hip series, due to the weather conditions we needed to cancel the class, but we realize that message didn’t reach everyone. Ashley will be starting this series this coming Wednesday, February 13th from 6 – 7:15pm. The series will be extended through to March 6th to make up for the missed class this past week. Our deepest apologies – we hope you were all safe on the roads, send us an email to info@suryadaya.ca if you have any concerns.
Please check our blog and facebook page on a regular basis for studio updates, you can also subscribe to our blog posts and all of our news will come directly to your inbox.
Looking ahead to next week, Amber will be teaching for Mary next Monday, February 11th. We have also adjusted our drop in fee to $16 (HST inclusive). It is a better value for your dollar to purchases our passes, but we also understand for some people this makes more sense.
We are always here to support you on your journey! Be well
Yours in health and wellness, with my heart full of love
Amber
Studio Updates
Good morning!
Please note the following substitutions for the week of Jan. 28th – Feb. 2nd
Amber will be teaching Jen’s 10:00am Hatha class this morning, Tuesday, January 29th
Simonne will be teaching Amber’s 9:00am Kundalini class this Saturday, Feb. 2nd
Have a beautiful day!
Your yoga family
Mindfulness Class This Evening
Due to the weather conditions, and our priority being your safety, we have decided to cancel the Mindful Movement and Relaxation Class this evening. If you have any questions or concerns please give us a call or send us a message. Next weeks class will be extra special, with a little more time in our final resting posture. Please take 15 or 20 minutes of your evening and dive into that beautiful experience of a simple deep breath. Remember Mindfulness is a practice that needs revisiting. Slowly we find we are more present and accepting – it becomes a way of being in the world underneath all of the distractions. For those of you who have been attending the sessions, practice your Check – In, explore the rhythm of your breath, physical sensations, take some time to mindfully scan through your whole body sending yourself some gratitude as you journey through. I look forward to seeing you at next weeks session. Yours in health and wellness, Amber
Hips And Low Back Yoga Series
Please join us Wednesday nights, February 6th – 27th, from 6 – 7:15pm. Ashley will be offering our next mini series focused on hip strength and mobility.
In our current culture we ask so much of our hips but rarely do we give them the focus and attention they deserve. In this series we’ll spend some time working with our hips to understand where they need to be strengthened and where we need more length. A balance of Hatha postures and longer Yin poses will leave you feeling strong and mobile. Each class will be stand alone but participating in all 4 is highly recommended.
Sign Up & Details
For our ongoing Wednesday night series classes, you can sign up for the full 4 weeks for $45 (includes HST), use your regular class pass, or drop in for any of the evenings.
Please contact the studio directly at 613-451-2891 or email info@suryadaya.ca if you have any questions, or if you’d like to sign up for the full series.
