Spring is on our doorstep, and this means a lot of exciting things: warmer weather, beautiful blossoms, hanami parties and being more comfortable outside. Unfortunately for many people, especially in Japan, it means another thing: hay fever.

With this in mind, I have designed April’s yoga sequence to help us fight the season of allergies and stuffy noses the natural way. Although yoga is not a replacement for your trusted allergy medicine, it is an excellent companion. With regular asana and pranayama exercise, the occurrences of allergy attacks can become fewer, and this might mean that you’ll be able to take medicine less frequently.

The main way that yoga can help you to clear the way to smooth breathing is by helping you to strengthen your immune system. The three main ways to do this are:

1) Relaxing. As simple as that. Stress breaks down your immunity and relaxation makes it stronger. Yoga poses that are done slowly and with deep breathing have an automatic relaxing effect on the nervous system. We will therefore be focussing a lot on breathing techniques, including Ujjyai breath and Alternate nostril breathing.

2) Increasing the blood flow. More blood being circulated means that more antibodies can circulate through the blood, building immunity. We will get the blood flowing with a nice warm-up sequence of Sun Salutations.

3) Opening the chest. In the middle of the chest is a gland called the thymus gland. This gland plays a big role in immunity, and stimulating this gland with chest-opening asanas is a great way to boost the immune system. We will be doing poses that focus on stretching the chest area, including Cobra pose, Pigeon pose, Fish pose, Bow pose and, this month’s challenge pose, Bridge pose.

Something old, something new… April is looking like a good month to be doing yoga. Our reading this month is from B.K.S Iyengar:

Namaste,
Marilu

月毎に行うポーズ名をご紹介します。レッスンの状況により多少変更することがあります。

Winter is starting to leave us with the warmer spring creeping into the days. Spring is a time of new beginnings and rebirth.

In this month’s yoga sessions, we will focus on techniques to bring rebirth into the body and mind with detoxifying asanas (postures) and breathing. Yoga is very good for detox as it targets the three main systems involved in toxin removal from the body: the circulatory system, the lymph system and the digestive system.

This month’s sequence contains a series of poses focussed on detoxing the body. Twisted poses wring toxins and tension out of the core of the body, while the Downward Dog pose brings the heart above the head, helping blood and lymph circulation.

Some of the twisting postures we will be doing are: Twisted chair pose, twisted lunge, spinal twist and seated twist.

In pranayama, we will practice Khapalabati breath, a breath seen as an excellent way to detox through the lungs and increase our lung capacity, helping us to get more oxygen into the body and release more carbon dioxide.

I leave you with our reading for March, a quote by Robert Fulghum which reminds us that life is not always as complicated as we think it is.

月毎に行うポーズ名をご紹介します。レッスンの状況により多少変更することがあります。

Hello yoginis!

The first month of the year has flown past, and we’re getting ready to stretch into the shortest of them all: February.

As the previous two months had us work up our strength with many balancing poses (which take a lot of concentration), I think that we’ll move into more of a flow again in February.

The sequence that we’ll practice from February is adapted from one of my favorite yoga teachers on earth: Sadie Nardini. She makes yoga available for everyone with her excellent youtube videos, which already number over 200, and her easy-going personality. Her main focus is the core of the body, because when your core is strong, it will support the rest of your body and being, and allow you to reach new personal levels. If you want to check out more of her work, have a look at her website ( Sadie Nardini | Ultimate Wellness Expert ) or search her videos on youtube.

Rather than just list the poses that we’ll be working through in February, I’d rather tell you what we want to achieve with these poses:

Sounds like quite an exciting series this month!

Our class will end, as always, with a reading. For this month, I’ve chosen a piece called “Our Deepest Fear”, written by Marianne Williamson.

月毎に行うポーズ名をご紹介します。レッスンの状況により多少変更することがあります。

This is the first time we have held an accessories exhibition, and we were unsure how it would work in the space. However, I’m pleased to say everything looks fantastic! The necklaces are absolutely beautiful; so original and unique. Each one tells a story and has a meaning attached, so they’re more than just ‘accessories’. We were happy the artist, Marisa Zenone, could attend before she went home to Italy. It was also lovely to see many imagine* members and their friends. With a mixture of Japanese, English and Italian being spoken, it made for a truly international party with a very lively atmosphere. Check this website for information about our next exhibition, and its launch party, which will be held in March 2011.

Reading

Hey yoginis,

Can you believe that 2010 has come to its end? This year flew by, and many different things happened. 2010 is the year that imagine* Yoga started, and we’ve slowly but surely been building our community of weekly yoga practitioners. Just seeing the improvement in everyone’s practice has been impressive already! I trust that 2011 will be an even more successful year, and that more people will be exposed to, and fall in love with, the practice of yoga.

Seeing as we have a long break at the end of December and beginning of January for the winter holidays, we will continue the same sequence for both December and January.

For these two months, we’re going to move away from the vinyasa flow a bit, and follow the hatha road. December/January’s series of asana will be based on the now well-known Bikram series, which is a series of 26 postures which are said to target every part of your body, from the skin to the internal organs. This series is usually done in heated rooms for the very popular Bikram yoga (or hot yoga), but the effects are just as evident when practiced under normal conditions. It will give us a new challenge for the new year. I hope you enjoy them!

Asana

The postures are:

We will end our lessons around the turn of the year with a short but sweet Apache blessing:

May the sun bring you new energy by day,
May the moon softly restore you by night,
May the rain wash away your worries,
May the breeze blow new strength into your being,
May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life.

To all: May you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011. Best of luck and love.

Namaste!

Marilu

月毎に行うポーズ名をご紹介します。レッスンの状況により多少変更することがあります。

It isn’t often the case, but at the moment there are a lot of very interesting films coming from the UK. Due to the global recession and a new government, Britain is experiencing a period of significant social change, which might explain why so many recent British films seem to either focus on an uncertain and worrying future or to look nostalgically at the past.

The late-fifties and early-sixties, a time of recovery and optimism in the UK, is the setting for three new films.

‘Nowhere Boy’ tells the story of John Lennon’s life in Liverpool before he became famous as one of The Beatles. It is directed by the well-known visual artist Sam Taylor-Wood.

Nowhere Boy – Official UK Trailer (2009)

‘An Education’ is a wonderful film about a teenage girl’s relationship with an older man and her troubled attempts to get a place at Oxford University.

Based on Graham Greene’s classic story, ‘Brighton Rock’ is about a young criminal in a seaside town. Originally set in the 1930s this adaptation moves the action forward to the early-sixties.

Brighton Rock (2011) Official HD Trailer
Brighton Rock (1947) – Pinkie’s first appearance

For more forward looking films, two of the most interesting ask serious questions about how we value human life when confronted with the possibilities of genetic engineering.

‘Moon’ is a science fiction psychological drama starring the American actor Sam Rockwell, and directed by David Bowie’s son, Duncan Jones.

Moon | Official Trailer (2009)

‘Never Let Me Go’ is based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s thought-provoking novel. It is set in the near future, or perhaps an alternative present, and depicts a disturbing vision of society.

Kazuo Ishiguro on The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go

At the time of writing, in Japan, ‘Nowhere Boy’ has been shown in cinemas in recently. ‘Moon’ and ‘An Education’ are available to rent, and ‘Never Let Me Go’ and ‘Brighton Rock’ are due to be released next year.

Reading

In November, our reading will be the second part of the timeless poem by Max Ehrmann called ‘Desiderata’.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Asana

As for the vinyasa (flow) part of the class, November gives us another opportunity to practice and grow better at doing the Sun Salutation. We will use this sequence of 12 poses as the basic flow for our yoga practice. Some other poses we will be doing this month are:

I’m looking forward to doing yoga with everyone as we move into the colder months. It’s a fantastic way to keep the heart pumping, the blood flowing and prevent the winter blues!

Namaste!

月毎に行うポーズ名をご紹介します。レッスンの状況により多少変更することがあります。

夏の猛暑が過ぎて急に涼しくなりましたね。涼しくなった季節にあわせ、ヨガレッスンでは身体を温めるアーサナ（ポーズ）が、この10月より加わりました。

イマジン語学スタジオ（芦屋市大原町）にて「英語でヨガレッスン」を始めて4ヵ月が経ちました。月ごとに新しいアーサナをご紹介し、その度に新鮮さを感じています。ヨガインストラクターの Marilu がおこなうビンヤサヨガとは、流れるようにポーズをおこなうもの、と説明していますが、はじめはその意味がいまひとつ私は理解できていませんでした。私も続けてレッスンを受講するうちに、この「流れる」の意味が、ようやく分かってきたように思います。Marilu はレッスンの中で、呼吸のタイミングが狂わないよう毎回、「inhale（息を吸う）」「exhale（息を吐く）」を掛け声で示してくれるので、ヨガ初心者にも安心です。

よくヨーガの話をすると、「私は身体が固いからできません」とお話される方がいらっしゃいます。でも、そういう方にこそはじめて欲しいとお勧めしています。身体が固く血液の流れが少し悪くなっている方にこそ、ヨガをすることで、身体が柔らかくなっていきます。呼吸とポーズが上手く合うと、さらにスムーズに身体は動きます。初めはできなくてもいいのです。できなかったポーズが段々とできるようになり、さらに心地よさは倍増します。カラダ全体を使うヨガの後は、全身に血液が流れている実感が増し、それによって身体も温まりとても心地よくなります。

私自身他のヨーガを（当たり前ですが）日本語で習ったこともありますが、英語を聞きながら進行する「英語でヨガ」だと、集中力も高まる気がします。ご興味ある方はぜひ体験レッスンを経てご参加いただければと思います。イマジン語学スタジオのヨガレッスンは、こちらのページをご覧ください。

Reading

For October and November, we will be listening to a poem called ‘Desiderata’ by Max Ehrmann. Desiderata is a Latin word and it means ‘the things that we desire’. The poem was written in the early 1900′s, and has been seen as an inspirational guide to living a good life.

Because the poem is rather long, we will listen to half of it in October, and half in November. Here it is, in full:

Asana

As the weather is cooling down, we will move into a time where our bodies need some extra movement to warm up. For October, we will continue with the Sun Salutations, as in September, using it as a base for our sequences.

Some of the poses we will be going through this month are:

October’s sequence looks exciting, and is the perfect way to keep the body warm and the metabolism going, especially as we are entering a cooler time!

月毎に行うポーズ名をご紹介します。レッスンの状況により多少変更することがあります。

I have heard it said that autumn is the ideal season for reading books. In that case, I can readily recommend ‘The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet’. It is the latest novel by David Mitchell, and tells the story of a Dutch clerk working on Dejima, the man-made island in the bay of Nagasaki which functioned as Japan’s only contact with the outside world during the Edo era.

David Mitchell is widely regarding as one of Britain’s best young novelists. He started to write while working as an English teacher in Hiroshima in the nineties, and many of his works are set in, or have connections with, Japan. He is best known for ‘Cloud Atlas’, an incredible book which compromises various interconnected stories from different times and settings. ‘The Thousand Autumns…’ is just as ambitious, and is recommended for an advanced English learner, with an interest in how foreign writers interpret Japan and its history.

Coincidentally, one of David Mitchell’s key influences is Italo Calvino, an Italian writer whose ‘If on a winter’s night a traveler’ is also the inspiration for our current exhibition of photographs by Seiko Oka.