Karen Zelin

News for information email : karen@karenzelin.com

On the Mat and On the Cushion:
A Tip for Setting Intention

Also...Often patterns reveal themselves during practice--in how I talk to myself (for example: am I being judgmental or harsh? loving and supportive? chattering mind? comparing mind? fixing mind? Do I tend to hold back or over-effort in different poses? where does my mind go when it wanders?)
I find that every time I teach the MBSR programs, participants learn this: It is vitally important, even revelatory to learn that we are capable of changing mental habits. This is powerful, no matter where we are in life, beginners or long time practitioners.
As I go off to this 10 day silent retreat, I am again awed by the depth of practice. So....here's my tip: Pay attention to life as it unfolds moment to moment..see what reveals itself to you about habits and patterns. Be present, connected, and most kind. See what happens. That's my intention for practice.

Karen Zelin

Practice can be a powerful living exploration of life. If we pay attention with intention, it can help us collect and rebalance our energy, settle our nervous systems, and feel our hearts and bodies so that we can live spaciously and make decisions about our lives from a clearer and more centered vantage point. Not to mention that our brains can actually change habits as a result of mindful practice! (Thank you modern neuroscience!)

I most often find that challenges, problems, and daily life issues often shift after practice. It's here that I learn one of life's greatest teachings: how I see things affects how I act, how I think and how I respond to the world around us. Much of what occupies my attention is not fixed! Great! This is such good news.

.   2012 Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program starting September 11

Free Intro Session September 11 3:00 to 5:00 or 7:00 to 9:00
8 Tuesdays  September 18 to November 13 3:00 to 5:30 or 7:00 to 9:30
All Day Session Saturday November 3 9:30 to 4:30

All classes are offered at the Dominican Hospital Education Building, located directly behind Dominican Hospital.

This is the basic Mindfulness program for all new students interested in exploring how to live more fully and deeply amidst all the stresses of everyday life. It is for anyone living with the stresses of illness, injury or pain, anyone working with anxiety or depression, and anyone who basically wants to explore their relationship with the daily challenges of stress. (and for everyone else too!) (seriously, this class is good for everyone to deepen and broaden life's possibilities.)

I teach the afternoon sessions, and my colleague, Bob Stahl, teaches the evening sessions.
Sign up with PEP @ Dominican 462-7709
$300 for 8 week series and all day session
$35 materials fee

Monthly Last Friday Restorative Classes

Friday May 31 8:30 AM     Body & Soul Studio

During these days of long light, come relax, renew, be spacious, and meditate during this class. It's good for any level of yoga. We'll start with some poses and then move into longer restorative postures. Restorative poses do exactly what the name says: restore a sense of balance to our whole being. Safe, sacred, supported, silent and still. There are too few moments like these in our lives-- agitation and nervous system stimulation are more the norms of how we live our lives.

$13 drop or series rate

Weekly Yoga Schedule

Monday 11:30 AM at Body & Soul Studio

Tuesday 8:30 AM at Yoga Center Santa Cruz

Wednesday 11:30 AM at Body & Soul Studio

Friday 8:30 AM at Body & Soul Studio

All classes: $13 drop in, or series rate

The Tuesday morning class is the teeniest class--if you know anyone who is interested in yoga, this is a great class to attend!

Geek News: What is YOGA?

There are so many names for different lineages in yoga—you’ve probably heard some of them, as yoga ahs become more and more popular. I am trained in the Iyengar lineage of yoga. The poses are often exactly the same, but how they are approached and how meaning is derived varies a fair amount.
My training has lead me to understand and explore the yoga as it relates to strength, flexibility, therapeutics, and mental well-being. Mindfulness and presence is a big part of the exploration, because from here we can grow in compassion and wisdom.
Here’s a quote from Mr. Iyengar, who is still alive today, teaching in his 90’s in Pune, India: Yoga is defined as restraint of fluctuations in consciousness. It is the art of studying the behavior of consciousness, which has three functions: cognition, conation or volition, and motion. Yoga shows ways of understanding the functionings of the mind, and helps to quieten their movements, leaning one towards the undisturbed state of silence, which dwells in the very seat of consciousness. Yoga is thus the art and science of mental discipline through which the mind becomes cultured and matured.

Meditation and Yoga CD's For Sale < click here