Tag: Yoga

Ann Grace Yoga, Ayurveda, Women's Health, Yoga for Everybody

Self-Care for Women

Ann

Summer Self-Care for Women Workshop

We’ll explore using the tools of Yoga and Ayurveda to develop self-care routines that support a woman’s health after the age of 35. 

  • 3 Saturdays in Summer from 10am-12pm
  • June 25, July 23, August 27 at the PAC Center in Swarthmore, PA

Find out more about your dosha, or personal constitution, and learn new (but ancient) ways to manage your current imbalances.

Expect to do gentle yoga, breathing exercises, and guided relaxations tailored to harmonize with the summer season.

Get acquainted with the subtle anatomy of the chakra and kosha systems.

Find fellowship within the communal support of the group while sharing an Ayurvedic drink and snack.

Bring a yoga mat, yoga blocks, and pillow. Chairs are available if sitting is preferred.

Ayurveda means “science of life,” and is a 3,000 year old system of living originating in India that focuses on preventing dis-ease by living in alignment with one’s personal constitution, the seasons, and one’s phase of life.

sign up here

Bio: Ann MacMullan, E-RYT 500 Yoga Therapist Candidate, and Breath Coach has been joyfully sharing the gift of yoga since 2015. A native of Swarthmore, Ann has 150 hours of training in Ayurveda and has completed Women’s Health and Hormones  through Dr. Claudia Welch.

Ann Grace Yoga, Motivation, Yoga for Everybody

Why Do You Practice Yoga?

Ann

As we start each yoga class or series of classes, you may find me asking the question, “why are you here today?” You might have a quick answer like: “I want to improve my balance and flexibility.” But I’d like you to go a little deeper than that.

Right now, my intake forms are filled with a panoply of reasons like these:

  • Better balance
  • Improve flexibility
  • Mental and physical nourishment
  • Maintain strength
  • Reduce or manage chronic pain
  • Better self-care habits
  • Better Breathing
  • Improve Posture
  • Stress relief
  • Improve mind-body connection
  • Calm, Peace of Mind
  • Acceptance

Behind all these worthy hopes lies another reason, the reason that will motivate you and keep you progressing, keep you in touch with who you are in this moment. Continue to ask why until you have that core reason, until you find your deeper “why”.

Finding Your Why

  • Why do you (want to) practice yoga?
    • Because I want to improve my balance.
  • WHY do you want better balance? 
    • So I can take a walk by myself without fear of falling. 
  • WHY do you want to take a walk by yourself? 
    • Because I want to be able to enjoy the life I have. 
    • BINGO!

Turn Your Why Into an Intention

From there, turn your “Why” into a positive, present tense phrase that you can easily repeat to yourself internally. 

For example, “I enjoy the life I have.” 

This is your intention. When we repeat intentions internally, we can actually repattern ourselves from within, cognitively.

And it works as a motivator, when we’re practicing yoga, to remember why we’re there. More on Guide to Intention Setting.

Secret: I’m doing something called motivational interviewing, and hopefully empowering you to practice self-study or svadhyaya, one of the five niyamas or self observances of yoga.

Why do you practice yoga? Feel free to leave some comments for me!

“A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they are not dead, really. They're just backing away from life. *Reach* out. Take a *chance*. Get *hurt* even. But play as well as you can. Go team, go! Give me an L. Give me an I. Give me a V. Give me an E. L-I-V-E. LIVE! Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room.” - Maude, from the movie Harold and Maude 1971 Health is wealth. ⭐️#lakshmigayatri #lakshmi #abundance #healthiswealth #anngrace #bhakti #devotion 🧘🏽“Practice becomes firmly established when it has been cultivated uninterruptedly and with devotion over a long period of time.” -Yoga Sutra 1:14 Here we are, surfing the waters of the present moment. One moment…it’s Joy! The next…Suffering! Have your toes gotten stuck together and only move as one unit?🦶🏼Try to get them unstuck with toe yoga! Keep the dexterity in your toes to help maintain good balance! #toeyoga #itsinthetoes #anngraceyoga Have you ever been told you’re “too sensitive?” I have. 🩸Need your help! Today and throughout the rest of the month of September, I am walking to raise money for research and support - for those affected by the rare blood cancer, Waldenstroms macroglobulinemia. Zoom Life! 💙🧚‍♀️ #ilovemyjob #yogatherapy @wmiwmf #sheworkshardforthemoney I’m thrilled to announce that I have been offered a staff position with the IWMF, a non-profit organization whose mission is to support and educate everyone affected by Waldenstrom's macroglobulinema, a rare lymphoma that my Dad was diagnosed with in 2019. I will be joining their team with the goal of improving patient outcomes, while advancing the search for a cure.
Ann Grace Yoga, Chair Yoga, Yoga, Yoga for Everybody

Chair Yoga is for Everyone

Ann

My very first yoga teaching job – fresh out of my 200-hour teacher training in 2015 – was to “adapt” vinyasa yoga for folks of varying mobility levels living in a senior assisted living facility. One of the most participatory students was my 97-year old grandmother Ellie, who had been really active all her life but had become confined to a wheelchair. I’ll never forget wondering how I would cue the breath to those who might not be able to hear – so I made a sign attached to a paddle: one side said “Breathe In;” the other said “Breathe Out.”

In chair yoga, we move the spine in all directions. We breathe a lot too.

The experience was so much fun, so rewarding, so challenging and so humbling, that I’ve taught Chair Yoga ever since. And I’ve learned so much from the diverse souls seeking and finding freedom in their bodies and minds through this practice. Because…if you have a body, you can do yoga.

If you can breathe, you can do yoga. Yoga is for everybody.

* Chair Yoga is “real” yoga.
* Chair Yoga moves the spine in all directions.
* Chair Yoga can improve your balance.
* Chair Yoga can provide a “good workout.”
* Chair Yoga includes all limbs of yoga!

Join me LIVE ON ZOOM – Tuesdays at 11am ET. Learn calming breathing practices, refreshing stretches, and specific yoga poses adapted for the chair, including some standing poses which are optional. Cap it off with a relaxation practice and tips for how to take your yoga practice into your everyday routine.

“Yoga is not about having a flexible body; it’s about having a flexible mind, and it’s accessible to all of us.” -Jivana Heyman, author of Accessible Yoga (an indispensable book!)