Tamisa 8th Anniversary Open Day

Tamisa 8th Anniversary Open Day

Yesterday was Tamisa Studio Kyoto 8th Anniversary open day. It was my first time helping out at the event.

It started from 8:30pm, cleaning, setting up...at 9am people started to come in. One class was 500yen and many yoga wears and goods were on sale. My class started at 3:30pm, it was a collaboration class teaching with Asako and Saki. Such an honour and so much fun to teach with them. About 35 people showed up and the room was packed. 

Full of positive energy and warmth.

Gratitude!

http://www.yogaforest-japan.com/

An notice from Spirit Yoga Studio Osaka: Spirit yoga is starting a new paying system and it's a great deal if you practice yoga regularly, please check out their website,

http://spirityogastudio.com/system_rate/

Schedule Change of Gallery Yoga and SOWA Yoga Forest Studio

Dear yogis, I would like to announce the schedule change of Gallery Yoga.

ヨギーの皆さんへ。
ギャラリーヨガのスケジュールを変更しましたのでお知らせ致します。

Starting from June, gallery yoga will be held on Saturdays only. There will be no more Tuesday classes. Because I was offered a yoga workshop teaching opportunity at Kyoto Foreign Language University starting May 28th on every Tuesday evening. I was really excited about this new opportunity to share yoga with more people, but that means I have to give up my Tuesday classes at Gallery.
6月からギャラリーヨガは火曜日のクラスがなくなり土曜日だけの開催になります。それは、私は5月28日から京都外国語大学でワークショップをする事になったからです。私はこの新しい可能性にとてもうれしく思っています。火曜日のクラスもとても大好きですが、より多くの人にヨガを知ってもらういい機会だと感じています。

The ticket price will stay unchanged but with a longer expiration period.
5000yen / 4 tickets      For 2 months
5500yen / 4 tickets      For 3 months
チケットの料金に関しては今まで通りですが、有効期限を延長致します。
5000yen / 4 tickets For 1months→2months 
5500yen / 4 tickets For 2months→3months

A good news is that SOWA Yoga Forest Studio is now open! Come check out this lovely studio in Yamashina.
SOWAヨガスタジオも現在オープンしております。もしご興味のある方は山科まで是非お越し下さい。

Here is the address!

京都府京都市山科区大宅五反畑町８

http://goo.gl/maps/8CfGH

There are four classes every week with four different teachers!! You can try out different styles to find your favorite!
SOWAヨガ毎週4回、4人の講師がそれぞれ違ったスタイルで、皆さんをお待ちしております。

Monday 　  6:30pm - 7:50pm      Vinyasa           Sandra
Tuesday　  10am - 11:20pm        Hatha             JAY
Thursday　10:30am - 11:50am    Slow Hatha     Kiyoko
Friday        10:30am - 11:50am    Vinyasa          Sandra

               　7:30pm - 8:50pm       Yin                 YOO

To book a lesson, please email

yogaforestjapan@gmail.com

http://www.yogaforest-japan.com/#!visit_us/cl4l

Phone: 080-3867-5879  

There is a lovely cafe on the first floor.

Yoga mats are free for rental. ^^

Our studio can fit maximum 10 people and is on the 2nd floor

The entrance of Hokurinkan

Our studio on on the second floor of Hokurinkan

Insight Yin Yoga Workshop at Spirit Yoga

I had my first professional workshop yesterday at Spirit Yoga Studio in Osaka.
I really want to thank everyone for coming and sharing this beautiful morning with me. And special thanks to Ai for helping me with the interpretation at the workshop.

I was very glad to learn that the students thoroughly enjoyed it. It's such an honor to share my journey with other yogis, to inspire each other to continue to learn and explore about awareness and mindfulness.

I have always wanted to teach more about this aspect of yoga. Something beyond the physical body. Something that has the power to transform people's life. The Japanese translation made it possible. Thanks Ai for spending the time to do it with me!

What if Money Didn't Matter

What If Money Didn't Matter

I saw this video on youtube today. So I want to share it with all of you.

"What would you like to do if money were no object?
How would you really enjoy spending your life?"

I spent lots of time in my early 20s thinking about this question.

I wanted to be happy and free,
I wanted to see the world,
I wanted to meet lots of different people and see how they live their lives.

Though I think totally ignoring the importance of money is unrealistic. We still need to fulfill our needs for food and shelter before we can reach out to pursue our true interests and passions. But this question is worth pondering, so that we don't get lost in the pursue of materialism and forget about things that really matter to us.

Now at times when I feel insecure I remind myself that I'm on the right track and I'm doing the things I love. I hope that in the near future, when I don't have to worry about money, I can still be doing the same thing, traveling to places, learning, teaching yoga, and spending time with the people I love.

A Few Thoughts on the Flyers

I opened my email mailbox, another mail from a stranger, asking about info regarding gallery yoga classes. She saw my flyer and wants to give it a try.

How wonderful, I thought. That these papers with messages are really working, to bring people to yoga, to connect strangers together through a common interest.

These flyers were designed by Sadao. A man who makes a living by designing business cards, packages, posters, etc. And a man who I'm honoured to have built a relationship with in the past two years.

After we received these flyers delivered to our place, at night we were out on the bicycles to distribute them. I still remember how my mind struggled before walking into each cafe and residential building. "Would they understand my Japanese? How would they react to my request? There must be security cameras at the gate! The security guard would come out and stop me from inserting them into mailboxes..."

Up until now, we have given out about 1500 copies of flyers. Some were left in the corners at cafes. Some got buried down by new posters. Some got thrown away into the trash. Only 1% of them, carried the efforts and creativity of the designer, caught people's attention and initiated the connection.

I must say I still don't like going from door to door to give out flyers. But I really want to thank them, for making me a more humble person, for giving me more chances to meet and share yoga with amazing people and yogis out there.

Is it destiny?

Kids Yoga at SOWA

I finished my kids yoga training two months ago, finally I had the chance to teach them for the first time on Dec 8th at SOWA.

The class was so much fun with three teachers and 6 parents and 6 kids. We did a lot of games, songs, and of course yoga!

Many people might have this question, why do we teach kids yoga? Well, there are a few reasons for that. First of all, yoga has many physical benefits just like other sports. But the difference between yoga and other sports or dance is that, sports and dance are competitive or they are meant to be performance. And their performance is judged by others most of the time. However in yoga, we teach the kids to feel their body, and to move based on how their body feels. From that kids development a sense of body-awareness and mindfulness. 

From doing partner poses, yoga also teach kids to be more open and friendly towards their parents and classmates, and they learn how to work with others and they become more confident and more caring.

Of course! We teach them English during the lesson! Through moving and poses many kids said it was fun to learn English! Pricelss!

Looking forward to more kids yoga lessons in the near future!

Living Your Yoga Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life

A book I've just finished reading recently, Living Your Yoga Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life by Judith Lasater.
The author Judith wrote about how to integrate yoga philosophy into everyday life. Philosophy about perspective, courage, compassion, fear, patience service, connection, truth, love and more. Judith also gives practice suggestions on each topic. Put it on your reading list! This book might give you a different perspective on the way you look at life.