Blog | Surya Yoga

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  27 Aug 2023

  Why New Students Should Try the Beginner Series at Surya Yoga

  Why New Students Should Try the Beginner Series at Surya Yoga Are you new to yoga and feeling a bit overwhelmed by the plethora of poses, styles, and studios out there? You're not alone! Starting a new practice can be intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. At Surya Yoga, we've designed a 7-Class Beginner Series specifically to ease newcomers into the world of yoga. Here's why you should consider enrolling. Overcome the Initial Hurdles One of the biggest barriers to starting yoga is the fear of not knowing what you're doing. Our Beginner Series is designed to help you overcome this hurdle. You'll be in a class full of beginners, just like you, so there's no need to feel ....

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  15 May 2023

  How Yoga Changed my Life: One Student's Story

  How Yoga Changed my Life: One Student’s Story Christi Crowell Meet Christi Crowell. She joined Surya Yoga in July 2022. Yoga has improved her life in a myriad of ways. Why did you start practicing yoga? Like everyone, a lot of life events had led to extreme stress and anxiety. This manifested in injury to my body. One day I tried to stand up from my desk and I couldn't. I ended up having back surgery in 2012, about 6 months after my mother passed away. This allowed me to walk again (yay!) but it didn't mean that my days were pain free. I lived with pain and deep depression for over a decade. During this time I was given advice to work out and build up ....

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• How Yoga Changed my Life: One Student's Story

  How Yoga Changed my Life: One Student’s Story Brenda Edmonds The student we are spotlighting this week is Brenda Edmonds. She has been coming to Surya Yoga since 2020. She is a wife, a mother of two college-age daughters, and an upper level math instructor at JCCC. You can catch her at a variety of classes, including our crazy early, but super fun 5:30 a.m. class on Wednesday! Why did you start practicing yoga? It was the pandemic. My back hurt from my job changing from one where I stood a lot to one where I sat in front of a screen all day; I was stressed (or maybe depressed). My friend Crysta posted on Facebook about how much yoga helped ....

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  28 Feb 2023

  How Yoga Changed my Life: One Student's Story

  How Yoga Changed My Life: One Student's Story Genia Deets Why did you start practicing yoga? I started practicing yoga about ten years ago. However, I got the "yoga bug" (that I never want to lose) last summer during the "Yogi's Just Wanna Have Fun" summer contest. What do you enjoy about yoga? I love the feeling of calm. I am a teacher and have four kids at my house. Everything except my time at the yoga studio is rush, rush, rush, now, now, now. I love when the instructors remind me to just BREATHE. What has been an unexpected benefit of practicing yoga? I love the feeling of accomplishment when I do a pose that I never would have tried ....

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  7 Feb 2023

  What Yoga Teaches us About Rest

  It’s a Saturday night, and I’m participating in a Restorative Yoga class, a class I teach more than I attend these days. Maureen and I rented out the studio to teach a private class to our friends. Maureen is finishing up our class, and I am lying in savasana. And though I know that I'm supposed to be mindful in this pose, a thought pops into my head. One great thing about yoga is that it actually encourages rest. Every time we end a class by lying in savasana, we are expressing an important value -- working hard is good, but at the end of our work, we rest. Life in the U.S. teaches us to go, go, go. We work all week long. We do things around the house. We run our ....

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  31 Jan 2023

  How Yoga Changed my Life: One Student's Story by Keith Larkin

  How Yoga Changed my Life: One Student’s Story Keith Larkin Hello, yogis. We’re starting something new-ish at Surya Yoga. A few years ago, Annie shared a Student Spotlight with her members, highlighting a student and his or her yoga journey. We’re going to revisit this idea within our blog. We’ll be highlighting two of our amazing students each month. If you are willing to participate, we will have five questions for you to answer. We’ll also need a photo to post with your answers. (It doesn’t have to be a photo doing yoga. It can just be a selfie.) So take a look at our first Student Spotlight that we're calling How Yoga Changed My Life and ....

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• 27 Aug 2023

  Why the Beginner Series is the Best Way to Start at Surya Yoga

  Starting a yoga journey can be both exciting and intimidating. At Surya Yoga, we understand the challenges that come with taking the first step, which is why we've created the Beginner Series. Led by our experienced instructor, Annie Trotta, this 7-class series is designed to make your introduction to yoga as smooth as possible. Here's why the Beginner Series is the best way to start your yoga journey at Surya Yoga. Overcoming Yoga Anxiety One of the biggest hurdles for newcomers is the fear of not knowing what to do or how to fit in. The Beginner Series addresses this by creating a safe and supportive environment where everyone is new and learning together. Annie's empathetic ....

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  Theme of the Week: Satya (truthfulness)

  Theme of the Week: Satya (Non-Lying or Truthfulness) I'm going to tell you about my yoga journey as a way to talk about Satya, truthfulness. Why did I open a yoga studio? Why not a kids dance studio or Pilates or CrossFit? Well, I was a gymnast until high school, then a cheerleader in high school, then I just drank my way through college (why lie?) and went from 130 lbs to 165 lbs. I honestly didn't care that much. I was in a sorority and I smoked and drank a lot. I also had A TON of fun and wouldn't change anything (well, there's that one thing I would change when I really pissed off my very best friend in the whole world senior year). I digress. I graduated from college ....

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  Theme of the Week - Ahimsa (non-violence)

  Every week of the year has a theme at my studio, @suryayogakc . The themes are the same year to year, I just never tell anyone about them (except those in class). One of my goals this year is to let you know about the theme, even if I'm a little late in the week. Ashtanga means 8 Limbs in Sanskrit. These 8 limbs are paths or guidelines or things we can practice to live the yoga lifestyle. They are: Yamas (moral obligations) Niyamas (observances) Asana (poses) Pranayama (breathing) Pratyahara (turning inward) Dharana (concentration) Dhyana (meditation) Samadhi (bliss or contemplation or being in the flow) Some are done alone, while others happen simultaneously. ....

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• 16 Jan 2023

  My Yoga Journey by Crysta Baier

  My Yoga Journey by Crysta Baier I t’s a dreary Sunday, and I’m sitting at my favorite local coffee shop reading about Chakras and sipping on mint tea. I’m aware that if you saw my book titled Chakras for Beginners , you might think I was a little strange or new-age-y. But I’m preparing to teach a Heart Chakra yoga class. I’m reading up on the chakras so I have a bit more insight to share with my students. You see, aside from being a teacher of children, I’m also a teacher of yoga. I received my certification this year, the year I turned 50. Becoming a yoga teacher has been something I’ve wanted to do for years, and now ....

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