Dharma is the Umbrella

According to the Vedas (the oldest scriptures known to man, which came out of India), there are four major reasons for life. They are:

1. Dharma: pursuit of purpose
2. Artha: acquisition of material wealth
3. Kama: experience of pleasure
4. Moksha: spiritual exploration

 The Vedas explains that the latter three are contingent on Dharma. That means that the amount of wealth you acquire, the amount of pleasure you experience, and even the amount of time and energy you spend on spiritual practices depends entirely on your pursuit of purpose. Anything beyond what is required for living your purpose is excess and fuels the ego. Discovering your purpose, then, becomes the most meaningful life endeavor. Everything else you do is clarified by that purpose.

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Level I Yoga Teacher Certification

All Life is Yoga's 2017-2018 teacher certification dates are set! This training is appropriate for anyone who wants to deepen their personal practice, understand the why of yoga asana, pranayama, nutrition, meditation, anatomy, alignment, energetics, philosophy, sequencing, service...and learn to teach with confidence.

August 19th-20th
September 9th-10th
September 23rd-24th
October 21st-22nd
November 11th-12th
December 2nd-3rd
January 6th-7th
February 10th-11th
February 17th-18th

For more information and to apply, contact Rutu. 

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Save the Date:

Brad Waites is returning to Atlanta to teach a weekend workshop on October 27th-29th, 2017 at All Life is Yoga. More information to come soon! 

Aspirations

quiet joy
peaceful trust
luminous hope

- The Mother

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Level I Yoga Teacher Certification 

All Life is Yoga's 2017-2018 teacher certification dates are set! This training is appropriate for anyone who wants to deepen their personal practice, understand the why of yoga asana, pranayama, nutrition, meditation, anatomy, alignment, energetics, philosophy, sequencing, service...and learn to teach with confidence.

August 19th-20th
September 9th-10th
September 23rd-24th
October 21st-22nd
November 11th-12th
December 2nd-3rd
January 6th-7th
February 10th-11th
February 17th-18th

For more information and to apply, contact Rutu. 

New Teachers, New Classes

Viparita Karani, which means “inverted lake,” is one of my favorite words in Sanskrit. I love the way it rolls off the tongue, and its meaning paints a beautiful picture of the circulatory system. The story goes that before B.K.S. Iyengar came along, all inversions were called Viparita Karani. Iyengar gave the different inversions their Sanskrit names. Who knows if it’s true, but either way, Iyengar has contributed so much to the development and naming of many incredible postures.

We’ve added some new teachers and classes to the ALIY mix! Please welcome Anneliese Singh, Myka Harris, and Ron Young to the All Life is Yoga team!

Starting in June, join Sarah on Wednesday evenings from 7:45-8:45 PM for Inverted Lake, a new class which combines slow flow and gentle inversions. Inversions are the greatest boon of the asana practice. Increased circulation, immunity, improved brain function and strengthening of  the nervous system are just a few of the benefits. Sarah completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training with Rutu in December of 2016 and also teaches Form & Function on Thursday evenings from 6:45-8 PM.

Join Anneliese on Sunday evenings from 6-7:15 PM for Slow Stretch & Rest. Anneliese Singh completed her 200-hour yogateacher training in 2015 with Rutu at All Life is Yoga, and recently completed her 500-hour training with Aadil and Savitri. Additionally, Anneliese is a professor at the University of Georgia, and co-founder of the Georgia Safe Schools Coalition and Trans Resilience Project. Along with her academic justice work for the trans community, she aims to bring healing and peace to the LGBTQ community through yoga and mindfulness.

Join Ron on Saturdays from 10-11:15 AM for Form & Function. After teaching Saturday 10 AM classes for over ten years, Rutu is happy to hand this class over to Ron. In 2005, Ron received his first yoga certification and in 2012 went through training with Rutu. He went on to study with Aadil Palkhivala, and in spring 2017, completed the 500-hour Purna Yoga teacher training. Since 2005 Ron has been teaching yoga and meditation in public schools, private and public universities, and retirement centers, as well as working one-on-one with clients. 

Join Myka on Friday mornings from 9:30-10:30am for Empower Hour. Myka has been practicing yoga for over a decade and decided to get certified as a teacher to deepen the practice that has been so influential in her life. She received her 200 hour certification with Rutu in 2015. She is an energetic entrepreneur, blogger, mid century modern devotee, recycler, world traveler, voracious eater & lover of allthings wild and free. She also serves on the board for the Community Farmer’s Market and is a full time mom! 

Farmers with Wrists

I look forward to offering the wrist workshop this Saturday, May 20th from 1-3pm. The workshop is open to all. No prior yoga experience necessary. We will be isolating the work in the wrists, shoulders, upper back and neck. I will also provide a handout with images so you can repeat these techniques on your own on a regular basis and make pain free wrists your reality. Learn more and register online.

Teacher: Rutu
Investment: $55

Photo credit to Brian Thorpe.

This weekend the All Life is Yoga community will be hosting a FREE all-levels class at The Grant Park Farmers Market from 10:30-11:30am! We'll be bringing yoga to the market every third Sunday of the month for the rest of the season and this week Rutu Chaudhari is leading the class. Hope to see you Sunday! Click the Event Page for more details. 

The Wrist Series

Join Rutu Saturday, May 20th from 1-3pm for a workshop on the wrist. This workshop is for students and teachers. Most of us carry tension in our neck, shoulders, wrists and upper back. This tension shrinks blood vessels, creating pain and stiffness in these area and travels into the wrists. This workshop will provide you with the tools, using yoga asana and breath work, to take into your daily life; and if practiced consistently, will relieve mental fatigue, headaches and carpal tunnel syndrome, thereby increasing your ability to think clearly and express yourself more honestly. Teachers will also learn how to modify students during weight bearing postures that cause discomfort in the wrists. 

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All Life is Yoga is offering a free yoga class in partnership with The Community Farmer's Market at Grant Park every third Sunday. Join Rutu May 21st  from10:30-11:30am. Check our Event Page for details. We hope to see you there!

Inman Park Festival Schedule Changes

Due to the street closings for the Inman Park Festival, All Life is Yoga will be closed this Saturday and Sunday, April 29th & 30th for it's 10am classes. Instead, we will be offering a free yoga class in partnership with The Community Farmer's Market at Grant Park on Sunday, April 30th from 10:30-11:30am. Check our Event Page for details. We hope to see you there!

What an amazing workshop with Brad Waites on the purpose and practice of Savitri's Heartfull Meditation techniques . Thank you for visiting All Life is Yoga and sharing your concise, comprehensive and heart opening perspective of Purna Yoga. We can't wait till you come back for a full weekend workshop. Stay tuned for fall 2017! 

The Dharma Project is so excited to announce we won 3rd place at the 2017 United Way of Greater Atlanta SPARK Prize competition with our joint proposal with honorCode! We will be piloting a joint teacher professional development experience at Thomasville Height Elementary School during the 2017-2018 school year where teachers will learn how to incorporate Computer Science, Sociology-Emotional Learning, Yoga and Mindfulness in their classrooms to support the development of their students. We can't wait to show you allwhat we do and this is the start of many partnership for us to come!

Brad Waites Workshop This Saturday

I'm excited to announce that Brad Waites is coming to Atlanta to teach a workshop on April 22nd! Brad is a fellow Purna Yoga teacher, certified at the 2,000 hour level, who communicates the methodology of Purna Yoga with clarity and precision, while offering students guidance and support as they create purpose-driven change.

Learn more about Brad here and read the workshop descriptions + register online →

Catch Up! New Classes, Workshop And Events

Spring is near (yay!) and I am so excited about the activities happening at ALIY and around the city focused on celebrating Atlanta's rich culture and community. I am proud to say I live in the 5th district. I'm also proud of how Atlanta came together to represent the 5th district and it's rich culture, community and ethnicity after some inaccurate and diminutive remarks were made about the 5th district and it's representative, John Lewis. As an effort to continue highlighting how awesome the 5th district really is, Live the 5th weekend festival was conceived.

I'll will be teaching a free yoga class at the event on Sunday, March 5th at the Carter Center alongside teachers, Rachelle Knoweles, Cheryl Crawford and Carly Brown, representing the 5th district neighborhoods. Join us for this class and many fun events over the March 4th-5th weekend. Register for this free class here.

We've also added a new class and workshop to the schedule and will be involved in a few other events around town for the next few weeks. Learn more below!

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Frenetic to Fearless

Thank you for all that participated in the first Frenetic to Fearless Workshop. What we collectively learned is that 2.5 hours is just not enough time to cover the deeper layers of the practice. It should be 4 hours instead!

Join Rutu March 11th from 12-4pm for a master practice. This practice is designed to strengthen the nervous system, widen your perspective and open your heart. The program will include 30 minutes meditation at the start and end of session, 2 hour of strong asana (postures), 30 minutes of pranayama (intricate breathing techniques) and a deep, guided savasana (repose). This workshop is a $45 investment.

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Other Upcoming Events:

New Class

Ashley Erwin is making a shift to her teaching schedule by adding a Monday night 6:45-7:45pm class to the schedule and eliminating her Friday 10am class. This new class will begin on March 6th. Read more about her intention for this new class that's nicknamed Monday Night Delight on the blog.

Lady Locavores

Rutu is part of the host committee for Lady Locavores and invites you to join her in honor of the amazing women chefs, farmers, and artisans in our community for International Women's day on March 8th. Funds raised from this event will be directed towards CFMs culinary education program.

Ashley's New Class: Monday Night Delight

I am so excited to start teaching Form & Function on Monday nights from 6:45-7:45pm. One thing we’ll be working on is balancing the feeling of peace and delight while working our bodies in the poses.

I know my practice is going well when a gentle smile arrives on my face while holding a pose. This has not been happening while taking photos for my upcoming yoga website. In some of the pictures, my face is so tense and I kind of look miserable. I think it’s related to trying to perfect the pose for the picture. So, now in my practice I’m working on just feeling the benefits of what I am able to do at the moment and not forcing myself to perfect the pose.

The yoga sutras define asana as follows:

“Whatever asana is performed, it should be done with a feeling of firmness, steadiness and endurance in the body, goodwill in the intelligence of the head, and awareness and delight in the intelligence of the heart. This is how each asana should be understood, practiced and experienced. Performance of the asana should be nourishing and illuminative.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar's Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

I read this passage often and will read it to you all pretty regularly. I'm looking forward to starting this class in March! 

Love,
Ashley
 

Frenetic to Fearless

Saturday, December 10
12:00pm- 2:15pm
Location: All Life is Yoga

Join me this Saturday for a master practice. This is my current home practice to strengthen my nervous system, widen my perspective and open my heart. The program will include 15 minutes meditation at the start and end of session, 1 hour of strong asana (postures), 30 minutes of pranayama (intricate breathing techniques) and a deep, guided savasana (repose).

Investment: $35

New, Shiny, Pretty!

Our website is finally complete! YAY. This was a beast of a project. Thank you to Sarah Corbett for all the care and patience you brought to the process of building the site, Mark Leibert for your creative contribution and Narin and Helme for your, too much to articulate, contributions. It has been an amazing process of clarifying who we are and what it is that All Life is Yoga does. Along with revamping the website, we have made some additional changes.

First, we renamed our classes. We now offer Form and Function, which is our classic Purna Yoga class, Empower Hour provides vigor with a continuous flow from one posture to the next, and Slow Stretch and Rest provides a calming restorative option. Some of the class times have also changed so please review the website for latest updates. 

Second, We are bringing back the monthly unlimited for $99 with a three month autopay contract.

Third, we're offering a New Student Special. 10 classes for $35 with a 2 month expiration. What! That's crazy! I know. We have learned from so many students that our practice becomes indispensable after about 10 sessions. The initial sessions are an adjustment for the mind and body to a new approach of asana and meditation - by the tenth class you will crave the alignment, poise, and centeredness Purna Yoga creates. Please tell your friends and family and help us grow this beautiful, transformative practice. 

Finally, remember that we now offer Sliding Scale classes. $0-Priceless. Share this opportunity with people in your life that experience financial barriers to practicing yoga. We have postcards with our schedule at the studio that you may take to pass around. Spread the love! 

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Restorative Yoga Teacher Training Level I October 8-9th
All Life is Yoga - Atlanta, GA Register

Restorative Training starts this weekend and there is still time to sign up! This training will cover asana, anatomy and physiology, benefits, contraindications, sequencing, nutrition and lifestyle, and meditation. There is no pre-requisite for Level I - teachers and students of all levels are encouraged to deepen their practice with this Restorative training!
 

Purna Yoga Workshop with Aadil November 18-20th
Triad Yoga - Greensboro, NC Register

This workshop isn't one to miss! Aadil will be going over how to understand the sacrum in standing poses, how to do shirshasana safely, backbends, reversing exhaustion, healing headaches, cultivating a strong back & life, and more! The workshop begins on Friday night and lasts through Sunday. We'll see you there!

All Life is Yoga provides tools for mastery of your body, mind and life. This practice is accessible to any body type. We provide a non-competitive, inclusive and safe environment giving students the space become stronger, stretch without injury and progress at their pace. 

Brad Waites in Asheville at One Center Yoga

Hello! 

I've been on a blog writing sabbatical for the past couple of months. Some of it is for personal reasons, but mostly because between managing a yoga studio, teaching yoga classes and privates full time, running a 200 hour yoga teacher training, writing a curriculum for a restorative teacher training, re-doing our website (stay tuned!), starting a non-profit, writing and testing the curriculum for the non-profit, going through a fellowship to learn how to run a non-profit, renovating my house...umm...eating, sleeping(sometimes), having a personal practice (but no personal life)...my cup is brimming with adventure. My live is amazing right now. I have never felt so clear about my direction even though the details are nebulous and I'm terrified most of the time. 

It's left me little time to blog but I'm writing and reflecting everyday. This year has brought me so much insight and I can't wait to share with you again but, for now, I am writing to share about my friend and Purna Yoga colleague, Brad Waites.

I was the second group to go through the 2,000 hour Purna Yoga training in 2006. The first day of my training we were told that we would get a mentor from the group that was one year ahead of us. We picked these names out of a basket. I didn't know who this person was, never met him or spoke to him, but I knew I wanted Brad Waites as my mentor! And when the basket came to me, I selected Brad Waites! He's an incredible teacher, with tremendous insight and a lens of the Purna Yoga practice that satisfies my body, my mind and my soul! 

Brad is gonna be teaching a workshop a few hours away in the beautiful city of Asheville, hosted by the lovely Letitia Walker at One Center Yoga. I hope you'll join us for a transformative weekend. 

For Details and Registration, click this link . Oh, and today is the last day to receive the early bird special!