Your practice on the mat helps you become
acquainted with our habitual actions.  If you find yourself stepping into
a place of competition, searching for the perfect external pose, or trying to
please an outside authority, stop and listen. Your body knows what it needs,
but if your ego wants to do something else (something “bigger” or “better”)—and
you continually feed the ego— at the expense of your body…  your body, and
ultimately you, may suffer. However the same is true if you are always
holding back allowing fear to keep you from exploring new possibilities. Staying
in the same routine or same positions can bring stagnation preventing you from
reaching your full potential as a human being. Where is the edge? Where is your edge? One of the most important
journeys in yoga is to learn how to listen and trust your body, to learn the
language of your body.  I feel one of the roles of a yoga teacher is to
help you understand this language —help you become aware of yourself so you learn
to understand what is going on within.  We call this dynamic tension of
not too much and not too little, exploring the edge in a posture.  At what
point are you pushing too much for the wrong reasons and at what point are you
simply experience the tension of growing? It makes me so happy to see students
explaining what they feel inside and actually understand their body, and this
process. When this edge is found amazing things can happen.

Are you ready to do something for you?

So, can you bring presents this holiday season, just through being present and interested?  I consider interest to be an activity of receptivity and listening, where your ‘cup’ has to be empty of all your previous ideas or beliefs. By being truly open and empty, you are ready to receive. So can we be open and receptive enough to listen to the people we will be around this holiday season? It may not seem important at the time, but it make a big difference!

I also want to thank all of you for being present for Kosha Yoga. Just showing up has made a huge difference; in fact, October was the studio’s most successful month so far!

In Love and Light,

Carrie Searles Odom

Partner, Kosha Yoga LLC

New Kosha Yoga Instrctor

Brett will be teaching Thursday mornings 9-10:15 starting Dec. 1st.

Brett Northrop, E-RYT, (Shanti-Brett), has been practicing yoga since her early teens and has been certified as a yoga teacher since January, 1989. In 2003, Shanti-Brett completed the rigorous program at the Deerfield Yoga Center in Deerfield Beach, Florida and became a Yoga Alliance Registered Teacher. Her training comes from the Sivananda lineage, and she feels honored to share her knowledge of the eightfold path. Through many years of teaching and training Shanti-Brett has developed her own style of hatha-flow yoga. Her classes incorporate both flexibility and strength, with a smooth and gentle flow throughout the practice. Shanti-Brett always adds humor to her classes, creating a fun, light atmosphere. Her teaching is clear and concise as she guides her students from posture to posture, observing and guiding to assure their progress and comfort. She loves to challenge her students while focusing on alignment and individual needs with a gentle, guiding touch. Shanti-Brett’s knowledge of the body and keen observations of her students enable them to deepen both their physical and spiritual awareness.

Massage Therapist David

knowledge of Lomi Lomi (a style of massage that uses palms and forearms), Deep Tissue, Trigger Point, and Lymphatic Drainage into a personalized modality. He looks forward to personalizing some Body work to empower you to take back control of your body and life.

To schedule a massage with David you can contact the studio at: info@koshayogacenter.com

Charlenehas practiced massage since graduating in 2005 from The Center of Advanced Therapeutics. She specializes in chronic pain Massage Therapist Charlene relief, sports therapy, and repetitive strain injury. Charlene helps her clients correct postural imbalances and relieve pain related to sciatica, carpal tunnel syndrome, migraines, tendonitis and more. She blends therapeutic techniques from various modalities including deep tissue massage, neuromuscular facilitation, myofascial release, and trigger point therapy. In addition, Charlene practices MyoKinesthetics, a soft tissue treatment that works to retrain the nervous system to clear muscle memory. This system is a highly effective treatment for pain, range-of motion and other health related issues. With all of these tools on hand, Charlene’s clients receive the perfect massage for their individual needs: specifically tailored with a caring touch. To schedule a massage with Charlene you can contact the studio at: info@koshayogacenter.com

Much like how black asphalt give off the most heat around evening time on a hot summers day, our bodies start give off much heat once the warm summer months have started to subside. This may manifest as a cold, or the flu, as well as aggravation of symptoms of inflammation such as arthritis. This is why the changing of the seasons from summer to fall is a great time do a de-tox. The body is naturally trying to slough off the excess heat that it may have absorbed during the hot summer months. Ways to cool down excess heat in the body include cooling practices such as Shitali or Shitkari pranayama, ingesting aloe vera juice, and avoiding hot and spicy foods. De-tox kits can be found in the health section of natural food stores.

Many of you continually and lovingly ask me how the studio is going. You tell me how much you love this studio and how you don’t want it to go away… I get it; many of you are ‘yoga refugees’ that have been displaced from other yoga studios that eventually closed down. I want to let you know that the decision I took in starting and running a yoga studio was not something that I stepped into lightly. It was more like stepping into a decision with my eyes wide open, and saying yes anyway. So to answer your question: Yes, I am very happy with the studio. While class sizes vary, some very large and some small, the numbers are strong enough to make ends meet. The culture and feel of the studio is also wonderful. This leaves all the foundational building blocks in place to allow for the continual growth of the studio.
Then the question that I continually as myself is: “How do I choose to play my role as studio owner?” and the answer always is: “In the same way I practice my yoga postures, go to my edge and within that place find the sthira and sukham, sweetness and steadiness, within the pose.” So while I know I could probably do more work and bring in more growth faster, it would cause me to step out of that place of sweetness and steadiness. I have to remind myself that through a sweet and steady yoga practice I have been able to cultivate a body that has sustained and maintained an amount of strength and flexibility (sans injuries) that is amazing, and leaves me feeling happy and gratified. So this is where I take a leap of faith and say to myself-if the practice of sweetness and steadiness brought amazing results to this one area of my life, it will probably bring amazing results to this other area of my life: building Kosha Yoga. So let’s enjoy this journey together of finding our edge, be it in a yoga class or in life and then finding the sweetness and steadiness there.

The above picture  is of me and my role model in business and in life, my father.

Areas of the brain affected by meditation.

Meditation is Kosha Yoga’s summer theme! Come to our open
meditation hour (free) on Sunday mornings from 8:45 to 9:45, or come to our
yoga and meditation class with Michelle on Tuesdays and Thursdays from
10:30-11:45. The last 15 minutes of her class includes meditation.

Did you know that meditation can actually change
the structure of your brain!? Studies have shown that people who meditate have
increased thickness in the cortical region of the brain (that area which often
thins with age). Also after only 8 weeks of meditation a shrinking of the fear
and stress center of the brain (amygdala) has shown up on MRIs.

Hear are a couple research articles on this topic:

UCLA: How to Build a Bigger Brain

From: Greater Goods Magazine

Healing with Crystals and Sound

with Gary Fishman

Saturday, June  25, 7-8:30 p.m.

Click here to register

Embark on a shamanic sound journey blending the healing power of crystals, Tibetan instruments, planetary gongs (harmonically tuned to resonate with cosmic cycles), and the didgederoo.  Use these healing tones to raise your vibrational level and open the door for spiritual growth. Bring a blanket or air mattress to lie upon. Space is limited so preregister to reserve your spot.

$20 if pre-registered by June 19

$25 on or after June 20

We have a couple of changes to the class schedule:

10:30 a.m. classes on Mon. & Fri. are now regular yoga classes (instead of chair yoga)

5:30 & 7:00 pm Thurs. classes are now taught by Carrie

Open meditation hour is still occurring on Sunday mornings from 8:45 to 9:45 am. Come and share your meditation practice!

Once again I am reminded of the magic of the practice of setting an intention and letting it go. Once I returned to the studio (my baby) after a two week vacation, I noticed that everything was still running smoothly and class attendance had grown! I want to send a thanks to my teachers, receptionist and students for making this happen.

In Love and Light,

Carrie

Kosha Yoga

As you may know, I am getting married in 9 days. I will be taking two weeks off starting Monday May 16th. I want to thank all of you for your support; I know that the studio will be in good hands while I am gone. For a schedule of which teachers will be covering my classes click on the class schedule to the right.

My Australian pen pal Becky is flying out for my wedding and will be a Bridesmaid. We have been writing to each other since we were ten (over 20 years now) and met for the first time (by coincidence) in India! We both just happened to be traveling in the same part of India at the same time. In our younger days we had always talked about meeting each other for the first time in some exotic country, but as we got older we let that dream go. I am reminded of how in order for intentions and dreams to come true– you must first set the intention, and then let it go.

In Love and Light,

Carrie Searles
Kosha Yoga

As many of you know I am getting married May 21st. A little bit about me and my beau: Devin and I met in business school where we were both getting our MBAs. He is a classically trained violinist and I a classically trained pianist.  I invited him over one day to play some violin/piano duets, and that was the beginning of the end!  Does Devin practice yoga? Not really, but as a runner he stretches everyday (and now with proper breathing) so that works for me! Devin is a financial planner and is working for a small firm in South Denver. We are getting married on his parent’s farm in Wheat Ridge, complete with a square dance and some jigs.

Check out the“how to do the jig”video my brother made for the event!

Namaste,
Carrie Searles
Kosha Yoga

For many years I have felt like a bamboo seed. What is unique about bamboo is that its seed will grow five years underground before it ever sprouts. In those five quiet years the seed is actually growing many strong deep roots in the earth. When the bamboo does sprout, it grows at a very fast pace, sometimes over 100 feet in 6 months.  I look back on the last 15 years of my life as building the foundation and infrastructure for my life’s work. In this time I experienced many joys and sorrows, and above all the feeling that one day I would sprout for the entire world to see. In my dark moments I would question if I would ever break the surface.  I am so happy that I kept moving forward. Being able to see the creation and growth of Kosha Yoga in the last six months has given me a great sense of peace, I have finally sprouted.

Thank you for being a part of this unfolding, your support and encouragement is wonderful.

With Deep Gratitude,

Carrie Searles
Kosha Yoga

Kosha Yoga welcomes our newest teacher Lea-Ann! She has brought her students from
Motions on Mainstreet (a physical therapy center in Old Town Littleton, which has
recently discontinued teaching yoga classes), and we are very excited to have her
and to give her students a new home at Kosha Yoga. Kosha Yoga looks forward to collaborating
with MOM.

With Deep Gratitude,
Carrie Searles
Kosha Yoga