Yoga with Melissa 31 is another kids yoga class with special guest instructor Mai Meret. Mai Meret is a Former Kindergarten Teacher, RECE, RCYT Children’s Yoga Teacher, RYT250 and Yoga Therapist. Mai encourages children to breathe and move mindfully with story and song. At 123 kids yoga Mai Meret makes kids yoga accessible to all children.
Full Length Version of the Class
Yoga with Melissa 30 is about Shiva and Kali. You’ve probably seen that image of Kali standing triumphantly over Shiva with her tongue sticking out and wondered, what is that all about? In the thirtieth episode of Namaste Yoga we will explore the relationship between Kali and Shiva through various stories and interpretations. We’ll allow ourselves to get a little messy and wild like Kali while we release the spine in preparation for wheel pose. This yoga class includes hip, shoulder openers and spinal releases. We will practice variations on dancer pose and even some wheel pose.
Yoga with Melissa 43 is a review of the yamas and niyamas.
The five yamas which determine our outward behaviour in the world are:
1. Ahimsa or nonviolence
2. Satya or truthfulness
3. Asteya or non-stealing
4. Brahmacharya or balanced living (often interpreted as celibacy)
5. Aparigraha or non-hoarding
The five niyamas or personal practices determine how we relate to ourselves include:
1. Saucha or cleanliness
2. Santosha or contentment
3. Tapas or self-discipline
4. Svadhyaya or self-study and inner exploration
5. Ishvara Pranidhana or surrender to the Divine
In this hatha yoga class we will review each of the yamas and the niyamas with corresponding breath practices or pranayama, asanas or yoga postures, kiryas and mantras.
We begin the yoga class in child’s pose with metta meditation. We move into shoulderstand and fish pose for satya or truthfulness. We come to standing for some balancing tree pose. When we come back down we do some kneeling and reclined twists, rabbit pose, seated twists, and forward folds. We finish the class with a kundalini kriya for the third chakra.
Yoga with Melissa 42 is on Isvara Pranidhana, surrender to the divine. This yoga class features the final of the niyamas (personal practices) as outlined by Patanjali in his compilation of the yoga sutras. Isvara Pranidhana means surrender to the divine. To cultivate Isvara Pranidhana we will practice bhakti yoga, the yoga of love and devotion. To that end we will be chanting the Gayatri Mantra.
Om Bhur Bhuvah Swaha
Tat savitur varenyam
Bhargo devasya dhimahi
Dhiyo yonah prachodayat
(Embracing Earth, Heavean, and Beyond The sacred source is revealed Evoking the resplendent flame The all-pervading light venerates us all)
I have chosen to follow the version that I learned from “Spring” on the album Gratitude. You can download it on i-tunes just like I did. This practice also includes a cleansing meditation for the chakras, a meditation on the inner self and a meditation on the lotus flower. The class finishes with metta meditation to cultivate loving kindness and compassion for the Divine in ourselves and all living beings.
Yoga with Melissa 41 is on svadhyaya. This is the second last class in the 10-class series of yoga on the yamas and niyamas. This class will focus on niyama, svadhyaya (study by and of oneself). Nischala Joy Devi suggests that we can come to know our Divine Self through spiritual texts, nature and introspection. This class focuses on our connection to nature through the earth salutation, sun salutation, and moon salutation. The class finishes with a kundalini kriya to know the essence of self.
Yoga with Melissa 40 is about the third niyama tapas. This yoga class continues our 10-class series on the yamas and niyamas with the third niyama or personal practice, tapas. The root of tapas, tap means to heat and so the asana practice is about creating heat to cause positive change. This is a vigorous class that involves both kundalini and hatha yoga. Kundalini kriyas are used to give us the power to maintain a course of action and the ability to break habits and create new ones. This class requires austerity and zealous commitment to staying with a challenging and sometimes uncomfortable practice while always honouring the well-being of our bodies.
The yoga class begins with a kundalini kriya that will build core strength. Boat pose or navasana is another yoga pose in this class that builds core strength. When we come to standing we practice the warrior poses. We finish the yoga class with a kundalini kriya for the third chakra.
