A brief word from Harlan this weeks book suffers from a naming disorder (as you will soon see). Although the book is trying to reach a popular audience, it is really for yoga teachers.  Unfortunately, I know longer have my copy.  A certain yogini, who will go nameless but has the initials "SV" has it. 
This is a book of adjustments pure and simple.  And it is excellent...

This weeks pick is Cool Yoga Tricks by Miriam Austin.  The book is really about modifications but the public would not be likely to by a book called Yoga Modifications - so they came up with a catchy title.

A book of modifications and adjustments. Lots of material in this book for you to play around with your clients and some unique variations on poses.  Add it to your teaching library. A teacher can never have too many books. You should see all the books in Harlan’s office. Come to think of it I think he has lent me some I have not returned yet. SSHHHH!

 Important Message About Your Yoga Newsletter

 Inspiration From Sara
When my master and I were walking in the rain, He would say, “Do not walk so fast , the rain is everywhere.” - Shunryu Suzuki

We first must Learn to Teach, cultivating all that is within us that we have to share then we become teachers on the Path to Learn.

Tonight after completing my practice I was ready to go to my kitchen table and write what I had planned to share with you all. As life takes sudden curves , I was meant to write something much closer to my heart. These thoughts arouse just as I was coming out of Savasana. Wait a minute Sara…. My inner voice whispered, ”you need to write about an experience you had the other day with one of your clients”.

It was the last client of my day . Before I walked into Karen's house I could intuitively feel that there was a lot going on in her life. Many changes were occurring in the growth of her children and new phases of their lives beginning. She has five children and has worked very hard to raise all of them being the foundation of strength and love for them.

As I entered the house I could tell that her energy was low. She mentioned that she had been taking a nap and could of kept on sleeping. I told her what I had planned for her but also gave her two options , so she could decide what she needed most to benefit from our session. She opted for us to start with Savasana , move into a few restorative poses combined with pranayama and transition back into Savasana.

I observed my self wanting to convince her that if I got her moving a little more them it would lift her energy. I had to back down from my own ego and surrender to honoring the tired and weak state she was in.

Just before we got started I looked at her and said “ you will feel much better after you do some yoga. I know this will help you.” She had said her whole body ached and she felt extremely weak. I listened with open ears as I guided her through a relaxation. We moved slow and attentively, creating an intention of love to wash over her and rejuvenation to pour from the fountain of god’s light.
I sensed that Karen wanted to speak to me, to communicate what she was feeling.

I knew it was best I not ask and allow her to speak if and when she desired. We were nearly at the end of our session, I was about to put her against the wall in bound angle and lead her to do alternate nostril breathing, when she looked up at me and spoke.

For a split second I thought about telling her that we had one last pose before Savasana and if she could come back to that thought. The inner whisper returned ”No,No Sara. There are greater forces at work here and she needs you to listen. Talk about letting go of you session Plan. “

Ok, well I guess we were not meant to do bound angle today. Be an attentive open ear. I thought to myself”. It is not often your clients have a moment in their Yoga where their inner spark is now totally LIT and awareness shines upon their truths.

While Karen began to open and tell me about her feelings at that moment and all that had come to her in this moment of her practice, I was right there to witness it. I held the space with compassion and appreciation for her expressiveness. She spoke from her heart with honesty, truth and profound realization of all that she has done and had to be for her children. Today she finally was blessed with a feeling of letting go. Tears began to collect in my eyes, I was touched that I got to share such a beautiful moment with her.

This is the biggest and best rewards of being a teacher. Experiencing an opening in one of your students and knowing that they trust you enough to share some very intimate thoughts and feelings.
 

After she finished sharing she had a radiant glow in her face and a big warm smile surrendered upon her lips. “Is this what the yoga is doing for me?” I  replied,” Yes Karen, Now you are living, feeling and experiencing your inner Yoga."

 All of my clients are my greatest teachers. They are wonderful, each and every one of them. They often tell me they are grateful for my teaching and how much they are loving yoga. I am loving the opportunity to have so many teachers around me every day. Little do they know all that they teach me. It is the continuity of giving and receiving. Always when we give, there is some element to be received. It is when our hearts remain open, our ego fades away and we embrace the Jewels of each each moment of interaction with our students.

Peace, love and light!
May you have the insight, awareness and receptivity to become a student of your own teaching. May all the lessons you learn, direct you to your highest potential and may you drink that delicious nectar of spontaneous wisdom.
Namaste,

Sara

A Message From Sara's Father on Nutrition:
Too Sweet for its Own Good.

One of the biggest excesses in the modern diet is refined sugar. Even so-called “natural sugar” yields the same response.  While all carbohydrate breaks down into sugar, what most carbohydrate bashers seem to conveniently miss is the most important aspect of sugar digestion: the rate of digestion. Complex sugars, bland by taste, include whole grain (brown rice, barley, millet, oats, etc.), vegetables and beans (also considered a protein). Simple sugars include white sugar, brown sugar (sugar in a molasses costume), honey, barley malt, rice syrup, fructose, maple syrup, etc. While natural sugars such as barley malt, maple syrup and the like, are better quality, they still digest quickly and either elevate blood sugar or end up creating systemic acidity.

 In an attempt to compete with many mainstream products, natural food manufacturer’s have been hiding behind the word “natural” and compromising their original intention of providing healthy alternatives to junk food choices. A long time ago, these products were supposed to be healthy solutions to the sugar-laden products that flooded our market. However, try as they may, natural food manufacturer’s weren’t savvy enough to grab the mainstream market share and so, in the spirit of, “can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” they began duplicating the very products they originally classified as “junk.” Now, they put “evaporated cane sugar” or its “juice” into most of their products and boast that it’s “organic!”  And, it seems to be in everything—even tomato sauce!

 Frankly, it’s just simple, blatant deception; a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, the old Bard used to say. Echoing this sentiment, years ago my nutrition professor used to scream: “Sugar is sugar is sugar!” It might be “organic,” lovingly picked by attentive workers wearing natural cotton gloves who layer the air with devotional chants as they harvest, but it’s still plain ‘ole simple sugar. New marketing techniques are  very  busy emphasizing quality. That’s their big issue. However, it really isn’t the issue. If I tell you that I’d like to hit you over the head with a 2x4 plank, but not to worry, I won’t use cheap pine, it’ll be imported mahogany…is this a consolation? The real issue here is the volume of refined simple sugar we consume and how it affects our digestion, our blood sugar and our acid/alkaline profile of tissue fluids. All of these factors can influence your yoga practice, in your flexibility, your ability to concentrate and focus, your mood and your energy level.

Verne Varona is the author of, “Nature's Cancer Fighting Foods (12^th printing, Penguin/Avery Books) and lives on the Connecticut Sound. He is currently directing a feature documentary, “More Than A Mouthful!” filming in Hawaii and 8 cities. The film chronicles a group of 24 people who are attempting to reverse disease with a whole foods diet and with medical supervision.

Note from Harlan: Verne's book in an encyclopedia of nutrition. If you deal with clients and weight loss, Verne's book is a must. Check out the reviews on Amazon. Everyone has given it four stars.

The Holy Trinity of Yoga Marketing

There are three components that should be at the core of your marketing and all of them are extremely low cost.

1. Ads on Craigslist (http://www.craigslist.org)  
2. Your own website
3. Your referral system

Today I'd like to talk to you about your website and give you a few warnings.  In recent days, a few friends of Sara's have been asking her to set up consultations with me to evaluate their websites and here are some of the things I am seeing.

As a potential client, here's what I want to see on your website:

1. A list of benefits of what yoga is going to do for me.  (lose weight, relieve stress, improve circulation, recover from injuries.)
2. Reassurance that beginners can do yoga even if I'm new to it and don't exercise much.
3. Some photos of poses that beginners can do that aren't intimidating or impossible to do.  If you are proud that you can go into Pincha Mayurasana please be aware those same pictures may drive away your prospects.  Also, women who need to lose weight are very intimidated by photos of other women wearing tight yoga outfits.  I recently saw an ad with a yogini in a very difficult pose wearing barely anything.  In addition, the ad only had her name and phone number.  It said nothing else.  Guess what kind of calls her ad is going to get...

Here's what I don't want to see on your website:

1. Words or names of poses in Sanskrit.
2. Pictures of Hindu gods or goddesses.
3. Pictures of the Buddha.

Please understand I am not trying to discount spirituality.  But people are coming to your website to lose weight or reduce their stress and are not coming to you because of a sudden interest in eastern religions.

I'll have much more to say about your websites in our print newsletter this month. And there's a whole much more I will share about the spirituality of yoga, but it's time to put this newsletter up.

Standing Invitation:

I will be happy to review your website or Craigslist ad if you post it on our forum.  Go to our forum and post the web address for my response.

Here are some reviews for you:

To find out how to post and use the forum go to:

http://www.buildyouryogabusiness.com/register.html

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