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Links to Websites, and Articles for your perusal are included on this page!
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We are featured in the Winter issue of Cape Healing Arts - download the artice Here!
Home Yoga Practice sheets Here
Diane's Yoga Sequence Here
Diane's Handout on Chakra Yoga is available here!
Pranayama ~ 4 Powerful breaths: Pranayama 09
"The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life."
Robert Louis Stevenson
YOGA TALK - July 09 Alexandra's backyard
Alexandra and Diane talk about the practice of yoga and also describe Ujaii breathing. myaccesstv.com
"I'm also the new biggest fan of yoga talk, after this i am going to breathe in all the wonderfull vibes i just felt on yoga talk.And you girls are lookin very funky in the the shades." MUCH LOVE AND PEACE,
FROGGER, Cataumet
"I wanted to follow up with my thoughts, that you women radiate the journey so well, because it is real , raw in it's beauty of a message, at least for me - it speaks to complete and utter willingness -not to mention smiles and laughter -- "travel with us a while, and see if we have what you need" MER, Osterville
"Hi Diane, I just watched your tv access show with Alex and it was wonderful! You are brilliant!" xoxoxoxoxo Leslie
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"De-Stress Your Job!" Article from the Cape Cod Time is here.
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Article about Yoga Benefit at the Heritage Museum is here.
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Cape Cod Times article about the 2008 Benefit for the Duffy Heath Center here.
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Kathleen, Annika, Diane and friends on Yoga, Meditation and Sailing adventure
My Gratitude to Kripalu School of Yoga, where I have been learning from some of the best yoga teachers for the last 20 years - thank you for the wisdom, compassion, generosity, and fun!!
Diane and Megha
Congratulations!!!!! Graduation at the Kripalu School of Yoga, Lenox, MA, 500 Hour Training
led By Devarshi and Vidya (Diane Assisted)
 
Jovina, Tawana and Danny ~ Vidya and Diane
 
 
Below: Graduation at the Kripalu School of Yoga, Lenox, MA,
500 Hour Training led By Don and Amba Stapleton (Diane Assisted)
Amba, Diane, Edith, Don Stapelton
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De-stress your job
Grouchy boss? Demanding diners? Surly customers? Here are strategies to deflate the tension
by JASON KOLNOS
STAFF WRITER, Cape Cod Times,
(Published: September 28, 2004)
It's the elephant in the room that everyone knows is there but barely anyone acknowledges.
Office workers can use yoga-like breathing techniques to put some distance between them and stress on the job.
(Times photo by PAUL BLACKMORE)
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For many employees - white, blue or pink collar - stress has become synonymous with the job. But that's bad news for employers who suffer when workers spend more time pulling out their hair than not. That's not to mention the health hazards that result from bottled-up stress, such as increased heart rate and blood pressure.
Experts say anything can trigger stress. The stack of papers that should have been graded yesterday. The boss who asks for a private meeting. The table of grouchy diners. So what can a harried employee do to take the edge off while they're on the clock?
Gretchen Holly, an insurance saleswoman in Yarmouth, said she likes to take her shoes off when she's feeling frazzled. Edward Theodore, a grocery stocker in a Hyannis store, whistles while he works under the gun.
"I hate to perpetuate the cliché, but we tend to eat around here when we're stressed," Harwich police dispatcher Donna Tavano said. "They don't call it comfort food for nothing."
We asked some relaxation and stress management experts, as well as employers, to recommend healthy ways workers can de-stress, even if it's just for a few minutes.
Office workers
Hypnotherapist Nancy Canning has a knack for unwinding folks. Before her patients go under hypnosis, they must be in the most relaxed state possible. That begins with something we all do every second of the day.
"Proper breathing is nature's gateway to optimal relaxation," Canning said.
She prefers the LSD approach (no, not that one) which involves taking periodic breaths that are Long, Slow and Deep."You literally have to feel yourself breathing and think about inhaling and exhaling and nothing else," she said. Here's how:
 Close your eyes and draw a deep breath until you can feel it in your stomach.
At the apex of the inhale, hold your breath for a few seconds while relaxing your head and neck muscles.
Push all of the air out of your body.
"If you do this for just 10 seconds a couple times a day, you'll be able to feel the pressure lift off your shoulders, which is the main area where tension builds," she said. "It sounds so simple, but it really helps."
Diane Kovanda, a stress management expert at Complete Wellness in Cotuit, teaches relaxation techniques in the workplace. She has recently counseled employees at Barnstable High School, a battered women's shelter and local banks.
Kovanda said she believes stress is reactionary and that it's important to develop a relaxation response before being put on the defensive. She teaches yoga classes and recommends simple stretching and mediation techniques workers can do at their desks without a mat. These include:
Yoga Mudra: Gently clasp arms behind the lower back, bend forward and hold arms up for 10 seconds.
The Human Basketball Net: Interlace fingers over head and alternate palms upward and push like you're reaching for the sky. Take deep breath, hold and release.
Neck rolls: Alternate rolling neck left and right for 20 to 30 seconds. Next, do the same rolling your wrists.
Deep focus: Focus your eyes on a single object for 30 seconds. This reduces eye tension resulting from staring at a computer screen all day. Repeat when eyes feel strained.
Trauma responders
(police officers, surgeons, firefighters, doctors, mental health professionals, crisis center staff)
For lifesavers, responding to disturbing situations is part of the everyday job. But it's tough to carry on the rest of the day after witnessing a disturbing situation. Kovanda said it's often hard not to personalize events, but workers should try to shift perspective and realize there are circumstances beyond their control.
"Think about the reason you're in this situation, which is to help people," said Kovanda, noting that focusing on the families and victims who will benefit from your actions - rather than focusing on the trauma - will bring more peace of mind.
Also, the taboo of keeping emotions inside is a thing of the past. "An emotional letting go of any kind works as a relaxation technique," Kovanda said. "It is not a bad thing to have a good cry or sit in your car, roll up the windows and just scream."
She recommends a 10-second exercise where you consciously have control of your muscles: clench your hands, fists and shoulders tight like a child about to throw a tantrum. Hold your contracted muscles for 10 seconds, take a deep breath and then relax.
Priscilla Adams, director of the Rape Crisis Program at Independence House in Hyannis, teaches staff to communicate with each other during a crisis. "When you're experiencing an emotional roller coaster, it's best to find a trusting person who is going through the same things as you," Adams said. She encourages everyone who works with trauma to have their own personal counselor to help deal with the stress.
Service jobs
(teachers, restaurant staff, retailers)
Teachers and wait staff have a particularly difficult time relaxing because they must care for others nonstop, whether it be a student or a customer. Natasha Dunne, the dining room supervisor at Bobby Byrne's Pub in Hyannis, said no matter how hectic the environment is, she lets workers take a quick break to avoid bottling up stress.
"If a customer sees that the staff is having a hard time, then the stress will be passed on to them and they won't come back," she said, adding that workers should step outside or go into the bathroom and take deep breaths.
"It's also imperative to have a strong network of support to help you out if you're in a bind," Dunne said. "Here, we're all trained for many tasks. Our bartender would help pick up a table if a waitress felt she had too much to handle."
Gail Briere, the principal at Orleans Elementary school, said one of her most successful faculty wellness programs is the Sunshine Group, staff members who monitor the well-being of their peers. Staff routinely consult the 10-member group about any problem, personal or professional. "Having that support network allows us to be more honest and open with what we are feeling," she said. "It's an extension of a family."
Tomorrow: Is the kitchen making you crazy? In the Food section, some strategies to make meal preparation less frantic. |
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Yoga instructors will bring their art to Heritage
By Patricia Sherlock
Sanwich Community Newspaper
Tue Oct 09, 2007, 01:39 PM EDT
Sandwich - In a spirit of giving back to the Cape they love for its natural beauty and restorative serenity, a place they say has enriched their life and work here, four established yoga and meditation professionals are uniting to donate their teaching expertise Saturday, Oct. 20 when they will lead a full-day yoga and mindfulness retreat for the public.
The retreat, called Cultivating Nature From Within, will focus on ways to celebrate nature and one's inner nature while becoming aware of the connection between the two. The workshops will be on the grounds of Heritage Museums & Gardens in Sandwich. Proceeds will be divided equally between Heritage — originally the estate of the late amateur horticulturist and rhododendron hybridizer Charles O. Dexter, and now a 100-acre woodland boasting hiking and walking trails, annual and perennial gardens, and Shawme Pond — and the Barnstable Land Trust, an organization also dedicated to preserving valuable open spaces, wildlife habitats, wetlands and scenic views for present and future generations.
Leading the retreat will be Diane Kovanda, who teaches yoga and Yoga Teacher Certification at Yoga Cape Cod in Centerville and sees clients at her stress management office at Complete Wellness in Cotuit; OHMWorks wellness decks and book author Olivia Miller of Marstons Mills, who also facilitates Stress Buster Relaxation Workshops; Catherine Paulson of West Barnstable, instructor of Pranashanti Yoga and a licensed massage therapist at Bodywork, Mashpee Commons; and Adam Liss, who instructs students in Mindfulness Meditation, a program developed at the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in 1979. Liss teaches at Cape Stress Reduction in Marstons Mills.
The idea for such a retreat originated with Kovanda. "I had done a video and wanted to give 10 percent of the proceeds back to the Cape. I was thinking, 'Even if I can just save one tree!' So last year I offered a small yoga retreat with Catherine at the beachfront home of Ann Gould in Cotuit for about 25 people and donated the proceeds to the Barnstable Land Trust."
This year Kovanda and Paulson set their sights higher. Paulson has taught Yoga in the Garden classes at Heritage for the last three summers. Miller, who had heard of Kovanda's beachfront yoga retreat last year and also is a member of the Barnstable Land Trust, had kidded Kovanda saying, "I'm jealous. If you ever do another one include me!" So Kovanda and Paulson asked Miller to be part of the retreat. "Next we asked Adam if he would be free to participate," says Miller, a former neighbor of Liss' in Marstons Mills. "All four of us have known each other for years, so we hoped he would round out the faculty for the day."
Explains Miller, "We're all donating our services, doing it out of love for Cape Cod. We're so passionate about our work and want to share with others what brings us good health and a sense of peace inside."
Liss adds, "We teach what we need to learn ourselves. This is a really good opportunity for people to learn and practice a wide range of yoga and meditation as Heritage generously opens its facilities to Cape Codders and others who wish to participate in and enjoy various practices, such as a walking meditation in the labyrinth and, weather permitting, more yoga in the garden."
Kovanda is looking forward to the retreat, saying it will be an amazing day that allows people — whether novices or advanced students of yoga and meditation — to sample and explore different disciplines. "They can come to know themselves better in body, mind and soul."
Miller agrees. "I try to get across that yoga can be fun, that you don't have to be standing on your head to enjoy it! Life can be so serious sometimes, but this is simply about celebrating nature outdoors along with your inner nature — joyfully being aware of the relationship between the two. And focusing on the gardens helps increase that awareness."
To that end, one of the yoga workshops is called Laughter Yoga on the Carousel, where participants will put the "merry" back in "merry-go-round" while riding as a group on Heritage's famous, 100-year-old carousel. "A big part of doing yoga is learning how to breathe properly," adds Kovanda, "and laughter is one of the best ways to achieve that. And it's wonderful to be laughing as part of a group."
Liss' mindfulness meditation classes often emphasize that in the rush and busyness of living, taking care of ourselves is often relegated to the back burner. "But by caring for ourselves first, we are better able to care for others, be more efficient in our work and homes and be more compassionate in our communities. In meditation, there is room for humor, curiosity, acceptance, openness and loving kindness."
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By CYNTHIA McCORMICK
Cape Cod Times
STAFF WRITER
January 17, 2008
Your sister swears by her yoga class, and you're impressed by her ability to touch her palms to the floor after years of not being able to push past her knees.
Maybe it's the way your next-door neighbor gets a blissed-out look on his face when he strikes an asana, or pose. Or the way your mother-in-law chants "Life is good" after her morning session.
Whatever the trigger, your interest in yoga has been piqued.
You want to try a class.
But which one?
There is a veritable soup of yoga types out there, ranging from acu-yoga, which combines acupuncture with yoga postures, to the ancient practice of yin yoga.
There's the athleticism of power yoga, in which practitioners work up a sweat, and the less intense Svaroopa yoga, during which participants can remain seated.
A group of instructors aims to take the mystery out of yoga by hosting a day of classes Jan. 27 at Centerville Yoga & Wellness Center related to Yoga Day USA.
The teachers - all recent graduates of Finding Inner Peace Yoga School - and their instructor, Diane Kovanda, will lead participants through several classes, including hatha, dance, yin and power yoga, as well as breathing, meditation and guided-imagery sessions.
The day will benefit the Duffy Health Center in Hyannis, which serves those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Cost is $75.
"It's all about relaxation and just energizing yourself," Kovanda said. "We want people to have fun so exercise doesn't seem like this dreadful proposition for the new year. We're talking about taking yoga off the mat and home."
Hatha is what most people think of when they hear the word "yoga."
It consists of sitting and standing poses, spine stretches and gentle twists.
Instructor Linda Harmon adds gentle undulations to traditional hatha yoga for a new style she calls "yummy yoga." The reason, she says, is because "it feels just delicious." The flowing movements between yoga poses can help increase flexibility, she said.
Candice Dunn adds modern dance moves to hatha yoga for a type of dance yoga she calls modaga. "The poses themselves become a dance," she said.
Kimberly Amaral will get participants' heart rates up with a sweat-inducing yoga called light power flow yoga.
It's a kind of energized hatha yoga, in which participants put themselves through a series of poses called vinyasa that take them to the floor and back up between each change of position.
Each vinyasa consists of shifting quickly through the plank, downward facing dog and upward facing dog poses.
eslie Chizek, who runs after-school yoga programs at Harwich's middle and high schools, will teach participants the basics of hatha yoga. Her young charges like it when she incorporates handstands and backbends into the sessions, but Chizek said she plans to keep it gentle on Yoga Day.
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Certified yoga teachers Kim Amaral and Leslie Chizek
stretch their way through a variety of poses at
Centerville Yoga and Wellness Center.
Photo:
Cape Cod Times / Paul Blackmore
Yoga is Sanskrit for "union," and Chizek said the practice is a way to meld the mind and body in a calming but strengthening ritual.
Westerners think of yoga as a series of asanas, or poses, but it also can incorporate self-massage, meditation, acu-pressure, chanting and rhythmic breathing.
The physical benefits include increased flexibility, strength, muscle tone, pain relief and better breathing.
Like many others, Chizek swears by the stress-reducing benefits of yoga. "It gets you out of that trying-doing mind - the monkey mind where you're jumping from branch to branch," she said. "You have to be in the moment."
Although somebody recovering from surgery might not be up for power yoga, the nice thing about yoga classes is that they are typically geared for people of all ability levels, Chizek said.
Yoga instructors are trained to help individuals do the practice at their level, without straining or hurting themselves to keep up with more limber participants.
"Your teachers learn when someone walks in their room, it could be any level," Chizek said. "My rule of thumb is you try something three times" before deciding whether that type of yoga is for you.
During Yoga Day, instructor Shelby Powers will demonstrate yin yoga, which involves holding poses for five minutes instead of the three to five deep breaths traditional in hatha yoga.
Yin yoga is believed to soften and strengthen connective tissue, Harmon said. "It's a beautiful counterpoint" to power, or hot, yoga.
Other teachers include Nancy Kerrigan, Ana Pacheco, Kristy Maguire and Stacey Horton.
The teachers decided to hold the fundraiser as a graduation project when they finished their 200 hours of training with the Finding Inner Peace Yoga School at the Centerville center. It was the school's first graduating class on the Cape.
The group hopes to raise at least $1,500, said Kovanda, who taught the graduates.
Elyse DeGroot of the Duffy Health Center said the fundraiser is a nice fit with Duffy's practice.
"At Duffy we're trying to help people take care of themselves," she said. "We see ourselves as taking a holistic approach."
The event is being held one day after the ninth annual nationwide celebration of yoga called Yoga Day USA 2008.
In addition, Centerville Yoga & Wellness will be offering treatments such as reiki, hand massage, foot massage and facial massage for an additional fee. |
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