NicolePresents: Wellness

Archive for the 'Yoga Sutras' Category

DATE CHANGE!!! Yogi Seasonal Food Cleanse – Winter – New Start Date January 16th

YOGI SEASONAL FOOD CLEANSE

Winter – 14 Days

NEW DATE – moved it back because of people’s holiday schedules
Monday, January 16th – Sunday, January 29th

It’s time to cleanse after all the holiday cheer! Join our professional team of yogis for a 14 Day Yogi Seasonal Food Cleanse designed to align your physical and energetic bodies as the weather and season changes.  You will learn how to detoxify and heal the body through the use of local, organic, sustainable food and use our yoga practice to further eliminate toxins and boost your immune system in preparation for the holiday and flu season.  This is the ultimate “foodie” cleanse!  No starving here, just wholesome clean foods that will make you feel better than ever!  We hope that after participating in the 14 Day Yogi Seasonal Food Cleanse, you will attain the knowledge that will guide you toward long term healthier practices and an enhanced life!

14 Day Cleanse Includes:

  • PDF workbook including a detailed description of the cleanse, expert advice on how to succeed and get the most out of the cleanse, journal templates, 2 week sample menu, shopping lists, list of local farmers markets and organic markets, vegan restaurant guide, delicious seasonal vegan recipes and more.One in-person group q & a meeting (optional attendance)
  • Daily outdoor yoga classes at “Bronson Canyon Yoga” geared specifically toward the cleansing process. ** If you are out of town or pay for yoga elsewhere you can still join the cleanse (choose “no yoga” option below)
  • Email forum/Facebook
  • Yoga class the day before cleanse start date, plus optional Q & A

Testimonials from our past cleanse groups!

Save the Date:
Sunday, January 15th
9:00am optional Q & A; 9:30am class

Price:
$80 – $120
(see options below)

nic@nicolepresents.com

Yogi Seasonal Food Cleanse
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Yogi Seasonal Food Cleanse – Fall Oct 11 – 24th

YOGI SEASONAL FOOD CLEANSE – Fall Dates Announced!

Tuesday, October 11th – Monday, October 24 (14 days). Just in time for Halloween ;)

It’s time to cleanse before the crazy holidays! Join our professional team of yogis for a 14 Day Fall Cleanse designed to align your physical and energetic bodies as the weather and season changes.  You will learn how to detoxify and heal the body through the use of local, organic, sustainable food and use our yoga practice to further eliminate toxins and boost your immune system in preparation for the holiday and flu season.  This is the ultimate “foodie” cleanse!  No starving here, just wholesome clean foods that will make you feel better than ever!  We hope that after participating in the 14 Day Fall Cleanse, you will attain the knowledge that will guide you toward long term healthier practices and an enhanced life!

14 Day Cleanse Includes:

  • One in-person group q & a meeting (optional)
  • Daily outdoor yoga classes at “Bronson Canyon Yoga” geared specifically toward the cleansing process. ** if you are out of town email us about discounts or book Skype privates for yoga sessions
  • Email forum/Facebook
  • PDF workbook including a detailed description of the cleanse, expert advice on how to succeed and get the most out of the cleanse, journal templates, 2 week sample menu, shopping lists, list of local farmers markets and organic markets, vegan restaurant guide, delicious seasonal vegan recipes and more.

Save the Date: (optional class)
Sunday, October 9th
9:30am morning Yoga class + in-person group meeting

Price:
Early Bird Special!!!  Pay by October 1st and pay only $150!!!
$190 (under $14 a day including yoga!!!)
Email us if you are not located in LA or can’t attend yoga for discounted cleanse options.

nic@nicolepresents.com

Yogi Seasonal Food Cleanse
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Results are in! Empower Yourself to Transform Workshops are Complete.

 

Results are in!  Empowering Yourself to Transform Workshops are Complete.

We just completed my post-South American spiritual journey inspired workshop series called Empower Yourself to Transform™. I must say the jungle did us good! We experienced two weeks of Yoga every morning and 3.5 hour Sunday Workshops that included one hour of motivational speaking and two hours of meditation, chanting, pranayama and Yoga. The Sundays were just outstanding!

Getting up every morning at 6:15a to get over to The Dance Loft in San Francisco was no small feat. I was used to doing this when working with the Amazonian Shamans since they rise with the sun, but in the city, when it’s cold and windy, it’s a different feeling. But every morning like clockwork, I entered that beautiful studio and found myself remarkably at home, on my mat breathing. I was so inspired that by the 7th day I started a food cleanse so I could boost my energy naturally instead of using those morning lattes!

We worked through the Chakra system for the first 7 days visualizing each energy body, beginning to understand where it is and how it affects the whole body temple. We observed each chakra as a container and asked to release emotional tension, resistance or fear. We went within to understand where blocks might reside. We accepted the emotions as they bubbled up and addressed them with compassion and love.

Sunday, May 8th was Mother’s Day and our Releasing Negative Thoughts and Patterns workshop. What a perfect day! For the moms in the room we gave eternal gratitude for their courage to bring energy into form, into matter, the root word for mother.

We discussed the human condition of the mind and its role in our experience here on this plane of existence. We explored how we use tools like Yoga, Meditation, and Inspirational Teachings to guide us out of the subconscious negative thinking to a more conscious awareness of who we really are.

We learned to not think of “negative” as being bad, but as a gift and a signpost along our journey that we can acknowledge to help guide us to decisions that feel good. Negative is not to be judged as bad, but simply the opposite of positive. We addressed the concepts of negative thoughts being fear and resistance. Once we could see our fears and resistance we could acknowledge those fears, identify the resistance and challenge our thoughts. In challenging our thoughts we became creative and could see other perspectives. We also played with tools from Yoga and the Law of Attraction. In Yoga when we are addressed with negative thoughts we replace them with positive ones, called Pratipaksha Bhavana. In the Law of Attraction, we call this Pivoting.

On Sunday, May 15th it was Bay to Breakers in San Francisco. A big day of celebration in the city, so it was vibrating with some seriously fun energy! This was our Tools for Transformation workshop day. This workshop was designed to be the follow up to the prior week. Once we release emotion and identify our resistance what do we do with this new information? I have spent the last several years in deep study of the Laws of the Universe and I wanted to share some fun games that I’ve encountered along the way. We laughed, we shared, we cried. It was a beautiful day. We watched videos about the power of language and words. We shared some of our patterns of thought. We explored partner work using affirmations and journaling. We powerfully affirmed each other’s gifts. We used engaging tools from the Law of Attraction work and other great inspirational teachers. In the end, we started to feel how we really could EMPOWER OURSELVES TO TRANSFORM™!


After each inspirational discussion, we got on our mats and explored the various gifts that we were granted 5000 plus years ago. I’m sure these gifts are a lot older than the recording of them. We practiced meditation and pranayama techniques to clear our mind and extend our prana through the breath. We chanted beautiful mantras and then opened our bodies with Yoga asanas.

Just writing this I get goose bumps (or as my friend calls them, truth bumps!). This work really resonates with my heart. I know that my path, my dharma, is to help inspire people to reach their highest potential. I am here for Joy and Love. That’s it. I want to bring you more Joy and Love!

 

Below are testimonials from some of the workshop attendees. If you wish to bring these workshops to your city, I would be honored and I love to travel!

“You are pure BRILLIANT Nicole-your words of wisdom, your knowledge, your teachings all truly Inspiring and Uplifting!” ~Val C

“Thank you for such a great workshop. Even though it was just an afternoon it shed light on what has been happening for me this entire year. Such a gift you are! ” ~ Michelle M.

“Add “motivational speaker” to the already impressive array of hats that miss Doherty wears. I just attended her Sunday class on “How to get rid of negative thoughts and patterns” and have instantly noticed a boost in my energy, outlook and general satisfaction with life. I only wish the sessions were longer and had more interaction between classmates. Next up: Tools for Transformation. If I am a better yoga practitioner and person at the end of this year, Nicole will surely be a huge part of it.” ~ Michi V.

“I have been taking private yoga as well as group yoga from Nicole for a couple of years and she is a truly gifted teacher. Her warm approach and extensive knowledge of anatomy make taking class with Nicole not only relaxing but beneficial for our tired, tight bodies. Most recently I attended a workshop called Empower Yourself to Transform with Nicole. The information she gave us was very helpful and pertinent to anyone’s yoga practice. The fun style in which the workshop was held makes it accessible for any level yoga student from the beginner to the seasoned yogi.” ~ Roxanne G

“Thanks sssooooooo much for the workshop.  I truly enjoyed it.  I’ve already had 3 opportunities to apply what we learned about the power of words!  It is amazing how sharing that with 3 different friends was so inspiring.  I didn’t really intend that to happen.  I was just going to start applying it for myself.  But, Sunday evening a friend called and said something like, “Wouldn’t it be nice if all I had to do is (blah blah blah?)”  And, I just said, “OMG, I have to share what I just learned in this workshop today!”  And, we just had a great laugh.  Then, early this morning, a friend started texting me from NYC about how horrible her life was going to be as soon as she moved and how she wasn’t looking forward to it.   And, of course, I immediately sent her the video via email and started explaining the power of words and what I’d learned.  Then, this afternoon, I was talking to a friend about her career….same thing!  So, I just wanted to share with you the impact you made on my life this week and thank you again for an amazing yoga class.  I look forward to another one soon.” ~ Lisa H

To bring these workshops to your city email Nicole Doherty at nic@nicolepresents.com
Website: http://wellness.nicolepresents.com
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The Awesome ABC’s!

I have a new game that’s really fun.  I call it “The Awesome ABC’s”!

I can’t think of any “ABC’s” first without actually breaking into song… so let’s take a breath to honor MJ, send him gratitude and get that out of our system!

“A-B-C…is easy as 123…or simple as…do re me, ABC, 123, baby you and me girl! “

OK…Moving on!

I started compiling a list of super cool, positive words that I could reference daily. By using these types of words I am projecting a better all around feeling and based on the Law of Attraction I know this will bring more profound positivity and better feeling thoughts.  Those, in turn, will inspire others and me with more yummy goodness!

If I find myself using negative language, I quickly identify the emotion behind it, acknowledge it, challenge my negativity and replace those thoughts with my awesome, inspirational ABC’s.  This process in Yoga is called Praktipaksha Bhavana as explained in Yoga Sutra 2:33, “When disturbed by negative thoughts, opposite (positive) ones should be thought of. “  In the Vortex, by Esther and Jerry Hicks, there are powerful tools like “The List of Positive Aspects” or the “Positive Rampage of Appreciation” that work similarly .  These tools allow you to get into a higher energetic vibration (the Vortex) based on writing lists of positive thoughts to break habits and patterns of negativity. There are many great tools for breaking patterns and releasing negative thoughts. You’ll have to attend my workshops to get more in depth and familiar with this work!

Here’s a small sample of my word collection moving through the alphabet!  I will leave it up to you to create your own collection of words.

Alive
Beautiful
Courageous
Delicious
Evolve
Freedom
Grace

There are so many more great words!  So don’t stop here.  Go to Z.  Take out a pen and paper and start writing! Then, if you are inspired, take a few of these awesome words and weave them into your personal mission statement (if you have one)! Before you know it, you are feeling great and you have all these new words at your disposal that imbue the community with love!

Hope you have fun with this new game!

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Happy Halloween! Permission to look in the mirror with a different view!

October 29th, 2010 | Category: Inspiration,Yoga Sutras

Every month I look forward to LA Yoga’s newsletter from Editor-In-Chief, Felicia Tomasko.  She always has such incredibly insightful things to say.  This article resonated with me and I wanted to re-post it as it explains the fifth niyama in the Yoga Sutras, Svadhyaya or self-Study as relates to Halloween.

Happy (Almost!) Halloween!

Create!
This morning, I taught Yoga at a YMCA where both children and adults were parading in and out in a variety of colorful costumes, cheery and exuberant.

Whether we dress up as a superhero or a villain, our greatest dream, someone’s horrifying nightmare, our alter ego or just another version of ourselves, Halloween gives us permission to look in the mirror with a slightly different view.

The practice of Yoga continually asks us to examine ourselves. Svadhyaya, self-study, is the fifth of the niyamas, the observances outlined in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Self-study helps us to see how we are placing our feet on the Earth, how we are showing up for our day, how we pay attention, how we commit, where we flail and fail and need to pick ourselves back up again.

Whether we wearing a mask, have painted our face so it is unrecognizable or are simply meeting the world as ourselves, our self (both public and private) is composed of many layers, paradoxes, conundrums. Each day that we meditate, get on the mat, become more aware of our breath and dive into the yamas and niyamas, the restraints and observances that are part of the yogic path, we sift through the many-layered manifestation of this body, this breath, this life.

And no matter what day of the year we are practicing, may we uncover our self with the joyful abandonment of a trick-or-treater inviting the neighborhood to shower them with sweets.

May we be sweet in our self-study,

Felicia Marie Tomasko, RN
LA Yoga Magazine, Editor in Chief

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