1. How did you get started with aromatherapy?
I was always into healing arts. I started to practice Yoga very young, then started to explore other practices for natural health and wellbeing. And discovered Aromatherapy - the art of using essential oils delivered from plants for physical and emotional health. The other factor that contributed into my passion is the fact that I am from Russia. alternative medicine and natural remedies are widely used and known there. So When i was growing up I knew which herb to take to get better, to heal. This custom just developed with time and knowledge.
2. Why is it important to incorporate aromatherapy with you travel + what are some tips?
Aromatherapy is all about your senses, emotions and mood. Simply by inhaling a particular scent you may feel relaxed, energized or focused. When you travel you put yourself into new situations, you visit unknown places and sometimes might feel out of balance. Certain scents can bring the comfort back, release the stress, fatigue, restore the Balance and wholeness.
Grab a bottle of your favorite oil with you, inhale it at the airport, on the plane, in the car, spray in the hotel room, whenever you want to bring peace into your new surroundings.
3. We noticed that in your class you spritzed some custom scents in your class, what is the blend and why is it good in a yoga class/practice?
I use a blend that I created specifically for Life Yoga studio and it’s called Life. It’s one of the scents that I make called YogiMood. The whole point of using Aromatherapy in class is to deepen your practice, your Yoga experience by breathing deeper and allow essential oils to treat your senses.
Some of the most rewarding things in life are the things you have to work the hardest for…
I’ve been practicing yoga since January of 2010 and my biggest challenge has been making it to class regularly. It’s not that I don’t plan to go - it’s always on my calendar at least three times a week, but I tend to make excuses not to go. Excuses like having too much work to finish, having a long day and being too tired, wanting to go have a drink with my friends instead, etc.
Which leads me to the question: why am I making excuses to NOT do the one thing that has proven to make me happier, healthier and more centered - not to mention looking GREAT in my favorite jeans when I practice regularly.
Yoga has helped me overcome a slew of both medical and emotional issues, including a severe anxiety disorder. It’s not magic, but if you dedicate time to quieting your mind, really stretching out your body and just letting go of all of those unwanted emotions you’ve accumulated throughout the day - you will feel better.
So what’s my point here? I need to get to practice more often and maybe you do too. So here are some ideas for making this happen:
1. Schedule yoga just as you would any other event or appointment. Aim for three times per week and schedule a “back up day” at the end of the week for if you weren’t able to make one of those. Bonus points if you just go anyway.
2. Participate in an upcoming 30-day challenge. There’s one starting in June - stop by or call LIFE to get the details. Practicing for 30 days straight creates a habit and will make it soooo much easier for you to stick to your three classes per week.
3. Find a mentor. Do you have a favorite yoga instructor? Someone who’s style you like the best and who you feel you connect to? Ask them questions. LIFE instructors are some of the kindest and most knowledgeable in the city and I’ve found they are more than happy to spend time after class helping with postures you are having trouble with, suggesting modifications or additional postures for specific injuries or illnesses, talking about yoga on a more spiritual level or suggesting books to help guide you.
-Megan Hargroder, LIFE Yoga Student
Excellent work everyone! We completed this challenge. No doubt we are feeling and looking great. I’ve seen many of you literally blossom before my own eyes. You’ve grown stronger and more flexible, your skin is glowing and your eyes are shining.
So now what? What does one do after an experience like this? We made a boundary in our lives and inside that circle we made some deep and exciting changes. But now that it’s over how do we integrate ourselves back into our “regular” lives and maintain these great results and good feelings?
First, make it official. Do something to acknowledge that you just accomplished something extraordinary. Take a few moments in meditation or take a long walk, have a lovely cup of green tea or treat yourself to a massage, something just for you. Refer to your Detox Journal and note what you’ve learned and accomplished this past month. Then break out the champagne!
Have that cup of coffee, eat that piece of cheesecake. Explore a day of lying around absolutely not doing even one sun salutation. And the next day, when you feel bloated, stressed out and stiff, drink a big glass of lemon water, make a pot of green tea and go to yoga.
This detox was pretty mild - no fasting or anything extreme - so your body won’t be too shocked by a cocktail or a fried shrimp. You may be surprised, however, by how powerfully some substances might effect you - physically, mentally and emotionally. Take note of it. Generally, it’s best to ease back into things, if possible. First have a glass of wine, then have a piece of cheese, then try some bread, then some soymilk, etc., but, realistically, you may be craving a soyburger, french fries and a beer. Just go with it, and know that when you feel out of balance, you can always take a day or two and have a mini-detox full of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables and lots of pure water.
Congratulations to all of us!
Namaste.
We asked our 30-day challengers to submit a song that they loved to practice to - whether it made them feel powerful and strong or calm and zen:
- ”the loop” by mimicking birds
- wake up by the Arcade Fire
- love and happiness - stevie wonder
- Anything by Thievery Corporation
- Porcelain by Moby
- Secrets by one republic
- anything by deva premal
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And we’ll be adding more throughout the week - stay tuned!
Day 9. 22 more days to go.
“Week 1 down, 3 more to go! After going strong every single day this week I found myself in just what I needed tonight- a restorative class. I had taken this same class last Sunday when I was in a much different frame of mind. Today, I was grateful for the ability to slow down and take care of myself in a different way way than say the LED Ashtanga Level 2/3 class does.
The room was only lit by candles. The music was quiet but powerful. We all had our own space on our mats to come together with ourselves. As I lay on top of the bolster with my forehead resting on a block I breathed in deeply and then exhaled all of the day’s little stressors away. I even exhaled the goodness of the day away too. I was just me, in that moment, with myself. As we moved into the opposite of that pose- with our bolsters underneath and our legs in a froggy position- the feeling was an opening up to the universe, to myself, and to this city that still feels so new to me. In that somewhat vulnerable position I felt secure, safe, and supported. Quietly tears slipped down my face as I realized that yoga can bring such joy simply by allowing us to follow our breath and just be.”
Day One was a good day. It was just like any other day, except it was the first of a commitment to practice yoga every day for 30 days. This is something I have done before, and so I have an idea of what to expect. But one thing I have learned from my personal yoga practice, is to expect the exceptional.
On Day Two, I discovered what is perhaps the best kept secret (although not a secret at all) at Life Yoga… Abigail’s Sunday 4pm Vinyasa Flow class followed by Anne’s Restorative Yoga at 5:30pm. I left the studio with wobbly hips and a goofy smile.
Day Three was Jivamukti! My first Jivamukti class, literally, in years. It was a challenging class. I was feeling stiff from the deep postures the night before, and the quickness of the practice, with all the vinyasas, put a lot of pressure on my back. (I should mention that exactly two years ago tomorrow, I sustained a serious back injury.
I couldn’t walk at all for 4 days, couldn’t walk upright for two months, and then I couldn’t do physical exercise for nearly a year. Doctors told me it would take about two years of physiotherapy before I’d experience minimal pain daily. Well, I beat those odds. I’ve been slowly building my yoga practice back since this past June.) So, anyway, mental note that Jivamukti is a challenging practice, considering my spine.
The real breakthrough came on Day Four with Daria’s Vinyasa Flow. The studio was packed and hot. The energy was buzzing high (at least it was for me). I felt like my old yoga self, the one who wanted to practice every day, the one who felt grounded and balanced and energized because I came to the mat every day. With the first Virabhadrasana 1, I felt a strength in my body that I hadn’t felt since before I broke my back. There was an openness about that practice that felt familiar and brand new at the same time. It was amazing.
In the first days of this challenge, I’m reminded of the word, abhyasa… the presence of mind to achieve stability and peace through choosing to practice. Abhyasa doesn’t simply mean practicing, it includes the mental state, the attitude of choosing to come to the mat every day in effort to deepen your experience of life. For me, abhyasa has begun. It’s kind of surprising how naturally it happens.
-Melissa Remark
