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Happy New Year Friends/Students of Lifefit!

I trust you have enjoyed memorable times with family and loved ones over the

past few weeks, and that you have allowed yourselves the chance to relax and

renew. I have thought of you all in counting my blessings over the holidays

and I have great anticipation for us as we grow together and as we serve and

live together in our community. At the end of our classes in December you

all heard this prayer during svanasana(restorative pose):

Now then, I want to give you my take on New Year's resolutions. Every year

I do make a few, I work at them, and like most other people, I do break

some. In trying to keep most of them I find myself "changing my mind, my

habits" to accommodate the changes I want to see in myself and the new

direction I have from recently acquired health information.

Dr. Kenneth Cooper (the man who introduced the aerobics concept and in the

late 1960s launched a fitness revolution here in America) of the Cooper

Institute says that in order for us to be successful at keeping New Year's

resolutions, we must do just that...change our thinking of our daily habits.

The lifestyle changes we are trying to incorporate must not be temporary

things or we will slip back into the old habits. From a religious point of

view, our attempt to be "fit" is aimed at maintaining the body, the vehicle

that allows us to live the purpose of our lives. We must treat our bodies as

a temple. Thus, no excuses for bad habits.

Despite that, I do not take New Year's resolutions too seriously - mostly

because I think we should be working at bettering ourselves always,

throughout the year, every day. In other words, we should not just give

resolutions our attention at the beginning of the year, than give in when we

slip and give up until next January. Long time ago, when we were new to

Christ United Methodist church, I would see the following inspirational poem

on the wall in the office everytime I went in. I connected with it

instantly and I enjoyed reading it completely every time I was in there.

Since I am not in there as much to copy materials for my classes (thanks to

the internet and emailing), I have not seen it as often so I jotted it down

to keep at home where I can be reminded of how I want every day to feel as

if I have made my day "count."

To further explain my immediate connection to this poem, I have a bit of

type A behavior (that is why I came to yoga) and what I remind myself

constantly in working at slowing down is what I have now done for 6 days -

sit on a beach in southern Florida, 82 F, blue/green clear water and marvel

at the handiwork of God...in the power of each wave, each breath, the grains

of sand, the passing sun, the happiness of people all around, ...the list is

endless when you slow down to really see it. So then I have to also tell

you that I remind myself to slow down mostly because I long ago realized

that the immediate reaction I have when I finally do slow down is to

think/say "thank you God!" and ...I think we need to do that more. In going

around my elbow to get to my thumb, I came to realize that time spent

acknowledging and praising God is time that really "counts" and far

outweighs the many physical accomplishments of a day spent "racing " down

the list of things to do. That is how I came to let go of some of my type A

behavior. My New Year's resolution for the month of January is to find

"balance" in all of the resopnsibities of the new year and still have enough

time to slow down and appreciate/savor each day - a tall order for a small

me. In February we will talk more of the next set of resolutions.

As classes will resume next week, there are many exciting new things to

share. Beginning Tuesday, Jan 6th from 12:15 - 1:15, there will be a

"Beginners Yoga" class that will run for two 8 week sessions this spring.

The cost is $80/session and $12/drop in. This new class (or private

sessions) will now be a prerequisite for anyone wanting to join the existing

9:45 Tu/Th or the Sunday 5:15 - 6:15 class. I have devised the curriculum

and each class will have a specific sequence designed to be a great learning

experience that will teach students enough so they can make appropriate

choices as to the options/intensity levels they should work at in any pose,

the benefits of poses and in a nutshell "how to use yoga." The students

will get these sequences and great handouts at each class. I see this class

as a level between the chair class and the other two classes and I will

encourage anyone who misses any of their other classes, to consider using

this time to "make up." The chair yoga class will begin on Thursday, Jan

8th and will also have two 8 week sessions this spring. It is designed for

people who cannot get up and down from the floor and want to begin from a

gentler place in their yoga practice. Half of the work is sitting in the

chair and the other half is standing beside the chair(many improvised

poses). This class has "homework" - great handouts as well! Please share

this information with any interested friends!

The attachment is regarding "YOGA DAY USA 2009" - set for Sat, Jan 24th.

Please spread the word - a lot of work will go into this and registration is

required so we can plan accordingly. I am proud to take part in the Yoga

Alliance's encouragement of teachers to offer free classes across the

country and encourage donations to local efforts. This will be the third

and final year we collect donations for the new cloth labryinth we have MADE

this year (thanks to funds from the last two years) and the programming that

is unfolding as a result. Next year we will have another direction but for

now I have a great passion for the potential of this effort, along with some

very dedicated and knowledgable labryinth committee members. The three

classes offered on that Saturday morning along with the opportunity to walk

the labryinth will be available to anyone in the community. Please share

with friends! In advance, thank you for your support!

In the last three weeks and for yet another week to come, my home studio is

undergoing some remodeling/expansion. Private students will have the chance

to choose and experience using a Pilates reformer(in addition to the yoga

wall stations and the Migun bed). This device looks like a bed with pulleys,

springs, bars, jumping board and boxes, to name a few things. If you are

not familiar with this contraption, the inventor, Joseph Pilates designed

many pieces of equipment (apparatus) to help injured people, mostly

performers, rehabilitate while maintaining as much strength and agility as

possible until they were recovered. He came up with some of these ideas

while working in a hospital at a concentration camp in Germany. When the

German army wanted him to then apply his creativity to help recovering

soldiers, he fled by ship to America, opening his studio in the basement of

the building that housed the New York City Ballet. Thus some of his first

students here were injured ballerinas. Most people now know Pilates matwork

but the primary steps are to master reformer work. It is really beautiful

and powerful work and in a nutshell the primary focus is core strengthening!

Come try! The reformer will be up and running by the end of Jan.

As soon as I can finish the "redtape" preparation, you will hear about kids

classes to be offered in February on Saturday mornings, like we had last

year - one class for kids 6 - 10 and another for kids 11 and up. They were

a great hit and I have had requests for them again. February is a great

time for spring athletes to begin to limber up and for anyone to try

something new before the spring arrives with new outdoor opportunities!

Parents will be invited to attend/participate in the younger kids classes.

Yes, this is a time for new ventures, new beginnings, new visions. Let us

all embrace new opportunities with an open mind, an open heart and with

vigor to make our efforts count toward the common good. I wish you all a

Bright and Happy New Year 2009, and I hope and pray that God will bless you

with good health to enjoy all the good fortunes in your life, amongst them

all, peace in your heart.

Namaste,

Mona Flynn

Mona Flynn, MS, RYT

Life Fit Yoga, Inc.

5806 Wildrose Drive

Greensboro, NC 27410

336-580-5833

lifefityoga@bellsouth.net

http://www.lifefityoga.com/