Making The Leap - September Newsletter - Grounded Earth Yoga

We all loved our August vacation, which Tom dubbed The Waterfall Tour, having taken us through Ithaca and Ontario. I told many of you that as a kid I was convinced I went over the Niagara Falls in a barrel with my family because of one of these photo backgrounds. For your amusement, I made sure I got in every pretend barrel I could find for more photo opportunities.

For my own amusement, I "went" over the falls on a zip line! I'm the one in the front, Aria is in the back, and a random stranger in the middle.

These were the leaps, both pretend and real, that I took this summer. I'm taking another one this fall when I complete a Level 1 Mat Pilates Teacher Training. More on that (including important schedule changes) below.

In the meantime, we head out of summer and into a new fall theme!

Theme of the Month -

Core Strength & Twist Poses

In the summer, we alternated weeks of cooling poses and practices with heating ones. In regular person language, that means that one week we focused on stretch, breath, and meditation, and the next week focused on contraction, strength, and effort. It was a good way to exercise in summer, considering the fluctuating weather and random failures of the HVAC systems in our buildings!

The next few months, we are going to settle into heating poses. In September, we will strengthen the middle body - specifically the core muscles. As we've had this focus before, you won't be surprised to hear that core strength involves a whole series of muscle groups from our knees to our lowest ribs, especially in the hip area. To put a twist on the focus, we're going to do a lot of twist poses. This should be a fun one, so get ready for some booty strength and shake!

Video Resources

These videos are all free to access and work with our theme for your home practice. If you have trouble accessing these, reach out to me by responding to this newsletter or email info@groundedearthyoga.com.

Website-based full classes:

Chair Yoga - Core and Hip Strength

Adaptive Yoga - Core and Hip Stability

YouTube shorter practices:

Boat Pose - Mat practice

Chair Pose In a Chair

High Lunge w. Chair

Full Chair Yoga and Adaptive Yoga class videos are always available on my website for free or limited time access purchase by clicking here on my Video Library page. They are ALL ALWAYS free for membership package members! Get more details about membership by clicking here.

Schedule Changes for September & October

Pilates Teacher Training!

I've been doing pilates for a couple years now with Corinne Fuentes in Alexandria, who is an amazing teacher. I may eventually teach actual mat pilates classes, but for now, I plan to integrate the training into my current yoga classes. This is easy to do, as pilates was inspired by yoga, so they work together well. Yoga moves through various poses with holds, whereas pilates emphasizes repetition of movement and core strength. To me it's a fitness-y version of yoga, which I really enjoy.

Because of this training, my FRIDAY ALEXANDRIA FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH class will have to cancel for four weeks in September and October. However, my Friday RIEGEL RIDGE MAT/CHAIR CLASS will not be affected.

Check my schedule page for changes, as well as the calendar kept by your favorite yoga venue, like Riegel Ridge Community Center and the Senior Center in Flemington.

NO YOGA CLASS ON

• Tuesday September 15th at Senior Center

• Friday September 18th, October 2nd, 16th, and 23rd

Community Service Project For September & October:

Support Your Local Food Pantry

First of all, THANK YOU to those of you that donated to the United Way's "Start School Strong" backpack program. Aria and I (along with these Chick-fil-a characters) helped out at the Milford backpack distribution event operating the tie-dye t-shirt table. All of the events were really fun for the kids, and offered other important community resources to the families. Here are the stats right from the United Way:

• 803 backpacks and school supplies distributed

• 258 school meal applications

• 195 biometric health screenings provided

• 35 community partners mobilized

• 566 total hours invested, including 152 volunteer hours valued at $5,865

• More than $389,900 in estimated services, resources, and annual household savings provided

For September & October, we will focus on food bank and food pantry support in our local areas. This is easy to do at this time of year, as most area schools and churches are also creating donation drop sites. If you don't feel like tracking down your local pantry donation details, you can bring canned and dry goods to me during class, and I will get them to our local Frenchtown/Milford/Holland pick up sites.

Above is an example of some wish list items from our local pantry. They include sugar, spaghetti, pasta & sauce, mayo, canned veg and soups, cereal, coffee, tea, kids lunch snacks, detergent, dish soap, cleaning supplies, and paper goods.

Your local food pantry might be looking for different items. Here are some links to some of the local pantries for reference.

Flemington Food Pantry

Norwescap Food Bank

Meals on Wheels Hunterdon

Open Door Community Pantry - Kingwood/Frenchtown

Current Schedule

Here's my latest and greatest schedule:

Riegel Ridge Community Center (free for members, $12 to drop in)

• 60 Minute Chair Yoga, Mondays, 10 am

• 60 Minute Slow Flow Mat/Chair Yoga, Fridays, 9:30 am

Alexandria First Presbyterian Church in Milford (donation/pay-as-you-like)

• 45 Minute Chair Yoga with Zoom option, Fridays at 11 am

Senior Center in Flemington (free to members)

• 60 Minute Gentle Chair Exercise, Tuesdays at 10:15 am

• 60 Minute Advanced Mat Yoga, Wednesdays at 11:30 am

That's my schedule for now. Get up to the minute changes by following the schedule page of my website!

As usual, thanks for reading. Please reach out with questions or comments using the contact page of the website. Pass this newsletter along to a friend, so they can sign up for my newsletter as well!

Om Shanti,

Laura