Author Archives: The Branches

Formerly Queen Street Yoga Yoga & movement. Rooted in community. We’re here to create a better world with Yoga as our common ground. We lead down-to-earth classes, expert teacher training, and an engaged intergenerational community. We opened our doors in 2005, and have become known for our highly experienced teachers, our innovative approach to movement, and our efforts in community care and social justice. Our aim is to make the practices of yoga and meditation more inclusive, more accessible, and more relevant for your day-to-day life.

Don’t “Unfriend” Your Pain — Follow it!

Sharon has been teaching Physical Education in schools for many years. She recently retired and has turned her learning towards yoga teaching, participating in our 2014 Yoga Teacher Training. In this blog post she shares about learning to listen to pain and seeing it as a friend trying to help.

Body Talk

Most people notice pain as it begins. It is our body talking to us – “Stop what you’re doing!” Pain is trying to help us and support us throughout our lives to keep us safe. Our own personal goodwill ambassador ! Why then do we choose to ignore such a valuable friend? The way out of pain is to attend to it and be sure to acknowledge it through self-awareness. Drugs and other substances are only a temporary solution to blunt or mask the pain. Welcome the pain and know that through its support early on, you will get well again by listening to your body.

Pain’s arch-enemy is the ego. Your ego is what you think you are. Our ego, we listen to all the time. It’s what makes us do really irrational things sometimes . . . often even things that hurt us. We really should change things around . . . Listen less to our ego and more to our pain. I think in the long run we probably would be much happier.
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How I “Teach” Ayurveda

Author, therapist and yoga teacher Matthew Remski will be teaching a 36 hour Ayurveda Course at Queen Street Yoga starting in January 2015. This blog post illuminates his approach to teaching, and the value he feels Ayurveda can bring to expanding our awareness and creating more balance and richness in our lives.

First of all, I don’t really teach. I used to think I was teaching, back at the dawn of my nine-year span of leading this course. But sitting with clients for all that time has shown me that the best I can and should do is simply facilitate better conversations about personal and social health. This requires my learning as much about a student’s circumstance as I can share with them in terms of Ayurvedic theory. This means creating a learning space that’s conversational, which makes sense for a practice that’s nothing if it’s not about empowerment.

The baroque details of formal Ayurveda can be listed, memorized and regurgitated, but the real art lies in the discussion of principles between people who experience them differently, fueled in part by the Socratic questions of a facilitator, but more robustly by seeing how other people feel and narrate their experience towards an attentive appreciation for the intelligence of their flesh. It’s also good to have people examine each other’s hands and listen to each other’s pulses – not to form opinions (until much later), but to first appreciate the diverse ways in which the flesh speaks. The main tool I try to empower uses the embodied poetry of daily experience: how to take dictation from what is felt.

Here’s an incomplete list of principles that have crystallized in my particular river of Ayurvedic facilitation…
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10 Days of Silent Meditation – Leslie’s Learnings on Aches & Pains

This post was written by one of our work trades and Queen Street Conversations organizers, Leslie! Leslie spent 10 days this past summer in meditation at the Ontario Vipassana Centre. In this post she shares what she learned from sitting still and breathing.

Experimenting in mind-matter

Did you ever wonder what it might be like to get up at 4 AM and sit directly on your ischial tuberosities (those are your sitting bones 🙂 ) for ten or more hours… for ten days in a row? Me neither – but this past August I did happen to find out, and am here to report back on exactly how that kind of thing feels. It’s tough and it hurts, but wouldn’t you know, it’s worth the struggle.

The precise details of this experiment in living monastically can be found on the website for the Ontario Vipassana Centre – a fully-functioning retreat and service space in the tradition of S.N. Goenka, offering the opportunity to learn about and practice Dhamma and the meditation techniques of Anapana and Vipassana. For me, a school teacher in summer-mode, the schedule was punishing. The noble silence was astounding. And with seven hours of self-directed meditation time and three and a half hours of group sitting, the mental work, boredom and solitude ran the gamut from insufferable to incredible. With a mere six-week course of introductory meditation at Queen Street Yoga under my belt, I pretty much dove into the deep end after one quick toe-dip.

So what exactly happens when a run-of-the-mill yogi (in the modern, Western, I “do” yoga kind of way) gets serious about exploring the reality of their mind-matter conscious experience?

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Korean Comfort Food in Downtown Kitchener

When a fall chill seeps into your bones, there’s nothing like warm, spicy soup or rice nestled in a piping-hot bowl. Korean cuisine offers my favourite comfort food to partner with autumn’s arrival. And I’ve found some tasty options at Shinla Garden in downtown Kitchener.

Located on King Street, Shinla Garden doesn’t look like much — you may have walked past this small restaurant without ever trying the cheap but tasty fare inside. But once you step inside, it’s well worth the the slightly cheesy background music and plain decor.

What to order? Decisions, decisions…

Are you a Korean newbie or a long-time kimchi lover? Either way, an excellent first choice is Dolsot Bibimbap. It’s the ultimate Korean comfort food: a thick stone bowl heated in an oven, filled with white rice and topped with sauteed veggies, dried kim (seaweed), some meat and a fried egg. Top this with a mild hot sauce to your own taste and stir it all together to hear the satisfying sizzle of your meal getting acquainted with the hot stone bowl.

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How Yoga Teacher Training Helped me Find My Voice

Has speaking in public ever been a fear of yours? One of our Yoga Teacher Trainees was dead-scared of speaking in front of people – now 8 months through the program that has changed a great deal for her. Read on to hear about Jess’ journey in finding her voice.

Finding my voice

Months ago (I can’t believe it’s already been that long) we started our teacher training program by introducing ourselves and by sharing an item that was particularly special to us. We sat in a circle and shared our names for the very first time. When the spotlight hit me, I shared that public speaking, or speaking in any group setting really, made me extremely uncomfortable. It was something I was consciously working on, but it still proved to be a bit of a hurdle. I’d brought a mala necklace with a smoky quartz stone, that I had recently started wearing, that acted as a constant reminder that I could open my mind to connect with my voice. Even just sharing this with the group made my palms sweat, my heart race and my face hot. Explaining the discomfort made me even more uncomfortable- shocking, right? I knew that this program would challenge me in more ways than one, but I also know that they very best kind of learning and growth comes when you are uncomfortable. So here I was, ready to learn.

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Confessions of a Lipstick wearing Yogi

A blog post in which Shannon (who is currently in our Yoga Teacher Training Program) reflects on her yoga journey via the curious path of lipstick and birthdays. She recommends reading the book The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brené Brown.

I turn another year older. Big deal! Right?

I decided in the wee hours of my newest year of living that I was going to make a change.

Ridiculous? Brave? Random? (UN)Necessary? Who knows what you call it…

A little background for you…late 1980’s-90’s. Having always heard what beautiful and luscious lips I had, naturally I wanted to hide them! Not just my lips, but my less than perfect, crooked, teeth that goes with them. I don’t know how you react when someone compliments you, but I feel we all know a little about how uncomfortable it is to receive a compliment about ourselves, we may not accept them with grace, or with ease, and if we do, it’s been work for us to get to that point.

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yoga without Yoga: Reflections on posture, practice and prayer

This post is by Neman, one of our yoga teacher trainees. In this post it he reflects on the relationship between asana (yoga postures), philosophy, religion and teaching yoga in the modern world.

Halfway through this inspiring yoga teacher training program, I’m stuck on something that seems to be nothing to pretty much everyone else. When I started, I thought that yoga meant asana – the postures. Wow, was I wrong. Karma, bhakti, jnana… where was asana? Fresh new words (some I didn’t even realize I knew – cool!) were describing much more about yoga to me than I bargained for. Hey, it’s not like I pretended I knew my way around the (yoga) block, but it was fascinating to see how much more there was, and how relatively insignificant downward facing dog is to yoga itself.

The core yogas as described in the Bhagavad Gita – there are many – include work (karma), devotion (bhakti), and knowledge (jnana). But where was the yoga for my core? Not there. The Bhagavad Gita is a primary text in Hindu philosophies and yoga studies. It’s a discussion between Arjuna, a very important prince and conflicted warrior, and Krishna, his chariot driver, who just happens to be, well, the Krishna. Yeah, that one. God. Krishna discusses duty, devotion, destiny, and dharma – but not down dog. References to asana are very limited and do not at all describe what we do in stretchy pants.

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Yoga for Kids: Tips for Creating a Fun and Healthy Practice

Thinking about introducing some yoga to your children, or children in your life? Try some of these simple strategies for a fun and empowering experience. Forget what you’re accustomed to from yoga classes geared for adults! If your kids love yoga, consider signing them up for our upcoming Kids Yoga class, starting Wednesday Oct 8.

Do you ever wish that you had started yoga sooner? Imagine if your practice began when you were a child. Consider how a yoga and meditation practice might have benefited your approach to homework, tests, competitions, parties, and knowing what you need.

Just like adults, children have tight spots too. They’re spending many hours in front of screens, sitting in class, and experiencing growth spurts. They will benefit from exercies that increase range of motion. Yoga can also help children feel more confident and to trust themselves. They may even learn when it feels good to transiton from hyperactivity into feeling calm, and how to enjoy relaxation and stillness.

That being said, put 30 kids in a field and ask them to assume Mountain Pose and quietly breathe laterally into their rib cage – it’s probably not going to happen. Unless you try some of these techniques!

Keep it short

Set an intention to make the experience feel good and be realistic about attention span. If it’s a fun memory, they’ll want to do it again another time. For toddlers, aim for no more than 5-15 minute sessions. Older children may enjoy half an hour or 45 minutes with games and a brief relaxation.

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Playing with Yin and Yang in your Yoga Practice

In this post, QSY teacher Jen shares about incorporating the principles of yin and yang into your practice. Check out her weekly Yin class to learn more, or sign up for her upcoming workshop on Sunday Sept 28 – “Wonderwall: The Ultimate Yoga Prop“.

What is Yin and Yang?

Philosophically, yin is comparative relativity; the idea that without dark there can be no light. We’ve all seen a yin yang symbol, at least in passing.

Looking at this graphic representation, you can see a few things. One is that yang and yin are two pieces of a whole. One cannot exist without the other. Another is that yang contains a piece of yin and vice versa. There is a contrast, and within that contrast you will also find relativity. Surrounded by black, the smaller white circle looks a little more gray. Surrounded by white, the smaller black circle looks a little more stark.

How do Yin and Yang show up in yoga practice?

In practice, when you add just a bit of yin to your yang practice it will most likely feel a little more active. Your muscles will be firing and may resist softening. In reverse, if you add just a bit of yang to your yin, it will feel even more starkly active. Finding the balance is your practice. This will be different for everyone. I have a pretty busy day to day in the summer, what with four kids at home. I also practice a different active sport, so I find my balance in slower yoga practice. In the winter when I am a little more sedentary, behind the computer a lot working on school work, I tend to gravitate a little more towards flow yoga. Finding balance incorporates your whole life. Consider yin as a spectrum of experience (maybe, consider everything that way). If your experience with water has been only hot springs, jumping into a swimming pool will perhaps be a little overwhelming. You might tense up, you might be afraid that you won’t make it. Instead you can ease in, starting at the shallow end and getting a little deeper every time. The best preparation for practicing yin poses is to practice yin poses.

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Stop Worrying About How Long You Can Pay Attention To Your Breath

This post about meditation is by Dave Wellstood, who is currently in our Yoga Teacher Training Program. In this post he shares a simple but very helpful instruction that turned his meditation practice around.

I find my meditation practice to be very rewarding. When I tell people that, they often respond by telling me that they are no good at meditation or that they simply can’t do it. I remember when I felt just like they do and I want to tell you about the small change I made that turned it around for me.

When I first started to meditate, someone told me I should sit quietly and pay attention to my breath. In hindsight that instruction was where things started to go wrong. It gave me completely the wrong idea about what I was supposed to do.

I thought that meditating was like doing tree pose. In tree pose, the goal is to balance on one foot. Success means standing on one foot for longer and being more stable. Sometimes you lose your balance and that’s expected but not desirable. Similarly, I thought that success in meditation meant being able to keep my attention on my breath for longer and longer.

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