December 2021 Newsletter

The Holidays are upon us and I imagine you are as busy as ever, if not busier!  I wish each of you a Happy Holiday Season! 

This is frequently the “wish” received, but does it happen?  What does “happiness” mean to you?  As I consider these questions, I first think about what makes me happy.  I was recently reading a book by Jack Kornfield (No Time Like the Present) which said that happiness comes from external things – think of flowers, pets, friends.  It is also a mind set to notice and be “in the moment”.  Contentment and Joy come from inside of us and are highly influenced by your mindset.

As I think of activities over the next month, I’m considering what makes me happy and using this list to guide me as I move through me days and choose how I spend my time.  Here is a short list I came up with:

• Eating healthy and tasty food – I am happy when food tastes good and even happier when I feel good after eating.
• Getting enough good sleep – I have more energy and can maintain a more positive mood with consistent good sleep.
• Spend time “moving my body” every day. It feels good and generates “happiness” hormones 😊
• Time spent with family and friends
• Comfortable surroundings – my home, is more comfortable when it is clean and orderly with items kept neatly in their place.

Hmmmm….  I put my list in a priority order and noticed something interesting!  My mantra for the holiday season – “Take care of myself and enjoy time with others – don’t worry about housework that goes further than the basics.”

I encourage you to consider these questions.  Do a short analysis and then ask yourself what is the most important one or two things to do each day. 

Please let me know what you learn 😊

News and Notes:

For students local to Bloomington/Normal, Illinois; I will not be teaching at ARC in December or January.  Feedback I received from students indicated a preference of practicing over Zoom until the prevalence of COVID subsides and the mask requirement is lifted.  I will continue to update this status each month.

A change to procedure supported by feedback, is that I will open classes 10 minutes before start time, instead of the current 15 minutes before.  This change will begin in December.  Gentle Yoga classes will be opened at 8:35 am CST and start at 8:45 am CST.  Chair Yoga classes will open at 8:50 am CST and start at 9 am CST.

The November and December class schedules are now on the website.  -> Events for December 2021 – Yoga with Ada (yogawithada1.com) and Events for January 2022 – Yoga with Ada (yogawithada1.com)   Please be sure to register for classes in order to fully use your subscription.  If you would like to take more classes than covered by your subscription, you can log out of your account and purchase as many single classes as you would like.

I will be scheduling a Meditation workshop in February, so please stay-tuned for the dates and time.

Yoga Nidra will not be scheduled at this time due to lack of interest from those who responded to the survey question.

Please look for the survey at the end of this newsletter and respond via email.  If you responded last month, thank you!  If you weren’t able to respond, it’s not too late to give input on upcoming schedule changes! 

If you are looking for a holiday/birthday/anniversary gift idea for a special someone, maybe a yoga class with Ada is a perfect choice!  Here are the steps you can take:

1. Go to YogawithAda1.com
2. If you have a subscription, go to your account and Logout before proceeding to #3.  Those without a subscription can go straight to #3.
3. Go to the “Class Schedule” and purchase the class or classes, using your own email address and credit card.
4. Forward the confirmation email to the gift recipient along with your personal greeting.  Please CC me at YogawithAda1@gmail.com, and I will add them to the class roster and know to expect them.

December Survey:

Please “reply” to this email, answering these survey questions:

1. Would you be interested/consider changing Chair Yoga or Gentle Yoga classes to a different day and/or time?
   1. Change Chair Yoga (currently taught on Tuesday and Thursday at 9am CST) – Yes/No
      1. Which of the following Days would work for you? (Please indicate all that work) -Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
      2. Which of the following times would work for you? (Please indicate all that work) – 9am CST, 10am CST
   2. Change Gentle Yoga (currently taught on Monday and Saturday at 8:45am CST) – Yes/No
      1. Which of the following Days would work for you? (Please indicate all that work) – Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
      2. Which of the following times would work for you? (Please indicate all that work) – 8:45am CST, 10:15am CST
   3. I am planning to review and “clean-up/delete” old videos. The sound problem we experienced for a while has been corrected, and my teaching continues to evolve.  If there are videos you especially like, please let me know the date and type of class for the video so that I don’t remove one of your favorites.  I plan to begin this work during the Christmas holiday.

As always, please let me hear from you!  Your feedback and suggestions continue to inspire the additions and changes to my teaching and website.

Have a Blessed and Happy Holiday,

Ada