Solace

Don’t cross the streams!!!

Solace Massage and Yoga — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:04:33 +0000

So…doing a backbend is like crossing the streams of a proton pack (Ghostbusters reference for those of you that don’t appreciate Bill Murray films as much as I do). What happens when you cross the streams? Egon Spengler said it best…”Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously, and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.” Yup, that was my backbend on Saturday morning. Except life didn’t stop, it opened up & exploded from the inside out. Sounds crazy, right? Well, it was! I was so emotionally overwhelmed I didn’t know if I should cry, yell, scream, kick, throw a fit, punch someone, leave, go home, & crawl into a hole, (which none of that isvery yogic of me) or accept that this is where I’m at & this is my yoga. At first I went with option 1, crying, & a lot of it. I then proceeded to take a mental & emotional holiday for a few hours. I tried to shake it off but no amount of shaking or wiggling was going to bring me back. As difficult as it was, & still is, I’m grateful for this opportunity to break myself down, piece by piece, & build myself up again. Sure I’ve tried to do this before & have been rather successful, but the difference this time will be that I’m going to actually let it go & welcome the change. Life is constantly changing & moving so I’m going to change & move with it. Except, this time I’m going to be me & allow myself the freedom, honesty, & love that I deserve. Heavy, yeah? If someone who’s never done real yoga before read this blog, they more than likely would think I’m talking about a therapy session. This is why yoga is such a beautiful practice, cause its not just stretching & strengthening your body, it’s stretching & strengthening your life as a whole, body, mind, & spirit. If you don’t feel this in your yoga practice, you might want to consider trying a different teacher or studio. We are all so lucky to have Hilltop Yoga in our community. If you have never practiced at Hilltop & have any interest in yoga, that’s the place you need to go. It is truly a place of calmness & life. It is yoga. I am not ready to teach classes yet but I hope that when we do start teaching at Solace people will feel the same about us & our space in the yoga community. I know we will stay true to the integrity of yoga & everything we’ve learned at Hilltop & with the purest intentions, allow that to be the focus of our classes. I’m so excited to keep learning, practicing, growing, deepening into myself, peeling away the nonsense, & start sharing myself & yoga with anyone & everyone that wants to learn. I feel that I’ve found my place in this world. I am home with yoga & massage & more importantly, I am home with myself.

~Shanti

2nd Chakra say what?!

Solace Massage and Yoga — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:34:26 +0000

So I’m a little behind on posting for week 3. Probably because I’m still trying to process it all! I wanted to start by saying how great it is to begin to form bonds with the other yogis going through teacher training. I believe we all came together for a reason. It’s beautiful to watch everyone grow & come into their own practice & self. I have so much respect for everyone going through this life changing, eye opening, ego crushing, mind boggling, soul boosting, yoga bootcamp! We are all so different & so beautiful. This journey is so much more than I could’ve imagined & we’re barely half way! But like I’ve said before, this is really a life long journey so technically we never “finish”.

So Chakra 2 deals with our emotional center, located in the hips. For me, this is a very difficult place to open. It’s worse than trying to open a new jar of pickles! I’ve tried using one of those rubber thingys to get a better grip. Hell, I’ve even tried banging it on the counter to loosen it, but nothing seems to work. However, Virabhadrasana II (warrior 2) has made a pretty good dent in my lid. It hasn’t opened me up but it’s certainly shown me how much work I need to do. I say “need” here because it is crucial to my practice & my growth as a yogi & as a person (is there a difference between yogi & person?) to open up & let go of all the junk & baggage that I carry around with me. It’s exhausting!!! If I’m or anyone really, is ever going to enjoy my pickles then I gotta get that damn lid off! Or just pretend that i don’t like them or hang out with people that HATE pickles! Maybe pickles aren’t the best metaphor here but if I were playing Family Feud & the question was, “name something hard to open?” I think I would’ve gotten the number one answer, so it works for me! If you don’t like pickles, insert a different “food” when you read “pickles”. Anyways, enough with the pickles! My favorite day of this past weekend was Sunday. My expectations for the day were a bit bleak seeing how it started with some gurgles & rumbles going on in my tummy & was running off of very little fuel & sleep. All that physical uncomfortableness went away after a beautiful mediation with Lisa. I typically have a difficult time sitting in meditation but I “got in” that morning! We sang a beautiful mantra that really allowed me to settle in my mind & physical body. Things became very still & very calm, yet I felt so much life. We followed that up with teaching each other & posture adjustments. The 90 minute power class afterwards was nice as well. It was extremely difficult but felt great…when we were done especially. There were a ton of people in class that day, a lot of them were teachers. The energy in the room was powerful even though we were struggling so much. We finished the day off with more teaching & a great discussion on chakras. That weekend I truly felt the pieces of my yoga coming together.

Side note: Obviously, since I’m a week behind in my blog, we’ve already done another week. I find it funny that I end this post by discussing how all the pieces felt like they were coming together. Well…the next blog will be really interesting cause everything fell apart!

Scapula!

Solace Massage and Yoga — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:56:47 +0000

Another weekend done! It was quite a bit different than the previous weekend because we had Doug Swenson (http://www.sadhanayogachi.com), an amazing Ashtanga yogi come for workshops all weekend long! I’m not used to practicing Ashtanga yoga so it was fun to step out of my comfort zone. He brought lots o’ jokes, years of knowledge, and a great energy that put smiles on all of our tired but enthusiastic yoga faces. My favorite discussion was that on diet and nutrition. It’s always nice to meet a fellow vegan and learn more about the raw diet.

Back to the grind on Friday!

First weekend done!!

Solace Massage and Yoga — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:44:50 +0000

I think I’m STILL on a yoga high! I expected intensity, sweat, exhaustion, and fatigue; and guess what? I got all that times ten! It wasn’t just physically demanding. It was mentally & emotionally tough as well. If you’ve ever done yoga before you know what I’m talking about. Sinking into child’s pose or pigeon, finding your Virabhadrasana II, exhaling a big breath of release, settling into a well deserved Savasana, it all brings a level of self awareness & a merging of mind & body unlike any other.

So here’s what we did…Its not like your first day of psych 200. You don’t show up 10 minutes late in your “Forever Lazy” that your Aunt Kathy got you for Christmas. You don’t just go over the syllabus & get out of class early. This is the real deal! I think we all walked in a bit hesitant & feeling uneasy & nervous about what’s to come. We started with 90 minutes of Power followed by 20 minutes of seated meditation and finished up our physical practice with 90 minutes of Advanced Power. Scared yet? Duh! Oh, & just so you know, that many people doing yoga in a toasty warm room, sweat covering every square inch of skin, practicing for that many hours creates a funk only a mother could love 😲 or a group of crazy yoga students! We finished out the day in soaking wet clothes, sitting on our soaking wet mats, reflecting on our practice & discussion. I was so exhausted & hungry when I got home. I was completely okay with stripping down buck naked, throwing down a towel, having a smelly naked picnic on my living room floor, & passing out wherever my head landed, but…I thought that would be kind of yucky & opted for a shower, some gram crackers with peanut butter, grapes, a jug of water, & my comfy bed. So the next morning was bitter sweet. I’ve never been so excited & so pissy at the same time. Getting-out-of-bed-asana was the toughest posture yet! Okay, so obviously I’m being a tad dramatic. Of course I was excited to start another day of training. This day started with a few breathing exercises, chanting, posture dissection, a 90 minute Power class, & a much needed lunch. I’m not going to go over everything else we did for the remainder of Saturday & Sunday but lets just say we did a lot! Every piece just as important as the next. The connections & cohesiveness of yoga is so comforting. I love that there isn’t a goal or finish line. It’s more so a life long journey of enlightenment, a coming together or a melding of energy, mind, body, & spirit, that was always there but just needs to be uncovered & cultivated.

So the weekend was over. Monday came & I was wicked sore but I was ready for more. Good thing we have homework galore! (hehe, I’m rhyming!) Lauren & I did a shorter practice at work Monday morning. That’s another beautiful thing about yoga, you can practice it here or there, you can practice yoga anywhere! You can practice with a mouse, you can practice in a house! You can practice on a boat, you can practice with a goat! I do love yoga here & there, I do love yoga anywhere! Ha! Thanks Dr. Seuss!

Hot Power on Thursday then we’re back at it on Friday with Doug Swenson!!

Yoga Journey

Solace Massage and Yoga — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:59:08 +0000

Previously we offered yoga classes here at Solace but unfortunately our yoga instructor moved but…

We will be offering classes again starting in the beginning of March!!

The other owner, Lauren, and myself will be embarking on an amazing yoga journey! We are studying with the ever so inspiring Hilaire Lockwood at Hilltop Yoga. It begins this Friday, January 6th, and concludes on March 4th. Technically our yoga journey will never conclude for it is a life long commitment to personal growth, physical, mental, and emotional health, and change. We are both extremely excited and can not wait to begin sharing yoga with our amazing clients at Solace. In addition to sharing our yoga with our clients, we want to share our entire experience through our blog. So be looking for our blogs about our time in training!

The preparation for the training has been rather intense already. Doing 4-5 yoga classes a week, working full time (which we ran a Groupon special and sold 1,250 coupons…that’s a blog that we didn’t get to yet and I’m sure you can guess why) , hiring 3 more independent contractors, and trying to maintain a shred of a personal life has been a challenge in time management and prioritizing, but we’re getting through it and making it work. On a more positive note, our yoga practice has become so much stronger and inspiring already! The books we are required to read are amazing! My passion for yoga grows everyday and I feel such an amazing energy surrounding my practice. It’s such a strange feeling knowing that your life is going to change so much so soon, it’s like having a baby! At least my yoga practice won’t keep me up all night and poop on me.

Kid’s Yoga

Solace Massage and Yoga — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 18:31:16 +0000

We are so excited to begin our Kid’s Yoga classes! Our mission at Solace has always been to make the healing power of massage more available to everyone. Now special yoga classes created especially for kids are available too! We’ve been working very, very hard to get everything set up and make really exciting and really fun lesson plans for the kids. We hope you will be constantly amazed at the things your children are capable of!

The physical and mental benefits of yoga for everyone are tremendous, and are really perfect for helping children grow and find their best selves! It helps them get a hold of themselves and be in control of their active lives (and overactive minds), helps them find their own personal beauty and become comfortable in their bodies, and it helps them become better little people Yoga is the perfect way to cross train for young athletes, helping to balance their strength with flexibility (and vice versa) as well as the strength in different parts of their bodies. It rebuilds self-esteem and builds confidence. Yoga creates a calm and controlled mind, reduces stress, and helps children cope with their every day lives.

We’re really striving to create a non-competitive, comfortable environment where the kids feel comfortable being themselves and learning and growing together. Just a sneak peek: we’ve got lots of nature and animal poses planned, themed adventure “trips” to different parts of the world, lots of learning about our bodies, group and partner poses, and so much more!

Let’s get really specific and talk about the benefits of yoga for kids:

-Improves motor coordination, fine tuning both gross and fine motor coordination

-Increases heart rate and helps expand lung capacity and heart strength

-Helps relax and maintain a healthy nervous system

-Helps active and high energy children relax

-Aids in digestion and elimination

-Massages and tones internal organs to keep them active, health, and flushed with nutrients (which all keep them functioning properly)

-Improves hand/eye coordination

-Gives kids power and control over their bodies, and pride in their progress and personal strength

-Adds strength to flexibility, and flexibility to strength

-Promotes better and more restful sleep, eases insomnia and bad dreams, and reduces the amount of time it takes to fall asleep

-Improves stamina and energy levels

-Improves balance and stability

-Elongates the spine and keeps it flexible

-Improves posture and increases awareness

Persistence is key!

Solace Massage and Yoga — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:24:19 +0000

I finally did it! Well actually I did it in September, but I successfully opened my own business, Solace Therapeutic Massage. Overall the experience was long, arduous, and extremely educational. The idea started when I was doing massage as an independent contractor for a place here in town and realized that I could be better and do better. I immediately started working on my business plan and brainstorming ideas. Two other therapists were ready to venture out on their own as well. We decided to share the overhead but stay individual. At this point, I also started my search for the “perfect” location and space. Piece by piece I began to get everything in order, but occasionally a piece would fall off and I’d have to glue it back together. One of the therapists backing out and a location falling through were the biggest setbacks. Once everything seemed to be in order, I faced the biggest setback, ZONING! In Meridian Township, massage therapy was only allowed in one commercial district and the property that I wanted was in a professional/office district. So to make a long story short, I took on the board of Meridian Township. I enlisted the help of other local massage therapists, family, friends, and clients to contact the board and urge them to view massage as the health field that it is. I attended three board meetings and reached out personally to many of the members on the board. Finally on September 1st of 2009, Meridian Township welcomed Solace Therapeutic Massage to their great community! Total, the whole venture took about five months for it to all come together. While decorating, painting, replacing the sign, avoiding the angry killer bees in the front yard, moving in furniture, and setting up, I had a lot of marketing to get started on. The first thing I did and probably the most important marketing tool is my website, http://www.solacetherapeuticmassage.com. It’s so exciting to see how many people have looked at my website and even more so when they call and schedule an appointment! I also created a page on facebook, twitter, and myspace. I have a lot of marketing that I’ve done already and am currently working on, which is kind of fun. My favorite and one of the most successful ideas was to hang fliers in the MSU library bathrooms 2 weeks before finals. The best part was when clients were bashful about telling us where they had heard about us. Usually taking a number off a bathroom wall is considered indecent. Overall, we are doing great and I’m so happy with what I’ve created. We offer a variety of massage modalities, including couples massage all at a great price in a warm, welcoming environment. My passion for massage and health grows every day and now I have a business to harvest it in.

Hello world!

Solace Massage and Yoga — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 02:10:32 +0000

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