by Cynthia Bates

A Women’s Body has Cycles

A women’s class is designed to meet the specific needs of women through their monthly moon cycle as well as through all stages of life.

• Support a Healthy Menstrual Cycle: Increased energy, less PMS and other symptoms, boosted immunity
• Fertility/Conception & Pregnancy: Creating a physical, emotional, psychological container for new life, managing nausea, heartburn, blood pressure, energy levels, boosting nourishment to the fetus/baby
• Peri-Menopause Transformation: managing hormonal fluxes, heat flashes, inflammation, mood swings, joint pain
• Bolster the Wisdom Years: maintain bone mass and sensitivity/structure of the feet to avoid falls and breaks, manage pain from conditions that come with age, avoid memory loss and dementia

Women Need Connection

The word yoga in Sanskrit can be translated to mean connection or union. Women are designed to work together collaboratively; to share work loads and emotional loads. When we don’t have this outlet, we can feel isolated, alone and depressed. A women’s yoga class gives women the freedom to express themselves, to share and to listen, to receive and to give. Through this practice, we become better able to support our lives outside the yoga room.

Women are Designed to Accommodate

Our physical bodies are designed to accommodate a whole new life form! And, emotionally we are more open to change since our bodies are always going through a monthly cycle. A women’s yoga class is offered to accommodate ALL WOMEN regardless of their physical size, age, culture, ethnicity or sexual preference.

 

Women’s Essentials

Thursdays@ 4-5:30pm

All levels welcome

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My story….Why I’m teaching Women’s Yoga

This entry has been excerpted. To read the full story on Cynthia Bates’ website, click here. 

I am not confused, that I am a privileged white woman who has grown up in an era and a country where I rarely felt held back as a woman. Growing up as a child in a progressive family and community, I competed physically in sports with boys and never hesitated to raise my hand in class to ask a question. But, I was educated by my mom that this was not always the case. My great grandmother, whom I met as a young child, was a suffragette and one of the first women delegates to the national conventions after women received the vote. My mom’s family considered higher education simply a means for a woman to get her MRS. degree. But in the space of two generations, I was a girl who rarely felt held back and always considered myself to be equal in value to boys. I worry that young women today, under 25, don’t really understand the profound change that has taken place in our country and much of the world in a very short time. Changes that could still easily be reversed.

And yet, I remember distinctly the change that came about for myself around adolescence. I noticed that it wasn’t “attractive” for a women to appear physically strong and intelligent so I began to tone that side of myself down. Even so, I had my share of gossip going around about how I was prideful or stuck-up or cold (hmmm, does this sound anything like a current women candidate for president?) Even now as a 46-year-old woman, it doesn’t feel completely safe to fully express my authentic self as a woman. Even with all the opportunities I’ve had in life. Even with all the support I’ve had to succeed in life. Imagine a woman who didn’t have all my opportunities, who could barely support herself and her family financially and had NO emotional support to express her self. Thanks to my parents, I have never taken my situation for granted and always had a deep compassion and desire to help other girls and women.

I will not for a moment pretend that I truly understand the plight of a woman who is being held down or held back due to her color, ethnicity, or economic situation (which are most definitely interrelated), but I will say that never for a moment have I been confused about this problem. To me, my status as privileged gives me the duty and honor of using my power to help others. Obama said it so eloquently in a speech one time. He said, when a door has been opened for you, you hold it open for those who are behind you.

I may not completely understand it because of where I come from, but I do respect that there are women who come from cultures where it is taboo to be in a room with men they aren’t related to. In this case as well, I would like to provide a place for them to feel comfortable doing yoga. In fact, Geeta Iyengar started a women’s class in Pune, India for this reason, because she heard from many women that they didn’t feel comfortable coming to a class with men and putting on yoga shorts or pants. Geetaji didn’t think they could properly practice yoga asana in a sari with all that fabric draping around. So, she created a women’s class.

And so, I created the women’s class at Adeline Yoga Studio. It is an experiment. Some weeks we simply do an invigorating practice together. Other weeks, we have pregnant women who join and are being supported in doing a practice for the new life they are gestating. Another time, we address emotional upheavals and hormonal imbalances. Sometimes, women come when their on their period because they don’t want to feel pointed out in a regular class. These are all good reasons to have a women’s class, don’t you think?

My vision, it for this class to be a sacred container for women to practice in. A place where women can come and be accommodated, included, supported and empowered. I hope that you will join us some week…..

 

Women’s Essentials

Thursdays@ 4-5:30pm

All levels welcome

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Yoga a Gem for Women by Geeta Iyengar

Guide to a Women’s Yoga Practice of Yoga by Geeta Iyengar as compiled by Lois Steinberg