om body yoga classes om blog

4.28.09

Om shanthi - As many of my students know, I'm pregnant. My husband, son, and I are thrilled. Normally, I would feel comfortable and safe teaching in my first trimester. Unfortunately, there is a wrinkle. Once again, I have a condition called hyperemesis gravindarum - had it with my prior pregnancy and although it's not dangerous, it does mean that I need to take a brief break from teaching. My VCM classes are canceled, my Mansion House classes have wonderful subs; Josh Montoya, Amanda Cohen, and Sian Williams, and my senior class will have various subs until I'm on my feet again. My love to all my students. Keep practicing and I'll see you soon.

3.13.09

I'll be subbing for many of Megan Grennan's classes over the coming weeks. This weekend - Saturday 3/14 - 12:30 Core Yoga at Yoga Barn, and Sunday 3/15 - 10:30 Yoga & Meditation at Yoga Barn. Om Shanthi

2.6.09

I'm subbing for Myron Sunday 8:45 AM 2/9 at the Mansion House and then teaching a Vinyasa Flow "retreat" at VCM Yoga at 10:30 AM.

1.15.09

I'm off to the Yoga Journal Conference in San Francisco. All classes will proceed as usual - thanks to my wonderful subs - Josh Montoya and Amanda Harmony Cohen. I hope everyone will enjoy practicing with these talented and caring teachers. Hopefully, I'll bring back some new tricks and sunshine! Om shanthi.
Yoga Journal Conference

12.9.08

Words from my teacher - Swami Satchidananda - "Some religious leaders seem to tell people that there is only one way and that their understanding is the only correct one. That cannot be avoided as long, as people use their egos to interpret the teachings of the great prophets, sages and saints. Actually, there is no division among the prophets who gave us all the religions. The people who interpret their scriptures have created the division. The world is getting tired of these divisions. We are slowly coming together by making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. In fact, all the religions tell us to clean up the ego in this way, so that we can live together as spiritual brothers and sisters."

12.3.08

New classes at the Mansion House! Saturdays at 8 AM Vinyasa - mixed levels. Saturdays at 9:30 AM - prenatal yoga. Get a punch card and use the pool after class - swimming is a wonderful compliment to yoga, especially for expectant moms!

11.10.08

Interested in my grand master plan with the talented trainer Nisa Counter - featured in O magazine? More will be revealed .... Om shanthi.

11.10.08

Kundalini! All I can say is wow. Actually, I could say so much more ... I'm pretty sore. It was intense. It's not for everyone. It's hard to get up at 4:44 AM. I love eating yummy vegeterian food that someone else cooked for me - what a blessing! It was fun to make monkey sounds in a room full of adults - reminded me of drama school. Stacey Linden, dear friend, blogging goddess, yoga teacher, and mother of dancing fiend Eli, accompanied me on the crazy Kripalu kundalini adventure. Maybe the best part? Awesome drumming at the evening concert.

11.6.08

Prenatal Yoga will be cancelled for Saturday 11/8 while I'm at Kripalu learning some new yoga techniques and getting inspired from master teacher Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa.

11.6.08

Love, Om, & Obama Let's all visualize change for this country - new, clean, energy, and technologies, healthcare for all, peace, alliances, and diplomacy, financial well being, and a more balanced supreme court.

10.27.08

AFTERSCHOOL YOGA! I'll be offering a special class with a discounted rate for all Island teachers on Monday and Wednesday afternoons starting November 1st. Teachers from any school can pre-register by calling 508-693-5047 or signing up at the front desk of the Charter School or West Tisbury elementary. Pre-registration entitles you to any 4 afterschool classes from Nov 1st - Dec 1st for $40 ($10 a class). Drop-in rate will be $12. Most MV yoga classes are either $15 per class or require a gym membership. I'll need at least 12 teachers pre-registred to be able to offer these classes - so please spread the word. The classes will be held at Santosha, in the basement of Vineyard Complementary Medicine, 419 State Road, West Tisbury, next door to up-Island Cronigs and Fella's Deli. Who better than our hard-working local teachers to receive the physical and mental benefits of yoga; stretching tight muscles, relieving stress, increased mental clarity, better sleep, strengthening core and back muscles. The class will be appropriate for all levels. Thanks to Megan Grennan for helping to make these classes happen!
Love & Om

9.2.08

Yoga for the fall

As summer winds down and we head toward fall I wanted to say thank you and send a big loving OM to all the students who helped make my first season teaching on MV so lovely.

I’ll be teaching again this fall - at Howes House (the senior center in West Tisbury) mondays at 12 noon, I’ll continue to teach my Level 1 restorative class at Santosha (419 State Road, basement of Vineyard Complementary Medicine) but switch the time to 7:15 PM, and I’ll continue to offer Prenatal Yoga at Santosha on Saturdays - switching to an AM time slot - more on that. I’ll be offering some specials for the fall as well and teaching yoga to Nisa Counter’s very popular fitness bootcamp at the Mansion House.

Om shanthi El

4.1.08

"Doing prenatal and post-partum yoga with El gave me a wonderful "sacred time" to restore my sense of body-balance, and helped me find a great community of moms and moms-to-be in the process."
Shawn Selby, RN and Mother of one

2.1.08

El gives the perfect prenatal class. Her classes are unique in that she invites you to "check-in" at the start of class. Because we took asecond to share I felt I didn't have to do 100 poses to relieve myselfof mental preoccupations. Another gem she offered was a "partnerclass." My husband and I benefited from her massage tips andafterwards he was the most relaxed I'd ever seen him. El is clearlymore knowledgeable and studied than the average yogateacher--especially in the areas of anatomy and pre and post natalhealth. She would come to class armed with much appreciated handouts,books and resource guides.
Kristen Schultz Dollard, editorial director, www.iyogalife.com and
author of Calm Mom: How to Use Yoga to Get Your Mind and Body Back

1.1.08

"After studying with El, I felt more than ready to enter a teacher training program. I had been doing yoga for almost ten years; and after a year and a half with El my practice reached a higher and deeper level."
Stacey Linden, Yoga Teacher (and blogging goddess!)

11.1.07

During what can be a very stressful, scary time, it was great to have someone there to act as your own private healthcare advocate. El was there to explain everything to us, make sure we knew our choices in the situation, and act as a liaison so that we didn’t need to deal with the hospital staff when we didn’t feel like it.
Scott, father of two
NY, NY

10.1.07

El somehow knew when to offer total hands-on, down-in-the-trenches support, and when to step back to give my husband and I a more private or intimate moment. It’s as if reading exactly what was needed at each moment of this highly charged situation just came intuitively to her.
Nancy, mother of two
NY, NY

9.10.07

My labor progressed very quickly. When I found myself having intense contractions as soon as I got to the hospital I felt a little scared. But Elissa was my doula. She showed up and helped me take control of the situation. She got right up in my face (in the best way possible), helped me to focus and coached me to moan deeply through each contraction-- which is what got me through. Her calm confidence was exactly what I needed. She seemed to know just what kind of touch would feel good at each moment-- from touching my lips with ice water to fantastic foot massages. And she has a great respect for the awesomeness of birth. She made me feel like a rock star.
Nicole LaRosa, Freelance writer and Mother to Theo, born 9/5/07

9.1.07

Thank goodness for El’s prenatal yoga class during my second pregnancy! With a 2-year old son already, every day was so hectic and full—it felt like yoga class was the only time all week that I could truly relax and focus on the new, little baby growing inside of me. I looked forward to class each week as a treat to myself and a special time to bond with my new baby.
Nancy, mother of two
NY, NY

8.1.07

The best way to describe El is to say she loves life in an incredibly real way. Some yoga teachers have an unreal aura of always being totally zen and in control which can feel impossible to attain as a regular person with a job, or family and normal commitments. They seem to expect perfection in themselves and this gets projected onto you as a student.

I think El is at peace, more than anyone else I know. She has gotten there her own way - through being honest and having a brilliant sense of humor. She doesn't strive to be a perfect person but to be a good person who makes mistakes, and learns from them. She doesn't want you to become perfect at yoga, she wants you to stretch your practice, believe in your ability to improve, but also to see the beauty in the little steps, to be compassionate with yourself, and to allow a sense of humor about your practice.

The main thing about El as a teacher is that she always leaves you feeling good about yourself, with new understanding into who you are and why you are who you are. I think a teacher like that doesn't come along every day.
Dr. Sarah Sullivan, Kings College, UK

6.1.07

Yoga develops every aspect of an individual. Each person is a mixture of physical, vital, sensual, mental, moral, intellectual and intuitional sides. Just as a house has four walls, a roof, windows and a door, an individual is also put together of many sides. Development of the individual, or perfection of the individual, means perfection of all these different aspects.
Swami Satchidananda

5.1.07

Prenatal yoga with El was the most important factor in making the birth of our son Jonah easier and more joyful than our first delivery. I took prenatal yoga through out my pregnancy and then my husband and I took her yoga for labor and delivery class when we got closer to our due date. I recommend her very highly.
Lesly de Groot, mother of two children, one cat, and a husband

5.1.07

For the birth of my first child, I had tried someone's advice of "just screaming it out," and that was a mistake that I will never forget. But when I was pregnant for the second time, I met Elissa Lash, and she showed me another way. El's prenatal yoga class was wonderful. In eight weekly sessions, she taught me fundamental breathing and vocalization techniques that I was actually able to use during my natural childbirth experience. I felt calm and in control, from the first signs of early labor to the drug-free delivery in a birthing center bed. Thank you, Elissa!
Casey Rafter

4.1.07

My wife took Elissa Lash's yoga class when she was pregnant. When she told me that I was supposed to come on the last day, with all of the dads-to-be, I wanted to run the other way! But I went, and I've never felt so close to my wife as when we did the birthing partner poses with everybody else. Then, when she was in labor, and we did the poses during her contractions, and I pressed where El had taught me, and we did the breathing like we had learned…it was the best part of the birth.
Bryan Clark

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