Dear Friends,


Happy Thanksgiving Week! I am making a gratitude list this week in my daily journal when I have my quiet time. So many people have made a difference in my life, and through God's continual work in me, I am confident that I am on the path He has chosen for my life.



Have you made your list of giving thanks? I love hearing back from you so e-mail me yours! It really encourages me when I have an e-mail from you. (:



We have some changes in our schedule this week due to only two days of school teaching. Please note the following changes:**

Today, Monday, we will sun salute for 45 minutes to tone and strengthen our entire body at 5:30 p.m. **

Tomorrow, Tuesday, our studio offers two classes. One is an early bird class at 5:30 a.m. for Lower Body Strength and Flexibility, and the other is an evening class at 6:40. Due to the holidays, this will be our last evening class for the week!

Wednesday morning, I am off from teaching at Barnes Elementary, so our class will be at 10:00 a.m. This is a Modified Astanga Class and excellent for alignment, twisting, and long holds as we pose, counter-pose our way through standing and seated postures.

Thanksgiving morning is our Turkey Trot at 8:00 for 45 minutes and our free yoga class at 9:00 for one hour. You will get an excellent cardio workout and then flexibility class for runners and walkers afterwards. We will be finished by 10:00 and ready for the holiday festivities.

Black Friday, November 25th, our evening class moves to the morning at 9:00 a.m. for a Vinyasa Flow Class with fun, challenging postures. I call it our post-big dinner calorie burn, and it will be similar to our regular Thursday evening classes for weight-loss.

Saturday, we offer two classes. Our first class is Yoga for Athletes at 7:00 a.m. and our second class is at 9:00 a.m. where we will continue working on the balancing postures that we didn't get to finish yesterday in our Sunday class. At 9:00 ** we will add in some Pilates with a stability ball, so bring your ball or borrow one from me if you need to do so. This is a Beginner's Class, but we will be strengthening our core!

On Sunday, our afternoon Pose Specific Class, at 2:30 p.m., will explore standing postures that tone and strengthen our the midline of our body as we work on our strong legs, open heart, and calm mind.

** Please reserve all mat spaces this week due to 15 being our limit for class. Thank you!



Happy Thanksgiving! Give thanks today to someone who has encouraged you to work out, become healthy, and more fit!



"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?" ~William A. Ward



Namaste,

Jeanne K.



P.S. Notice changes in classes on Monday afternoon/evenings and Saturday mornings, Monday - Toning and Strengthening Sun Salutations Class and Saturday - Yoga + Pilates = Yogilates for Beginners. The Saturday class has changed from Beginner's Mind to adding the stability ball to improve our balance and toning, and the Monday class has moved from Rock and Roll Yoga to Toning and Strengthening Sun Salutes. Next summer starting in June through August of 2013, our schedule will take a big change as I have more daytime and keep my evening classes since I am headed back to NSU as a college student for adding a Reading Specialist's certificate to my already completed master's degree and taking a sabbatical year from school teaching.

I am thankful for this adventure in faith as I believe that I will grow spiritually, mentally, and physically while going back to school and having my yoga studio as my only source of income personally.



Jeanne K. Doss

Tranquility Yoga Studio Owner and Instructor

Registered Yoga Teacher - Yoga Alliance

Personal Certified Trainer - Cooper Institute

Certified Pilates, Aerobics Instructor

Zumba Training

For more information, please call 918-371-3841.

Gratitude is the music of the heart, when its chords are swept by the breeze of kindness. ~Author Unknown

The Big Adventure of Faith

Have you been trying to push through difficulties on your own? I believe it is a tendency for all of us as human beings to solve the situations, issues, and scenarios in our lives with our brains on our own. Many men and women know that God is their strength, but tapping into that strength often creates a war in our thought life. For example: we have a skirmish in our thought realm as our mind thinks different thoughts between good and bad, happy and sad, worried and peaceful, weak and strong, and so on. In the Bible, it is often referred to as a double mind; in yoga it has been called the "monkey mind." Scientists often say that 80% of what we think today, we thought yesterday. I personally just refer to it as "the battle of the mind." So, the tendency is for our thoughts to go round and round almost like trying to climb a mountain, but making a trench from retracing our steps as we rethink the same drama. We don't move very far up the mountain, but we sure spend a lot of time traveling.

The theme of several of our final relaxation moments lately has been faith. Many people already know that I pray before our classes that the words that I say will be helpful, clear, concise, and that everyone who leaves our yoga practice will have experienced peace and feel rested/rejuvenated. My goal since the very beginning of teaching yoga was to provide an excellent workout, teach breathing techniques to help with calming and engaging the parasympathetic nervous system, and to inspire the wonderful people in my classes to practice yoga off the mat as well as on. You might think of practice as just the physical postures, but my concept of yoga is living a peaceful life even through a battle in our mind, a difficult situation with a friend, co-worker, boss, relative, or significant other. Tranquility really isn't peace only when you are alone; it is lived out in the real world through real life events.

David said, "My God, my Rock, in Him will I take refuge, my Shield and the Horn of my salvation, my Stronghold and My Refuge, my Savior. God is my strong Fortress." I know that I need that strength to tap into through my everyday events. I try to store it up like a squirrel storing nuts for the winter, but I "leak" it out during the day. My solution is to regather my strength to stay peaceful and out of the monkeymindedness by relying on God's strength. I receive this strength by believing His promise and asking for God's help to do whatever is before me. God's strength is readily available to us, and we receive it through believing the promise He has made to give it to us. What is the promise? "Let the weak say, I am strong (like a Warrior)!" Joel 3:10

Through trusting God in my circumstances of my big adventure of taking a year off school to return to NSU and become a reading specialist. Through trusting God that He will be our Jehovah Jireh and provide our financial needs through the yoga studio despite no paycheck from school teaching, I hope to become one of the men and women who knows that God is my strength and thus becomes a living example to encourage others to trust in God's strength. Therefore, my mantra or meditation is, "I am strong! God is my strength." I receive that strength deep within me to believe by faith that no matter what is happening on the outside; God is in control on the inside.

Each person who walks through the door to experience yoga with us I pray for so that he or she, too, will experience that faith in God's strength and find that peace that passes all human understanding. All of our battles vary. Some may have physical challenges where they need healing or restoration. Others may have work/family situations or emotional issues. But, all of us are on the journey to let go and let God be our inner sanctuary, our fortress, our shield, and the refuge that we run to through the stresses of everyday life.

David also said, "For by You I run through a troop; by my God I leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried. He is a shield to all those who trust and take refuge in Him...He makes my feet like the hinds' feet firm and able. He sets me secure and confident upon the heights of the mountain."

All we need to say is "Yes, I need Your help." No condemnation, no arrows of punishment, no guilt. Just, "Help!" And He is there right where we need Him to be.
So, climb that mountain along with me. Let us let go our trench of doubting and wavering that goes with the monkey mind, and move up! This is our great adventure!

T.I.M.E. + 1

T.I.M.E. = Total Improvement Made Easy with + 1 yoga classes per week!
Read what the experts say:
"Yoga is amazing—even if you only practice for one hour a week. However, If you can do more than that, you will certainly experience more benefits. I suggest starting with two or three times a week, for an hour or an hour and a half each time. If you can only do 20 minutes per session, that's fine too. Don't let time constraints or unrealistic goals be an obstacle—do what you can and don't worry about it. You will likely find that after awhile your desire to practice expands naturally, and you will find yourself doing more and more." Cyndi Lee, Yoga Instructor and Author

"If you want to reap the benefits that yoga provides, you'll have to do it consistently. A once-a-month yoga workout may relieve some stress, but for benefits like increased flexibility and stamina, you should aim to practice yoga three or four times a week. It generally takes about 4 to 6 weeks of regular exercise at least 3 days a week for your body to begin to release the endorphins that make exercise such an uplifting experience." Pascale Kavanagh, Yoga Instructor and Author of Teens Forum

"As with any form of exercise and for optimal benefits, two to three times a week is recommended. With a regular weekly yoga practice, your body will begin to form a kinesthetic memory which will easily guide you into the postures, help promote continual improved overall alignment, and help attain full integrity of the postures. Yoga can be practiced daily or incorporated with any type cardiovascular regimen." National Academy of Sports Medicine

So, friends, there you have it! Yoga does a body good, and it also benefits your mind and heart! The wonderful thing that I have learned from my study and practice is that when I do yoga more often, my body seems to crave it. Then I see that I have become more flexible, I am stronger, and overall, I have a happier, calmer sense of well-being.
*****
This morning, Wednesday, we have a 5:30 a.m. Power Yoga Class with the theme of twisting to increase the flexibility of the spine and strength of the core. I also do private trainings on Wednesday afternoon, and we can schedule one at 4:00 - 5:00 on another day if you wish.

Tomorrow, Thursday, November 3rd, Tranquility Yoga offers two classes. One at 5:30 a.m. and another at 6:40 p.m. These yoga practices encourage weight loss by adding in some cardio intensity along with balancing, core strengthening, and muscle toning.

Friday, November 4th, we have our modified Astanga yoga class at 5:30 p.m. Anyone can do the Astanga yoga which is considered Yoga Chitkitsa or yoga therapy. It works on the theme of pose and counter-pose. Some people may want to modify especially during the ten Sun Salutations.

Saturday, November 5th, yes, we have class! Thank you for your patient understanding about last week's Tulsa Run special event. One yogini went with me, and we had a great race-walk! This Saturday our yoga classes include the early bird power house with 7:00 a.m. and beginner's mind class at 9:00 a.m. In between we have a coffee or tea time for community building. At 7:00 a.m. we will be working on balancing and at 9:00 a.m. we will be learning more about spine flexibility with movements to encourage a healthy back.

Sunday afternoon, 2:30 p.m. is our regular Pose Specific Yoga where we practice 5 - 7 poses without the vinyasa flow or continual movement between postures. This coming Sunday our class will be a Warrior Class! Don't forget that Daily Savings Time is off, but we are on!

Next Monday, November 7th, we will enjoy our Rock and Roll Yoga at 5:30 - 6:15. 45 minutes of fast moving sun salute fun!

Tuesday morning at 5:30 a.m. and 6:40 p.m. we will be back to our regular lower body flexibility improvement class.
*****
So, if you are a new beginner, I recommend Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m., Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m., and Tuesday at 5:30 a.m. or 6:40 p.m. We go a little slower, more attention to detail, less flowing movements.
If you want a great workout, where you really build body heat and get your heart rate higher, I would suggest the morning classes, Thursday evening, Friday afternoon/evening, Saturday early morning, and Monday afternoon/evening. If you want more attention and detail, I would recommend scheduling a small group session with 2 - 4 or other people or a private training. However, beginners can always modify in the more difficult classes, and intermediates can always ramp up the intensity in the harder classes.

Bottom line, I will always tell you...the more you practice yoga, the easier it gets; the easier it gets, the more you like it. The more you like it, the more often you will want to practice. Woody Allen says that success is 80% just showing up. Pattabhi Jois said, "Yoga is 99% practice and 1% talent." Nike says, "Just Do It!"
Jeanne Kay says, "Getting on the mat is the hardest part. Just come to class, and I know you will be glad you did."
*****
Future yoga events:
November 8: Our third anniversary celebration at Tranquility Yoga in Owasso! Thanks to Nancy and Cheryl for asking me to start this great adventure back in 2008!
November 11, 12, 13: Yoga Workshop at Inner Peace in Tulsa
November 12: Yoga Workshop at Tulsa Yoga Therapy in Tulsa
November 18: Community Building Dinner at Tranquility Yoga in Owasso at 6:45 p.m. MMMmmm. Homemade Angel Biscuits and Stew night!
November 24: Thanksgiving Day free class at 9:00 a.m. Donations for the John 3:16 Mission. Turkey Trot at 8:00 a.m. Walk/run for 45 minutes or not! (: You can just come for coffee with Brian and wait for our yoga stretch!
*****
Have a great November day! Remember you are valued and cared about at our home. We want you to be part of our yoga family!
Namaste'
Jeanne