Transitions

A time has come in my life that I need to make a transition. Transitions are often scary, exciting and calming all at the same time. The time has come for me to take a step back from owning a yoga studio and focus on family. For the past three years, I have enjoyed teaching, fallen in love with you (my students) and with yoga more than I could ever imagine, and I thank you for that. Soul Shine has been my source of peace, a refuge during the stormiest times and an injection of strength when I did not think I could take another step. The beautiful space is just the icing on the cake of the love, support and laughter I have received from the amazing souls that have come through the door. Thanks to you, I have not lost hope. I have seen more compassion and love poured out in the past three years than I ever thought possible. Kindness from nurses during the hundreds of  hospital visits, the focus and strength of hospice staff, hugs from random strangers and of course, you.  You have given me more than I could ever teach you in a yoga class. I am forever grateful.

This being said, Soul Shine Yoga and Wellness in Hoschton will have to close for now. I want to be the best mom, wife and me I can be. In order for me to be the best person I can be, it means I have to let go of something I love dearly. Yoga teaches us non-attachment. I have unattached myself from furniture, clothes, houses and really cute shoes, but this is my first real test voluntarily letting go of something I truly love for my own good. Letting go of the space in Hoschton is also for your good. I can not be the best teacher I can be if I am stressed and burning the candle at both ends.

During this transition, I am looking into alternative ways I can teach yoga. I am considering teaching private and semi-private lessons at your location next year.  Online classes and meditations are a 99% probability. Also, I am seriously considering converting my garage into a fabulous yoga and art studio, so I will be able to teach semi-private lessons with all the comforts of home. This will open us up to have a deeper experience with yoga, food, art and spirit because teaching at home will allow me to have laser sharp focus on what is really important. I will finally be able to let go of the administrative side of the business that drains me, plus will also have the availability of a kitchen for cooking classes, a big back yard for a community garden and possibly a babysitter. 

YOU are Soul Shine. The online community and at home community will continue to grow and spread like light though a cloud. 

Subscribe to the blog to stay in touch and to keep up with my next transition. 

Namaste my friends

Heather 

Zumba!

I LOVE ZUMBA.
My first love was dance, so Zumba fits in with my child like energy to move and shake. However, Zumba is a far cry from the controlled moves of ballet, tap and jazz in my childhood. In Zumba you are free to cut loose, shake it, shimmy your shoulders and have FUN moving. What? Oh, I am exercising? Did I just burn 700+ calories - yes you did.

We are blessed at Soul Shine to have our own hot tamale, Maria Cardarelli teaching two times a week. Tonight is Zumba night and it is always a latin flavored, loud, sweaty, amazing night.



Even Hollywood celebs have jumped on the Zumba train - click here to read more about how Zumba is heating up Hollywood.

Also, Maria was honored with 3rd place in Project Safe's Athens Dancing with the Stars, see the video of her ballroom dancing here. 

Aiiiiieeeee!

You can't LIVE without your LIVEr!

On Friday night Soul Shine Yoga & Wellness had our first nutrition workshop with Donna Terrazas. Let me just say she is AMAZING - a true wealth of information. She has been doing the whole natural healing, great diet, and energy healing before it was cool. She used to give her kids "ninja juice" green chlorophyl and juice mixed, named after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the 80s version youngins). One of her children was doing his first anatomy project and he was diagraming our insides and she was telling him how important our livers are to the body. He perked up and said "Mommy! Liver, Live! See LIVE. You can't live without your LIVER!" He was right on.
In the West we do not give our liver its due. In TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) the liver is the most important organ in the body. We tend to focus on our hearts in the USA. The liver is the "general" he tells us what to do. Right now its time to create, live, plow the fields and eat greeeeeen.  We also need to eat tart, sour foods like lemons, limes and grapefruit. Herbs that support the liver are milk thistle and dandelion.

Here is a simple recipe for a gentle liver cleanse:
2 beets (raw)
1 - 2 lemons, juiced
1/4 - 1/2 cup of flax oil

Mix this all together and eat 2 teaspoons a day. If you eat more, the cleansing will be more intense. Trust me, beets are very cleansing! I juiced an entire beet one time, added some other stuff like apple and a cucumber. I drank about 5 sips before I had a headache, and then it was off to the bathroom I went!

Take care of your liver - just don't over do a cleanse.
Love & Light
H

Belly Dancing, Zumba Performances, New Clothing Line and YOGA - OH MY!

Many blessings to you all...


Check out that beautiful picture! This is really a picture from the resort Soul Shine is hosting in June...see more info about this below....
I have so many new blessings in my life I need to share with you! Great things are happening and I can not wait to see you at some (or all!) of these events.

On May 1st at the Buford Spring Festival Soul Shine Yoga and Wellness will have a booth full of cute clothes, demonstrating yoga, zumba and our newest Soul Shine goddess Oracle will be demonstrating some belly dancing. Also, at 6:00 PM at the Wine Tasting we will be performing Zumba for the crowds delight. Shakin' it Zumba style and getting the crowd to participate is going to be so much fun! Don't miss it! Also, Soul Shine has a new sister company LiciaLu. LiciaLu is a clothing line for all of us! LiciaLu will feature cute yoga clothing PLUS adorable "magic" skirts, tops, hand dyed shirts, batiked clothing etc...lots of one of a kinds and beautiful dresses you can wear to a concert, or to a fancy restaurant. LiciaLu will make its debut at Buford Days. Check out http://www.visitbuford.com/ for more info on the festival.


Oracle, our newest addition to Soul Shine, will be teaching a Belly Dancing workshop on May 15 from 1:00 - 3:00 PM. You do not need to bring anything, just come and learn some beautiful dance moves. Hopefully we will also be adding a weekly belly dancing class to Soul Shine's schedule. For more info on Oracle and her amazing dance company click here. If you don't know what to get mom for mother's day - maybe this could be a great gift for her! (Or YOURSELF!!)

Our yoga classes are growing and we are expanding all the time. We would like to know what days, times and types of classes you want to see at Soul Shine. I created Soul Shine for YOU, so let us know how we can serve you and bring total wellness in your life.

This is our current schedule:
Monday:
6:00 PM – Beginner Series (6 weeks of Yoga 101) with China (Next Series Begins May 3rd.)
7:30 PM – Yoga for Strength and Toning with Heather

Tuesday:
6:00 PM – All Level Yoga with Heather
7:30 PM – Zumba! with Maria
Wednesday:
8:30 AM – All Level Yoga with Heather
6:30 PM – Beginner/Level One Yoga with China

Thursday:
6:00 PM – All Level Yoga with Heather
7:30 PM – Restorative Yoga with Heather

Friday:
10:00 AM – Gentle Yoga with China

Saturday:
9:00 AM – Zumba! with Maria
10:15 AM – All Level Yoga with Heather

The most exciting event coming up for us is Soul Shine is our first Yoga Retreat! Whooo Hoooo!
This weekend is going to be amazing! Everyone is invited! It will be on June 11 - 13 at Pura Vida Spa and Resort in Dahlonega. The cost depends on the type of room you book, but the pricing includes ALL MEALS, yoga and meditation 2 - 3 times a day, lodging, a Jacuzzi, music under the stars and take home materials. The resort is beautiful. Meals are served on the front porch over looking the mountains. There is a hiking trail, pond, Jacuzzi and a spa if you want to get a massage. I am pumped! :)  Go to http://www.rrresorts.com/ and click on Dahlonega for pictures and more info on the resort.

2 Night Retreat

                                      Double Occ.                                          Single Occ.

Farmhouse…………….…...…$370……………………………….…$460

Bear Den Cabin…………...….$420…………………………………..$525

Cottage Suite……………... ….$440………………………………......$550


Schedule:
Friday, June 11
3:00 PM – Check In
4:00 – 5:30 – All Level Yoga Class with Intro to Meditation
5:30 – Tea and Refreshments on the front porch
6:30 – 8:30 – Dinner and Free Time

9:00 – Guided Full Body Relaxation and Evening Meditation

Saturday, June 12

8:30 – 10:30 - Breakfast and Free Time (good time to take a hike!)

10:30 – 12:30 – Morning Flow Yoga

12:30 – 2:30 – Lunch and Free Time

3:00 – 4:30 – Restorative Yoga and Meditation

4:45 – Tea and Refreshments on the front porch

4:45 – 6:30 – Free Time (maybe a trip to the spa?)

6:30 – 8:30 - Dinner and Free Time

9:00 – Hanging out Under the Stars, Hot Tub Time, Meditation…your choice!

Sunday, June 13

8:00 – 9:30 – Continental Breakfast

10:30 – 11:45 – Gentle Yoga and Closing of the Retreat

12:00 – Check Out (you are welcome to use the trails, enjoy the day!)

I truly hope you can join us at the Buford Spring Festival, at the Belly Dance Workshop and at the Summer Retreat! Its going to be a fabulous summer!

Namaste,

Heather

PS: Hailey is at the beach enjoying herself for the first time in 2 years! Thank God!

We can change the world with our own two hands....

Wow, its been a long time since I wrote on here...I feel bad and I have been missing it. I am so busy with Soul Shine, work, family, trying to keep up on the laundry...blah, blah, blah...trying to fit a social life in there somewhere...and starting a new clothing line (LiciaLu) I have completely left a bunch of people hanging.

I know you are all wondering how Hailey is doing...she is...well, OK. That is the best I can muster. She is OK. Not good, not by any means, but not terrible. Not terrible by her standards anyway - by ours - it would be terrible. If you could not keep any food down, felt like getting out of bed just to use the bathroom and get some water, you would classify that as terrible. However, we can classify it as OK in Hailey's world. If you ask her how she feels, she will tell you straight up "terrible, $^$(*#!!$@!&%&*#, terrible". I don't know if I could be that kind. She spends all day in bed, watching TV and she will get up to go to the bathroom, get some water or maybe some food. The food does not settle for long though, so she is not too keen on food now.

She is at my parents house, and her treatment is out patient. We all honestly thought that this round of chemo would be easier. Well, we were wrong. Its all poison. Stinking poison. Which again leads me to wonder, which is worse? Cancer or chemo? You would think in 2010 we would have a better way...

It hurts, it really does. My dad asked me today if I was scared. I told him no. She has fight, she is talking, she is cracking jokes, protecting her daughter, loving and spunky. She has spark in her eyes. Most importantly she has her faith. I will let him know, and I will let you know when I am scared. But, it hurts to see my crazy ass sister sick as hell and laid up in bed all day. I still get to cuddle with her, watch movies and most importantly make fun of our parents (haha!) - so I am going to savor all of it I can and I am still holding out for a miracle from the Good Lord. He IS a Good Lord.

In the meantime you can change the world with your own two hands - go out there and do it. Stop sitting around and waiting for your invitation. If there is anything that this teaches us, GO, get out there and DO IT. Whatever it is....DO IT.

I love you all

Love and Light

Diamonds on the Inside...and Let your Soul Shine

Yoga for Strength and Toning

Tonight Soul Shine will be hosting 2 new classes. First up is our 6 week Beginner Series with China. This is going to be a great class where she takes you through the basics of yoga so you will feel comfortable in the other classes we offer. This series is great for true beginners and for people who may need a refresher course.

I am teaching Yoga for Strength and Toning. I am SO excited about this class! We will warm up in the traditional Viniyoga way with some breath work, apanasana to lengthen our spine and some more moves to get our muscles warm - then we will move into some Sun Salutations and then into postures like Chair pose, Plank and Boat (pictured). This class will focus on holding poses longer and targeting large muscle groups like our abs, arms and legs!

See you tonight at Soul Shine!
http://www.jacksoncountyyoga.com/

Top 10 Reasons to Try Yoga

Top 10 Reasons to Try Yoga

© Yoga Alliance 2006
1. STRESS RELIEF: Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. By encouraging

relaxation, yoga helps to lower the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Related benefits

include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the

immune system as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression,

fatigue, asthma and insomnia.



2. PAIN RELIEF: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing yoga

asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with

conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as

well as arthritis, back and neck pain, and other chronic conditions. Some practitioners

report that even emotional pain can be eased through the practice of yoga.



3. BETTER BREATHING: Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to

improve lung function, trigger the body’s relaxation response and increase the amount of

oxygen available to the body.



4. FLEXIBILITY: Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement

and reducing aches and pains. Many people can’t touch their toes during their first yoga

class. Gradually they begin to use the correct muscles. Over time, the ligaments, tendons

and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity, making more poses possible. Yoga also helps to

improve body alignment resulting in better posture and helping to relieve back, neck, joint

and muscle problems.



5. INCREASED STRENGTH: Yoga asanas (postures) use every muscle in the body, helping to

increase strength literally from head to toe. And, while these postures strengthen the body,

they also provide an additional benefit of helping to relieve muscular tension.



6. WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: Yoga (even less vigorous styles) can aid weight control efforts by

reducing the cortisol levels as well as by burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga

also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well being and

self esteem.



7. IMPROVED CIRCULATION: Yoga helps to improve circulation and, as a result of various

poses, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.



8. CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING: Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardiovascular

benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving

oxygen uptake during exercise.



9. FOCUS ON THE PRESENT: Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware

and to help create mind body health. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination,

reaction time and memory.



10. INNER PEACE: The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more

spiritual and more satisfying place in their lives. Many who begin to practice for other

reasons have reported this to be a key reason that yoga has become an essential part of

their daily lives.

This is from www.YogaAlliance.org

Soul Shine Yoga and Wellness

Soul Shine Yoga & Wellness is located only 2 miles from Interstate 85, off of Highway 53 – very convenient location in a peaceful, beautiful studio dedicated to Yoga and Wellness for everyBODY.

159 Towne Center Parkway

Hoschton, GA 30548

http://www.jacksoncountyyoga.com/

404-213-9182