Next FREE yoga class on.....

The next free session of Yoga + You will be on Diwali day, Nov. 2nd 2013, festival of lights from India. We celebrate the victory of good over evil during this very special festival. Let's connect with our inner being and tap into our full potential on this very auspicious day.

“The world is the gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong.” ~ Swami Vivekananda (150th anniversary year)

See you on October 5, 2013 at 10:00 am at Valley Hi Library.

Yoga Plus You classes start on 9/7/13

There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self. - Aldous Huxley

Here comes Yogini Heera. Get your yoga mats ready. Yoga Plus You classes start again at Valley-Hi North Laguna Library. First Saturday of every month at 10:00 am. Once a month only.....

See you on September 7, 2013 at 10:00 am. FREE....

Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutation Yogathan on Aug. 3, 2013 at 9:00 am. Calling all yoga enthusiasts. This is a new addition to India Day Sports events. India Day celebrates India's  Independence Day. The main objective of this "Yogathan" is to create awareness among the people about Yoga and its advantages, in achieving a healthy body, mind and spirit. Registration is ONLY $2.00. Don't wait. Be part of the wave. Please email me if you want to participate. Email: sangeetbharati@hotmail.com
Participants must bring a yoga mat or towel and wear loose clothes. People who are new to Suya Namaskar are also encouraged to join as we will follow a training video. The participant who can perform most number of Sun Salutaion will win first or second place. You don't have to compete if you don't want to. You can just participate. More details at www.Indiaday.net
Coordinators: Heera Kulkarni-LEAD, Cultural Program Committee for India Day, 2013 & Certified yoga instructor from Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center, & Laxmi Rao
with Br. Santosh More of Chinmaya Mission, Certified Yoga Instructor from Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center, Kerala, India
RULES of Surya Namaskar ( Sun Salutation) Yogathon from IndiaDay.net
Date:     Sunday, 3rd August 2013. 900 AM to 10-00 AM
Venue:     BUM Room, INTEL, Folsom
Time:     9-00AM - 10.00 AM
Register by:     9:00AM on 8/04/2013
Entry fee:     $2/Person
Process     1. Participants will perform a series of 12 postures prescribed for each Surya Namaskar.
2. Participants new to Surya Namaskar can also join as we will be following a "Surya Namaskar" video.
3. Yogathon participants will perform a number of Surya Namaskras.
4. Participant who perform the most number of Surya Namaskars will win.
5. Winners will be chosen by the judge & the judge's decision will be final.
6. Participants must bring a yoga mat or towel to the event.
Age group:     Open to all
Prizes:     1st & 2nd place

Come Dance with India

Come & Dance with India

Summer Reading Program Fun

Presented by Heera of Sangeet Bharati organization

FREE ADMISSION
When: Saturday, July 20, 2013
Time: 11:00-12:00 pm
Where: Pocket-Greenhaven Public Library

Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library   7335 Gloria Dr., Sacramento, CA, 95831

Come & enjoy exciting Indian dances. I will also teach you steps to one of the Indian dances. What are you waiting for? Mark your calendar and BE THERE..... 

 

Yoga + Kids

Yoga class for children: July 6, 2013 at 11:00 am. Please bring a towel or mat. Kids between 5-18 years are welcome.

Yoga class for children: August 10, 2013 at 11:00 am. Please bring a towel or mat. Kids between 5-18 years are welcome.

Summer break for the adults' yoga class in July and August! Please keep up with regular practice of Praanaayaams and Yogasans.

Hot Poetry in the Park

Reigniting the creative spark......The poet with pen name "Shama Dehelvi" meaning "Light from Delhi", nee Heera Kulkarni rises again. Sponsored by Sacramento Poetry Center. Come on June 3rd to Fremont Park in Midtown Sacramento at 7:00 pm. I will read poems from my album, entitled "Shama" meaning light, besides some new ones!! FREE event.

Keep up your daily yoga practice

Namaste,

The library will be closed on coming Saturday, May 25th for a furlough day. I will see you on June 1st at 9:00 am. There will be a children's yoga class offered on June 1st at 11:00 am as well. Bring a yoga mat to class.
Om Shanti....

Namaste,

There will be no class this Saturday, May 11, 2013.  See you on May 18 at 9:00 am.

Om Shanti

Heera Kulkarni

NAMI Poem

contemplating today
taking small steps
happy heart
tremendous cause.....

extracting yesterday
from
recesses of brain

heavy heart
lost souls
crumbled minds 
life lessons.......

NAMI: National Alliance of Mental Illness. I have signed up for NAMI Walk on Saturday, April 27th, 2013. There will be no "Yoga for You" class on 4/27/13. 1 in 4 people is affected by some form of mental illness. If you would like to sponsor my walk please donate to the cause here:
https://apps.facebook.com/fundraising_na/PersonalPage.aspx?registrationID=1789071 

Spring Retreat in April

Mary and Heera are organizing a Yoga + You retreat at the Chau Son Catholic Monastery in Walnut Grove near Sacramento at the end of April. We will do yogaasan, pranayam & meditation. The day will also include low calorie vegetarian cooking demo. Lunch and recipes will be included at a low cost. Please let us know if you would like to go. It's about 34 minutes drive from Sacramento/Elk Grove. We will carpool from Sacramento. 

If interested Email Heera at heera dot kulkarni at gmail dot com.

Yoga + You classes

FREE Yoga + You classes are held every Saturday at 9:00 a.m. at Valley-Hi North Laguna Public Library located at 7400 Imagination Parkway, Sacramento, CA 95823, across from Cosumnes River College. Please enter through the side door and bring a yoga mat or a towel. Be prepared to immerse yourself into the practice of traditional yoga asanas and pranayam. Leave all inhibitions behind. Come one....come all, bring your friends.

Spring recess and furlough days: March 30th & April 6th. See you back at the library on April 13th at 9:00 am.

Yoga Sutras by Maharshi Patanjali: The WHY of YOGA

The word "Yoga" is derived from the Sanskrit word "Yuj" which means to join. In "yoga" we are joining the body, mind and spirit. And you thought that it was a fancy workout. Yoga is more than a stretching exercise for your body. This blog is dedicated to the practice of "Ashtang Yoga" or eight- limbed yoga.  

In this blog I will be writing about many aspects of yoga that I am wondering about and studying at the same time. At present I am studying the Yoga Sutras of Sage Patanjali which date anywhere between 5,000 B.C. to 300 A.D. So I hope to try to understand and write about all the 200 sutras. Believed to be the first scripture of yoga, the yoga sutras of Patanjali contain the 200 "sutras" of Maharshi or Sage Patanjali. The summary given here is adapted from the commentary by Swami Satchidananda.

Sutra means a thread. These yoga sutras or threads combine words that describe the entire science of Yoga.

अथ  योगानुशासनम्  II १ II 
1. Atha Yoganushasanam.

Now the exposition of Yoga is being made.

In these sutras, Sage Patanjali teaches us how to practice yoga, gives us direct instruction. 

योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः II २ II 
2. Yogash Chitta Vrutti Nirodhah

The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga.

The goal of yoga is to achieve restraint of the mental modifications. You will experience "Yoga" when you can control the rising of the mind into ripples.