2010 Catalog Available

We are proud to announce our 2010 catalog of Yoga Certification and Kansas City Massage School offerings is available on our Website.

We have several new additions, including a new 650 Hour Shiatsu Therapy Course and a 650 Hour Personal Training Certifiction course.

Download the catalog.

New Yoga Class Schedule

Come experience our new yoga classes at KCFitnessLink's new location. It's important for new yoga teachers to have their own practice and one can learn a lot from getting new perspectives. Any teachers who have graduated from our yoga teacher training program can attend classes free. We also offer a work study program for teachers willing to work in exchange for free classes.

We are finalizing our 2010 yoga certification schedule. Our next 200 hour yoga teacher training will be Feb. 1-12, 2010. Now on to the Kansas City yoga class schedule:

Monday
Yoga Basics 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Tuesday
Yoga Flow 12:00-12:50 p.m.

Wednesday
Power Yoga 6:30-7:20 a.m.
Yoga Basics                              6:30-7:30 p.m.

Thursday:
Yoga Flow 12:00-12:50 p.m.

Friday:
Zumba 12:00-12:50 p.m.

Saturday  
Power Yoga                               9:00-10:00 a.m.

Sunday
Relax and Renew Yoga            11:00-12:30 p.m.

Thai Massage Training for the New Year

60 Hour Thai Massage Therapy Training
December 27-31, 2009
8:00-5:00 p.m.
Special $795 registration! (Normally $1500) until 8/15/09

Thai bodywork was brought to Thailand over 2000 years ago by Ayurvedic doctors and Buddhist monks. It combines acupressure, reflexology and applied yoga poses.
Thai bodywork is used as a holistic way to restore equilibrium in the body. Thai bodywork focuses on pressure points situated among ten energy lines across the body.
It creates a powerful release of stress, increases vitality and deepens the connection between mind, body and spirit in both the giver and receiver.

At the end of the course, a student can perform a complete 60-90 minute Thai massage session, including supine, prone, side lying, and seated positions. A basic certificate of completion is issued. No previous massage experience required.

ote: Dec. 27-31 dates in lieu of previously scheduled dates of Dec. 14-19 as listed in the catalog.

Register for the Thai Massage Certification

Grants and Scholarships for Yoga Teacher Training

The field of yoga is moving closer and closer to a regulated field as seen in the latest NY Times article. This means yoga teachers will be required to be certified minimally to teach. The price of yoga certification for a 200 hour registered Yoga Alliance program can range from $700 to up to $5000. For many, this makes yoga certification inaccessible.

There are yoga grants and scholarships to make these programs affordable.

1) Inquire about the program or school to see if it is an accredited facility with the Department of Education. Career training loans, scholarships and grants are avaialble for accredited programs.

2) Military spouses can assistance through The Department of Defense’s expanded Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts (MyCAA) program, which is now offering up to $6,000 to military spouses who are interested in pursuing degree programs, licenses or credentials leading to careers in high growth, high demand portable career fields. Spouses of active duty members are eligible and can visit the the MyCAA web site to register.

3) Scholarships and work study: Scholarships and work study opportunities may be available in exchange for volunteer work at yoga schools and centers. Inquire or propose this arrangement to the program director.

The KCFitnessLink Yoga School offers monthly payment plans, work study scholarships and participates in the MyCAA military grant program. For more information, visit the yoga instructor training home page.

*** Yoga Month: Yoga Teacher Training by Donation ***

Last year I served as the local coordinator for Yoga Month in Kansas City. We offered free yoga classes and workshops across the metro area and raised money for non-profit organizations that support community health.

This year while still focusing on free yoga classes and workshops, I decided it would be good to offer something for current and aspiring yoga instructors. Given the economic situation, many are out of jobs and are looking for new career avenues. The catch 22 is that more and more people don't have the money for additional training during these tough economic times and financing career training is more difficult during the current financial situation.

During Yoga Month we will be offering yoga teacher training by donation, aspiring teachers can register for the training by choosing a price they can afford with no strings attached. This by donation option is for the regular 200 hour teacher training and the yoga therapy training as well.

Yoga Month is a grassroots, community-based global campaign to educate people about the health benefits of yoga and to inspire a healthy lifestyle.

Yoga and Autogenic Training

Autogenic training has its origin in research on hypnosis conducted by the famous brain psychologist Oskar Vogt at the Berlin Institute according to Martha David in The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook. He found that his clients could produce relaxation similar to hypnosis just by thinking of heaviness and warmth.

Athletes may greatly benefit from Autogenic training as a way to relax and focus for an activity. While the techniques are widely used for sports, they are very useful, autonomic nervous system relaxants for the common person. Autogenic training can be tailored to meet a person’s need by using their own autosugesstion.

Here is a sample script I often incorporate into my savasana or final relaxation.

My right arm is heavy
my left arm is heavy
both arms are heavy.
My right leg is heavy
my left leg is heavy
Both legs are heavy.

My right arm is warm
my left arm is warm
both arms are warm.
My right leg warm
Both legs are warm.

My right arm is heavy and warm
Both arms are heavy and warm
Both of my legs are heavy and warm
My heart is calm snd
I feel fresh and energized


Although, it doesn't have an yoga origin, I find that many western mind-body techniques are very useful in combination with yoga. I teach all elements of relaxation in my yoga teacher training programs: physical, mental, autonomic, emotional and spiritual.

Yoga Therapy Training at Balance Yoga Lounge

Yoga as Therapy Training 200 Hour Program
Learn to use therapeutic yoga tools

October 19-30 (no weekends)
Balance Yoga Lounge in Ankeny, Iowa
8:00-4:00 p.m.

Learn western and eastern therapeutic yoga tools for non-apparently health populations including: cancer, heart disease, stroke, MS, musculoskeletal problems, arthritis and more.

Pre-requisites: Recommended 200 or 500 hours of yoga training and previous yoga teaching experience.

Application deadline: October 15, 2009

For more information visit Yoga Therapy Training:


KCfitnesslink is a 200/500 hour Yoga Alliance Registered School and Charter School with the International Association of Yoga Therapists

Getting away from Perfection in Yoga

A few nights ago in yoga class, a student of mined exclaimed, "I almost did the pose." I replied, "you did do the pose."

Even on the yoga mat we bring to class ideas of perfectionism or being right and wrong. At times I don't like to focus on precise alignment in yoga poses because it reinforces the idea of doing things right and wrong. People won't even come to yoga classes because of the fear of doing something wrong. Yoga should be about letting go and de-stressing, not creating additional stress. As a teacher I have to question my own intent in "correcting" postures as I teach.

In yoga, the concept of purnam or wholeness (perfection) teaches us that we are perferct already. Each moment in our lives is perfect and our souls sparkle with this divine perfection.

In yoga class, we can experience purnam by not focusing on "fixing" our poses but experiencing them as they unfold, noticing our breath, our sensations, our thoughts and emotions. We can then guide our bodies and minds into this wholeness and accept to grow this wholeness in a way that is right for us physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally.

The concept of purnam, ahisma (non-harming) and overall safety has made reconsider hands on adjustments and achieving perfection in my own approach to yoga instruction and my philophy in yoga teacher training and yoga therapy sessions.

The Yoga Mind: You are What You Think!

Many people know the saying, "you are what you eat." Yoga psychology advocates that "you are what you think." When we celebrate the negeative aspects of our lives, it continues a state of negativity. In this way, we produce our own negative states or hell here on earth. Yoga teaches us to be mindful of every moment and to celebrate the positive!

Here is a related quote from the book About Peace by Scott Shaw:
"If your mind is troubled,
preoccupied with unhappy thoughts about:
your job,
your relationships,
the money you owe,
your unfulfilled desires,

you will not be able to concentrate on the positive elemts of life.

Thus, you will be kept from peace--bound to a world of unhappiness.

Start Right Now--begin redefining your life in a new, more positive fashion.

Yoga Documentary: Enlighten Up

There are several yoga documentaries worth seeing to get a better glimpse of yoga. The first, Yoga Unveiled, is a formal and scholarly production that examines the branches of yoga, yoga history/culture and the emerging field of yoga therapy. It is a great overview of yoga and many yoga teacher training courses use it as a multi-media learning tool.

The second is a new documentary that is more practical in that it follows how a new student to yoga is transformed through the practice. Enlighten Up follows a 29 year old skeptical journalist through India as he reflects on whether yoga is more than just a physical practice.

Yoga in the Park

We celebrated May Month or national physical activity month with a day of yoga in the park at the Nelson Atkins Museum lawn. What a wonderful sense of freedom you get with fresh air, lush greenery and the soothing sound of passing cars. Join us for more dates if you're in the Kansas City, MO area.

Dates: June 20 and July 4, 2009, 9-10 a.m.

What type of yogi are you?

A common question new students generally ask me is what type of yoga should I practice or which of your yoga classes should I attend? My answer is usually it depends.

Some people may want fitness goals like to increase flexibility, others may want to relax or reduce stress, while others may want to feel a connection to the class or community.

Also, the teacher's style should be considered. Teaching styles range from supportive and comforting to militant and absolute. Perhaps you like a softer approach or really get motivated by a kick-your-butt, no-nonsense teacher.

Setting will also play a difference. Fitness yogis may attracted to the gym or community centers while the spiritual seekers may be attracted to a traditional yoga studio or place of spiritual significance like a church.

The emphasis of the class may also play a major role. Some classes heavily emphasize postures with little or no emphasis on breathing and meditation. Some classes may have no postures at all!

I found a fun yoga quiz on Yoga Journal, which man help you decide as a new student what type of yoga to explore.

I also recommend reading, Yoga Beyond Fitness: Getting More than Exercise from an Ancient Spiritual Practice, by Tom Pilarzyk. It also has a yoga quiz in the Appendix. This book is a part of the reading requirement for the advanced 300 hour yoga teacher training course with KCFitnessLink.

Meditatation from the Heart: Positive Affirmations

Last week I was listening to Pink's single, Sober, and the line "But how do I feel this good sober?" became stuck in my mind. I then thought back to an incident more than a decade ago in Ibiza when I woke up in a bathroom floor after passing out multiple times from days of non-stop partying and drugs. I never thought that my recreational partying was an addiction, and I remember calling a friend who commented that I had gone too far.


I've often thought back to moment several times when I see related events on TV shows or in the case of Pink's song. We often carry in life things, situations and people that we have a difficult time letting go of.
One way to release these negative thoughts or emotions is through meditation. You can remove these ideas by dwelling on the opposite—or positive affirmations—during meditation.


Meditation: Practice this meditation, if just a few minutes per day:
Begin in a comfortable upright sitting position. Support the posture with a wall or chair if necessary.


Allow your breath to flow naturally, keeping your awareness on your breath, the inhales, the exhales, any gaps, the tone, the sound, the quality or the sensations of the breath through the body.


Now, focus your awareness of your breath in your chest region. Stay here for several breathes.


Silently begin to repeat to yourself, "I forgive myself; my heart is open to receive"

My First Post: Divine Love Meditation

I wanted this first post to be special. I started this blog with the hope of sharing my daily insight into the practice that I love and that continues to shape my life--yoga. I will share with you a mantra that I have used in the six months extensively in meditation for attracting positivity and like-minded people, Aham Prema meaning I am divine love. It reminds me of the great power that lies in heart chakra waiting to be shared. Repeat this mantra during meditation, relaxation or off the yoga mat when needed.

Namsate,

Darryl