practice, is profoundly impactful and allows us to glean yoga’s true benefits— increased compassion, understanding and peace, which prepares us to understand that we are the silent witness of our lives,” notes Chiodo. Chiodo, who was unsure about her first 10-day silent retreat, discovered nine days later that she had become so comfortable she had no desire to speak. Changed by the process, Chiodo gets to share it with others at a silent 12-hour silent retreat hosted by Joyful Yoga on September 18. “We will honor silence and nourish our bodymind through mindful movement, intentional breathing and sitting meditation, going deeper throughout the day,” she says. Julianne Aerhee Byun, a yoga teacher and marketing director for greenmonkey yoga, in Naples, considers silence the most beautiful part of her yoga practice. “Our inner monologue can run non-stop, including in yoga class. ‘Are my arms going to give out in the chaturanga (plank pose)?’” quips Byun. Once, as she was finishing a practice, Byun realized that the little voice in her head went silent for an hour. She’d discovered moving meditation as a way to slow down, quiet her mind and allow for space. Fresh from a three-week meditation retreat, Kandy Love, a yoga teacher at AHA! A Holistic Approach Center for Health and Wellness, in Fort Myers, searches for a translucent vocabulary that allows the silence she experienced to shine through her words. “More palpable than explainable, the stillness of not doing prepares us for the silence of beingness, allowing for the
Kandy Love
Julianne Aerhee Byun
experience of ‘nothingness’, where the profound shines through the mundane and the absolute enfolds the relative. Drawing the senses inward and stilling the mind, we attune to what we are— everything and nothing, simply spiritual beings having a human experience of meditation and yoga. Within our human limitations we can experience the unbounded in silence, which is not an empty void, but something very dynamic,” says Love. “If sitting meditation is left out of your yoga book, you will miss the last chapter. You will still have wonderful characters, but not the full story. Silence isn’t separate from yoga asana. Asanas’ purpose includes the experience of stillness and silence which exist within the heart of every movement,” notes Love. Restorative yoga classes are good for quieting the mind because longerheld postures create stillness in the body. The mind might chatter away, but it eventually follows the body’s lead, so yogis can relax, breathe, observe and patiently wait for the silence.
Tess Chiodo
Yoga Studios Offering Restorative Yoga Classes BKS Yoga Studio, 2900 Tamiami Tr. N. Naples. 239-213-9276. BksYogaStudio. com. See ad, page 63. Love Yoga Center, 4949 Tamiami Tr. N., Ste. 204, Naples, 239-692-9747. LoveYogaCenter.com. See ad, page 61. Joyful Yoga, 3405 Pelican Landing Pkwy., Bonita Springs, 947-9845. JoyfulYoga.com. See ad, page 24. Hummingbird Well Being Center, 27785 Old 41 Rd., Bonita Springs. 239494-6983, HummingbirdWellBeing Center.com. See ad, page 45. GreenMonkey Yoga Studio, 6200 Trail Blvd., Naples. 239-598-1938. Green Monkey.com. See ad, page 78. AHA! A Holistic Approach Center for Health and Wellness, 15971 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers. 239-433-5995. AHolisticApproachCenter.com. See ad, page 21.
natural awakenings
September 2016
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