Happy 21st Birthday Tone!

Today “Tone is old enough to drink”.  With each of our children reaching this age, we find ourselves rubbing our respective faces and eyes in disbelief.  She has lived a lifetime especially this past year.  Our original home was 1200 square feet on Fourth Street where we occupied the front half.  Years later we took over the whole building with a beautiful build out of the Devi Ja—our large classroom with raised floors.  Then Stanroy’s music bought the building and we had to move.  In the infamous moving day came where we moved right after our noon Zumba class to conduct classes the next day at 8:10AM.  We stayed on Ross St. For 6 years which included the Tubbs and Kincaid fires—so many of our community were devastated and many moved.   We knew we couldn’t continue on that large a scale.  We saw our former space downtown become a hub of protests for Black Lives Matter.  Our former neighbors have boarded up their windows or have gone out of business. We moved her out of 10,000 square feet downtown well used space to a beautifully created suburb 3000 square feet .  It was lovely for 3 months!  Then in March, COVID19 turned our world upside down.    We luckily bought out of that lease last month to continue conducting business in our homes.   Last week the fires had many of us evacuated …today the skies are blue and we are breathing clean air!  So grateful for the simple pleasures.

We wanted to thank you, Tonettes, our Tone community for experiencing the uncertainty of life with us.   How blessed are we that we have each other.  We could not and would not have continued without your support and brilliance.

As we go forward, we are continuing to shape shift and evolve to continue to serve and continue to discover health and what that means in our changing environments.  We don’t know what the next iteration of life will be.   We Cannot and will not go back.  We do know that we keep showing up to keep making things better.   What a journey we are on.  We love you, our community.

Happy 21st Birthday Tone!

Monica and Alyson

Ayurveda Tips with Enrica!

Summer Season (Pitta Season)

Your garden is bursting with local fruits and veggies. Refreshing foods that lighten the body and keep the system cool, such as cilantro, cucumber, melon, and zucchini will alleviate discomfort from the hot, sharp oily qualities of heat and humidity. Summer recipes capture the bitter taste of fresh greens to cool the blood, the astringency of seasonal fruits to tone the tissues, and mildly sweet foods such as fennel and coconut to balance fire (pitta) in the digestive tract.

SUMMER DIET AND LIFESTYLE OVERVIEW

The Elements: Fire and Water

Feels Like: Hot, Humid, Bright

Tastes to Enjoy: Bitter, Astringent, Sweet

Summer Foods Guide

Favor foods that are cooling, calming, and slightly dry.

 

FOODS TO FAVOR

  • Bitter and astringent veggies, such as zucchini, broccoli, leafy greens, celery, green beans and fennel root.
  • Sweet, not sour, dairy products such as milk and ghee.
  • Sweet, neutral fruits, grapes, pomegranates, stone fruit, melons, and limes.
  • Light neutral grains, such as quinoa, white basmati rice, and barley.
  • Cool and light proteins, such as mung beans, tofu, lean white meats, and fish.
  • Coconuts and coconut products (water, milk, meat, sugar)
  • Cooling spices and herbs, such as fennel seed, coriander, cilantro, cardamom, mint, turmeric, and aloe juice.

FOODS TO REDUCE

  • Spicy foods
  • Coffee
  • Vinegar and other ferments
  • Alcohol
  • Salty foods
  • Raw tomatoes
  • Raw onion
  • Red meat
  • Sour dairy products
  • Heating foods
  • Overly fried foods

LIFESTYLE GUIDELINE

  • Use coconut oil for abhyanga massage. Add relaxing scents like jasmine, lavendar, and rose essential oils. Self massage can be done in the morning or evening to help cool down.
  • Practice moderation in choosing activities and avoid over scheduling yourself.
  • Engage in noncompetitive exercise, like swimming, moderate yoga, and walking.
  • Take cool baths and showers
  • Stay out of midday sun, but do go out and enjoy time in nature. spend some time outside when the sun is lower and moon bathing instead of sunbathing.
  • Drink room temperature water, not cold, and not ice water.

June Class Changes

MONDAYS:

· Meet Joe Gray!  Looking for a high intensity interval training workout?  Joe will be teaching HIITone on Mondays at 5:10am.  Excited to have him at Tone!

· We are cancelling the 10:05am equipment group on Mondays.  Please join us at 9:05am or 11:05am.

FRIDAYS:

· We are cancelling the 10:05am equipment group on Fridays.  Please join us at 11:05am or 2:05pm.

· Our 12:10pm All Level Pilates Mat Class is moving to 11:10am with Amy Wagner!  Amy gets rave reviews from longtime Tone clients.  Join her for an awesome Pilates Mat Class!

 SUNDAYS:

· We are cancelling the 8:10am HIITone class.  Please join us on Mondays at 5:10, Tuesdays at 9:10am & 5:10pm or Thursdays 9:10am & 5:10pm.

February Class Changes

FEBRUARY

Ahhhh February.  The month of the love holiday.  Well, we hope you love the additions that we have made to our class schedule this month.

YOGA – We have added a 4:10 Tuesday with Enrica and 4:10 Thursday with Katherine – Breath Centered Yoga classes.  This is a Raksana practice as described by the Krishnamacharya lineage. Raksana means householders – folks who hold jobs, have families to care for, bills to pay.  This yoga is suited for mature practitioners–breath-centered asana, pranayama, meditative practice. This is a work in rather than a work out. A lovely addition your day. Experience is not a prerequisite. An open mind and open heart are.

EQUIPMENT GROUPS – We have added a Wednesday 12:05pm equipment group with Amanda on Wednesdays.  Amanda brings to her Pilates a sense of grace and depth of study that we know you will love.  If you are interested in trying equipment groups for the first time, we have a Beginning Equipment Group on Saturdays at 9:05am that is a fantastic place to start.  Only $23.  We hope your curiosity about the equipment gets the best of you and you give it a try.

SPECIAL YOGA EVENTS – This weekend we are honored to have Monica’s Ayurvedist – Eleni Tsikrikas as well as Monica’s Teacher – Robert Birnberg skyping in to Tone on subjects they love – Ayurveda and the Power of Bhavana.

Ayurveda, Yoga’s sister science, is the planet’s oldest nature based self care system. Ayurveda provides a language and way of looking at the world that is poetic. It recognizes and respects that each individual is born with a unique physical, mental, emotional and spiritual constitution (prakruti). Rather than treating symptoms, Ayurveda seeks to identify an individuals constitution and treat their imbalances through food, herbs and lifestyle.

Meditation and Visualization (bhavana) are essential Yogic tools for focusing the mind, clarifying values, promoting optimism, and manifesting our hearts desires. Meditation requires a mind which can choose to focus on something we value and sustain attention over time. Bhavana, as mentioned in Patanjali’s Yoga  Sutras,  is an invaluable life-skill that provides the template from which our futures will invariably emerge.

We hope you can join us for one or both of these special events.

FIRST FRIDAY USUALS – And as usual, we have our First Friday events coming up this Friday.  Beginning Zumba at 5:10pm with Monica.  A wonderful way to step into (pun intended) starting Zumba.  Monica breaks it down with amazing spirit, joy and fab tunes.  Then stay for Feel the Vibe Yoga at 6:10pm with Jenn and Brian.  Jenn leads the asana.  Brian brings his DJ turntable and lays down the tracks.  And to celebrate the soon to be released Pliny the Younger, please come enjoy a sample of Pliny the Elder after the 5:10 and 6:10 classes on Friday.  Sharing the love.

Fun in February!  See you soon.

A Moment for Me

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STAY HEALTHY DURING THE HECTIC HOLIDAY SEASON!

We are inviting folks to tie a red string* around their wrist as a reminder of health and staying grounded through the holidays. A Tone staff member will tie the string around your wrist. Every few days we will offer a #momentforme suggestion via flyers in the studio, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We hope that seeing the red string on your wrist will serve as a reminder to take care of yourself this holiday season and that you have a community to support you.


* Ancient lore suggests that wearing a red string upon your left wrist brings blessings of protection, luck and prosperity. Sign us up!

IT’S SIMPLE.

1. Ask a Tone staff member to tie a red string around your wrist.

2. Check for #momentforme suggestions in the studio and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

3. Share what you love. Reap the healthy benefits of mindfulness and community!

“ The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.” Richard Bach

November Class Changes

TUESDAYS

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

SUNDAY

My Health Journey – part 2

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May 20, 2015

I’ve been consistent!  I diligently take my little blue pill every night before I go to bed.  Thus far, I have had no traceable side effects…done and done.  

This past week I got hit with a “pedi” bug.  Wednesday morning at 6 AM I staggered to the bathroom and lost it…going back a couple days I had a “Lola” day.  Mondays are my days to be “Lola”.  “Lola” is gramma to 2 wonderful young young men.  One young man is 4.5 years old and the other  is 18 months.  Every Monday morning for the past 4.5 years, I sleep in to  7 am, dress in comfees and walking shoes, take off all jewelry,  take my recharged iphone, traveling cup of chai with ghee and take a drive east to Napa.  I say my mantras from my home to highway 12 then push play on my iphone to listen to a lecture, a book on tape, or a podcast for the 1 hour drive to a little house on Spring street to focus all, I mean all, of my attention to these 2 young men.  

This past Monday was no different.  When I got to Napa I was greeted with a sweet smile by a naked bathing 18 month old making sounds and splashing and laughing.  The older young man was already at pre-school.  I look forward to his returning later in the day–Mondays he practices Yoga with Mr. Trout.  This morning as she was getting ready to take advantage of her 6 hours unencumbered by smaller beings, THE mom mentioned that yesterday the younger had “thrown up once” and readily took a 3 hour nap, no fever.  He was all smiles yesterday and this morning.

We had a great 6 hours together reading books over and over again, talking about birds in the sky, singing his name, eating blackberries I had brought to just pop for snacks.  After about 2 1/2 hours of just talking about everything, chasing, eating, laughing, singing, reading, this baby’s sweet face looked into mine and his arms went up and I  instantaneously was right there.    He melted into my embrace and closed his eyes.  I got his blankee and wrapped him up and put him in his reclining stroller and off we went for 2 hours walking new routes in downtown Napa.  He slept the entire way.

When I came back he was still asleep so I melded his small warm body into mine until Mom returned from her errands… All was well until I woke up the next morning.  Stomach cramps and my body pushes “eject”.

Fortunately, after an hour or so, I sipped ginger tea and in a slightly weakened state attended the Maria Carrillo’s Economic Summit as a volunteer for the entire day–good thing I got to sit–no appetite and surging stomach cramps all day.  I made it.

Each consecutive day, “not as bad”.  Today is Sunday and I’m eating normally and breathing a sigh of gratitude of what a healthy day feels like.   I can’t help but think how that little man must have felt when he was going through the stomach cramps.  I guess that is why he just checked out for a 3 hour nap each day.  I wish I could have slept the past couple days when I felt like it.  

Today I’m just breathing fully, eating tentatively, exercising gingerly, and being in the healing moment and that is all of my bandwidth. I had all kinds of plans to blog about how I’m sure hormones are the motivation for our movement choices but alas, next installment.  Just grateful.

Holiday Hours 2014

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My Yoga Teacher is coming to town!

I am so excited! The weekend of September 14/15, my yoga teacher from Southern Cal agreed to come up to teach 2 workshops. Robert has been a student of yoga in the Desikachar/Krishnamacharya lineage over a decade.  He studied with Mr. Desikachar at the KYM in India and is one of a handful of teachers who is certified to teach teachers.  He has written several published yoga articles and his book on Yoga and addiction is set to be published soon.   Robert , his lovely Ayurvedist wife, Eleni, and their sweet dog, Ruby will be our guests in beautiful Sonoma County.  ( Clare, Tone’s Yoga Team Leader,  thinks he looks like Robert Downey Jr.–I think my teacher Robert is smarter and funnier.)   If you are interested in yoga or love yoga, Robert’s first workshop will put yoga in the context of world history–what it originally was and why it is India’s gift to the world.

The second workshop will be Sanskrit 101. Learn to read, chant this language of yoga.  Learn what OM really means!

I am going to be a yoga student for the rest of my life in this lineage.  Come and get a glimpse why.  Yoga is for everyone and provides hope.  You will learn more about yourself and you might even learn to love yoga as much as I do.