Announcing a new class: Zizu II for toddlers ages 1-3

Starting September 24th, Kim Austin-Peterman will be teaching a new class for mamas and their toddlers ages 1-3.

Zizu II will be a class where toddlers ages 1-3 have an isolated but common space to play with each other while mamas practice yoga.

The yoga will be open to beginners and cater to many needs specific to parents.  We will be serious about therapeutic values but always ready to get silly! 

Join us on Mondays 10:45-11:45am.

New to the studio?...Your first class is free, so come check it out sometime!  

About the instructor

Kim Austin Peterman CMT, RYT 500, is the co-owner and co-creator of The Space Above Yoga Center. Kim not only appreciates the daily reminders yoga brings to who she is, but also considers the incredible influence it brings to her family. Raising her two children, daughter Josie and son Hobie, with the principles and understanding of Sankhya philosophy, Yoga and Ayurveda is how she consistently contributes back into the world. It is her goal to forward deeply her personal devotion to yoga, and equally important for her to share, on any level, the gift of yoga with others. Kim believes that by planting even the smallest of seeds to even the smallest of insights, is giving back on a Universal level. Until there are more people living a balanced, happy life then there are NOT, Kim believes there is work for her to be done. By working with people in several different capacities she feels there are more opportunities for them to shift and open up to a better life. Her nine years experience as a massage therapist is only complimentary to her abilities as a yoga teacher and Ayurvedic Practitioner. Kim has been practicing and studying yoga for seven years and has successfully completed both the 200 hour and 500 hour level of teacher training with well respected teacher Anna Pittman. At this level she is certified and registered (500RYT) with the National Yoga Alliance. Kim has also experienced profound influences studying under various Master level teachers such as Aadil Palkivala and Sarah Powers. She is currently working to complete 500 hours of study in Ayurveda to become a practitioner of this cosmic science. She will be certified by Emerson Theological Institute and the Dhanvantari Ayurvedic Center, after finishing her studies with teacher Vijaya Stallings sometime in early 2008. She plans to blend today's more modern lifestyle with the ancient wisdom of Vedic philosophy, by cultivating more interest and effort towards each. With this interest and more understanding, she hopes that the nature of an Ayurvedic lifestyle can become more available to the Western mind. Kim has also extended her yoga studies and teachings to infants, toddlers and children. She is trained and certified in the Internationally known Itsy Bitsy Yoga Program. Kim humbly and thankfully appreciates that her abilities and offerings as a mother, teacher and therapist are ultimately gifts of a divine nature. 

Announcing Zizu Level 2 - A mommy & me yoga class for crawlers to walkers

Come experience the joys of yoga with your baby every Monday from 10:45 – 11:45 a.m.

Mommies, you and other caregivers will have the opportunity to participate with your babies in a developmentally appropriate, guided practice that will nourish, strengthen and deepen your connection to your newly mobile infants.

These specially designed classes will teach you poses for your baby that will help:

• improve neuromuscular development
• keep your baby healthy
• your baby sleep better

Join us!

Mondays from 10:45-11:45 am

Call ahead to make a reservation, sign up online or just drop-in. This is one hour a week you won’t want to miss!

Photo credit: Flickr

Yoga and Motherhood

By: Kim Austin-Peterman

Inhale a sense of clarity and freedom, exhale into the memory of your earth bound connection...

We spend time on the mat inspiring movement and breath, and we follow it inward to find deeper awareness. As we feel more physical awareness we extend our experience towards mental awareness. Synchronizing our perceptions of both, we can then learn to relax. Our work in our bodies will forward itself into our external world.  We find greater flexibility, strength and balance in all aspects of our daily lives as well as our muscles and bones.  By dedicating time to practice we can develop an ability to relax and create peace even during times of stress and intensity.  This is how yoga allows us to transition from a thinking/doing state to a feeling/being state.  This is also how yoga can help transform us from women to brave, powerful, feminine souls ready to be fierce mothers.

Growth within ourselves is synonymous with growth within our family.  As we understand more about ourselves, we can draw more of what we need to us. 

Yoga is a practice of finding endless opportunities to reach our greatest capacity.   As we come up against physical edges and resistant sensations, the mind certainly struggles.  This is when we have the choice between giving up or motivating our energy forward.  This is when we differentiate between walking away from something we don't know how to do or teaching ourselves how to find a way through it.  Interact with our pain rather than defend it.  We listen well to our internal senses and detach from external comparisons or false belief patterns.  We can access our creative, compassionate and open mind rather than follow the rabbit hole into fear and judgement.  Expand or contract?

    

 In a country where both the rate of natural (non-medical) births as well as successful (uncomplicated) births are at the bottom of the percentile list world wide, consideration is eminent.  We live in a culture and society where being pregnant and birthing are commonly represented by dread and fear.  The unfortunate weight of this heavy emotionality makes it challenging for women to embrace their pregnancies with peace, joy and balance.  In fact, pregnant women are brilliant symbols of nature.  The process of bringing life into this earth is beautiful, touching and inspiring.   The blessing to co-create with Mother Nature is an incredible honor that we can embrace, support and encourage.  

As women exercise this ability, they can be free to experience and celebrate a great sense of pride.   If the experience of child bearing and birthing is anything less than pure joy layered with intense love, there is room for encouragement.

I encourage you and urge you:

Women!  Find your power, find your bliss and share it with your children.  Be the change you want in your world!