This is a copy of the article written by Dan Dunkle and printed Jan 09, 2010 in the Herald Gazette.
Prema Patti Kristiansen describes yoga as "a way to embrace life."
The Waldoboro resident teaches the ancient mind and body discipline to people of all ages and abilities at the Thomaston Yoga Studio at 185 Main St. She has been an instructor for about 12 years and has had the studio in Thomaston for a little over a year.
Kristiansen said yoga addresses a person as a whole. It looks at how one's breathing patterns might affect a back ache, or how posture can influence one's mood. The instructor offers several kinds of classes including "gentle flows" or hatha yoga, Kripalu YogaDance, and restorative yoga.

"Using posture, movement, and breath, hatha yoga addresses an individual on both the psychological and physical levels," she said in an e-mail. "The whole person benefits: the muscular, skeletal, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, reproductive ... and nervous systems."
The dance classes offer more movement, and she said they are characterized by joy. Restorative yoga uses more props including blankets, foam blocks and eye pillows and offers support in helping people perform the poses. In addition to working at the studio, Kristiansen also teaches adult education courses.
She describes the studio as a sanctuary for the unfolding of the mind, body and spirit — a place to relax, restore, move and heal.
In addition to offering group classes of up to 12 people, she works one-on-one with some clients and visits people in their homes. Kristiansen said she also specializes in working with children and adults who have special needs.
She is a nationally registered Yoga Alliance teacher and recently became certified as a Kripalu YogaDance instructor.
She said she does not do the power yoga or vigorous workouts. "It's gentle and therapeutic," she said of her style of instruction.
Kristiansen is originally from Connecticut and has been living in Waldoboro for a number of years. She said she has been doing yoga since she was 12 years old and began to study it in depth in 1993.
At the time she had been going to Kennebec Valley Community College to study occupational therapy and was busy raising two small children. She started a personal yoga regimen to help alleviate her stress, she said.
Later, working at a nursing home, she asked herself, "Could there be something more?" She said that's when she decided to make teaching yoga her career.
Yoga dates back at least 5,000 years to ancient India. Kristiansen said it can be useful for people coping in today's culture, which often emphasizes working, rushing around and stressing out. Yoga can help people in everyday activities such as attending a stressful meeting or eating a meal at lunchtime, she said. Through it all, yoga helps people remain calm and flexible.
"What yoga does is make a person more mindful, more aware of his/her body," she said in an e-mail. "... So we become very aware of how everything we do affects our body/mind. Including what we eat, how we eat it, in a rush or savoring each bite. We begin to notice each moment more, and then we are able to make wiser choices in all aspects of life."
She listed the benefits as improving mood, increasing lung capacity, reducing heart rate and blood pressure, relaxing muscles, alleviating anxiety, depression and insomnia, and dealing with chronic low-back pain.
She said yoga is not a religion.
The instructor said Prema is her yoga name, given to her when she reached a certain level in her training.
Each class concludes with the yogic phrase "Namaste," which translates to "I honor that place in each of us where we are one."

What more appropriate pose for the Holiday week than the Tree pose?

This pose brings balance,  focus, and calm.

Begin in standing (Mountain pose). Feel the earth beneath both feet evenly. Breathe in and out through the nose in long, smooth breaths. Shift your weight into the left leg. Make a firm foundation with this leg. There are several variation of Tree pose, choose the one you feel most balanced in.

1) toe touch the earth with the right foot. If you feel balanced here, try 2)bringing this foot to the inside of the left ankle. Then try 3)balancing with the foot on the inner left calf, and then try 4)on the inner left thigh.

At the same time begin to raise the arms first to shoulder height, then above the head, and finally in front of the heart in prayer position (anjali mudra). Find an object across the room to focus on. Hold the pose for as long as you are comfortable, continuing to breathe evenly throughout the pose. Feel the breath in your abdomen as you balance.

After coming out of Tree pose, pause in standing (Mountain pose) before repeating Tree pose on the other side.

Happy Holidays!

During this Thanksgiving week we are most likely adding more tasks to our already full schedule. We may be entertaining at home or traveling to be with family and friends. Even though these activities are filled with love they also bring stress. Easy Seated Pose with abdominal breathing can be practiced anytime to bring about equanimity.

To come into this posture sit on the floor on a cushion with legs crossed as in tailor sitting. Feel your sitting bones at the base of the pelvis against the cushion. Let your spine grow tall. Next, come to an awareness of the breath. Close your eyes and begin to inhale and exhale through the nose with long, smooth breathing. Feel your abdomen rise and fall with the breath. Notice how the inhale expands the abdomen while the exhale contracts the abdomen. Let the inhale and exhale be the same in length. After you are comfortable with this breath begin to lengthen your exhalation one or two seconds longer than the inhalation. With each inhalation breathe in thankfulness and gratitude. Stay in this posture for 5 - 20 minutes. Modifications: Sit on a chair with your feet flat on the floor and practice the breath technique. NAMASTE.

With the holidays fast approaching and more to do in our already full daily lives we need to make certain that we nourish ourselves so that we can continue to nourish others.
The following pose will do just that. It is a pose of respose.
This pose (asana) is done just as the title states, with the legs up the wall. Begin by placing a blanket on the floor out from the wall, so that you will be cozy. Next, sit on the floor with your side to the wall. Then begin to turn your legs toward the wall and slowly lift them up against the wall. Place your back gently on the floor. You may need a pillow under your head if the chin tilts back. In the final position your legs will be up the wall, your buttocks, back and head supported on the floor. Adjust the pose if there is a tightness behind the knees or thighs, by wiggling away from the wall so that the legs are slanted away from the wall.
Place a washcloth or eyepillow over your eyes and rest here for approximately 5-10 minutes. Breathe slowly and deeply in and out through the nose. To come out of the pose: bend your knees into the chest and gently and slowly roll over onto your side. Rest here for 5 minutes. Then slowly press yourself up to a seated position. Move blissfully into your day or into a peaceful nights sleep.
Cautions: If you have highblood pressure that is not medicated or you have just begun your menstrual cycle please do not practice this pose. Instead lie on the floor with one or two pillows under the legs for an appropriate adaption of this pose.

Namaste.

RESTORATIVE POSTURES SUPPORT OUR IMMUNE SYSTEM AND OUR CALM THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. SOMETIMES WE JUST NEED TO NUTURE OURSELVES. THIS POSE IS FOR THOSE TIMES AND SHOULD BE PRACTICED AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK IF NOT DAILY.

TAKE A COUCH CUSHION AND SET IT ON A CARPETED FLOOR. YOU WILL BE RESTING YOUR BACK ON THIS CUSHION. NEXT PLACE A PILLOW TOWARD THE TOP OF THE CUSHION. YOU WILL BE RESTING YOUR HEAD ON THIS PILLOW.
NOW SIT ON THE FLOOR WITH YOUR LOWER BACK ABOUT 1-3" FROM THE END OF THE CUSHION. WITH THE KNEES BENT, BEGIN TO LOWER YOURSELF ONTO THE CUSHION BEING VERY MINDFUL OF THE SPINE AS YOU PLACE YOURSELF DOWN. NOW ADJUST THE PILLOW SO THAT IT JUST TOUCHES THE TOPS OF THE SHOULDERS AND SUPPORTS THE HEAD SO THAT IT IS ELEVATED JUST ABOVE HEART LEVEL. IF YOU HAVE AN EYEPILLOW OR WASH CLOTH HANDY PLACE THIS OVER THE EYES. KEEP THE KNEES BENT FOR A MOMENT WHILE YOUR BACK ADJUSTS TO THE POSITION. BREATH IN AND OUT THROUGH THE NOSE IN LONG, SLOW BREATHS. NEXT, EXTEND THE LEGS ONTO THE FLOOR AND REST. FEEL THE BREATH FILL THE LUNGS,
NOTICE HOW THE ABDOMEN LIFTS GENTLY WITH EACH INHALE AND MOVES IN WITH EACH EXHALE. REST HERE FOR AS LONG AS YOU ARE COMFORTABLE. TO COME OUT OF THE POSE, BEND THE KNEES AND ROLL TO ONE SIDE. REST HERE FOR 1-3 MINUTES. THEN SLOWLY SIT UP. LET THE HEALING ENERGY OF THIS BEAUTIFUL RESTORATIVE YOGA POSE GUIDE YOU THROUGH YOUR DAY OR SEND YOU OFF TO A RESTFUL SLEEP.