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Southern Om News             Your Oasis in a Busy Day                       April 2017
In This Issue
Easter Class Schedule
Congratulations 40 Days Students!
Monthly Charity Class to Benefit Greenville Humane Society
Studio Etiquette: No Cell Phones
Perkville Rewards
Yin Yoga Offered Monthly
Heart Openers & Backbends with Kristen
Is Sleep More Important Than Nutrition, Exercise & Mindfulness?
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Check out the all new clothes from great brands like lululemon, Alo and Manduka!









 

Spring has sprung!  Today we are grateful for sunshine, warm temperatures, flowering shrubs, short sleeve shirts and of course, our blossoming yoga studio!

For those that are new to our community - welcome!  We are so glad you discovered our studio.  Please introduce yourself to us so we can get to know you better.

As we head into this special holiday weekend, please take note that we are offering our regular class schedule all weekend - including Easter Sunday.  No excuses to work off those Cadbury Creme Eggs and scrumptious Easter brunches!  

YIN YOGA - CHANGE IN DATE!
Yin Yoga will be on the 4th Saturday this month, due to the Easter holiday falling on the 3rd Saturday.  Please join Melissa Howard for a 90-minute Yin Yoga practice on Saturday, April 22 from 6-7:30 pm!  And remember this is now a regular class on the schedule so you can use your monthly membership and class cards!

EARTH DAY AT WHOLE FOODS
Tell your friends about the FREE CLASS we are teaching on Earth Day at Whole Foods Market, as part of a day-long festival.  This hour-long class will start at 11 am on Saturday, April 22 and will be taught by Hope Brooks.  This class is appropriate for all levels of yogis.  Bring a mat, towel and water and meet at the Whole Foods patio (weather permitting).

This month, we wish you the opportunity to find your oasis and an amazing community of like minded yogis, right here at our studio.

We are so grateful you are here.

Namaste-

Pace & Sarah


EASTER SUNDAY CLASS SCHEDULE
Sunday, April 16


9 a.m. Southern Flow (75 min) with KayAnna

11 am Ashtanga Primary Series with Maryanne

4 pm Southern 26 (90 min) with Cindy

6 pm Southern Flow (90 min) with Mandy

CONGRATULATIONS 40 DAYS PARTICIPANTS ON REACHING YOUR GOALS!


 
Congratulations to the 18 participants who just completed our Spring 40 Days program: 

Juli, Shannon, Kaitlyn, Margie, Linda, Staci, Haley, Gina, Pandora, Ames, Misty, Erica, Madelyn, Kyler, Melissa, Sherilynn, Janice and Brenda

We are so proud of you and your personal transformation!!!

MONTHLY CHARITY CLASS TO BENEFIT GREENVILLE HUMANE SOCIETY!

Friday, April 14, 6:45 pm with MEGAN

Each month, Southern Om selects a charity to donate the proceeds from our popular $5 Friday night Flow class.

This month, our charity is the Greenville Humane Society.

The Greenville Humane Society is one of the largest no-kill facilities in the Southeast. We work in partnership with our community to create an environment where all animals are treated with compassion and respect.

"Currently, our clinic serves more than 12,400 pets annually, performing an average of 50 surgeries per day, and up to 114 in one day-all with only 33 animal holding cages.

 In 2016, the Humane Society adopted 6,405 pets into forever homes (10% increase over 2015), and set a historical record for most adoptions in one month: 656 adoptions in December 2016."

Donations of cash or checks made payable to Greenville Humane Society will be accepted.  Please consider a donation of $10 or more.

Read  here for more information about this amazing organization and the impact it has on the physical health of our four legged yogis!

STUDIO ETIQUETTE REMINDER:
LEAVE YOUR PHONE ALONE!


Southern Om is designed to be an oasis from the outside world.  Please help us preserve this oasis for all our students and staff by leaving your cell phone on vibrate OUTSIDE of the classroom.

Cell phones are prohibited from the yoga room

THANK YOU!!
Are you getting all the perks you deserve at Southern Om?

Do you know about Perkville?  This amazing incentive program allows you to earn points that you can put towards yoga, or anything in the boutique just by practicing yoga at Southern Om!  You can even earn points by referring friends or posting on social media about your experience at the studio.  Visit our  website  for more information!


It is easy to get started!  Shortly after your first visit to SO, you will receive an email from Perkville.   Open the email and register using the same email address you gave to SO. 

How to Earn Points:
  • Earn 5 points automatically whenever you attend a class!
  • Earn 10 points when you post about us on Facebook!*
  • Earn 10 points when you Tweet about us!*
  • Earn 20 points by following us on Twitter!*
  • Earn 20 points if you refer a friend to our Intro Special**
  • Earn 30 points by writing a review on a popular website***  
 
Point Values:

150pts = $15 credit

250pts = $25 credit

500pts = $50 credit

 
You can use your credit towards anything in the Boutique, as well as yoga classes.

Sabrina Davidson shows off her ProLite Mat that was purchased 100% with hard earned Perkville points!
Spring 2017
Upcoming Workshops
Take Your Practice to the Next Level!
Yin Yoga now offered every month on the 3rd Saturday of the month
from 6-7:30 pm!
Due to Easter Holiday, Yin will be offered on Saturday, April 22.
In a Southern Yin yoga class, you will hold a pose for 3-5 minutes. When holding a pose for longer periods of time the practitioner is able to get into the deeper parts of the body, the Yin parts. Tendons, ligaments, and joints are exercised, not stretched and the benefits of Yin are endless. We'll focus on the spine, forward folding, back bending, twisting, and side flexion, as well as the hips. As good as it will be for the body, a Yin practice can be challenging for the mind, because we rest into the poses. You will be talked through each posture and gently guided from one pose to another with more yang like movements to help the continuation of the blood flow to these yin-like places in the body.

This is now a regular class on the schedule.  It will be offered the 3rd Saturday of the month from 6-7:30. (April 22 is an exception because of when Easter falls)

You can sign up in advance or simply show up the day of the class. Our normal drop in rate of $15 ($12 for students) applies to those without a class card or monthly membership.  Bring a mat, mat towel and water.
Heart Openers & Backbends
with Kristen Albert
Sunday, May 21 from 1-3 pm


Symbolically, Spring is a time to bloom. The earth reawakens from winter and explodes with new life. Backbends are a beautiful way to feel more alive! Physically, backbends strengthen the spine, open the
chest for improved breathing, strengthen and release tension in the shoulders and neck, help with postural misalignment, and stretch your abdominal muscles and internal organs. Physiologically backbends stimulate the central nervous system and energize the whole body.
Energetically, they tap into the expansive energy of the heart and can create a sense of lightness and vitality. However, with these emotionally charged postures, vulnerability, fear, anxiety, and a desire for avoidance often surface. Work through this with patience and loving
kindness. When done with the proper alignment, elongation, and intention, backbends can be very empowering and uplifting.

Join Kristen for a 2-hour exploration of heart opening and back bending postures. She will guide you through a mindful flow, while preparing the body for a variety of backbends. Kristen will discuss the key principles of backbends as well as demonstrate a variety of different
variations and modifications of each posture to accommodate all levels. She will explore the balance between effort and surrender, going only to
the depth that allows for elongation, breath, and compassion. This workshop will include basic heart opening postures that we do often in a flow class and work towards more advanced heart opening postures, such as variations on wheel pose and inversions. All levels welcome.

Cost is $30. Bring a mat, towel and water. You may register online, at the Front Desk, or call 329-1114. Payment is due upon registration.
Health & Happiness Tips
Centered On Your Health
Is Sleep More Important Than Nutrition, Exercise & Mindfulness?
by Lindsay Kellner
Courtesy of mindbodygreen.com
  



When we're falling behind in one area of our lives, sleep is often the first sacrifice we make. Too often, in fact. According to the CDC,  more than one-third of Americans don't get enough sleep. It's officially a  public health problem.

Lack of sleep is making us fat, sick, inflamed, and imbalanced. Over time, depriving your body of the sleep it needs is just as harmful as  drunk driving, chronically  overeating, or  not exercising and the consequences are much more serious than next-day drowsiness. As much as we'd like to believe in the super powers of yoga, green smoothies, and meditation, none of it will make up for lost shut-eye. Long-term sleep deprivation can lead to  increased risk of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and stroke. Yikes!

It's no secret that sleep is necessary to feel our best and yet we've denied ourselves proper rest consistently enough to paint a picture of the sleepless hero: the one who excels at work, pushes hard at the gym, goes out on weekends, is a perfect mom, always keeping her cool on five hours or less. Newsflash: this person isn't real (and if she were, she'd be completely burned out). She's also becoming irrelevant. The NYT just called sleep "the  new status symbol ," nodding to the still-upward trend in personal well-being. According to mbg's experts, sleep is not just "status," it's the most important part of your wellness routine.

If sleep is the foundation of our well-being and we increasingly desire more of it, why are we still struggling to get enough?

"I'll sleep when I'm dead."
  
The reasons we're sleep deprived are as numerous and diverse as we are, but most can be traced back to a few common themes: anxiety, overwork, pride, distraction or "fomo," clinical insomnia, hormone imbalance, new parenthood, or a combination thereof.

Sleep expert  Michael Breus, PhD, says you'll burn out a lot sooner than you think if you're consistently sleep deprived. "I find it so interesting that even the healthiest people will sacrifice their sleep," said Dr. Breus. "...[Y]our brain does not allow you to feel sleepy or sleep deprived for quite a while. Thus you can 'tough it out' or supplement with caffeine, and bypass a lot of the warning signs of sleep deprivation, even as a healthy person."

Amy Shah, MD, one of mbg's gut health and hormone experts, said that people simply don't acknowledge the important role of sleep in their well-being. "My problem is too often people with very stressful lives skimp on sleep as a badge of honor and then wonder why they are not able to lose weight especially that little bit of belly fat."

It's true: our stressful, busy lives are leading to sleep sacrifice. As more health-conscious folk start to see the symptoms of sleep deprivation manifest as hormone imbalance, leaky gut, and brain fog, we're becoming more interested in getting the best sleep we can.

It's time to re-think the way we prioritize sleep.

Of course, the problem with calling sleep a luxury "status symbol" is that it's absolutely necessary for our well-being.
"I think sleep should be considered the new vital sign," said Dr. Breus. If there's something wrong with your sleep, chances are it's affecting something else, causing weight gain, brain fog, or worsening a chronic disease. 
"Sleep is by far my number one priority for people trying to get their health in check," which is often more challenging than it should be, Dr. Shah said.
Sleep directly affects metabolic processes (yes, your ability to lose weight).
  
Several studies show how sleep negatively affects the brain's capacity to regulate appetite. In  one study that examined metabolism, two identical groups with the same diet and exercise regimen were compared with one difference: sleep deprivation. The group that slept well lost weight while the sleep-deprived group gained it.
It also affects the gut-brain connection.  Vincent Pedre, MD, one of mbg's gut health experts, explains how it starts a hormonal chain reaction. "We have seen this in experiments done with mice: Creating artificial  jet lag in the mice resulted in  weight gain by altering the gut flora. Basically, sleep loss disrupts the hormone system, resulting in high blood glucose levels and increased insulin resistance, which leads to fat deposition inside and around the abdomen, higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, increased hunger signaling (ghrelin), and decreased satiety signal (leptin)."

Lack of sleep leads to brain fog and affects your memory.
In addition to hormone regulation, sleep plays a huge role in our ability to process subconscious thought, think creatively, and make complex decisions. It's important to experience all stages of sleep, especially deep sleep (stages 3 and 4) for mental processing.

"First we see a physical restoration during sleep stages 3 and 4. This is where the bulk of growth hormone is produced, and we see the body repairing itself. At the end we see more REM sleep and a mental restoration. In part this begins with stages 3 and 4 which act like a filter for valuable information, meaning that they filter out all the info that we don't really need for long term decision making and use. During REM sleep we move information from short term memory to long term memory, and create an organizational substructure to recall, and problem solve," said Dr. Breus. 

Psychologist  Elizabeth Lombardo, PhD, argues that pulling all-nighters is actually more harmful to the cause of your project and warns that making up for a sleep deficit is like credit card debt-it accrues interest. "Pulling all-nighters harms you in the long term: mentally, emotionally and physically. When you stay up all night (or even a good part of the night), your ability to concentrate, learn new information and remember things diminishes. All of these factors can contribute to reduced productivity and efficiency. And it often takes more than one night to make up that sleep deprivation," said Dr. Lombardo.

Not only is it tough to be mindful when you're sleep deprived, but hormone imbalances create the perfect environment for meltdowns, whether they're personal or professional. "You are more likely to be irritable and have difficulty regulating your emotions. You might, for example, cry over something that really isn't that big of a deal," said Dr. Lombardo.

So what's better: waking up early to work out or sleeping in another hour?
  
It depends on how you slept the night before, and how you've been sleeping overall.

"Skip an hour of exercise if you have consistently gotten less than six hours of sleep. If one day you have a poor night of sleep-but usually you sleep well-you can exercise and then compensate the following night," Dr. Shah recommended.

As it turns out, sleep tips the balance in our wellness equation more than we thought.

Hacking and tracking: the fine line between optimization and obsession.

It's hard to resist the urge to optimize your own sleep after understanding how sleeplessness can reverse your efforts to look and feel good. The trend toward tailored  wellness is still going strong this year, and we've never seen as many sleep tracking devices on the market that speak directly to this sleepy consumer demand.
For starters, leveled-up wearables like the  EMFIT QS give feedback on how to change your sleep habits for optimal recovery, geared specifically to active people.

If you're not into wearables or want something less fitness-driven, smart mattresses that sync with tracking tech via an app, like  Eight, provide full reports on the quality of your sleep and make suggestions on bed time, temperature (the tracker, which lies on top of your mattress, comes with a heating feature), and wake time. You can also connect it to any blue-tooth enabled device in your home, like your coffee maker, so your cup of joe is ready and waiting by the time you shuffle into the kitchen.

Some sleep apps operate at a distance without any need for physical contact, like the classic  Sleep Cycle. More advanced devices like the  S+ Resmed use radio waves to monitor your slumber, and still others like  Sense, is like an Amazon Alexa specifically focused on helping you sleep better.

With all this extra help, we should all be sleeping like babies. Right? While sleep trackers can be illuminating, they can cause even more trouble for people who are prone to performance anxiety. This gamification of slumber can cause " orthosomnia," which is a fancy way of saying that you're taking the tracking too far, and it's making your insomnia worse. It's also important to note that many of these sleep trackers are still in early development stages, and no tracker will ever be a substitute for how you feel.

A seismic shift.
Rest assured, sleeping is not selfish and not sleeping isn't the badge of honor it once was. If you want to be your best self, and consequently make the biggest, best impact on the world, you need to sleep well. Emerging research continues to support what our bodies tell us, and we predict that a larger, seismic sleep shift will gain serious momentum this year.

Sleep can be one of the best things we do for our well-being, and all week long we'll be publishing content that will help you discover what kind of sleeper you are, how to improve your "problem areas," and the sleep habits of our favorite wellness cognoscenti. Dream on, dreamers.


Read more here .
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Namaste,


Southern Om Hot Yoga

  phone: 864-329-1114