The Fun of Mindful Drumming by Nancy Weshkoff
The Fun of Mindful Drumming by Nancy Weshkoff
I have had a fascination with drumming but never had an opportunity to discover it fully. Recently, Susan Baron approached me about offering Mindful Drumming at the Moonflower Yoga studio, and I became intrigued with this idea. I participated in a trial session, and it was great! NO experience was needed, and it was wonderful to drum together with the other participants. As I loved it, I decided to add this to the Moonflower Yoga schedule as a workshop event.
So what is mindful drumming as offered by Susan Baron?
About Mindful Drumming: Susan Baron studied Mindful Drumming with Ghanaian master drummer Kokomon Clottey in Oakland, California. Kokomon describes Mindful Drumming as “an ancient wisdom for unleashing the human spirit and healing community.” When two or more participants are present, the facilitator plays simple synchronized and repetitive rhythms on a hand drum such as a djembe. This repetition of synchronized rhythms creates a sense of joy and wellbeing. Evidence shows that when people drum together in sync, fear falls away and the rhythms ignite the brain receptors, which gives rise to the phenomenon of entrainment. Entrainment is the experience of feeling connected to one another. In this state, there exists the opportunity for coming together as a community.
Susan Baron, who leads the Mindful Drumming workshop events at Moonflower Yoga, has more than 4 decades of experience working the body as an instrument of healing. She is the author of The Lived Experience of Masterful Drummers Who Facilitate Synchronized Drumming Gatherings: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study (2015). In facilitating Mindful Drumming gatherings, Susan provides synchronized drumming and rhythm as a nonverbal means to develop embodied listening and empathy, to nurture empathic presence, and to create a safe and often joyful environment for transformation and community healing to take place.
So what about you? Have you ever thought it would be cool to drum with other people? Are you feeling stressed and would like to find an interesting way to release tension? WE supply the drums for the Mindful Drumming events at the studio, and you don’t need any drumming experience to come to a Mindful Drumming workshop event at the Moonflower Yoga studio. The “Workshops” tab on the moonfloweryoga.com website will provide you the date of the next Mindful Drumming event, and you would register from the “Schedule” tab above. Come give it a try and have some fun mindful drumming with us while you are de-stressing! The studio is conveniently located in Bellmore, on Long Island, New York’s Nassau County. In addition to the great yoga and meditation classes on the Moonflower Yoga schedule with our talented yoga and meditation teachers, you can join us for something different and discover the experience of mindful drumming!
It is Moonflower Yoga’s 10-year anniversary! By Nancy Weshkoff
This week marks a major milestone for Moonflower Yoga – it is our 10- year anniversary!
Ten years ago, I decided to leave corporate life behind and pursue something that I loved and that made me feel great, which was yoga. I knew that I did not want to work at a gym but instead wanted my own yoga studio. I had a dream that I wanted to reach students who might not feel comfortable in a gym setting or large studio and would often choose to “hide” in the back of the room.
Moonflower Yoga was born with a mantra of “small class, personal attention”. Having this type of studio enabled the teachers to interact with the students and guide them more closely in their practice. It also helped many yoga students learn, improve their practice, and discover how much they love yoga. By having the small class size, friendships were formed, and many of those students now spend time with people they met at Moonflower Yoga.
I also knew that community was important to me, and so I launched the Moonflower Yoga Book Club where we had fun reading a book and then discussing it. The Moonflower Yoga Book Club is still going strong today with monthly online meetings. Later, the Moonflower Yoga Needle Arts Group was formed and the Moonflower Yoga Mah Jongg club.
I also became a Reiki Master Teacher and began offering Reiki training at Moonflower Yoga. Reiki is a wonderful way to relax and take care of you.
We also learned something new in great workshops on a range of topics from creating art, cooking ideas, crafts, and so much more. Lots of laughs have been shared in these workshops. Some of these activities are now offered online such as “In the Kitchen with Bob” where we cook a meal together from our respective kitchens and then eat it together at the end of the workshop at our kitchen tables. There is also “An Evening of Guided Meditation and Relaxation” with Bhante Sujatha, the loving kindness monk, who offers his words of wisdom from all over the world. We have witnessed the sun rising over the mountains of Sri Lanka as Bhante taught his relaxing meditation. There is also “Yoga Nidra” with Jackie who helps you completely chill out and get ready for a good night’s sleep. There are special yoga-related workshops from Moonflower Yoga’s great roster of yoga teachers where you can more deeply understand each pose to help improve your practice.
I cannot say there have been no bumps in the road. The onset of COVID and the forced closure of the studio for in-person activities for over a year has been very difficult. With every cloud there is a silver lining, and online classes via Zoom were formed. The online classes enabled Moonflower Yoga to remain open, albeit virtually. But it also did something great too which is it allowed us to connect to students who lived geographically away from the studio. We now have students who live in Florida, Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, etc., who regularly attend activities. And some teachers who we missed because they moved out of state can once again teach for Moonflower even though they live hundreds of miles away from Long Island. Last year, I launched “hybrid” yoga classes which are the best of both worlds: up to 4 fully-vaccinated students are attending in person at the studio while there are simultaneously students attending online via Zoom.
So what does the next year bring? It brings a great variety of yoga and meditation classes that students can attend on a weekly basis. It also brings special workshops and other activities. Most importantly, it brings people together to feel physically better and stronger but also mentally by providing a de-stressing environment where you can relax and feel better.
For those of you who have never tried an activity at Moonflower Yoga, we welcome you to give it a try! Check us out in Bellmore (Nassau County, Long Island). If you do not live near the studio, online classes are available 7 days a week. There is NEVER a contract to sign. You can register for just one activity of your choosing from the Schedule tab on the moonfloweryoga.com website, following the simple registration steps, and see how you like it.
To those of you who have supported Moonflower Yoga through these 10 years, THANK YOU!! You have helped the studio grow and created a very special community. And to those great teachers who join me every week to teach amazing yoga classes and workshops, THANK YOU to you as well. Dozens of students have discovered the benefits of yoga through your great yoga and meditation classes.
With much gratitude!
Namaste,
Nancy
Heart Disease and Women by Nancy Weshkoff
Heart Disease and Women
By Nancy Weshkoff
Heart health is something I take very seriously. And while it is important to focus on heart health all year, the month of February is Heart Health Awareness Month and part of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Movement. I am therefore writing this blog to discuss this very important topic.
Let’s begin with these key factors about heart disease in women:
–Heart disease is the NUMBER ONE killer of women in the United States.
–If you stacked up ALL cancer-related deaths for women together (breast, lung, ovarian, liver, skin cancer, etc), all of these cancer-related deaths together would still be number two behind heart disease.
– One in three women in the United States will die every year from heart disease. If you were sitting in a group of women and looked to your right and to your left, sadly one of you will die from heart disease. And of this number, more than 1,800 of these women who die from heart disease will live here on Long Island in New York.
-If you have heart disease, you are at a higher risk of contracting COVID or having serious complications related to COVID. With the spread of coronavirus, it is even more important to pay attention to your heart health.
– Did you know that you can help PREVENT yourself from becoming one of these very sad statistics by proactively taking steps to lower your risk?
While there are some things that you cannot change, such as your family history of heart disease, there are several things that doctors all agree that you CAN do to lower your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. These include:
– Engage in moderate exercise on a regular basis. Sitting on a couch and not moving is bad for you in so many ways. Spending long hours in front of a computer screen without moving is not good for you. Your body needs to move. Yoga is extremely helpful in helping you with your fitness goals. The postures in a yoga class will build strength and flexibility, stretch your muscles, and at the same time, the deep breathing techniques (pranayama) used in a yoga class increase the flow of blood to your heart and your organs.
– Reduce your stress levels. This can be particularly challenging these days where we might find ourselves multi-tasking. It makes it even more important to notice how you cope with stress. Being in a “fight or flight” mode, which is how our body reacts when our stress levels are high, is putting a huge strain on your body functions – including your heart. Meditation is a wonderful tool to help you lower your blood pressure and stress levels. Yoga classes also help you reduce your stress. The online yoga and meditation classes at Moonflower Yoga can get you on the path to accomplishing your stress-reduction goals. Perhaps you do not have a lot of spare time right now with multi-tasking due to the pandemic. I would suggest that it is so important to take even 30 minutes FOR YOU which helps lower those stress levels and enables you to better cope with life’s challenges. Moonflower Yoga currently has great online yoga and meditation classes, including 30-minute yoga and meditation classes, which you can do from the comfort of your home to help you lower stress and help your heart health. The Schedule tab on the moonfloweryoga.com website lists the daily options taught by our great yoga and meditation teachers.
– Learn to be “in the present moment”. We often worry unnecessarily about things from our past that we cannot change or things in the future that MIGHT happen but have not happened yet and may never happen. In our classes and workshops at Moonflower Yoga, we teach you ways to be more in the present moment and let go of unnecessary worries bringing you more peace and calm.
– Lower your blood pressure: Moving more, decreasing your stress levels, and using tools such as meditation and yoga mentioned above can all help you with this. How about learning something new? Spending some time reading a great book or engaging in a fun activity can help lower your stress levels. We have several great online activities that you can do from home including two fun FREE “Clubs”. In the Moonflower Yoga Book Club, we have fun going on a journey with a new book which helps you discover something new. There is also the Moonflower Yoga Needle Arts Group where you crochet or knit (very meditative!) while enjoying each other’s company. With the Moonflower Yoga Needle Arts Group, we also donate some of our beautiful creations to various charities, including Operation Gratitude which ships our finished creations to our brave men and women in the military. We have online meditation classes, as well as a wonderful monthly Evening of Guided Meditation and Relaxation with Bhante Sujatha, the loving kindness monk, including a Special Valentine’s Day Evening of Guided Meditation and Peacefulness this month. There is also a monthly online yoga nidra evening with Jackie Lee on the last Wednesday of each month, which is deep relaxation “yogic sleep”, a wonderful way to de-stress, which you do while reclining at home. One hour of yoga nidra = four hours of sleep! These types of interesting and meditative activities can help you on the path of stress reduction, lowering your blood pressure, and having fun – all great things for your heart.
– On February 11th, in honor of Hearth Health Awareness Month, Moonflower Yoga also has a wonderful “Natural Support for Heart Health” workshop with author and herbalist, Jovanka Ciares. Jovanka will discuss natural ways to care for your cardiovascular system. Incorporating these ideas into your wellness routine can go a long way in ensuring that your heart stays healthy and strong. Topics to be discussed include the history of modern heart disease, the relationship between stress and the heart, and heart-healthy food options and botanicals. Come join us for this important workshop!
– Fighting loneliness: In this coronavirus period, it is very important to practice social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus. But social distancing often creates loneliness. We need social interaction. Online yoga, meditation, and other activities via Zoom are a great way to combat loneliness and help you feel better. Before and after each online class, there is a Zoom Room where you can safely see and chat with fellow attendees, have a laugh, or share a story. It makes a big difference to have this social interaction and help you feel better, thereby reducing your stress levels.
-Are you eating a healthy diet, or are you eating fast food, processed food, or other unhealthy foods that are high in fat, cholesterol, salt, and sugar? Eating unhealthy foods can clog your arteries and increase your risk for heart disease. One fun online activity that we offer at Moonflower Yoga is a monthly “In the Kitchen with Bob” cooking workshop where we connect online via Zoom, and we cook healthy meals together during the workshop and then enjoy the finished product together in our respective kitchens at the end of the workshop. These delicious recipes are plant-based, low in fat, and heart healthy. And we have a lot of laughs cooking together – a great stress reducer.
– See your doctor on a regular basis. Your doctor can access your risk of heart disease and offer recommendations on ways to improve your heart health.
As someone who has a history of heart disease in my family, I take heart disease very seriously. My stress levels and blood pressure were very high – all red flags for being on the path to a heart attack or stroke. Through yoga, meditation, learning to be more in the present moment, and spending time in engaging activities such as reading and needle arts, and eating a healthy, plant-based diet, I have been able to lower my blood pressure to normal. You, too, can lower your risk. We hope to see you soon at a great online yoga class, meditation, or workshop at Moonflower Yoga. With online yoga and meditation classes offered via Zoom, there is also no longer a geographic limit to Bellmore, Wantagh, Merrick, East Meadow, Freeport, Seaford, Massapequa, or other towns in Nassau County, Long Island. We now have students joining us from states other than New York including Florida, Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Vermont. It is great to connect with new people! All are welcome!
Please take care of yourself and reduce your risk of heart disease, or the risk of heart disease for a special woman in your life. I hope we will see you soon for a great online yoga class, meditation, or other activity as you take positive steps to lowering the risk for heart disease!
#heartdisease #heartdiseaseawareness #heartdiseaseprevention #hearthealth #healthyheart #womenshealth
Reflections on 2021 by Nancy Weshkoff
Reflections On 2021
By Nancy Weshkoff
As we say goodbye to 2021, I am looking back to the year that was. 2021 was another strange year as we continued to battle coronavirus. Coronavirus very much was a part of the year, as the year began with the studio doors closed to in-person classes to keep people safe. The teaching schedule still offered great online yoga classes 7 days a week.
As vaccines become available and the virus numbers started to decline, it was time to return to some normalcy. Hybrid yoga classes were formed whereby we could continue to offer great online yoga classes via Zoom, while simultaneously having the return of in-person classes for a small group of students. It was so nice to finally reopen the studio doors to see people in person again, especially those who have been such an important part of the Moonflower Yoga community for many years.
And then came new and more contagious virus strains which are affecting not just Bellmore in Nassau County, Long Island, but many parts of the United States and the world. Once again, the painful decision was made to close the studio doors to all in-person activities to prevent the spread of the virus and to keep the Moonflower Yoga community safe. Great online yoga classes and workshops continue to be offered.
Through it all, I have felt a sense of gratitude. Gratitude for the students who continue to attend online yoga and meditation classes at Moonflower Yoga, and it is always nice to see their smiling faces in the “Zoom Room” as we chat before and after each class. I am grateful to the great yoga teachers and workshops presenters who teach their classes and workshops online as we offer a very interesting variety of activities. I am grateful for my husband, Bob, who supports me on a daily basis and who joins in the Moonflower Yoga community with his monthly “In the Kitchen with Bob” online cooking workshop where we prepare plant-based, vegan recipes in our kitchen with attendees cooking alongside us in their homes. I am grateful to the Moonflower Yoga community that attends the fun Moonflower Yoga Book Club and Needle Arts Groups where we have some laughs together. I am grateful to the medical community that has discovered treatments that help combat the virus and the healthcare workers who tirelessly aid those in need. I am grateful that we have made it through a challenging year.
As we look ahead into 2022, which begins in a few hours, we are beginning the new year similar to the one we are leaving behind. Yet, I am hopeful that things will be better in the spring and summer. We need to take care of ourselves and our loved ones. It is important to take care of our physical bodies as well as our mental health. Attending a great online yoga class can help with both goals. And attending a meditation class or one of our special monthly offerings such as An Evening with Bhante Sujatha or the relaxing Yoga Nidra deep relaxation can bring you some inner peace. There is no contract to sign and no recurring payments, and you can attend just one great online yoga or meditation class and start to feel better. Come give it a try!
Thank you to everyone who has been on this journey with me. May 2022 bring you good health, happiness and many blessings.
It is Moonflower Yoga’s 9th anniversary by Nancy Weshkoff
It is Moonflower Yoga’s 9th anniversary!
By Nancy Weshkoff
This week marks a happy milestone for Moonflower Yoga – it is our 9th anniversary!
It is hard to believe how quickly the years have flown by. When I embarked on the journey of opening a yoga studio 9 years ago in Bellmore, Long Island, New York, I was not exactly sure how things would progress. I will be the first to admit that some things did not always go as planned. But I am happy to say that many things did.
The vision that I had of building a community where people could come together to practice yoga and meditation but to also make friends and expand horizons through the Moonflower Yoga Clubs such as the Moonflower Yoga Book Club and the Moonflower Yoga Needle Arts Group have all happened. And we have all had fun and learned something new in the great workshops including cooking workshops, jewelry workshops, yoga-related workshops, and much more. Meditation activities to promote relaxation and stress reduction were added to the schedule, and we now have ongoing classes, as well as a monthly evening of Guided Meditation and Relaxation with Bhante Sujatha, a Yoga Nidra evening with Jackie Lee, and a Gong Meditation and Relaxation event at the studio with Cathi. Reiki became an addition to the schedule, and many people have become trained in this calming healing system for stress reduction and relaxation. And, of course, the yoga classes which were just a handful of classes at first but have grown to a wonderful variety of daily classes. I have personally witnessed students of all ages who were not familiar with yoga fall in love with yoga as they become stronger, more flexible, improve balance, take care of themselves, and make friends with their fellow attendees.
There have been challenges too. The onset of the COVID pandemic with a forced closure of the studio doors for in-person classes was a very sad time for me. I missed the sound of that creaky front door opening with students walking into the hallway. Through online Zoom classes, we were able to stay in touch and practice yoga together, as well as still hold online workshops and other activities. This proved to be very important for so many in the Moonflower Yoga community who felt less isolated because of the online activities, while they continued to improve their physical health with a regular yoga practice. With the introduction of hybrid classes this summer, we are now welcoming a limited group of fully-vaccinated students into the studio for select classes, and it is nice to see people in person again.
I am so grateful to all the wonderful people who have supported Moonflower Yoga through the years – THANK YOU! You have made a dream come true. Your support of Moonflower Yoga and your friendship have created a very special place. I also could not have done all of this without the great yoga teachers who join me in offering an amazing variety of yoga and meditation classes. To those who provide these great yoga and meditation classes and help students improve their practice, as well as lead wonderful workshops, I thank you for your dedication!
These are challenging times for many including small businesses as we cope with the ongoing pandemic. With your continued support, we can weather the storm and look forward to clearing skies in the future. THANK YOU for 9 wonderful years!
A New Beginning and the Launch of “Yoga Your Way!” by Nancy Weshkoff
A New Beginning and the Launch of “Yoga Your Way!”
By Nancy Weshkoff
We have been through so much with the COVID epidemic. Sadly, thousands have lost their lives. Businesses have closed. School children had to adapt to a new way of learning. Our downtown areas have been dark as there were no patrons to support the business, and it was unsafe to open. We have also missed simple things such as spending time with loved ones.
Through this dark period, I am grateful that there was a “Zoom” which allowed Moonflower Yoga to still be open – albeit remotely – by providing a platform offering great online yoga and meditation classes as well as workshops. It has been a way for me, as well as the other Moonflower Yoga teachers, to stay connected with the students whom we have come to love. For the students, it has been a way to cope with the stress of the pandemic, stretch tight muscles, as well as stay connected and chat in the Zoom rooms with fellow students and the teacher.
Things have been on a positive trend with combating the virus. More people have been vaccinated. Life is starting to slowly return to some of the “normal” things we did pre-pandemic. Better days are ahead. I have given a lot of thought to what this means for Moonflower Yoga, and I have decided to do a partial re-opening of the studio doors for a small group of classes limiting the attendees to 4 fully-vaccinated individuals. This will take place in mid-June, and I am excited for this new chapter!
One of the things people have expressed is they have come to like the convenience and ease of Zoom classes. They also may not feel comfortable yet attending a group class, even if it is limited to 4 students. Keeping these concerns in mind, the idea for the new “hybrid” yoga class was formed whereby EVERY CLASS on the schedule will be available via Zoom, while simultaneously a group of hybrid classes will accommodate a maximum of 4 fully-vaccinated individuals in the studio room for an in-person experience. These great new hybrid yoga classes offer the best of both worlds when deciding to attend a class: you can join remotely via Zoom or select the in-person option if you are fully vaccinated.
I have also come to realize that some classes work better solely as a remote class. Cathi’s lovely Relax and De-Stress with Guided Meditation class on Mondays is an example of this. Students enjoy being comfortable in their home – perhaps reclining on a couch or in their favorite chair – as they listen to the guided 30-minute meditation. One of Moonflower Yoga’s popular teachers, Jessica, lives out of state, but she can continue to teach from her 2 popular yoga classes from her southern home using the Zoom platform. Jackie Lee’s de-stressing, monthly Yoga Nidra, which most attend while reclining at home, also works well in the Zoom environment. And Moonflower Yoga is blessed to have Bhante Sujatha, the loving kindness monk, provide a monthly de-stressing meditation and offer his wisdom and insight with a monthly guided meditation evening for Moonflower Yoga which he offers from various locations around the world using Zoom.
With all these choices now available, it provides an opportunity for a new beginning. I am calling this new chapter “Yoga Your Way!” because it is just that – an opportunity to choose how YOU would like to attend a great yoga or meditation class based on YOUR needs. We are taking some of the things that provided flexibility for our needs, such as online classes, and we are combining that with the in-person experience that so many of us have missed due to the pandemic. For those who are seeking a beginner yoga practice, there are great beginner-level yoga classes on the schedule 6 days a week from which you can choose. It is an exciting new start!
I hope you will take this opportunity to join me, as well as some of the other great yoga teachers at Moonflower Yoga and enjoy a fabulous yoga or meditation class. With the new “Yoga Your Way!” program, you have the choice of deciding which way works best for you. If you need additional information on “Yoga Your Way!”, click on the “Monthly News” or “Descriptions” tab on the moonfloweryoga.com website. The Moonflower Yoga studio doors in Bellmore, Nassau County, Long Island, will start to partially reopen on Sunday, June 13th under the new “Yoga Your Way!” program. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Spring: New Beginnings by Nancy Weshkoff
Spring: New Beginnings
By Nancy Weshkoff
Spring is my favorite time of year. We shake off the remnants of winter. All around you, life is starting to come alive gain. The trees start to bloom, lawns and shrubs are turning green, spring bulbs are blooming, and the weather is warmer. We have more daylight and start to feel more alive than when it is dark before 5 PM.
With a year of living with the Covid pandemic that has gripped the world, spring takes on added meaning for me. I start to feel that we are leaving the darkness of the Covid winter behind us and are moving into the light and to better days ahead. With spring’s arrival it is time to dust off the cobwebs of winter and start to feel renewed and refreshed.
With the warmer weather ahead, you start to wear thinner clothes. Wouldn’t it be great to feel toned in those lighter clothes? A great yoga class can help you tone and stretch your muscles, as well as improve strength, flexibility, and balance. Yoga and meditation are also wonderful for stress reduction and helping us cope with these challenging times. If you are a beginner, there are beginner-level yoga classes on the Moonflower Yoga schedule 6 days a week. And while the studio doors remain closed for the time being, you can still enjoy a great yoga class with one of our great yoga teachers, as you join us online from the comfort of your home using Zoom.
In addition to the daily yoga classes, there are also some great meditation activities on the Moonflower Yoga schedule including a weekly Relax and De-Stress with Guided Meditation class on Mondays at 7 PM, as well as a deep, relaxing monthly Yoga Nidra (yogic sleep) with Jackie Lee, and a fascinating monthly evening of Guided Meditation with Bhante Sujatha, a 30+ year Buddhist Monk who is singularly focused on adding more love in the world. Bhante teaches loving-kindness meditation to people around the globe for all those seeking the art of happiness and contentment. Discover how meditation can help you relax, reduce your stress levels, and put you on a brighter path.
Perhaps you would also like to learn something new as part of a spring renewal. There is a monthly “In the Kitchen with Bob” cooking workshop where you cook in your kitchen, while we simultaneously cook from our kitchen. We supply the recipes in advance, and have a blast cooking delicious, plant-based, healthy recipes together in our respective kitchens. At the end, we enjoy sharing our meal together using Zoom.
For the month of April, we also added a “New Beginnings for Springtime” workshop with clinical herbalist, nutrition educator, and author Jovanka Ciares on Friday, April 23rd. In this workshop, Jovanka will discuss how to use foods and botanicals to support our natural detoxification system and help improve our well being.
Come join us this spring at Moonflower Yoga and take a step towards renewal for yourself! Using Zoom, you can join us from a wider geographic location and are no longer limited to only the Bellmore, Wantagh, Merrick, Seaford, or East Meadow vicinity of Nassau County, Long Island. We have people joining us from other parts of the United States, including mothers and daughters from different states enjoying a class together. I hope you can join us too and have a great start to your spring!
Heart Disease and Women by Nancy Weshkoff
Heart Disease and Women
By Nancy Weshkoff
Heart health is something I take very seriously. And while it is important to focus on heart health year round, the month of February is Heart Health Month and part of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Movement. I am therefore writing this blog to discuss this very important topic.
Let’s begin with these key factors about heart disease in women:
–Heart disease is the NUMBER ONE killer of women in the United States.
–If you stacked up ALL cancer-related deaths for women together (breast, lung, ovarian, liver, skin cancer, etc), all of these cancer-related deaths together would still be number two behind heart disease.
– One in three women in the United States will die every year from heart disease. If you were sitting in a group of women and looked to your right and to your left, sadly one of you will die from heart disease. And of this number, more than 1,800 of these women who die from heart disease will live here on Long Island in New York.
-If you have heart disease, you are at a higher risk of contracting COVID or having serious complications related to COVID. With the spread of coronavirus, it is even more important to pay attention to your heart health.
– Did you know that you can help PREVENT yourself from becoming one of these very sad statistics by proactively taking steps to lower your risk?
While there are some things that you cannot change, such as your family history of heart disease, there are several things that doctors all agree that you CAN do to lower your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. These include:
– Engage in moderate exercise on a regular basis. Sitting on a couch and not moving is bad for you in so many ways. Spending long hours in front of a computer screen without moving is not good for you. Your body needs to move. Yoga is extremely helpful in helping you with your fitness goals. The postures in a yoga class will build strength and flexibility, stretch your muscles, and at the same time, the deep breathing techniques (pranayama) used in a yoga class increase the flow of blood to your heart and your organs.
– Reduce your stress levels. This can be particularly challenging in this coronavirus period where we might find ourselves multi-tasking. It makes it even more important to notice how you cope with stress. Being in a “fight or flight” mode, which is how our body reacts when our stress levels are high, is putting a huge strain on your body functions – including your heart. Meditation is a wonderful tool to help you lower your blood pressure and stress levels. Yoga classes also help you reduce your stress. The online yoga and meditation classes at Moonflower Yoga can get you on the path to accomplishing your stress-reduction goals. Perhaps you do not have a lot of spare time right now with multi-tasking due to the pandemic. I would suggest that it is so important to take even 30 minutes FOR YOU which helps lower those stress levels and enables you to better cope with life’s challenges. Moonflower Yoga currently has great online yoga and meditation classes which you can do from the comfort of your home to help you lower stress and help your heart health. The Schedule tab on the moonfloweryoga.com website lists the daily options taught by our great yoga and meditation teachers.
– Learn to be “in the present moment”. We often worry unnecessarily about things from our past that we cannot change or things in the future that MIGHT happen but have not happened yet and may never happen. In our classes and workshops at Moonflower Yoga, we teach you ways to be more in the present moment and let go of unnecessary worries bringing you more peace and calm.
– Lower your blood pressure: Moving more, decreasing your stress levels, and using tools such as meditation and yoga mentioned above can all help you with this. How about learning something new? Spending some time reading a great book or engaging in a fun activity can help lower your stress levels. We have several great online activities that you can do from home including two fun “Clubs”. In the Moonflower Yoga Book Club, we have fun going on a journey with a new book which helps you discover something new. There is also the Moonflower Yoga Needle Arts Group where you crochet or knit (very meditative!) while enjoying each other’s company. With the Moonflower Yoga Needle Arts Group, we also donate some of our beautiful creations to various charities. And there are great yoga workshops, as well as crafting workshops where we make beautiful jewelry. We have online meditation classes, as well as regular guided meditation workshops. There is also a monthly online yoga nidra evening, which is deep relaxation “yogic sleep”, a wonderful way to de-stress. One hour of yoga nidra = four hours of sleep! These types of interesting and meditative activities can help you on the path of stress reduction, lowering your blood pressure, and having fun – all great things for your heart.
– Fighting loneliness: In this coronavirus period, it is very important to practice social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus. But social distancing often creates loneliness. We need social interaction. Online yoga, meditation, and other activities via Zoom are a great way to combat loneliness and help you feel better. Before and after each online class, there is a Zoom Room where you can safely see and chat with fellow attendees, have a laugh, or share a story. It makes a big difference to have this social interaction and help you feel better, thereby reducing your stress levels.
-Are you eating a healthy diet, or are you eating fast food or other unhealthy foods that are high in fat and cholesterol? Eating unhealthy foods can clog your arteries and increase your risk for heart disease. One fun, new online activity that we offer at Moonflower Yoga is a monthly “In the Kitchen with Bob” cooking workshop where we connect online via Zoom, and we cook healthy meals together during the workshop and then enjoy the finished product at the end of the workshop. These delicious recipes are plant-based, low in fat, and heart healthy. And we have a lot of laughs cooking together – a great stress reducer.
As someone who has a history of heart disease in my family, I take heart disease very seriously. My stress levels and blood pressure were very high – all red flags for being on the path to a heart attack or stroke. Through yoga, meditation, learning to be more in the present moment, and spending time in engaging activities such as reading and needle arts, I have been able to lower my blood pressure to normal. You, too, can lower your risk. We hope to see you soon at a great online yoga class, meditation, or workshop at Moonflower Yoga. With online yoga and meditation classes offered via Zoom, there is also no longer a geographic limit to Bellmore, Wantagh, Merrick, East Meadow, Freeport, Seaford, Massapequa, or other towns in Nassau County, Long Island. We now have students joining us from states other than New York including Florida, California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Vermont. It is great to connect with new people! All are welcome!
Please take care of yourself and reduce your risk of heart disease, or the risk of heart disease for a special woman in your life. I hope we will see you soon for a great online yoga class, meditation, or other activity as you take positive steps to lowering the risk for heart disease!
It is Moonflower Yoga’s 8th anniversary! by Nancy Weshkoff
It is Moonflower Yoga’s 8th anniversary!
By Nancy Weshkoff
T
his week marks another milestone for Moonflower Yoga – it is our 8th anniversary! When I embarked on the journey of opening a yoga studio 8 years ago in Bellmore, Long Island, New York, I was not exactly sure how things would progress. I will be the first to admit that some things did not go as planned. But I am happy to say that many things did. The vision that I had of building a community where people could come together to practice yoga and meditation but to also make friends and expand horizons through the Moonflower Yoga Clubs such as the Moonflower Yoga Book Club, Needle Arts Group, Mah Jongg Club and Canasta Club have all happened. And we have all had fun and learned something new in the great workshops including cooking workshops, jewelry workshops, yoga-related workshops, and much more. Reiki became an addition to the schedule, and many people have become trained in this calming healing system to help the practitioner learn tools for stress reduction and relaxation. And, of course, the yoga classes which were just a handful of classes at first but have grown to a wonderful variety of daily classes. I have personally witnessed students of all ages who were not familiar with yoga fall in love with yoga as they become stronger, more flexible, improve balance, take care of themselves, and make friends with their fellow attendees.
I could not have done all of this without the great yoga teachers who join me in offering an amazing variety of yoga and meditation classes each day. To those who provide these great yoga classes and help students improve their practice, I thank you for your dedication!
Most importantly – THANK YOU to the people who have walked through the doors of Moonflower Yoga and now join us on a regular basis via great online Zoom classes. Your support of Moonflower Yoga and your friendship have created a very special place.
These are challenging times for small businesses as we cope with the pandemic. With your continued support, we can weather the storm and look forward to clearing skies in the future. THANK YOU for 8 wonderful years!
Small Businesses in a Coronavirus World by Nancy Weshkoff
Small Businesses in a Coronavirus World
By Nancy Weshkoff
These are very difficult times for so many of us. This is particularly true of small business owners. Small business owners form the backbone of our local economy. They are your local restaurants, hair salons, service stations, and businesses such as Moonflower Yoga. They greet you when you walk in the door of their business because you are special to them. We are the people you meet on the street when walking through your neighborhood. We live in the community and we pay taxes in the local Nassau County, Long Island community to support the schools, parks, police, and other services. We are the stores you see on Main Street, and we are essential to keeping our communities flourishing.
I fully support the need for social distancing in our current Covid19 world, as it is vital that we stay safe. The health and safety of the Moonflower Yoga students and teachers is of the utmost importance to me. While we are following these social distancing protocols, it is causing a financial hardship for many of the local businesses in the community. We need local businesses! The owners of the small businesses are also paying salaries to their local workers to help those workers feed their families and have shelter. Local businesses give you the special attention that you do not get when ordering from giant online services. When this crisis has passed, we need local businesses to still be here. Sadly I think some of us will not survive this.
YOU can make a difference in helping to keep these local businesses still alive. Some local restaurants are staying open for take-out orders or curbside pick-up. Support them by ordering from them. I order my fresh produce from a local Wantagh business that offers curbside pick up. Service stations are still open to take care of your automotive needs. If there is a local business that can be open during this crisis, please help them.
As for Moonflower Yoga, while the doors of the studio are not open for physical classes in the Bellmore studio space, I am still running Moonflower Yoga, and the great yoga teachers you know and love are still teaching great yoga classes for Moonflower Yoga through online class offerings via Zoom. The people you have met at Moonflower Yoga are still around, and you can see them and speak with them in the chat area before the online classes begin. You may be feeling isolated and alone these days, but you are not alone. Join us remotely for a great yoga class, workshop, or Club event from the safety and comfort of your living room and connect with the people and teachers you have met through Moonflower Yoga. Some of the “snowbirds” who are in Florida and California are joining in. By attending a great online yoga or mediation class, you are doing 2 important things: Firstly, you are taking care of YOU by taking steps toward stress reduction in this challenging time, as well as moving your body which might be getting less physical activity than normal as we stay indoors. Secondly, you are helping a small business such as Moonflower Yoga, which supports the local community, survive. Small businesses such as Moonflower Yoga need you! Please help small businesses survive this challenging time and keep our local Long Island communities alive. Thank you!
