CNY Welcomes Our Newest Yoga Instructors
Come Join Them During The Week Of May 21 -May 26
(This week is not considered part of the 8-week session)

Monday, May 21
12:00 p.m. Hatha Yoga-Heather

Tuesday, May 22
9:30 a.m. Hatha Yoga-Heather

Wednesday, May 23
5:45 p.m. Hatha Yoga-Heather

Thursday, May 24
9:30 a.m. Hatha Yoga-Heather
5:45 p.m. Vinyasa Flow–Keri

Friday, May 25
12:00 p.m. Hatha Yoga-Heather

Saturday, May 26
9:00 a.m. Hatha Yoga-Heather
Classes are open to all levels
$10/class drop-in fee
Unlimited Class Pass Holders-No additional fee

Please join CNY Healing Arts Wellness Center and Spa for our Yoga Studio Open House!

June 1st 5:30pm-8pm

5:30pm-6:00pm      Tour our New Facility, Meet our Instructors
6:00pm-7:00pm      Yoga Demonstration
7:00pm-8:00pm      Chair Massage, Smoothies and Refreshments

This is a great opportunity to build our yoga community and share our passion for yoga with one another!!  Pre-register to attend this free event 315-671.5755 or email credmond@cnyhealingarts.com 
   
Discounted Yoga Packages available during event only!
New students: Two weeks of unlimited yoga – $25.00
Existing students: Pre-paid $10 classes (100 maximum)
  
Our Yoga Instructors:
Cindy Broccoli, Judiann Cesta, Catalina Gonzalez, Lisa Miles, Lee Mosseau, Katrin Naumann, Kaye Smith and Amy Van Kirk .

For more information or to view our class schedule, please visit our website www.cnyhealingarts.com.

CNY Healing Arts Wellness Center and Spa
195 Intrepid Lane
Syracuse, NY 13205

Yoga in the Breeze Under the Trees: This Wednesday, May 16th!
May 16th* 4:30-5:45 (rain date the 23rd)

*Only $10 per student*

Join Christa Tyson, CYT & CPYT, for one of her last yoga workshops in New York! Weather permitting, we will practice an all-levels, all-welcome gently moving yoga class in the courtyard under the blossoming trees! Feel free to bring your own mat, although we do have mats to share. Please call 244-1280 ext 2 to register. If you have not pre-registered for the class, please call the day of the event to confirm that weather is temperate enough for class to be held.

*Rain date is May 23rd.

~Namaste~

MAY – WELLNESS WORKSHOPS & EVENTS:

Meditation with Suzanne Maguire
May 3rd & 17th
5:30pm-6:30pm
Join Suzanne in the CNY Fertility Reception Area for an evening of relaxation and meditation.
RSVP to 518-724-5750, Fee $15

Mother’s Day Wellness Retreat
May 12, 9:00-12:30pm
*RSVP to 518-724-5750 by May 10th
Vinyasa Yoga (all-levels welcome), Brunch, Reflexology, and Chair Massage. Come Celebrate! Honor & Give Back to yourself for all the amazing, selfless work you do as a mom. Come show gratitude to the amazing moms out there who have touched your life in some way!  Fee: $30

Mommy & Me Workshops
Mondays, 10:45-11:45 a.m.
(May 14 – Advanced Registration Required)
RSVP to Lhill@cnyhealingarts.com
For women at least six weeks postpartum and their pre-crawling babies. Postures for mom and baby too. This is a wonderful opportunity to connect with other new moms. Please bring a blanket for baby.
Fee: $15 per workshop

Breastfeeding Basics
Monday, May 14, 5:30-6:30pm
RSVP to 518.724.5750 by May 13th
Topics include benefits of breastfeeding, basic positioning and latch, how to maintain a good milk supply and nutritional needs of mother and baby. Fee: $10

Workshops & Classes:

Hot House Yoga – May 11th & 25th, 6-8pm. This is our most popular class so be sure to RSVP to reserve your spot at 315.671.5755.

Fertile Foods Workshop
Saturday May 12th 1-2:30 – No cost to attend.
Join Heather Neely, RD for a workshop on eating right for fertility. We will discuss how a healthy diet can help increase your chances for pregnancy. Topics include: foods to add or limit in your diet, key nutrients you should be getting now, food and it’s affect your hormones, and getting to or maintaining a healthy weight. There will be a question and answer session. RSVP to reserve your spot at 315.671.5755

Meditation Workshop
Saturday May 19th, 1:00-3:00pm – Fee $15
Join Michele Westphal for this wonderful Meditation experience! Meditation is the art of looking within and discovering one’s own inner being. This leads us to new inner experiences and helps us to transform our day-to-day life into a better, more meaningful and fulfilling existence. Experience the divine within yourself in a calm and focused environment, while we learn about the practice of meditation, explore meditation techniques, and discuss how to incorporate meditation into your life. RSVP to reserve your spot at 315.671.5755

Restorative Yoga & Meditation Class
Sundays, 12:00-1:00pm
Join us for this supported, conscious body/mind relaxation practice. Restorative poses offer benefits to both the body and mind, for conditions ranging from insomnia to asthma and chronic pain to depression as well as infertility related issues. RSVP to reserve your spot at 315.671.5755

Unique Yoga Studio:
If you’ve taken yoga classes or visited a yoga studio in the CNY area then you must be aware of what a unique studio we have at CNY Healing Arts. Look around. We truly have a unique lineup of offerings here: Vinyasa Flow Yoga, Prenatal Yoga, Kripalu-Based Yoga, Fertility Yoga, Kundalini-InspiredYoga, Yin Yoga, Hot House Yoga and Restorative Yoga. I mean WOW, so many ways to experience the beauty of yoga. Check out our schedule below and if you haven’t practiced with us before, or if it’s been a while, please stop by and we’ll stretch, om and breathe together. Om Shanti

Monday:
4:15-5:30 pm Vinyasa Flow with Amy Van Kirk
5:45-7:00 pm Yin Yoga with Amy Van Kirk
7:15-8:30 pm Prenatal Yoga with Michele Westphal

Tuesday:
4:15-5:30 pm Vinyasa Flow with Cynthia Powers-Broccoli
5:45-7:00 pm Yoga for Fertility with Cynthia Powers-Broccoli
7:15-8:30pm Vinyasa Flow with Kaye Smith

Wednesday:
4:15-5:30pm Vinyasa Flow with Catalina Gonzalez
5:45-7:00pm Vinyasa Flow with Catalina Gonzalez

Thursday:
4:15-5:30 pm Vinyasa Flow with Catalina Gonzalez
5:45-7:00 pm Kripalu-Based Yoga Experience with Lisa Miles
7:15-8:30 pm Kundalini Inspired Yoga with Lee Mosseau

Friday:
6:00-8:00pm Hot Vinyasa Yoga (April 27th)

Saturday:
8:30-9:45 am Vinyasa Flow with Amy Van Kirk
10:30-11:45 am Vinyasa Flow (open level) with Kaye Smith

Sunday:
10:30-11:45 am Vinyasa Flow with Cynthia Powers-Broccoli
12:15-1:30pm Restorative Yoga & Meditation Class with Michele Westphal

We use Cutera’s laser machine – the same one featured on Rachael Ray TV!

This week on the Rachael Ray show, dermatologist Anne Chapas from New York featured the Cutera Excel V™ treatment for spider veins and rosacea. Her patient, Maritza, had noticed several tiny veins and general redness showing up on her cheeks and chin. On the show, Dr. Chapas used the Excel V to literally erase the abnormal vessels and give Maritza an even, clear skin tone. Rachael and the audience were WOW’d as Maritza’s vessels were wiped away by the Excel V.

Call to schedule a consultation today on the benefits you can receive with the Cutera Laser! 315.671.5755

When I brought him home at first it was one sunlit moment after another. Everything felt lovely. Those first few days if one is fortunate enough to have the support system I had, (a loving husband, an over-the-moon mother who camped out at my house the first few hours and days), the utopia one can feel is amazing. Your body is still in shock from giving birth. Your mind seems to overcompensate for that with a surge of hormones that make everything feel surreal and dream-like. My job was to nurse, eat and sleep. The same as my baby. We were very similar those first few days. We were both healing from the birthing process and we were getting to know each other. I was in a state of absolute balance with my role as his mother.  I was doing it beautifully. I was where I had always dreamed to be. For about 144 hours.

Then Mom went home. My husband gave in to the sleepiness that the adrenalin wave he’d been riding on finally broke over. I remember the moment reality hit me. Or should I say, negativity.

I was sitting on the couch with my swaddled sweetie, and looking in his eyes. He was looking back into mine. The clock was ticking faintly. The street below my cozy upstairs flat seemed miles away.

I had a thought, and the thought was more of an image of a little boy (about the age he is now) going off to his first day of school. And this was not a good thought. This was a thought oozing with fear. Fear for my little boy in the big wide world. I thought of his being teased, being hurt, being bullied. I thought of the put- downs, the rejections, the frustrations his peers would surely evoke in him one day. I would not be there to protect him. I had never been further than 10 feet from him.

I sat there and I wept. I wept for the pain this life would bring my son. Something had been triggered. One negative thought brought on another and before I knew it I was paralyzed in my own home. I didn’t want to take him for a walk, for a drive. Taking him to his doctor appointment a few days later was as frightening as if I were about to walk over hot coals. What kind of mother exposes her son to countless viruses bringing a baby out in public? It got worse. I began to imagine things happening to him. Dropping him in his car seat on the concrete steps. Forgetting him in the car. Something falling on his head. It got more and more dreadful each time. My resolve was to keep him safe from public. This went on for a couple of weeks. I am grateful it did not last long. For many women, postpartum depression is a long journey through dark and cold territory of which there is no map. I am happy to report I did not suffer in this state for long.

This is not because I am a particularly super-powered person who can turn off and on depression and anxiety with a snap of my fingers. Not at all. This passing by of a state I felt every fiber of my mind and body slipping into was all due to a choice. A choice that required hard work and disciplined thinking. A choice and a level of work I didn’t know I had accomplished until I reflected on this period of my life years later.

The choice came in the form of a mantra I began saying over and over to myself during my 15 minute post-natal yoga DVD I would do in my living room each morning of my maternity leave. As I brought strength back into my body and air into my lungs I would bring these words into my heart. The words “I am grateful for this life. I am grateful for this life.”

As I would say this to myself, the memories would flood my mind. Being a child myself pushed in the mud and laughed at. Being nine and so nervous about Monday at school that I would fake a stomachache. Being bullied. Being insulted. Being called ugly, and later, much worse.  I liked to dress a little more rock n roll than my private school peers. I had pale skin and big eyes. I had wild hair and an affinity for loud and not so mainstream music.  I was not taken seriously. I was laughed at and teased.

All these memories intruded my 12 years later yoga session in those mornings of my maternity leave. But then I allowed myself to acknowledge the memories, just as yoga instructors will suggest, “acknowledge your thoughts and then let them go” they would say. But a funny thing happened. I acknowledged my thoughts, and more memories piled on top of those. More powerful memories. Memories that I instantly knew served to guide me in a better direction. Memories of me laughing at the callousness, of standing up for myself and asking them to stop. Of the looks on their faces when their bullying was so directly acknowledged. The memories carried with them my first time feeling pride in myself, strength in my character. I felt the first time I felt confident in myself. I felt the first time I asked a boy to dance and he said yes. I felt the beauty that trials and tribulations of life brought me to, as life guided me through those trials and tribulations and the problems, the pain itself shaped me into a woman of integrity, compassion, strength, confidence, and empathy.

This flood of memories and feelings all came from that simple mantra “I am grateful for this life.” And it took mere weeks for my mind to stop focusing on the what if’s regarding my son experiencing pain, and instead to celebrate the opportunities to thrive in this world that such pain will generate within him. I read recently a quote from someone that stated that they preferred to be around people who had suffered, for they were kinder.

This world is a perfect balance of pain and suffering and joy and happiness. You cannot experience one without the other, and you can’t experience any of it sitting in your apartment afraid to leave.

I was told later that I may have been experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression or possibly agoraphobia. I have since been diagnosed as having anxiety disorder. This part of me has proved to be a blessing. For with my worry comes the appreciation and acknowledgment in those moments when I am not worried. With my fear comes courage, as I have lived through fear and moved through it and danced with it on many dark lonely nights and woken up to a bright sunlit kitchen and coffee aroma carrying me from my bed and into a day where the fear has subsided and anything is possible. I have trained myself through the power of attraction to put my positive intentions out there in the world. And the positive intentions do find me. It was only through these crippling weeks living in fear of my new babies life that I had to make a decision to live with more positive focus or else risk missing out on the pure joy that comes from motherhood, from watching your child survive and thrive.

Perspective is the most powerful thing we humans have the ability to play with. We can shape it to work for us, or against us. I enjoy ALL of it truly now because if I don’t, then these less than 60 years I have left, (if I’m so blessed),  will be one big long rainy cold life.  I have had fearful moments and days since then, but I have never let it get the best of me, because I know that this too shall pass and life goes on whether your running huddled under your umbrella as it rains and rumbles around you or you go skipping in the storm.

My son starts kindergarten next year. And he has been in preschool for a full year now. He has been teased and pushed around but I will never forget the day I watched him stand back up brush himself off and say to his buddy “If you’re going to push me again could you make me slide all the way to that tree!” Both boys smiled and ran off to enjoy the fun.  He is grateful for this life.  Like mother, like son.

By Angela Aurigema

—

Prenatal and Postnatal Classes offered at CNY Healing Arts Centers:

Syracuse
Mondays, 7:15-8:30 pm (Prenatal Yoga)

Albany
Mondays, 6:45-7:45 pm (Prenatal/Postnatal Yoga)

Rochester
Mondays, 5:15-6:30 pm (Prenatal/Postnatal Yoga – Beginner Level)
Tuesdays, 6:30-7:45 pm (Prenatal Yoga – Beginner Level, April 24th-May 22nd only)
Thursdays, 6:45-8:00 pm (Prenatal Yoga – Beginner  Level)
Saturdays, 10:30-11:45 am (Prenatal Yoga – Beginner Level)

Relax with one of our indulgent pedicures and let your pretty toes out for the party this season!  We offer many types from our Classic and Signature pedicures to our Express pedicures when you’re busy and on the run.

Dry skin on the heels is often a problem this time of year.  A paraffin wax treatment is available to help alleviate this.  Paraffin’s natural emollients soften and exfoliate the skin leaving a visibly smoother skin surface.  There is also a Mint Mask pedicure which is like a facial for your feet in which they will be treated to a cooling, rejuvenating mask that will leave them feeling completely refreshed.

Treat your hands and nails to one of our manicures as well.  We can make your nails look healthy and strong, as well as your skin!  We offer many different types of manicures to meet your needs whether you’re in the mood for a total hand-pampering treatment or an express color change.  A paraffin treatment for your hands is also available.

Many different type of nail services are available from a classic French manicure to total glam!  CNY Healing Arts offers hot oil manicures, buffing, polishing, fiberglass artificial nails, and Axxium Gel overlays for your fingernails and toenails, as well as our silk wraps.

Whatever your needs are, give us a call or stop in to one of our centers listed below.  Not only do these services provide you with a great look, they also make you feel great.  Allow yourself to sit back and experience the ultimate in relaxation and self-indulgence with a manicure and/or pedicure today!

Albany:
38A Old Sparrowbush Road, Latham, NY 12110
518.724.5750

Rochester:
2244 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14610
585.244.1280 ext. 2

Springtime is officially ­­here!  The warmer temperatures mean skin is in!  As we exchange our heavier clothing for shorts and tank tops we may notice that our skin could use some tender loving care.  CNY Healing Arts Centers offer services from head to toe to transform dull, winter skin to healthy, radiant, beautiful skin!

CNY Healing Arts offers many facials to meet your skin type needs.  Whether you have dry, oily, or combination skin there’s a facial for you to get your skin in great condition!

As we shed our winter clothing, we may notice those bumps and eruptions on our skin that have been covered up with our cozy sweaters all winter long.  A condition called keratosis pilaris is a buildup of protein in the hair follicles, which causes bumpy skin on arms and legs which looks like ‘goose bumps’.  The most effective way to deal with this condition is an exfoliation or to begin the reduction of clogged pores.  Another concern is back acne which is caused by the production of sebum and can lead to inflammation and can sometimes be painful too.

A body polish by one of our trained estheticians is an excellent way to gently exfoliate the skin and leave the skin smooth and supple.  Many over-the-counter products contain extremely abrasive ingredients which can scratch the surface and lead to further irritation and eruptions.­­

A body wrap usually begins with exfoliation and followed by the application of product to meet your skin care needs which helps to rid the body of toxins.  Your body is then truly wrapped or covered after the ‘body mask’ has been put on.

When combining either of these services with a massage, the results are glowing!  Massage reduces the tension in your body thereby increasing the circulation and improving the condition of the skin!

For more information, give us a call or stop into any of our CNY Healing Arts Centers:

Syracuse:
195 Intrepid Lane, Syracuse, NY 13205
315.671.5755

Albany:
38A Old Sparrowbush Road, Latham, NY 12110
518.724.5750

Rochester:
2244 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14610
585.244.1280 ext. 2