Yoga Retreats in Puglia
This summer I’ll be back in Puglia planning my 2013 retreats there. Yoga in Italy might just be in your future after you read what my guests from this year’s retreat at Trullo Solari wrote:

“Sara was great and her selection of this location was excellent.”

“I highly recommend Trullo Solari to anyone who truly wants peace and quiet . . . It is truly a paradise!!”

“I had a wonderful time! The setting was lovely: beautiful and comfortable.”

“Sara is a great instructor, and it was nice to be able to practice indoors and out. Classes were a good mix of breathing, stretching, and strength.”

“The food was stupendous—abundant and perfect.”

“Having three vegetarian meals a day was great. I thought I would miss having meat, but I did not.”

“Sara is helpful with all things related to yoga, and to have her undivided attention was best of all! I would definitely attend one of her retreats in the future!”

If you haven’t voted yet for your choice of retreats in 2013, what are you waiting for? Isn’t getting a $150 discount off of the retreat price worth a few seconds of your time? Vote here!

And if you need more incentive to make a yoga retreat your next vacation, read this.

Yoga Videos
I’ve posted a couple more clips of yoga poses for you on my YouTube page. I’ve been so overwhelmed with the post-production of The Hauber Method^TM videos that my yoga offerings have been sorely lacking. Enjoy these little bits of assistance with your practice, and look for the completed video library of The Hauber Method^TM by the end of August, too.

Moving from Pain to Joy
If you’re lucky enough to be in Chicago at the end of June, you’ll get to experience the first of what will be many workshops, classes, and texts designed to help you live life fully and freely in the body that you have. Called “Moving from Pain to Joy,” this series exemplifies the evolution of my teaching over the last 13 years. More details are coming soon . . .

There you have it: A busy summer looms ahead. But a summer full of yoga is probably the best summer I can imagine. I hope to share a part of it with you!

Click the image to find out why your next vacation should be a yoga retreat.

I’m pretty speechless when people ask me, “How did it go?”

The only words that come out are: wonderful, incredible, perfect, beautiful, better than I ever imagined.

I can’t say enough good things about our location, our hosts, or my incredibly gracious and lovely guests. We had so much fun, it’s hard to even imagine we didn’t know each other well prior to the start of the trip. Amazing what a week dedicated to yoga and wellbeing can do.

One thing I have to say a few words about was the delightful evening we spent enjoying an incredible, home-made feast . . . of Indian food! Our menu at the trullo was intentionally vegetarian, and one of our selected dinners was an Indian curry. Little did we know, but Sareeta Nair, the chef responsible for said feast, had prepared for us countless dishes of the most flavorful, traditional Indian dishes we had even tasted. Not only that, we had enough food to invite new friends over for leftovers the next day!

If you’re planning to rent a villa or hold a private event or party in Puglia, and you’re looking for a great dining experience, please give Sareeta a call. She can be reached at: (0039) 34 80813307 or (0039) 0831 308324; her email address is sareetanair@hotmail.com.

I’ll be writing more about the contacts I made in Puglia as I plan several (yes, several) retreats there for 2013. Yes, folks, there are some exciting events coming your way . . .

Namaste,
Sara

One of our outstanding vegetarian meals in Puglia was catered by Sareeta Nair. Sooooo good!

YogaFest NC is an exciting full-day conference filled with wellness and educational opportunities, all centered around the practice of yoga. Attendees will develop a greater awareness and deeper knowledge of yoga practice and of ways to lead a healthy lifestyle.

The event takes place at the Midtown Hilton in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Saturday, April 14, 2012, and will be led by event chair Dr. Jeffrey Engel, Health Director for the State of North Carolina. More than 200 people will come together to experience accessible yoga for all skill levels and learn about improved mobility through the gentle practice of yoga, proper breathing techniques, awareness of emotional health, and better eating habits.

Yoga classes for diverse skill levels will be taught by local master teachers, and expert speakers will share knowledge on practices to improve mobility, emotional health, and eating habits. Select exhibitors (including SaraHauber.com!) will be present in fields related to improved mobility and healthy lifestyle to further enhance the experience for all participants.

YogaFest NC is open to anyone interested in learning about or broadening their knowledge of yoga and improving their quality of life. Individuals who will be interested in YogaFest NC include:
· individuals with compromised mobility due to medical conditions,
· individuals new to yoga and curious about its benefits,
· experienced yoga enthusiasts and teachers who seek a more diverse practice and community,
· Seniors and Baby Boomers who seek a healthy, active and mind-stimulating lifestyle.

All net proceeds from the event will support the mission of You Call This Yoga: to provide education about gentle, accessible, restorative yoga; yoga programming; and grants for yoga teachers.

Register today, and join us for a great day on April 14!

Click the image to register for this great event!

What a long and challenging journey it’s been. But it’s also become one of the most rewarding efforts of my life thus far.

I’m currently releasing the first 2 of 6 THM video sessions for pilot testing to a select group of 10 volunteers. Each volunteer will gain access to all 6 THM sessions FREE for life!

After carefully integrating the pilot-testers’ feedback into the complete 6-week THM series, the package will be ready for purchase. Subscribe to my newsletter so you can be among the first to find out when that is.

If you’d like to be one of the volunteers selected to test sessions 1 and 2, please e-mail me and tell me why you’d be a valuable contributor. My newsletter–alerting my subscribers to this amazing opportunity to try THM for FREE–went out today, so the 10 volunteer spots might already be full. But try me!

Thank you all for your support as I’ve taken this amazing journey into the world of mass-producing my “secret weapon” against back pain. My methods have worked for so many of my clients and students over the years, it makes me incredibly happy that greater numbers of people will soon benefit from The Hauber Method^TM!

See the sparkly, new, updated Back Care page on this site for all the latest info!

The new Back Care page on SaraHauber.com

Yoga is a joy for me, and my intention with each class is to give you the opportunity to breathe deeply, stretch deeply, and re-energize your body. I will always give you gentle reminders about proper spinal alignment during class, but if you really want to eliminate back pain and experience profound integration in your back, core, and hips . . .

Core Integration is the class to attend! Also starting February 22, I’ll be adding a new 6:30 p.m. Core Integration class to my schedule.

I hesitated to add new classes to my weekly schedule, given my upcoming Italian retreat and my plans to help establish yoga programs abroad this summer. But I love Balanced Movement Studio and it just felt right to add more opportunities to spread the love and wellbeing.

Just be sure to come to class early and often before the travel season begins. I want to see all of your smiling faces soon! (Note: Registration is not required. Just show up!)

Click the image to sign up for any of Sara's 3 classes at Balanced Movement Studio!

In what has to be the most exciting news since the announcement of my newest workshops in Hillsborough and Raleigh, two new yoga classes have been added to my weekly teaching schedule.

And get this: You don’t even have to leave your home to be in my class!

That’s right, I am finally becoming an early adopter after years of being the slowest technology adopter around (Facebook friends, you know how long it took me to finally get on board).

Due to advances in audio, video, and wifi, it’s easy and oh-so fun for you to join me for complete, real-time yoga classes in the comfort of your own home. All you need is a computer with a camera (quality not important), a reliable internet connection, and registration before the class begins.

Each class runs for 4 consecutive weeks and each is strictly limited to 8 students. (You can register for and attend more than one class in a week, though.)

Click here to sign up today! Classes start February 12. With such limited enrollment, they are sure to fill fast.

Starting February 12, you can practice yoga with Sara without leaving home!

Should you really be doing this pose at the beginning of yoga class?

What is spinal flexion? Flexion of the spine occurs when your rib cage rounds closer to your pelvis or thighs. In most yoga classes, flexion is achieved by performing common Forward Folds, such as Balasana (child’s pose), Uttanasana (standing forward fold), and Paschimottanasana (seated forward fold).

However, there is no anatomical support for yoga teachers’ choice to put students with low back pain immediately into a forward-folding position. Flexion does not alleviate dysfunction in most cases of low back pain. (Notable exceptions are the rare conditions spondylolisthesis and sponylolysis, affectionately known as “Spondy,” in which vertebrae have fractured and slipped forward, rather than backward.)

A quick anatomy lesson: The spine and pelvis are meant to float slightly above the heads of the femur with the help of beautifully constructed soft tissue (tendons, ligaments, muscles, fascia, etc, etc.) that is designed to be flexible enough so that our legs are free to move us forward (think “walking”). But when we sit all day and have not ever used our deep abdominal support system effectively, our bodies simply collapse into our hip joints, which become tight and inflexible. Our lower back falls into flexion, losing its natural, anterior curve. The muscles of our hips (hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors) get shortened and tight, while the muscles of our back get stretched and weak.

A tight hip complex, and a low back that lacks stability, are directly implicated in most cases of back pain. Therefore, what the vast majority of low back-pain sufferers need is NOT, as you will frequently hear in yoga class, “space in the low back.” There’s too much space in the low back already; what the back is crying out for is strength.

So why would most yoga teachers instruct back-pain students to do forward folds immediately at the beginning of class–and sometimes throughout class–without doing some serious back-strengtheners and hip-stretches first?

One reason: Lack of extensive training in, or experience with, functional anatomy. They’ve heard that space in the low back is good, so that’s what they teach.

If you have back pain, please be careful with your yoga class selections. Even better, take one of my workshops, and then join me for my online streaming yoga classes designed just for people with back pain . . . coming in February.

A few important notes:

• The villa at which we are staying (pictured below) is not the one mentioned in the article, but it is nearby. There are at least 150 such villas in Puglia, many of them glorious in their own special ways.
• We will NOT be rising at 7:45 for two hours of yoga. Yowza! Instead, we’ll get up at a sane 8:30 a.m. for optional meditation, and we’ll practice yoga in the afternoon after warming up our bodies and our senses with excursions, massages, play time–or lounging.
• My style of teaching is a little more playful than that described in the article. Check out my YouTube videos to see what I mean.
• My retreat costs much less than the one featured by this writer–and most other retreats I’ve seen in the area! Why is that? I chose the right villa and we just happen to want to make it affordable for you, that’s all.

Enjoy the read, and e-mail me with any questions about my retreat. The menu is set, the excursions are coming together, and I’m already getting hungry for the locally grown organic olive oil . . .

The front view of the Trullo Solari, where we'll stay. Yes, the pool and yoga deck are in the back.

By the way, you’ll each get a complete list of the pranayama, meditations, and asana that we’ve practiced after the fourth class, so make sure I get your e-mail address for that.

And now, the asana from lessons 1 and 2:
[Performing all with bandhas engaged]
Tadasana (mountain pose)
Vrksasana (tree pose)
Utthita hasta padangusthasana (standing big-toe pose)
Natarajasana (dancer)
Salabhasana (locust)
Dhanurasana (bow pose)
“Moving” cow pose
Upavistha Konasana (seated wide-angle pose)
Savasana

Virabhadrasana II (warrior II)
Trikonasana (triangle)
Tadasana
Dwi Pada Pitham (two-legged table)
Apanasana (the “vital air” pose, with legs crossed over)
Jathara Parivrtti (belly twist, with legs extended)
Savasana

Remember to practice with excellent spinal posture, deep and full breathing, and your bandhas engaged, and these should feel great! See you next week . . .

If you're taking Yoga without Back Pain, you know why I'm smiling in Salabhasana!

Just click this link and drag the horizontal, gray scroll-bar to reveal layer after layer of human awesomeness!

The illustration is not so terribly detailed as to make the transversus abdominus (your most important structural muscle) visible, but still . . . If you drag the scroll bar so that it covers the fist and wrist of the arm icon on the scroll panel, and then zoom in with the “+” sign, you can get a great view of the internal and external obliques. They’re two more sets of muscles crucial for spinal movement and stability. We worked them a lot in Yoga without Back Pain class today (think, Trikonasana)!

Click the image to go to Zygote Body and see your 3D body!