Monday, September 7, 2009

Come to Happy Yoga with Live Music!!

http://www.lotus7yoga.com/workshops.html#cox
Happy Yoga w/Live Music with Troy CoxDate: Friday, September 18, 2009 Time: 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM Cost: $20 in advance/ $25 at the door
Sign up here!In Happy Yoga, everyone is happy! At least for one hour through dance, live music and laughter the worries that plague our daily thoughts melt away through yoga postures, stress reduction techniques, live music, and a little philosophy. Troy has effected changes in both his life and the lives of his students. Join us for the brilliant live Spanish Classical Guitar playing of world renowned artist Efrain from San Clemente in a rare appearance. *All levels are welcome but it is preferable that you have an understanding of basic yoga poses. Immediately following, join your fellow students with complimentary food and refreshments. Call Lisa at 949-888-4503 or contact Troy at trainertroy.com for more info!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Wrap it up baby~going to America

Coming home to America today, glad for it. What a trip. I feel like I know and appreciate Scotland and my friend Julian much better for it. I got a good glimpse at the country, now I need to Conquer Ireland and England, before moving back down to Europe, oh yea and Canada is on the list.
Tips for visiting Scotland:
  1. Do not expect to understand anything anyone says just because it is an English speaking country, we have dropped a lot of saying and phrases in American culture that do not translate and the accents, wow, like listening to singing.
  2. Be ready for cussing and curse words to be used in every sentence, including the F* bomb, it is a way of life here, I love that people can say whatever they want. It is a little like N.Y., but even more so.
  3. The ATM fees can rack up, have cash and learn what it looks like so you know you got the right change.
  4. Come in the off season, tourist can be a hassle, oh wait, I am one too, darn.
  5. Take a bus tour the first day, it helps to get a lay of the land and hear the accent.
  6. Do not eat the Haggis, unless you are very, very brave, and do not even ask me about black pudding.
  7. Wear good shoes for walking and do alot of hill training before getting here.
  8. See the North country, like nothing on earth: DSL: Deep Scottish Love.
  9. Avoid, "in America" conversations, switch the conversations to "Scotland is so lovely", it avoids any messy political talk.
  10. Have a good friend to tell you where the locals go.
  11. Wear a helmet whilst biking.

HAVE FUN!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Haggis Tour to Date

Cheers Mate,
been a long week. Came back on Wednesday from three days in the Higlands. Learnt how the Scotts lived in Black houses with three generations and the cattle in one room, a fire with no chimney, covered in soot, not fun. Saw the tip of the world, land of giants and legends, Lochs and narrow cliff roads. Learnt to dance a Scott Jig, walked in castles and forts. Grew tired of 20 year olds and their babble. Drank and laughed, hiked and slept. Me favorite spots were William Wallace monument, climbed all 200 feet, the view was amazin', and the walk to a river on the side of the road. Bus tour tips: do not eat where they tell you, explore and find off the way places with locals, but expect slow service. Do not have a coffee before getting on, bring a neck pillow, and you can bring a bottle of beer with you on the bus. Do not sit near the Americans, they like to chat you up.
Got back to Edingburg, Thursday, another day all alone in the burg, walked along the river Leith and a lovely path to the Modern Art Museum, went for the longest, but most beautiful bike ride of my life, ending in me choosing, whilt going down hill, to either hit a man that stoped in the road, in the back; hit an oncoming car; hit a sign post or the bus stop. I hit the brakes, but only the front one fired and flipped me over the top and smack into the pavement. I will never remember the minute second when my brain fired the thought, "the back tire is off the ground" and the distinct smell of burning bone as my teeth smashed into the hardest pavement I ever felt. I knew immediately that I was hurt bad and that I should not move as my head and neck were involved. Luck was with me, as I was with three doctors and a medical student. Through their generous actions and level headedness, I was able to stay calm. I kept trying to remember the face of my Guru and telling myself to breath. I could not help but to cry a little as the thought that I may have permanently injured myself in one slight second. I will spare you the rest, but safe to say that I am alive, nothing is permanently injured and though it took 14 hours of waiting to get sown back together again, I should come out looking just a little different. In the days after I am thankful for my life and the fact that I had a helmet on and can walk. When the thought of what could have been had I not had the helmet on, flood my mind, I say a quiet thank you and push them away. It is interesting seeing all the peoples faces that see me on the street, some stop and outright stare, human nature, but it rolls of my back as I remember that had those people not been there to help me at the accident, or if I had been without a helmet, I would not be here to get stared at, and it makes everything ok. You never know, we never know when it can all come crashing to an end....
Thats the end for now, off to a Fringe show, hope this one is better than the one earlier.
Troy

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Travels in Scotland

Thanks for joining me on my trip, here are some thoughts and experiences as I adventure about in Edinburgh and Scotland:
Day Three: Thus far, I have had a brilliant trip. The first day, my friend I am visiting is working until late so as I landed at 7:30 a.m. and breezed through customs, I have most of the day to myself. After a long talk with the tourist lady, very nice and chatty, I sort out my agenda, have some late breakfast and catch the bus to center town. So far everyone is friendly after a little warming up. I figure everything out even though the accent is quite hard to follow and store my luggage at Waverly train station. I board a double decker bus tour and ride around town, debording at the Castle for a bite and look around. I walk down the hill and find my way to a Yoga studio, Ashtanga. A nice friendly business, but a brief class for £10. (roughly $15.) again nice chatty people. I try my luck at a eatery and find one has to order at the bar and give the table number that you want to sit at then they bring your order to you, even if it is just drinks. Head back to the bus tour, ride completely around again to soak it all in, then head to my friends flat by taxi, also easy to navigate, but not to friendly of a driver.
Day Two: again alone, so sleep is in order. I dash my plans and sleep all day, answer some emails, do some banking and sleep. Pubs at night, nice, but very quiet before the festival begins next week.
Day Three: alone again, decide to venture to Rosalyn chapel as seen in Divinci Code movie: wonderful bus ride despite the hour wait for a bus and being surrounded by loud Brazilians talking at the same time. Depart the bus at a pub and as all the 'tourist' rush to the chapel, I slip in the pub for some delish poached salmon and a pint. Friendly staff. I take the nice walk down a tree covered lane to the chapel and am shocked at the £7.50 entry fee. No pics allowed inside, and the roof covered for restoration. I do not feel a huge amount of 'energy' as the 'ghost hunters' suppose, but I do get a heavy feeling and an experience of timelessness. But it may just be the pint:). Pleasant bus ride back to town, beautiful day trip to see the country side, cow and sheep and small towns and roads. I wake up somehow just at the stop I need to depart from and head up to the Castle. Beautiful, much more than I expected, a must see. I had a time transcendent feeling entering the gates, you could almost hear the clanging of the armour on ancient knights ridding up the cobblestone. To imagine all the souls that have passed through those gates and ascended to the castle is mind boggling. The great room and crown jewels are straight out of a fairy tale. A light rain and I hustle into the castle eatery for a spring berry cheesecake and delishisly cold white wine blend. First red currents that I know about that I have eaten. Off to my friends as they will actually be home and have dinner and a movie in to rest.
Day Three: Meet some locals for coffee in the a.m., nice talking to locals. Met a Mom of two with another on the way, kids age three and one, same look of tiredness and exhaustion I see in the Mom's I train. Doesn't matter the culture, people are people. Walk around town to little shops with my friend, up to the city center again and this time, Sat. it is packed with people. All week I have had little other tourist, but now it is filled up. Lunch in the National Gallery cafe and a tour of the permanent gallery exhibit. Nice to see a John Singer Sargent original and a very rare Monet nighttime painting. Nice walk back, Edinburgh has such beautiful green ways all throughout the city. Out to some pubs in the evening. Getting a little tired of having to defend America with comments like 'well you have to excuse us, we are only 300 years old', or 'well we try our best', or if I want to make a point, 'well, when you are cleaning up other peoples messes all the time, it is hard to remember manners'. Funny how political histories can be divides between people, when we are all essentially the same. End the night dancing to a song from Trainspotting, I am dancing to a song from a movie about Scotland, in Scotland, cool: followed by my new favorite song, Black Eyed Peas, 'Its going to be a good Night'. Good night for now.
TrainerTroy

Saturday, July 11, 2009

On Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 12:07 PM, Paul wrote:
Great class this morning! The physical therapy you gave me yesterday really woke up my muscles and I had a much better ability to get into the correct position in high push up. I could feel my lats and shoulders working. I felt stronger but I started to fatigue near the end because I was not used to engaging my lats so much. I wanted to ask you why it is important to press the outside of the back foot in warrior 1 & 2. I have a tendency to return to gripping with my entire foot. We’ll talk about next time I see you. Thank you. Paul
Thank you Paul, it is fun walking on the Yoga path with a fellow Yogi. The outside of the foot is pressed firmly into the mat, preventing a weakening of the knee which would inturn collapse the joint inward causing increased risk of injury. We look for strength in postures, how can this posture become stronger? Am I firmly grounding down into the earth and extending the spine up and away? Where can this postrure weaken with fatigue? How can I utilize muscle contraction and not joint tension to keep me breathing and relaxed in a prolonged hold? These are all questions to ask onesself in the postures. Along with, is this safe for me or am I doing it because that is what the teacher said for me?
hope this helps. I am going to post this to help others.
TrainerTroy

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Do not miss out on your chance to shed pounds and get in shape!!!!
TrainerTroy’sBeach BootCamp Yoga
Mondays 9-10 a.m. Just added 6 p.m.
Starting June 29th
Lantern Park Bay 25135 Park Lantern Dana Point Ca. 92629
Intense cardio workout and Yoga Stretch. Leave having your butt kicked and feeling stretched out. Limited space available, must pre register, be in active shape and have done at least one prior Yoga Class. Four weeks only this year: June 29-July 20th.
TrainerTroy's Beach BootCamp Yoga will kick your butt and you will leave feeling stretched out. This special hour long workout is designed to challenge and stretch your limits. Over the four sessions we will work to put traditional yoga postures and athletic exercise together in a one of a kind way. These workouts will include body weight training, sports movements, cardio, medicine ball training and finish with a different stress reductions technique every week.

Must pre register in full before start date. Cost is $30- per session, with a purchase of four required. Discount for couples. Only five spaces available. Must commit for all four sessions, non refundable or transferable fee. Prior training purchases are not applicable. Must be in active fitness health and have taken at least one prior yoga class.
Register now, space is limited and will sell out!
TrainerTroy Cox
trainertroy@gmail.com
(818) 415-9554 www.trainertroy.com
(Please bring a bottle of water and a Yoga Mat)

Playing Games

Three weeks back from Yoga School in Florida with the Guru Amrit Desi and doing Yoga everyday, meditating and learning. Back in the 'real' world, trying to wake up at six a.m. and keep the schedule of the session is challenging. What I can easily incorporate is Sacred Silence, the practice of keeping silence from 10 p.m. until 10a.m. or any time that fits. I am waking, doing the meditation that we were taught, having breakfast all without sounds and then looking at messages ect. On days I do not teach Yoga I do a quick 15 min Asana practice, then meditate at night. I have been practicing a technique we learned called 'Edge to Edge' while teaching, driving or when feeling overwhelmed by the 'static' of everyday life. I have found that the most distracting energy is the 'games' we play. What drama am I buying into from others or myself that pull me away from where I truly want to be? How am I reacting to what others are saying and doing creating drama in my mind or theirs, rather than just being. In those moments when I can feel my attention shifting, is when I try to bring my self back to center. It is hard, people, myself included love the game.
Faced with the challenge of coming home and finding out 1/2 of my Yoga classes were gone due to budget cuts has put my budget in a peril and makes me nervous, but by applying all the Amrit methods I learned, I am able to stay calm.
Practicing teaching the sequence in my classes three times a week, applying an intention to each class and using the teaching cues I learned have been very useful. I do hear that my classes are not 'hard' enough, whatever that means. And the games begin.