Looking for the key to happiness? Look no further than Ira Israel’s teaching at Yoga Soup on the 21st of July. Israel, a distinguished yoga teacher and psychotherapist, will host his popular Yoga and Mindfulness for Authentic Relationships workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
Israel describes his class at Yoga Soup as: “An hour of mindfulness exercises that demonstrate that many of our ‘natural’ reactions are maladaptive; some new communication tools [will be introduced] to help people show up authentically in their intimate relationships.” The class then continues into a Vinyasa flow followed by a meditation.
Israel believes that through such yoga, happiness is not only accessible, but elementary. He says that with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, the average person so is too busy to even consider happiness an option. “In our culture,” he explained, “many people get their personal identities through their jobs or their possessions or status symbols. When you practice yoga, all of those transitory, superficial things melt away and you can get another perspective on larger questions.”
Israel, who holds the titles of Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, and Certified Yoga Therapist, broadcasts his teachings through his classes and his blog, which is based on his recent movie release, Mindfulness for the Urban Depression
Through his teaching, Israel hopes to minimize the stressful external factors that overwhelm city residents, while opening them to the new perspective and benefits yoga and meditation brings. He promotes the idea that people who live in big metropolitan areas are contently over-stimulated, facing a surplus of distractions and placebos that take them further away from happiness. “Most of us are in fight-or-flight mode most of the time and we don’t even know it!” he said. “That’s why we need to learn how to disconnect and reboot our hard drives.”
Israel encourages participation in his classes as he advocates they take meditation and yoga to a whole new level. “My teachings are slightly different because I ask people to examine how they are showing up in their relationships and what tools they have for getting their emotional needs met,” he explained.
“Many people have fairly blunt tools and thus don’t have deep, authentic relationships. Fear of real intimacy is rampant in our culture.” Through his teachings Ira Israel promises to encourage growth in all aspects of life, as well as opening the perspective to allow for genuine happiness.
For more information on Ira Israel’s Yoga and Mindfulness for Authentic Relationships, contact Yoga Soup at (805) 965-8811.