I love Mind Body Green! It such a great resource and read for anyone looking to improve their life.

MindBodyGreen.com is a yoga and wellness lifestyle website, started by Jason Wachob. As Curator and one of the founders of MindBodyGreen, Jason’s goal is to make wellness and yoga accessible. After years of successfully trading equities on Wall Street, and traveling around the country running a national organic cookie company, Jason was told that he required back surgery. He opted for yoga instead of surgery and is now completely healed.

Jason is a contributor to The Huffington Post and has been featured in the The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. He has a BA in History from Columbia University, where he played Varsity Basketball for four years. Jason lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife.  He’s on Twitter: @JasonWachob

I had a chance to chat with Jason, during a recent trip to New York. He is fantastic, and an extremely hard worker! I’m so stoked he started this blog, and continues to make it an incredible resource for everyone.

I especially love the interviews and the yoga videos.  There lots more resources for wellness on the site, including nutrition, yoga, celebrities, teachers, workshops, and retreats.

Enjoy reading through this awesome site!

Website: www.mindbodygreen.com

Twitter: @mindbodygreen

FaceBook: MindBodyGreen

“Do no harm.  No harm in what I’m eating, what I’m drinking, what I’m thinking”. Kris Carr

Jake over at Wanderlust, sent me this video from Kris Carr’s talk at the Wanderlust Speaker Series.

Wanderlust is releasing speakeasy videos from their Vermont and California festivals. The speakers include (but are not limited to) Kris Carr, Majora Carter, Maty Ezraty, Jonas Elrod, Robert “Skip” Backus, Seane Corn, Shiva Rea, John Friend, Vikram Gandhi, Elena Brower, Chris Sacca, and more!

Their first video from Kris Carr’s inspirational speakeasy session in Bondville, Vermont on “Crazy Sexy Life”. As you may or may not know, Kris is a New York Times best-selling author, motivational speaker, and wellness coach. Kris has also appeared on Oprah, The Early Show, The Evening News with Katie Couric, Good Morning America, and many more top-tier network news shows.

Kris is a cancer survivor who is has healed  herself by eating a plant based diet. After watching this video, and reading Kris’ book, Crazy Sexy Diet, I started juicing, and released animal products from my diet.

I feel so much more energetic, calm, lighter, and yes, kinder.  I was at the cusp of making these choices, to a kinder diet, and making kinder more ALIVE choices in my life.  The idea of eating dead flesh, started to feel wrong to me.  I asked, “What would help me vibrate higher, longer?”.

A couple of days later this video came into my email box, and the idea of no harm, and the tongue as our internal yoga mat, makes absolute sense.  It’s like I’ve known this all along, but didn’t have the courage to finally embody.  I am ready.  I am so very grateful for Kris’ book, and her telling her story and sharing so much healthy knowledge with the peeps.

I am so stoked!  And, so excited to have more energy, feel lighter, and be doing less harm.

“Make juice, not war.”  ”Change your plate, and you will change your fate”. – Kris Carr

Crissy, from Indego Africa emailed me this week, and told me about their awesome new yoga bags.

She wrote,  ”We are Indego Africa – a social enterprise part of the Fair Trade Federation that makes high-quality, gorgeous handicrafts that empower women artisans in Rwanda to lift themselves out of poverty.  While our Yoga Bags are versatile and beautifully made, these products also tell a great story.  All proceeds go towards training programsfor the women in entrepreneurship, management, literacy, computers, and microfinance. Many of our remarkable women care for several children and are the sole providers for their households”.

Check out their newest style of yoga bags, just in time for Mother’s Day. These fantastic bags are handcrafted from Dutch wax cloth and have a zipper all the way up the side for easy packing and unpacking, plus a separate pocket for wallets, keys. You can learn more about their products and see photos and videos of the amazing women at www.indegoafrica.org.

I love this bag, and the women who made it.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Eoin Finn, a Vancouver based superflow surfin’ yogi Blissologist, just released a new DVD, The Pursuit of Happy Hips.  I caught up with him this week and asked him about it.

Lara:  Hi Eoin, It’s been a couple of years since our first interview, what have you been up to? How was Bali?

Eoin: Bali was amazing and so inspiring.  We spent three and a half months there last year.  Even though I love what I do, mostly when we were there we were filming.  We filmed an epic 6 yoga routines and 6 meditation routines for an upcoming project called “Everyday Yoga and Meditation.”  It’s was a huge undertaking to say the least but Bali is no place  where you really want to work; the internet is slow, the pace of life is slow, it’s hot and there is so much yoga and surfing to do.  It was nice to go back this year with little agenda except to really relax and enjoy what we love as individuals and as a couple.  If you have never heard of it, you have to go to the Bali Spirit Festival next year for 5 days of Yoga, Dance and Music.  It was amazing to teach and share in the energy there.

Right now, I am just enjoying being home, surfing, doing yoga, taking in the culture of Vancouver and spending time in my hammock under all these amazing cherry blossoms.  May is going to get busy editing again.

L: I know you have an awesome new DVD you just released, The Pursuit of Happy Hips. Tell us about it.

E: The Pursuit of Happy Hips turned out better than we could have expected.  It came about from my 6 years of working with Olympic Athletes and lululemon elite ambassadors.  They all really love the benefits of yoga because it brings balance back to their lives and to helps them excel at their activities.  Because they travel so much they asked if we could make them a DVD they could do on the road.  This was the original inspiration.

These athletes have insane fitness levels so sometimes they want a yoga routine that is challenging for their fitness, but sometimes they are just tired from training and traveling so the yoga needs to be more restorative.  As a result some routines are more mellow and some are physically challenging.

Also, even on the more challenging routines, I went deep into alignment and took a slower approach.  My deal with the athletes is that if they ever hurt themselves when they were training on the road, I would do their competition for them.  I didn’t have much desire to go off a ski jump doing a million flips or go down a bobsled run headfirst so this slow, detailed approach is key.

I also love the music and the audio tracks laid down by other teachers to Olympians Tracey Delfs and Insiya, my wife.

The DVD is so good for the general public and not just Olympians.

L: Why the Hips?

E: First off, we don’t just focus on the hips only making sure the routines address the needs of all parts f the body and mind, but there is definitely an emphasis on hip opening and balancing.

The original idea for this hip focus comes from the athletes themselves.  Most of the Olympians talked about restricted range of motion in their hips them because they use their legs so much as such a power source.

On a  deeper level, the pelvis is functionally the foundation for the spine, and so much of our health is related to our spine.  It is also the connecting place between the upper and lower body and it is a place where culturally we feel so many taboos.   In a really simple sense, opening up the hips is such a fast track to deep bliss and that’s what we are all about.

L: The DVD is shot so well, with scenes in Whistler, and Vancouver.   Absolutely gorgeous.  I love practicing outside with you guys every week at my home with the DVD.  Tell me about the different sections, Easy Street, World Champion Hips, Hot Chocolate, All Downhill – How are they different?

E: Yeah, as I mentioned some routines are super mellow and some really challenge your fitness.  We expanded on the ski map idea and rated the routines in terms of green dots for the more mellow ones and black diamond for the more challenging.  I am big into nature and even though it makes for extra challenges shooting outdoors, I think great scenery is the key.  A big part of Yoga for me is about connecting to Nature.

The great thing about this DVD is we started with 2 1/2 hours of routines that get edited down into sub routines. Our past DVDs have had about an hour and a half, so there is tons of different material for each routine

We also have 2 others coming up on the new blissology.com website when it launches in mid May.  One of them is free with thePursuit of Happy Hips DVD called ‘Tantric Trail ‘ and the other is ‘Double Diamond Hips’ which, as the name suggests, involves super deep hip opening with half and full lotus variations.  I’ve been testing it a lot this week and I feel high every day!

L: What’s coming up for you?

E: Always lots.  I was listening to Deepak Chopra’s Radio show and he interviewed the author of a book called ‘Well Being, the Five Elements’ and he said that only twenty percent of the population enjoy their work.  That’s insane, because my work is my art and my offering, I love it.I think one of the main things I want to do is get the Blissology idea out in the world since I feel it is a key philosophy that can help give voice and momentum to the environmental movement and bring more kindness into the world.  I just got a U.S. Visa which is amazing because I have never been able to teach in the U.S so I really look forward to sharing what I do there.  May is going to find me in our Vancouver Island home a lot where we will be surfing, yoga-ing and editing the Every Day Yoga and Mediation DVD series.  We may line up a couple of classes in Cali.

Mostly I want to write.  I seriously pray every time I get on a plane that the plane can not crash until I write some of the books I have in mind.  It is my life mission to get it down on paper.  Writing is my big, big passion.I also want to practice and spread Hammock Enlightenment.  I think it key for saving the world.  I want to set up our relaxation sites in different cities we visit.Other than that, spending time with Insiya and considering starting a family… Wow, did I say that?!?

Thank you so much for chatting with us today.  People can find you at your blog and website, www.eoinfinnyoga.com, where you have more free yoga downloads, info about your Teacher Trainings, and YES Retreats.  You’re also launching www.blissology.com, which we’ll look out for in the coming months.

You can pick up a copy of the DVD at Amazon.  To win a FREE copy of Eoin’s new DVD, look for Eoin’s audio interview coming out here on Yoga Peeps next week, with details on how to win.

It’s my understanding, you cannot do for others or the Earth, without first doing for yourself. Everything ripples out from there.  Which is why I’m so excited about these yoga peeps in New York City.  Doing yoga, dancing, raising their vibration, and rippling that out to the world.  That is truly where all of the healing of Planet Earth begins.

Here’s what Social Workout wrote about this gathering, “Earth Day celebration at The Standard, produced by our friends at Flavorpill: Note the wood-paneled “Highline Room” above, with picture window looking out at sun setting over New Jersey. That’s Elena Brower of Virayoga fame at the front, talking about the the Hindu goddess Kali. After deep savasana, a crowd of conga drummers files in with deejay. Ensued: Yogis dancing barefoot, drinking coconut water, and eating organic chocolate. Meanwhile, downstairs in the biergarten, well-dressed financiers drink wheat beer and eye the various Ferraris left casually at the curb”.

I’m stoked that practicing yoga in a beautiful venue, with an awesome yogin (Elena Brower), is just as popular, as sipping cocktails and Ferrarris.  Therein lies a shift.

Peace, and Happy Earth Day.

I had wonderful time speaking with Jane Austin, PreNatal Yoga teacher, at Yoga Tree, in San Francisco a couple of months ago.  I found her to be relaxed and cheerful, with a sort of inner confidence.  Such an important combo for me, and for women in pregnancy, as we are going through a massive life expanding transition in our lives.

Round about the time I chatted with Jane, I found out I was pregnant, with my second child.  I was elated, but with that elation comes all the intensity of having another life grow inside you – extreme fatigue, nausea, insomnia, massive discomfort doing just about everything and anything, especially towards the end, when the baby inside is so big.

That being said, I am so happy to be pregnant, and to be of service to the beautiful life inside of me, and to have to ability to expand to birth him!

As with any massive discomfort, I am always looking for ease, and freedom, which is why I was so stoked to get Jane’s new PreNatal Yoga DVD.  Jane, a childbirth educator, doula, midwife, has been teaching prenatal yoga in SF for 15 years.  She was such a joy to practice along with.  Her constant smile infuses confidence in even the most unsure, and awkward mama-to-be.

She starts out with a meditation connecting with our breath, and our baby, which I loved. Then we moved on to some arm strengthening (for holding our new babies, and our toddlers).  Then came hip openers, which felt absolutely divine.  My particular favorite was the one legged squat, with hip rolls.  After that one, I felt like I had a mile more real estate inside my hips.  Exactly what I want for birthing, and just for all around better posture.  The amount of weight we carry forward in pregnancy can pull our bodies forward and down.  By opening the hips, we stand more upright, are more stable, and can more easily access a full squat, an awesome birthing position.

The class moved on with balancing poses, and came back down to hips and final relaxation, and more baby centered meditation and visualization.  I love this part, because I tend to focus on my body, and forget about the little life growing inside me.  It was so good to connect with him, and to feel him inside of me responding to my love and attention.

Jane feels like a good friend.  Knowing that she has two children of her own, and has been helping women go through the process of pregnancy and birth for over a decade, helps me like her even more, and trust her unconditionally.  She gives us helpful reminders like,

“This is the breath that will birth your baby”

“You are a mother now. See your baby inside of you”

“It’s impossible to birth your baby through buns of steel, you need to get juicy”

The music, is smooth, consistent, and nonintrusive.  The women in the video are all very pregnant, and are real students in Jane’s classes.  She teaches 4x a week in at Yoga Tree, and does Teacher Trainings twice a year.

I practice daily, am a yoga instructor, and have a fairly athletic practice.  I loved this Prenatal DVD practice because as I felt honored, and understood, with where I am now (at 5 months pregnant), where I’m going ( birth), while acknowledged for my strength (as a mother).

In conclusion, I totally LOVE it, and recommend it to all mothers to be, even if it’s your second or third time.  Find Jane’s DVD, and teaching schedule online at: www.janeaustinyoga.com

Thank you Jane!

Kelly McGonigal’s new book,  Yoga for Pain Relief
was just released.  You can find it on Amazon.

Kelly is a good friend, and Stanford psychology instructor and prominent yoga teacher, in Palo Alto, California.  In this book, she shows readers how the wisdom of yoga and the latest skills drawn from mind-body research can end the physical and emotional suffering of chronic pain. Yoga for Pain Relief is packed with gentle postures and practical  strategies for ending pain.

This complete mind-body tool kit for healing also includes deep
relaxation practices drawn from the yogic tradition and psychological
techniques for helping you make peace with your body and dissolve
pain. As the ancient practice of yoga releases the hold that chronic
pain has over your life, you will begin to feel more like yourself
again.

About Kelly:

Listen to her YogaPeeps.com interview here.

Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., is an award-winning instructor at Stanford
University in Palo Alto, CA, where she teaches yoga, psychology, and
healthy back classes. She is a leader in the field of mind-body
science and she provides teacher trainings and continuing education
for yoga, fitness, and health care professionals. McGonigal is
editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy and a
frequent writer for publications such as Yoga Journal and IDEA Fitness
Journal.

Visit Kelly Online:

www.kellymcgonigal.com
And on twitter: http://twitter.com/kellymcgonigal

“This book is devoted to teaching you yoga practices that will help
you unlearn habits of suffering and create new healing habits of mind
and body. Yoga emphasizes the innate capacity each person has to
experience health and joy. Yoga practices are the tools to awaken this
capacity and heal your pain.” —Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., from Yoga For
Pain Relief

I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to you for supporting Yoga Peeps with your love, energy and donations.  Your listening and feedback means the world to me.  You are all up to wonderful things simply by practicing yoga, and I am honored to be a part of your journey.

I am reaching out to you, because my goal is to continue my work with Yoga Peeps. Presently, I am caring for my 2 year old son, Luca, as a stay at home mom.  Many of you have heard him in the background of the interviews.  I began this Yoga Peeps podcast just before becoming pregnant with him.  Sadly, there is a chance that the interviews you download from Yoga Peeps will end, as I have been unable to financially support myself from this work.

I invite you to consider how much Yoga Peeps has enhanced your yoga journey.  Are you, like me, incredibly inspired and educated through the stories you hear?  Has your life, like mine, been positively changed as a result of these podcasts?  Are you a better instructor or practitioner as a result of these interviews?

If so, my request, is that you make a donation to show your support.  Consider giving $5 a month, $25 annually, or simply paying $1 for every interview you have listened to.  The truth is, without your financial contributions, I simply can not continue to offer these interviews.

It takes me 10-15 hours from the first email inviting someone to an interview, to the final interview editing and online for you to listen to.

Know that your donation will allow me to balance both nurturing my son, while continuing to produce meaningful work that is life changing, both for myself and potentially, for you.

Please go to YogaPeeps.com and make your donation today.  Just click on the “Make a Donation” button on the right hand side of the page– it’s very easy.  Share the over 70 Yoga peeps interviews with your friends, and our circumstances will be quickly transformed.

Deepest gratitude for listening, for your financial contribution, and for supporting the yoga community.  May your gift  to us, be returned to you infinitely.

Namaste.

Dear Lara,

I was thinking it might be interesting to have an interview with a yoga studio owner in Mexico now with the Swine flu having closed down the studios in Mexico City, here in Puerto Vallarta we remain open. All social clubs, cinemas have been closed and the kids are all home from school. The folks NEED the yoga and have begged me to stay open. We have a small community and have posted a sign on the door asking people to practice at home if they have any symptoms of a cold. Otherwise, we are all happy to be practicing peace together and finding some calm in the storm.

Anna Laurita
davannayoga owner
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

www.davannayoga.com

I got this letter from Anna last week, during the flu outbreak in Mexico.  Thank you Anna for sharing your yoga with the Peeps!

Why do you practice yoga?

I practice yoga so as to be a better service to my family and my community.

How did you begin practicing yoga? What advice do you have for beginners?

I began practicing yoga in Kathmandu Nepal while on a trekking trip. I awoke early and went to a teacher nearby and had a private class. I was hooked but then had three children in 4 years so my yoga practice varied between pranayama, pre-natal yoga and regular yoga classes with consciousness. Finally after all children were on there way, I went deeper into my practice and found various teachers I enjoyed.

Advice for beginners: 1) find a teacher you connect with and trust; 2) choose a great feeling space and comfortable beginner’s class OR hire a private teacher.  Ask all the questions you want after the practice. Come with questions! ; 3) Study essential books on yoga.  ; 4) Let yourself relax and enjoy!

Who are your most influential teachers?

My teachers are a combination of maybe lesser known teachers and some very famous teachers: MorningStar Borzoni (Merida, Mexico – now in SF, CA) for her sense of humor and teaching us to take our yoga and lives lightly.  A lovely French woman in Brazil named Nicole who taught me essential Pranayama and after my third child returned my body to a beautiful shape with almost exclusively pranayama.  And of course my most well known teacher Master Duncan Wong who helped me through the ranks of certification.  I work with him at his teachers trainings and have assisted at international conferences. He is strong yet compassionate and will break postures down for students to help them deepen their practice with confidence. His assists are like none other.  Baptiste Marceau’s pranayama practices are amazing (he lives in Mex. City – Marcel Marceau’s son!)   I also study sequences and philosophies of Jivamukti’s founders Sharon and David (who are two of Duncan’s teachers along with Pattabhi Jois).  I also study Buddhist philosophy and find inspiration in Buddha’s teachings.

What is the best thing about teaching? The most challenging?

The best thing about teaching is helping people to become strong and healthy in mind and body. To hear from someone “I feel GOOD!”. Then to see a student go on to be a teacher because they were so inspired. Finally having a reason to continue studying is a GREAT thing about teaching. I am usually teaching the majority of classes in the yoga shala. I have to vary the practices, vary the teachings. Nothing can be the same or boring. The students rely on me to make the yoga practice special. Therefore I HAVE to study, study, study and practice, practice, practice.

The most challenging is perhaps having a small studio and teaching all classes at All Levels. I teach on an Individual Asana Basis adjusting the asanas for individual students. People come in at all different levels. My challenge is to create a class that is beneficial to all. I may have one student in an Eka Pada Bakasana while the others are in Bakasana Prep. postures.   Also finding good teachers in a small town can be a challenge. I am blessed to have “Resident teachers” fly in for the season (I have two visiting from China – students also of Duncan Wong) and have one amazing teacher who helps me year around (She is a Sivananda student who studied in India).  I also constantly challenge myself to keep the teachings authentic.

Do you have any advice for beginner teachers?

Mentor a teacher you love. Start in a small studio with fewer students. Or volunteer at a community center. Be grateful to your students. Smile a lot. Thank the students always at the beginning and at the end. Greet the students as they come in the door and as they exit. Keep studying and continue your private practice.

Tell us about your practice now, (when, how long) , and what are some of the challenges in your practice?

I practice usually 1 hour per day 3-4 times per week always in the morning. Sometimes very early (before 6).  I study atleast as many hours and practice meditation in addition. I teach 17-20 classes per week.

What pose do you struggle with?  Gomukhasana – left arm up hand bind.

How do you keep asana fresh? I go to free podcasts and listen to other teachers when I feel stale. I also read the Bhagavad Gita or other essential books like the Yoga Sutras and create a theme from a section of one of those texts to base a practice on. I also go to international conferences and practice with international teachers there as well as those that come through Mexico (there are many as this is a good retreat part of the world and sometimes they let local teachers come for the day although it can be expensive).

What insights into your practice have you gained from when you began? To go slower, be quieter, and that bandha, bandha, bandha will save the world! Also that meditation is very important.

What is your meditation practice, is a movement practice outside, or is a still indoor sort of practice ?  Both actually. I love to walk and have a silent meditation while walking. I love to cook also and find meditation in that. I enjoy seated guided meditation as well as very quiet sitting meditation. I ADORE teaching children the benefits of sitting quietly and meditating even if for 2-3 minutes. They open their eyes with such a smile.

What books do you love? Like Water for Chocolate; The Life of Pi; Bhagavad Gita; Light on Life; Light on Yoga; Yoga Nidra; The Heart of Buddha’s Teaching; Jivamukti Yoga Practice for Liberation, Body and Soul; Yoga and Vegetarianism; The World Peace Diet; The Autobiography of a Yogi;Gosh…I could go on forever!

What music do you love? Jazz, East Indian music, yoga music in general I find relaxing…for my Yogic Arts classes I love Brazilian music and African rhythm music. I also enjoy some electronica music.

How do you share yoga in non-asana ways? I am a vegetarian and I share yoga by speaking proudly about vegetarianism and how it relates to yoga (yamas/ niyamas). I also share yoga (and metta) by volunteering in my community. I help new mom’s with lactation – they call me when they have issues and I go to them for free to help; I give a free weekly yoga class to the children at the Colegio Americano and it is open to all children of Vallarta – it is an after school Yoga Club.    I began a program in my yoga shala of donating your old yoga mat to the animal shelters around town to help animals live a more comfortable life while awaiting adoption and to use in the spay and neuter clinics around town (there are many clinics as there are many stray animals on the streets of Mexico).

Which of the Yamas are you most involved with these days? The Niyamas?

I spout on about ahimsa and Vegetarianism. I can also relate vegetarianism to all of the yama’s.
Certainly with the Niyamas I am closely involved these days as the Swine Flu sweeps through Mexico.  I am cleaning mats daily (Saucha); I am content that my children are home with me during this time (santosha) also I am content that we have no cases of swine flu in PV; Tapas (heat ) well I live here as I LOVE a hot yoga class… the heat in vallarta is daily. Svadhyaya is ongoing as I live in a small town and have to study a lot as I can’t just go to other classes all the time. There aren’t many to choose from here. We are all surrendering to god in this flu!

(yamas:ahimsa (nonharming), satya(truth), asteya(nonstealing),brahmacharya(purity), aparigraha(nongreed)
niyamas: saucha(cleanliness), samtosha(contentment), tapas(heat), svadhyaya(study of scriptures&self), isvara pranidhana(surrender to god)

If you had a huge audience, what would you teach or share with them? It depends on the audience of course; I love to share with them the freedom of a dancing style of Yogic Arts(tm) I also love to share with them the happiness of breathing…really breathing in your Vinyasa Flow class. I would help them open their hips and give them all some thai massage throughout.

What are you working on now?  Preparing for tomorrow’s Children’s yoga class where we will have a Zen Buddhist children’s meditation at the end of the practice (tomorrow is Buddha day!);  Preparing my 1st Anniversary party where we will give away t-shirts; celebrate with 108 Sun Salutations; and I will cook delicious vegetarian food for them! Also  I am working on a variety of Vinyasa Flow sequences that I can video for those students that travel in the Summer. Finally  A childrens book about my cat that sits in my yoga classes – she was surely a yogini in a past life.

Who would you love to hear interviewed on YogaPeeps.com? Duncan Wong