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Yoga For Pain Relief

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:38:03 +0000

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 have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver”. – Maya Angelou

admin — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:02:22 +0000

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.

Yoga On the Dance Floor – Ekayani and The Tom Glide Space

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:25:32 +0000

Ekayani and The Tom Glide Space are bringing Yoga to the dance floor. Ekayani sings sanskrit chants over Tom Glide’s deep house grooves. Some are slow with deep soulful beats, like Dehino Smin (Sanskrit rap), and Gaura Pahu, and others are faster and trancey, like Parama Karuna. Listen http://www.ilike.com/artist/Ekayani+and+The+Tom+Glide+Space

I also LOVE the yogic dance moves from B-Boy Neo and the Concrete Monkeys in the Parama Karuna video.

Brick and Mortar locations are JivaMukti Yoga School located at 841 Broadway 2nd flr- NYC, (where they played in February) and East West Yoga located at 78 Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Here is a convenient link where you can enjoy the videos for Third Eye, Gaura Pahu, Here’s the Light – the full length Sanskrit version and directors cut and find the MUSIC which is available to buy through iTunes and Rhapsody, with hard copies on CDBABY.com & Krishna.com:http://www.ilike.com/artist/Ekayani+and+The+Tom+Glide+Space

Enjoy! And get ready to get your groove on.

Yoga in Mexico during Swine Flu H1N1 outbreak

admin — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:52:13 +0000

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

Upcoming: Hala Khouri

admin — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:37:22 +0000

Hala Khouri, M.A., has been teaching the movement arts for sixteen years. Her roots are in Ashtanga, Iyengar and Anusara yoga, dance, Capoeira, CORE energetics, and the juicy mystery of Life itself.

Hala earned her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Religion from Columbia University and has a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute.

She is one of the creators of Off the Mat, Into the World, a yoga and activism initiative that aims to get yogis to take their practice outside of the yoga studio and to touch the lives of others. Visit: www.offthematintotheworld.org

Hala has taught yoga and the movement arts to a wide variety of people ranging from schizophrenics and at-risk youth to mommies and rock stars. She currently teaches at Exhale, in Venice California. Visit her online at: www.halakhouri.com

For more read an article about her in Yogi Times

Upcoming: Kathryn Nicolai Ethos Yoga

admin — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:13:04 +0000

Kathryn Nicolai,

“The person I was ten years ago would never have done yoga. I was obese, unhappy, and very unhealthy. The only physical activity I experienced involved moving from the couch to the fridge and back again. Although I was a vegetarian my version of a meat-free diet was chocolate cake and french fries. Over the next few years I bounced from one addiction to another. I went from overeating and never exercising to frantically counting calories, skipping meals altogether, and working out for hours everyday. One night after my 3rd kickboxing class in as many hours my shin splints and bleeding feet finally forced me to give up. I knew my body wouldn’t let me get back on the stair climber but not wanting to stop working out I wandered into a yoga class.

That first class sold me; not because I was finding some peace but because I had found a new addiction and a new way to compete with myself. I found out that I was very flexible and although I wasn’t very strong I could see that changing quickly. Rather than practice yoga in a balanced sensible way, I attacked yoga, determined that I could beat it and maybe be crowned Queen Yogini.

Overtime the practice and the words of my teachers started to soak in; I stopped competing and slowly started to accept the nature of my own body. Yoga stopped being about battling with myself and became about nurturing myself.

Along the way I found myself wanting to be more involved in yoga. I started teaching at Samadhi Yoga Center in Flushing in 2001 and went on to train with Jonny Kest at the Center for Yoga in West Bloomfield in 2003. I gained invaluable experience teaching at both of the studios mentioned above as well as at Prana Yoga Center in Grand Blanc, and Continuity Yoga in Ypsilanti. Another big piece of my education came when I sat 10 days of Vipassana Meditation in 2005. The concepts of Vipassana, namely accepting reality as it is and recognizing the impermanent nature of all things, greatly influence the way I practice and teach yoga.

While I was doing my teacher training, my mom was working on her Masters in Counseling and at one point we realized that we’d been assigned the same books. The more we talked shop the more we realized that we were doing very similar work in different venues. We wondered, “What if we combine our work in one facility?” The idea for Ethos was born. We wanted to offer a place where people could go to let go of stress and find a healthier, more balanced mind and body.

Nearly seven years and thousands of practices after that first class, I have balance in my life and I’m eager to share what I’ve learned. For me, peace of mind and equanimity are not products of squeezing yourself into crazy postures but of the knowledge that comes from understanding just how your body and mind work. I have been an overeater and a non-eater, afraid of exercise and obsessed with it, finally I have reached a point of balance and peace and I invite you to do the same”.

Kathryn Nicolai, co-owner, CYT
kathryn@ethosyoga.net
www.ethosyoga.net
(248) 328-YOGA

ethos yoga
113 South Saginaw Street
in historic downtown
Holly, Michigan

Upcoming: Kara-Leah Prana Flow NZ

admin — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:47:06 +0000

From www.pranaflownz.com, Kara Leah writes,

“I’m someone who’s life has been profoundly changed in every way because of yoga.

I remember walking into my first class when I was 20 years old – it was held on Auckland’s North Shore and was an Iyengar class. I’d had a spinal fusion four years prior and I was the stiffest person in the class by far. When we went into a standing forward bend, I was hunched over like an old woman, struggling to reach my knees. Yes – my knees!

I knew then that yoga was something I was meant to do, but it was another three or four years before I found my way to another class, this time in Whistler, Canada. Again, I pre-paid for a ten week course, this time an astanga-based class. I remember in our first or second class the teacher brought us into Virabhadrasana I and it touched something deep inside of me I wasn’t ready to face. I stopped right in the middle of the posture, and ran from the class, never going back to complete that course.

It took severe pain and some disheartening news about the state of my spine (degenerative disc disease!) from a doctor to send me back to yoga. When I re-started, I had intense sciatic pain down my right leg, half of my right foot was numb and I was walking with a limp.

Today, eight years later, I am pain free. I can finally sit in Dandasana with my legs flat on the ground and I have full sensation back in my right foot.

But yoga has touched me in many ways other than physical – it has taught me how to live life, and how to open my heart again. It has taught me to accept myself, and to accept others. Best of all, it has reminded me of the joy that is to be found in all moments of life. All we need to is stop, take a breath and then laugh at the absurdity of this human life.

As Twee Merrigan says, “How can I hate traffic when I AM traffic?”

So now, living in Wellington after many years overseas in Canada, I am combining my love of writing with my passion for yoga. My intention with this site, and with my life, is to share my passion for yoga with as many people as possible. Let’s get the whole world doing yoga – whatever type or style of yoga that might be.

Yoga to me means to connect, to unite. It means expanding and opening. So anything that we do that connects us to each other, that unites us as one, that expands and opens us outward… this is yoga”.

Kara-Leah teaches at at Configure Express Kilbirnie, and at Kelburn Rec Centre at Victoria University, in Wellington, New Zealand.

Visit her at her site and blog: www.pranaflownz.com

Upcoming: Chandra Om

admin — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 01:46:14 +0000

Chandra has spent most of her life in service to humanity, disseminating the ancient knowledge of how to achieve radiant health and spiritual development through the science of Yoga. She is the founder and director of the North Carolina School of Yoga, and the Senior teacher and Disciple of Sri Dharma Mittra. Chandra was born in Miami, and raised in New York, where she met her Guru and Teacher, Sri Dharma Mittra. After intense study, immersion and practice of the eight limbs of Yoga, she was accepted and initiated by Sri Dharma as Chandra Om (meaning ‘Moon’, ‘Luminous’, ‘Bright and Shining’), and remains with him to this day. Chandra was initiated into the family as a religious student who devotes herself to her teacher and the practice of spiritual disciplines—one who renounces the world in order to achieve liberation.

Visit her online at:www.ncschoolofyoga.com

Upcoming: Rodney Yee & Colleen Saidman Yee

admin — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 01:30:30 +0000

In 1981, Rodney began to study yoga full time at the San Francisco Iyengar Yoga Institute and at The Yoga Room in Berkeley. In 1987, after becoming a certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher, he opened the Piedmont Yoga Studio in Oakland, CA, with Richard Rosen and Claire Finn.

Presently, in addition to teaching at Yoga Shanti, Rodney leads teacher trainings, workshops, and retreats nationally and internationally with Colleen. In Spring 2007, Rodney and Colleen were co-chairs and panelists for the Urban Zen Initiative, a forum dedicated to integrating eastern healing arts into the western medical paradigm. They are now helping to run the Health and Wellness branch of Urban Zen, a world-wide initiative of Donna Karan’s. Rodney has also been featured in over 30 video titles and numerous audio recordings with Gaiam. He has written two books, Yoga: the Poetry of the Body and Moving Toward Balance: 8 Weeks of Yoga with Rodney Yee, both in collaboration with Nina Zolotow.

Colleen is graduate of Jivamukti’s Teacher Training program in 1998, she has been teaching ever since. Colleen has been featured in both The New York Times and New York Magazine and in November 2003, was on the cover of Yoga Journal. A consummate student, Colleen has traveled throughout Europe and Asia studying alternative medicine and spiritual healing. Colleen holds a certification in Shiatsu and lived in Calcutta, India working with Mother Theresa at the Home of the Destitute and Dying.

Colleen owes tremendous gratitude for her studies of bhakti and vinyasa to David Life and Sharon Gannon. She also offers thanks to the many other teachers with whom she has studied, as well as to Rodney Yee, who remains her principal teacher. Five years ago, Colleen opened Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor, New York.

Rodney and Colleen are raising and being raised by four awesome children, Evan, Adesha, Rachel, and Johanna.

Visit them online at:
www.gaiamyogaclub.com
www.yogashanti.com
www.yeeyoga.com
www.urbanzen.org

Upcoming: Seane Corn

admin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:15:22 +0000

Seane Corn’s classes combine a vigorous, fluid vinyasa or “flow” style with emphasis on intention and prayer — a mix she says encourages an inner journey toward self-awareness, acceptance and empowerment.

Seane has been featured in magazines including Glamour, Self and Allure and has become one of the most sought-after yoga teachers in America. Her clients have included Sting, Heather Graham, Ashley Judd, Drew Barrymore, David Duchovny, Elizabeth Berkley, Sally Field and Dr. Caroline Myss.

Seane was first introduced to yoga during the late ’80s, as a teenager waiting tables at David Life’s Life Cafe in New York City. She became close with David and with her fellow waitress Sharon Gannon, who together with Life later opened the Jivamukti Yoga Centers.

In 1992, Seane moved to Los Angeles and began studying at Yoga Works in Santa Monica, where she learned from some of the most renowned teachers in the country including Patricia Walden, Rodney Yee, Richard Freeman, Eddie Modestini, Tim Miller, Maty Ezraty, Chuck Miller, Lisa Walford, Erich Schiffman, John Friend and Shandor Remete. She also trained in India under Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and studied with the spiritual teacher Ammachi Barbara Soloman and Mona Miller.
Seane teaches at Exhale in Venice, Calif., and travels extensively teaching workshops, conferences and retreats internationally. She is a devoted supporter of programs for at-risk girls and women and has joined with her friend Ashley Judd in supporting fundraising and awareness-campaigns for the educational nonprofit YouthAIDS. She is also co-creator of www.offthematintotheworld.org

Visit: www.seanecorn.com

Upcoming: Chaz Yogamazing

admin — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:32:10 +0000

Chaz, (BA, CYT, CYKF) is a certified yoga instructor who has developed several unique yoga programs from the globally successful YOGAmazing Video Podcast within iTunes (over 6.1 Million downloads and counting) to his award winning video/DVD, Yogamazing: Yoga for the Kid In All of Us, which was one of Yoga Journal’s Editor’s Choices for 2002, and encourages parents and children to work out together. Chaz has taught yoga at the prestigeous OMEGA Instutute in Rhinebeck, NY, the Yoga Expo in Los Angeles, in his own studio, the corporate world, schools, and to those engaged in all sorts of sports, from basketball to golf to cycling. He’s also a singer-songwriter with an infectious spirit and zest for life who has performed at the White House, taken part in the International Children’s Peace Festival at Sivananda Yoga Camp in Montreal, Canada, and has been featured in Billboard Magazine. Chaz took his ideas from yoga and his music and designed a fun and interactive approach to teaching. Since yoga teaches the union of the body and mind, and Chaz’s music teaches the message of Unity, it only made sense that he would put the two together. With that combination in mind, “Yogamazing” was born.

YOGAmazing classes are designed for everyone-from out-of-shape parents to athletes to those with no yoga experience or those with an on-going practice. In a relaxed, down-to-earth, and inclusive atmosphere, Chaz works on developing a yoga practice that you can take home and use every day to improve the quality of your life. Whether you want to gain strength and flexibility, heal an injury, deal with anxiety and depression, lose weight, or find a sense of inner peace, we learn the true essence of yoga by listening to our body, mind and soul for guidance. Chaz has developed from his training in classical yoga styles and other forms of yoga to create his unique YOGAmazing classes. Chaz works on proper alignment of the body, coordination of breath and movement while flowing from one posture to another.

www.yogamazing.com

Upcoming: Sofi Dillof Burlington, Vermont

admin — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:46:38 +0000

Sofi is an advanced certified Jivamukti Yoga Instructor who has been teaching Yoga since 1997. She was first certified by Alan Finger in the tradition of Ishta Yoga, and soon after found her foremost teachers David Life and Sharon Gannon, co- founders of Jivamukti Yoga. Along with David and Sharon, Sofi cites contemporary philosopher Alan Watts, and senior Jivmaukti instuctors Uma Nanda Saraswati and and Ruth Lauer-Manenti as her main influences. Sofi is also the founder and co-director of “I’ll Yoga For You” – Yoga Vermont’s community outreach program.

Sofi lives in Burlington, Vermont with her daughter, Delia, and her poodle, Penny.

Listen to her Podcast on iTunes, or go to www.bowdownyoga.com to download episodes.

Upcoming: Connie Chan Levitate Yoga NYC

admin — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:06:32 +0000

Connie: “I am Connie Chan, the founder and owner of Levitate. I had never dreamed of opening a yoga studio. In fact, I was the most unlikely candidate to even try yoga. In my earlier days I drank, smoked and stayed out until many sunrises. Fitness wasn’t in my vocabulary, and anything with “spirit”uality in it was almost always followed by a hangover. I was your average out-of-shape, stressed-out, jaded New Yorker. Then I discovered Yoga Shanti, a yoga studio in Sag Harbor, New York and it altered my lifestyle. I started practicing yoga regularly and my life changed considerably. Yoga has given me happiness, awareness and joy. My love for the practice has inspired me to open my own studio, where people can practice in a warm and friendly environment. I invite you to visit Levitate, and hopefully change your life as well.”

www.levitateyoga.com

780 Eighth Avenue, 3 rd floor
(Between 47 th and 48 th Streets)
New York, NY 10036
tel 212.974-2288

Upcoming: Wade Imre Morrissette

admin — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:52:00 +0000

Wade Imre Morissette creates his own original blend of indie rock/pop music, combining Sanskrit mantra chants and English lyrics in his highly anticipated third kirtan chant album.

An accomplished musician and yoga teacher, he unites his two passions – yoga and music – in a fusion of Eastern influenced musical arrangements with Western sensibilities.

Collaborating with the award winning producer, David Nichtern, Maha Moha: The Great Delusion, uses an array of instruments from tabla, sitar, Bansuri (bamboo flute), guitar and harmonium and sound clips from around the world, including, horse carriages recorded in China. This album draws in listeners to a connection of humanness and spirituality, through the darker elements of suffering and the light of hope and faith.

Known around the world for his abilities as a teacher, spiritually and musically, his worldwide tour has included stops in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and 32 cities in North America. Each of his performances incorporate chanting, kirtan and bliss dance, engaging audiences in a soulful experience of self-discovery and celebration.

His first book, “Living Your Joy” and a series of motivational seminars will be a part of his Winter tour beginning in Jan 2009.Visit Wade online: www.wadeimremorissette.com

Upcoming: Judith Hanson Lasater

admin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:26:21 +0000

Judith Lasater has taught yoga since 1971. She holds a doctorate in East-West psychology and is a physical therapist. Judith is president of the California Yoga Teachers Association, and serves on the advisory boards of Yoga Journal and the Yoga Research and Education Center.

Her yoga training includes study with B. K. S. Iyengar in India and the United States. She teaches ongoing yoga classes and trains yoga teachers in kinesiology, yoga therapeutics, and the Yoga Sutra in the San Francisco Bay Area. Judith also gives workshops throughout the United States, and has taught in Canada, England, France, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Peru, and Russia.

She is the author of six books: A Year of Living Your Yoga, Yoga Abs, Yoga for Pregnancy, 30 Essential Yoga Poses, Living Your Yoga and Relax and Renew.

www.judithlasater.com

Upcoming: Tony Horton Fitness Yogi

admin — Sat, 17 May 2008 14:45:05 +0000

As a fitness expert for the past 20 years, Tony Horton has established himself among the elite in the world of personal fitness training. From Hollywood celebrities and recording artists such as Tom Petty, Shirley MacLaine, Bruce Springsteen, Sean Connery, Annie Lenox, and Ewan McGregor, to the average person looking to lead a healthier lifestyle, Tony’s conditioning skills and motivational abilities are consistently in high demand. His expertise includes circuit, cross, and interval training; weight and resistance training; cardiovascular training; post-rehabilitation; advanced stretching; kickboxing, and yoga. Tony shares his fitness expertise and charming personality in Beachbody’s P90X®, Power 90® programs, and in fitness camps nationwide.

Check out his blog at: http://tonyhorton.blogspot.com/; and his dvds at: www.beachbody.com

Upcoming: James Bailey Sevanti Ayurveda

admin — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:49:44 +0000

James Bailey, LAc, MATCM, MPH, Dipl Ayu
James is a third generation physician and health educator who has been living yoga and ayurveda for 20 years with his wife, yoga teacher Shiva Rea. He practices Oriental Medicine, acupuncture, Ayurveda and Yoga Tantra, aiding patients via acupuncture, clinical Ayurvedic techniques of Pancha Karma detoxification, Chinese and ayurvedic medical herbology, nutrition, marma therapies, pranayama, and meditation. His training includes 5 years (4000+ hours) of formal clinical studies in Oriental Medicine (Yo San University) and training in Ayurveda under such luminary teachers as Dr. Vaijayanti Apte (Dipl Ayu from the Ayurveda Institute of America), Dr. Subash Ranade, Dr. Avinash Lele, Dr. Vasant Lad, Dr. Robert Svoboda, and many Ayurvedic doctors and therapists in Kerala, south India where he spends time teaching and studying while on retreat each year. James teaches Ayurveda and Yoga Tantra meditation workshops worldwide. He is a contributing editor and former columnist for Yoga Journal, Light on Ayurveda, LA Yoga magazine and other wellness magazines. He served as an active Board member of the California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine (CAAM), and is founder of Sevanti Oriental Medicine and Ayurveda in Santa Monica, CA.

Visit James online: www.sevanti.com

Upcoming: Beth Filla YogaWood

admin — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:43:38 +0000

Beth Filla, MSW, E-RYT, Co-Founder YogaWood

Beth met yoga at a gym in 1997. The classes were intense, and required a different kind of focus than anything she had previously encountered. Over the years, dabbling in different styles and types of yoga, Beth has come to recognize the effects of consciously quieting the mind and intentionally facing the physical challenges of yoga practice. The effects have included moving beyond the boundaries of what she thought was possible on her yoga mat and in the rest of her life. Having worked as a social worker with various community based programs in Philadelphia and as a high school English teacher right here in Collingswood, Beth has always been most inspired by helping people work toward finding their greatest potential. Since completing her Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training with Corina Benner and Jill Manning at Wake Up Yoga in Philadelphia and her Pilates Mat certification with Sylvia Byrd-Leitner at Pilates Core Center she has been encouraging her students to see the power of placing their intentions and the wonder of each breath.

Visit Beth online: www.yogawood.com

Upcoming: Shannon Schneider OmTime Boulder

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 02:10:45 +0000

Shan, as she is known to her students and friends, is the founder and muse of om time. She is an activist, an eternal optimist, and a lover of the flow of grace within everyone. She is truly here to be part of the collective flow that is “changing the world one downward dog at a time.”

Shannon founded and teaches Anjali Restorative Yoga, a deeply restful and healing yoga practice. The practitioner is guided through meditations and thoughtful visualizations, while the body is held and supported by bolsters, pillows, and blankets. By resting deeply, the body engages its natural ability to heal and reset. The effect is profoundly nurturing, thoughtful, and balancing.

Shannon has been a dedicated assistant to Shiva Rea and the Global Vinyasa Collective since 2005. She teaches and mentors Prana Vinyasa Flow, an energetic, creative full-spectrum approach to embodying the flow of yoga. This style was founded and cultivated by Shiva Rea and the Global Vinyasa Collective of Teachers. Students of all levels are empowered to experience prana (the universal source of breath, life energy and conscious intelligence) as the navigating source of yoga practice and vital living. Practitioners learn classical and innovative approaches to vinyasa yoga and the state of flow drawn from Krishnamacharya’s teachings, Tantra, Ayurveda, and Bhakti.

As proof of yoga’s healing power, Shannon believes in and practices all that she teaches. Her smile, her laughter, and her enthusiasm for living is happily contagious. Her courage and compassion breathe energy, as well as being an inspiration for potential to all her students. Shannon began yoga in 1993. A traumatic illness led her in a search to regain her health and uplift her spirits.

Many different teachers and styles have influenced her over the past decade: Shiva Rea, John Friend, Judith Lasater, Dr. Douglas Brooks, Sianna Sherman, Amy Ippoliti, Jaime Allison and Cindy Lusk. Shannon has been featured in Alternative Health Magazine and Yoga International. She presents for Yoga Journal Conferences and leads weekly classes in Boulder and Denver, as well as workshops, intensives, teacher trainings and retreats nationally and internationally. For more information or direct inquiries, please email, shannon@omtime.com. www.omtime.com

Upcoming: Chrissy Carter YogaWorks NYC

admin — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 23:08:51 +0000

Chrissy is a senior teacher and teacher trainer at Yoga Works in New York. Her combination of intelligent sequencing with a breath- centered practice encourages her students to explore their own personal edge with consciousness and purpose. Known for her sense of humor and her light-hearted approach, Chrissy’s classes reveal how yoga can infuse the everyday. Her teaching style blends precision and alignment with the teachings of Krishnamacharya, guiding the practice inward towards the divine. Chrissy worked on Wall Street as an equities sales trader before making her part-time passion for teaching yoga a full-time career in 2004. A writer, singer, self-proclaimed domestic Goddess and gastronome, she strives to find yoga in all aspects of her life and invites her students to do the same!

www.yogachrissy.com

An update from yoga peep yogini mom

admin — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 21:04:11 +0000

I am so grateful for this life, and for the ability to facilitate this beautiful life-force (Luca) into the world. I am very grateful to be getting a little more time these days as well, (while Luca naps) to work on edit and upload interviews. Thank you awesome listeners for hangin’ around, contributing through PayPal, and for sending me all of your encouragement and feedback. I am deeply grateful for you. I send all of you Love and Energy to all the wonderful things you’ve birthed this year. My intention is to have a new interview a month, with all the interviews from 2007 uploaded by the end of the year. Send me an email with new yogi and yoginis you’d love to hear!

Happiest Holidays, to you, the Peeps. Power to the Peaceful! Love and Namaste.

Upcoming: John Evans Islington Yoga

admin — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:53:18 +0000

John Evans is the director of Islington Yoga and has been practising yoga for 35 years and teaching for 25 years. He has been studying with Shandor Remete since 1995 and teaches Shadow Yoga. John completed an English degree at Oxford University and went on to study the Yoga Sutras intensively at the Anchorhold Monastery in Sussex for five years. He lived in Japan for 12 years where he studied Martial arts and holds a 6th dan black belt in Batto-do, Japanese swordsmanship. He is the Head Teacher of Fudokan Japanese sword school in London .

Visit John online at: www.islingtonyoga.com

Or in London: Islington Yoga is located at 357 City Rd EC1V 1LR
Tel: 020 7704 6796 email: info@islingtonyoga.com

Upcoming: Tilak Pyle

admin — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:31:12 +0000

Tilak’s love and fascination with yoga has led him to study with many teachers throughout the U.S. and India, but most importantly it continues to take him to his mat everyday.

His unique teaching style is creative, passionate, and is influenced most by his work with Yoga Master Sri Swami Satchidananda, and renowned teachers, Erich Schiffmann, Angela Farmer, and Victor van Kooten. He holds degrees in Religious Studies, Literature & Religion, and has studied Sanskrit at the American Sanskrit Institute and the University of Virginia.

In 2005 he released his first DVD, Yoga: Altar of the Heart, and is the author of The Online Sanskrit Pronunciation Guide.

Websites:

www.tilakpyle.com

www.ihanuman.com

A Baby is Born, Luca Bjorn

admin — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 18:55:59 +0000

Typing with one hand, while holding your 2 week old is the best….no, I won’t turn this into a baby blog! We did want to share with you our awesome news! Erik and I welcomed, Luca, our first baby, on July 18, 2007. He was 6lbs 13 ounces, and in great health. We are so grateful for all the love and support, from our friends, family and listeners. Thank you! Lara will be taking 1 month off from podcasting, to help Luca grow, learn what he needs, be present for him, nurse, and hopefully eat and sleep in-between! Please listen to all of our past interviews in the meantime, you always hear something new, with each new listen. And, as always, practice, and enjoy!

Upcoming: Erika Faith CloudNineYoga

admin — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 21:53:33 +0000

Erika is a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher, Yoga Instructor Trainer (E-R.Y.T. 500), and a certified advanced practitioner through the White Lotus Foundation. She currently teaches Ashtanga-based vinyasa yoga classes at YogaWorks Costa Mesa and online at www.beinyoga.com. She leads international and local retreats, and holds teacher trainings through Cloud Nine Yoga Studio & School.

Cloud Nine Yoga, offers Basic and Advanced Yoga Teacher Certifications, approved by Yoga Alliance at both the 200 and 500 levels. Erika also teaches Thai Yoga Massage, Core Sequencing Bodywork, and Prenatal Yoga. Erika is a Reiki Master-Teacher, and is trained in the Yaki and Lakota ways of holding ceremony – specifically sweat lodge. She teaches at YogaWorks Costa Mesa, and is on the cover of YogaTimes this month.

Visit her online at: www.cloudnineyoga.com, and www.beinyoga.com.

Upcoming: Karendayal BlissLifeYoga

admin — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 21:34:49 +0000

Karendayal is the founder and owner of Bliss Life Yoga. She is a 500 hour Registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance and has earned additional certificates of training in Prana Vinyasa Flow™ Yoga trained by Shiva Rea. Karendayal holds other specialized certificates of training in Pre-Natal Yoga, Kundalini Yoga for Children, and studies Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan and Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa.

Karendayal is honored and inspired to live by her spiritual name Dayal Kaur, given to her by the late Yogi Bhajan (PhD, Master of Kundalini Yoga). Her name means “the princess who gives with kindness.” Karen teaches Prana Vinyasa Flow™ Yoga, an eclectic style of Hatha Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Meditation, and The Art of Deliberate Creating.

Karendayal is also Licensed and Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, an Independent Reiki Master and Teacher, an Integrated Energy Therapy Teacher, a Trained Hypnotherapist, and has a Bachelor of Divinity in Ministerial Counseling. Karendayal is a popular therapist, bringing great relief, inspiration, and empowerment through her wisdom, skill, intuition, and precision of body and energy work.

Visit her online at: www.blisslifeyoga.com

Upcoming: Tao Porchon Lynch

admin — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 04:13:26 +0000

This year Tao Porchon Lynch celebrated her 88th birthday in a very special way. Wearing a form-fitting red dress, four inch high heels and a red flower behind her ear, she and her 28-year-old partner won first prize in the Fred Astaire ballroom dancing contest for the Northeast area. Her win was just another example in a long chain of extraordinary experiences that characterize her life. “I believe that people should not impose limits on themselves,” she says. “They must believe they can do whatever they set out to do.”

Certainly Porchon Lynch’s life exemplifies the effectiveness of this philosophy. She resists easy categorization.
She has been a yoga teacher for the past 30 years. She currently teaches everyday of the week, several classes a day. In addition, she holds master classes at different venues in New York City and Westchester and trains and certifies new instructors.

Tao Porchon Lynch is a multi-faceted woman with 88 glorious years of a life well lived. She has traveled the world and continues to lead groups on yoga retreats to India and France. From her childhood in India, Tao’s life and life choices have always referenced “light,” spirituality and joy. Her work with noted Gurus, Swamis, Leaders and Healers has inspired, informed and guided her on her path as a teacher, actress, dancer, wife, mother, filmmaker, wine connoisseur and activist.

Tao’s Yoga Background and Training:

§ Brought up in Pondicherry, India, Tao studied the Vedas at the Aurobindo Society and the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society in Los Angeles where she was a disciple of Swami Prabhavandanda from 1951 until his death in 1999;

§ She studied at the Madame Blavasky Theosophical Societe in Paris;

§ Tao is a Master Yogini:
She studied extensively with BKS Iyengar, from 1968 through most of the 1980s; she trained with him in Bombay and Pune (Tao was one of the first teachers of Iyengar’s method in the U.S.);

o In addition to her study with Iyengar, Tao has drawn from the lineage of other great Gurus and Masters, including:

§ Mataji Indra Devi

§ Pattabhi Jois

§ Mysore Techniques

§ Swami Prabhavananda.

§ Donna Holleman in Italy

§ David Swenson

§ Rodney Yee

Tao’s Experience Teaching Yoga:

§ Experience as a Master Yoga Teacher:

As a Master Yoga Teacher with over 35 years experience, Tao has taught yoga in California, the Eastern United States, France, Great Britain and India;

Recent (2006) yoga teaching experiences include:

Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. led a yoga workshop and has been invited back;

Rye, New York, Wainwright House provided an intensive yoga training for yoga instructors;

Returned four times to Virginia Beach, leading three-day yoga workshops for training teachers

Integral Yoga in New York, NY; in 2006 alone she has done three workshops and has been asked to return;

Tao’s regular teaching schedule includes advanced, intermediate and beginner classes every day of the week. On select days, she juggles several classes at various locations in lower Westchester, NY;

Tao has led groups on Yoga retreats, including:

Trips to Bali and Morocco, annual trips to France and nine trips to India;

In the past year, 2006, Tao led;

Two trips to India-one in January 2006 and one completed in October 2006;

One trip to the South of France in Summer 2006;

Tao is scheduled to lead another retreat to India in September 2007 and Peru, later in 2007.

Tao as Role Model and Leader

§ She has worked to bring light into the world, a fundamental aspect of any yoga practice:

o She walked for Peace with Gandhi, in 1939;

o Tao was a member of the French Resistance during World War II;

o Tao was invited to participate with 400 famous teachers from around the world in Yoga for Peace in Israel in 1995.

§ Co-founded the Yoga Teachers Alliance (here in Westchester) in 1978, later renamed the Yoga Teachers Association:

o Tao has served as President (four years) and currently as Program Director (26 years);

§ Tao also founded the Westchester Institute of Yoga in 1982. She has certified over 200 instructors throughout the United States.

§ Developed a meditation and relaxation CD in collaboration with the composer, John Guth

MEMBERSHIPS:

- The Yoga Alliance

- Yoga Teachers Association

- International Association of Yoga Therapy

- Vedanta Society of Southern California

- Ramakrishna – Vivekananda Society, Belur Math, Calcutta

- Theosophical Society, Paris Franceh

- American Wine Society

Upcoming: Kelly Morris

admin — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 04:12:00 +0000

Attracting NYC’s most advanced and discriminating practitioners, Kelly’s classes are intense, inspiring and relevant. A lineage holder of the ancient, esoteric Gelukpa tradition of His Holiness the Dalai Lama as well as the more recent, exoteric Jivamukti tradition, Kelly’s packed classes celebrate the holy canons of both cultures, allowing the practitioner profound spiritual realizations within the physical context of an intense, demanding asana practice. Progressing towards the state of ‘yoga’ or Enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings is the ultimate aim of every class!

Find out why the New York Times, New York and Yoga Journal call Kelly New York’s most popular instructor. Kelly leads sold-out retreats worldwide and is on faculty at the Omega Institute. For more information on Kelly, The Kelly Morris Teacher Training Program, The Kelly Morris Yoga Podcast (where students have the option of buying a monthly/yearly all access pass to have 2 live, brand-new, 1 hour classes downloaded to their iPods!), retreats and classes, see. www.kellymorrisyoga.com and www.kellymorris.podbean.com

Russell Simmons acclaims Kelly Morris, “Kelly has been my greatest inspiration in my pursuit of yoga.”

Slowing way down…

admin — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 18:58:07 +0000

My apologies for my s l o w e r pace these days. Usually I load a podcast weekly, or 3 a month. I’ve slowed way down lately, as I am challenged by caring for my dogs, my life, work, my yoga practice, house hunting, and my bigger body. Our baby is doing great, we know he’s a boy, and his growth is on track. I love feeling him dance inside me, and I can feel his happiness for life. Thank you for all your support and love you’ve been sending. It means so much to me, keep it comin’.

As for YogaPeeps, if you, or anyone you know is interested in sponsoring our website and podcast, have them email me at lara@yogapeeps.com. Also, I’ve had a couple requests to share interviews on yogapeeps.com. Sounds great to me! If you have an interview with your favorite yogi, send it to me as an mp3, and I’ll edit it and upload it. 45 minutes is a good length.

Much love from me to you, the peeps.

Upcoming: Matthew Sweeney Australia

admin — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 03:30:25 +0000

Matthew’s knowledge of Yoga encompasses 20 years of practice and 14 years experience as a teacher. His education includes Shiatsu massage, Yoga therapy, Iyengar Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga. Matthew’s teaching combines the tradition of Ashtanga Yoga with the therapeutic needs of each student. He provides an individual approach to the Mysore method and is renowned for the attention he gives to both novice and advanced students.

Matthew is widely regarded as one of the world’s most advanced exponents of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga as taught by Shri. K. Pattabhi Jois. His Asana practice includes “Advanced B”, or 4th Series. He studies regularly at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore India where he completed “Advanced A”, or 3rd Series in 1996.

After many years of Ashtanga practice Matthew has developed his own unique Vinyasa sequences which he promotes and teaches as suitable alternatives to the standard series. These unique Vinyasa classes are conducted to encourage students to apply a therapeutic approach to their personal practice and to encourage a creative and adventurous heart.

Matthew travels and teaches Yoga workshops in Australia, Asia, North America and Europe. He presently lives in Byron Bay, Australia. Check out his schedule and books online at: www.yogatemple.com