October 2007 Archives

It seems almost any time a new yoga studio opens here, there's some sort of dustup—whether it’s because one relocates a little too closely to another, or there’s some financial slipperiness, or as is the case with a new Brooklyn spot, teachers defect abruptly en masse from a studio to start their own nearby. It’s not very yogic, but it is very New York—and human.

But out of a recent ruffle of feathers in the latter case, as reported in this week’s New York Observer (the story was published online last week), comes a new studio that’s got Brooklyn yogis all excited. Three teachers from Cobble Hill’s Area yoga are planning to open Mala Yoga on Thursday, November 1st. It’ll be just a few blocks from Area at 162 Court Street, 2nd floor, at the corner of Amity Street.

As per the Observer, those teachers are: “Stephanie Creaturo, 37, who teaches mostly Basics classes; Angela Clark, 30, who tends to teach so-called Open classes, which cater to more advanced students; and Christina Hatgis, 40. All three have a reputation for down-to-earthness and humor—two qualities often lacking in the spiritually elevated.”

The idea is that it will be an unadorned, mixed style community studio. And apparently the journalist-heavy clientele will follow its teachers here.

Here’s Stephanie’s blog to sign up for schedules and updates:
offtheyogamat.blogspot.com/

Here are some pics of the newly renovated space: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7121073@N02/sets/72157602367968567/

And here’s a post from a local blogger on the fabulousness of the teachers and how popular she thinks the new place will be:
abrooklynlife.com/2007/10/new-yoga-studio.html

(Photo from NYO by James Hamilton)

Urban yoga teachers looking for comradery and community need only to tune into Hillary Rubin and Elsie Escobar’s bimonthly podcast, Mudra Moments. The two Anusara teachers, who met as students at City Yoga, have teamed up to share how the choices they make on and off the mat enhance their practice.

The podcasts are filled with entertaining girl chat and advice about things like, how do you practice saucha (and deal with smelly students), the challenges that arise when you substitute teach, tips about how to gracefully lead a class when you’re having a bad day, and the delicate etiquette required when a student cries during class.

These two are also super media happy. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, trace their coming and going on Twitter, download their podcast yoga classes, and join their Mudra Moments community on Facebook. Of course, they both have websites and blogs too.

And they love your comments and welcome your questions. So help them keep the dialog going.

Ever take an Anusara Yoga class? One thing you'll notice is that everyone is smiling—BIG. Frequently known as the "happy yoga," Anusara was developed in 1997 by John Friend as a heart-opening asana practice based on Tantric principles. This past Friday, the famed teacher himself came to give a talk called Tantra in the 21st Century at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Francisco.

Dressed in a brightly colored button-down shirt, the happy yogi behind the "happy yoga" talked less about the physical practice of Anusara Yoga and more about Tantra, itself—its history and place in modern life. The youngest of the main yogic systems (Tantra, Vedanta, and Classical), Tantra centers around the belief that life is inherently good and that we are all an expression of the divine. Tantra yogis, John said, believe that the practice of yoga is more about being who you really are than attempting to dominate or control your natural personality, emotions, and desires. "Instead of stopping the mind," he said, in reference to classical yoga's philosophy, "we use all parts of the mind . . . Any emotion can be rerouted and re-channeled for the glorification of something grand."

The talk, which ended with a short meditation, was lively (even from the back where I was sitting—as you can see by the blurry photo!) and digestible. Though it really only scratched the surface of Tantra, it certainly left the audience with enough of a taste to want to inquire further.

Interested in knowing more? The Bay Area is filled with ways to dig deeper. To start, try taking some classes with San Francisco Yoga Tree Hayes' Anusara queen Stacey Rosenberg, or delve deeper into Tantric philosophy at the next two-day Samavesha course led by Scott Blossom, Chandra Easton, Chris Wallis, and Chris Tompkins at Rudramandir in Berkeley.

As you may know, being a natural girl in NYC is no mean feat. Even with the rise of all things eco, everywhere you turn there's a gust of bus exhaust, a PVC yoga mat, a tempting Sephora full of intoxicating beauty products--chock full of parabens and sodium laurel maybethedeathofyou-ates. And the more you do yoga, the cleaner you are, and often, the more sensitive. Which is why I was especially excited to discover an actual organic hair salon (just because it's in the name, ahem, John Masters, doesn't mean it's all natural).

A friend of a friend referred me and when I called to make an appointment that friend once removed just happened to be there for a trim. Weird NYC moment, non?

Anyway, last Friday I went to funky, tiny, but elegant Grace Heaven salon in the East Village and was treated to an all-natural hairwash by Ashley and a great shaggy cut by Jane, the owner. The 10-year-old place only seats two people so it's very cozy. As Jane snipped and dried, I was fed organic peach iced tea, apple slices, and a divine raw chocolate from a cafe called Bliss in Sedona, Arizona. (Jane just returned from the raw food festival there.)

Chatting was easy, the cut fab, and for a change I didn't leave wanting to dunk my head under a faucet to get the product stink out; they styled my hair with rose-scented shea butter. Yum. Next time I'll go back for eco highlights.

I'm still a little skeptical of organic hair styling products for my big curly hair (though I'm planning on getting some of that shea butter stuff), but Jane has a list on her site that she swears by--and doesn't appear to be shilling for anyone except your health and locks.

I don't know of any other totally natural hair salons in da city. Do you? Do tell.

This week I had the pleasure of joining a group of yogis who gather every morning at Runyon Canyon in Hollywood for an hour of free outdoor yoga in the park.

I had heard about these gratis classes taught by Kamala and Hannah, the fire-dancing sisters (yes, with flames), so I decided to take advantage of the crisp fall morning and do some asana with the sun beating down on my face.

Well, neither Hannah nor Kamala showed up for the 10:30 a.m. class but that was O.K. This group just picked up the slack when fellow student Brian decided he would lead the 25 people who had gathered to practice. No one complained about the muddy grass, or that Brian had never taught before and they were happy to help him out when he needed a reminder in include Virabhadrasana II during a sequence.

This wasn’t the best technical yoga class, but I’ll definitely return because it was an inspiring way to spend the morning with a group of people who are dedicated to the art of asana without the trappings of formal yoga studio protocols. It was a refreshing respite to actually hear the birds chirp, to gaze up into the trees during Parivrita Trikonasana and to feel the breeze whoosh through my ears.

For the last five days, I have been waking up at 5am to study with Zhander Remete. I am completely delirious with all that I am learning, not to mention the new sleep schedule. And I still have four more days to go.

You may have heard of Zhander (also known as Shandor), an Australian-based Hungarian yogi who visits Mark Horner's Moksha Yoga Shala studio in Walnut Creek every year to teach an intensive workshop on one of his two main practices: Shadow Yoga or Nata Yoga. Zhander's more well-known asana-based practice of Shadow Yoga is deeply steeped in ancient traditions of yoga that are informed by Marmasthana, the Indian system that focuses on the body's 108 vital energy pockets (or marmas). Nata Yoga, which Zhander has started teaching in recent years, is also marma-focused, but is a series of karanas (as opposed to asanas) which are dance-like postures that combine simultaneous movement of hands, feet, and body.

This week, we are practicing Nata Yoga, which Zhander discovered when he saw the 108 karanas depicted on the walls of the South Indian Chidambaram temple and was taught how to perform them by a sadhu. The practice focuses on subtle movements—like flower-picking hand gestures—as opposed to gross movements, like the usual big bends and twists that most practices incorporate.

I had never before studied with Zhander, whose intense and sometimes intimidating energy has earned him a reputation of being the "bad boy" or "dark prince" of yoga in the past. He is certainly commanding, but there is a real loving quality in him, and his rarely matched knowledge of and commitment to the practice has inspired a multitude of followers. I feel like I am only retaining bits and pieces of this highly complex and esoteric practice, but it's still amazing. Zhander discourages us from taking notes, with the belief that that which we truly understand we will naturally remember. The writer in me wants to rebel, but I must admit that he's got a point.

The course ends on Sunday and I think I might miss the eat-before-sunset, in-bed-by-nine, pre-sunrise yogavan carpooling delirium, not to mention the complex teachings themselves. But Zhander will (hopefully!) be back next year. In the meantime, Mark Horner's Moksha Yoga Shala studio focuses entirely on the practice of Shadow Yoga and is a great place to absorb Zhander's teachings.

If you missed the Dalai Lama last weekend, not to worry. Because: a) Though it was lovely just to be near His Holiness, you needed a blackbelt in Buddhism to fully enjoy the three-day, spoken-in-Tibetan teachings and b) MeditateNYC is coming to a St. John the Divine near you.

I’ve gotten emails and postcards from three different people on this event, so I thought you should know about it—mainly because it seems incredibly accessible to both hardcore meditators and the meditator-curious. On Sunday, October 21, from 1pm to 6pm, a wide variety of Buddhists will be teaching a plethora of meditation techniques. A detailed schedule is pending, but lots of people with Bhante and Roshi in their names will be instructing and the day will be "interspersed with movement and music."

Oh and it’s all free—sponsored by by the New York Buddhist Council and co-sponsored by the Interfaith Center of New York and the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.

And following the event is a week of meditation Open Houses, which sounds really quite neato. With dozens of meditation groups and dharma centers around the city opening their doors, this is a veritable restaurant week for meditation. Surely one of the schools involved will meet your sitting style needs. And the idea that we can sample away is certainly appealing. Go here for more info: MeditateNYC.org

I’ve recently decided I want to commit to a meditation practice myself. I just wrote an article about the brain and found studies that show the brains of meditators are actually bigger in certain areas than the brains of non-meditators. If the stress-reducing, heart-rate lowering effects weren’t enough, you can add that to the list of reasons of why you should try and sit once in a while. This fest certainly seems like a gentle way to start.

Without sounding all desperatey, I’d love to start hearing from you about any yoga-related events I talk about, or any of the ones that I don’t. It’s much more fun if I can figure out how to meet your NYC-yoga –knowledge needs. And tips on events (ahem, free press if I write about it), are always welcome. To email me outside of the comments: Valerie at ValerieReiss dot com. (But with the appropriate @ sign and all—just trying to fake out the spammers.)

Yogathons abound in the next few weeks here in Los Angeles – all with the intention of raising funds for good causes.

This weekend at Golden Bridge, Gurmukh hosts an extravaganza starting at 4:30 PM October 13th until 8:00 PM on October 14th. The proceeds will benefit the Amrit Davaa World Health’s expedition to the Himalayan Mountains to bring doctors and medical supplies to the Manjushree orphanage. And if you’re not sure you can commit to the whole 26 hours, you can sign up for a day, an evening, or even just a class.

Some highlights include Kundalini teacher-extraordinaire Harijiwan and his gong and meditation extravaganza, Earth and Sky meditation and Angel Dance with teachers Sandra Bossier and Sylvia Kalicinski, a wake-up call to celestial sadhana, a good sweat with vinyasa teacher Natasha Rizopoulos and of course, Gurmukh, live music, and good, clean food.

Across town at the Iyengar Institute on November 4th, those strict Iyengar-ites will be offering up their awesome bodies as they take pledges from sponsors to raise money for the Institute’s relocation fund to help find, lease and renovate their new home. The Iyengar yogathon should be equally filled with cheer and hard work as teachers like Lisa Walford perform 108 dropacks (Tadasana to Urdhva Dhanurasana). Amanda White is offering 108 handstands, Garth McLean will take on 108 arm balances, Anna Delury will demonstrate the first 108 poses from Iyengar’s tome “Light on Yoga” and Lani Daniels will chant the first two padas of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. And much, much more.

If you know of any other local acts of seva, please let us know.

If you live in the Mission, you are in luck: You've got a brand new yoga studio in your 'hood. Laughing Lotus just celebrated its opening with a full weekend of ritual, music, and classes. I missed the opening evening with Bhagavan Das (Jeff Tweedy was playing in the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival and that was hard to pass up) but I caught the tail end of the celebration Sunday evening with a Lotus Flow class that was taught by a cool teacher named Keith to the mantra rhythms of Sean Johnson's Wild Lotus Band quartet.

You may have heard of Laughing Lotus—it's a popular yoga studio in Manhattan that was opened about eight years ago by Jasmine Tarkeshi and Dana Flynn. The studio became successful and the two owners, who both grew up in the Bay Area, decided to finally return to open a second studio here in the Mission, where they both now live. (Laughing Lotus in Manhattan still thrives, too.)

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The venture took nine months to complete, says Jasmine, who, along with Dana and a dedicated group of Lotus teachers and local friends, designed and painted the space themselves. The studio is beautiful. The front space has a little sitting area with hot tea, and there is a hall with books and a large picture of Amma set on a shelf. The wood-floored studio space is painted orange, pink, and yellow, with borders of geometric flower shapes and beautiful paintings of different gods and goddesses on the walls. There is even a small garden out back.

The mission of Laughing Lotus, says Jasmine, is to "create sacred and ecstatic spaces for everyone to celebrate their lives," and to hold classes in which students can practice "poses in a way that the body allows." Each month there is a theme (this month it is Gods and Goddesses) and their classes combine mantra, meditation, asana, and philosophy. Another nice thing about Laughing Lotus is that many of their classes are only one hour long, which is great if you are short on time—or funds (those classes are only $11).

Let us know if you attended the opening ceremony or have had any experiences yet at the new studio!

It's almost Halloween, so put on some tattered clothes, smear on fake blood, and.... grab your yoga mat? Yep, apparently!

This Sunday, October 14, at 2:30, organizers ask that you get all gothed out for a lovely hour of, um, zombie yoga.

It's a launch party for the new book The Zen of Zombie: Better Living Through the Undead ("a self-help book about what we can learn from those who feast on flesh").

Send an email to the address listed here and they'll reveal the mysteriously undisclosed class location in Manhattan or Brooklyn. Oh, and you'll be filmed for a short yoga zombie movie. Of course.

It's unclear what kind of yoga this will be--an hour of corpse pose?

For more info on the free event--and tips on dressing your pre-Halloween zombie best, click here. If you dare...

P.S.: If you go, please, please let us know how it went! And if you have pics, let us know in your comments and we'll contact you.

A couple of months ago I tried out the Core Fusion class at Exhale Spa—the one near Columbus Circle. The exercise hybrid combines dance, yoga, pilates, and calisthenics for a whole-body workout favored by yogic celebs.

Walking in, I see about five receptionists at a shiny white console. Being sans socks (it was a flip-flop day), I was told to buy a grippy-bottomed pair for $10 (note: bring your own non-$10 socks).

The basics class was in a spacious, carpeted room (hence the socks—you don’t use mats, so things could get grimy fast). A giant skylight washed the room in natural light and the instructor was perky, dark-haired, and equipped with a head-set microphone. One wall was mirrored and lined with a ballet barre.

Already I felt out of place; I'm used to a more hardwood-and-incense vibe. But a friend told me that if she could afford it (single classes are $30 bucks each), she would make it her only exercise. This should have been a sign—she has the energy of a three-year-old and the body of a teenager.

The class started with fast music and hand-held weights. There was marching, arm-swinging, and some serious—but friendly—aerober-vibes. I was wondering if I had stumbled into an advanced class by mistake—until she welcomed us to the basics class. Darn. Then we were at the barre, doing lunges on tippy toes—again and again and again. “The idea is to completely exhaust the muscles,” said the teacher. Mission accomplished.

Then we stretched, did leg lifts, knee bends, etc. Out came papaya colored squishy mats that we leaned on against the wall while locking our core and doing leg lifts—Jane Fonda meets mulabhanda. Camel was the only recognizable yoga pose, but little touches were sprinkled throughout—chaturanga, bhandas, etc.

For all the pain and sweat I was in, the teacher was really encouraging us to listen to our bodies and back off if anything felt wrong. She helped me modify a few things because of my hip problems (mmm, labral tears), and adjusted us all throughout.

Bottom line: Personally, I prefer my classes a little, well, easier. But if you want the physical benefits of yoga without all the spiritual accouterments—and want to solidify the ever-wobbly core (and tush, and arms, and thighs) AND have the cash to invest—Core Fusion is for you.

Exhale has locations throughout the city and country. Click here for more info.

What’s your experience with Core Fusion? Love? Loathe? Other?

The chances of me ever climbing a palm, hacking off an immature green coconut, puncturing it and guzzling the pure water inside are about as likely as me ever becoming a contestant on “Survivor” or being beamed into an episode of “Lost”.

But the chance to enjoy a refreshing glass of pure coconut water is just a Tetra Pak away with my recent discovery of O.N.E. natural coconut water. The company that makes O.N.E. is based here in Los Angeles and while I had seen the boxes at yoga studios and at Whole Foods, it wasn’t until I attended the Yoga Walk in Los Angels that I got a taste. And it’s delicious.

The subtle coconut flavor is refreshing. Not to mention that this Brazilian import is fat-free, packed with potassium and electrolytes without any added sugars, dyes or preservatives. It basically does what Gatorade does without the high fructose corn syrup -- a perfect hydration choice after a strenuous vinyasa class.

And when it comes to Ayurvedic eating, coconut is a cooling food apt at calming an over-heated system, whether it’s from a pitta flare-up or just a hot, sweaty day. Coconut water is also a great base for smoothies, and mixes well with any other fruit juices. So go ahead, go coconuts.

At my day job at Beliefnet we're helping Healing the Divide, the Gere Foundation, and The Tibet Center to promote the Dalai Lama's teachings October 12, 13, and 14 at Radio City Music Hall--by hosting a ticket giveaway contest.

Because the Dalai Lama is the ultimate bodhisattva, or as yogis might say, practitioner of ahimsa, the contest is this:

Describe the most profound act of kindness you've ever witnessed or received.

If you write a story that Beliefnet's editors like best, you'll score tickets to see His Holiness in person. Click on over here to enter.

And if you don't feel like getting all writerly, tickets are still available, here, starting at $80. His Holiness will be teaching on the Diamond Cutter Sutra and Seventy Verses on Emptiness by Nagarjuna.

Hearing a recorded version of Deva Premal sing the Gayatri Mantra has been known to bring me to tears. So you can just imagine what it was like to see her perform live this past weekend at Sonoma Country Day School in Santa Rosa.

My relationship to Deva (or, rather, to her music) goes way back to when I first started practicing yoga around seven years ago. I'd be sweating bullets after muscling through my vinyasas and Utthita Trikonasanas and absolutely detestable Urdvha Dhanurasanas, and finally, it would be time for Savasana. My teacher would flip on the Deva CD Love Is Space and it was, quite literally, like I'd died and gone to heaven.

Watching Deva in concert is much the same, except that you get her live. She performed with three fabulous guest musicians and her partner, Miten, who brings humor, rock and roll, and even a little reggae to the proceedings. The show, which began with the whole room chanting OM, was more of a kirtan than a concert: Deva taught us the words to all of the mantras and then invited us to sing along. No one clapped in between songs, so entranced was the audience, and the musical group paused for long silences after every song to sit together in brief meditation on stage. In fact, the entire evening was like a meditation since the performers were so mindful about every note they played and motion they made.

I'll admit that a concert with Deva is also a bit of a scene with lots of men and women in flowy clothing and scarves, an extravagant feast of delish Indian chow, and little stands in the lobby selling carved silver and beaded jewelry. But never at a concert have I seen people so quietly and deeply moved by the music. There was even a lightness as scores of mood ring-wearing women lined up during intermission to gain admission into the hopelessly small two-stalled bathroom.

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Deva was only in town for one night for this benefit show for the Sonoma Ashram. If you missed her, check out her website to find out when she'll be back.

Spiritual as it can be, yoga starts with the body—our sinews, synapses, and systems. Which is why it was so cool to go on a yogi-guided tour of Bodies. . .The Exhibition at South Street Seaport with yoga teacher Amy Matthews and Breathing Project founder Leslie Kaminoff last Saturday. The donated bodies, impeccably dissected by Chinese doctors, are injected with silicone and “plasticized” so they’re preserved, viewable, and (most important) totally odor-free. I was relieved to find it more fascinating than yucky.

The event was to promote Leslie's new book, Yoga Anatomy (Amy contributed). Instead of the usual sketches of people in yoga poses, the drawings in his book are done with X-ray vision—each asana is shown skin-free for a glimpse into how each bone, muscle, and organ might look in various poses.

Though most of the three hour tour wasn’t terribly yoga-specific, it was clear this wasn’t an ordinary audience—"Oooh, look, a psoas!" he said excitedly as we gathered like kids at a petting zoo. And unsurprisingly, Leslie spent the most time at the diaphragm display—"the most important structure of the body"—pointing to how the balloon-like structure anchors to the heart. Amy also explained how the idea that we’re made of "parts" is really artifice: The body is one deeply connected system that doesn’t know it has a spleen or a clavicle.

Another thing Amy explained is why most pranayama is done through the nose instead of the mouth—on one body without a face (less gross than it sounds), she pointed out how the bones of the nose curve in, creating a spiral that pulls in air with more velocity—and efficiency—than the mouth.

The exhibit is an amazing way to recast your practice. You can do it on your own, or pick up Leslie's book to help. I’ll certainly be thinking about the puzzle-piece fit of my organs in my next Down Dog.

Do you think about your internal anatomy when you practice? How so? How does it help?