I stumbled upon YogiChocolate because who wouldn't be tempted by the words yoga and chocolate? I also thought it was an ingenious idea and a great resource. Basically, the Santa Monica based company offers a slew of mp3 audio-classes for download on a donation basis, which means you pay what you want.
The selection of teachers is international (Russia and Asia are in the house as are folks from all of the country like Gary Halperin, Desiree Bartlett, Gurutej, Aras Baskauskas and Bryan Kest). The type of practice available is varied (Power, Jivamukti, Kripalu to name a few), and there are even audio files with mediation and kirtan.
For me, YogiChocolate is a great way to augment my home practice and to make any vacation a retreat. Beach yoga, anyone?
Ever since the cyclone hit Burma last week, I have felt an uneasiness that I just can't shake. I have never been to Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar), but I met Burmese refugees when I was in Thailand, and I have friends who have lived there, or are there still. It is a militaristic state in which the residents live in fear of the junta, or armed forces, and suffer violations of their human rights on a daily basis. The cyclone that hit the poor country only served to make a very bad situation a whole lot worse.
As yogis who have ties both to the Buddhist community and to humanitarian causes in general, many of us have been asking the question: What can we do to help? I spoke to my friend Gregg Butensky, who is a long-time activist for the Burmese cause, a board member of the Burmese American Democratic Alliance, and a foster dad to a young woman whom he helped relocate to Thailand. He told me of the formation of a new coalition of local Burmese organizations (that includes member organizations as varied as the International Burmese Monks Organization and the Myanmar Taxi Driver Association) to assist those in need. While the coalition does not have a website yet, Gregg and some others did put up an emergency website this past week to help point people to places where they can offer donations.
There are also three local events happening this weekend that are focused on bringing awareness to the crisis. The biggest one is a Global Day of Action For Burma rally at the UN Plaza (Market Street between 7th & 8th Streets) in San Francisco on Saturday from 3-6pm, to urge the UN to protect the cyclone victims. Also, there is an American Jewish World Service event on Saturday evening in SF called Celebrating Voices for Change in Burma and a BADA fund-raiser this Sunday in Fremont.
I hope you will join me in sending blessings and much-needed funds to our brothers and sisters in Burma. Please let us know if you have found other ways to help.
Last night, over an AMAZING meal at Pure Food & Wine (vegan, raw, fancy, and deliriously delicious restaurant on Irving Place), some fellow Yoga Journalites (and non-NY-ers) asked me what I do to stay balanced in this crazy city of ours. It got me thinking.
Top 5 Quick Ways to Stay Balanced in NYC
1) Grab Nature When You Can: When walking, route yourself through parks, down the leafiest streets, near the biggest trees. And take in the smells, sights and sounds of plants and critters and the soft respite they offer.
2) Go for Softness: Someone once told me each city's energy is affected by the type of stone beneath it. NYC's granite is some hard-ass rock energy. Too much can rattle our nerves and ability to feel compassion. I do things like: take a restorative yoga class, duck into a Tui Na massage, get a facial, carry bottles of lavender and rescue remedy in my bag.
3) Eat Well: It's not hard to find delicious food here. But I usually feel better when it's of the non-pizza variety (though sometimes a drippy slice is just thing). When you feel off, go for the plants: stop into Bonobo's, Souen, City Bakery (past those cookies to the local veggies), Angelica's, Liquiteria (the green pressed juice is mana), Blossom. And Organique on 23rd is a great lunch spot for organic meats and veggies, when animal protein is what you need.
4) Take in Beauty: Depending on your perspective, NYC can look like Law & Order or Woody Allen's Manhattan. To make sure you catch the latter, get yourself to the water (it's easy to forget we're surrounded), preferably at sunset. Notice gargoyles. Go to Top of the Rock. Walk by Barney's windows. Stop by Alice in Wonderland. Have tea at the Morgan Library.
5) Get Out: You don't have to have a manse in the Hamptons to escape. Every sane NY-er knows she needs to leave at least once a month. Grab a train to Cold Spring and hike, take a ferry ride, day trip to Fire Island, walk on the Long Beach boardwalk, even spend a local, peaceful day at the New York Botanical Garden.
What's on your list? How do you stay sane and happy here?
I love the Ditty Bops. I love their vaudeville-meets-theater theatrics, their country-western twang thang, their soothing harmonies, their story telling skills and their lyrical fun. I also love that these Los Angeles gals -- Abby DeWald and Amanda Barrett -- have figured out a way to meld their activism into their creative expression.
Last spring, they started an environmental non-profit called You and I Save the World, which helped San Francisco ban the plastic bag. And the year before, they promoted their second album "Moon Over the Freeway" on bike, pedaling rom Los Angeles to New York, while performing concerts along the way.
While I certainly haven't planned a cross country bike trip to promote Samadhi and the City, I have taken the Ditty's lead and pedal around my neighborhood a lot more lately. Soaring gas prices, my cute cruiser and the nice weather have been great incentives to get me out of my car and into the bike lane.
Check out the Ditty Bops new record, "Summer Rains", which they say was inspired by their sustainable L.A. lifestyle (no cars, only bikes, vegetarian and their former driveway has been converted into an edible, organic garden). And if you'd like to see them live, they'll be at McCabes at the beginning of June.
I first went to India when I was 22. I knew nothing about yoga, but I had a transformative experience nonetheless, complete with my first contact with saddhus, a visit to the temple where Buddha sat under the Boddhi tree, and a visit to the Ganges to see the bodies burning on the ghats. My trip felt deeply spiritual ... but, as a recent college grad in a tumultuous love affair with a guy I met while traveling, it also felt completely confusing, raw, and, at times, ridiculous.
So, when I heard about local writer and former Yoga Journal editor Anne Cushman's new book, Enlightenment For Idiots, I was excited to pick up a copy. The book, which she calls a cross between a spiritual journey and a dysfunctional romance, is about a San Franciscan writer and yogi who can't seem to practice in life what she practices on the mat. Her relationships are a mess, and she's financially broke and emotionally ungrounded. Finally, she gets an assignment to go to India and write a book called Enlightenment for Idiots, for which she must hit all the big and small ashrams throughout the country. Like the trip I took at 22, hers is a wild journey during which she tries to find deeper meaning while simultaneously dealing with a completely unenlightened romantic situation and uncertain future.
While there is satire in Anne's story, there is also insight—and a lot of research. She actually visited all of these places in 1998 when researching a prior nonfiction book on spiritual sites and centers in India, From Here To Nirvana, and used these experiences as the basis for her main character's travels.
Anne's main interest lies not in some arbitrary idea of enlightenment but rather in how modern day life (specifically romantic life) and yogic ideals intersect. Or how they don't. She says that many yogic practices were designed for Eastern celibate men—not single, Western women. She also says that our love lives are the most challenging places for us to act with mindfulness and employ yogic principles. As a Western yogini slowly navigating my way through a new relationship, I can relate!
Hee that is in a towne in May loseth his spring. ~George Herbert
Yes, it certainly feels like I'm loseth-ing the beautiful day in towne in my gray cube. Which means my mind starts to stray over to thoughts of how I can play. Herewith, some yogic summercamp options from the two local-ish yoga retreat biggies, Kripalu and Omega (I'll cover more spots soon). I've picked the ones that are nearly guaranteed to be great.
1) Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
It's an abundance of Berkshire-based yoga riches at this retreat center.
This weekend, I plan to head out to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena to catch the Tales of the Blue Lord show before it closes on May 12th. This intimate exhibit, with paintings, sculpture and religious icons from as early as the 11th century, explores the life and legend of Krishna -- the lotus-eyed Hindu deity who is both mighty (demon slayer), playful (flute player), and always adventurous.
Then next week, I'm looking forward to the opening of The Vision and Art of Shinjo Ito in Westwood. The founder of the Shinnyo-en stream of Buddhism, was one of Japan's most versatile modern religious artists -- a calligrapher, photographer, and his greatest milestone, the Great Parinirvana Image: a 16-foot long statue of Buddha Shakyamuni about to enter nirvana.
Throughout the month of May, there's also a slew of interesting events to accompany the Ito exhibit -- guided meditations, musical performances and on Sunday May 11th, a yoga class set to classical music.
___________________
Now some YogaWorks news. The South Bay location has finally opened. And don't forget to take advantage of a mother's day promotion -- a free class for mom at any studio. Download the free class card from the homepage.
After practicing yoga for a while, people often get the urge to bring their practice to others. But not everyone wants to become a certified yoga instructor, or even charge for classes. Some just want to teach others who need yoga, but don't have access to it in one way or another.
Mark Lilly, a Portland writer and software engineer, started to feel this way when he started practicing yoga in 2001, and shortly afterward began volunteer-teaching yoga to homeless youth. He liked it so much that he founded Street Yoga, a program dedicated to bringing yoga classes to kids who live on the streets, in shelters, and in foster care.
The Portland-based nonprofit program has a mostly volunteer staff that goes around to places like homeless youth resource centers, drug treatment programs, runaway centers, and juvenile detention halls and teaches yoga to help kids keep warm, take care of their bodies, deal with the stress of being homeless, and feel a sense of community.
The program has been so successful, that the organization now does Street Yoga teacher trainings around the country. There is one happening in San Francisco next weekend, from May 9-11, at It's Yoga Kids Studio on Ruger Street. At the training you'll learn how to teach yoga to homeless youth. The program includes regular teacher training as well as role-playing, interpersonal exercises, talks about service, and training around boundaries. You don't need to be a yoga teacher to do this program—anyone can do it. At the moment, there are only a few slots left, so if you are interested in doing it, sign up right away.
And check out this awesome video Street Yoga has on You Tube!
Now that I have your attention.... I wandered into the Lincoln Square Lululemon last night, and while I was paying for my $83 hoodie (hey, it's purple! and fuzzy!), I noticed a sign-up sheet for a "Better Sex Through Yoga" class they'll be hosting at the store--free--on Sunday morning (May 4).
It's taught by Jacquie Noelle Greaux, a woman who wrote a book of the same name. All levels of yogis are welcome, and the class is 9:00am to 10:30 for all you earlier risers and/or Upper East Siders. You can RSVP in the store, by email (lincoln-square-community@lululemon.com), or just bring your sexy self to class.
Also, Satya Jewelry's sample sale begins today! It's from 10am to 6pm today, Saturday, and Sunday @ the Christopher Street store. Go and revel in spiritual ironies as you fight for your majorly discounted Buddhas and oms! (But seriously, really good stuff at fantastic prices.)
Prizes include a spa vacation in Vermont,
a stained-glass window depicting the seven energy centers of the body,
Yoga DVDs, a yoga vacation in San Francisco and more...
If I like it and decide to continue, I'll pay just $15.95, and receive a full one-year
subscription (8 issues in all), a 60% savings off the newsstand price!
Otherwise, I'll write cancel on the invoice and owe nothing.
Get FreeTrial Issues
Yes!Please send me my2 FREE trial issuesof Yoga Journal and my TWO FREE GIFTS:
Calm, Cool, Collected: A digital guide to 10 restorative poses that will leave you feeling energized and grounded.
Yoga for Neck & Shoulders: A digital guide to 11 postures that relieve neck, back and shoulder tension.
Pay now and get 2 Bonus Issues!
Pay now and get
TWO EXTRA ISSUES FREE!
That's 10 issues for the same low price!
Ever since the cyclone hit Burma last week, I have felt an uneasiness that I just can't shake. I have never been to Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar), but I met Burmese refugees when I was in Thailand, and I have friends who have lived there, or are there still. It is a militaristic state in which the residents live in fear of the junta, or armed forces, and suffer violations of their human rights on a daily basis. The cyclone that hit the poor country only served to make a very bad situation a whole lot worse.
Last night, over an AMAZING meal at 
I first went to India when I was 22. I knew nothing about yoga, but I had a transformative experience nonetheless, complete with my first contact with saddhus, a visit to the temple where Buddha sat under the Boddhi tree, and a visit to the Ganges to see the bodies burning on the ghats. My trip felt deeply spiritual ... but, as a recent college grad in a tumultuous love affair with a guy I met while traveling, it also felt completely confusing, raw, and, at times, ridiculous.
Hee that is in a towne in May loseth his spring. ~George Herbert 
After practicing yoga for a while, people often get the urge to bring their practice to others. But not everyone wants to become a certified yoga instructor, or even charge for classes. Some just want to teach others who need yoga, but don't have access to it in one way or another. 
Now that I have your attention.... I wandered into the 
