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?
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.
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.)
A couple of weekends ago, when I went up to Kripalu in the Berkshires for some yogic R&R, I took a yoga-inspired dance class called JourneyDance.
It was in the DansKinetics time slot, but this wasn't my momma's yoga-twirling. I usually just go for the live drums and groove in a corner. But the drums started thumping in the cavernous main hall, and the teacher had us roll around on the floor. And I was like, "Well, I can warm up with the class." And then she had us start moving like water, and I thought, "Ok, I'll be water for just a sec, then I'll go to the corner."
But man, if this sistah of a teacher, Toni Bergins, didn't have me up and moving with her--and about 50 other people--the whole time. Usually I'm kind of cheezed out by new-agey, "love yourself" classes. But this woman was my age-ish and sounded like a happy, spiritual Ani DiFranco (with a dash of Michael Franti). She moved like a hip-hop yogini with enormous energy, totally comfortable in her own skin. The girl channeled some seriously inspiring shakti. And her self-love message? So not cheezy.
Soon I was bouncing up and down, yelling to random partners as instructed: "You are so creative!" and "Well thank you very much!" "You are so wiiild," "You are so sensuous!" "Well thank you very much!" We whooped and built imaginary shamanic fires, burned excess psychic gunk, and danced around them, all to the drums, which were beating in my cells. Then she chilled us all the way back down to the earth.
Whew. Amazing. I caught her again last weekend when she taught at Atmananda (nee Centerpoint) in NYC. Totally different vibe at night, with a much smaller crowd, and no drums, just some funky non-live music. But equally deep and cleansing and fun. She's on tour and will be coming back to NYC for another event on June 7th. (It isn't listed on the site yet, so just drop her an email). You must go. Really.
It's not cheap (like $50 for two hours). But if you think of it like therapy, which it is, but more fun and better exercise, then it's a freaking bargain. Go, dance. Feel alive. She's also giving teacher training in her method at Kripalu in June, in case you get converted and want to spread the high-vibing, heartful, booty-thumping word.
Yes, it's officially spring out there. Thank the great green goddess. That was a long one, no?
Well, you can celebrate with a little bit of internal spring cleaning. The folks at Yoga People's Brooklyn Heights studio told me about a two-day workshop (or one if you prefer) they're having this weekend that sounds really lovely: "Root to Rise: The Power Of Organic Energy."
It'll be taught by Anusara-ginis Tara Glazier and Jorja Rivero. On Saturday, they'll be covering backbends, standing poses, and inversions, with an eye to waking up your prana (life force) from its winter slumber and getting those juicing flowing.
Sunday is about grounding all of that expansion by opening your hips, doing some twists, forward bends, and restorative poses. The aim is clarity, strength and oomph.
It costs $100 for both days, $50 for one day, and $55 if you schedule within 24 hours of the workshops. For more info: yoga-people.com or register at 718-522-9642.
As I mentioned some months ago, my long-time boyfriend was a yoga virgin. No more. A couple of weeks ago, of his own free, non-nudged will, he went and signed up for Jivamukti's beginner series.
When he got back from the first class, he sent me an email with the subject "Jivamuktilicious." I clapped, so relieved his first time had been good. For so long I had been hesitant to introduce him to yoga for fear that he'd have a bad experience; for this control freak, it was just too much responsibility. But here's what he wrote me:
"So i had my first ever yoga experience... I was greeted by a mellow, smiley young woman, who looked up my name on the computer and asked if it was my first time there. "Yup, I need to rent a mat, right?"
Once that was all taken care of and I was changed into my jammies [ed note: In lieu of anything stretchy, I told him his pajama bottoms and a t-shirt would be fine.] I went into this little room, about the size of a small studio apartment and people were laying out their mats. There were about ten or twelve of us, about 40% men, 60% women. One woman looked like she was in charge and I asked her what to do. She was an assistant and told me to get some blankets which seemed utterly mysterious, were we going to take naps? And some blocks and straps which were even more mysterious and seemed a little S&M.
Our teacher then arrived, the lovely Narayani aka Nicole Nichols whom had been recommended by the guy who took my Visa card number on the phone when I signed up. "Is anybody here for the first time?" I and another woman raised our hands....
We started with some omming, which was kinda cool since the teacher did it with authority and everyone just followed, including me. She also talked about finding enlightenment through yoga, saying it could be achieved in the here and now. She may have said it was through connecting the body and soul to the earth, or maybe that was just my interpretation.
This week is turning into mini awards season around me. On Sunday I found out a friend won a Pulitzer for her amazing reporting at the New York Times. (Bob Dylan also scooped up a Pulitzer--how cool is that?) And then Tuesday I learned that both sites I'm involved with were nominated for Webby Awards. Very different things, but all exciting nonetheless!
The place I do my day job--Beliefnet.com--was nominated in the Webby Religion and Spirituality category. And YogaJournal.com was nominated in the Magazine category--along with other fantastic sites: New York magazine, National Geographic, Make, and Dwell. Big stuff! Yay, congrats YJ.
I grew up in Quaker schools where competition was not encouraged, in the name of equality, two central Quaker tenets. So I've never really allowed myself to express my competitiveness (ok, unless you've played a boardgame with me, in which case--is that a vowel lodged in your ear? Sorry!).
But as we all know, recognition is nice. When it involves me, even tangentally, I've found it's especially lovely if I can circumvent my ego and recycle that joy by plunking it into my self-love piggy bank. Clink!
If you'd like to help turn the YJ "bank" into an actual win by voting for us between now and May 1st, that would be extra-clinky.
I also just finished reading the Madonna profile in Vanity Fair's Green Issue tonight (oh lordess, that shiny woman does some sort of magic yoga). And it closes with two clichéd, but moment-appropriate quotes from her Madgeness: "If your joy is derived from what society thinks of you, you're always going to be disappointed." The cure? "You just have to keep doing your work and hope and pray someone's dialing into your frequency."
Amen sistah. And thanks, dear readers, for dialing into the YJ frequency.
Stacie just brought an amazing-looking upcoming photo exhibit to my attention--The Searchers. Done by artists Sasha Bezzubov and Jessica Sucher, it captures a strand of Western spiritual tourism in India. The kind that you may be familiar with--the kind where sightseeing means ashrams, temples, and festivals. The type of tourism that seeks yogic, often guru-lead transformation, following in the footsteps of The Beatles, Ram Dass, Krishna Das, Elizabeth Gilbert, and countless others.
The lovely photos range from scruffy white guys in orange robes (I had to squint at a couple I thought might be ex-boyfriends), to elegant images of orchids climbing cracked walls, a haunting altar photo of Osho, and deity-scaled palaces populated with human-scale yogis. In their statement, the artists write: "we photographed transient seekers and lifetime converts, architecture in the communities they found, and the spiritual practices they engage in."
They add that this work builds on their other projects in different countries, looking at "young Western travelers visiting the developing world, their relationship with their host country, and what this means within the larger questions of history, economy, race, and idealism."
Mark your calendar and catch the exhibit:
Front Room Gallery
April 11 – May 4, 2008
147 Roebling Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
718. 782. 2556 http://www.frontroom.org
And selections from the Searchers will also be exhibited with Front Room Gallery at
Bridge Art Fair
March 27 – March 30, 2008
@ The Waterfront
222 12th Avenue
& 269 11th Avenue http://www.bridgeartfair.com
I've managed to catch whatever my cubicle neightbor has been sick with--I'm fevery and in need of some neti-potting (or yogic humming). So I'll keep this week kind of short and just let you know about a pair of conference-type things that might interest you.
One is the New Life Expo, the weekend if March 28-30. Frankly it's always seems a little cheesy to me and asking around I've heard that it's dwindled in stature in recent years. But lots of speakers and panels on things like vibrational healing, chakra balancing, and holistic sexuality.
What might be more up the yogi's alley is the same company's Yoga and Raw Food Expo June 6-8 (and just now realizing it's all run by the same group as NY Yoga magazine--my post last week. I don't plan these things, but info tends to come in clusters that way--an energy thing?). But anyway, It promises to be three days of "yoga classes, lectures, music, food" at the Hotel New Yorker.
Not a comprehensive list of who will be involved in the latter yet, but somehow the idea of eating fresh raw food and doing tons of yoga sounds so very, very nice right now. But maybe most appealing is the idea of warm, balmy June.
Sniffle, sneeze, cough, ommmmm. Stay warm!
P.S.
Remember, you can always drop me a line about what you'd like to see here--yoga listings, info, etc. When I'm feeling better, I can even do some actual reporting (!) if there's something you'd like to find out. valerie at valerie reiss dot com
After attending my first "Green Drinks" night--networking for the eco set--I sat on the train thumbing through a magazine I've read only a couple of times, New York Yoga Magazine.
It's one of those free newsprint publications mostly filled with articles by the same people who advertise in the magazine. Some decent event and studio listings, though, plus a silly syndicated humor column I've long appreciated by "Swami Beyondananda," and a helpful article or two. But tonight I stumbled upon something novel--a yoga crossword puzzle. 1. down is "Tortoise pose," 3. across--"A knot in the body or mind that blocks the free flow of energy or prana and distorts our view of reality."
It's a cool way to brush up on your Sanskrit and yoga trivia. And even though I'm a crossword junkie, this one is actually pretty hard since it doesn't rely on old vowely standbys like Brian Eno and NAFTA for its answers.
You can download it here: nyyogamagazine.com when you click pages 26 -40.
It's also sort of timely to be talking about this, as just a couple of weeks ago, NYC hosted the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, a totally insane exercise in speed solving (Bikram for your brain?) covered really well by NPR here.
Let me know what you think of the yoga crossword--and how fast you solve it.
Fearless. What does that mean, exactly, in a city where fear is a kind of sixth sense that helps us navigate? Even though it sometimes seems vital, with the help of yoga and meditation, I'm working on trading fear for a relaxed readiness.
We can all re-think our fear systems at Omega Institute's annual Being Fearless conference next month.
On April 11, 12, and 13 at a midtown hotel, an array of spiritual luminaries will assemble for our collective enlightenment. In years past, this conference has had keynote speakers like Al Gore and Malcolm Gladwell. This year's teacher roster is even more eclectic than usual, including: Rev. Michael Beckwith of "The Secret," yogic rockstar Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, author Anne Lamott, politician Robert Kennedy, Jr., Mia Farrow (yeah, I know), Valerie Plame Wilson (!), and the amazing Iyanla Vanzant.
I'm not sure I've dropped much fear in my last three years attending, but I have danced with Gabrielle Roth, heard Malclom Gladwell pumped for spiritual advice, had my aura photographed, and took a nap on something called a "Biomat" that's supposed to align every last chakra with its crystal essence. Or something. Last year after a heart-opening workshop I even thanked a favorite, beloved author for changing my life. She didn't miss a beat, immediately asking me for a bathroom. Ouch. NYC armor: re-activate.
Painful lessons aside, it's always weird and lovely to dip into the waters of yoga and soul and step out into midtown. Kind of like leaving a single yoga class times 100. I highly recommend checking it out, even if only for the pupu platter appeal of tasting a little spiritual-yogic something from a lot of fascinating someones.
If you're into crafty projects that are functional, not to mention spiritual, then you'll definitely want to check out the mala-making workshop at Satya Jewelry on Saturday, March 8.
Kundalini yoga teacher Hari Kaur will guide attendees through the process of beading a Japa Mala, those pretty Indian necklaces with 108 beads that inspired the Catholic rosary. They're part meditation tool, part beautiful accessory.
The day-long event is scheduled to start with some Kundalini Yoga at Golden Bridge Yoga (the Nolita Satya and GG are attached) and then mingle meditation and mala creation. It'll wrap with a moment to meditate with your finished mala.
The idea is that if you're in a meditative space while stringing the beads--semi-precious stones said to hold energy and intention--you'll create a powerful personal talisman to remind you of the sacred everywhere you go.
When you sign up for the workshop, you'll need to select the beads for your mala. There's rose quartz (for unconditional love); carnelian (to ward off fear); fancy jasper (about interconnectedness); and jade (the "stone of dreams").
It's about this time of year that the subways seem more crowded, the skies more bleak, the people as warm as my icy fingertips. In other words, it's the perfect moment for a winter escape. Take a vacation day or two, meld them on to a weekend and voila, sanity mostly restored. Some ideas to get you started:
Woodstock, NY
This is my favorite insta-getaway. Hop on a bus and two-and-a-half hours later you're in the midst of tie-dyed storefronts and nearby trees. If you stay at the sweet Woodstock Inn on the Millstream, you'll be walking distance from Bliss Yoga, an often jam-packed studio with great teachers. Not to mention Pegasus, my fave cute-yet-comfy show shop. And if you stay at Dharma House, you can bake in the sauna after a soak in the massive tub.
Kripalu Center, Lenox, MA
A little more of a trek (I always pop an anti-motion sickness pill), this is also a bus-able destination. There's not much like standing on that back porch and looking over the snow-dusted landscape. Except maybe taking a fantastic morning yoga class, eating a yummy veggie lunch, and soaking in a 10-person hot-tub for as long as you can stand. Kripalu.org
American Yogini, Jamesport, NY
Can't vouch for this one personally, but I'm on the mailing list and am quite tempted. It's a spot out in the Hamptons that offers yoga, raw juice fasting, and other options. The photos look lovely and Alison Shore Gaines, who leads the fast is a respected long-time Kripaluite. AmericanYogini.com
When I first heard about CityStretch, a new guidebook to NYC yoga, I had a total V8, I-should-have-thought-of-that moment. We have guides to just about every possible niche here--from restaurants to nightlife to erotica shops. And now, there's yoga.
Though I haven't gotten my paws on one yet, one of the authors is a friend of a friend. Just released by a pair of New York yoginis, the book includes a comprehensive array of yoga studios. Each description has price of classes, style, level, rating, and a chatty review. There's also a handy icon guide to amenities like showers, bottled water, secure storage and towels. Some reviews have a sketch of a hand in gyan mudra to denote "top picks" that are "worth the schlep." (You can see sample pages here.)
It definitely appears that this is a very "scalable" (oy, one too many marketing conversations this week) concept that could spread to any city. The real "value-add" (aak, I can't stop!) here is that the guide includes coupons to classes worth more than $450 at studios that include: Yoga Works Westside, Yoga Center of Brooklyn, Golden Bridge, The Breathing Project and the Chopra Spa.
All seemingly worth the $15 cost of the book, which you can only pick up at the CityStretch website right now.
I'm planning to order one. Will you let me know if you do? Would love to have reviews of the reviews.
Maybe I'm late to the party, but I recently discovered Reality Sandwich, a nifty online magazine with the tagline, "Evolving consciousness, bite by bite."
Though they're not NYC-centric, right now there's a spicy little conversation going on about the first offline "Evolver" event, "Wake Up and Dream," an all-night mini-fest at our own Jivamukti last weekend.
Apparently, in one session, "Asanas and Ayahuasca," Sharon Gannon and the site's Editorial Director, author Daniel Pinchbeck, had quite the debate, inflaming some attendees, who later took their feelings to RS's comments sections. Said one: "I was disgusted at the evolver event... by the toxic, ego-driven double talk of Sharon Gannon."
As only an anonymous web-poster can, "WNB" went on to spew some toxins of his/her own. The next person jumped in with "You've got to wonder, when your own buttons get pushed, why those buttons were so itchy to get triggered." And others expressed more judicious or "libra" thoughts about the evening.
I have to say, it's kind of refreshing to see New York yogis talking about issues of ego and judgement, veganism and McDonald's, all sparked by what sounds like a lovely, trippy, Burning Man-esque evening. Hopefully next time I'll be able to give you a heads-up beforehand.
It looks like the site launched nearly a year ago, getting its name from an Allen Ginsberg poem. They've got all kinds of funky, spiritual, eco, artsy features including "Ayahuasca and Kabbalah," "The Ancient Future of Food," and "How to Save the World By Pooping in a Bucket." The site notes that it has plans for a social network, meaning the convos will only get juicier and the connections broader.
Did anyone out there make it to the event or know much about Reality Sandwich? Would love to hear your thoughts.
To think about the brain, you have to use the brain. Which evokes the profound question that yogis and gurus an sages have been asking all along: Who is thinking that thought?
If your circuits still work after that, you'll be excited to know about Brainwave NYC, a festival around the city that aims to ask "how art, music, and meditation affect the brain." Answers are in the form of "more than a hundred public events, ranging from an exhibition of contemporary art and a cinema series to cutting-edge concerts, performances, talks, and panels."
The events, which started earlier this month and reach into April, range from visionary art to the "psychobiology of meditation" to a family yoga class and are sponsored by orgs diverse as The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, CUNY, and The Museum of Natural History, and more.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
What happens in our brains as we die, from the Tibetan Buddhist perspective. With Dr. Ramon Prats.
RMA Saturday, February 9, 4 p.m., $15
Bokara Legendre in conversation with Jean Houston, one of the principal founders of the Human Potential Movement.
RMA Wednesday, February 13, 6:30 p.m. $15
The Interfaith Experience
With visionary artist Alex Grey. This conversation takes place in the galleries during RMA's weekly K2 Lounge on Friday nights.
RMA Friday, February 22, 7 p.m., Free
Family Yoga
Action, stillness, and more action! Train your mind to control your body by playing fun yoga games.
RMA Saturday, February 23, 2 p.m., Free with Museum admission
The Neuroscience of The Groove
Quartet for Percussion and Brain Waves
Premiere of a live performance/experiment with drummers and electroencephalographs.
Science & the Arts, CUNY Graduate Center, Monday, March 24, 6:30 p.m., FREE
Train to Happiness
French biologist-turned-Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard in conversation with Mind and Life Institute pioneer Bennett Shapiro on their work with His Highness The Dalai Lama on cognitive function.
RMA Monday, April 14, 7 p.m., $25
Raghavan Iyer: 300 Curries
What effect do spices have on the way we see and taste the world? Followed by a tasting.
RMA Wednesday, April 16, 7:30 p.m., $25
(I'm extra-psyched about these events because I spent five months interviewing almost two dozen brain experts for this recent article on enhancing your brain function.)
Stocks are falling, real estate is crashing, something called the Dow (not to be confused with the tao) is swinging wildly. And the core heart of all this trading, sweaty, money-drenched panic is New York City. This is partly the reason I signed up for "Financial Yoga," a class held at Integral Yoga taught by Wall Street veteran-turned-spiritual-financial adviser, Claire Kinsella.
Kinsella started the class by asking us to share our first money role-models, because, she said, our childhood is likely informing our current relationship to cash. Unsurprisingly, there was nary a happy story. One woman described her father keeping his salary a locked-door secret, another said her mom was so debt-averse she advised her daughter not to go to college because of the loans.
Though we didn't do any actual asana, Kinsella went over the financial organization system she's created, Financial Safety Space, explaining how she's aligned each kind of money transaction with a chakra. For example, the root chakra—the one that grounds us to the earth—is all about income streams, the money that comes in to nourish and support. The third chakra in the solar plexus (normally associated with power), is, she said, related to contracts—debt, taxes, legal issues, etc. Heart chakra is about home, marriage, and child expenses, etc. It's really quite cool.
She recommended creating a filing system for your finances that reflects this notion. She showed her us her file box filled with a rainbow of chakrically-coded file folders. For each chakra/money issue, she also recommends a corresponding chant and yoga posture: For dealing with financial contracts and debt—all third chakra-related—we chanted Ra and Ram, and she suggested doing Upside-Down Triangle pose to open that chakra.
To learn more, you'll need to contact her and take one of her classes, which she teaches around the city.
One of the most potent things she said was, "The number-one reason people get into debt is loneliness." For a second there was dead silence, as we all surely combed over our own recent emotion-spurred splurges. Like every financial planner she suggests writing down your expenses, but unlike any other, she also suggests writing the feeling you had when you made them.
Powerful stuff for, er, interesting financial times.
You know, I know, NYC is to inner calm what writhing, naked, nubiles are to chastity. Making it the perfect place to practice finding stillness, some say. (Hey, the celibate Gandhi allegedly invited hot women into his bed so he could not touch them).
And this week we get a little help from New York magazine's "Peace + Quiet" issue--subtitle: "finding calm in the urban squall." (My source two weeks running--if anyone's counting--but no worries, not three.)
The package kicks off with a piece about my Beliefnet office mate Martha Ainsworth (hi, Martha!), who's officially trying to become an "urban hermit"--think: prayer and vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience--all while working a regular job, commuting, and socializing like (almost) the rest of us.
Then there's a handy guide to free yoga (something I've been meaning to write about for a while). You can grab free classes at Integral, Yoga Sutra, Atmananda (wait, hadn't they switched their name to Centerpoint? Are they back now? Oh, that Jhon T.), and Yoga to the People. There's even a section about chanting in NYC.
All of this is a little extra-spiritual, not the usual yoga-lite spa-y froth. It's refreshingly real. I might add to the list for how we can all cope with/escape subway rider rage and related stressors:
- Actually go to a Quaker meeting. I went to elementary school at Friends, host to the aforementioned meetinghouse, and so got silence drummed into me early and often. I recommend it, whatever your beliefs. There's 16th street ; a Morningside meeting; and a Brooklyn meeting.
- Get up early on Sunday and walk around. Before the brunch crowds hit.
Which reminds me of Digable Planets' great '90s ode to NYC Sunday peacefulness. Some lyrics:
Butterfly searchin for a relax
pullin from the jazz stacks cause it’s sunday
on the air is incense
sounds to the ceiling
tryin to get this feelin since monday
lookin out the window
watchin all the people go...
buggin off the calmness in the apple
who me i’m coolin in new york
i’m chillin in new york
the hoods is on my block
and the brothers at the court
the baseball hats is on
and the projects is calm
dream times extended
(Ladybug)
and highly recommended
(Butterfly)
but early birds like me’s up checkin out the scene
the early worms job, forget about your job
just come dig the essence while the decadence is hidden
when people act like people, the theory is in picture
if you know the norm it’s like hades transformed
on sunday's early hours the city sprouts its flowers
so get with the rhythms while you gettin with the planets
vibe off the jams but don’t take em for granted
just chill
Last week's New York magazine reported on Equinox gym's "War of the Yogis." Apparently, the posh sports club chain has teamed up with Pure Yoga, a studio chain in Hong Kong, to open a 20,000-square-foot space on the Upper East Side come spring.
It would dwarf even some of NYC's largest studios: Om Yoga is 11,500-square feet; Jivamukti is 12,000. That's some serious yoga space—they better have some amazing classes, deep pockets, or fantastic karma, or else the NYC real estate market can't possibly support this.
The article says the high-sheen place will have five rooms of simultaneous yoga in different styles. And no more pretending not to fight over mat space—you'll be able to go online and reserve your very own parking spot within a class.
The quote Equinox gave New York is incredibly telling: "we will continue to expand and pursue an aggressive yoga strategy." And the Pure Yoga site describes its retail shops like this: "Our interiors are ergonomically designed for the ultimate shopping experience." Erm, "aggressive yoga strategy"? Yoga, ergonomics, and "ultimate shopping"? WWPD (What Would Patanjali Do?)
Well, I know that yoga here is not exactly "pure" to its roots—nor do I think it needs to be—but sometimes it seems that it goes so far off the rails here that it's helpful to remember the original intentions of yoga's first shapers. Yoga has a do's and don'ts list, and one of the "do's" is ahmisa—not harming others. A subset of ahimsa is called vaira-tyagah, giving up hostilities. One site translates it like this: (vaira = hostility, enmity, aggression; tyaga = abandon, give up).
So, Equinox, maybe there's another, more collaborative—ahimsa-matic?—way to come here as a yoga monolith? Though it's yet to be seen how they'll affect the yogascape, it sort of feels like a fancy WalMart threatening the livelihoods of the smaller, humbler studios that have been around for years. What do you think? Do we have room for a studio like this?
Someone once told me that wherever you are on New Year’s Eve is a reflection of how the year ahead will follow. Superstitious or not, it’s a good excuse to choose your celebrations consciously. That way, if you’re planning on bathing in a magnum or Vueve, at least it’s a choice. For other options, here’s a taste of NYC’s offerings for ringing in 2008 sober and still and with a yogic openness to the changes to come.
Where:Jivamukti Yoga, 841 Broadway, 2nd floor When: December 31, 9pm to 12 am What: Sit in “mauna,” yogic silence, till midnight with Sharon Gannon, David Life, and fellow yogis, and then chant like crazy in a kirtan with the band Lokah. Snack out on chai and vegan treats. How Much: Free! More Info/Sign-Up:www.jivamuktiyoga.com
Where: Laughing Lotus, 59 W. 19th St., 3rd Floor When: December 31, 10 pm - 12 am What: Midnight Yoga with Kate. A class set to live music, with prompting to inspire your vision for the year ahead. How Much: $20 More Info/Sign-Up: Reservations required. 212-355–1600 or laughinglotus.com.
Where: Golden Bridge Yoga, 253 Centre Street When: December 31, 10 am - 11:30 am and/or Januray 1st, 4pm - 5:30 pm What: Kundalini Yoga with tea and cookies to "let go of the past and bring in the new year filled with focused energy, renewed potential and hope for a peaceful and harmonious 2008." How Much: $18 per class More Info/Sign-Up:goldenbridgeyoganyc.com.
Where:Om Yoga, 826 Broadway, 6th Floor When: December 31, 5:30 - 8 pm What: Class with Cyndi Lee, surrounded by candlelight, set to the new OM yoga mix CD. Post-class treats. For all levels. “You can come and detoxify before you toxify! Or use this class as a reminder of the in-between.” How Much: $40 More Info/Sign-Up:omyoga.com
Where: Hot Nude Yoga When: December 31, 9:30 pm - 1:00 am What: If you’re male, gay, yogic, and not at all shy, this could be the place to be. Mingling begins at 9:30, class starts at 10. How Much: $40 More Info/Sign-Up:hotnudeyoga.com
Where:Dharma Mittra When: Events throughout the day—and the next. Check site for details. What: December 31st will kick off with an afternoon meditation for world peace, and there’s a 6:30 New Year’s class with Dharma. January 1st is the Annual All-Day Chant of 108 Hanuman Chalisas, a free chantathon event. How Much: Prices vary. More Info/Sign-Up: dharmittrayogacenter.com
Where: East West Yoga When: January 1st, 12pm – 4pm What: A yoga workshop with Sadie Nardini and Ariel Towne “to clear yourself on all levels, and realign yourself to your highest intentions.” After yoga class, there will be a lunch break, then Feng Shui expert and lifecoach Ariel will help you clarify what you really want for the year ahead. How Much: $65 in advance, or $75 at the door. Yoga class can be taken seperately for $25, or Shui workshop only for $50. More Info/Sign-Up:eastwestnyc.com
The votes are in, if you're into that sort of thing: Citysearch has published its winners for best yoga studios this year, as voted for by Citysearch readers, plus one editorial pick. Though some of the votes are surely due to heavy lobbying (I once knew a massage therapist who constantly shilled for positive votes on the site), chances are it's falrly legitimate stuff. Here's a terse summary of the list. Go here for the whole thing with details.
Audience Winner: Sonic Yoga (for the third year in a row)
Editorial Winner: Laughing Lotus
Runners-Up:
1) Yoga Effects
2) Levitate
3) Yoga Works Midtown
5) World Yoga Center
6) OM Yoga Center
7) balance yoga
8) Laughing Lotus
9) Jivamukti Yoga
10) Bikram Yoga NYC
I haven't been to all these places, but it starts me wondering, what do New Yorkers want in a yoga class? What makes a studio "best"? I mean aside from competent teachers, cleaniness, and affordable rates? Do we want something specific from our classes? Is there stuff we tolerate here that would not fly in fly-over country? Vice-versa?
Things I love in a yoga studio (and possibly one reason I'm so grumpy about most NYC studios):
- A clear, loving vibe.
- Space! Once I have to squeeze my mat between moviestars (or yogis who act like them), I'm audi.
- Convenience: the best teachers only teach at 2pm on Tuesdays? Yikes. Lunchtime yoga, plenty of classes to make the rush hours less wall-to-wall.
- Classes that don't cost as much as rent.
- Teachers who are alive and present and don't seem like they've taught this class 8,000 times, even if they have.
- A touch of the spirit. I don't need constant chanting or mat-side preaching, but some bookend oms (beginning and end of class), a well-selected quote and a reminder or two that we're not just here for our butts is always welcome and helpful.
- Permission to move at my own pace, even if it means throwing off the look of a synchronized room.
- Permission to rest.
- A "yay, you!" reminder at the end of class--when my brain has already moved on to berating myself for not coming more often, a reminder that coming at all is a triumph is helpful.
- An abundance of sincere--but non-intrusive--smiling.
- A sense of community, that we're all in this together.
Bonuses:
- A mid-savasana neck-tug or shoulder smoosh. Massaging of any sort, really.
- The smell of essential oils
- Bean-bag eye pillows
Hey last-minute shopper. Yeah, you. Well, despite Seaweedgate, I'm still quite smitten with Lululemon's incredibly comfy, well-constructed, cute yoga/workout/hang-out clothes (and yep, they're a YJ advertiser, but I swear I'm not being paid off in Scuba hoodies--if only). And now there's one more place to buy their stuff in our sleety city--just in time for the holidays.
Though it's not technically a store, but a "showroom" on the second floor of an office building in Union Square, the weeks-old shop is tiny but ample. It's also teeming with great potential gifts. In fact, I just scooped up a pair of sturdy, sparkly pink leg-warmers for a friend who I'm hoping will embrace her inner Irene Cara.
The store is also planning on holding the occasional yoga class. I looked around the snug place crammed with bags and mats and tops and pants and undies and was like, "Um,
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. 
Hee that is in a towne in May loseth his spring. ~George Herbert 
Now that I have your attention.... I wandered into the 
A couple of weekends ago, when I went up to 
Yes, it's officially spring out there. Thank the great green goddess. That was a long one, no?
I've managed to catch whatever my cubicle neightbor has been sick with--I'm fevery and in need of some neti-potting (or 
After attending my first 
Fearless. What does that mean, exactly, in a city where fear is a kind of sixth sense that helps us navigate? Even though it sometimes seems vital, with the help of yoga and meditation, I'm working on trading fear for a relaxed readiness. 
It's about this time of year that the subways seem more crowded, the skies more bleak, the people as warm as my icy fingertips. In other words, it's the perfect moment for a winter escape. Take a vacation day or two, meld them on to a weekend and voila, sanity mostly restored. Some ideas to get you started:
When I first heard about 
Maybe I'm late to the party, but I recently discovered 
To think about the brain, you have to use the brain. Which evokes the profound question that yogis and gurus an sages have been asking all along: Who is thinking that thought?
You know, I know, NYC is to inner calm what writhing, naked, nubiles are to chastity. Making it the perfect place to practice finding stillness, some say. (Hey, the celibate Gandhi allegedly invited hot women into his bed so he could not touch them). 
Someone once told me that wherever you are on New Year’s Eve is a reflection of how the year ahead will follow. Superstitious or not, it’s a good excuse to choose your celebrations consciously. That way, if you’re planning on bathing in a magnum or Vueve, at least it’s a choice. For other options, here’s a taste of NYC’s offerings for ringing in 2008 sober and still and with a yogic openness to the changes to come. 
The votes are in, if you're into that sort of thing: Citysearch has published 
Hey last-minute shopper. Yeah, you. Well, despite