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 I love AcroYoga. Today was my second time doing it formally, in a class setting, and my first time practicing with AcroYoga gurus Jenny Sauer-Klein and Jason Nemer. If you've never done AcroYoga, you might think it's all about contortion and Cirque du Soleil-esque feats of gravity defiance. While there is an undeniable element of acrobatics involved (thus the name), AcroYoga is, at its heart, about trust and letting go.
We started in groups of two doing small exercises of leaning on each other in shapes of back and forward bends, eventually moving into groups of three, in which we "flew" each other in the air. (Jenny and Jason above, and Jason and SF AcroYoga teacher Jeremy Simon below.) See the pix here.) Allowing someone you don't know at all to support all of your weight is a huge practice in trust, but when you can let go, it's really liberating.
We ended in configurations of 12, with four people being bases (they were called the Rams), four other people "flying" in extended back bends (the Sitas), and four other people spotting the fliers (the Hanumans). The configuration was beautiful, if not just for the shapes we made together, but for the communal effort involved in making the yoga pyramids work. If you're interested in checking it out, there are free lunchtime sessions with the AcroYogis both today and tomorrow.
 Michael Franti was not initially on the bill at the YJ Conference, but I'm glad that was changed about two weeks ago when his friends, yoga power couple Nicki Doane and Eddie Modestini, proposed that the three of them helm a class together on opening night. Even with only two weeks notice, the line for the event tonight was out the door and around the ground floor of the building.
Nicki and Eddie taught while Michael played his unique blend of happy yoga soul music. The ballroom was filled to capacity, and Nicki and Eddie walked the classroom moving us through an alignment-based flow class, while Michael and his awesome sidekick, guitarist Jay Bowen, played background tunes on stage.
I would say the room was about 80 percent women (not sure if that's the general makeup of the conference, or if it had more to do with dreamy Mr. Franti being the main act ...). At the end of the practice Michael and Jay gave a short show, jamming out crowd favorites like "I Love You" and "One Step Closer". Oh, and I almost forgot, MC Yogi made a surprise appearance. (Ganesh is fresh, yo!)
Best part (apart from Jay's insane guitar solo, wow) was this: The girl practicing next to me bought the ticket for the event because her regular Friday night class had been canceled. She didn't know who Michael Franti was. Boy, was she in for a treat!
Rodney Yee, who has been practicing yoga for 27 years and teaching for 23, got his foundation from Iyengar Yoga. He continues his studies together with his wife, Colleen Saidman. Thirty DVDs and two books later, he has turned his yoga passion toward health care by cochairing the Urban Zen Health and Wellness Foundation, founded by Donna Karan.
View Rodney's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_yee.php
Duncan Wong, designer of the pioneering Yogic Arts synthesis system, is a passionate master who has 30 years of powerful transformational movement and teaching experience. He offers an insightful perspective of relating advanced techniques in basic ways.
View Duncan's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_wong.php
Jai Uttal is a sacredmusic composer, recording artist, and ecstatic vocalist. He combines influences from India and America, creating a multicultural fusion that is truly World Spirit music. Jai has been leading kirtans around the world for more than 30 years. His seventh CD release, Mondo Rama, was nominated for a Grammy Award.
View Jai's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_uttal.php
David Swenson made his first trip to Mysore in 1977, learning the full Ashtanga system as originally taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. He is recognized today as one of the world's foremost practitioners and instructors of Ashtanga Yoga and has produced numerous videos and DVDs, and the book Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manual.
View David's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_swenson.php
Rod Stryker, founder of ParaYoga, is widely considered one of the West's leading yoga and meditation teachers. He has taught for almost 30 years, leading retreats, workshops, and trainings worldwide. Rod is one of only a few American teachers today transmitting an ancient tradition, one that has been handed from teacher to student for thousands of years.
View Rod's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_stryker.php
Sianna Sherman is a certified Anusara Yoga teacher who met her mentor, John Friend, in 1995. Recently named by Yoga Journal as one of 21 talented young teachers shaping the future of yoga, Sianna weaves alignment, therapeutics, and creative sequencing with stories, poetry, and Tantric philosophy.
View Sianna's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_sherman.php
Beth Shaw is the founder and creator of YogaFit Training Systems Inc. which has trained more than 100,000 fitness instructors on six continents. Beth is a frequent contributor to fitness magazines and an animal-rights advocate. She is on the National Council for the Humane Society and is the chairperson of Karma Rescue's advisory board.or-Life Award in 2008.
View Beth's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_shaw.php
Jenny Sauer-Klein, cofounder of AcroYoga, leads workshops and teacher trainings worldwide. Certified in Contact Yoga by its originator, Nateshvar Ken Scott, she has studied theater, dance, yoga, Thai massage, and acrobatics and has taught yoga and circus arts to adults and children for more than seven years.
View Jenny's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_sauer.php
Matthew Sanford is an Iyengar-style yoga teacher who is paralyzed from the chest down. He is the author of Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence and founder of the nonprofit Mind Body Solutions. A leading voice in the integrative health movement, Matthew received a Karma Yoga Award from Yoga Journal in 2003 and the national Volvo-for-Life Award in 2008.
View Matthew's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_sanford.php
Colleen Saidman has been teaching yoga for 12 years. She co-owns and codirects Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor, NY and continues her studies with her husband, Rodney Yee. Her passion for working in health care started in junior high at a geriatric center and continues today as a cochair of the Urban Zen Health and Wellness Foundation.
View Colleen's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_saidman.php
Desiree Rumbaugh teaches from the experiences of more than two decades of practice and five decades of life. She was one of the first students to study with John Friend and become certified in his Anusara method of yoga. Desiree travels the world offering workshops that are innovative, transformative, challenging, and compassionate.
View Desirée's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_rumbaugh.php
Shiva Rea teaches vinyasa flow worldwide and has led more than 60 retreats throughout Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. Her studies in the Krishnamacharya lineage, Tantra, Ayurveda, and art infuse her approach to living yoga. She is a regular contributor to Yoga Journal and lives with her family in Los Angeles.
View Shiva's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_rea.php
Sarah Powers began teaching in 1987. She interweaves yoga and Buddhism into an integral practice to enliven the body, heart, and mind. Her style blends a Yin sequence of long-held poses to enhance the meridian and organ systems with a flow, or Yang, practice influenced by Viniyoga, Ashtanga, and Iyengar. Sarah leads retreats with her husband. They live in Marin, CA.
View Sarah's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_powers.php
Aadil Palkhivala began studying with B.K.S. Iyengar at age 7 and received an advanced teacher's certificate at 22. Devoted to Aurobindo's yoga, he is founder of Purna Yoga and founder-director of Yoga Centers in Bellevue, WA. He's also a naturopath and Ayurvedic practitioner, and holds degrees in law, physics, and mathematics.
View Aadil's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_palkhivala.php
Jason Nemer, a longtime acrobat, discovered yoga as a university student and never looked back. Cofounder of AcroYoga, he leads workshops and teacher trainings all over the world. Studies with Dharma Mittra have helped him see that one's true teacher is "sitting on the right side of your heart" as the eternal witness.
View Jason's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_nemer.php
Eddie Modestini has been teaching yoga since 1983. He is certified in Iyengar Yoga, and has received Pattabhi Jois' blessing to teach Ashtanga Yoga. He is well versed in both systems, with an eye for detail and a profound ability in reading students' bodies. Eddie lives in Sebastopol, CA with his wife and teaching partner, Nicki Doane. They codirect Maya Yoga Studios in both CA and Maui, HI.
View Eddie's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_modestini.php
Tias Little has been a student of Iyengar Yoga since 1985. He has studied Ashtanga vinyasa yoga in Mysore and is a student of Vajrayana Buddhism. He is trained in massage and cranial-sacral therapy, and has studied extensively with Tom Myers in Anatomy Trains. Tias has been studying trauma and recovery through Somatic Experiencing since 2006.
View Tias's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_little.php
David Life imbues his classes with metaphor, musicality, spirituality, and humor. With Sharon Gannon, David has created the Jivamukti Yoga method, which emphasizes vinyasa, scriptural study, music, chanting, meditation, and animal rights, veganism, environmentalism, and political activism.
View David's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_life.php
Cyndi Lee, director of OM Yoga Center, practices hatha yoga and Tibetan Buddhism. A yoga teacher for more than 20 years, she wrote and illustrated the best-selling OM Yoga in a Box series and the books OM Yoga: A Guide to Daily Practice and Yoga Body, Buddha Mind.
View Cyndi's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_lee.php
Judith Hanson Lasater is president of the California Yoga Teachers Association and cofounder of Yoga Journal. A yoga teacher since 1971 and a practicing physical therapist, she holds a PhD in East- West psychology and is the author of Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life.
View Judith's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_lasater.php
Gary Kraftsow began his study of yoga with T.K.V. Desikachar in 1974. As founder/director of the American Viniyoga Institute, he teaches classes, leads workshops, and trains teachers in the Viniyoga approach to yoga and yoga therapy. He is the author of Yoga for Wellness and Yoga for Transformation, and he designed the protocol for the National Institutes of Health study on low-back pain.
View Gary's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_kraftsow.php
Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa is the cofounder and director of the Golden Bridge spiritual villages in Los Angeles and New York. A yoga instructor for more than 30 years, she teaches Kundalini Yoga and meditation as taught to her by Yogi Bhajan. Gurmukh is the author of The Eight Human Talents and Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful, and of three DVDs.
View Gurmukh's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_khalsa.php
Brent Kessel is cofounder of Abacus Portfolios, a portfolio management company offering socially responsible investing and holistic financial advice. Brent earned his economics degree from UCLA and studies meditation and Ashtanga Yoga. He is Yoga Journal's money columnist and author of It's Not About the Money.
View Brent's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_kessel.php
Kate Holcombe is founder and codirector of Healing Yoga Foundation, a San Francisco nonprofit dedicated to adapting the tools of yoga to the needs of the individual. Kate is a longtime student of T.K.V. Desikachar and works with individuals and small groups, conducts teacher trainings, and teaches yoga's philosophical texts.
View Kate's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_holcombe.php
Julia Butterfly Hill is an activist and artist, and the best-selling author of The Legacy of Luna. Julia is known for her successful tree-sitting protest in Northern California. She has spoken on the topic of spiritual activation in thousands of venues all over the world.
View Julia's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_hill.php
Julie Gudmestad, a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher and a licensed physical therapist, integrates the healing powers of yoga with Western medical knowledge. She is director of the Gudmestad Yoga Studio in Portland, OR, and wrote Yoga Journal's Anatomy column for seven years.
View Julie's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_gudmestad.php
Sharon Gannon teaches yoga as a path to enlightenment through compassion for all beings. She is a pioneer in teaching yoga as spiritual activism and has been practicing yoga and meditation for more than 35 years. She is a cofounder, with David Life, of the Jivamukti Yoga method, which is taught worldwide. Sharon is also the author of many books, CDs, and DVDs.
View Sharon's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_gannon.php
Richard Freeman has practiced yoga and meditation since 1968 and has extensively studied the Ashtanga vinyasa yoga of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. He is founding director of the Yoga Workshop in Boulder, CO.
View Richard's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_freeman.php
Ana Forrest is recognized worldwide as a pioneer in yoga and emotional healing. Her focus in Forrest Yoga is to guide the student in the sacred exploration of truth, healing, and The Great Mystery. Ana's philosophy and approach are unique and powerful, drawing on her vast life experiences and more than 30 years of teaching yoga.
View Ana's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_forrest.php
Nicki Doane had a wanderlust that led her to India in 1991 to study yoga; in Mysore she met her teacher, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Although rooted in Ashtanga, Nicki's classes combine asana, pranayama, philosophy, and poetry. Nicki lives in Sebastopol, CA with her husband, Eddie Modestini. Together, they co-direct Maya Yoga Studios in both California and Maui, HI.
View Nicki's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_doane.php
Jason Crandell is featured in Yoga Journal's most recent DVDs Yoga for Well-Being and Your Complete Home Practice Companion-Morning, Noon, and Night. He's a contributing editor for Yoga Journal and a teacher on YJ's monthly Podcast. His vinyasa classes combine fluid movement, subtle detail, and inner exploration.
View Jason's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_crandell.php
 Seane Corn teaches classes that are an eclectic fusion of various healing and spiritual modalities. She is the National Yoga Ambassador for YouthAIDS and trains leaders of activism through Off the Mat Into the World, an organization she cofounded. She received the 2005 Conscious Humanitarian Award for her outreach efforts and is featured in several DVDs.
View Seane's Classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_corn.php
 Jnani Chapman, a clinical specialist at UCSF's Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, trains instructors to adapt yoga for students with chronic illness, cancer, and heart disease. She is a senior staff member at Commonweal and former executive director of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
View Jnani's classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_chapman.php
 Sherri Baptiste is the daughter of two of America's yoga/health/ fitness pioneers-Magana and Walt Baptiste. Author of Yoga with Weights for Dummies, she is an inspirational teacher at the forefront of yoga training in America. Founder of the Baptiste Power of Yoga method, she leads teacher-training programs recognized by Yoga Alliance.
View Sherri's classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_baptiste.php
 Katchie Ananda is the cofounder of Yoga Sangha, a studio renowned for its ability to blend yoga and social change. Certified in Anusara, Jivamukti, Ashtanga, and Integral Yoga, she has more than 20 years of experience as a fulltime yoga teacher, trainer, and workshop/program developer.
View Katchie's classes
http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf09/teacher_ananda.php
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