We live in a universe of infinite possibility.
That’s why last night, along with 80,000 other enthusiasts, I did the wave in a football stadium and swished an American flag through the air for the first time since the Memorial Day parade in the 3rd grade.
As an American, as a yogini, and as an ordinary person who believes in the immortal goodness of the human spirit, I went to Invesco Field last night to participate in history.
My journey there was indeed a pilgrimage- riddled with doubt, despair, dehydration, blisters, sunburn, resilience, and, of course, some raw truffles that I smuggled with me from the Oasis.
At 3pm, under the hot afternoon sun (with no “liquids” in tow per security restrictions), I humbly took my place at the end of a labyrinthine line, which snaked for 1.5 miles through parking lots and fields, under highways, and up and down steep ravines. OK, so that last part is a bit of an exaggeration, but it did get pretty hairy there for a while.
Yes, we had been warned, but my peeps and I could have never imagined such a line in our wildest dreams. We looked at one another, the same question running through all of our minds: “ Should we turn back?”
The big question. The one that we all must ask whenever called to move beyond our comfort zone and trust in a feeling even when we don’t know what the outcome will be.
No. We cannot turn back, we concurred.
Something was stirring deep within us. Something was stirring in everyone who stood in that line for hours on end. What was it? A renewed faith in possibility. A remembrance of the power to change. An unprecedented bridging of worlds—whether that’s yoga and politics, republicans and democrats, or the young and the elderly. Something or someone was sewing one fabric out of many threads once again.
That’s why we all stood in that line together, uncertain of when or if we would ever actually get into the stadium. We were mayors and CEOs, elderly women with canes, those who tried to cut and those who didn’t (of course it crossed through everyone’s mind at some point).
Two hours into our “own personal hell,” as my sister called it, things started to move. We were actually walking, quickly. We were covering more ground. Hope rekindled. Police officers appeared on the scene to distribute free water. They actually smiled. Someone played uplifting music; others began to dance. Soon enough, just after 6pm, I breezed through the security tent and found my seat. Pause.
Then I felt it. I felt the yoga. Through the tears as they came to my eyes and through the hair that stood up on my arms, I felt the deep knowing that I was in the presence of, and in participation with, something very massive, very beautiful, very inexplicable, and oh so very simple.
Barack Obama took the stage a couple of hours later. We all silenced. We all listened.
A true yogi, he stood grounded, humble, gracious, and confident.
“We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we will always walk ahead. We cannot turn back,” he urged under the starry Denver sky.
Thank you Barack, for risking to believe. And for acting on it.
Thank you everyone who was present last night for your openness and perseverance.
Thank you to anyone and everyone who cares about basic human dignity, cooperation, and kindness.
But mostly, thank you to my own heart, that which will never let me turn back.
Read more about Sara Avant Stover
Yoga as Usual in the Oasis
I almost forgot to brush my teeth this morning. Dishes are piling up in my sink; and for the first time in a long while, I didn’t make my bed today.
Clearly, despite my best attempts to stay grounded, the DNC frenzy is having its way with me.
While this week has been electrifying, intense, and deeply inspiring, I will be happy to return to “real life” tomorrow. Simple acts like eating breakfast at home and sitting on my own meditation cushion (rather than the seat of the BX bus) seem like long-lost friends at this point. A lot has happened in four days.
It’s Thursday, the last day of the convention. Many here at the Oasis (including myself) will head over to Invesco Field this afternoon to endure long security lines and claim a seat for Barack Obama’s much-anticipated speech officially accepting the nomination as the first African-American democratic presidential candidate.
As things come to a close, the Oasis “family” (an interesting conglomeration of yogis, bloggers, musicians, bodyworkers, vegan chefs, raw foodies, and more) continues to serve and inspire whoever comes our way, while doing our best to take care of ourselves and one another.
For anyone who serves others, you know that importance of self-care. If you crash and burn, what good are you to anyone else?
I spent my morning chatting with the key personalities behind the Oasis (which all agree has been a HUGE success, BTW) to see how they are faring.
The Leading Ladies: Seane, Hala, Shannon, and Suzanne
Their survival secrets boil down to:
1. Joy
2. Community
3. Good Sleep & Good Food
Shannon Paige Schneider, director of Om Time studios in Boulder and Denver, coordinated all the yoga and bodywork volunteers this week while running her two studios and arranging special workshops at the Denver venue every evening this week.
“It’s been really exciting simply to see how fired up people can be to be part of change. The Boulder/Denver yoga communities have completely ignited at the opportunity to serve.”
“We are really working hard, eating well, spending our day under natural light*, making lifelong friendships. If there’s stress, it’s only momentary,” she adds.
*there’s natural light in the Oasis (EXCEPT where I’m blogging from….see below)
Me & Shayne (DJ, Yoga Teacher, and Stellar Volunteer) Under the Lights
For Off the Mat, into the World’s Suzanne Sterling, this gig has come after three months of “non-stop” travel, teaching, performing (she’s a musician, too), and heartbreak on top of it all.
“The biggest thing for me is going out and dancing. Finding what is joyful.”
Tonight she’ll head home to L.A., where she has canceled all of her teaching gigs for September to take care of herself and “get back in balance” by looking deeply into the relationship between work and play in all aspects of her life.
Suzanne’s business partner and housemate, Hala Khouri, served as Oasis hostess while mommying her 11-month-old son, Sebastian.
She shows up bright-eyed every day, smiling and helpful to visitors, by not going out at night, getting a little bit of practice in every day, eating really well, and saying no “a lot.”
For her it’s all about “support, support, support. Asking for help and delegating by learning to be vulnerable.”
Suzanne, Seane, and Hala all agree that coming here together provided an indispensable “built in support system.” They don’t think they would have made it through had they been alone.
All of us here agree that this week we have been more tired, more anxious, and more emotional than usual. This is due to both long hours and simply taking in the larger energy that we’re immersed in.
Over the long run (if this were to go on for three weeks, for example), this “wouldn’t be sustainable” and “we’d have to do things differently,” says Seane.
But oh, it’s worth it. It feels good to give. It feels good to work together. It feels good to stretch yourself (we’re talking more than your hamstrings).
Appreciate the tools that you learn and use to take care of your precious self. Remember that most of the world does not have these tools. This was a real eye-opener at the DNC, where highly successful people get by on adrenaline and various other chemical regulators (the woman organizing "The Big Tent" slept on conference tables at night, eating one bacon, egg & cheese by day).
If you're reading this, most likely you're one of the lucky ones who knows better.
Sustain yourself to serve.
Do it together.
And have fun in the process. No, set your heart on fire in the process.
That’s what I’m doing as I pack up my things and head over to Invesco Field.
Read more about Sara Avant Stover
Last night I attempted to stay up past my bedtime to attend an Etown event here in Denver, featuring some of my faves like James Taylor and Ani DeFranco.
Unfortunately, after a full day at the DNC I couldn’t manage to keep my eyes open past the first third of the concert. On the ride back to Boulder, my boyfriend Peter (bless his heart for agreeing to chauffeur me home early), attempted to boost my spirits by reminding me of yoga’s promise.
I could transform my nearly blinding fatigue by shifting my focus, he urged.
“Can you tap into the bigger picture?”
True transformation rests in our ability to relax into the bigger picture, which is always one of goodness, beauty, connection, and freedom. We can access this regardless of present circumstances.
This morning I woke up refreshed, true to Peter’s prediction. And as if that weren’t enough for me to learn my lesson yet again, living examples of the wellspring that awaits when we relax into the big picture continue to bombard me here at the DNC.
Yesterday evening I stepped away from my computer to roll around (a very advanced yogic practice) on the floor here in the Oasis. There, yoga teacher and author
Matthew Sanford, (who had stopped in for a massage and yoga lesson) gifted me with an impromptu dharma talk.
Matthew Sanford and Off the Mat, into the World's Suzanne Sterling
Paralyzed from the waist down during an automobile accident at the age of 13, Sanford transcended this trauma with yoga. By healing his own body/mind connection, he now he guides others (of all abilities) to bridge this gap.
He appreciates the emphasis on embodiment here at the Oasis.
“My time here has been an amazing experience of excited people sharing their ideas and who they are—while they are in their bodies! We need to be present with each other, not multi-tasking.”
Gandhi’s prime minister, he recounted, required people to do headstands before their meetings.
"It’s invigorating, grounding and makes you look at the world from upside down. Creative thinking comes from a grounded practice."
Speaking of getting grounded, by 1 pm today even the Oasis started to feel like life in the fast lane. A-list folks continued to pass through to stay well fed and serenely serenaded.
Will.I.Am and SNL's Fred Armisen stopped in to play. Craig Newmark (as in Craig’s List) parked himself on a computer next to me for a spell (thanks, Craig, for furnishing my apartment!), nearly speechless after his foot massage.
Everyone’s favorite mermaid, Darryl Hannah, returned for a big dose of the now-famous Green Monkey.
To take a break from the Oasis scene, I headed out for some sunshine and fresh air during a stroll to Denver’s Fishback Landing Park, home to true quiet and contemplation at the DNC. Here I caught a talk with leading spiritual teacher and author Sharon Salzberg on the topic of metta, or loving-kindness.
Metta is the antidote to fear, she says. This ancient practice can actually "reprogram" your initial motivation of fear (understandable here at the DNC where police line every street corner). Rather than living from fear, we can act from kindness, connection, and inclusion.
Sharon Salzburg in the Park
Do You Think They Would Try Metta?
Back at the Oasis, yogis of all shapes and sizes waltz through with surprising stories of evolution.
John Paul Dejoria, CEO and co-founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems, stopped by. A true renaissance man, Dejoria is a former homeless man-turned-multi-millionaire businessman-turned philanthropist.
His advice? Do your best, treat others well, and be generous:
"Whatever you do, if you do it better than anyone else, it’s amazing how things just start falling your way. Also, do unto others as you would have others do unto you. It’s amazing, the planet keeps its own order if you keep a balance.”
Lastly, "Success unshared is failure."
Sounds pretty yogic to me.
T. Boone Pickens, came to recharge with a quick smoothie. A former oil mogul and corporate raider, he transformed into an unlikely environmentalist. Just after his jaunt through the Oasis, Pickens delivered a speech in the Big Tent (along with John Podesta, former Clinton Chief of Staff and CEO of Progress America, and Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club) on energy alternatives.
(Pretty cool—and he even has a facebook page!)
When we take risks—whether that’s staying up past our bedtime (OK, not such a biggie), turning our lives around to serve others, believing in our ability to heal ourselves, or choosing love over fear—transformation happens.
We just need to keep our eyes and ears open for reminders of all that is Good, True, and Beautiful during those inevitable lapses of forgetfulness . . .
Read more about Sara Avant Stover
DNC Yoginis Strike a Pose with Katie Couric
As a yogi, the question is no longer, “What advanced pose can I do?”, but “Can I walk my talk?”
In other words, can you live your yoga?
This is the challenge—and the opportunity. Especially here at the DNC, where wheeling and dealing is the name of the game and the decisions of a few affect many.
Opening the Conversation
At a dinner party two months ago a friend brought a controversial (and important) topic to a table of yogis.
“How is everyone planning on getting involved in the elections this year?” he probed.
Having just moved back to the USA and scrambling to simply find a place to live, I was in full-on survival mode and unsure of how I wanted to answer his question.
I replied (rather lamely, I admit), “I just got my Colorado driver’s license and registered to vote.” I knew I had more to say, but wasn’t quite ready.
Until today.
This morning on my early morning commute from Boulder to Denver, I was finally able to continue that conversation with myself...
Continuing the Conversation
Out of breath from rushing to catch the bus, I knew that my challenge this week is to stay connected to my heart--not to mention simply trying to stay healthy in such a frenetic environment.
While a spacious daily practice of yoga and meditation is out of the question for now, living my yoga in every moment is not.
Running on adrenaline (and very little sleep), I settled into my bus seat. For the next forty minutes en route to Denver, I closed my eyes, turned away from the buzz of my thoughts, and entered the rhythm of my breath.
Walking the Talk
Now it’s just past lunchtime at the Huffington Post Oasis, where frenzied delegates, media gurus, and curious conventioneers seek solace by slugging live “Monkey Drinks” (dark green, leafy veggies blended with banana and kiwi) and noshing on cacao nibs.
Lots of paparazzi are passing through, some of whom walk the yoga talk, and others who aspire to.
Larry Brilliant (director of Google's philanthropic arm Google.org) and Barbara Marx Hubbard (noted futurist) soaked in the Oasis vibe late yesterday afternoon.
Radiant and perfectly coiffed,
Deidre Hall (that’s Dr. Marlena Evans for all you Days of Our Lives fans), also rejuvenated yesterday with a hand massage.
She touted that “getting a good night’s sleep is life altering” (especially for us women!). Her wellness regime? Staying away from sugar and getting daily exercise.
Deidre Hall with Amrit Khalsa, CEO of Essential Living Foods
This morning Katie Couric strolled through with her camera crew, wowing us all with her cute-ness and her yoga prowess. A yogini for the past two years (under the tutelage of Beryl Bender) she demo-ed (and coached volunteer yoga teachers through!) headstand, praising yoga's ability to clear her busy mind.
Katie Couric (far right ) Demos Headstand
Award-winning PBS journalist Charlie Rose just settled in for a massage. ABC News and USA Today are rolling through with their cameras.
Yesterday evening Lesley Jane Seymour, Editor-in-Chief of More magazine, unplugged during a yoga private with Seane Corn. Lobbyists, journalists, politicians, and A-type personalities have also sought out yoga instruction with Seane (some reluctantly, most at the urging of Arianna Huffington).
Most start out “sarcastic and quippy, reluctant to turn their Blackberry off”, Seane reports. Over the course of a twenty-minute session they do get “quieter and quieter,” ultimately able to make an intention or say a prayer for their time here at the convention.
Meeting the Challenge
The Oasis then is not only a trendy place to chill out, but truly is a yoga sanctuary—a safe space to connect with oneself and others.
“I have seen a lot of tears,” Seane reveals.
“There's a lot of insanity out there," she adds, " I’m introducing a little bit of fairy dust. I know the magic of yoga and I am just trusting it."
Considering how grounded and content Seane seems (even though she didn't follow Deidre's advice and was here when I left last night and arrived this morning), my own present inner calm, and the smiles of everyone who strolls through the Oasis, yoga works. And if it can work here, can it not work anywhere?!
How can you make your whole life your spiritual practice? How can you take yoga to your family, your work, and out into the streets in increasingly creative and collaborative ways?
How can you walk your talk?
For me, for now, that means another shot of green monkey fuel. And a downward dog, if I'm lucky.
Seane Corn Dishing Out Shots of Green Monkey
Read more about Sara Avant Stover
Yoga in the Oasis
Greetings from Denver, where life is hot, busy, and good. The city is teeming with visitors from all over the world; and if there is anywhere that needs yoga right now, this is certainly it!
I just finished my third raw chocolate and superfoods truffle here at the Huffington Post Oasis at Denver's National Convention.
It's just after lunch on Day 2 and the Oasis is buzzing with yoga classes, live food samples, mini-facials, and massages. Things got started at 7am in The Big Tent with a Prana Vinyasa Flow class led by Shannon Paige Schneider, one of the Oasis organizers and director of Om Time yoga studios in Boulder and Denver. Due to some glitches with security, there were 12 attendees, but with word spreading of all the yoga goodness here, participation is expected to climb over the rest of the week...
When I arrived this morning, a volunteer massage therapist from Boulder swiftly treated me to a complimentary hand massage using Boulder-based Pangea Organics Cream . She had been massaging delegates and members of the press all morning.
Considering how lush and well-put-together things are here, it's hard to believe that this was all born from an idea only five weeks ago when L.A.-based yogini Seane Corn was teaching yoga privately to Arianna Huffington , Editor-in-Chief of The Huffington Post .
Interested in creating a "space where people can come in the middle of the chaos," Seane said, the two envisioned an alternative lounge in the heart of the convention chaos. They promptly called on local partners to collaborate in bringing a message of tranquility, sustainability, and spiritual activism to the DNC.
Seane, and her two Off the Mat into the World partners Hala and Suzanne, are the three gracious hostesses here.
Suzanne, Hala, and Seane
A cornucopia of teamwork and generosity, all the products in the Oasis (including the furniture, which is to be auctioned on Ebay to benefit Corn's Off the Mat into the World) have been donated.
Doing a good job at making people feel comfortable, they welcome visitors to step out of the bustle of convention activities and to participate as they are . Ties and shoes can stay on during yoga stretches. Volunteers coax newcomers to try a complimentary bodywork sessions, sip on herbal teas and fresh fruit smoothies, or nibble on Clif Bars.
"We are meeting people where they are," says Seane. "If someone's spirit alters even a little bit, then we've done our job."
The word is certainly spreading. NY Times reporter, David Carr, and blogger David Corn came in for yoga privates yesterday.
Daryl Hannah, Bobby Kennedy, and Michael Beckwith of Denver's Agape Choir just passed through!
Time for me to sign off and join the action (and for another truffle)....
Read more about Sara Avant Stover
Sara Avant Stover is a writer and yoga instructor who teaches both locally and internationally and leads transformational travel journeys around the world. Having lived in Thailand for the past decade, Sara recently moved to Boulder, CO. She is thrilled to be settling into The Huffington Post Oasis, the heart of tranquility and consciousness at the DNC. Visit her websites www.fourmermaids.com and www.expeditioninsight.com.
I'm on vacation next week. Yoga Journal guest blogger, Sara Avant Stover, will be writing dispatches from the DNC in Denver. Sara will also be teaching yoga to conventioneers, delegates and reporters at the Huffington Post Oasis. Massages, mini-facials, healthy snacks and refreshments, and music will also be available at the Oasis. You think Michelle Obama will show up? Tune in here to find out.
Do your wrists hurt when doing weight-bearing poses such as Downward-Facing Dog and Plank? Have you tried or heard of the Wrist Assured Fitness Gloves? The company claims the gloves "improve comfort by relieving wrist strain, joint pain, nerve compression and stress on the soft tissues of the wrist during weight bearing yoga asanas." For more information, visit www.wristassuredgloves.com. However, I still think most yoga teachers wouldn't recommend Downward-Facing Dog and the like if you suffer from carpal tunnel. What do you think?
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has created posters encouraging commuters to do yoga while they wait for the bus. Each poster will show one of six yoga and pilates-style positions and can currently be seen on the X41 route between Blackburn and Manchester, reports www.newslite.tv. Do you think something like this would fly in the U.S.?
According to Christopher Wallis and Christopher Tompkins of The Foundation for Yoga, "The original scriptures of Tantra have remained almost entirely unpublished. The 600-page proposed new book, temporarily titled the Tantric Studies Reader, is an attempt to redress this, and stimulate more research and scholarship in this crucially important field. Such work is important both for our understanding of the development of Indian spiritual philosophy, and (we believe) for helping to stimulate the next phase in the growth of human consciousness. Even though this is a scholarly volume, it will ultimately impact the yoga communities through providing material for contemporary teachers to work with: allowing them to offer a more deeply rooted and authentic transmission of yogic and tantric teachings, practices, mantras, and so on." The organization is seeking $18,000 to get the book published. For more information, visit http://thefoundationforyoga.web.officelive.com/default.aspx.
Here's a chance to deepen your knowledge of Buddhist teachings with Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach and Mark Epstein at the Sheraton in New York. On Friday evening, 10/10, "Buddhist Psychology for the West" will be offered. All day Saturday, 10/11, learn about "The Art & Science of Meditation." You can attend the Friday session for $45 or both sessions for $195. For more information, visit eOmega.org/events. How many of you consider yourself practicing Buddhists?
On October 11 from 12-2pm, the fifth annual Yoga Marathon to fight pediatric and
adolescent obesity will take place in Marion Square, Charleston, S.C. The event is organized by LOUIE'S KIDS, a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization that raises funds to help treat childhood obesity, which afflicts 25 million American children. To read about last year's event, click here. For more information or to make a donation to Louie's Kids, visit www.louieskids.org.
According to an extract of the Oxford Handbook Of Complementary Medicine by Edzard Ernst, Max H. Pittler, Barbara Wider and Kate Boddy that ran in the Daily Mail Reporter, "There is not enough evidence to say whether popular therapies such as Alexander technique (which improves movement and posture), auriculotherapy (stimulation of the ear), biofeedback, comfrey, music therapy or yoga make a difference" when used to relieve back pain. What do you think?
According to the web site, www.yogayoga.com, it is beneficial to wear white while practicing yoga. "For the practice of Kundalini Yoga, it is helpful to wear white, natural fiber clothing. The color white is good for the body energetically and for the nervous system." Do you wear white? If so, why?
The demands of work, family, or school can overwhelm even the most dedicated yogi. If you are in need of a spiritual tune-up, you may want to check out the "Inner Engineering" program offered by the Isha Foundation. Inner Engineering is "a modern antidote to stress, and presents simple but powerful processes from yogic science to purify the system and increase health and inner well being. Program components include guided meditations and transmission of the sacred Shambhavi Maha Mudra. When practiced on a regular basis, these tools have the potential to enhance one's experience of life on many levels." For more information, call 650-575-5827, email sfo@ishafoundation.org, or visit www.ishafoundation.org. The program is next being offered in Milpitas, Calif., August 13-19. It costs $290 but you can check it out for free on August 13 at 7pm at the Indian Community Center on Los Coches Road. Has anyone out there ever experienced "Inner Engineering?"
An extract of the Frankincense herb Boswellia serrata can reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis, according to new research published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.
Patients taking the herbal remedy showed relief from pain, stiffness, and limited movementas in as little as seven days. Is this something you would consider taking? Or is yoga enough to keep osteoarthritis symptoms at bay?
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