Late in August, YogaCityNYC, a New York yoga blog, sent me to Omega for their Being Yoga conference. There, I interviewed a lot of high-profile yoga teachers---Shiva Rea, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, Dharma Mittra, Sharon Gannon and David Life, Tias Little---about what they thought of their status in the yoga world. (Rodney Yee was there, too, but he wasn't giving interviews.) Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidmain, photographed by Michael O'Neill for Vanity Fair, June 2007 I also interviewed Glen Black who has taught and practiced for 38 years but in contrast to everyone else, has actually avoided the spotlight.The result of my weekend in Rhinebeck, NY? An article on celebrity yoga teachers. What do we do with them? What do we think about them? Is a media-friendly yoga teacher a natural outcome of yoga's presence in America's consumer culture? Turns out the peaceful yoga crowd at Omega had a lot to say, as well...Read the article and send in your thoughts.... had any experiences with"celebrity" yogis?
Wanderlust Not Woodstock; Props from NYTimes
A bristling bouquet of Wanderlustees arms raised in high lunge. That's what you see on the front of today's NYTimes Arts section, some high profile coverage of yoga's rock'n'roll bonanza last weekend in Lake Tahoe. What's more, John Friend and Duncan Wong front the pack of sun drenched yogis gathered for class at the top of Squaw Valley Mountain to put their arms vigorously in the air. (Love the headband, no-shirt, sunglasses, crushed straw hat look of yogis practicing outdoors. See the physical paper today and the multimedia show on the Times' site.)
For all those likening the festival to Woodstock Festival from 1969, the yoga at least has a pretty updated feel to it---even if joints were also smoked in the non-yoga hours. (And according to my sources, the Kula village had an almost bougy vibe at times, Burning Man flashbacks (for some) notwithstanding.) Wanderlust 2009, Woodstock 1969 Reconciling the inner rocker with the outer yogi wasn't a problem for most people says the Times ---and most people I've talked to who were out there. In fact, I'd wager that strict righteousness that keeps yogis from rocking out (literally and metaphorically) only describes a few yogis these days, not the majority. That's just some kind of bad hype that's been hanging around. Shiva Rea rocks out on the main stage. All color photos by Jon Hyde for NYTimes. The Times article points out some of the downsides of the festival---the head-scratching combo of indie music (and its fans) and yoga (with its devotees).
“Frankly, when I heard about it,” said Mr. Bird, the singer and multi-instrumentalist who was a headliner on Sunday, “my first reaction was, is that going to work, because some of the bands don’t exactly spell inner peace, musically — nor do I, lyrically.”
The rapper, Common, who replaced the sick Michael Franti last minute, was too lewd for some yogis, and some musicians such as Kaki King could not get their heads around the yoga angle.
“I’m not going to do the hippie dance,” said Kaki King, the Brooklyn-based guitarist and singer who performed early on Saturday on the mountaintop stage. “I’m going to put shoes on and I’m not going to drink any mold” (a reference to kombucha, a fermented tea). And, she continued, “I’m not going to do any yoga.”
Mold! We love mold. But even if it wasn't all peace and love, the true spirit of yoga and love of a good time shone through for most. Gregg Gillis, the mash-up artist who performs as Girl Talk, and whose shows resemble a raunchy spring break party, is about as far removed from peacefulness as possible. But many festival-goers said they got the same rejuvenating charge from raucous dancing as from mindful breathing.
“These are audiences with open minds,” Mr. Gillis said. “Even if they’re not into it, they’re not there to critique it. And if they like it, they’re not embarrassed to get into it.”
The future is looking bright for Wanderlust, which almost broke even in its first year---in the middle of an enormous economic depression. Not bad, not bad. And 2010? Well, they are "already considering expanding Wanderlust next year, to three events on three mountaintops."
Yes, those hills will surely be alive with the sounds of yogis and music.
YJ Conference a Whole Lot of Fun
Kraftsow teaching
Kraftsow’s Cakra chart
Gary Kraftsow w/ student
When I signed up for the Yoga Journal conference, I was sad knowing that I could only attend one workshop at a time. How to choose? Ana Forrest? Shiva Rea? Rodney Yee? David Swenson? But each one has been so good that I've forgotten any regrets. How could I think of anything else when Gary Kraftsow ---a man with sweet gravitas---is explaining the cakras? Gary Kraftsow Or, when Roger Cole shows us the four ways to stretch a muscle. It's more than interesting, it's riveting. (We did mostly hamstrings, which I've overstretched on this body.) Dive deep, bring up pearls.
I've also really appreciated the humor here---Judith Hanson Lasater is a firecracker sending hilarious (and too true) comments fizzing and popping around the room faster than a Catherine Wheel. ("I gave up the idea that you could make anyone do anything when I had kids.") She seems to instantly read bodies. Then she instantly---with permission---tells (or shows) the owner what's going on and how to work with it. Trust the body, she says, it's trying to tell you something. (She was able to tell me something about my stuck left pelvis---a puzzle that's eluded me for years.) Also a laugh a minute---who'd have guessed---eminent professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Robert Thurman. Buddha's First Noble truth? Life sucks! How to detach yoga students from their obsession with the body? Tell them to watch The Matrix or Star Trek.
Reasons to meditate on happiness for all beings? "If your enemy was happy, do you think he'd be running around enemying on you? You want him to be happy!" This humor would not resonate as well without presenter's deep knowledge and abiding passion for their subjects. And, I have to think, their fearlessness in the face of dark or ugly news: we're all going to die. They seem to get that, as much as anyone can. We humans are infintessimally insignificant.And their self-driven, but not (seemingly) self-ish desire to know more, be more, grow more, enter more fully into some nourishing mystery seems to help as well. Thurman: yoga's true meaning: to yoke yourself to ultimate reality (nirvana, bliss) and unyoke yourself from limited reality (suffering). The original purpose of asana: to get the body settled for meditation. This is not news. But it was fun to hear it from him. And in case you are wondering, Patanjali agrees with Buddha---life does suck!
Young, Young, Young, Yoga Teachers
The New York Times comments on the issue of young, unseasoned yoga teachers. Who wants to be taught by someone with no life experience? Some people do. The article essentially says:
"Those who drop in once a week for a class don’t necessarily want a seasoned teacher, or an evolving connection with an instructor. But discerning students who are committed to their practice feel a teacher should be a wellspring of inspiration about how best to live."
And Shiva Rea, perenially wise adds a cautionary note that I wish more instructors would heed:
"Shiva Rea, 40, a renowned vinyasa flow teacher, who trains other teachers, is more blunt. A 50-year-old student doesn’t want to hear a 20-year old teacher “ramble on about the profundities of life,” she said. “I tell people you’re learning to be a river guide, but it’s all about the river. When you’re really connected to your breath then you’re in the river, and leading people through it. When in doubt, don’t talk.”
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:BgE312eLMA0J:www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/mar/09/unconventional_twist_yoga_younger_teachers/+%22Unconventional+Twist+in+Yoga:+Younger+Teachers%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us
Yoga is Big Business
The New York Times reports that (gasp!) yoga makes some people a lot of money. Their business reporter Susan Moran dropped in to the Yoga Journal conference in Boulder, CO, in early January 07 and found people not just blissed out with Shiva Rea, but dropping $100 on necklaces said to help with "expression issues."
As the mainstream embraces yoga, expect to see more and more shopping opportunities wherever yoga is practiced. Retail therapy gets literal.
Meditate on this: Yoga is big business http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=150919#
Read a Canadian angle this story: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070113.TEAYOGA13/TPStory/TPEntertainment/Style/