The Global Mala event---108 sun salutations, done in public, with a lot of other people, to live music---will happen next weekend, Sept 19 & 20. The LA crowd---particularly the sun-dosed teachers and musicians working out of the Santa Monica/Venice mothership---have really got their act together for it. Their event is *huge*. And no wonder, since it was conceived of by Shiva Rea, who teaches out of the Exhale Center for Movement in Venice, and has the backing of her local folks such as Hala Khouri, Saul David Raye, and Govindas and Rhada. Nonetheless, there will be Global Mala events all over---not just in the US but in Canada, Japan, and South Africa. From the press release: "On September 19 and 20, the Global Mala Yoga for Peace Project, whose purpose is to unite the global yoga community, will implement events throughout the world in honor of the United Nations International Day of Peace. Forming a “mala around the earth” through collective practices based upon the sacred cycle of 108, the mission of the Global Mala Project is to raise both funds and consciousness for some of the most pressing issues facing the world today." In New York, the event is organized by Exhale Spa, too, and will take place at 150 Central Park South (212-249-3000). But it looks like a *much* smaller affair. The LA extravaganza is described as "a 4-hour ritual with 108 sun salutations and kirtan music." For a mere twenty bucks you can get a premium seat (seat?) in front of the stage with goodies thrown in.New York, what are we doing here?
Yoga Beneath the Whale
AMNH Whale
Not news so much as---wow!Take Adrianna Gyorfi, 23, entry level exhibitions travel coordinator at the American Museum of Natural History. Just got to New York. Landed a job. Doing yoga. Well, doing yoga beneath a multi-ton plaster cast of a life-size blue whale, hung from the museum's ceiling.
Care of the New York Times:
"Among her job’s perks: yoga beneath the museum’s famed suspended blue whale."
Here it is. Imagine: nose to nose.
Adrianna says: "I came here and I’d taken four yoga classes in my life; I’m not a Zen sort of California resident. I got a museumwide e-mail and signed up for yoga classes. We had it in the Hall of Plains Indians, but when we couldn’t have it there, we had it under the whale. That was amazing. It was after-hours and very relaxing."
After hours and extra super beyond terrestrial. Oceanic!
Yoga and Wine Vacations Rear Their Heads
As reported unironically in the Chicago Tribune.
"The yoga package is priced at $2,590, including accommodations, all meals, all activities and transfers to and from Rome. Trans-Atlantic airfare is additional. The tour is offered by Tuscan Way, known for its Tuscan cooking vacations. (800-766-2390; www.tuscanway.com)"
Egypt Gets on Board w Interntl Yoga Festival
Are there a lot of yogis in Egypt or is this part of the Western travel bug?
I think it could be a money-making venture, or tourism venture for Egypt
www.egyptyogafestival.com
http://travelvideo.tv/news/more.php?id=11033_0_1_0_M
Yoga Masters and.... Yoga Pants!
Gary Kraftsow (American Viniyoga) and Shelly Craigo (Himalayan Institute)
Someone gets unhinged
HardTail
HardTail booth
The Yoga Journal Conference NYC 2014
Again from the sublime to the ridiculous...
Workshops with Sarah Powers (Insight Yoga), Bo Forbes (Yoga for Empaths), Richard Freeman (the Art of Vinyasa), and Gary Kraftsow (Tantra Yoga: Meditation, Mantra, Visualization) at this weekend's Yoga Journal Conference NYC definitely left me with a lot to think about.
I was struck by how their teachings--and their mastery-- seemed to come from a place of commitment rather than from a place that was searching for recognition or fame. (And I wondered: where are the up-and-coming Sarah Powers', Bo Forbes', Richard Freemans, and Gary Kraftsows? Are they off incubating somewhere?)
At Bo Forbes, I ran into both the first editor of Yoga Journal, Linda Sparrowe, and one of my editors at the current Yoga Journal, Carmel Wroth.
So we now confirm that editors are long-suffering empaths. Thank you.
Carmel whisked me off to the "townhall meeting" that included LuluLemon folks, yoga activists, and yoga scholars. I have to say, it was pretty tough being an empath in that room: TENSE is the word, as Seane Corn and crew sought to wring out a statement of contrition from LuluLemon. In fact, the "debate" dramatically unbalanced at least one person in the audience who began pacing in front of the panelists as though looking for a fight.
But as Yoga for Empaths had just showed me, just because I was worried, didn't mean I had to take it on... So I got grounded and refocused. And so, next stop?
Well, sometimes a yogini just wants to .... shop.The dazzling array of pants from HardTail at the Yoga Marketplace was worth a photo. A horizon of beautiful pants. I did buy a pair.