|
Namaste and welcome to the August edition of Conference Connection.
As we're sure you're aware, the Estes Park Conference is less than four weeks away. If you're planning on attending but have not yet registered, don't delay - many classes are almost sold out.
And please remember, if you can't make it to the classes, you can still attend the YouthAIDS Benefit Concert with Edie Brickell & New Bohemians on Saturday night ($15 for conference participants; $25 for the general public)
or the Tripsichore Performance on Friday night ($15 for conference participants; $25 for the general public.)
We're also excited to announce that registration for the 5th Annual San Francisco Conference is now open. Teachers will include Baron Baptiste, Seane Corn, Ana Forrest, Sharon Gannon, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, Gary Kraftsow, David Life, Aadil Palkhivala, Shiva Rea, Rodney Yee and many more. Join us for morning meditations, panel discussions, a Community Connection Gathering with Opening Remarks given by the founders of Café Gratitude and a Saturday evening kirtan and Trance Dance party with Shiva Rea and DJ Dragonfly. Or, come to our special YouthAIDS and Power to the Peaceful benefit concert with Michael Franti.
Also in this month's edition:
- Nora Isaacs exclusive Conference Connection article, Ease Into Fall -- literal and figurative ways to break free.
- Go Green This Autumn! A highlight of three organic, eco-friendly companies who will be exhibiting in Estes Park.
- 911 Power to the Peaceful Festival in San Francisco featuring Michael Franti.
- Teacher spotlight on Wade Imre Morissette, the twin brother of Alanis Morissette, whose musical path diverged from his sister's when he began to study yoga.
Namaste,
The Yoga Journal Conference Team
Elana Maggal, Conference Director
Renee LaRose, Conference Manager
Heidi Hill, Conference Marketing Associate
Alden Conant, Conference Coordinator
Sara Mesing, Conference Marketing Coordinator
12th Annual Colorado Conference
YMCA of the Rockies
September 23-30, 2007
With the Colorado Conference a little more than 4 weeks away, many classes are already selling out! If you are thinking about attending, don't delay or you may not get to attend the classes of your choice!
RECENTLY ADDED:
Don't forget to make your housing arrangements at the YMCA! Download a form directly from our website at
www.yjevents.com.
If you're flying to the Colorado Conference, United Airlines, the official airline of Yoga Journal Conferences, is providing fare discounts to conference attendees. Call 800-521-4041 from 8:00am to 10:00pm EST seven days a week to obtain schedule information and make a reservation at the best possible rate.
(Refer to Meeting ID 563JQ.)
Click here for more information and registration.
LUNAFEST™ Film Festival
LUNAFEST is a national traveling festival of short films by...for...about women. LUNAFEST runs from October-March,
in that time it is shown by more than 100 venues nationwide (including YMCA of the Rockies) and is seen by over 20,000 viewers,
100% of the proceeds benefits the Breast Cancer Fund and local nonprofit organizations.
LUNAFEST films are pulled from the top festivals across the nation including Tribeca, the Los Angeles Short Film Festival, and London International Film Festival.
Topics of this year’s films range from quirky animation to touching documentaries.
The event will be held in the Hempel Auditorium at 7:30pm, Friday, September 28th. Suggested donation $10.
Click here for tickets.
5th Annual San Francisco Conference
Hyatt Embarcadero
January 18-21, 2008
Registration is now open for our 5th annual San Francisco conference.
In addition to our celebrated Main Conference, we will offer a Beginners Conference, All-Day Intensives, Continuing Education for Teachers, Kids Yoga and a 2-Day Business of Yoga Workshop.
Plus, this year we've added all-day Yoga As Medicine Intensives.
Our highlight events this year include an opening keynote with Michael Franti and a Friday night YouthAIDS and Power to the Peaceful Benefit Concert with Michael Franti.
And for the fourth year, we are pleased to present on Saturday night Shiva Rea's Yoga Trance Dance with DJ Dragonfly. Kicking off the evening will be a Kirtan with Suzanne Sterling.
Click here to register and for more information.
What better way to celebrate the essence of the Fall than to stock up on organic, eco-friendly essentials? Highlighted below are three companies that will give the yogi what they need to live a life that's green and community friendly!
Blue Canoe Organic
Blue Canoe Organic is stylish, soft, comfortable and functional women's apparel for yoga & other activities. The company has a solid reputation for high quality clothing and a clean approach to manufacturing, specializing in organic apparel using handpicked, certified organic Peruvian cotton.
www.bluecanoe.com
Inner Waves Organics
Inner Waves Organics uses only organic cotton to make their yoga clothing and strives to have a positive impact on the environment and the world.
Their holistic approach consists of low-impact dyeing processes and sustainable materials and they seek out suppliers and manufacturers who comply with Fair Trade Labor Practices.
www.innerwavesorganics.com
Jade Yoga
The Harmony Mat from Jade Yoga is constructed of natural rubber -- a renewable resource tapped from rubber trees containing no PVC or ozone depleting substances -- perfect for the yogi concerned about the environment.
www.jadeyoga.com
Please visit these companies at the Yoga Journal Estes Park Yoga Marketplace -- Your One-Stop Shop for Everything Yoga, September 26-30, 2007.
by Nora Isaacs
Fall is on the horizon, and with it a sense of adventure and new beginnings. As a child, this season always came with great anticipation:
Going shopping for a new pair of shoes for the first day of school. Taking a day trip to a local farm with my family to drink hot apple cider and pick out a pumpkin. Or hearing the sound of leaves crunching on the sidewalk and then raking them into a big pile and falling in.
As an adult, I've been thinking a lot about those fall rituals of my youth. I'm not in school anymore, so the thrill of the first day has faded with the long days of summer.
The weekends seem to be filled more with laundry, trips to the grocery store and errands than trips to romp around visiting scarecrows and pumpkins. And where I live in San Francisco, the leaves don't really turn all shades of colors and definitely don't need raking.
But that doesn't mean that the thrill of fall is just for kids. As adults, we need to create new rituals that give our lives meaning and purpose, that mark the seasons and instill a sense of regularity, familiarity and purpose into our lives.
I like to hold the idea of fall as a time of new adventures. So as fall approaches, why not think about taking some chances?
Like the word itself, fall reminds us that it's okay to fall or to falter. It makes me think of a time I came home from the indoor ice-skating rink in my town and proudly told my father "I didn't fall once!" My excitement soon deflated when my dad replied, "Well, maybe you didn't take enough chances."
We all yearn for the basic human needs of safety and security. But we also crave to feel energized and alive. How to reconcile these two parts of ourselves in a healthy and not reckless-way? By making a conscious decision to do the things that keep us feeling excited about our lives, without hurting others or ourselves in the process, of course.
So as fall approaches, think of it is as an invitation to break free. Fall if you have to, both literally and figuratively. Take some chances. Sign up for that river-rafting trip you've had your eye on. Fall apart in front of someone you love, knowing they'll still love you back. Make that first call for a job opportunity or leave a flirtatious note for an unrequited love. Tell someone what you really think without beating around the bush. Stop playing it safe all of the time.
To practice taking some chances, think of your yoga as a dress rehearsal. Your yoga practice can help to break free of constrictions; both muscular and psychological. It helps you to fall into new and healthier patterns. And it helps you to foster a sense of adventure and spiritedness that you just might just leave behind if you don't actively pursue it.
You can do this whether you are a beginner or advanced yogi. If you are used to practicing Cobra, try Upward-Facing Dog. If you've never done a Handstand, enlist a friend to help you. Put a few pillows around you and do that arm balance that you haven't dared to do. Try moving from Crow Pose into an inversion. While in Side Plank, lift your top leg and fall into a backbend. And when you find yourself falling into a rut, a funk or just plain tedium, know that you can call on your asanas and your breath to help connect with that adventurous, playful and alive Self lurking inside.
Nora Isaacs is a freelance magazine writer with a specialty in health, wellness, yoga and the author
of Women in Overdrive: Find Balance and Overcome Burnout at Any Age.
Editor's Note: Wade will be leading a Kirtan and teaching a 5-part series class, Journey Through the Koshas, at next month's Colorado Conference.
Click here for details.
Wade Imre Morissette was born in Ottawa, Canada, just minutes before his twin sister Alanis. The twins took to music at an early age. Wade studied piano as a child and took on guitar and djembe in his teens, but their paths diverged when Wade began to study yoga.
Wade has been teaching Vinyasa-Flow classes for 13 years. He has studied under all three lineages of Krishnamacharya in India. With his knowledge of Iyengar principles of alignment, Ashtanga-Vinyasa principles of breath, bandhas and drishti combined with the Viniyoga principles of proper sequencing, counterpostures, bhavana (attitude) and goals of a class, he brings a depth that can benefit any student.
From the time he was a small child, Wade was in search of a practice that would help him connect to his spirit, trying everything from karate to tai chi. It wasn't until Wade's college roommate handed him a book by the name of ,The Mystic Path To Cosmic Powers that he decided to dedicate the next decade of his life to learning and teaching yoga. But his musical background would soon resurface.
During one of Wade's many visits to India, he began to travel on the path of Devotional Yoga and started chanting, a process that stills the mind, dissolves worries and opens the heart. "It's a natural way to tune into the frequency of love," says Wade. He realized he could combine his two passions - yoga and music - to create his own original blend of indie rock/pop music with Sanskrit and English chants. "My first concerts were in India, and people would come up to me and say that my music touched their hearts. I decided to take my music to different yoga studios across the world," Wade explains.
In the midst of Wade's world traveling, Nettwerk Music Group CEO and yoga enthusiast, Terry McBride, kept hearing Wade's music in yoga class in Vancouver, but couldn't find the album. The two connected in late 2006 and Wade signed on with Nettwerk Records to release his second album; Strong as Diamonds: Om Vajra Kaya Namaha. While Wade's debut release explores a sense of longing and self-discovery, Strong as
Diamonds: Om Vajra Kaya Namaha is less introspective. "This release is more about celebrating, gratitude and lifting one's spirit," says Wade.
"It has a lot more energy and it's sunnier, but it's still soulful."
With features in Yoga Journal and Macleans Magazine and appearances on Entertainment Tonight Canada, BCTV and Toronto's Yoga Series, CTV's E Talk Daily Canada, and CBC Radio in Canada, Wade has established himself as a sought-after yoga instructor and talented musician. He has also been covered by LA Yoga, Yogi Times, many newspapers and radio stations in Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, The Vancouver Courier, The Province, Globe and Mail, The Sun and Shared Vision in Vancouver. His music is heard often on SacredSoundsRadio.com.
|
|
Sunstone Yoga
Sunstone Yoga is dedicated to promoting health and wellness for the yoga industry. With safe, effective teaching practices, world class teacher training programs, state of the art systems and full support for our studio owners, we lead the industry in creating stability and opportunity for yoga professionals.
www.sunstoneyoga.com
|
Manage your studio online. Anywhere. Anytime.
Start SIMPLIFYING your life without the confusions of filed paperwork. BOOST revenues by 10-15% in the first quarter and allow your clients sign up for classes or appointments from home, work, or even off their PDA when their on the go. Strengthen your staff efficiency by losing day-to-day administrative hassles and FOCUS on your clients.
As a proud sponsor of Yoga Journal’s 2007 conferences, MINDBODY Online strives to drive the Yoga industry to reach maximum potential. Broaden your practice and strengthen your studio with MINDBODY Yoga. To learn more, call 877.755.4279 or visit us on the web at: www.mindbodyonline.com.
Receive a FREE one-on-one online demonstration and 25% off the set-up fee when you mention this ad!
|
911 Power to the Peaceful Festival in San Francisco
Saturday, September 8th, Musician and Filmmaker, Michael Franti with Guerrilla Management present the 9th Annual 911 Power to the Peaceful Festival at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park. PTTP also features morning yoga, an open-air art gallery, a healing arts tent, a DJ tent, vendors and food booths, eco village, kid's zone, bicycle coalition, and social, environmental & political organizations tabling & forums. Plus come to the Yoga Jam on Sunday, September 9, with Shiva Rea, Nicki Doane & Eddie Modestini, Sharon Gannon, David Life and AcroYoga.
Click here for more information.
|
YJ Directory
Quickly and efficiently connect your products and services to our audience of more than 1.2 million yoga enthusiasts.
Get listed!
For the 10th year in a row, the Yoga Directory will provide a powerful way to source local and national studios, teachers, workshops, retreats, training courses, and associations.
Yoga Journal's 2008 Directory is both a pullout, keepsake guide bound into the January 2008 issue & a comprehensive online database.
A print and web package creates year-round results, increased visibility, and targeted reach. Listings start as low as $160.
Order, sign up, renew, find rates, and more at: YJDirectory.com
|
Upcoming Conferences
Estes Park 2007
YMCA of the Rockies
September 23 - 30, 2007
Registration Now Open
San Francisco 2008
Hyatt Embarcadero
January 18-21, 2008
Registration Now Open
Save the Dates
Boston 2008
Sheraton Boston
May 16-19, 2008
Estes Park 2008
YMCA of the Rockies
September 21-28, 2008
South Florida 2008
Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa
November 14-17, 2008
|
|
|
