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Welcome to the July edition of Conference Connection. This month we're excited to spotlight Edie Brickell, who will be performing with her band The New Bohemians at this year's Colorado Conference. Edie, a devout yoga practitioner for the past 14 years, is looking forward to performing in front of a group of warm and supportive yogis and yoginis.
Also this month, Nora Isaacs writes an exclusive Conference Connection article, Ignite and Let Your Love Light Shine, a youthful look at the joys of summer.
Namaste,
The Yoga Journal Conference Team
Elana Maggal, Conference Director
Renee LaRose, Conference Manager
Heidi Hill, Conference Marketing Associate
Alden Conant, Conference Coordinator
Michelle Ruiz, Conference Intern
12th Annual Colorado Conference
YMCA of the Rockies
September 23-30, 2007
With the Colorado Conference a little more than 2 months 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!
JUST 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 offical 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.
The Global Mala Project, sponsored by Yoga Journal, is a call to the worldwide yoga community to cross the borders of our mats, studios, schools, styles, or forms of yoga to come together to experience the power of collective practice and sacred action.
Diverse yoga communities from around the world are creating ritual events to form a symbolic "mala" or sacred circle around the earth. From one studio in Cape Town to 108 studios gathering for a 12-hour ritual event in in Los Angeles, teachers and students from many styles of yoga will practice
together and while raising funds and awareness for specific projects addressing some of the essential issues of our times: global warming, AIDS, and poverty.
Be a part of this collective consciousness event and empower individuals to realize, experience, and intimately live from our conscious unity.
This worldwide event will take place on September 21–23, (coinciding with the UN International Day of Peace, the fall equinox and Yom Kippur).
If you are a studio owner, teacher, or student of yoga, please visit www.globalmala.org for more information on how to become part of the Global Mala Project.
The Yoga Journal Conference in Estes Park will bring teachers and conference attendees together for a collective mala on Sunday morning, September 30 from 8:00am-9:30am. This session is being collectively led by conference teachers for all conference attendees (space permitting).
RISE! and breathe the change we want to envision in the world!
5th Annual San Francisco Conference
Hyatt Embarcadero
January 18-21, 2008
We're already gearing up for the 5th Annual San Francisco Conference, held in Yoga Journal's hometown of San Francisco, January 18-21, 2008, at the Hyatt Embarcadero. Our highlight events this year include an opening keynote
with Michael Franti and a YouthAIDS and Power to the Peaceful Benefit Concert with Michael Franti. Registration opens in August - keep checking www.yjevents.com for details.
by Nora Isaacs
As I looked around the room at my morning class, I noticed that most people were extremely serious, as if it getting into Triangle pose were just as fun as filing taxes or going to the dentist. But past the cluster of people who were
straining, with furrowed brows, I noticed one woman smiling joyfully. Her pose wasn't perfect, but I could just sense
the pure delight she got from her yoga practice. Her smile was contagious, and it felt like a little reminder to lighten up. I couldn't help to soften my gaze, relax my jaw, and crack a smile.
In the span of a yogi's lifetime, there's undoubtedly a time for being serious. When it comes to studying yoga's
scriptures, going deep into meditation, or learning how to follow the precepts of non-harming or non-violence, for
example. Many of us spiritual seekers feel very passionate about the things that matter to us, whether it's
vegetarianism, non-consumerism, or nonviolent communication, and these things are important both individually and
globally. But too often we take our competitive selves, our must-be-productive-selves, our Type A crazy selves, onto the yoga mat and leave our joy behind.
Of course, we want to advance our practice and make the most of our precious time. But we can do this with a lighthearted touch, one that pays tribute to our passions and purpose-but also that treads lightly on our spirit.
I turned to Dana Flynn and Jasmine Tarkeshi, founders of Laughing Lotus Yoga, with studios in New York and San Francisco, for their insight about how to do this: "The whole purpose of practicing yoga is to connect with the joy
and bliss that is the soul of who we are and present in each one of us," says Dana. "Practicing asanas in a way that
is spirited, creative and alive is a way of tapping into that wellspring which will allow it to overflow and touch every part of our lives and everyone we come in contact with," adds Jasmine.
Summertime is the perfect time to let this playful, creative, and joyous side bloom. We can all learn a lesson from the smiling woman in yoga class, walking down the street, in the coffee shop-joy is contagious and we can be the ones to spread it.
This season, when we get into that serious and oh-so-productive mode (when we don't really need to be), we need only
look to the nearest child we see to remember the purity, simplicity and basic fact that joy can emerge even during
the most mundane tasks in everyday life. It's not what you do or how well you do it; it's the attitude you bring. So grin during your Gomukhasana and put a few pillows down so you can fall over in your Crow Pose. Try Handstand in the
middle of the room without expectation and add some playful, made-up poses to your Sun Salutations. If you tumble,
fall, or falter, just have a good laugh. After all, uncovering our inner joy is the true purpose of practice. To do this, just follow Dana's advice during your next yoga session: "Ignite and let your love light shine!"
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: The YouthAIDS Benefit Concert with Edie Brickell & New Bohemians will be held Saturday night at the Estes Park Conference and is open to the public. $15 for conference participants; $25 for the general public. Net proceeds of the concert benefit YouthAIDS. (Yoga Journal will match 50% of net proceeds.)
Edie Brickell started singing with the New Bohemians in 1986 in the Deep Ellum club scene in Dallas, Texas. By 1988
they were buoyed by the success of "Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars", their debut album featuring the single, "What I Am". Immediately after meeting the love of her life in November of '88, Brickell grew restless of the touring
lifestyle and relocated to New York City to concentrate on family. Brickell returned to recording in 2002 with the
release of "Volcano". Her most recent recording "Stranger Things" with all the original New Bohemians, represents the
collection of songs written with the band during jam sessions on her trips back home to Texas to visit with family and friends throughout the years following her move to New York City.
Brickell learned ashtanga yoga--the primary series--from Danny Paradise 14 years ago and loves it and hope to continue the practice until her last breath.
We asked Edie a few questions about what brought her to yoga and this is what she shared with us:
Yoga Journal: It's been said that your family practices music together, do you ever practice yoga together?
Edie Brickell: I've done yoga with my oldest son and with my husband. Neither of them
felt it was their cup of tea.
YJ: What is it about Ashtanga yoga in particular, that captivates you and inspires you to practice every day?
EB: Ashtanga is challenging and makes me feel like I've had a real workout and I love that.
I tried a different kind of yoga in college and I was bored by it so I
wasn't really interested in taking Ashtanga from Danny Paradise, but I
was hooked from the very first lesson as I realized it was exactly what
I needed and imagined it would carry me through my life with the
potential to feel good all along the way. I want to be a strong, peppy
old lady who gets out and about and doesn't just sit in a dark room with
the TV.
YJ: Do you prefer to practice yoga alone, or in a class setting?
EB: I like to practice yoga alone although I've shown it to friends and
family who wanted to give it a try. I enjoy solitude and the peace of my
own rhythm which is slower on some days and I don't want to be pulled
along on someone else's time schedule with a pressure to keep up. I've
never taken a class but I imagine I'd compare myself with some super
strong or rubber band flexible person and feel like I should be better
somehow.
YJ: How has your yoga practice influenced you creatively? Have you thought of any songs after an invigorating asana session?
EB: Yoga has helped me to slow down and take a more disciplined approach
to practicing guitar and piano. I know it helped me get those big
stretch jazz chords.
YJ: Which asana pose is most challenging for you?
EB: The most challenging pose for me changes with the mystery of daily
energy and strength and time. The backbend has been hard for me so I
held it for fifteen breaths to try to get stronger then dropped back down to
ten. The boat was hard. The one where you stand on one leg and bend the
other leg in half lotus then reach around your back with the hand from
the same side and grab your big toe then bend over and place your other
hand flat on the floor was an accomplishment for me and took a while.
YJ: What are you most excited about for the upcoming Yoga Journal Colorado Conference? Do you plan on taking any classes?
EB: I'm happy to experience a yoga conference because all the people I've
met through yoga have been real sparks. I don't plan on taking any
classes as I like to do yoga alone when I first wake up in the morning
and after that, I like to hang out and take it easy -- my work is done!
Aside from music that is, and I always look forward to playing music
and being with the band. And Colorado has been very good to us!
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Free Bija Tea
As a proud sponsor of the 2007 Yoga Journal Conference at Estes Park, we invite you to embark on your journey today with BIJA tea. We have free tea samples available to all yogis and yoginis...
just click here! While supplies last.
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Stranger Things
Don't miss Edie Brickell and New Bohemians in Estes Park! Edie and the band will be performing music from their first studio album in 16 years, Stranger Things.
Click here for more info.
EXCLUSIVE PRICE for conference attendees--$9.98, promo code: Namaste
"Stranger Things represents the honest, unadulterated and utterly charming sound of a longtime band just being itself."
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Save the Dates
Estes Park 2007
YMCA of the Rockies
September 23 - 30, 2007
Registration Now Open
2008 Events
San Francisco 2008
Hyatt Embarcadero
January 18-21, 2008
Registration opens
August 2007
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
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