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Namaste and welcome to the March edition of our Conference Connection.
Planning on attending the Boston Conference, but haven't registered yet? Don't forget the early bird discount ends next week -- Thursday, March 20th.
As a reminder, you can use the Boston Conference message board to find a room and/or ride-share.
Click here to login (access code 617).
Our Boston Conference Work Exchange Program is looking for volunteers interested in assisting in the production of the conference. The program is an excellent way to become involved behind-the-scenes, while participating in a world-class yoga gathering. Read below for more information.
Watch Our Presenters
As part of our new video series we asked two of our conference teachers, Gary Kraftsow and Cyndi Lee, What does a Yoga Journal Conference mean to you?
Also this month, Yoga Journal Work Exchange Coordinator and MFA writing candidate, Nicole Dunas, shares her insights about letting go of resistance.
Finally, Stephen Cope, one of our Yoga Journal conference presenters, shares his journey from walking into a Key West yoga studio over 20 years ago to becoming the Director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living.
Namaste,
The Yoga Journal Conference Team
Elana Maggal, Conference Director
Renee LaRose, Senior Conference Manager
Heidi Hill, Conference Marketing Manager
Alden Conant, Conference Coordinator
Sara Mesing, Conference Marketing Coordinator
2008 Boston Conference
Sheraton Boston
May 16 – 19, 2008
Join us in Boston's Back Bay for a full weekend practice, an all-day intensive or the chance to hear about Donna Karan's Urban Zen Foundation and how it's changing the face of health care.
Click below for more information
Click here to register and for more information.
New this year at the Boston conference...
Urban Zen Foundation:
A Patient Advocacy Intensive
Friday, May 16, 8:00am – 5:00pm
An all-day instensive with:
- Rodney Yee
- Richard Freeman
- Dean Ornish, M.D.
- Designer Donna Karan
For yoga teachers, physical therapists, nurses and those in the medical community. Discover how to help others navigate the medical system.
Net proceeds of this intensive benefit the Urban Zen Foundation.
Saturday Morning Keynote and Book Signing with Dean Ornish, M.D.
*Don't miss the book signing with Dean Ornish, M.D. His new book, an New York Times bestseller, The Spectrum, focuses on making healthy choices for the joy of living, not out of fear of getting sick.
Yoga as Medicine All-Day Intensives
Monday, May 19, 8:00am – 4:30pm
Attend one of seven intensives and explore how yoga has become a pivotal element in an integrated approach to health & well-being.
Includes opening remarks by Dr. Timothy McCall and lunchtime keynote address by Mayo Clinic's Dr. Bijoy Khandheria.
Estes Park 2008
September 21-28, 2008
Registration opens April 14 for our 13th Annual Colorado Conference.
We are excited to announce the first-ever 3-day Anusara Gathering with John Friend and other senior Anusara teachers and scholars, September 21-24, 2008.
The Boston Conference Work Exchange Program is looking for volunteers interested in assisting in the production of the conference. The program is an excellent way to become involved behind-the-scenes, while participating in a world-class yoga gathering. There is a nominal fee and a partial rebate is given to those who satisfactorily perform their duties.
This opportunity is a great way to make friends with other volunteers, while sharing a common goal of providing behind-the-scenes service to the yoga community. And, of course, when free-time allows, studying with some great teachers.
We are seeking people who wish to be vital members of the conference management team and while there is time for yoga, this program is not for those who are seeking a full schedule of classes.
For complete information on becoming a Work Exchange Volunteer you can contact Kourtney by email at yoga@horizonconferences.com or by calling 800-561-9398.
by Nicole Dunas
When I was a kid, my mother thought it amazing that I enjoyed being in the bath so much considering how hard it was to get me in it. At times, I have
wondered if my yoga practice is similar. Practicing yoga ranks among the best ways I can think of to spend time. When people ask me why I do it, I am
liable to say are you kidding? I live for yoga.
For years I wondered why, when I woke up in the morning presumably ecstatic to get on my mat, I suddenly had many things to do. Check email, pay the
bills, call to make an appointment at the dentist, finish an essay, hike up the mountain near my house. I rarely jumped from my bed onto my yoga mat, even if early morning was the best time to practice. First, I had to be productive and get things done.
My teacher, who knows I am a control monger, gave me an assignment to only do yoga asanas that felt like a massage for nine days. Without understanding
how to accomplish this, I got on my yoga mat with the intention of feeling a massage and discovered an inquiry: why do I resist what I want? Why do I
rub up against my desire as a pouty whiner? During this assignment, on the days that I let my body sink into delicious and easeful practice, I found curiosity.
There was so much to feel in my body during asana when I wasn’t focused on doing. My practice started attracting me! I was like a kid in the bath,
wanting to stay in longer and have more fun. Practicing became far more exciting when I opened my eyes than getting things done. We resist what we want
for different reasons, and our inquiry will naturally look unique. Still, I suggest following your deepest curiosity like a mad person. Be mad. Go for it.
Nicole Dunas, M.F.A. candidate at the Bennington Writing Seminars, has been a devoted yoga student of Sofia Diaz for five years, and is a Yoga Journal Conference Work Exchange Coordinator.
Editor's Note: Stephen Cope will be teaching at the Boston Main Conference and the Boston Beginners Conference.
I was first introduced to yoga over twenty years ago at a funky little Bikram studio in Key West. The studio was a block from my house, nestled on the
second floor of an old yellow schoolhouse on Southard Street-and was announced by a fading sign reading "Yoga College of India." Hmmm, I thought, as I
cycled past it several times a day. Yoga College of India. What ever could that be? I checked it out, and discovered that every afternoon at 4:30 the
place was crammed with near-naked men and women doing ridiculously intense yoga in 110 degree heat. Jeez. The small mirrored room reeked of sweat and exertion. But these people were living intensely! They seemed high on this stuff. This was too intriguing not to try.
I felt the magic in my very first class. I was soon hooked. Ronnie-the unforgettable instructor-worked the Hell out of us, but seemingly to everyone's
delight. At the end of the class he did the world's most delicious relaxation-and I can still hear his words as we lay drenched in sweat in Sivasana: "Best moment of the day!" Was it ever. Up to that point in my life, I had simply never EVER felt better.
In the years that followed, I spent as much time as I possibly could in Key West-almost entirely so that I could get the voodoo of that class. (This was
well before Bikram yoga was widely popular-and available, as it is now, just about everywhere.)
Ack! That was twenty five years ago. I had no idea then that my entire career would eventually be overtaken by yoga. Back home in Boston, I discovered
the magic of another very different kind of yoga-Kripalu Yoga. I've been deeply involved in the Kripalu yoga community now for almost 18 years.
Eventually I moved to Kripalu, became a Kripalu yoga teacher, and then Senior Scholar in Residence. I've written three widely read books on yoga, and
am at work on a fourth. I am currently the Director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living-a research institute with a cadre of Harvard-Medical-School-affiliated researchers, investigating the effects of yoga on many aspects of human functioning, and growth and development.
Be careful when you step through the doors of a yoga studio. It might change your life!
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Upcoming Conferences
Boston 2008
Sheraton Boston
May 16-19, 2008
Registration Now Open
Save the Dates
Estes Park 2008
YMCA of the Rockies
September 21-28, 2008
Registration opens April 14
South Florida 2008
Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa
November 14-17, 2008
2009 Conference Tour
San Francisco 2009
Hyatt Regency
January 16-19, 2009
Grand Geneva
Grand Geneva Resort & Spa
March 26-29, 2009
New York City
Hilton New York
May 15-18, 2009
Estes Park 2009
YMCA of the Rockies
September 20-27, 2008
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