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Namaste and welcome to the October edition of Conference Connection.
Thanks to everybody who made the Estes Park Conference a few weeks ago such a success! Over 1,500 yogis and yoginis came to the Rocky Mountains to practice with the world's best instructors.
In addition to the yoga classes and intensives, we're proud to have raised over $1,800 for the Breast Cancer Fund at the LUNAFEST Film Festival and over $8,000 for YouthAIDS through the benefit concert with The Motet, sponsored by the Shakti foundation.
Now with Estes Park behind us, all eyes are on the San Francisco Conference. If you're planning on attending, don't forget the Early Bird discount ends Friday, November 17th.
Are you aware of our new scholarship program for our 2007 conferences? Read below for more information about how to apply, or support, this great program.
As our special feature this month, we've asked Joel Kramer to share his experiences and view of yoga. Regarded by many as the father of modern American yoga, in the early sixties Joel literally dropped out, caravaned to California, became part of the burgeoning
counter-culture, and began investigating Eastern perspectives and practices.
Also this month, Erin Hull's exclusive article gives us some great chest opening poses for healthy lungs this autumn. And finally, we'll share one of our favorite fall recipes: Acorn Squash and Cider Soup.
Namaste,
The Yoga Journal Conference Team
Elana Maggal, Conference Director
Renee LaRose, Conference Manager
Heidi Hill, Conference Sponsorship Associate
Alden Conant, Conference Coordinator
San Francisco, CA
January 18 - 21, 2007
Registration is open for our 4th annual San Francisco conference.
Study with esteemed teachers like Rodney Yee, Patricia Walden, Baron Baptiste, Ana Forrest, Seane Corn and many more!
In addition to our Main Conference, we are offering two Beginners Conferences, All-Day Intensives, Continuing Education for
Teachers, Kids and Family Yoga, and a Business Success for the Wellness Industry Intensive.
Join a panel discussion on Classical vs. Tantra Yoga, connect with community, enjoy entertainment and lectures, and shop for the latest yoga gear.
And for the third year, we are pleased to present Shiva Rea's Yoga Trance Dance with DJ Dragonfly. Kicking off the evening will be a
Kirtan with Jai Uttal. You don't have to attend the conference to join us for Saturday evening's Trance Dance.
Click here to register and for more information.
New York, NY
Continuing Ed. for Teachers
March 7 - 8, 2007
Yoga Journal is pleased to partner with ECA World Fitness for a 2-day Continuing Education for Teachers Conference in conjuction
with the ECA/NYC Fitness Convention and Tradeshow, the premier event in the fitness community. Teachers include: Eddy Marks, Natasha Rizopoulos, Sianna Sherman, and Rusty Wells.
- Learn effective elements for teaching yoga.
- Gain in-depth knowledge of how to adjust your students and safely teach inversions and backbends.
- Explore the fundamentals at the basis of every yoga class, and develop unique and insightful sequences.
- Deepen your yoga practice to infuse a new awareness, insight, and intelligence in your teachings.
Open to yoga teachers, yoga teachers-in-training, and group fitness instructors. This program is approved and sponsored by Yoga Alliance for Continuing Education Credits.
Registration opens November 15, 2006.
Lake Geneva, WI
Grand Geneva Resort & Spa
May 4 - 7, 2007
We are thrilled to return for the third time to the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake
Geneva, Wisconsin! Come practice with the world's top teachers,
improve your golf game with yoga, or bring the whole family for family and kids yoga.
Registration opens December 2006.
We're pleased to offer a scholarship program designed to support ten low income yogis and yoginis who want to attend one of Yoga
Journal’s three 2007 conferences (excluding New York).
For more information on the scholarships, application guidelines and deadlines, visit www.yjevents.com/scholarships.
Perfect for a chilly autumn night, this Acorn Squash and Cider Soup recipe makes a great starter or is hearty enough to be a light main course.
Click here for the recipe.
by Erin Hull
Now that the Autumnal equinox has come and gone, there's no denying that colder winter weather looms ahead. As you relish these last warm days of 2006, be aware of the adjustments your body must make as winter approaches. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine,
each season has a corresponding human organ. Autumn's organ is the lung, which is considered to be a delicate organ that is very susceptible to changes in the weather. Brisk, dry, autumn air has the potential to dry the lung and may set you up for an early
winter cold. Keep your lungs strong, healthy, and clear by breathing deeply in these chest opening poses.
- Salabhasana (Locust Pose) - In addition for preparing you for back bends by strengthening the torso, thighs and spine, this pose stretches the chest and shoulders, as well as opening the lungs. Lie on your stomach and reach your arms back behind you,
lifting them off of the ground and stretching through your fingertips. Lift your head, chest and thighs off of the ground, stretching through your spread toes. The majority of your weight should be on your abdomen and pelvis. Squeeze your thighs and
buttocks together, remembering to keep your shoulders slid down your back. Gaze softly forward and breathe deeply in the pose for thirty seconds.
- Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward-Facing Dog)- This strong pose opens the heart and lungs, stretches the chest, lungs, heart and abdomen, and increases body heat. Lie on your stomach with your forearms drawn into your sides, resting on the floor. Stretch
your legs out behind you, with your toes untucked. Slowly straighten your arms, lifting your head, chest, and thighs off of the ground. Your weight should be supported by your hands and the tops of your toes. Firm your buttocks, thighs, and arms without
locking your joints. Look forward or slightly upward, while ensuring that your shoulders are down and back and your neck is lengthened.
- Parighasana (Gate Pose) - Rest your weight on your right knee bent directly beneath your hip, and stretch your left leg straight out to the side, resting on your heel. Your left heel should be in line with your right knee, and your left knee should
point to the sky. With outstretched arms, reach your left arm out and rest it on your leg, contracting the left side body. Lift your right arm up and over your head, lengthening the right side body. Stretch your right arm over your ear, toward the left leg,
but keep your torso turned toward the sky. Remain in the pose for thirty seconds, breathing deeply. Repeat with the other side. This pose stretches and strengthens the lungs while opening the shoulders.
Erin Hull is a regular Yoga Journal contributor based in San Francisco.
Editor's Note: Joel Kramer is regarded by many as the father of modern American yoga for his evolutionary vision of yoga, which is foundational for many of today's leading yoga teachers. He was born in Coney Island in 1937, is the author of "The Passionate
Mind" and co-author with Diana Alstad, his partner of 32 years, of "The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power". He did four years of post-graduate study in philosophy and psychology at the University of Florida, Columbia and NYU, and was a resident teacher
of yoga and consciousness at Esalen (1968-1970). He gave seminars around the world until 1982 reaching many with a modern view of yoga that was first put forth in such Yoga Journal articles as "A New Look at Yoga" and "Yoga as Self-Transformation." Diana created
a foundation for the Yoga of Relationship in "Exploring Relationships: Interpersonal Yoga" (Yoga Journal, 1979) by extending to the social arena Joel's feedback-based, systems approach to the Yoga of Mind and Body. To offer people a yogic framework and tools for
relating, she and Joel developed and taught the Yoga of Relationship at such centers as Esalen and Omega. Their book-in-progress is "Spirituality for Atheists, Agnostics & Inquiring Minds: An Evolutionary Foundation for Values".
Even as a young person I was concerned with the basic questions of meaning that people ponder and sometimes agonize over: Why am I here? What's living about anyway? Can I even know? And what in the world should I be doing with my life? First I inquired through
traditional, academic routes. Putting my hopes into Western thought and science for answers that became more elusive the deeper I delved, I spent years in graduate school trying to solve to the riddle of existence. Eventually studying philosophy came to a point
of resembling tic-tac-toe, where you know the game so well that you never lose an argument. But this provided little consolation as my questions remained unresolved. So in the early sixties I dropped out, caravaned to California, became part of the burgeoning
sixties counter-culture, and began investigating Eastern perspectives and practices.
I was fascinated by the differences between Eastern and Western approaches to the mind. My first introduction to what I consider mental yoga came in 1966 when I heard Krishnamurti speak about self-examining the conditioned mind. I found his methods of
self-inquiry brilliant and groundbreaking, although I came to differ from many of his conclusions. This was my initial contact with
the Eastern route of looking within, where the mind turns inward upon itself to observe its own workings and conditioning processes. I found that being able to internally experience the structures of my thoughts was an amazing new route to
self-understanding that gave me the handle I needed to move forward. The Yoga of Mind led me on an odyssey of discovery that soon
incorporated hatha yoga, which I have been doing regularly for about forty years. I eventually found that neither Eastern nor Western worldviews quite fit my experience, which led to writing books explaining why.
Being a parent and my two wonderful daughters revealed core aspects of living and of myself that I could not have discovered on my own. In 1974 I joined with my life partner Diana Alstad who has been of quintessential importance in my personal development,
thinking, teaching, writing, and in integrating Eastern and Western frameworks. Having long been concerned with power and gender patterns, she created the first Woman's studies courses at Yale and Duke. Diana brought to my perspectives a social and relational
awareness focused on bringing spirituality down to Earth-where it is sorely needed. It is in the arena of relationships, both personal and social, that we humans have neither shined nor used our extraordinary creativity to deal properly with the nature of
power, privilege, and the many ways that people control each other for self-protection, gain, status, and placating fears. Through Diana's instigation and vision we wrote The Guru Papers to unmask cultural, mental and spiritual authoritarianism.
I view yoga as a very personal and evolutionary activity that changes both with the times and over a lifetime. I have attempted to make yoga more relevant by moving it out of its locked-in traditional, often authoritarian roots. I stopped formal teaching in
1982 to write and think about the state of the world and my relation to it. I began teaching again in the fall of 2005 largely owing to a sense of urgency that putting my "two cents" into the collective pot might have value and relevance in these disturbing
times. I teach asanas as the body is a fundamental place for learning and for generating the energy useful in integrating the myriad inputs of our runaway world. However, now I'm focusing more on teaching the Yoga of Relationship and the Yoga of Mind.
The human mind has brought both great beauty and marvels of understanding, but it has also brought us to being a species at risk.
Just as physical yoga helps the body become more resilient and flexible, it is my hope that the Yogas of Mind and Relationship can contribute to the creative capacities of the human mind and heart that could help make humanity viable.
Click here for Information about Joel and Diana's classes at the San Francisco Conference.
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SAVE 10% at be present
be present was proud to be a sponsor of this year's Estes Park Yoga Journal Conference. We'd like to thank all of you for helping to make this year's event a very memorable experience. As a token of our appreciation,
please use the discount code YJEP06 when placing your next order at www.bepresent.com to receive a 10% discount off of your entire order.
Please hurry, this offer will expire October 31, 2006!
be present: clothing for yoga, clothing for life.
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Win a Trip to Costa Rica from Wild Oats
In celebration of Fair Trade Month, Wholesome Sweeteners and Wild Oats are giving away a guided trip for 2 to Costa Rica. On visits to Fair Trade Certified™ farms, you and a guest will meet the farmers who grow the products you love, and along the way, you will experience the natural beauty of Costa Rica’s tropical forests, beaches and waterfalls.
http://www.wildoats.com
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$350 off Yoga Works Teacher Training
Yoga Works is a proud partner of Yoga Journal's 2007 Conference Tour. We offer Teacher Training programs at both the 200- and 500-hour levels in New York and Southern California. Our 200-hour program is also offered at satellite locations worldwide.
Visit our website at www.yogaworks.com/ teachertraining.
Conference Connection readers who register for one of our programs by November 1st, 2006 will be eligible to receive $350 off the base 2007 tuition. Please contact the teacher training department at
teachertraining@yogaworks.com or call 310-664-6470 x120 to sign up.
Make sure to reference the following promotion code: YJCON
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Save the Dates
San Francisco 2007
Hyatt Regency
January 18 - 21, 2007
Registration Now Open
New York 2007
Marriott Marquis
March 7 - 8, 2007
Registration opens 11/15/06
Grand Geneva 2007
Grand Geneva Resort & Spa
May 4 - 7, 2007
Registration opens 12/06
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