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Back to Yoga
Grove! |
Please note that I'm no
longer teaching at RinaYoga... Instead, you'll find me at
the New & Improved Yoga Grove! Please see the Schedule Page
for details...
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Recent Events
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Free Summertime
Sunrise
Class on North Beach |
Every Friday this summer,
I lead a yoga class behind the historic Bandshell at 73rd street
in "the Sand Bowl".
Courtesy of the
North Beach Bandshell Trust, the class was free for everyone! We
had such positive feedback, and drew a real international crowd
hailing from Moldova, Lithuania, Australia, Brasil, the UK, not
to mention a generous sprinkling of people from all over the US,
Caribbean and Latin America. It was a blast, and we hope to do
it again next year.
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Past Events
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Kate Potter
Weekend |
The weekend workshop with
Kate Potter was beautiful!! Thanks to Loree Shrager, Kate came
to Miami for a delicious weekend at the Biltmore hotel
in Coral Gables, we had an awesome time...
Even though I've had the pleasure of not owning a TV for seven
years, I've had the chance to watch Kate Potter's Namaste Yoga
Show, which now airs in fourteen countries. Of the countless
yoga videos I've seen/done, hers are by far the most beautifully
shot, most innovative and inspiring. To create them, she
remained true to her vision, inventing sequences that awaken the
body and make you feel alive. Kate's workshop took place in
three different ballrooms at the Biltmore, beneath towering,
ornate ceilings where little birds fly around in the
rafters all day. Especially enjoyable was her workshop on Yoga and the Doshas, where we learned how to tailor asana sequences for
different ayurvedic constitutions. In the Teachers'
Workshop we learned hypertonic stretching assists and did some
asana trouble-shooting. When Kate returns next year, it won't be soon
enough!
Visit: www.katepotteryoga.ca
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New Orleans
April'08 |
Being in New Orleans to witness Eve Ensler's
huge non-profit machine "V-Day" in action was amazing.
Countless products and services were organized under one
roof, all free for the forgotten women and girls of New
Orleans. There were poetry slams, art, music, salon
services, counseling, medical screenings, hula hoop therapy,
and of course waffle fries. Volunteers from everywhere
converged on the Superdome, a setting that churns up some
unsettling ghosts. To work in seva with the Karma Krew
volunteers was uplifting and humbling. Founders Scott
Feinberg & Amy Lombardo mobilized a group of yogis to teach
two days of continuous classes. As with many rewarding
moments, the experience was exhausting and unforgettable.
I spent a day with lovely Katie McDonnell,
who spearheaded a volunteer yoga & meditation program
Mid-May in New Orleans, in conjunction with Café Reconcile
and Hope House, two organizations dedicated to providing
locals with jobs and education. We drove through the
hard-hit Lower 9th Ward, stunned by the contrast of rows of
splintered houses tilting into the sky like a ghost town of
sunburnt dollhouses.
We stopped and talked to every person we saw: two. We
checked out Mack McClendon's Lower 9th Ward Village, and
watched his colleagues nod their heads and smile as he
described how he converted his industrial garage into a
community center. We also drove up to the levees and saw
one of the new houses built by Brad Pitt's "Make it Right"
Foundation, a slick but modest cross between high hopes and
denial, given its vulnerable perch on the weakened levees.
In St Bernard Parish we visited the tireless volunteers at
Habitat for Humanity. Katie and I
had lunch in the Bywater and coffee in the
Marigny before heading back to the Wild Lotus yoga studio
for an amazing class with Ellen. None of these images fades
easily.
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Otam March'08 |
Funyasa Yoga in the jungle at Otam Yogashala
was quite a memorable experience! Just a couple miles from
the beaches of Playa del Carmen, what Maru Garcia has
created in a lush forest is a vivid dream come true. Every
day began early, with a colorful walk through Playa del
Carmen to Java Joe's for coffee and the comedy hour with the
owners, New Yorkers Ronnie & Joel. It's never a dull
morning over there. Along the way I'd stroll by this
nightclub where about a hundred cute little Spring-breakers
could be seen flirting and vomiting outside on the street, a
memorable character-study. Maru would pick me up in her
pickup-truck and drive me through town and into the jungle
on winding streets of varying surface. Noting the rampant
construction in Playa these days, when you see Otam appear
amidst the trees, you think you're dreaming... Thank you
Maru and Torsten!!! Otam is proof of what can happen when
someone follows her heart and against harsh odds doesn't
stop until her vision is realized. To do yoga in such a
powerful and peaceful place must add years to your life.
I'm honored to have been invited, it was awesome to teach
there, and meeting sweet students from surprising places
never gets old. I can't wait to come back...
Visit:
Otam
Yogashala
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IDASH December'07 |
I taught a Yoga Workshop in Cancun at IDASH, the
Institute for the Harmonious Development of the Human Being...
and it was a blast! Founders Cecilia & Carlos gave me a warm
welcome, and introduced me to their sweet students and the local
cuisine, including chilis, grains, flowers and cacti I'd never
met. We ate at little shacks on the beach without walls, just
traditional palapas overhead, and famous powder-fine sand
underfoot. Eating in the breeze on sloping plastic tables was
pure joy. We had to resort to making up words because the
scenery and the menu left existing vocabulary in the dust. I
can't wait to see Ceclia & Carlos and their students again in
perfect weather, with delicious food and mind-blowing Maya ruins
on the side. Part of me is still there...
Visit:
IDASH
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