San Francisco, Here we come!

[Sara]

Hi everyone,

Harlan and I are heading to San Francisco this weekend for the Yoga Journal Conference. We have heard that over 1,500 people will be attending.

Harlan has registered to study with Rodney Yee and David Swenson and I am going to be studying with Ana Forrest and Seane Corn.

This will be Harlan's first experience into the world of yoga conferences. I am very excited that he will be attending. His love for yoga continues to grow and his dedication to his daily practice is inspiring.

It may take days of intense therapy to get him to attend Shiva Rea's Trance dance. So if you see someone in the corner sitting out with a marketing book, it will be Harlan. I told him he must come and Try the Trance dance at least once in his life cause he will be blown away.

Yoga is definetely taking him to new levels. I am in the front row watching him grow and transform. Having a client like him makes teaching such a joy.

If you are at the conference please come and say hello, we'd love to meet you.

Warmth and peace,
Sara

[Administrator]

I will point out that I will also be presenting at a marketing seminar
while I'm in SF.

I've lost so much weight doing yoga, my marketing buddies think I'm wasting away.

As of today, I'm down 44 pounds.

Thanks Sara. :-)

[dslyoga]

Hello Harlan and Sara,

Hope you have a good time in San Francisco.
I was going to attend the first annual yoga
therapy conference (SYTAR) put on by IAYT
in Los Angeles the same weekend as the YJ
conference (strange they scheduled them
the same weekend). But I decided to go to
Jim Edwards internet marketing seminar in
Atlanta, instead. It is interesting how much
more interesting marketing has become since
being introduced the kinds of ideas people
like you are using. Imagine, wanting to go
to a marketing conference more than a yoga
confrence!!!

While you are at the YJ conference, see if
you can attend anything by Joel Kramer or
Diana Alstad, his partner.

http://www.yjevents.com/yjevents/sf07/teacher_kramer.cfm

He was my main teacher in physcial/mental
yoga, and Diana took Joels ideas and came
up with the Yoga of Relationship, on which
they taught together years ago. My yoga/
bodywork system is based quite a bit on
their principles.

Joel is being billed by Yoga Journal (and
many others) as the First American Yoga
Master. Many of the principles that people
think are from Gurus from India are actually
from Joel, stuff he figured out back in the
sixties. He is a definite contrarian, and he
should be far better known (hint, hint!.
Their site is

www.joelkramer-dianaalstad.com

and you can download their articles and
podcasts there.

Take Care,
David Scott Lynn

[Administrator]

Hi David,

I would prefer to go to the yoga conference.

Unfortunately, I'm GIVING the marketing seminar...

So I'll be in one hotel but my heart will be in the other. :-)

Besides, I've got to keep my saw sharp to help all the yogis
and yoginis market their practice.

[yogarocks]

Hi Harlan and Sara,

Please give us a review of the workshops you've attended. I went to the Lake Wales winter solstice white tantra yoga and it was wonderful. It feels like getting a year of yoga in a couple of days. I stretched beyond what I thought I could do physically, emotionally and spiritually.

BTW I see Gurmukh is giving classes this weekend and she is really good. Also those 4:30 am sadhanas really change your whole day too. They have them in S Florida too at a center near my house.

Debbie

[Administrator]

We just got back in from SF.

We'll report in over the next few days.

But I think I can tell you right now...

I'm a David Swenson groupie.

Harlan

[Sara]

Hello everyone,

Well San Fransisco was amazing and inspiring and loads of fun. I was a yoga student for four days instead of a teacher. It was great to be on the learning end.

But at this conference I took a different take. Instead of bringing a notebook and inbetween classes trying to remember all that I learned and making sure I wrote it down,I decided to do the opposite. NOTHING!!!! I just let myself be in that moment in each class, playing and observing and taking it all in.

I gained new tricks and remembered some things and totally forgot a few things I wish I remembered. I am still happy that I was there and learning.

I think as yoga teachers it is so important to continue to learn and grow. Any time you are able to break away from your busy life and schedule and go take a class by another favorite teacher or get away for a weekend conference, I highly suggest it.

As a full time teacher I find it essential for my own well being, my own practice and to bring more to my students.

Even if I take from someone who I am not really liking their style or class and I find mylsef bored or just uninterested, I pause and reming myself that I can always learn something from everyone. And then I walk away from that class extracting the positive instead of complaining about what I didn't like.

So now to share who I took with. The first 2 days I did all day intensives with Shiva Rea and Anna Forest.

Fantastic and amazing and Everything I wanted it to be.

The Forest workshop was all about opening your heart. And at the end of the day I was ready to let out some tears that had been buried in my soul. Yet at the same time I felt a freshness and a return to wholeness in my being. It was a yummy feeling.

On friday I got to spend the day with Shiva Rea. IF you have never studied with her or taken her class then it is a must. Her style is unique and freeing. She has a beautiful presence and a wonderful way of teaching people to move feely and release held energy.

The next 2 days were spend with Baron Baptiste, Rodney Yee, Saul David Raye, David Swenson, Cyndie Lee and Gurmukh. It was like going to a big buffet table and sampling a whole lot of delicious foods.

David Swenson has a great approach to teaching and is very humble. He talked all about the bandhas. He explains this very clearly and simply.

Had a much needed Thai yoga massage class with Saul. HE has wonderful energy and a peaceful aura. He is very knowledgable. It was just what my body needed after 2 and a half days of intense asanas.

On Sunday morning I felt like I got struck by lightening when I was in the Kundalini class. I had never taken with Gurmukh. She has a lot to say and much to entend to all who take her calsses.

I was very impressed with her. This was the day I was faced with emotional challenges and totally letting go. The class tested me and 10 minutes into it I wanted to flee to the bathroom. But I hung in there and let her take me on a journey. It was happy, sad , challenging and worth every second. Her class stretched me to new places.

As for The Shiva Rea Trance Dance with Harlan. Well He managed to slip out of my sight before it even began. I was looking foward to it and ready to dance for hours but my tired eyes and body gave out on me. I danced hard for about 40 minutes and then had to go rest my eyes. Next time.....

Harlan loved David Swenson and learned some good things about the primary series. He couldn't stop raving about him I almost thought I lost him as a client.

His day with Rodney Yee was not as good. It was little advanced for him. He wanted to quit and leave at lunch but I said he needed to stick it out and take fom it what ever he could.

I was proud of him that he went back until ...... I was in an inversion in Anna Forest's workshop when I see Harlan walking in the back of the room with a rolled up yoga mat. I realized he was done with trying to stick it out. But at least he tried to stay for the whole thing.I still was glad he went for the experience.

Now looking foward to studying further with Shiva Rea In April for a week.

Share your thoughts with us about some of your favorite teachers and why you are drawn to them.

peace and blessings,

Sara

[yogarocks]

Hi Sara,

I'm so glad you shared your experiences from the workshops. I'm trained and teach kundalini and love it and it is so powerful. Gurmukh is pretty tough! The teachers I've taken don't hold the postures as long as she does (they usually do it for 1-2 minutes).. but with her, if the kriya says to do frog 108 times or to hold stretch pose for 11 minutes she'll have you do it! They have a sadhana in Coral Springs every day at a yoga center here. I did the white tantra in Lake Wales in December they have and it was very strong and releases so much emotionally. It is like 10 years of yoga/meditation in 3 days.
Driving down the turnpike and going in those food plazas seemed like such a different world afterwards.

In fact , classes in kundalini yoga are really strong and that is part of why I think that doing privates isn't usually a weekly thing and might explain some of my questions on the forum. I love teaching the classes but as you know attendance isn't always predictable and organizing things can be a total hassle (even at my own condo).

I first found kundalni yoga with Ravi Singh videos around 15 years ago and the funny thing is I found him annoying (he would make goofy rhymes a lot!) but still the videos were so powerful that it really didn't even matter and I found this was the only tradition that quieted my mind and cleared emotions and blissed me out!

Anyway I am brainstorming a lot on the question of privates and where it fits in with the classes.

Thanks for such an interesting review.

Debbie