Yoga Retreat Feb 9-11

I am co-hosting a weekend yoga retreat with Kristina and Rikard (both Anusara Yoga teachers) at the beautiful Ananda Ashram in the Catskills. Beginner Yogis are welcome.

The ashram is easily accessible by Shortline bus (from Port Authority) from Manhattan -- just a 60 minute bus ride and then 10 minutes by taxi.

We start the weekend on Friday evening with introductions at 7pm, followed by the ashram's Open Talent Show.

Saturday, we begin with my Quiet Yoga Guided Meditation in the Lake House with beautiful view of the lake , breakfast, and then Yoga Yoga Yoga with Kristina and Rikard. After lunch, more deep yoga meditation and then yoga class. Come evening, we will participate with the ashram programs of Kirtan (chanting), Fire Ceremony and satsang -- it will be loads of FUN !

Sunday, more Anusara yoga and deep meditation - guiding you with your breath, energizing your chakras and opening you up to the beauty of your own life energy. After lunch, you are free to take a walk around the lake, take a leisurely hike through the woods or go shopping at the little gift shop.

The prices include your accommodation for Friday and Saturday nights, all your (vegetarian) meals, yoga classes, meditation classes, the Talent Show and all the regular ashram programs.

Semi Private room (2 beds) $325 per person
Dorm room (6 beds maximum) $300 per person

**Bring a friend and get $50 discount per person **

If you want to pay by credit card, go to Kristina's website and you can pay via PayPal.
www.yogafly.com. You can contact me via her website too -- or leave a comment here.

So, all you international yogis and yoginis from Milano, London, Berlin, Madrid, Paris, Washington DC, Caracas etc etc who read my blog -- YOU are all invited to come too !! Get over here ! It's SO easy ! Come transform yourselves with us -- and bring a friend !

OM

Welcome to my blog !!

I am so thrilled that yogis from all over the world are reading my blog !! : )
It is so mind boggling what the internet can do. International yogis interested in what's happening in New York City.

Italy, Spain, France and the United Arab Emirates checked in today !!

-- not forgetting to mention Virginia, New York, California .... etc..

So please pass my blogsite info onto your friends -- I love having you all.

OM Shanti

I was wandering around Soho and the Bowery a couple of weekends ago. There are lots of new luxury condos going up . The neighborhood is definately cleaning up -- not so sure I like this homogenization of Manhattan.

Anyway, there are some interesting boutiques and bars popping up. One of them is The Bowery Poetry Club at 308 Bowery (2nd Street). You can go there and relax, have a sandwich / salad /coffee in the afternoon or go in the evening and have a glass of wine and listen to the new poets of New York. They have lots of events and an open mic night, so try it out ! Go pretend you are in the 1950's and you're hanging out with beatniks.

They also have some connection with a film editing space -- where you can take classes in film editing or rent space/equipment and edit your own film. Just thought it would be useful info for all you budding film makers out there.

Dharma Yoga Center

For new students at the Dharma Yoga Center (23rd and 3rd Ave)

5 yoga classes for $40 (that's $8 per class !)

www.dharmayogacenter.com
212 889 8160

I hope you all take advantage of these opportunities to sample yoga classes at different yoga studios. I truly believe that you should try all different kinds of yoga to find what really speaks to you. And the more kinds of yoga you are exposed to, the more you learn !!!

Namaste

"Those who receive love from others cannot be its recipients without giving a response, that, in itself, is the nature of Love.

True love is unconquerable and irresistible. It goes on gathering power and spreading itself until eventually it transforms everyone it touches. Humanity will attain a new mode of being and life through the free and unhampered interplay of pure love from the heart. "

Meher Baba

Integral Yoga Institute was started 40 years ago by Swami Satchitananda in NYC. He was a "hip" swami, well known as the Woodstock Guru, and friends with many artists and musicians of the 1960's.

As students, you may not realize it, but the school were you come to for yoga is actually an urban Ashram in the middle of NYC.

Shri Swami Satchitananda lived there (in "Heaven") until the end of his natural life. IYI still has swamis (monks) in permanent residence, as well as a handful of resident "ashramites" who help take care of the building and the school, making it a special place for you to come practice yoga.

So that is one of the reasons that IYI is so special -- it is not just another yoga studio, it is an ashram.

"Don't run after anything. The only place to 'run' is within. All the philosophies, all the religions, sages, the saints, prophets, all unanimously say 'Know yourself.' You are yourself happy; you are yourself peaceful. Find the peace within you. Don't try to get it from outside. If you do, it's just a borrowed peace, a borrowed happiness.

So, look within. That's why the English term for God is spelled G-O-D. What does the name 'GOD' say? It's short for 'GO' and what else?: 'D.' It's short for GO DEEP! Not 'go out.' In the Tamil language of South India, God's name is 'Kadavul.' It breaks down to mean: 'Kada,' get, and 'vul,' within. Get within.

God bless you. Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi."

Shri Swami Satchitananda
Founder of Integral Yoga Institute NYC

Participate with the abundance of the Universe

Did you know that you can use the internet to sign up for virtual stock market trading games ? You get to practice buying and selling stocks with fantasy money for the purpose of learning how the market works !! Actual stock market prices are used for a realistic experience and you can even compete against other "traders" if you like ! Is this not the best thing ever ?

People think that it is hard to get money. Well, money is actually pretty common stuff. Government mints are printing tons of it right now as you read this. Stock brokers are moving the stuff around the world by the truckload even as you sleep at night. There is plenty of money flying around everywhere --- the trick is figuring out how to make some of it land in your bank account (legally, of course!).

So here are some links to get you started on finding the game that suits you. You can find more if you do a google search. Have fun with it !

http://www.howthemarketworks.com/

http://www.simustock.com/

http://www.youngmoney.com/



Hey, if you like my blog, feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing from my students.

Vegan Vs. Vegetarian

There is a happy article today in the NY Times about Ms. Moskowitz, a punk rocker woman who lives in Brooklyn, is a vegan chef, and produces her own vegan cooking TV show “The Post Punk Kitchen” and has written several cookbooks. She fell in love with Julia Child and Martha Stewart and uses her inspiration to make delicious vegan goodies.

Vegetarianism is the philosophy of eating without harming any living thing. This means vegetarians don’t eat anything you have to kill – fish, animals, birds.

VEGANS will not eat or use anything from another living creature --- no milk, eggs, cheese, honey, silk, leather, wool ….. The reason being that chicken eggs are potentially a new life, and the laying chickens are mistreated, kept in cages with no regard for their comfort or safety. The same goes for dairy cows and goats, who suffer miserable lives, never see a blade of grass or sunshine.

Silk and honey are made by insects…. And in the harvesting of the silk or honey, many of the bees or worms are killed. And obviously, wool comes from a sheep and why would a sheep volunteer to have its wool shorn off by some farm hand ?

Here are links to the NYT article and Ms. Moskowitz’s web site (includes show schedule and recipes ) :

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/dining/24vega.html?8dpc

http://www.theppk.com/recipes/

The wonder of the internet is that I have this blog and sometimes I feel like I am just sitting here talking to myself -- but in reality, people are reading this all over the world !

People in France, Poland, Canada, India, Germany, Australia, California and Staten Island (and other places !) are logging onto to my site ! It is quite mind boggling sometimes.

Anyway, I want to welcome you all.

Leave a comment if you can. I love to hear from you!!

and do send a link to my blog to your friends --- let's see if we can build a yoga community in every country in the world.

Namaste.

Belly Dancing Class !!

Wednesdays at 8pm with Zahava at the Chopra Center on Broadway/54th Street
$15.00

Awesome stuff here and Zahava is extraordinarily talented. Really worth checking her out . She is a professionally trained ballet dancer, a yoga teacher and all round super talented (and tiny) !

Belly dancing makes you use your body in a whole different way -- you learn to isolate specific muscles, get a workout, loosen up the spine and hips and have loads of FUN !

Deepak Chopra's spa is beautiful. If you like, you can get an ayurvedic massage or a facial while you are there !


Chopra Center & Spa
1710 Broadway / 54th Street NYC
212 246-7600

"When you change the way you look at things, things change"

Well, Kristina and I were chatting on our way up to the ashram over the weekend and our conversation drifted over to how easy/difficult it is to change your head and how you perceive something is so important.

So I told her this story about how many years ago I was traveling through Oklahoma or somewhere and I had a tan and long hair. I stopped off at a small place because I wanted to buy a sandwich. I walked up to the counter and ordered, but from behind me I heard a man say "We dont serve squaws in here". I had never seen or met a "real Indian" so I was thrilled !

I turned around to see the squaw -- I was sure she was beautiful and had long hair and that she was going to be wearing all this great turquoise jewelry (ok, I guess I was expecting Cher) and I was hoping maybe she would invite me to check out her teepee..... but there was nobody there. I was a little confused. Where is this squaw?

Finally, it dawned on me that the man was referring to ME !! So here we are --- in this guy's head, I'm a squaw and undesireable. In my head, I'm looking for the beautiful Indian woman and excited to meet her. All of that negative energy and positive energy flying around over the same thing --- our perceptions were completely opposite to one another.

And none of it was true. There was no squaw there. But it was a clear demonstration of how the way you look at things makes so much of a difference.

Tricycle is a magazine full of thoughtful and well written articles about spirituality. It approaches things from a Bhuddhist standpoint, but in my opinion, it's all the same anyway.

I think it is well worth looking at. They also have weekly satsang with famous teachers by phone for a small fee -- they call it "Tele-Teachings". Pretty cool. I think you can join a forum to put forth questions to the speaker too.

But there really is much to delve into ... and their website has a lot of really interesting stuff to read too. I hope you check it out. The magazine is sold at Wholefoods and major bookstores.

http://www.tricycle.com/


Hey, feel free to leave a comment -- I love hearing from you

Kundalini Yoga

$10 per class -- First class FREE !

Chelsea Studios
151 W 26th Street (6-7th Ave)
212 306-0534

Visit the website for their schedule : www.dharmakaya.com

Yoga and Meditation Retreat Feb 9-11, 2007

Kristina, Rikard and I will be leading a yoga and meditation weekend retreat at Ananda Ashram in upstate NY !

Only 90 mins out of Manhattan, come with us for a weekend of Beauty, Bliss and Grace.

Kristina and Rikard are Anusara Yoga teachers and will be leading yoga classes, I will be leading Quiet Yoga guided meditation classes.

Friday night is Talent night at the ashram -- and Ananda has a long history of promoting artists, dancers and musicians -- so it should be a great time !

Saturday night is the fire ceremony (for purification and peace), meditation and kirtan (chanting) with Kamaniya, Tommy B and Kristina -- chanting opens the heart and it is fun, fun, fun !!!

The retreat includes accommodations, 3 meals a day (delicious vegetarian), yoga, meditation and ashram programs.

We'd love for you to attend ! Contact me and I'll give you all the particulars !

Namaste !