Today is the Early Bird deadline to apply for @OM yoga Teacher Training at the excellent Evolution Yoga Studio in Cleveland — you know, the studio where Lady Gaga takes privates from owner and OM yoga teacher, @Sandy Gross. And, well, if OM yoga is good enough for Gaga it must be good! Check it out, www.omyoga.com — click Teacher Training.
My friend, Sandy Gross, owner of Evolution Yoga in Cleveland, and a wonderful OM yoga teacher (we have held OM yoga Teacher Trainings at this great OM yoga affiliate studio for years!) called me yesterday. She was nervous because Lady GaGa was in town and since it was her day off she wanted to take a yoga class and was on the way to Sandy, along with her assistant and her bodyguard. I told Sandy to teach a class that wasn’t too fast but kept moving and to give lots of hands on adjustments and good information. And, to just be herself. And, most important, to call me after the class and tell me how it went!
Here is Sandy with Lady Gaga -- looking nice and relaxed after yoga.
Here are some pictures from our OM yoga teacher training taught by Joe Miller and me.
8am. 40 people breathing. peaceful 6th floor up above the Broadway rush.
This is Ryan, a graduate of the OM yoga 200 hr. TT program in Cleveland. Here he is doing one of the pranayama TT assignments: teach a warm-up vinyasa to prepare for pranayama.
Joe gives an anatomy of pranayama lecture with the skeleton and slides and his fun drawings.
Working in partners to feel how the breath moves in the body.
Working in partners to explore the rib cage while Joe works with his partner, the skeleton! Actually I am Joe's teaching partner and also have been teaching this training but since I'm the one with the camera there are no pics of me...
This morning Joe guided students in feeling their bellies in preparation for practicing Kapalabhati.
Joe demonstrating Jalandharabandha using a rolled up yoga strap.
Then it's their turn to practice Jalandharabandha.
Then class is over for the day. 4 hours each morning and then we go out into the world and take our breathing with us, sharing it with every other breathing being who lives in this vast ocean of air.
This weekend we New Yorkers have an abundance of great Tibetan Buddhist teachings offered. I recommend:
Friday, June 11, OM yoga Center — Tenzin Wangyal Rimpoche will be at OM yoga Center. I am so honored that he is coming back to OM yoga for a second time. Tenzin Wangyal is a very special teacher. His lineage is both Gelugpa, the lineage of HH the Dalai Lama, and Bon, the shamanic tradition of Tibet. I have studied a little bit with Tenzin Wangyal and been very influenced by his teachings and from reading his books. I have also studied with one of his main disciples, Alejandro Chaoul-Reich, who teaches Tsa Lung and Trul Khor. Tsa Lung is Tibetan Buddhist pranayama and Trul Khor, which means Magic Wheel, is Tibetan Buddhist yoga.
Friday night Tenzin Wangyal will teach Tsa Lung Yoga Movements at OM yoga Center. He only comes to NYC every 2-3 years so don’t miss this special opportunity. www.omyoga.com — for more information
*** Gelek Rimpoche in New York this weekend!! Gelek Rimpoche is my root guru, my dear, precious teacher. He will be giving one of his famous Sunday morning talks in New York this coming Sunday, June 13 from 10-11am at the Jewel Heart Center in Tribeca. These talks are open to the public and are guaranteed to be inspiring, useful and fun! This is a great chance for you to meet Rimpoche and receive his teachings with minimal commitment. His Sunday morning talks in Ann Arbor, Michigan are legendary and attended by hundreds every week. We are so lucky to have him here this weekend.
www.jewelheart.org — for more information
Yes, it’s true. I am finally back on the regular schedule. I’m teaching intermediate level on Wednesdays, at 5:45 starting this week. And, in July, I will also be teaching advanced on Wednesdays at noon. See you there!
In addition to YBBM, I taught OM yoga: Mindful Flow on Thursday night and Unlocking the Lower Body on Sunday afternoon.
We worked on feet -- inner and outer arches and how they relate to rotation of the legs; how the work of the inner thighs relates to every position; how awake, organized, balanced feet redistribute the work of arm balances; how the legs as organs of action are crucial to inversions which is what they are working on here.
Do try this at home. Block on the head for tree pose. Then again standing on a block with a block on your head and then close your eyes. Write to me and tell me what you think this is about, what is your experience, what did you learn?
It was a great weekend in Copenhagen; and in Berlin; and in Istanbul. But, honestly, I'm glad my work is done for now. Whew. Time to ride on the bike back to Soham's for a tiny rest.
We loved being at Hamsa Studio, owned by the smart and adorable Soham. The students are insanely smart, engaged and strong.
Here I am teaching at Hamsa.
They really drank it all up -- listening very intently.
Sunday morning's Yoga Body Buddha Mind session is called Awakened Heart....so let's do drop backs!
Here's how you do it as a team. I promise I won't drop you! I'm supporting Stina's back and My has a horseshoe hand under the base of Stina's skull.
The students watch closely for all the important details...
...and now it's your turn! I ask similar height people to go together so here is Soren, Miles and Jacob getting ready to work as a team.
Another team in progress -- that's Cami on the right, originally from North Dakota. Maybe we are related....parts of both sides of my family come from there.
Ta da!
Here we are, all together at the end of a great weekend. In the planning for two years, and now it has passed like a flash. Impermanence.
Hey, you can't have a group picture at Hamsa without Soham!
We took a long walk today through the center of Copenhagen. We knew if we got lost we could just make our way back to the lakes, as they are called. The ancient moat and from there we can get back. So we wandered. Aimless wandering, which is a form of walking meditation. We discovered this beautiful church.
I sat in the first pew of this beautiful church and cried. I miss my dad so much, especially in churches.
Another kind of walking meditation.
Right behind these guys is the future palace of the Crown Prince and Princess which is currently open to the public. The line to get in was over an hour so we skipped it, partly because it was very cold and windy.
We saw lots of nooks and crannies like this. Behind the old exteriors are renovated office builidings, art galleries and even the wonderful Hamsa Yoga Studio.
Here is Dave teaching meditation last night. We have a sold out workshop and everyone is in for the whole weekend. Dave and I are thrilled with how smart, curious, and open these students are.
Copenhagen sparkles. It is magic. We love it. It is cold and rainy and windy and then not. The air is crisp and beautiful. Absolutely everybody is 100% brilliantly fluent in English. I am ashamed that I cannot speak another language and learning one or two asap is another new resolution. In the meantime, it was so much fun teaching OM yoga: Mindful Flow last night at the Hamsa Studio. The students are way into it, very open, engaged, very participatory and lively. Good, strong, smart practices. Looking forward to a great Yoga Body Buddha Mind weekend.
Thank you to Soham, owner of Hamsa Studio, and Nanna, his assistant, for taking such good care of us. Soham has given up his apartment for us to use and stocked it full of goodies! Do you remember Soham from Istanbul? He came all the way to Turkey to take YBBM so that he could have that experience and then be able to more fully host us while we are here. Wow - very generous. It worked out well for him, too, since he has a nice, new Turkish boyfriend.
But first things first! Soham and Nanna brought us bikes! That is the way to go here and absolutely everybody rides them. Last night on our way to the Dag H. restaurant we counted less than 5 cars but many bikes.
The city has a series of lakes which once was the moat security system. They are populated by friendly ducks and swans. We liked how this swan had her feather fingers interlaced behind her back to open her swan heart.
Here is Soham at his beautiful Hamso studio. A 500 year old house in a back yard. Perfect. It is clean, simple, white, peaceful. Love it!
We taught Yoga Body Buddha Mind all weekend and I also taught a special class for teachers on Sunday afternoon, a regular OM yoga class on Monday and a meditation class. David gave a talk at the Berlin Shambhala Center.
Moveo is a beautiful studio on the top floor of an old, renovated brewery. The students are gathering for the first class.
These little round cushions are just right for Viparita Karani away from the wall.
I went to Detlev's class on Monday. He did a fantastic job of teaching an OM yoga class and even though it was in German I could tell what was happening because the rhythm and vibe was so familiar. He also had the typical OM yoga ingredients of smart sequencing, clear instruction, sensitive hands-on and some well aimed smiles. I loved the class -- good job, Detlev!
We had a really fun OM yoga class last night and it was super cool to get such a positive response. We’re talking about an OM yoga TT here in Berlin in 2011 — stay tuned!
