Prana Revolution Yoga Mat

Yoga Oasis in Tucson, AZ is where my Anusara practice rocks in a mind blowing fasion. Word through the grapevine is Yoga Oasis' Michael Longstaff, also known as "MiLo" , the art director and designer of the Anusara Yoga syllabus poster featuring Darren Rhodes, has created a video for the new Prana Revolution yoga mat.

He's cool. This video is cool. Check it out!

Love, Em

Equinox, Santa Monica

While strolling around 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA I decided to walk into Equinox and ask for hire to teach classes. Lucky me, timing is everything and I have an audition Tuesday. Whenever applying to teach fitness to groups the 1st task is participation in as many classes as possible to feel out the teaching style at the facility.

So, participate I did. Yesterday I began with Jay Co's Power Yoga Hour, a softer power yoga sequence set to old school r & b music which had me giggling. Jay has a gentle tone and doesn't adjust his students, usually a good idea for larger class sizes like this one.

I then popped into Amy Dixon's Global Conditioning class which uses Bosu balls in every possible way, shape, and form. From ab twists to running man push ups, this class was quick and packed a punch. Techno-pop music is not my cup of tea though and I would have enjoyed the class more if the tunes were more in sync. Amy has a rad personality and a voice perfect for teaching powerful classes!

Jill Miller's Yoga Tune Up was my last class to drop in on. Jill has created this class using Yoga, therapeutics, calisthenics, and her own form of primordial exercises. On a blanket we squiggled, twisted, and scooted like earth worms while Jill shouted out complex anatomical terminology leaving some asking, huh? She knows whats up and how the body works. Her classes are explanatory and exploratory. You've never taken anything like Tune Up... trust me.

Equinoxfitness.com

Santa Monica Business License Marathon

Being of service to our communities sometimes proves to be complicated . Webs of permits, licenses, insurance, referrals, and certifications are now needed to ensure organization, verification, and qualification. This is fine and dandy, but, I believe loads of paperwork deters people who have something to teach from doing so. Much loved and needed community classes on health, meditation, fitness, self-defense, or even cooking are shrinking.

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Ebba, Santa Monica's head honcho of community and cultural services. She's cool.
Together we worked to complete all my necessary paperwork, ensuring my entry into the Santa Monica community class instructor program:

1. Sole-proprietor Santa Monica City business license
2. City insurance,
3. General liability, fingerprints,
4. W9 taxpayer ID
5. Americans With Disabilities adherence
6. Fee schedule
7. Proposed compensation
8. Class specialty
9. Conviction information
10. References
11. Proforma
12. Customer service plan

WHEW! All to teach donation based community classes in the parks and recreational areas. Turns out donation based classes have become a take-away from the city's teachers so now teaching community classes in a no no if not in the city pay role .

I see how the system is meant to serve the community but... man, oh man.

Luckily, my determination to have fun with my community outdoors has carried me through the process and soon I will be teaching workshops and classes where ever I please.

Outdoors, stuffy studio personalities and the business of yoga do not apply. It's a fun gathering of new buddies, calm thinking, and cool pacific breeziness!

My schedule is soon to come so keep checking in!!

City Yoga

West Hollywood's City Yoga is LA's former Anusara kula.  Anthony Benenati, founder, made a decision to re-establish the studio as a multi-faceted Yoga center.  Many of City Yoga's teachers have moved elsewhere, begun individual kulas, or only teach privately now.    However,  Noah Maze, Tara Judelle, and Linda Eifer - amongst the most respected teachers - remain at least part-time at City Yoga.  

I've been jumping at the opportunity to practice, "The Practice" with Noah, Tuesdays 1:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M.  Intensity, bliss, laughter, and community all make this a very special 2 hours.  I've met many of the teachers at the studio and we've swapped Anusara stories like baseball cards.     

Noah begins The Practice rarely with a discussion rather a beautiful invocation and longer meditation.  Then it's on like Donkey Kong.  Somedays he's filled with Ashtanga-like inspiration demanding agility and speed-fast.  Somedays he prefers Iyengar-esque restorative practice.  Then there is his practice involving innately intuitive poses and just-for-the-occasion outbursts of laughter and story.  Always though are extraordinarily advanced pose-   Vashistasana to Hanumanasana to pada-to-your-sirsa-Hanumanasana ;)

Tara Judelle teaching style is inspired through voice.  The way she explains, delivers, and comprehends creates an incredible channel for further exploration of poses.  She's a storyteller and I dig it.

Check out City Yoga because there is a lot of Anusara history in those walls!

Exhale Spa, Venice Beach, CA

Exhale Spa in Venice, CA is yogi home to techers Shiva Rea, Seane Corn, Erich Shiffman and many more.  The studio is touted as the one of the best in the nation and with those teachers, rightfully so.  

My first class was Samantha Mehra's.  Filled to the brim with contagious giddiness, her beloved voice guided the class through a vinyasa flow with compliments of shakti dance poses.  I enjoyed the creativity balanced with the traditional sequencing.  Non-dogmatic yet firm, this vinyasa 2/3 class I recommend.

Matthew Cohen was my second Exhale class.  Unorganized and spacey, Matthew's class didn't gel with me.  His background is rounded by indonesian martial arts, taoist and hatha Yoga, practices derive deep enjoyment from,  yet his demeanor was tainted with aggression rather than instruction and there he offered little to no allowed self-modification of poses.  After class he reprimanded all for one person not signing in coining it "stealing."  Maybe I caught him on an off day.

The studio is beautiful and  is located on Main St, Venice, CA.  The guys who work at the front desk are incredibly accommodating and funny.  The sign in sheet is located on a small table past the front desk and lines form quickly- especially for Seane Corn's class I hear.  She was just in Cambodia for Off the Mat Into The World and I have yet to take her class but will do so soon and write about my experience!  Many workshops are offered at Exhale from well known teachers worth checking out if in the area.  LA- gotta' love it.

Jason Handler’s Got It Goin’ On

Craving a deeper understanding of Yoga? Jason Handler is your man. Founder of Summerland Healing Arts, a healing center overlooking the blue pacific, Jason also offers acupuncture, nutritional consultation, yoga, and massage at this beautiful private practice.

Valedictorian of the elite Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine, Jason’s lovable personality and respected knowledge of Hatha Yoga, Qi Gong, and Internal Martial Arts create a beautiful opportunity to practice with a great teacher. Unifying Indian and Chinese energetic anatomy systems, his classes begin by offering beautiful explanations of the energetic body which slowly move into focused stances and circular movements.

Breath by breath, the practice soon blossoms into an energetic dance, slow and rhythmic. New students hold the stances and ask, “Why is my body shaking like this Jason?” surprised by their own body’s capability to feel and move energy. Long time yogis dig his blend of ancient practices many times sticking around after class to talk the talk.

Yoga can also practice with him Sunday and Wednesdays (Hatha Yoga) at Santa Barbara’s, Yoga Soup.

2448 Lillie Ave
Summerland, CA 93067
(805) 969-5917

Yoga Kula, Berkeley & San Francisco

Yoga Kula, Berkeley & Yoga Kula, San Francisco

Having blown into northern California with the winter wind, I found my self warming up with fellow Anusara yogis at Yoga Kula, Berkeley and Yoga Kula, San Francisco. This particular area of our world has been infused with yogic philosophy, progression, and contemplation. During practice these juicy infusions draw up through the ground and into the fingertips, palms, forearms... It’s raw, it’s good, it’s real. One can’t help but feel the legendary San Francisco yogic pulse.

Katchi Ananda’s SF (San Francisco) all levels class filled me with laughter and yummy sun light after having been in snowy Portland for the past month. The kula, being on the second floor, over looks SF and while practicing, black crows dive and dodge rays of sunlight outside the windows. Katchi challenged us to have fun in our practice again. Open to grace and loose the boundaries for the day. The “perfection” of a pose never arrives yet the satisfaction from calm bliss and delight in a pose is the practice in and of itself. She teaches with a dash of street, a pinch of demand, and a spoonful of humor. She offered us the idea of helping other women feel powerful, beautiful, smart, strong, and perfectly beautiful. Good message Katchi ;)

Berkeley holds it’s own being vibrant, fresh, evolving, and provoking. This studio is part of the community now. Abby Tucker, a spunky yogi with an awesome Texan accent taught a killer advanced class and challenged us to be free, think artistically, and see the space in between. After class she shared a photo of her son’s art; Jawbreaker candy colored spit which created a bizarre mural on the sidewalk in Arizona. ;) Hilarious!

I also jumped into Chrissy Graham’s class which was mellow and offered many, many awesome tips on hip openers. She will be teaching ‘the practice’ (a 3 hour advanced practice) beginning next week! Go Chrissy!

Check out the Yoga Kulas!!!