Santa Monica Power Yoga

This image is of me and Krista at Yoga Works when I first got here.

I went to Bryan Kest's Power Yoga studio last night. They operate on donations and the class was packed! Ally Hamilton taught and I had fun. I'm a bit sore today... Looking forward to shooting with Robert Sturman Sunday morning and then going to a couple festivals on the beach as well.

I have a headache... probably due to dehydration from last night's class.. I also ate late last night and that's probably why I feel so spent right now. Eating before bedtime will result in poor sleep because your body is digesting while you're sleeping. Nobody's perfect; that's why this is called a practice.

I'm out ;)

Teaching a Yoga workshop in Manhattan Beach

The image is of University Hall at LMU, where I am studying Yoga with Srivatsa Ramaswami. It reminds me of the Galleria Mall in Dallas. There's even a helipad (for helicopters) on campus!

It's so beautiful in LA. There is so much life all around. The landscape is amazingly alive! I am told that LA is naturally a desert, but there's more vegetation, bugs and animals than in Dallas. The weather is supposedly like this just about EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR! When I get up, it's in the 60s, and in the hottest part of the day, it's in the 70s. Most of the vegetation is apparently transplanted and this part of town (playa vista/playa del rey/marina del rey) uses RECYCLED water to irrigate. There are signs that say DO NOT DRINK. When will Dallas catch up?

I was talking with a classmate from Canada. They have a public compost pick up service. They pick up compose every week, while trash and recycling is picked up every other week. It's said that 24% or more of our waste is compostable. The world is going through an awakening at all levels. We need to begin to take better care of our environment and one another because ultimately, it affects the individual. We are one.. or we are none.

Anywho, Genevieve (the founder of Yoga Loft in Manhattan Beach) gave me a date for the workshop/class that I will be leading. I'm so thankful for this opportunity, because I'm starting to feel like I'm losing my teacher's voice. Sri Dharma Mittra says that we should practice non-attachment, even with our yoga practice. For me, it's the teaching practice. There are those that would go crazy if they couldn't practice (or teach). I'm not feeling that yet, but I do miss the energy of leading a group of amazing yogis :)

I'm not sure what we will do in the workshop yet, but with the energy at that particular space, I think it might be an arm balance and inversions workshop. We'll see. The date is set tentatively for Saturday, October 18 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm. It's probably going to be for donations and we will donate to the charity of Genevieve's choice.

More to come.. my battery is running low.

Love and Light, Peace and Blessings

THANK YOU!!!

It's 630am and I'm trying to make sure my bills are taken care of back home via internet. I've found some good music for yoga class lately. I had a great birthday. Thanks everyone for all the comments, text messages, emails and phone calls. My phone blew up like it hasn't in years! My new friend Meghan from class made me feel so special on my birthday. She got a card and had the class sign.. brought me some gifts and we took the bus to Thai Dishes for dinner... it was so good! THANKS MEGHAN!

This is week two and I think my body is starting to get conditioned for all this activity. I'm not so tired in the evenings. The asana sequencing isn't as taxing.. but then again, it's getting more and more difficult every day. It's not like we are doing a full practice at this point. We are going through all the different variations of each pose the way Krishnamacharya taught it. The pranayama class is also amazing. I'm learning a lot of Sanskrit too.

Shit.. gotta go.. gotta catch the bus...

Until next time.. NAMASTE :)

My Birthday

It's my birthday!

I woke up at 3am and didn't want to go back to sleep. Sleeping on a sofa is nice, if it's comfy. The sofa I'm on is about a 6 on a scale of 1-10, 10 being extremely comfy.

I took a shower and made my walk to the coffee shop. I got here around 5am and it turns out they don't open until 7am, so I would try to get online. The internet signal is intermittent so it gets a little frustrating. It's a bit chilly but I like it.

I'll just catch up on emails and stuff until they open. I am going back the Yoga Festival at LMU later, before anatomy class. I'm enjoying the anatomy teacher. He's got all kinds of post graduate degrees and he's a yoga teacher as well. As we went through parts of the body, his language reminded me of George Purvis, the most senior Iyengar teacher I know. Apparently they are friends :)

Yesterday, as I was helping set up for the Festival, I saw Jack and Sarah (names have been changed to protect their identities). Sarah is my first yoga teacher back in Dallas, and Jack is her boyfriend. We had a falling out and I still hold some resentment... she and her group of yogis banned me from teaching and practicing at their studio. She couldn't even do it to my face, so she had her boyfriend do it. I am not sure, but I think maybe he has a big influence on her and he may feel threatened. Maybe they both feel threatened. Anywho, I made eye contact with Jack and gave him a nod, but he kept walking with Sarah. They didn't even bother to come say hi. My heart raced and I was not sure if it was a feeling of anxiety or anger. I just focused on calming my breath and repeated my mantra in my head. It helped. I moved on.

At the Festival, I have been meeting all kinds of amazing people that I have been corresponding with online like, Sierra (Manduka), Arthur (Y Yoga).. and I met this amazing yogi named Arun in the anatomy class. He had a speaking slot at the Festival too. I attended his speech on Hanuman. What amazing stories this man tells!

I might be teaching a 2 hour workshop at YogaLoft in Manhattan beach soon.. my vision is to make it a donations class for the owner's charity of choice. We'll see what happens this week.

Robert Sturman and I will be shooting on the 28th. He's having a party October 11 for the upcoming book. I think there will be over 100 amazing yogis in it.

Well, I feel better now, having typed out my feelings..

Thanks for checking in.. go make it an amazing day.. I know I will!

yoga health festiva/ yoga month

I'm finding myself super busy.. getting up before sunrise and retiring around midnight.. only to do it all over again.. but loving each and every moment!

I've been at the coffee shop since 545am this morning and now it's time to go to work the Yoga Health Festival...

I've been meeting incredible people and the yoga community here is like I've never seen. I put together a yoga/movie night in Dallas once and got a mediocre response.. yet I come here and a yoga/movie night found me! We had a crazy practice at the Yoga Loft literally a hop, skip and cartwheel from the beach and then ended with some vegetarian dinner and a movie on the mistreatment of our oceans and sharks. When will Dallas catch up?

Also, the AVP was set up for this weekend in Manhattan Beach. That was cool..

Anywho.. check out Krista Cahill and her husband Brock.. they teach a mean class :)

new pics..

It's 330pm and the weather is beautiful. I'm in between classes and sitting on a grassy knoll under some trees. I am tired so I'm about to take a nap, but I thought I'd share a neat picture of a headstand variation. I'll be back with a better blog later.

Again, thanks for reading:)

Los Angeles - Day 3

Notice the Los Angeles manhole cover: Made in India.

It's 9:08 am on Saturday, September 13 and I'm sitting in a coffee shop called The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. I arrived two days ago on Thursday, Sept. 11 and I have already created sort of a routine. I have been waking up before sunrise to do some gentle yoga to enliven my body and mind, and then I head to the local coffee shop (for internet access since I do not drink coffee).

I'm staying with this really nice guy named Marques (Marcus) in Playa Vista. He has an unfortunate karma. He is (un)blessed with sickle cell anemia. He has been in pain since a month before I arrived and it pains me to see him suffer. I hope I can help him through yoga. We are working on it.

I have no car, so I'm taking the bus everywhere. This has been quite the experience. People here are friendly and are usually willing to point me in the right direction. The key is having direction :)

I saw a horrifying train wreck on the news last night. There was a head-on collision between a commuter and freight train. I think it might be the deadliest train accident in the history of SoCal. The last one was in 2005 or so.. I'm avoiding the trains.

I've taken two classes with Kathryn Budig so far and they have were good. I took them both yesterday and after having taken two classes and walked who knows how how many miles, I just about collapsed in exhaustion around 9pm.

Before passing out, we ordered some Thai food. We got Pad Thai and Fried Rice. It was really really really ridiculously BAD! Hope there's better Thai food in LA :)

I notice that people in LA seem to take better care of themselves and are more active. Because the weather is so much nicer than in Dallas, I see more people doing things outdoors. Of course, there are those that look out of shape too, but that's true almost anywhere in the States. Obesity and a sedentary lifestyle is definitely a problem here. I feel the need to motivate people into honoring their bodies.

I spoke with Robert Sturman yesterday and we are tentatively planning to shoot on the beach this Sunday for his upcoming book. We are looking to do two pieces: one solo with me and one with a hot goddess. I can't wait!

I've fallen in love with the iPod especially on the bus ride across town.

Monday, I start school at LMU. I'm taking a certification in Vinyasa Krama with Srivatsa Ramaswami. He is the longest standing student of the legendary T Krishnamachary outside the Master’s immediate family. He and TKV Desikachar continue the Krishnamacharya yoga lineage along with B.K.S. Iyengar and K. Pattabhi Jois. They complete the Krishnamacharya yoga lineage and I intend to pass on their teachings to the best of my abilities.

In summary, I enjoy the weather, the landscape, the architecture, the people and especially the yoga :)

I'll post some pictures up soon..

Thanks for reading...


Namaste :)