Workshops with Elinore Cohen

Thank you all for showing up to the workshops. The 9 days spent in LA was as rewarding as it was challenging. I will be back.. stay tuned.. find me on Facebook!

Jesse Schein's 2/3 class at YogaWorks Montana

It was a packed room. We went through some modified sun salutations with bakasana, handstands, half moons, twisting lunges, ekahastakoundinyasana II and ekapadabakasana variations.. ended with some back bends and yogi's choice of inversions. It got so hot in there with the mats a couple inches apart. It was just what I needed :)

In the image: Elinore Cohen, Ricky Tran, Jesse Schein

Los Angeles May 24 - June 1

So I decided to start blogging on this again. It's been 6 months since my last visit. So much has happened and I'm so grateful. It's all about manifesting the seeds of your intentions by watering them with proper actions.. and with enough nourishment, they will sprout into the fruits of your labor.

Yesterday, I flew out of Dallas and connected in El Paso, TX for a 1.5 hour layover. I asked the guy driving the cart in the airport where the food court was and he laughed at me.. said they don't have one yet. He said I could go to the cafe and order something. After having an orange, Odwella and a (bad) chocolate chip cookie, I sat down and read my teacher's Basic Tenets of Patanjala Yoga.

I arrived at LAX at 130pm with a bladder that was about to burst so I ran for the bathroom.. then went down the escalator where Elinore Cohen was there to pick me up! THANK YOU ELINORE! We went straight to her photo shoot and I took a nap on the plush sofa. After she finished with her solo shoot, we shot some yoga poses together to end the session. THANK YOU MARTIN ONTIVEROS for your photography!

From there, we proceeded to go to dinner at OBAR in West Hollywood to have dinner with two good friends Arthur Klein and David Schuster. I love those guys. They have big hearts and love the yoga just as much as we do! The food and mojitos were DE-LISHHHHH!!!

We got home and I completely crashed out.. woke up and sat in silence for an hour.. and then this blog happened.. time to shower and get ready for Jesse Shein's class at Yoga Works! I'm excited.. I hear good things :)

Until next time... namaste.

Guess what? I'm back in LA for 9 days!

I'll be blogging my experience here.. going to meditate for an hour now.. BRB!

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 :)