4th Twin Cities Kirtan Fest offers yogic music for the community

kirtan

The Fourth Annual Twin Cities Kirtan Fest will take place from 4-11 p.m. on Saturday, March 2 at One Yoga: Non-Profit Yoga Studio. 721 W. 26th St. in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis. This joyous community event is a celebration of Sanskrit participatory music, or kirtan. Kirtan is a form of bhakti yoga -- the yoga of devotion -- and it connects participants with their hearts and spirits, and evokes feelings of bliss. The festival features local and regional bands each with their own … [Read more...]

Relax: Making Self Care a Priority

yoga_pose_reflection

Featured Topic: Techniques to Relieve Stress You already know how to relax don't you? You at least know that you can get a massage, buy a relaxation meditation recording, or attend a relaxing yoga class. That's not the issue, is it? I have heard again and again from people who say they are stressed out, but they do not have the time to spend on themselves to actually relax on a regular basis. Why is this? I believe it boils down to fear and habit. "No," you might say, "it's my job! I … [Read more...]

Yoga Aid Foundation announces 24-hour global yoga challenge

yoga_pose_reflection

International nonprofit to host 200 events in 20 countries during 24 hours--donating 100% of money raised Yoga Aid Foundation, an international nonprofit that raises funds for charities through philanthropic yoga events, recently announced that it will host the first-ever, one day, around-the-world yoga tour benefiting 15 humanitarian-based charities internationally. On September 9, The Yoga Aid World Challenge will unite yogis around the globe in an effort to raise 1 million with 100 percent … [Read more...]

Yoga Center opens in Powderhorn community

yoga_class

Svasti Yoga Center for Healing and Transformation, serving the greater Powderhorn community of Minneapolis, is now open for classes at 3751 Bloomington Ave. S. Svasti Yoga is a relaxed inspiring atmosphere to learn yoga or deepen your practice. The new yoga center is committed to providing quality yoga instruction and yoga therapy to anyone who wants to learn, including people who, due to practical concerns of limited time, physical, or financial ability, might otherwise lack access. Svasti … [Read more...]

Happiness and Joy

joy_flower

Often yoga is associated with discipline, hard work, denial and even rigorous practice. Sure, we talk a lot in Yoga about discipline, and yes, we need that, but really, Yoga is the "Art of Joyful Living" (Swami Rama). We confuse joy with happiness, not knowing what either is except that it's something that makes me feel good, invoking in me the feeling of being happy. Scientific research names three sources that give us "happiness": Pleasure (positive sensory experience, for example … [Read more...]

The 2011 Himalayan Yoga Meditation Congress

sunrise2

The 2011 Himalayan Yoga Meditation Congress, a three-week series of events addresses how to create joy in one's life through the art and science of Yoga, will take place July 18 through August 10 throughout the Twin Cities, led by global spiritual leader Swami Veda Bharati and sponsored by The Meditation Center based in Northeast Minneapolis. The Congress will explore spiritual responses to the aspects of life that block our natural experience of joy as informed by the 5,000-year-old Himalayan … [Read more...]

A Guide to the Practice of Yoga, for adults and children

hiyala-squat

An interview with teacher Hiyala Indiga Hiyala Indiga, owner of Body Mind Circle and Body Prayers Yoga Studio, feels so blessed to be able to serve her clients with yoga, massage and artwork. After years of traveling to teach at various sites, she is happy to have found her current studio in Circle Pines, MN. A class with Hiyala is always an exploration -- not just of the physical body, but also the mental, emotional and spiritual body. In most every class there will be "check ins" -- a time … [Read more...]

Open house celebrates new yoga studio

heart3

BLOOMINGTON, MN -- Inner Peace Therapy & Yoga will host an Open House from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15, at its new location at 8100 Penn Ave. S., Suite 104, Bloomington, offering guests tea, treats, respite, yoga and a chance to win prizes. Free 20-minute Relaxation Yoga & Meditation experiences will be offered at 10 a.m., Noon and 2 p.m. Inner Peace Therapy & Yoga offers a variety of integrative, holistic services that incorporate mind, body and spirit for optimum mental, … [Read more...]

Imagine!

skate

Sometimes, as you watch a diver pause to become centered just before lifting off, can you feel that moment of readiness in your own body? And as the diver takes off, body in perfect alignment, do you feel that dynamic tension and release in your own body? Can you feel inside yourself what it would be like to samba like Cheryl Burke or skate like Kristi Yamaguchi? Can you imagine it? Imagination can make us step outside the routine of our lives and take action to manifest the potential … [Read more...]

Siddhis: The Magical Powers of Yoga

monk

I first heard of the siddhis when I was in college studying the philosophy of yoga. It was also the first time I heard of yoga. In my philosophy course, I learned that one of the side-effects of yogic pursuits was distracting "powers" that seemed to just crop up at a point when the yogi was really getting proficient at the various yogic practices (not necessarily hatha, or physical yoga). I got excited when I heard about them. Then I was informed that these powers were a distraction because … [Read more...]

Tableau of Aspiration

stanton

Many names of yoga poses come about because the sight of the pose brought something to mind for the viewer. Many of them make good sense, like the cobra and the lion poses. But others, like the warrior poses, have been a challenge to work my brain around. These poses don't look warlike to me. But recently, I began thinking of warrior in the Don Juan's terms. That is to say, one who lives every moment consciously and with courage. In that case, Warrior I is a tableau of the warrior's … [Read more...]

Satsang with Svaroopa® yoga founder

yoga_by_water

Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati, originator and heart of Svaroopa® yoga, will be in St. Paul from 7-9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, to share the depth and breadth of yoga's timeless teachings in a free program at Highland Yoga Center, 1040 S. Cleveland Ave. Swami Nirmalananda teaches yoga according to the ancient tradition - as a direct path to svaroopa, the bliss of your own being. She is the founding president of national Yoga Alliance and founder of Master Yoga Foundation. She communicates with great … [Read more...]

Yoga, non-attachment & thin thighs in 30 days

yoga_by_tree

The 4th Annual Twin Cities Yoga Festival will take place October 23 at the Holiday Inn Metrodome. For more info and tickets, visit www.TwinCitiesYogaFestival.com. Yoga is not just for yogis any more. ¶ There was a place and time - and there still is in parts of the world - where certain yoga practitioners known as "Sadhus" renounced the world and subsisted solely through the charity and kindness of others. They were clad in meager attire that bore a striking resemblance to the fashion … [Read more...]

Yoga’s ancient techniques promote balance today

yoga_lotus

RESOURCES Yoga Community Page | featuring members of our community who offer Yoga Why do Yoga? The classical techniques of Yoga date back more than 5,000 years. In ancient times, the desire for greater personal freedom, health and long life, and heightened self-understanding gave birth to this system of physical and mental exercise, which has since spread throughout the world. The word Yoga means "to join or yoke together," and it brings the body and mind together into one harmonious … [Read more...]

Why do yoga?

yoga_park

RESOURCES Yoga Community Page | featuring members of our community who offer Yoga Yoga's ancient techniques promote balance today Why do yoga? The short answer is that yoga makes you feel better. Practicing the postures, breathing exercises and meditation makes you healthier in body, mind and spirit. Yoga lets you tune in, chill out, shape up - all at the same time. For many people, that's enough of an answer. But there's more if you're interested. For starters, yoga is good for … [Read more...]