malas from nyc to uganda

This past winter a happy crew of yoga friends met up in New Hope to go to Seane Corn's workshop at Yogaphoria. I went with two friends from the Rasa Vinyasa kula, Shani and Barb, and we met up with Shani's friends coming in from New York., Emily and Elif. The weekend changed the course of my life by taking my yoga practice to the next level in a way I had never expected - this is when I decided to sign up for this challenge - to try and raise $20,000 within my community to aid ongoing projects in Uganda.

Shortly after that my new Elif signed up for the challenge too. Elif lives in the great NYC and is the creator of lovely jewelry. To raise money for the Seva challenge Elif decided to create handmade malas and sell them on Etsy, the site for handmade goods -under the shop name Malas for Peace.

Fast forward, through the summer's fast pace and activities... Elif sent me a message about a month ago that her life had taken a change in course, the summer brought with it a beautiful tiny wedding in the city and she was no longer finding the time for the Seva challenge. Elif had decided to donate what she has raised to my goal.

Thank you Elif for this beautiful act of friendship. And thank you everyone who supported and continues to support Elif on this journey. Together we are now closer to meeting the financial needs of the ongoing projects with Shanti Uganda, the New Hope orphanage, and Building Tomorrow.

Yoga joy

yogini tea

During the Second Series workshop my yoga friend Crissy told me she was planning a tea at her house, and the women invited are asked to bring a donation that would go towards my goal of $20,000 in the OTM 2009 Seva challenge.

While catching up and enjoying the company of friends Crissy and her tea raised $100. I am touched by this simple act of great generosity. Namaste C & tea friends....

Mysore & second series Maui style

This past weekend was an Ashtanga second series workshop taught by Nancy Gilgoff. Nancy is my teacher's teacher and she learned the Ashtanga practice from Pattabhi Jois in the early 1970's.

The entire weekend was a refreshing and challenging reminder of why I do yoga. Nancy has a humor and a laid back ease that dissolved any anxiety I had about being in the presence of such an elder yogini and learning the second series asanas. And up until this point I had sort of avoided going to mysore class - and well, this workshop made me go, so I got past that hurdle in the company of many others new to mysore.

Mysore is a style of yoga class (originating in Mysore, India) where the teacher is present but the practice is not lead. You simply go in, do your practice, and the teacher is there to assist you and guide you. It really is one of the best ways to learn the yoga practice. I had held some anxiety about this style of class - mostly worried I would not remember the order of the asanas. The first morning mysore class during the workshop was a refreshing and peaceful. No sound but the steady breathing of the people practicing and the morning light in the studio washed a serene calm over everyone. My body and mind remembered the sequence of poses with almost no problem and I am hooked on mysore... it makes the practice your very own.

And so thank you to Nancy and to Bobbi... for passing on the flame of yoga to many, many students.

What a little Rasa can do...

This past week I was off the mat. I joked that I was doing the yoga of screen printing. A break always seems nice but only for a day or two. After that it is down hill. I went an entire week without any of my practice. Just work, more work and screen printing. My body did not really appreciate this as I stood for long hours and really did not care for myself in the best way... the busy of life took over.

The accidental hiatus was almost worth it after going to the Prana Flow class tonight... I literally feel juiced, wrung out in the best possible way and reconnected to what brings me to the mat. There is a delightful freedom that can be found in all that movement and presence.

Tonight I was reminded how amazing our class is, how special a place it can be and how life altering the practice of can be. I know it sounds dramatic but it is true. The practice of yoga will transform your life in some way. It can crack you open. Or, as it was so beautifully said tonight, yoga takes the gray flat world we have grown accustomed to and adds depth and color.

Thank you Harrisburg!

With contributions from the night coming in at over $3,015 and monetary donations and shirt sales still rolling in I would have say that Uganda Rocks! was a huge success. I am still riding the high from the event and am happily blown away by the support that came out on Friday night. Our town is pretty fantabulous, and once again music brings people together creating social and world change.

I am fairly certain a good time was had by all - the pictures from the event are all of megwatt smiles, dancing and laughing. Even after the whirlwind of the last minute preparations have subsided I am still finding it just a little surreal.

Current times can seem uncertain but in this moment I do know this, I am thankful and surrounded by generous people and joyous people. That there is hope, and one night in history went down as a really, really good one. And those are the ones that count, the ones we are living for.

Thank you everyone you came out and supported the event and raised the money in all the ways that you did. Thank you to the talented and generous musicians who gave it their all. To the gang at ABC for rockin it. Big ups to my crew for helping me make it happen - both at the brewery & in the basement (aka the "bat cave"). And special thanks to Megan Caruso whose fabulous design is now scattered across the country (I just sent a bag to a friend in Santa Monica).

Together we are all doing some good work.

Uganda Rocks Benefit Show

This Friday ... July 31st at the Appalacian Brewing Co. in Harrisburg PA.
The line up is an army of spiritual gangsters gathering together and playing for the greater good.

First band begins at 9:00 pm... and it goes on for hours.

Your ticket price { $10 } goes towards helping communities in Uganda where basic human needs are not being met.

Come out, make your Friday night count...

... and printing...

I've been printing...

Making Sirshasana my mantra for artistic adventures

Sirshasana is a headstand. And I struggle with this pose. Upside down, engaging long forgotten muscles and breathing - this is a tad harder than it seems. It bothers me that I do not glide effortlessly into headstand and stay up there gently breathing. For now I approach with a little fear, confusion, and some resistance. And that approach can get in the way in general - on the mat and off.

It must be said that in order to finally "get" headstand you have to fall a few times - ok perhaps more than a few. Sometimes falling hurts and personally I find it scary - all in all this headstand is frustrating path but one that has an end so I forge on. (I mean, I will eventually get it, right?) Same deal with life, sometimes you have to try and not fully succeed before you "get it".

This past Wednesday in class my Ashtanga teacher Bobbi taught me the right way to fall out of a headstand.This method prevents the dreaded finger crack (which I did, and it still hurts months later) and lands you in a back bend. I now feel (almost) free to flail and fall until I get it, confident that safety is on the other end of letting go.

Fast forward some hours and through a few obstacles with the screen printing project and you would land in today. Right now, almost. Here is a brief overview of how my internal dialog went today "My order of shirts and tanks and totes arrived. Yay! yikes! I have no idea what I am doing. How am I going to screen print these. I have never done it. Internet. Oh.... Deep breath. Hmm. Poster screens are not working. More Hmm." ... feeling doubtful and daunted without even giving it a go. Letting confusion frustrate the flow. And then the yoga crept in... where the approach on the mat translates to life "off" the mat. Approach with no expectation, an open mind and be a-ok with what happens. It's cool... breathe.

So I took a deep breath and decided to just go for it, try bust out a few sample shirts. First time screen printing take one. And ta-da... it worked. I have three printed shirts drying in my basement. They are very simple but all went well. No tears or gnashing of teeth. Two color is next... and headstand.

The printing has started. What was a vision and a thought for so long is now manifested in my basement. Megan (the amazing graphic designer) and I have started to print. This past Sunday we set up shop and the process has begun. The plan is to hand screen concert posters and create the first batch of t-shirts so they will be ready for the benefit concert next week. It is all very exciting and I am finding that amongst so many other things, creativity is being born out of this fund raising challenge.

The first day we ran into some snags. Someone had told we could use house paint to print the posters, this did not work. The paint clogged the screens and while we tried feverishly to get the paint out of the screen we only succeeded in scrubbing off the image. The screens had to be re-burned. We now have the correct ink, beautiful paper and about 80 apparel items to print on.

The printing resumes on Thursday night, hopefully it will be smooth sailing...

Radio Free Harrisburg ...

Last night, at what is rumored to have been quite the party, the uber fantastico band The Greatest Funeral Ever released their new CD.

Tonight on 97.3 @ 10pm The Greatest Funeral Ever will be playing cuts from the new album ~ to make it even better they have asked me to join them and say a few words about the upcoming benefit Uganda Rocks!

tune in...

Yoga talking

This morning my Ashtanga teacher gave a short talk about the Sanskrit language and its roll in yoga. Sanskrit is believed to have been created by the sages and structured so that the five areas of your mouth and the breath is being fully used while speaking it, creating the word's cosmic vibration - its significance. Yoga talking.

She asked that during our practice we say the name of each pose prior to doing it and in doing so honor the tradition of yoga and the significance of its name. And in saying its name calling the presence of the pose to you and your focus to it. Connecting to the vibrational structure of the word and the pose and so tapping into the vibration structure of the everything.

I realized that I already do this during my practice say the name silently to myself, I was using it as a tool to learn the Primary series sequence and also because the language is very fun to say. This took it to another level for me. I started thinking that the names when spoken make a song, a poem, a prayer. Yoga has always felt to me like a prayer in motion. Connecting with something beyond yourself by getting really in touch with the self.

The whole thing makes me want to rap out the primary series while dancing around through the prayers.