Rebuilding the Kager house after Hurricane Katrina in the 9th Ward, New Orleans 2008
As I am writing this newsletter, I am being pulled into the horrific sadness that is unfolding with Hurricane Harvey. I am brought back ten years remembering all our heroic efforts to help with Katrina evacuees on that fateful Labor Day weekend. YAF created a non profit called Global Hope. Over the course of several years, we made numerous trips down to New Orleans to help rebuild the ninth ward.
Today, I know we are in for a long and stressful recovery and once again reminded that humanity goes beyond our front doorstep. We live in this world, and we are all in this together. I have a running image in my mind of all the homeLESS refugees of Syria and all the war weary lands of chaos and upheaval. I see the television cameras today showing all the cots waiting to be occupied as families are airlifted to some dryer land. My heart is breaking witnessing how delicate life is as the great Mother Nature starts to shake and vibrate with changes in our ecological systems and infrastructures.
Our human systems are struggling to find ways to balance all the daily shifts of living as we try and make sense of the constant chaotic political voices of hate. I have witnessed in the last year such a shift in our abilities to be present. Everyday another news flash inspiring only the fear, doubt and worry. To be able to live in what the yogi calls “Sukkha" or sweetness is getting more difficult to feel. We are forgetting that the heart must be nourished with the true gift of the intelligence—love.
When we are tired and the energy of life get too much, please know the healing of yoga allows us to come together and feel connected to something greater — a community that welcomes everyone.
Before all this past weeks' traumatic news, I returned to the daily reminder that as everything changes, nothing changes in the spirit of love. I came back to my home at YAF renewed and energized after having spent the summer chasing the sun and being embraced in AWE.
Machu Picchu
First, an incredible service trip to Machu Picchu where I was able to stand and absorb the profound beauty of the Sacred. Untouched by the world of progress is a reminder of how the mountains, rivers, trees, and the air is sustained and nourished by the True Mother. The journey was a blessing for my soul, and nothing is better than sharing the experience with a teenage daughter struggling to embrace these troubled times of discord and confusion of the heart.
Total Eclipse 2017
We were also able to participate in another true wonder a few weeks later when we shared the moment of totality! Yes, a ten hour car drive back home would not tarnish or destroy the magic of that experience together. Somehow, this sweet summer was all about the SUN! How delicate the earth we all share; how powerless we are to the extremes of the Great MAHA.
Now as the season starts to change, I am filled with the passion of this aliveness and I am excited about sharing all the special events that are happening in these coming weeks. Please join me and the community as we celebrate the inner glow of shining one’s own light! At YAF, we are keeping the LIGHT on and the HEART open.
Yoga Therapy Summit
YAF is cohosting at the end of September, the first yoga therapy event ever in the Chicago area, the Yoga Therapy SummitI Yes, we're bringing together all my dear teachers who share in the lineage of Krisnamachurya.
I cannot express how this weekend will be such a learning opportunity for all students of yoga. From beginners to those that have years of teachings, this weekend will bring forth amazing yoga teachings for deeper mind and consciousness.
Yoga Therapy is finally getting its place in the holistic model of wellness! So please encourage your family and friends that are suffering from various degrees of anxiety or depression..or those in the healing professions to partake in the three day intensive opportunity! Please click for more information and to sign up for the weekend.
Richard Miller is coming to YAF
On Thursday evening, September 28, the night before the Summit opens, Richard Miller, the founder of the Integrative Restorative Institute (IRI) and my teacher, will be sharing a evening of meditation. A benefit potluck dinner will follow when we will be able to ask questions and just share a community of friends!
Richard is the master of teaching yoga nidra which he has been able to bring into VA hospitals around the country to help with all forms of trauma after experiencing war. All donations will go to his various organizations which he helps through his non profit work.
Please try and make this special evening together as we launch the Summit. All are invited and look forward to being able to introduce you to these deeper practices—again, no prior knowledge of yoga is needed to be able to come and share!! Learn more and kindly RSVP.
Yoga is for all who want to learn to help heal the old patterns that no longer serve.