New Class, New Ways

Friends! It’s been a busy and excellent summer with our Yin Teacher Training offering at Yoga on 7th. What an amazing and diverse group. It’s a deep honour to gather teachers that call people to a space to create great things together. The idea of yoga as union, or community, is in full action. Great things get birthed when we show up, honour each other, support one another's growth and do our best to acknowledge the beauty of our healing. THANK YOU! That was one of my most memorable and beautiful opportunities as a teacher to witness this group transform and connect. I feel the rumbles and waves cultivated from this look at yin yoga as a social practice with deep power to heal and transform our communities. Give thanks to the warriors of light that force the darkness with open hearts. LOVE

We loved our time at this little studio in East Van so much, I have decided to offer up a weekly session of yin classes starting Tuesday, September 8th, 7:30pm, at Yoga on 7th. This 90-minute class will involve longer holds and my new super yin love –sandbags. The beautiful part of offering up yin in an Iyengar studio is that there are more props than your average space. Come along to this class that will utilize longer holds, more props and insight into another realm of yin. I am stoked to share some deeper variations and an opportunity to experience yin with more attention to props and also a place to experience with a safe depth that a regular public class passes. Excited to have another weekly yin class when I am in town and I promise when I am away, you’ll have an excellent prop-loving teacher. Let’s build this yin vibration together for a more relaxed fall. I give thanks for all the yin love and the requests for more offerings. Drop in rate is $15 for 90 minutes, no one turned away for lack of funds.

Stay tuned for the end of October for more Yin studies. We will be offering 6 weeks of Saturday sessions to dive into the yin world of educational studies with the amazing Love Light Yoga team of RMTs, TCMs and other amazing healers that really propel our natural health understanding to new levels. This series will count as continuing education credits or towards a 200 YYTT. Looking forward to heading back to school!

Doctor’s Opinion: Why Go on a Normal Vacation When you Could Go on a Healing Retreat?

Guest Blogger, Dr. Tanya Hollo, ND

Everybody loves vacations. But not everyone comes back from their vacation feeling rested & restored, like they’ve learned something new about themselves & the universe, and healthier than when they left. There’s this amazing kind of vacation that actually accomplishes those things: allow me to introduce the healing retreat.

The first healing retreat I went on blew my mind. My entire life has changed because of it. I’ll tell you a bit about my experience before I talk about all the amazing things a retreat can offer you, and there are many.

Ayahuasca & Perspective Shifts: My Point of View is Different From Yours and That’s Okay

A few years ago, I went to the Jungle, for an ayahuasca group retreat with Gabor Maté. Maybe some of you have seen TJ Dawe’s play, Medicine, which he’s touring at the Saskatoon Fringe festival this summer, or the Nature of Things documentary, that the lovely Robin McKenna helped to make. Both of these featured Gabor’s work in bridging Amazonian plant medicine with modern stress and addiction theory, where nighttime ceremony experiences are coupled with daytime group psychotherapy. The goal is to help uncover patterns of behaviour and the origins of those patterns in childhood traumatic experiences.

Everyone has experienced some level of trauma, some more severe than others. The idea is that chronic stress and addictive behaviours develop out of a learned suppression of emotions, and a need to escape the pain. It’s not a conscious choice: behaviours that developed as coping mechanisms in early childhood are still being activated in the present, so it’s like the mind/body is reacting to something that happened a long time ago as if it is still happening. 

Uncovering these patterns becomes a pathway to healing. Now, I’m not entirely sure how it got uncovered – Gabor is a notorious laser-beam when it comes to pointing out tension and suppressed emotions – but it went something like this.

We all went around the circle, and each person shared why they were at the retreat. I went last. Somehow it came out in my speaking that I feel in colours.

Gabor: You feel in colours?
Me: Yes? (Thinking "doesn't everyone?")
Gabor: Can you describe that?
Me: Well, whenever I have an emotion or feel a physical sensation (and I'm being generous here; there's no way I was that articulate back then), I see a colour. It’s always there when I close my eyes, but sometimes, if the feeling is strong enough, I see it out loud. Like with my eyes open.
Gabor: That's kind of weird.

And there it was: my entire worldview shifted. Not because I had been called weird (truthfully, I still wear that as a badge of pride in my heart), but because the only thing I had ever known, the only way I had ever experienced the world had just been called into question. Not everyone sees things the same way I do. 

Fundamentally, this is true for everyone. Everyone has a view from which they experience the world, and that view was shaped early on in life. For me, there’s a beautiful, rainbow-like, actual visual effect in the way I see things, and not everyone has that, but the principle is the same.

(On an awesome note, it turns out this phenomenon of seeing colours when I have feelings or hear sounds (that happens too) is called synesthesia. I’ve known about synesthesia for a long time, and always thought it was so cool, without ever even considering the fact that I might have it.)

“I felt the most connected to people when there was a subconscious belief that they understood me, that they were speaking my language.”

Over the course of the week, we took the discoveries deeper. It turns out that not only did I see colours when I had feelings, I learned at a very young age to suppress this side of myself, to not talk about it, because people didn’t understand when I did. Underneath the beautiful rainbows was a deep sense of loneliness that I felt as a result of not being able to express myself.

I had one experience in ceremony where I got to look at all these experiences I had, in conversations with others, where the focus was on colours. All of my favourite people has talked colours with me at one time or another; there was this one game I loved to play where a friend and I would name a colour, then by talking about all the things associated with it, the colour would take on a personality. Like red, the kind of passionate, strong, fierce one; or white, the kind of peaceful, calm, accepting one.

I felt the most connected to people when there was a subconscious belief that they understood me, that they were speaking my language: the language of colour. As I said before, I wasn’t exactly emotionally articulate back then, and speaking in colours allowed me to express, or at least feel, these emotions.

10 Reasons Why Retreats Are Awesome

These discoveries were incredibly liberating for me, and I truly don’t believe it would have been possible for me to achieve the depth of understanding that I did had it not been for the retreat setting.

Let’s look at some of the things that a retreat has that daily life (generally) does not:

1. Nature - It is so good for you to get out into nature. Things move slower, air is cleaner, and being in nature actually lowers your cortisol levels. (Cortisol is your main stress hormone.) And whether you believe it or not, plants have an intelligence and a soothing presence; whether you believe that’s through consciousness or just through their lovely smell is up to you to decide.

2. A group - There are many benefits to working through your stuff in a group setting. The group serves as a big, ugly mirror, and helps you see that your problems are really similar to other people’s problems, that you’re not alone, and that humans are really amazing and wonderful and lovable. Plus you get to make new friends who are interested in bettering themselves. Pretty sweet.

3. A facilitator - A facilitator is literally someone who helps make things easier. How wonderful would it be if life always came with someone to help you see things clearer?

4. Intention - It’s possible for life to always have an intentional focus, but it’s much more common for us to forget what and why we’re doing things. At a retreat, there is a constant reminder of why you’re there, and who you’re there for: yourself.

5. The food is taken care of - Really, it’s just so nice to have someone else prepare your meals for a period of time, especially if they’re healthy and nice and made with love, as they often are on retreat.
   
   And some of the things that a retreat doesn’t have, that daily life generally does:

6. The mundane & little stressors - Like driving and traffic, waiting in line for things, emails, phone calls, groceries, picking up kids,

7. Constant computers and cell phones - It’s so good for your brain to put down the internet for a while. And when you’re on retreat, you get to put down the internet and submerse yourself in nature, allowing your brain to relax and focus on something with a bit more temporality to it.

8. People who want things from you - Bosses, kids, husbands, wives, moms, clients, students, etc. While having most of these people in your life is generally a very good thing, getting away from them all for a while can help you really appreciate having them around when you do.

9. Familiarity - There’s something about stepping outside of your comfort zone and the places you know that serves as a catalyst for healing and transformation.

10. Overstimulation - Let’s face it: Western society is nuts. There’s so much going on, all the time, that it’s hard to relax and take a real break.

I’ve since gone on several retreats, both in the same setting and in different contexts. I’ve discovered much, much more about myself, the way I relate to the world, and where it all comes from.

I believe there’s more available in a healing retreat than there is in a regular visit to a doctor’s (or therapist’s) office, and there doesn’t need to be ayahuasca there for you to have profound healing. Even more gentle retreats achieve significant health effects, by taking a little break from life and creating a community goal of self-betterment.

I strongly encourage anyone facing health challenges, or anyone who has stress in their life, to consider a retreat for their next vacation.

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Dr. Tanya Hollo is licensed to practice naturopathic medicine in British Columbia. She is a member in good standing of the BCNA and the CAND, and currently practices in Gastown, Vancouver. She is excited to be co-leading the first Moon Medicines retreat on Salt Spring Island at the end of August (with Danielle Hoogenboom). Later this year, she will be returning to the Jungle to study with her soon to be father-in-law, Gabor Maté, so that she can further incorporate techniques of deep healing and integration into her medical practice. She lives with her almost-husband, Daniel, in a basement suite in East Van. You can find out more about naturopathic medicine and how to book an appointment at www.drtanyahollo.com.

Mya's Yin Yoga Training Immersion Experience

Hey there. My name is Mya. I am an earth loving, tree hugging, talk-to-the-plants-and-the-animals kind of punk rock yogi witch activist, and I’d love to take this space to share some thoughts with you about my current adventures in yogic study.  

So first off, I want to acknowledge that I write this from unceded Coast Salish Territory, specifically the land of the Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam, and Squamish nations. I give thanks for the ability to be here on this land while realizing that there was no permission given for settler presence here, and as a settler here I give my commitment to participate as fully as I can in anti-colonial struggles that seek to bring harmony back to this land and her people. I also want to state that I am not an academic, I’m someone writing just from the heart, and though I do know very well the limitations felt under sexism and classism, I can only attempt to understand other struggles and the interconnections of oppression that they face, so if I say anything here, please know that I’m still in the process to know more / do better / be better and am open if you need to let me know about something, k? Thanks.

So, right now, I’m participating in Love Light Yoga’s Yin immersion, and it is PHENOMENAL. I’ve been a student of yoga for about 9 years, and a teacher / guide for the past 2, and one thing that is always super important to me is that we pay tribute to the incredible roots and culture of the lineage by learning everything to better serve in every way possible. Another thing that’s really important to me is accessibility to yoga. Yes, the practice of yoga was indeed shared with the west multiple times in the hopes that we could better find our centres, quiet our minds, and find that oneness that is all pervading instead of being so disillusioned by the ego. The yogis that brought the teachings here certainly wanted folks here to adopt a more in-depth practice, as the practice of yoga in it’s full form (think 8 limbs of Patanjali) is incredibly healing. And holy cats, will it change your life. But... what’s happening in the west is the commodification of yogic study that alienates many folks. So for me, a lot of my work as both a teacher and a student is to listen to voices who are being marginalized by a practice that is supposed to teach us to love all/serve all, integrate everything I learn into my own practice and teaching, and then seek out (or create) those safer spaces where yoga is still accessible for folks facing multiple barriers. It’s often a challenge, but when you meet those folks who are doing BADASS work to welcome all, to serve all, to bow and respect the needs of ALL BODIES, then I feel like it’s not too late.   

So here’s where I get into Danielle Hoogenboom and Love Light Yoga. Granted, she’s been a friend for years, so I’m a bit biased as I talk her training up, but here’s the thing: I’ve always found so much healing work in the practice of Yin, especially coming in with a lot of past trauma. But I had no idea that this training would be so freakin’ revolutionary. First off, the training is packed with amazing, amazing people talking about amazing stuff. We’ve had social justice activists talking about white privilege in yoga, Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors teaching us about meridians, Doctor musicians making connections between meridians, elements and music, body workers, healers, etc… they all make appearances, setting this beautiful tone for everyone to learn as a community.

When Danielle is teaching us, she is on FIRE. She brings social justice into every bit of the teachings, and draws the most phenomenal metaphors between interconnections in the body - think fascial tissues and how they connect and link so many things - and those same interconnections in our society. When one part of the body is stressed, how the rest of the body feels it. And so with our society. You know that saying (it’s one of my favorites…), “until all are free, none are free”? Well we’ve spent all week talking about how this statement is a reality, both inside the body and outside in the world today.  

I’ll get a bit anecdotal here for a minute…. So on our first day, we were talking about anatomy and the idea that everyone’s bones are different. Now that sounds pretty common sense, right? But this is a fairly new discovery for the medical community. Anyway, as we gazed at photographs of bones, and thought about how they connect and move, we segued right into body politics and now so many teaching styles aren’t honouring the fact that all bodies are super unique and move in their own specific way.   

And so it goes with every bit of the training. The teaching is done in a way that works for all the students, not just some. So many different options are offered so that each student gets what they need, and we all have a chance to see how to do this for our own students. Everyone has space to talk or not talk, space to move, space to rest, space to get up and leave if something super intense has come up, and space to be themselves and to be loved and appreciated for bringing their awesomeness to the table. We’ve learned and are continuing to dive deep into the fact that Yin is badass as hell.  

Yin yoga breaks all the rules, is doesn’t conform, it offers options and space and choices, and it heals. Oh geez, does it heal! Yin gives us the chance to face our wounds and use them as weapons (Danielle’s words, not mine, hehe) as we learn to sit with what is uncomfortable, burning through the dust that keeps us from shining the brightest. And isn’t that a metaphor for life? If we run every time the going gets tough, then we don’t get the opportunity to grow. Now acknowledging the fact that often we do need to run and fast, Yin gives us that safe space to “sit in our shit” (thanks, D) and work through everything that has been harming us. And from there, who knows? The best part of Yin is that there’s no expectation, so we each take what we can from the practice.  And to have a space where we can be ourselves, do our own thing, work at our own pace, learn in whatever way we learn, and not have to achieve something dictated to us by a governing body? That is revolutionary, indeed.  

Acceptance vs. Self-judgment

by Yogi, Healer, Traveller, Activist, and Dreamer Jolene McGill

Here we go again. Giving this writing thing another shot. Maybe you noticed and maybe you didn’t but I have not written a blog in almost a year’s time. I am not sure why I deny myself the pleasure of writing to you as I journey down this road to a plastic free life and ultimately a world that is free of the heavy use of fossil fuels, but yet I do.

So here I am after jet setting around the globe and travelling in one very beautiful but complicated Veg oil bus. I find myself writing to you from Cape Breton Island, my home for the summer.

As I get settled in to my life here I begin yet again to collect all my plastic waste. Something I started doing while I was living and travelling in our veg oil bus that I mentioned above. I got this idea from Beth Terry, The author of Plastic Free: How I kicked the plastic habit and you can too. She offers it up as a way of becoming aware of the amount of plastic waste that you generate. I find it is a simple way to shed light on exactly how much plastic is used and for what. My hope is that through collecting my plastic waste I will begin to become a more conscious consumer and ultimately use less. Ah the dream!

So I have picked up an old cardboard box from my work and decided that all the plastic that both Kyle and I use will go in there. Then once a week I will empty out the contents for recycling and document them here with you.

The results for this week are in:

• Plastic wrap- from a journal, which was a gift
• 2 almond milk tetra packs
• 1 mango juice box with straw and of course the wrapper for the straw was in
• Packaging for veggie sausages
• Pro bar wrapper
• 2 Organic produce tags from kale
• Packaging from celery
• Chocolate bar wrapper
• Styrofoam bowl (cringe!) with plastic lid
• 2oz plastic cup with lid
• snack bar wrapper
• dental floss packaging, thus we must include the floss container and floss itself
• chip bag
• Saran wrap from Broccoli
• random plastic bit from condiment top
• 6 salt water taffy wrappers

 My thoughts on this:

At first I was upset with myself for not being more conscious while I shop. Considering I just came from Central America where it is very evident that we have a plastic addiction. I mean It is literally everywhere down there. It  covers the streets, beaches and roadsides. You can’t even take a step without seeing at least 10 (and believe me it is much more than 10) pieces of plastic trash. Our throw away culture strikes again. Hurray Humanity!

Plastic waste collected on small isolated island off the coast of Belize. Collected all of this in 5 mins in under 10ft.

Ok, ok, I know there are a lot of us out there trying. Myself included but the problem does not seem to be going anywhere. Plastic trash is gong to keep piling up throughout the world, and unfortunately in our oceans until we wake up and shift away from this disposable culture we have created.

Then I thought back to a teaching I found through yoga. When we practice yoga we aim for complete awareness. When we are aware of our impact on the world and the power that our individual choices have then I believe we can begin to wield that power and create change. 

I think a big part of creating that change comes from cultivating acceptance about how things are here and now. Accepting that we are human and that life has purpose above and beyond our control. And once we can fully and completely honour this life and accept it and ourselves for all that we are then maybe we have a chance. And maybe, just maybe if we approach our plastic culture with acceptance, curiosity and interest, rather than self-judgment we can begin to awaken great change in the heart of humanity on a level that we cannot even fathom. I mean after all if we are all one and all connected then when we DO make these changes in ourselves we are in fact making them in each other. 

Yin Yoga Teacher Training Immersion: Guest Teacher Bios

See event details here.

Monday July 6th: Dr.Tanya Gee, Dr.TCM is a registered Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Vancouver, BC.  She is the founder of the Bodhi Tree Healing Centre, a multi-disciplinary medical clinic devoted to serving all of humanity.  Best described as a  story teller, belly laugher, international educator and speaker as she inspires by example and encourages everyone to live simply and with consciousness. Dr.Gee has over 20 years of clinical experience in the field of Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine and esoteric studies of the Tao, Buddhism and more. What interests her the most is the unlimited power of love and the triumph of the human spirit.

Wednesday July 8th: Harmony Shire RMT is a fascial therapist focusing on the realignment of connective tissue. Practicing for eight years, she has found her passion in teaching the benefits and awareness of the fascial body and it's effect on daily living. An early advocate for fascial therapy, Harmony's knowledge of this understudied tissue is connecting and informing the yoga world, and shifting the way we view our practice. She has a full massage practice on Bowen Island and Vancouver, as well as co-teaching workshops.

Thursday July 9th: Muscles and Meridians Workshop by Obediya Jones-Darrell. Obediya is the head therapist of Superior Martial Arts.  He has had the opportunity to work with high level athletes such as Olympians, Yoga teachers and Professional Dancers to the general population who participate in the activities of daily living. Obediya helps these people do efficient stretching for injury prevention.  In this workshop, Obediya introduces specific stretching techniques and how to do some thai yoga based assists. Through a guided discussion he demonstrates how traditional concepts of yin and yang, the foundation of Acupuncture, and scientific principles from anatomy and physiology can work together to help you and your clients achieve balance during your practice.  

Friday July 10th: Dia Penning is yoga activist and Director of Curriculum and Training at World Trust Education Services in Oakland, CA. Through education rooted in love and justice, World Trust serves over 30,000 people each year. Using her 25 year foundation in the arts, social justice and yoga and challenging dominate paradigms through film, story and dialogue, Dia encourages deep reflection about how yogis approach service; within the yoga community AND out in the world. Please visit her website or Facebook for additional information.

Monday July 13th: Tanya Hollo is uniquely skilled in guiding people in the discovery of magic in everyday life. Weaving a strong scientific background with years of experience in various spiritual traditions and the healing arts, she loves empowering people to heal and transform themselves in a fun and accessible way. She believes that Yin yoga is a profound tool for self-discovery, and that through practice and integration, the skills learned in Yin can be used to transform the planet, one shape at a time. Tanya works as a naturopathic doctor in Gastown, Vancouver, where she is consistently humbled to witness patients on their healing paths.

Tuesday July 14th: Nicole Marcia has been a yoga teacher, therapist and trainer since 2004. In 2009, she was awarded a master’s degree with a specialization in yoga therapy from Lesley University in Boston, MA. Since then, she has been employed by Vancouver Coastal Health at their Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addictions, where she developed a comprehensive yoga therapy program for in-patient clients in various stages of recovery from mental health and addiction issues. She also serves as the director of training at Yoga Outreach, a not-for-profit organization providing volunteer yoga teachers to marginalized populations. In 2010, she completed the Trauma Sensitive Yoga Training at the Trauma Center in Boston, MA, and a course on the fundamentals of teaching yoga and meditation in military communities conducted by Warriors at Ease in Silver Spring, MD. She is a faculty member at Stenberg College, Ajna Yoga and Langara College Continuing Studies.

Thursday July 16th: Dr. Elisabeth Ormandy was introduced to yoga by her Grandfather when she was young. She officially started her yoga journey in 2002 with the practice of Ashtanga. Four years later Elisabeth travelled the ocean from Edinburgh to Vancouver where she nestled among the mountains and started to explore other yoga styles and philosophies. With inspiration from Anusara, Iyengar, and Yin-trained teachers, Rajanaka Tantra philosophy, and the human body, she settled into her own yoga rhythm. Elisabeth’s focus on wellness-based, ethically conscious living feeds her passion for yoga as a practice that goes beyond physical asana. In addition to teaching yoga, Elisabeth is a lecturer at the University of British Columbia where she teaches undergraduate classes in ethics, political theory, and animal welfare. She is Co-founder and Executive Director of the Animals in Science Policy Institute, a research consultant for the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA), and a volunteer researcher for the David Suzuki Foundation. Elisabeth lives in Vancouver with her partner, Oliver, and together they are preparing to turn their tiny house dreams into a reality.

Join us for two weeks of Yin bliss! Tickets and info are here.

Announcing the Complete Schedule for the July '15 Teacher Training in Vancouver

Monday July 6, 2015
9am-12pm
Danielle Hoogenboom: Introductions, Intention Setting and Yin Overview
1:30pm-4:30pm
Dr. Tanya Gee: Yin, Yang and the Dao. Mysticism and Medicine

Tuesday July, 2015
9am-12pm
Danielle Hoogenboom: Poses, Placement and Form
1:30pm-4:30pm
Danielle Hoogenboom: Pose Variations and Props. Working with Diverse Populations

Wednesday July 8, 2015
9am-12pm
Harmony Shire: Anatomy: Fascia and Function
1:30pm-4:30pm
Harmony Shire: Anatomy: Bones, Organs, Muscles

Thursday July 9, 2015
9am-12pm
Obediya Jones Darrell: Meridians and Muscles from Eastern and Western Views
1:30pm-4:30pm
Obediya Jones Darrell: Assisted Yin, Partner Work and Thai Massage

Friday July 10, 2015
9am-12pm
Dia Penning: The Business of Yoga & Navigating Politics
1:30pm-4:30pm
Dia Penning: Systems, Privilege and Karma Yoga: Yoga off the Mat

Saturday July 11, 2015
9am-12pm
Danielle Hoogenboom: Elements and Understanding: Learning to Un-Sequence
1:30pm-4:30pm
Danielle Hoogenboom: Variations and Long Holds: Dissecting an Inner Practice

Sunday July 12, 2015
9am-12pm
Danielle Hoogenboom: Group Teaching and Body Feedback: Learning together
1:30pm-4:30pm
Danielle Hoogenboom: Emotional Wellness and Class Themes

Monday July 13, 2015
9am-12pm
Dr. Tanya Hollo: Organs and Emotions
1:30pm-4:30pm
Dr. Tanya Hollo: Natural Health and Nature's ConnectedCycles

Tuesday July 14, 2015
9am-12pm
Nicole Marcia: Trauma Sensitive Yoga for Mind, Body, Spirit
1:30pm-4:30pm
Danielle Hoogenboom: Word, Sound, Power: Finding your Unique Voice

Wednesday July 15, 2015
9am-12pm
Danielle Hoogenboom: Asana Lab and Practice Teaching
1:30pm-4:30pm
Danielle Hoogenboom: Presentations, Group Reasonings and Future Resources

Thursday July 16, 2015
9am-12pm
Danielle Hoogenboom: Spiritually Speaking: Sacred Modern Living
1:30pm-4:30pm
Dr. Elizabeth Ormandy: Ethics in to the World. Living Yoga to Create Change

Birthday Wish

Woot, I have made it 33 years on this crazy planet, and I find myself bowing to all that I have seen, been, and achieved in this short time. I dream about the future, and can only imagine the beauty and lessons this world still has to offer me.

I have lived a minimal, non consumer lifestyle for a long time. I have been a vegetarian since I was 12 years old, and got into the habit of making and carrying my own organic, animal free foods everywhere I go in reusable containers. I feel guilt when I purchase something in plastic that is single-use or disposable. I ask myself, “where did this come from, where will it go, am I living my values and voting with my actions and dollars by purchasing this product?”

TINY BITS OF PLASTIC ON THE BEACH

Our house has excellent recycling for when we lax on our efforts, or receive gifts. I am not perfect, but I go without, make efforts to distinguish between my needs and desires. Join me! Do you think you could shift to look at each disposable object as a metaphor for our relationship with earth, or how this world values some people more than others? Can we see our purchases and choices as a direct reflection of what we support and know to be true? I see a deep story in every plastic lid or fork that people consume. Can you imagine a world with less plastic? We have to start imagining this world to make it true.

Removing single use plastic means shopping at places that support programs like bringing your own fabric bags and jars. The stores that I have shopped at for over a decade in Vancouver love that I make the effort, and gives me a discount for not using their bags. I look for products sold in paper, grab things loose, and shop at the farmers market. I have gotten good at preserving food over the years: drying, canning, and freezing things so that I can eat local all year round with minimal waste.

When plastic waste does come into my life, I save it, and every few months bring it to the “mobile plastic recycling centre” in my hood. If you live in East Van, it happens the 3rd Saturday of every month in the parking lot at Britannia. They take all the plastics that the City won't recycle. On that note, did you know that many things you put in the city recycling bin aren't supposed to go there? Check recycling numbers. It takes effort to redirect the waste you create. We have a huge 3 part worm bin at our house and urban farm in the city

I like to make and carry hemp or cotton produce bags (let me know if you need a few, or check them out at the Van Farmers Markets). I also pretty much always have a mason jar or two, because over the course of a day I need liquids and it’s good to carry your own vessels. Plan ahead, buy in bulk, and cook at home. It’s easy if we can all share with each other to stay inspired!

So this is my birthday wish for you. Can you make the effort to consume less and create less waste? Can you stop for a hot second and consider the effects of the products you buy on your natural environment? It takes serious practice and training to learn to stand on your hands in yoga, we practice discomfort and peace in these movements. Expanding our practice way beyond the mat is an ode to our honour for our earth and home.

Plastic Free Yogi is a challenge to start the process of making no new plastic waste. It is hard! Really HARD! We live in a world that packages most things in single-use plastics, but small actions by conscientious individuals can have widespread effects. I’m sending love and honour to those who tread lightly and to those who aim to leave this natural environment healed and supported. May we remember each year that we have the power to inspire great actions and small miracles with our love and intention.

Love and bows!

Assisting Seane Corn

It is truly an honour and a privilege to support, learn, grow and maintain a friendship with teacher, leader and community activist, Seane Corn. Her career spans decades –she has taught for nearly 25 years internationally doing teaching workshops, trainings, master classes and large scale yoga festivals.

Over the years, I have assisted her in Jamaica, California, Vancouver and Whistler. It is amazing to see a yoga class from the perspective of support. She moves and weaves through the room to support those who are struggling, offering suggestions for safety, ease and alignment. To witness the entirety of a room without being responsible for holding the full space is a deep honour, as is participating in asana classes for the more intellectual parts of my teaching and the energy of the room.

I find supporting a teacher and leader is an amazing opportunity to express my devotion to that person: making sure they have tea, taking them for good healthy food in quiet places between classes, working the space so they can leave in a timely way post-class, and offering a sounding board for the room. The experience is beneficial for me, both as a devoted teacher and student, and also as a one-woman show in my own right.   

I look up to Seane as a woman that has set an example of what it means to live your yoga off your mat. She is continuously committed to her path of yoga culture. People think that these ‘yoga-lebrities’ are not real people, who have often have two sides. The focus, effort and intention it takes to hold, guide and alchemize energy in these rooms all over the world is really a super-human power, in my eyes. I know personally from teaching groups that it is equal parts fuelling and exhausting. To see my mentor as a human-being, experiencing the same feelings as I have for business, intensity and burn-out is humanizing and inspiring.

I loved watching my teacher grow and shift in this industry of culture change.  It is refreshing and enlightening to talk about the shifts that we have both seen in our communities over the years. It is thought provoking and fire blazing, and takes me back to when I first met her about six years ago and recognized a kindred spirit on the mat. Her commitment to spirit is unwavering, and her edge is unmatched. I knew I had a teacher and friend for the long term in this powerful (yet petite) woman, who can pray publicly like no other I have ever met. She is a thoughtful friend with an amazing memory and the mouth of a fucking trucker.  That blend of sugar and spice, her call to action in the world, and her ability to make a whole room break down in sobs make her a woman who will continue to fuel and inspire me for the long haul.

In this crazy world of yoga, it is an honour to have Seane as a friend and mentor. Someone who can listen, mirror and reflect the struggles of balancing personal and private lives, of teaching and leadership. To have someone to riff off of the challenges of the culture at large and the ways we support and participate in it.

Assisting her during the last vinyasa teacher training in Vancouver was a great way for me to show love and devotion to my friend, my teacher, and my community. It was great to support the energy in the room while silently dancing across the mats to balance that energy. Learning to read Seane’s signs and signals has heightened my intuition of shared space in a teaching room. It is so humbling and inspiring to know that the same questions about space, the same frustrations and fatigues, and the same overwhelming joy of service runs through the veins of all teachers, both old and new. The challenges and celebrations we face daily are mirrored by our choice of teachers and communities.  Assisting one another on this path of this life is the key to sustainable and authentic offerings. It has been a deep honour to continue to learn and grow with my mentor and friend, Seane. Many bows!

Returning h'OM'e to Yin

It's very easy to preach and preach, but when put into action, practice and self reflection are what affect community change. Yin is more than a style of yoga, its a vibration, an essence. This feeling of slowing down and moving more mindfully allows the cycles of life to do their thing. With the energy of spring all around us, it’s easy to get caught up in the energy of growth. If we are the ones that direct our attention and intention, nothing could be more potent than stopping and stilling.  Think of it as nurturing the nature of the foundation of future growth.

I have spent the last few months shifting, traveling, working, writing, planning, supporting, building and shifting. The winds continue to change for me, a self employed young woman building a small product and service empire on the road.  Although I practice daily contemplation, meditation, and take solo time to reflect, it seems my asana shifts in the spring. There are so many things happening and many things on the spring cleaning, planting and sorting list.  It’s hard to rein in your own energy at times, when in fact this is the exact time to do it.

There is pulsation to go go go, move move move. This is when our practice is needed the most. When the world is shifting and changing, when the pressures of the outside world grow heavier, it is time to retreat inwards to set the tone for future endeavors.

I use gardening as a metaphor for this process: Time is of the essence, nothing can be rushed and we must use our senses and inner nature to feel into the right timing. There is no map or plan to gardening, just like no map to life.  Prepping the soil, making the lists so all the timings are just right for seeds, for starts and for the planning of future outcomes. All of these things take a moment to step back and sort.

The great thing about your Yin Practice is that it will always be there for you to return to. Now is the time. Stop drop and YIN! Simplify the moment, take an easy shape and slow it all down. Connect to the beating of your heart, and use the power of your breath to slow your systems. Link up with the vibrancy of the inner worlds, feel their potency move through you, and shift. In this place, we can make peace with change.

Jah9 Gratitude

YES YES! What an honour to have some yoga cameos in this amazing video from my good friend Jah9. You can have a peak here at some of the shoots we did at Kingston Dub club for your Yoga on Dub class, and some other great shots of me rocking out yoga in the hills of St. Ann. 

I am also honoured and stoked to have Jah9  rocking my drop bottoms and racer back tank in the beginning of the video, sporting the unisexy pants in the youth class outside, and then the new hoodie being rocked in her Yoga on Dub class in Malta.  My name and biz name arrives in the credits, what an excellent surprise! 

The best part of being part of this video (minus the whole OMG teenage dream to be in a reggae video since I sorted sporting dreadlocks 16 years ago!) is that its authentic and based on my personal and professional friends with both Jah9 as an artist, but the rest of the team of creative rebels showcased in that video. These are my friends in this video, their dreams and visions are fruiting just like mine. There is a saying in Jamaica, "iron sharpens iron' and its true. We need our friends and community to reach these amazing dreams and to shout out to the world all the big badass things that are happening that don't always get exposure. Love and Honour to all the dreamers out there, keep dreaming!  

Props

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Supine Twist with Weighted Assists:
Boom! Have you ever been in a yoga class and the teacher adds slight pressure to your pose? Using a weighted pillow, you can get a similar feeling and also add an extra something to the body in an attempt to release muscles and deep tissues. 

Starting on your back, shift your hips to the right and then drop your knees to the left. Let the hips, knees and ankles make a 90 degree angle, or mimic the shape of a chair fallen over on its side. Tuck your shoulder blades underneath your body and make sure that bottom bony parts of your hip feels comfy if you are practicing in a non grassy place. Add the pillow to the top leg to increase sensation on the top outer hip. Add the other prop to the arm to increase the sensation in the upper chest and arms. Breath deep into the belly in this shape. Imagine each exhale is ringing you out and cleaning out the things that don’t serve you. Imagine the weight of the props getting heavier and heavier with each exhale, as you sink deep into the earth to remember where you came from and where you will return to.

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Supported Butterfly Fold:
In this pose, I love adding a prop under my ankles. It gives softness and the space to shift as the buckwheat contents of the pillow shift. Folding the second pillow in half and using it as a head (or dread) support tends to move the stress and stretch to a different part of the back body. Like all variations in Yin, you can move the heels closer to the pelvis or further away. You can also shift the tilt of the pelvis, which is one of the super important adjustments you can make in a Yin shape. Remember of the excellent mantras. If you are feeling it, you are enduring it! Be aware, breath slowly, and allow your intuition and your body to guide what feels best for you.

This shape is great for the outer hips, the lower back, the inner thighs, the spine and the belly. Like the principles of Yin and interconnected-ness, see if you can feel how subtle adjustments to your limbs and the way you construct this shape change your experience.

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Supported Tight Shoelace with a Fold:
This one will take you back to the good stuff in your practice. Take this as a moment to surrender to the beauty of change when we pause the struggle and feel deep gratitude in letting go. Let go of those old stories, unneeded tension and our addiction to keeping it all together. Melt and the face of challenge of deep change.  

Use the pillows in different shapes so the body can feel supported and relaxed. Sink into the props as you communicate with all of your tissues, issues, muscles and bones to soften and allow energy to flow into new places. This shape can also be done on your back with the pillows supporting your pelvis as you reach for your ankles, calves, or even grab the back of the thighs. Still not working out? Try this shape on your back, with your feet on the wall and the pillows supporting your pelvis. Hunt for the tightest tension in these shapes by moving the position of the ankles and knees. Be gentle with yourself and listen to your body. Release all of the tension that arises in these hip poses into the earth like anger compost. The earth will consider it a gift, and you get to let it go and seep back to the soil below you!

#FashRev2015

In solidarity with #WhoMadeMyClothes we practice local manufacturing, supporting safe, quality jobs to local (mostly) women in the Vancouver garment industry.

Inspired by the 1133 people who were killed and 2500+ people injured on April 24, 2013 when the Rana Plaza factory complex collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, #FashRev says enough is enough.  We invite you to meet the people who made your Love Light Yoga clothes.

Join this rad movement by asking #WhoMadeMyClothes? 

Show us who makes your clothes by posting a photo of your inside out locally made clothing via @lovelightyoga on Instagram and email it to us to get yourself a voucher for 10% off Love Light Yoga clothing or 50% off our next Reggae Yoga event happening Apr. 26! Email it to us at danielle@lovelightyoga.com. Extra points for LoveLightYoga wear! Please note, the 10% off voucher for Love Light Yoga Clothing expires end of Sunday, April 26. 

Tag us in a tweet @lovelightyoga or post your photo on our Facebook wall.

With gratitude,
Danielle 

Danielle featured in Mantra Magazine

"My true yoga love is yin yoga and its ability to create powerful inner medicine through stillness and insight. Softness, space and feeling are things that are not celebrated enough in this fast yang world. Yin is the feminine uprising, reconnecting to Mother Earth and our deep inner knowing. I teach yin teacher trainings and workshops internationally and community projects like Plastic Free Yogi."

Earth Day Every Day / Plastic Free Challenge

I always think its funny that we call one day earth day....celebrating and acknowledging our Earth Mother on this one day...all days, every day, all days past, present and future are to live in honour and reverence for all she was provided and bowing at the ways we can defend and protect her.....I hope we look back on this time in life where we over consumed, over used, took advantage, got lazy, didn't participate in the change or rise up as the leaders are are meant to be.. and look back in tears and apologize for our youthful wastings, our inactions and our silences. I have a challenge to all. Live lightly always, each day. know all actions have reactions (you can't throw 'away' plastic you know) and the power of your intentions fused with conscious actions will for certain change the path. Live and leave the smallest material imprint and the biggest soul footprint. lets honour each other, our brothers and sisters of the earth..knowing small shifts have massive impacts in places we can not see. come and pray for the earth with me tonight at One Yoga for the People Vancouver. Beats and Bhav, Reggae Edition. Unity in the Community! OM . Plastic Free Yogi is a challenge to make no no no no new plastic waste. you can do! its uncomfy at times..but make changes, modify and celebrate discomfort as the inspiration for change! BOOM

Check out 100 Steps to a Plastic Free Life!

Reggae Yoga featured in The Vancouver Province

Downward dance hall: 100 yogis pack Vancouver nightclub for reggae yoga classes

It was all “downward dance hall dog” Sunday at a Vancouver nightclub where 100 yogis packed the room for one of the city’s first-ever reggae yoga classes.

A rainbow of yoga mats covered Fortune Sound Club’s dance floor and thick bass flowed from the club’s state-of-the-art sound system into the hands, feet and backsides of smiling yogis.

“I’ve loved reggae for a really long time,” said Danielle Hoogenboom, the founder of Love Light Yoga who led the sold-out event. “Yoga and reggae are two of the utmost conscious practices — put them together and you’ve got a powerful force.”

Hoogenboom led her first reggae yoga class at a concert in Jamaica last year, but she’s been playing reggae in yoga studios since she began teaching seven years ago.

She organized Sunday’s event with local DJ Tank Gyal, who has run reggae dance-hall nights in Vancouver for more than seven years and played tunes for the yogis.

The class began with a series of flowing, dynamic vinyasa yoga poses and transformed into the slow, restorative poses of yin yoga, but was broken up with a lively reggae dance party in the middle, of course.

Yogis were encouraged to make noise and break yoga rules whenever necessary.

“It’s more about the feeling and the energy,” Hoogenboom said. “You want to leave here feeling positive and strong, not with your (butt) kicked and tired.”

Alex Pearson, a fellow yoga teacher who helps Hoogenboom manage events, rolled out her mat for the uplifting event.

“A lot of reggae music is more intelligent and aware and focused on creating positive change,” Pearson said. “I think that yoga’s something that engenders that same mindset as well.”

Hoogenboom has a second class booked at Fortune for Feb. 15, before she heads to Jamaica for an annual two-month teacher-training sojourn.

Calabash Festival in Jamaica this weekend!

Jamaica, Jamaica!

I am pleased and excited to have shared an amazing immersion and retreat with both my students from Vancouver and local Jamaican students. We had an amazing time together and I am slowing bringing together all the images, experiences and insights via some blogs I am working on.....diving into the blogging slowly with lots to share. I feel also so blessed to have also taught a Yin Yoga Immersion in Kingston, loads of pictures here and more to come as I sort out the galleries of time away!

I am stoked to announce that I am returning to Jamaica at the end of this month to share yoga at the Calabash International Literary Festival in Treasure Beach. I will also be teaching another small workshop series in Kingston again at the TrueSelf Centre of Being. LOOK OUT!

I am blessed and so pleased have been a part of the Dub Treatment, an evening of Art, Culture and Rastafari in Kingston with Jah9, a powerful female reggae artist and visionary. There is a live recording on this event somewhere out there and many reviews, so have a peep and make sure you check out her online. Here are a few pictures from the Yoga on Dub, a special opening to the concert and event as we set up nearly 40 yoga mats and moved together to the sweet bass medicine of DUB. Much LOVE to sisterhood, yoga and more powerful events of union to come. 

BLESS

peep more of the amazing Dub Treatment Images by a talented local photographer, JIK Reuben

Yin Yoga & the 5 Elements. YTT

For more information you can check out the Vancouver School of Yoga Site.

Guest Blog from Jamaica Retreat

Pleased to bring you this blog post from Jolene McGill. Jolene has a student at Unity Yoga in Vancouver when I first met her. She went became a volunteer, then an employee handling studio affairs. Jo then completed a teacher training and began to teach at Unity Yoga. She has become a great friend over the years and joined us in Jamaica as my assistant. All retreat leaders I believe then an extra set of hands, ears, eyes and support to create a powerful environment for change. So grateful for Jolene's presence with us as both student and coordinator, and of course the alter and yoga space honouring each morning. Give thanks Jolene for all that you offer to the world. Here is her first blog from the first few days of our 14 day training and retreat. Keep your eyes peeled for the images and video on its way!

O Beloved

Great Spirit, Sacred Mother

in a kind and gentle way, I bow to thee

offering you my sincere and humble gratitude

for your abundant nature and unconditional love.

As the sun kisses my cheeks it reminds me that a new day has come again. A new day sure to be filled with growth, knowledge and love filled conversation here at Bromley Estates in Jamaica.

Every morning I make the journey down a simple path dotted with old stone steps that are probably as old as the estate I now find myself standing on. It leads me ever so gracefully to our open air yoga studio where I am drawn to the magnificent locally carved Buddha, adorned in Gold that lives at the center of our practice space.

It is my pleasure to spend the first 15minutes of my day wandering the property gathering many flowers and ferns from around the land to bless our divine Buddha. I then allow myself to create the space in my life for pray and stillness. Honoring the great spirit within all creation as I bow humbly to its feet.

Giving thanks for the opportunity to be here on this sacred land we call Jamaica. To be a guest in the hills of the beautiful Parish of St. Ann. Birth place of Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley and Burning Spear. To be surrounded not only by a blissful and deliciously deep daily yoga practice but also by a very rich and deep culture with a not so blissful and delicious history.

Every morning we meet at 8:30 on the yoga platform and flow together to awaken our bodies and reunite them with our mind and spirit. Yesterday we started with yin guided by the Lovely Miss. Hoogenboom.

At this retreat we are also studying Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory and learning about 1 of the 12 meridians each day. So each class, both the morning flow and yin, are structured around the meridian we learnt that day. We Stretch, twist and compress the meridian of the day in order to create healthy flow within our bodies.

Morning class is then followed by a delicious breakfast that is provided by the staff here at Bromley, a beautiful old estate that has been in the family of Jonna, the owner, for over 5 generations.

Then it is off to our TCM lecture that runs for about 1 ½ - 2 hrs each day. As I mentioned earlier we discuss and learn about one of the 12 main meridians of the body. Yesterday we discovered and discussed the spleen meridian. Whose element is the earth and the emotion tied to it is thought, or overthought. It was fascinating to learn about how the health of our mind or thoughts can affect the part of body the spleen extends to, our muscles. Makes sense once you start to think of it though. They always say we store our issues in our tissues in yin class and as our teacher pointed out today we can see the truth in this. He said that when we overthink or worry it can be filed away like a librarian files away a book in to the muscle tissues of our body. So tightness or knots with our body may be related to our mind and the way we think on a daily basis. Simply put, our body is a reflection of our thoughts.

Then comes time for lunch, which again is a divine spread as if it was created for the Gods themselves. It is always vegan, vibrant and full of life. Such a gift to be able to enjoy the local and organic foods sourced from nearby farmers. Fresh and traditional Jamaican dishes partnered with dishes from home.

Our afternoons are either filled with free time or an adventure. For example yesterday we journeyed to Mahoe Falls, a beautiful and sacred part of the country. A cascading limestone waterfall that is dotted with little pockets of spring water for basking in or small fall spots for you to shower in. You are able to climb up the falls from the bottom and enjoy every moment of nature’s divine creation as you do so. Barefoot and connecting to the Earth as the natural spring water nourishes and tickles your feet, embracing fully the great spirit of the water. Simply stunning!   

To finish up the day I was blessed with the opportunity to guide everyone through a flow class inspired by our spleen. It was filled with Lots of opening and compressing of the anterior thigh and frontal body.

One of the interesting qualities associated with the spleen that we learned yesterday was that when the Qi is balanced and expressive our awareness of the possibilities of change awakens. I hope that through our continued practice of yoga and our awareness of the power of thought in relation to our physical body grows, we can begin to tune into all the possibilities for change within and in time we will begin to see them reflect in our world and reality. For when we live and breathe the change we wish to see in our every moment. The world will become the change we wish to see.

Blessings for now

Jamaica calling! Feb 19th - Mar 5th

Meridians and Emotions Retreat

Yin Yoga  Studies and Traditional Chinese Medicine with Acupuncture in Jamaica with Danielle Hoogenboom and Ryan Thompson

Feburary 18-March 5th, 2013 // St. Ann, Jamaica

Includes: workshops,  yoga classes, shared accommodation, airport transfer (one shuttle each way), plus:

• 3  community acupuncture sessions. Additional sessions or private treatment with Ryan at an additional  charge.
• 3 vegan meals a day. Jamaican cooking and adaptable to fit dietary needs.
• 5 day trips (incredible beaches, turtle hatchery, roaring river and surprises along the way)

+  Airfare, insurance, and taxes not included +  Studies can be applied towards teacher training with application

Join us for 14 days of study/retreat  in the beautiful hills of St Ann's Jamaica. Retreat with a yoga teacher and a Chinese Medicine practitioner/acupuncturist to explore the theory of meridians, emotions and chi and how it applies to yin yoga. Workshops and yoga in the morning and evening, rotating day trips and plenty of free time to explore.  Receive community acupuncture, indulge in nourishing foods while immersing yourself in this exploration of alternative health and body psychology. Suitable for beginners and/or teachers. Explore these healing practices in a way you can utilize their tools with your students, or simply integrate into your life and daily activities.  Part theory, part practice, all retreat.

Danielle Hoogenboom is committed to unity both on and off the mat. She believes in the power of yoga to change lives and create amazing shifts in the world around us by starting with personal healing and health. It is her great honour to share yoga and a collection of wellness studies as a compass on this life.

Ryan Thompson is a registered acupuncturist and traditional Chinese medicine practitioner in Canada. He has practiced for 10 years in a variety of settings, including supervising students in a school clinic, doing ‘detox’ acupuncture in addictions and mental health units, working in private practice, in addition to providing low-cost treatments and teaching local practitioners in third world locations including Guatemala and India in the model of the Barefoot doctor. Ryan’s most recent Barefoot Acupuncture session was in a very rural region in Northern Guatemala. www acupuncturebc.com