Padawan Yogi

Has it been a year already? I closed out 2010 and began 2011 with yoga at the Sri Yoga Center‘s New Years Eve Satsanga, closing out the year with kirtan and japa then starting the new year in silent reflection and meditation.

2011 was an incredibly full year for me filled with workshops, kirtans and studies. For the first part of the year I enjoyed the Sunday morning Sanghas, discussing the Yoga Sutras and other topics. I began taking Abigail and sometimes Nick to kids’ yoga classes which fell by the wayside later on due to conflicts with my schedule.

I attended a couple yoga workshops. In February I attended a Jivamukti workshop taught by Anna Ferguson from World Peace Yoga. The Jivamukti approach is a bit different from what I’m used to but it was a good workshop and I got a lot out of it. In December I attended weekend Yamas and Niyamas workshop with Lila Lolling. She brought a different perspective to it from the Sivananda tradition. I really enjoyed the asana portion of the workshop which consisted of a traditional Hatha Yoga practice, so much that I’m using it as the basis for my home asana practice.

The year was a good one for kirtan. The kirtan that had the most profound effect on me was the Chants for Ma kirtan led by Michael and Melissa at a href=”http://www.sriyogacenter.com” target=”_blank”>Sri Yoga Center on Mother’s Day. It was a simple kirtan but my heart really opened up and I was overcome with emotion. In June I accompanied Michael and Melissa to World Peace Yoga in Cincinnati for the Jubilee Kirtan and Hafla. Michael and Melissa led the kirtan accompanied by Christopher Cox and Doug Kreitzer. One of the highlights was the World Peace Tribal Belly Dancers who really got the kirtan swinging.

I attended two more kirtans in July. SRI Kirtan played at Sri Yoga and featured several songs from their Live Your Love CD. By the end of their set, one could definitely feel a positive shift in the energy. About a week later, I went to Yoga Springs for a Karen Johns kirtan. She had us do the final chant while in Savasana which was an interesting experience.

There were other events blending music with yoga. In August Girish visited Sri Yoga and played as Melissa led an asana class. About a month later, the Bhakti Vinyasa Project returned to Sri Yoga with Luna and Joshua playing cuts from One Shared Heart as Katy Knowles led a vinyasa flow class choreographed to the music. A few days after that, Luna and Joshua held a “Soul of Voice” workshop with a small kirtan in which Melissa received her first harmonium lesson.

The highlight in my year of yoga was the 100-hour Yoga Studies Program taught be Michael and Melissa. It was a preparatory class for teacher training covering the Yoga Sutras, subtle anatomy, asana, sequencing, pranayama and meditation. Three of the five students who completed the course went on to take the teacher training course. Later in the year I took part in a Yoga Studies Intensive focused on finding balance. This course expended on some of the concepts from the Yoga Studies Program and took them a bit deeper.

Next year should be another great year for my yoga practice. I’ll starting off with Lila Lolling’s Svadhyaya Intensive. Some of the offerings on the winter schedule also look interesting, such as the 6-week Weekend Flow and the Core Flow series. There are also the drop-in Yoga Flow classes with Melissa on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I want to make 2012 the year my practice really takes off in a new direction.

Namaste

Padawan Yogi