MN YOGA + Life® | Spring + Summer 2023

INDU ARORA Evolution

EVOLVE Yoga • Movement • Health • Wellness • Lifestyle

MNYOGALIFE.COM

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SPRING + SUMMER APRIL 2023

requires learning and unlearning

Fall Self-Care RETREAT

Activities will include

October 7, 2023 • 11am-5pm • Rosemount MN Join us for a day of intentional self-care at the beautiful Steeple Center in Rosemount. There will be a lovely mix of movement, stillness, reflection, and healing.

Accessible and enjoyable for all, no experience necessary, come as you are.

Early bird pricing of $95 until June 30th

• Energy Flow • Chakra Meditation • SomaYoga Therapy • Gentle Yoga Flow • Dharma Talk • Journaling • Essential Oils Technique • Yoga Nidra • Sound Bath

www.mnyogalife.com/retreat 2

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EN

SPRING + SUMMER | MARCH 2023 VOLUME II | ISSUE I

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Amy Zellmer

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EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Kristen Brown

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MINNESOTA IS PART OF THE YOGA + Life® FAMILY OF MAGAZINES.

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COPY EDITOR Lynn Garthwaite IL 202

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR Heide Woodworth

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LIFE.COM MNYOGA

PURCHASE YOUR

PRINT SUBSCRIPTION TODAY! mnyogalife.com/subscribe

Megan Adams, Dr. Sarah Shore Anderson, Indu Arora, Lori Rehnelt Auferhar, Kristen Brown, Meghan Foley, Meghan Hatalla, Miriam Hanson, Julie Hill, Alina Hornfeldt, Kourtney Johnson, Paula Keck, Reeve Klatt, Shanti Krishna, Mary McCallum, Dominique Miller, Marie Nutter, Allissa Obler, Carly Jean Puch, Ted Roseen, Michele Rusinko, Bala Sarda, Renecca Sebastian, Kamie Slegers, Kelly Smith, Roisin Thompson, Matthew Tift, Tracy Vacura, Danielle Venticinque, Betsy Weiner, Laura Willenbraing, Sarah Jane Wroblewski, Lilly Zaborowski, Amy Zellmer

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1112 Highway 55, Suite 103, Hastings, MN 55033 2023 MN YOGA + Life Magazine. All rights reserved. No portion may be duplicated in whole or in part without the written consent of its publishers.

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MNYOGALIFE.COM

FROM THE EDITOR

T

he Spring + Summer issue is here, and it is even more special because it is the official conference issue! I hope you will consider joining us April 15 + 16 for the MN YOGA Conference in Eagan, MN. www.mnyogaconference.com

With the theme of EVOLVE, I am excited for you to read the following pages to learn about all things evolution, including aging, growth, spirituality, emotionality, physical strength, and so much more.

I am thrilled to have Indu Arora grace the cover of this issue and hope you embrace her wisdom: in order to evolve we must not only learn, but unlearn.

We often focus on learning and neglect unlearning, or perhaps we aren’t even aware of mental modes we need to shed. I certainly know I am guilty of this from time to time.

Unlearning bad habits or beliefs means leaning into learning and becoming curious about things you may be uncomfortable with, such as social justice, appropriation, or accessibility.

Comfort lies in knowing our old ways of thinking no longer serve us. We are meant to evolve in all aspects of our life, and it can sometimes be difficult and uncomfortable. But as Patanjali states in YS 2.1 “Yoga is steadiness in the field of the mind.” Turn to yoga; be interoceptive and inquisitive of your current feelings. Believe in yourself and know that growth can be challenging but is an important part of evolving and being the best version of yourself.

Peace & Glitter, Amy

Some great ways to help you with your journey of unlearning: 1 2 3 4

journaling

5 6 7

giving yourself grace

reflection practicing mindfulness engaging in uncomfortable conversations

revisiting the Yoga Sutras practicing yoga on and off the mat

AMY ZELLMER (SHE/HER)

I took a trip to Vail, CO this past fall to meet with Bobby and Kim at the YOGA + Life headquarters. We took some time to leaf peep and take in the spectacular colors.

MNYOGALIFE.COM

publisher + editor-in-chief hello@mnyogalife.com www.mnyogalife.com

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CONTENTS

CONTENTS 20

ON THE COVER 22 INDU ARORA

Evolution Requires Learning + Unlearning

YOGA + MOVEMENT 24 IS BODY HATRED

Sneaking into Your Yoga?

26 YOGA IN SCHOOLS 27 THE ENERGETIC HIGHWAY

SPOTLIGHT

12 MINNEAPOLIS YOGA Melissa Sargent

14 HILLMAN HOUSE RETREAT

16 MOXIE MALAS Jessica Hoch

18 BACK TO CENTER

28 CHAIR YOGA:

Accessible Yoga for Everyone

30 THE YOGA VITAMINS 32 SPRING CLEAN YOUR MIND

with This Guided Meditation

33 ELEVATE YOUR EVOLUTION

Laura Willenbring

20 SHANTI YOGA STUDIO

Jessie Sandoval

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34

22 34 YOGA THERAPY for Happy Hips + Hammies

36 COMBATTING THE MYTH

of Inevitable Pain with Age

38 SUBTLE BODY SCIENCE

Guided by Intuition

40 TURN UP

YOUR VOICE

42 RECLAIM YOUR ATTENTION

44 REVOLVE TO EVOLVE

CONFERENCE 46 MN YOGA

CONFERENCE

Evolve 2023 Schedule

MNYOGALIFE.COM

CONTENTS

HEALTH + WELLNESS 50 GOOD VIBRATIONS The Evolution of Sound Therapy

52 AYURVEDA

For Cats + Dogs

54 THE IMPORTANCE OF DISCOMFORT

55 SELF EVOLUTION 56 INTUITIVE EATING 58 THE EVOLUTION

OF A PHARMACIST

60 AYURVEDIC

Slow-Aging Transformation

62 CHANNELING

Your Inner Wisdom

63 EVOLVE

50 LIFESTYLE

72 EDITOR'S PICKS 74 ALIGNING

YOUR DOLLARS to Your Dreams

76 NETI SOLUTIONS

65 EVOLVE INTUITIVELY

80 YOGI'S HALO

69 SATYA + GROWTH 70 THE POWER OF

THE SANKALPA

88 DIRECTORY

90 LOVEYOURBRAIN

of Amethyst

Book Review

Self-Care that Finally Serves You

March through October 2023

78 3 WARRIOR POWERS

"WHAT'S NEXT?"

68 SELF-CARE 2.0

SEASON

MN YOGA + Life Annual Partners

79 BETWEEN FRIENDS

of Embracing Ease

86 EVENTS THIS

For a Better Season

64 5 STEPS TO

66 THE EVOLUTION

EVENTS + PARTNERS

Meet Community Member, Amy Zellmer

Glow Like the Moon in 3 Steps

82 FOREST BATHING Poem

83 WIND YOGA Book Review

84 WHY IS IT

BENEFICIAL

to Drink Turmeric?

54 MNYOGALIFE.COM

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CONTRIBUTORS

CONTRIBUTORS MEGAN ADAMS (SHE/HER)

INDU ARORA (SHE/HER)

KRISTEN BROWN (SHE/HER)

Megan Adams is a certified health, life, and transformational coach trained in High Performance Habits and the founder of Ignite Joy Life-Coaching. Megan’s passion is empowering women to choose a life they love. No more “going through the motions” or being driven by “shoulds” when there is a world of possibilities waiting to be explored! With curiosity, intention, and a splash of fun, Megan helps you explore what your heart is yearning for — and then helps you get to work honoring that vision by nurturing your body, mind, and spirit.

Indu Arora considers herself a student for a lifetime. As a yoga and Ayurveda teacher, she shares her experiences from the last two decades across more than 50 cities worldwide. Her unique gift makes yoga and Ayurveda a practice, equally useful for a beginner as for a sincere seeker with a lifelong yoga journey. She is the author of Mudra: The Sacred Secret (2015), Yoga: Ancient Heritage, Tomorrow’s Vision (2005, 2019), and SOMA: 100 Heritage Recipes for Self-Care (e-book, 2020; updated hard copy, 2022).

She lives in Minneapolis with her spouse.

Kristen Brown is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and energy hacker who charges up her clients by syncing up their body/mind/ spirit for work and life growth.

DR. SARAH SHORE ANDERSON (SHE/HER)

LORI AUFDERHAR (SHE/HER)

Dr. Sarah Shore Anderson is the founder of ThriveRx Consulting, LLC. She designs clinical teams and strategies for novel, collaborative wellness solutions within health tech start-up companies.

She utilizes her background in leadership, health coaching, managed care pharmacy, pharmaceutical outcomes, and global health and wellness engagement in the development of integrative, pharmacist-led services.

Additionally, Dr. Anderson is an integrative pharmacist with the PharmToTable team where she offers functional medicine and health coaching services. With a Doctor of Pharmacy degree with an emphasis in leadership, Dr. Anderson is a nationally board-certified health and wellness coach and holistic herbalist.

Lori (Rehnelt) Aufderhar, business owner of Systems For Change, LLC, has a background in business management, accounting, and professional life success coaching. She holds Securities Series 6, 63 & 7 – MN A/L/H licenses, with a 25+ year track record of streamlining business processes, promoting healthy work environments and lifestyles. As author of Not It: An Approach to Life, Lori promotes yoga in her fitness chapter as part of a healthy lifestyle, especially as we age. She also contributed to the #1 best seller Summit To Retirement: Finding Success on your Financial Trek by Sean McDermott, with a chapter on Retirement Life Planning.

PODCAST!

MEGHAN FOLEY (SHE/HER) Meghan Foley is a local Minneapolisbased yoga therapist and Ayurvedic health counselor. She specializes in pelvic floor yoga therapy, leads Yin Yoga teacher training, and offers weekly group yoga classes at Up Yoga and Blooma. Her classes incorporate the ancient teachings of Ayurveda, along with a focus on precise alignment, while always leaving room for playfulness and lightheartedness. When Meghan isn’t teaching, you can find her in the kitchen, making homemade ghee and seasonal spice blends.

PODCAST!

MEGHAN HATALLA (SHE/HER) Meghan Hatalla is a body-positive Minnesota yoga instructor and life design writer.

Creating Wellness From Within PODCAST!

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Subscribe on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts

MNYOGALIFE.COM

CONTRIBUTORS

MIRIAM HANSON (SHE/HER)

KOURTNEY JOHNSON, RD, LD (SHE/HER)

SHANTI KRISHNA (SHE/HER)

Raised on the saltless sea shores of vast Lake Superior, Miriam Hanson (E-RYT500, YACEP) grew up understanding how disturbances on the surface shift, coming and going, but stillness in the deep is constant.

From twelve years building a bilingual K-12 school in the Caribbean to cave diving around the world, Miriam uses the tools of yoga to return her to that stillness. Back in Duluth now, Miriam is delighted to represent Svalja Yoga as director of operations, with extensive training in trauma-conscious yoga, Yin Yoga, & Adaptive Yoga (MindBody Solutions). She runs a Yin Yoga certificate training annually.

Kourtney Johnson is a registered dietitian who is passionate about sharing information related to intuitive eating. She is the owner and founder of Intuitively Nourished, through which she offers freelance writing and speaking services on a variety of nutrition topics. Originally from Rosemount, MN, she currently lives in Spain. In her free time she enjoys reading, traveling, baking and spending time with friends and family.

Shanti Krishna is a mother, actor, and voice artist turned devoted Kundalini yogini. She is passionate about empowering others to master their mind, body, and soul through yogic practice, meditation, and self-reflection so they may walk through this ever-evolving world with grace and love. She aims to inspire others to embody their authentic truth and flourish within unique expression and mastery of their path of purpose and divine destiny. Inspired by youth, Shanti works with those most in need of enlightened support and love, helping bring them to their brightest self through her organization, Earth’s Root.

JULIE HILL (SHE/HER) Founder, speaker, & yoga coach at Inspired Thinking, LLC, Julie Hill focuses on helping people imagine, dream, & transform their lives.

She worked as a national sales trainer & recruiter in the beauty industry for over 25 years, with the majority of her career within the Aveda Network. Her passion for health and wellness led her to co-produce & co-host a radio show, Inspired Talk on Aging and Wellness.

ALINA HORNFELDT (SHE/HER) Alina Hornfeldt is the marketing manager at Mastel’s Health Foods in Saint Paul.

Passionate about the health and wellness industry for most of her life, Alina desires to create a home base for all community members to share knowledge and experiences. Named Vitamin Retailer of the Year in 2021, Mastel’s Health Foods’ mission is to provide a safe and welcoming environment in order to assist customers in achieving their health goals through education, guaranteed high-quality supplements, and natural products.

PAULA KECK (SHE/HER) Paula has been teaching yoga for over 20 years, completing her 500-hour RTY certification in October 2021, specializing in SomaYoga. She is also a certified sound bath practitioner and meditation teacher. Living in Albany, Minnesota, she enjoys sharing the challenge, peace, and acceptance a yoga practice can bring to students across Central Minnesota. Along with her sister, Lila, they created Soul Sister Sound Baths and offer specialty sound experiences at events, retreats, and studios in the area. When she’s not on her mat, Paula enjoys time spent with family, her Goldendoodle, Sully, and her Siamese cat, Minx.

REEVE KLATT (SHE/HER): Reeve Klatt is a creative living in North Minneapolis. When she’s not writing, you can find Reeve playing with her cats, teaching yoga, or digging in her garden.

MARY MCCALLUM (SHE/HER) Mary McCallum is a Curvy Yoga, Accessible Yoga, and Yoga for All certified instructor passionate about making yoga accessible to everyone.

Mary loves teaching how yoga can work for you and dispelling common yoga myths.

Her goal is to create a fun, inclusive, supportive, and non-intimidating environment for all ages, sizes, and abilities.

DOMINIQUE MILLER (SHE/HER) Dominique Miller is a Minnesota based author and artist and owner of ByNikcreations, a small art business. She works in a variety of mediums and expresses her creativity onto paper both through images and words. She loves spending time outdoors and these moments in nature are what inspires her in her work. In 2022 Dominique published her first poetry book, titled My Thoughts in a Bundle.

Continued …

MNYOGALIFE.COM

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CONTRIBUTORS … continued from previous page

MARIE NUTTER (SHE/HER) As a pediatric operating room nurse, author, yoga instructor, and owner of MNyoga LLC, Marie Nutter offers individual or group trauma-informed yoga and meditation classes to healthcare providers, first responders, and military members. She also provides in-service sessions to professional departments looking to address accumulated secondary trauma. In addition to helping her fellow frontline workers, Marie also teaches to the general public. Her everyday intention is to support each participant’s exploration in embodied choice, movement, and breath in a safe nonjudgmental space.

ALLISSA OBLER (SHE/HER) Allissa Obler is the owner and founder of Mudita Wellness, and River Valley Yoga Festival.

With over 25 years of personal practice, Allissa is a 200-hour RYT with specialty training in restorative yoga and meditation. Allissa is also certified as an AromaTouch essential oil practitioner and is proud to serve on the board of Stillwater Area Kiwanis Club and as an ambassador for the Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce.

CARLY JEAN PUCH (SHE/HER) Both student and teacher, Carly Jean Puch host’s the podcast Consciously Clueless, works as a conscious living coach, and guides folks through yoga - all in the hope to change the world together. She helps folks wanting to learn to be imperfectly sustainable and sustainably vegan. People are complicated, messy, and layered with identities and Carly loves embracing that. A meditation enthusiast, Carly sits in quietness every morning.

She’s a gym rat, a yoga instructor, and a lover of blasting 90’s hip-hop at full volume.

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TED ROSEEN (HE/HIM)

REBECCA SEBASTIAN (SHE/HER)

Ted (YogaTed) Roseen has been teaching yoga around the Twin Cities for over 20 years. He loves to teach. He also loves to travel. Roseen and his partner and crime, Sharon Picasso, have led retreats all over the world for the last 15 years (before it was cool). The retreats, just like his yoga, invite people to take their own journey, and to give in to “play.” If Roseen was a vegetable, he would be snap pea.

A long-time yoga teacher and 11-year yoga therapist, Rebecca Sebastian co-founded a yoga non-profit called The Quad Cities Yoga Foundation. She owns an accessible and inclusivity-focused yoga studio and apothecary in Davenport, Iowa, called Sunlight Yoga + Apothecary, and hosts the podcast Working In Yoga. A passionate writer on yoga, Rebecca participates and loves all things related to yoga and the yoga industry. She believes through writing and communication we can all lift each other up and share what lights us up with the world. If you want to get nerdy about the yoga and wellness industry, chat about the best tea blends, and deconstruct everything we thought we knew, she is your human.

MICHELE RUSINKO (SHE/HER) Michele Rusinko is a research professor at Gustavus Adolphus College, a certified Yoga for Cancer teacher, and Positive Psychology Coach.

Building upon four decades of teaching dance and somatic sciences in higher education, her current research and writing explores the intersections of embodiment and researchbased evidence in Positive Psychology.

Her specific focus is on resilience.

BALA SARDA (HE/HIM) Bala Sarda is the founder and CEO of VAHDAM India, a digitally native, global wellness brand taking India’s finest teas, spices, herbs and superfoods to consumers across the world under a homegrown, ethical and sustainable brand, devoid of any middlemen. Bala started VAHDAM in 2015 at the age of 23 years. He comes with a lineage of over 85 years in tea and is the fourth-generation tea entrepreneur in his family to run a tea business. Bala decided to disrupt the 200 yearold-global-conventional supply chain of tea, and create a scalable global business and trusted brand with a vision to take the ‘Best of India’ to the world. VAHDAM is now India’s largest home-grown, premium teas and superfoods brand by revenue. It has been shipped to over 4 million consumers across 130 countries.

PODCAST!

KAMIE SLEGERS (SHE/HER) Kamie Slegers is recognized throughout Minnesota as an accomplished advanced practitioner and wellness educator. She started teaching yoga in 1996 and began practicing Ayurvedic medicine in 2010, continuing her education as an Ayurvedic practitioner, yoga therapist, Maram therapist, craniosacral therapist, and lifestyle coach.

Currently studying for her master’s of herbalism, Kamie manages the clinic at NE Wellness in Minneapolis. She is developing programs and workshops for hormonal balance, fertility, menopause, lifestyle changes and habits, sleep, nutrition, energy management, and others.

KELLY SMITH (SHE/HER) Kelly Smith is a globally celebrated yoga and meditation teacher based in the Twin Cities. An E-RYT 500 and founder of Yoga For You, Kelly hosts the iTunes chart topping podcast Mindful in Minutes. Beside her podcast, Kelly is best known for her master trainings in meditation, restorative yoga, yoga nidra, and her yoga retreats as well as popup sound baths and meditation events in the Twin Cities.

PODCAST!

MNYOGALIFE.COM

CONTRIBUTORS

ROISIN THOMPSON, L.AC. (SHE/HER)

DANIELLE VENTICINQUE (SHE/HER)

SARAH JANE WROBLEWSKI (SHE/HER)

Roisin Thompson is a licensed acupuncturist and massage therapist with a strong interest in both sports medicine and the body-spirit connection. Her decade spent as a competitive swimmer and her strong science background keep her fascinated with the workings of the human body while her personal health journey solidified her conviction that when the body is in its best balance, so are the heart and mind. You can find her at JADA Studios in Minneapolis for all your active (or not-so active) body’s needs!

Danielle Venticinque is a health and wellness guru, an author and momprenuer|CEO. Amid the 2020 pandemic she founded Thrive Betterments personal growth jewelry and products. Her jewelry line was designed to empower women to establish 6 daily habits of prosperity and wellness focusing on positive mindset and goal attainment. The betterment bracelets are a stylish, wearable progress report that cultivates accountability and selfmanagement. Danielle thrives in Saint Paul, MN.

Sarah Jane Wroblewski is the director of Panchamaya Yoga Therapy Clinic, a virtual and in-person clinic practicing yoga therapy as it evolved from the Viniyoga lineage. Panchamaya partnered with Nell Ruekl and Watershed Spa in 2022.

Their missions particularly align to empower individuals to improve their health and live a life of wellness and connection. Watershed is a full-service spa and communal bath and offers a host of alternative modalities, including yoga therapy, in their modern, inclusive interpretation of a communal bathing and healing space.

MATTHEW TIFT (HE/HIM)

BETSY WEINER (SHE/HER)

Matthew Tift is a yoga teacher and musician.

He serves on the board of directors at onelove. yoga. He leads yoga and meditation classes at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Williston Fitness Center, Minnetonka Community Education, Spirit of the Lake, corporate settings, prisons, and elsewhere. Matthew is an RYT-200 with a Ph.D. in musicology.

A dedicated teacher, guide, and humble student for over 20 years, Betsy Weiner works and learns in the spaces of yoga, meditation, yoga nidra and spiritual life coaching. She believes we already have everything we need within, and each one of us is whole and complete exactly as we are. Betsy moonlights as a back-up singer in a cover band and thinks laughing might truly be the best medicine.

TRACY VACURA (SHE/HER) Tracy Vacura spent decades teaching dance, which means she loves fully-embodied movement and also feels passionate about understanding anatomy and alignment. She enjoys working with people to center, find their true importance, and then magnify their own unique gifts in the world. You can find her teaching at Yoga Sanctuary, holding energy therapy sessions as a certified Healing Touch practitioner, or co-leading the Holistic Yoga Teacher Training & Personal Transformation program. Tracy’s teachers include Ben Vincent, Judith Lasater, and Tanya Boigenzahn at Devanadi. Tracy seeks healing and welcoming for all bodies.

MNYOGALIFE.COM

PODCAST!

LAURA WILLENBRING (SHE/HER) Laura Willenbring lives a life of curious fascination with the natural world, never without a book on hand or a question on her heart. A 500hr RYT and RPYT with thousands of hours of study and practice, she’s currently completing her Ayurvedic health counselor requirements. Along with yoga, Laura is a licensed and practicing integrated veterinarian focusing on traditional Chinese veterinary medicine, acupuncture, food therapy, herbal medicine, public health, and food safety. She recognizes the intersectionality of the human-animal bond, and the value of integrated practices for people as well as pets.

PODCAST!

LILLY ZABOROWSKI (SHE/HER) Lilly Zaborowski owns and operates Hillman Retreat House along with her husband and two kids. They all live in south Minneapolis but have enjoyed spending many weekends at Hillman Retreat House working on various renovation projects. A lifelong learner, she’s completed yoga teacher training, reiki I and II training, and is currently learning more about plant medicine and herbalism. She’s actively decolonizing her worldview through both learning and practice, and is happy to connect with others who are doing the same.

PODCAST!

AMY ZELLMER (SHE/HER) Amy Zellmer is Editor-in chief of MN YOGA + LIfe Magazine and The Brain Health Magazine.

Amy has a passion to spread the message that yoga is for every BODY, regardless of size or ability, and a mission to raise awareness about the devastating consequences of TBI. She has her 200RYT, and is certified in trauma-informed yoga, LoveYourBrain yoga, and Yoga For All. She is also a Reiki Master. In her free time, Amy enjoys road-tripping across the country visiting National Parks.

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SPOTLIGHT

STUDIO SPOTLIGHT:

MINNEAPOLIS YOGA Melissa Sargent

BY REEVE KLATT (SHE/HER)

A

hidden gem located just off the greenway in Uptown on Lyndale Avenue, Minneapolis Yoga specializes in Original Hot Yoga. I caught up with owner Melissa Sargent to hear about her first year of owning the business, how her day job as an occupational therapist informs her yoga teaching philosophy, and what helps her handle the unexpected.

REEVE KLATT: Tell me a bit about your background and how you found yoga.

MELISSA SARGENT: My very first exposure to yoga was when I was 19 and in college. A student there offered free classes, and I loved it. I went every single week. A long-distance runner then, it helped a ton with stretching.

Eventually, I just practiced on my own — this was in ’95, and there were no yoga studios around. And then when I couldn’t run anymore (my knee didn’t like running), I started getting more into it because it just felt great.

RK: What about yoga spoke to you?

MS: Born with just part of my right arm, doing a ton of chaturangas, down dogs, and arm balances started to cause some wear and tear on my shoulder.

I walked into what used to be Bikram

12

Yoga Studio in Saint Paul; you use your arms [in original hot yoga], but you’re not weight bearing on your arms. I loved the heat. It just made my body feel so good and it forced me to focus. I never found anything that made me feel the way running did. When I walked out, [my body felt] that total body workout and fatigue like running.

RK: You live in Saint Paul, so how did you discover Minneapolis Yoga?

MS: I found my way to Minneapolis Yoga because the owner in Saint Paul said, “You need to do advanced classes!” I went like five days a week and was getting good at it. With just a few people [in the class], I would rearrange my work schedule so I could do it. I met the owner, Martha Williams, who owned it for 20 years. And then I ended up getting a different job after a few years, and I couldn’t go to

Minneapolis anymore. Then right before COVID, the Saint Paul studio closed – I missed it. I was going stir crazy!

When things began to open up again, I just thought, gosh, I haven’t been to Minneapolis in forever. I’ll just see if she’s open. And she was.

In January of 2021, Martha told me she was doing teacher training and I should be there. I always wanted to teach, but I have kids and a full-time job.

But Martha’s training was mostly online, and I thought I could do it — ­ I asked my husband if he would be cool to hold down the fort a little bit and he said, “Yeah, you’ve always wanted to do this!”

Then Martha told us she was planning to close or sell the studio; a short time later, she and her husband came to me and said they didn’t want to sell the studio to a chain, to somebody who doesn’t know and love the practice, or someone who didn’t know the

MNYOGALIFE.COM

SPOTLIGHT community. They thought I should open it – and I was absolutely floored! I sat down on the couch with my husband again and said, “So…yoga…?” And he said, “Do it.” So, we figured it out and signed the papers on October 1st, 2021.

RK: And how has the first year been?

MS: It’s been the best decision we ever made - we love it. The students are amazing. Our teachers are incredible.

Without them it wouldn’t work because of my very demanding full-time job.

RK: On top of yoga?! What do you do?

MS: I’m an occupational therapist. I’ve worked in all kinds of rehab settings, and now direct therapy for a home care agency as well as oversee the Midwest region. It’s a lot and I travel a couple times a month, so without the community there’s no way I could do it. I have 20 teachers and they do this because they love it. It’s their passion.

to take deep breaths and readjust as we go, it’s taught me a lot, just in one year.

RK: Hot yoga can be intimidating – what would you say to someone scared to give it a try?

MS: If you come prepared, meaning you’re hydrated (I can’t say that enough!), and you go in with an open mind, you listen to your body, take breaks when you need to, and focus on your breathing - you’ll be fine. So many people come in afraid, and if I’m teaching, I remind them to just sit down if you need to. Breathe when you need to. This is never a competition. People are amazed at what they’re capable of.

They usually underestimate themselves and how good they feel after.

[the posture] the best way. You need a strong anatomy background and a lot of training to do that, so being a therapist made that natural.

RK: How do you see the studio and your ownership growing in the next few years?

MS: I want to mix my OT with yoga and host either small group classes or private lessons for people with injuries so they can learn how to do these postures without exacerbating an issue.

I would love to run the studio full time, even though I love my rehab position.

I would love to do it all forever if I can keep it up. When I walk into the studio I can’t explain it, I feel good there. I just feel it’s the place I’m supposed to be.

RK: You mentioned your background in OT. How has that informed the studio?

MS: OT teaches

RK: And you’re also teaching yoga as well as your full-time job and managing the studio?

MS: [laughing] Yes! I teach three times a week, sometimes more. We just added hot Pilates to our schedule so now I’m teaching even more, but it’s been a great addition - every class packs the room.

RK: That is a lot to juggle all at once!

What’s been the biggest challenge?

MS: Delegating and time. It taught me I need to delegate to manage all of this.

I have to remember the worth of taking the time to train somebody else how to do something. I feel a responsibility to practice what we’re preaching and what we’re teaching - not just the postures, but the lifestyle as well. Balancing all of this has been very challenging - in a good way! It’s really forcing me to pause and remember what is truly important and what is worth getting stressed about. With five kids from the ages of 15 to 28, my family tops the list. Being able

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people how to adapt everyday tasks if they have an injury, surgery, a knee replacement, or a disease. The perfect fit for me, I’ve been adapting my whole life because I was born with one arm. Everything I do differs a little bit from the normal way!

Old-school Bikram yoga teachers don’t believe in adapting anything, they believe the student needs to try the posture the way it’s meant to be.

I think - and this sounds egotistical, I don’t mean it this way - but with my influence as the owner, I tell the teachers I do all the postures differently!

Let’s try to help people use their body the best way they can - to be successful! We want our students to have a win in our class. We hold teacher meetings, and we analyze postures and how we should teach them and find the best words to help somebody do

And I want to do that every day, all the time. We have students that have been coming for 20 years! And they range in age from 18 to 70 – just this huge variety of backgrounds. It makes it feel like anybody can walk in the door and they’re going to be supported. I’d love to expand to a second location in St. Paul – people love a community they can feel safe and successful and healthy at, and I feel like it’s never been more important.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length. +

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SPOTLIGHT

PODC AST!

SPOTLIGHT:

HILLMAN RETREAT HOUSE

BY LILLY ZABOROWSKI (SHE/HER)

W

e found Hillman Retreat House in February of 2021, at the very beginning of our search for a lakeside property. The pandemic was just hitting its one year anniversary, and it was that late winter season when

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everyone in Minnesota starts getting restless for spring. We were ripe for a project, and when we walked through this property for the first time, our eyes lit up.

Sitting on 14 acres of land and 800 feet of lakeshore stood two 7,000

square foot structures, with a large open field sitting between them.

The first, an 11 bedroom house, was built in 1925 as a home for the priest and seminarians of the church that sits in front of the property. Over the years it temporarily housed members

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SPOTLIGHT

Property Features:

of the community at times when they were building houses. We were blown away by the amount of indoor space and immediately saw the potential for a retreat house or vacation rental.

The second structure was built in the 1940’s as a youth recreation center. Over the years it was used for basketball, roller skating, bingo, weddings, and parties. Walking through it for the first time I could feel the energy of years of happy gatherings and great memories, and since buying it we’ve heard many stories from the community of past events and connections made in this space. Spouses who met roller skating and later got married in the same place. Church fundraisers and parties galore. There was something about the energy of this space that drew us in, and we wanted to be part of its next chapter.

While there were a lot of cosmetic improvements to make on the property, we saw the potential and wanted to revive these spaces so they could continue to be used for community gathering for years to come.

In the spring of 2021 we began our renovations, including pulling up all the old linoleum floors to reveal gorgeous douglas fir hardwood floors underneath.

One of the big rooms on the second floor became the designated yoga room, and it’s my favorite room in the house. A row of east-facing windows overlooking the lake makes it a magical place for a morning yoga practice. An attached sunroom gives sweeping

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views of the property and is a wonderful place to sit and read, play cards, or watch a thunderstorm roll through.

Over the eighteen months of renovations we replaced half the windows in the house, upgraded the kitchen and bathrooms, and created a space that feels cozy and comfortable for large groups to spread out and gather both indoors and outside on the beautiful property.

There is a smaller building between the house and the recreation center that we cleared out and screened in for a nice hangout spot in the summer. Next to that building is our firepit area with plenty of space for groups to gather and make s’mores. This spring we’ll install a brand new dock, and we have a collection of stand up paddleboards and canoes for folks to get out on the lake and explore.

Our kids have loved running around in the recreation center in the winter months, and that inspired us to set up a pickleball court for groups to use, which is especially nice when the weather isn’t cooperating for outdoor activities.

When I heard the theme of this issue is “evolve” I thought this was a fitting profile to feature. While the property has evolved quite a bit over its lifetime so far, the throughline I see is that it’s a space to gather and be in community with others. Whether it’s a retreat group or a gathering of friends and family, we’re happy to offer this property for groups to be together and make lasting memories.

• • • •

11 bedrooms with king-size beds

•

Fire pit and screened in lakeside hangout spot

•

Game room with a pool table and foosball

•

Cozy movie room with streaming channels

•

Creative studio with art supplies and large work tables

•

Huge kitchen and dining room with 2 refrigerators, breakfast bar, and a 36” stove

•

Recreation center with pickleball and other indoor sports equipment

6 bathrooms, 4 with showers Yoga room with lake views 800 feet of lakeshore with a canoe and stand up paddleboards available for use

www.hillmanhousemn.com/

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SPOTLIGHT

PODC AST!

SPOTLIGHT:

MOXIE MALAS Jessica Hoch

BY REEVE KLATT (SHE/HER)

H

aving been around stones and crystals her entire life, Jessica Hoch didn’t get an idea for her business until she started making malas as gifts for friends. The demand for her creations quickly grew, prompting Hoch to open Moxie Malas in 2015. “I’ve always been drawn to crystals,” says Hoch, explaining how her grandma kept amethysts and malachite in her house. “I used to hunt for stones with my cousins and bead with them. The stones and crystals have just always been there.”

Originally from Shoreview, Hoch grew up working in her family’s floral shop, Lexington Floral. Even at a young age, customers would quickly open up

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to Hoch, telling her personal stories as she wrapped up their orders. “I learned so much about life working behind that counter,” Hoch says fondly. “People come in there and they’re buying something for an emotional reason.

They would leave and the woman working next to me would ask, ‘Do you know them? I feel like they told you a lot!’” Hoch recalls with a laugh.

Hoch’s natural gift for talking to people and her love of stories connects her to customers no matter where she’s selling. She’ll commonly receive questions from a customer unsure of what stone to pick. Hoch will often reply, “Where do you feel like you need support in your life?” She laughs as she

explains customers don’t always want to go deep right away, telling the story of a woman at a trade show who picked up a bracelet with ‘worthy’ inscribed on it. “On the inside it says, you are worthy of your greatest life, no matter what’s happened to you, what happened because of you. And she’s standing there and she’s like, ‘Oh my God, I’m sorry … I’m going to cry!’ I’m like, ‘It’s okay, I’m here. You’re in a safe space.’”

Originally a distance runner, Hoch remembers sprinting on the treadmill at the gym, looking over at a yoga class, intrigued. Six months later, she found her way to her first yoga class, and it changed her life from that moment on. “The first thing [the teacher] said was there is nobody needing or wanting anything from you. There is no competition, no expectation.

And I just started crying,” Hoch says.

The concept of no competition or expectation stopped her in her tracks ­— and six months later she enrolled in her first teacher training. Hoch trained with YogaFit and began teaching at gyms around the Twin Cities, eventually earning her RYT 500 through Devanadi School of Yoga and Wellness in Minneapolis.

A no-brainer for Hoch, she started creating jewelry and malas (spiritual meditation beads originating in India)

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SPOTLIGHT

“Hoch hopes the message of her jewelry will help people find their own selfworth, no matter where they come from. ‘There’s so many people who feel lost and disconnected from purpose,’ she explains, ‘when really your purpose comes from within, not from something external.’”

as she taught yoga, desiring for her business to be a vehicle for a broader message. “I wanted something really approachable,” she explains, “something that would open people up to self-discovery and transformation.”

While she uses over 200 stones in her designs, Hoch recommends a crystal newbie start with rose quartz, either by placing stones around the house or by wearing them as jewelry. “A bracelet is very approachable,” Hoch explains, noting she often encounters skeptical customers when she’s selling in person.

“I teach a lot about the chakras and energy work, and all these teachings [emphasize] our connection to something bigger. Nowhere is it defined by any one religion; it doesn’t belong to anyone.”

Hoch quickly clarifies that crystals aren’t a deity, something she explains to people who approach her with religious questions. “I’m really open to those conversations,” she explains, as she feels like avoiding conversations about religion and politics hasn’t gotten us to a good spot. “The more we talk, the more we realize we’re all in this together. We probably have more in common than we think.” Hoch hopes the message of her jewelry will help people find their own self-worth, no matter where they come from. “There are many people who feel

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lost and disconnected from purpose,” she explains, “when really your purpose comes from within, not from something external.”

While Hoch sells her jewelry online, at trade shows, and in over a hundred stores throughout the country, she’s fueled by a small team that helps her make all the jewelry by hand in Minnesota. “It’s really important to me that we are not just selling jewelry,” she says. “As we grow the business, we want to stay true to the core of selfdiscovery and healing. It’s not just about jewelry.”

And she really means it. On top of selling, Hoch hosts monthly workshops, retreats, and a new mentorship program launched in February 2023 called Moxie Mentors. The program focuses on creating community around selfdiscovery in a way that supports the individual person. The idea of being spiritually and financially abundant is the goal, explains Hoch. “I want to do [Moxie Mentors] in a way that supports the person not only spiritually, but also abundantly, earthly. Really using our financial abundance as a tool to further spiritual abundance.”

Not a stranger to struggles, Hoch knows what it’s like to really need inner spiritual connection. In 2022,

shortly after Hoch’s beloved dog died, an accident left her mother paralyzed as a quadriplegic. Speaking in a hushed tone, Hoch acknowledges the challenging past five months, full of grief. To get out of her head, she would hop on her motorcycle, often ending up in Taylor’s Falls to visit her favorite bead shop. She recalls sitting outside in the sun, amazed at the goodness of life amid the hardness. “Those moments just keep you going…my life is good and these very horrific things are happening – they exist together,” she says.

Hoch’s determination is evident from Moxie’s logo which features a zinnia flower inside the O. “My grandpa used to grow rows and rows of zinnias in his backyard,” she says, explaining how zinnias can withstand the highest heat in the driest drought and still produce a bright, vibrant flower. “That goes back to the whole reason I’m doing Moxie.

Building people up so they have this resiliency to say, ‘Oh my God, I’m being thrown a left hook from life, and I still have the tools in my toolbox to deal with it. I have the capacity to hold it.’ As long as they find healing and self-awareness – that’s where I want to bring people.

That’s what it’s about.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. +

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SPOTLIGHT

PODC AST!

SPOTLIGHT:

BACK TO CENTER Laura Willenbring

BY REEVE KLATT (SHE/HER)

A

holistic veterinarian and yoga teacher in Saint Cloud, MN, Laura Willenbring teaches through her own platform: Back to Center. She works on her family farm with her husband when she’s not tending to animals or guiding yogis.

I talked with Willenbring about the interconnected web of nature and how she finds balance in a busy world.

REEVE KLATT: You have an interesting story because you’re a yoga teacher and a veterinarian — two things you don’t often hear in the same sentence! How did you get into both of those areas?

LAURA WILLENBRING: I got into veterinary medicine due to a childhood love of helping animals in their suffering.

As a little girl, I would hold armfuls of farm cats! I took my first yoga class in college, and there was very much an exactness to it. With a right and a wrong, my practice was focused on conquering the body rather than partnering with it.

In retrospect, if we spend time to really study the things that need studying with compassion, with curiosity, it’s more about “what is this here to teach me?” rather than “how do I conquer this?”

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I went to veterinary school overseas with the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. The culture was a little bit different — and beautiful. The intersection of nature and humanity buffered right next to each other. One of the first times I started doing more yin and restorative [yoga], I absolutely fell in love with yoga nidra. I spent a month in India with an animal charity, where we stayed right next to an ashram; the bells would start ringing at two o’clock to three o’clock in the morning. We spent all day working with the animals and working with the villagers that would literally spend all day walking to this location for their goat to be looked at and [I’d be] exhausted and then “Da da da duh!” — these bells, this call of awareness.

I did my 200-hour RYT with what was then the Yoga Center of Minneapolis. Tara Cindy Sherman, my main facilitator, shared about yoga nidra, and yin, and some of those very lunar, very feminine, very kind practices — and that’s what I kept coming back to.

RK: What spoke to you about those practices?

LW: I realized I had so many things in boxes. I could be the veterinarian

over here, the yoga teacher over there, the partner and community member over here. It seemed as if these things couldn’t touch. And the reason why the things couldn’t touch tended more to be buffering against people’s perceptions about what a ‘fill in the blank’ should be.

“If we spend time to really study the things that need studying with compassion, with curiosity, it’s more about ‘what is this here to teach me?’ rather than ‘how do I conquer this?’”

I’m an integrated veterinary practitioner, so if a client comes to me with their sick pet, I’ll sometimes ask what’s happening with the people in the house — adding in the intersection between animals and humans. We affect everything around us and everything around affects us. And if we just pause for a moment and acknowledge we are with rather than over, that we’re part of

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SPOTLIGHT rather than having special dispensation over — it totally changes the story.

If we can’t talk about how people feel about either the medications they’re taking, or the medications they give their pets, or the side effects they’re seeing — it’s another version of people’s stories going unheard. I found common threads between all these boxes we use, the threads of wellness and balance and acknowledging how we come in conflict with things. It’s about wanting balance, or wanting wellness, or wanting something currently not there. We hold this belief that “I have to get that thing out there,” rather than looking at, “how do I give my body, how do I give my home, how do I give my patterns the ability to meet that thing I’m needing?”

because this is where I am.” My practice evolved by asking, “How am I? Who am I? What am I? How am I showing up in a genuineness, in a groundedness, to meet what feels like a lot of whirlyswirly opposition to anything resembling sovereignty and self-authority?”

RK: You mention balance — how does that look in your life?

RK: What do you say to people scared to ask themselves those questions? Our culture tends to help us avoid those questions about who we really are. There’s a lot of fear in that area - am I enough when it’s all stripped away?

LW: Balance is not linear. Balance is a web. Balance is almost like a spherical experience where maybe it’s something in front, maybe it’s something over here, maybe it’s something inside, maybe it’s something below. I am growing in the observation of things; the pattern of constantly worrying about other people or being concerned about other people sometimes diminishes the needs of me as an individual. And when I can take care of those things for myself, how can I better show up in the world? I can better ask, what do I need today? What do my students need today?

RK: How does this play a role in what your personal yoga practice looks like?

LW: My personal practice consists of restorative yoga nidra, womb yoga, and some yoga therapeutic perspectives on women’s bodies and cyclicity.

Partnering with my body allowed me to say, “Okay, I can show up in this place

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“I love the capacity of each individual being able to learn in the awareness of who they are, and the gift they are, and to know all the questions are universal.”

RK: You describe the beauty and importance of community so well. Where do you see it growing in the next five years?

LW: I dream of establishing an integrative wellness center acting in that inner space of people and pets with the lens of community. I wonder, if we were a culture of love, if we were a culture of acceptance, would that also become a culture of healing? When people recognize their cyclicity and the nature of them and in them, they show up in the world. There’s a richness to it and it starts with people, but [it’s] inspired by the nature that’s always been around us.

That is foundational for coming back to the center of who we are and what we are in our humanity, or what we are in our creative, what we are in our creation ­— what we are as part of nature.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. +

LW: I would ask that student, “Where is the fear in your body? What color is it? What is the fear trying to tell you you have or don’t have?” I love the capacity of each individual being able to learn in the awareness of who they are, and the gift they are, and to know all the questions are universal. I’m afraid of failure. I’m afraid of being an impostor.

I’m afraid I’m not enough. I’m afraid I’m not going to be accepted. Underneath those questions is curiosity: how do you accept yourself? We all have the questions. We don’t all have the answers. And sometimes the answers have no words. It’s an action, it’s a feeling. It’s listening to the conversation next to us and how, for just a moment, we might be united in a humanity of “Oh yeah, me too.”

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SPOTLIGHT

STUDIO SPOTLIGHT:

SHANTI YOGA STUDIO Jessie Sandoval

J

essie Sandoval opened Shanti Yoga Studio in St. Cloud in 2019 — right before Covid-19 showed up. While the studio offered virtual classes throughout the pandemic, Sandoval is happy to finally have students in the studio, getting to use the space she so carefully created.

Shanti (peace in Sanskrit) was born out of Sandoval’s deep passion for yoga and a desire to create a space going beyond “gym yoga.” “I wanted a studio for connecting with each other, learning,

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growing, being mentored, being supported,” she explains. “There wasn’t a place where community members could learn more about the limbs of the practice beyond the physical — the things I found value in myself.”

Sandoval found yoga in college when her body ran down from a hectic schedule. “I was in anything that kept me moving and grooving,” she says. She accidently landed in a yoga class, struck with how good her body felt afterwards.

After graduate school at Bowling

BY REEVE KLATT (SHE/HER)

Green State University, Sandoval found yoga, along with counseling, helped her manage her mental health — and she told everyone in her life about the wonders of yoga. But she didn’t begin training to be a yoga teacher until she worked in higher education at a university in Texas. “My job was extremely stressful, and I’d been burying myself in work,” says Sandoval.

“I didn’t love my career, so I decided to take time off — not great financially, but probably really good personally — and I

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SPOTLIGHT trained with a yoga teacher in Houston for a year.”

After getting married, having her first kid, and moving back near family in Minnesota, yoga took the backseat as Sandoval found herself immersed in a new season of life. But before long she went back to teaching yoga and meditation, creating her own wellness consulting business in 2013.

She obtained her RYT500 certification with Yoga Alliance and completed her 500-hour training at Yoga North in Duluth, taking classes as she could afford them. “You see so many people with all this great financing to travel to India, do all these trainings one after the other,” explains Sandoval. “Those are expensive! And when you have a family and a husband who’s a teacher … ” Sandoval trails off, glancing to the side as she acknowledges how much her family sacrificed for her to open the studio. “This is not something I take very lightly; to make a decision to plan and open a business … it was a lot of stress for my family.”

But you can see the joy the studio and its twenty-or-so instructors bring to Sandoval from the way her eyes light up as she describes a newer style they’re offering: aerial yoga. Giddy about the benefits, Sandoval put aerial yoga in her business plan from the start, specially building the ceiling for the practice. While students get excited about the acrobatic nature of the class, it’s really about “being able to feel the differences in your body in a safer way, without holding all your body weight.”

While some students come for the group classes, Shanti also offers private classes for those not ready to be in a group setting. “Maybe they never will be,” adds Sandoval, explaining many private students get referred from a therapist or counselor. “Maybe they’re transitioning from a surgery, a trauma, an AA group — you name it.”

And they find a home at Shanti, just as Sandoval imagined when she opened the space. “We’re a studio focused on yoga as a practice beyond

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the physical benefits. We believe in the healing elements of Yoga for the mind and body, and we meet people where they are.” And no two people come to yoga with the same goals or motivations, so it’s important to have authentic teachers who make classes accessible to every student. “That’s what makes [the classes] so unique for our students,” she explains — and they’re not just going to one class. “I have these really intense yogis that love the heated practice, they love working and sweating and being in their body.

And yet, the next day they’re in a yin class, and they just melt into a little puddle.”

“‘We’re a studio focused on Yoga as a practice beyond the physical benefits. We believe in the healing elements of Yoga for the mind and body, and we meet people where they are.’ And no two people come to yoga with the same goals or motivations […].”

Seeking to bring in students of all backgrounds, Sandoval feels encouraged by the diversity in experience, gender identity, and ethnicity of the yogis who attend the studio’s classes. Most of her evening classes feature a fifty-fifty split between men and women, along with a wide age range, which thrills her. “If you drop into one of my classes,” she explains, “you’re going to see somebody in their thirties and somebody in their sixties, so that tells me we are hitting those goals of being accessible and open [to any] level, and [creating] an opportunity for people to really drop in where they need to be that day.”

While Shanti continues to grow, Sandoval is already thinking outside the studio walls. She’s partnering with an organization called Challenge to Change, Inc. after applying for a grant in her school district. “My ultimate goal is to infiltrate our public school system with yoga and mindfulness,” she says, noting they’re going to be piloting the program with two elementary schools in the coming year. And Sandoval’s not stopping there. She’s dreaming about partnerships with the local hospitals and medical groups along with mental health facilities. “We want to keep finding ways to be out in the community.”

So how does she do it all? “By learning to let go of things I don’t have control of,” Sandoval says with a selfknowing grin. “My daily practice reminds me to increase the space between the stimulus of whatever riles me up or I think I need to get done.” When she’s able to pause before acting, she utilizes the power of the breath. “I always teach my students, ‘All you need is three breaths!’ It just changes my perspective.

It makes me realize I’m going to do the best job I can, but I don’t need to keep aiming for that perfectionist quality.”

Sandoval also trusts her talented teachers to run things when she can’t be there, and she’s utilized outsourcing for things outside of her wheelhouse.

“I can do [all those things], but it puts a lot of strain on my ability to mentor new teachers, plan my own classes, think strategically, and be the visionary of the business.” But Sandoval quickly adds that the studio isn’t really about her, and she doesn’t like to make herself the focus. “It’s really about the community.”

A takeaway from three years in business? “Keeping things simple,” states Sandoval. “If we start to offer everything to everybody, we’re not going to do things well.” The focus begins with growing Shanti’s community and connecting with the neighborhoods around them, building relationships one at a time. “That’s what yoga is.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. +

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ON THE COVER

INDU ARORA PHOTOGRAPHY BY: Milan Toth

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MNYOGALIFE.COM

INDU ARORA (She/her)

Evolution WHERE ARE YOU LOCATED? Minneapolis, MN

WHAT GETS YOU EXCITED ABOUT MN YOGA + LIFE MAGAZINE? With every single release of MN YOGA + Life magazine, I see the MN community coming together and moving forward as a mindful, responsible, and aware sangha for the betterment of many. This to me is heartwarming and reassuring that we must be doing something right here in our own land of 10,000 lakes.

WHAT IS YOUR VISION AS A COVER MODEL FOR MN YOGA + LIFE? To convey how real progress (in life and in yoga) takes time, effort, and patience. No matter what, keep learning and unlearning, for it requires both emptying and filling in tandem. To stay steady on the yogic path, it is important to pay attention to everyday health (physical, pranic, mental) and not just health as some future goal. Through my work, I like to emphasize adopting selfcare practices (as laid out in ayurvedic texts as morning, evening, and seasonal care and yamas and niyama of yoga sutras) as essential, non-negotiable, and swadharma.

HOW DO YOU INTEGRATE YOGA INTO YOUR LIFE/ WORK BALANCE? Yoga to me is 24 x 7 x 365 days of awareness, discernment, and balance, not a one-hour practice or few hours of study or a few days of teaching.

Yoga, truly speaking, is not even work for me, but my dharma, my karma, and my life. I share so I can repay the debt

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ON THE COVER

Requires Learning + Unlearning of wisdom to my teachers who shared the timeless practices, philosophy, and rituals effortlessly and unconditionally.

Personally, as a practice on the mat, it changes based on the time of the day, season of the year, and my physical, mental, emotional, and pranic state.

WHAT DOES EVOLVE MEAN TO YOU? To be able to contract, stretch, or invert our mental landscape as needed; evolve to me means “to stay flexible.”

If we stay stuck with “this is who I am,” “this is what I know,” and “this is what I do” narratives, we cannot evolve. We must stay open, humble, and ready to be stirred or stilled as needed. May we learn from the five elements and keep transforming as needed: be steady like a rock to fight the good fight, flow with ease when life becomes unpredictable, radiate enthusiasm to meet new challenges, diffuse the stress by easing the breath, and learn to simply be without chasing constant accomplishments, accolades, and approvals.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR? The colors of dawn and dusk.

COFFEE OR TEA? Chai.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO SHARE? Say NO to yoga of extremes! So many times, I observe practitioners dabbling between what I understand as the yoga of extremes. Yoga inherently is a state of balance, moderation, and equanimity. Any kind of extremes, be it movement or stillness, exertion

or inertia, hot or cold, comfort or discomfort, and so on over a period of time will lead to imbalance. Likewise, it is not yoga for a specific dosha like vata, pitta, or kapha. It is always yoga of Vikruti (imbalance) towards yoga of Prakruti (balance). No matter the state of imbalance, the effort should not be to move to the other end, but to the center/equanimity. This is called “upeksha” in Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, yoga of “samatvam” (balance) as stated in Bhagavad Gita, or the state of “madhyasta” (center) as mentioned in Vijnana Bhairava Tantra. None of vedic or tantrika literature points towards extremes. Be mindful of the yoga you practice; it will only be you who will taste the fruit of your yoga. Irrespective of the yoga you practice, may it always be the “yoga of common sense.”

Indu Arora, an ayurveda and yoga teacher, mentor, and author considers herself a student for lifetime. Sharing about yoga philosophy, yoga therapy, ayurveda, and tantra since 1999, Indu taught under Kriya Yoga, Himalayan Yoga, Tantra (SriVidya and Kashmir Shivaism) lineages in a traditional guru Shishya Paramapara setting, all of which inspire her.

Her teaching style is rooted in empowering and inspiring students through self-inquiry. Her core philosophy is, ‘yoga is work-in not work-out!” She is the author of three books, Mudra: The Sacred Secret, Yoga - Ancient Heritage, Tomorrow’s Vision, and SOMA - 100 Heritage Recipes for Self-Care. +

YOU CAN FIND INDU ARORA AT: WEBSITE: Yogsadhna.com IG: @Induaroraofficial

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

IS BODY HATRED

Sneaking into Your Yoga?

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estern culture can make it difficult to love our bodies.

Inherited hierarchies and divisive dualism pervade the language and mythology. Spirit and body are separated, and body — with its messiness and mortality — falls into something that must be feared and controlled. When I studied Eastern philosophy and religion, I thought

“[L]et’s hold the principle of ahimsa, or non-harming, as the central tenet of our yoga practice to help balance our relationship to our physical bodies.”

I would find a clear model of nondualistic body celebration. But the culture giving us the amazing fruits of yoga is also entrenched in a desire to suppress and overcome the physical body. Yoga history is littered with stories of extreme asceticism and excessive purification rituals. Yoga cues — whether as self-talk or from teacher-to-student — contain the dust of a thousand years of somatophobia, or fear of the body.

BY TRACY VACURA (SHE/HER)

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MNYOGALIFE.COM

YOGA + MOVEMENT be a time when calling something “girl” has no connotation of weakness, but we are still infants in gender equality. Does this mean those identifying as men are emasculated by putting their knees down? That a 72-yearold woman who puts her knees down for push-ups is a girl?

I find lowering my knees for plank often enables a stronger engagement of my abdominal wall, so maybe these are core push-ups.

What can we do then, bombarded from all directions with an internalized desire to disown our physical bodies? First, let’s not take everything handed down to us. This will take more work and discernment on our part, but will enable yoga to be a deeply embodied experience as we breathe it in, then pass it on to others. Next, let’s hold the principle of ahimsa, or nonharming, as the central tenet of our yoga practice to help balance our relationship to our physical bodies.

Let’s say “dense” instead of “gross”

Has your yoga practice fallen away from the principles of ahimsa?

Notice your self-talk in asana practice Does your mind tend towards criticism or judgment? Or perhaps ruminating insecurities? Do you berate yourself when something doesn’t go as you expect? Often present in all of us, these voices can exasperate the feeling that asana is a way to punish and control your body. If your innervoice could use a dose of ahimsa, try this: practice alone and say your inner dialogue out loud as it arises — my inner voice’s default — “What is wrong with you?!” Next, repeat the words until you rephrase it into something less harmful — “This is hard, but you are doing your best.” Then imagine someone you love in front of you, and have them say the kinder words back to you.

Let’s say “long spine” instead of “flat back” When our constant cues ask us to transform our body into something physically impossible to achieve,

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we break down our intuitive trust relationship between words and body.

Demanding an ideal body image or perfect shape in poses would fall into this realm as well. When I “lengthen my spine,” my inhale can deepen and I feel freedom between each vertebrae.

When I “flatten my back,” there is muscular control, and my breath reflects that by tightening down. “Lengthening my spine” is something I can do and feel from the inside-out; “flattening my back” is best judged by someone else watching me.

Let’s say “knees-down push-ups” instead of “girl push-ups” This may have started because of the muscular mass difference between kids in PE class, but out of that juniorhigh context, the language implies shame for bodies seeking modification in yoga poses. I hope there will soon

In ancient times, the word gross meant anything dealing with physical body — think of the term “gross anatomy labs.” Over time, this word came to mean “a visceral reaction towards that which is disgusting.” The distinction between subtle and gross energy fills Ayurveda texts and yoga philosophy. As we teach yoga, can we turn away from calling our students’ and our own bodies “gross?” When speaking of energy, “heavy” or “dense” more accurately reflects our meaning without the subconscious push towards disdain. If you don’t think this matters, notice your reaction to this statement: “Let’s work with your gross body.”

As we try to communicate clearly, notice with compassion when you harm yourself and others. Ahimsa asks that we first love unconditionally, then seek right action. What blocks you from feeling whole as you practice yoga?

When do you feel spacious enough to forgive stinging words? When do you need to speak up about limited language that hurts? Can you voice your needs in a way that brings as little harm to yourself and others as possible?

Ahimsa desires wholeness for body, mind, and spirit. +

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

YOGA IN SCHOOLS

BY CARLY JEAN PUCH (SHE/HER)

Y

oga helped me connect my mind and body in a way unlike any other activity. It helps my physical, mental, and emotional bodies stay open to change. It’s also helped to further connect me to other people in my life by making me pause and think about the role I play in relationships. It’s helped me learn my limits and how to set better boundaries. Anything on the mat ends up being a lesson off the mat and in the world.

I serve on a Local Mental Health Advisory Council in Grand Marais, Minnesota. During the pandemic, the conversation about supporting young people in our community topped each mind in every meeting. From that concern stemmed conversations about mindfulness, meditation, and yoga for young folks. Due to generous local grantors, we now started our second year of providing yoga for kids — from kindergarten to eighth grade.

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I never imagined how rewarding it would be to teach yoga to youngsters throughout Cook County. So receptive and open to learning new things, young people inspire me with their awareness about feelings of anxiousness and mental health.

Yoga can provide a long list of benefits for young folks. On an emotional level, sharing the practice with kids helps their coping skills, and emotional regulation reinforces positive behavior and reduces anxiety. From a physical perspective, they learn body awareness, harness their strength and flexibility, and cultivate better sleep.

Particularly helpful skills to learn while in school include training fine motor skills, improving social relationships, lengthening attention span, and unlearning perfection.

I’ve spent much of my life chasing perfection in school, athletics, or anything else I could throw myself into.

I now joke I’m a recovering perfectionist — although it isn’t much of a joke. I look back and see the anxiety and tightness

On an emotional level, sharing the practice with kids helps their coping skills, and emotional regulation reinforces positive behavior and reduces anxiety. From a physical perspective, they learn body awareness, harness their strength and flexibility, and cultivate better sleep.

present for me as a kid. Providing tools for young people in my community to help them move through helped me heal.

Colonized so much, what we refer to as yoga in the global West is detached from any of yoga’s true foundations.

We think of yoga as a physical practice, but it surprises many to learn this is just one of eight limbs of the actual practice.

Capitalism created a very narrowly defined image of yoga marginalizing yogis that aren’t thin, white, able-bodied women. But yoga’s roots show us everyone can benefit from the practice of yoga, and should be invited to.

Especially young folks, because there truly is something for everyone.

The kids and I explored different breathing techniques, physical movements, meditation, and more.

We’re currently learning about yoga philosophy, the Yamas and the Niyamas, or yoga’s ethical guidelines. So far, it’s prompted conversations about peace, truthfulness, and how to protect our energy.

Some days the lessons focus on how to physically take care of our bodies.

Many young athletes in class enjoy practicing physical asana movements that can help prepare them for a game or calm their breath, making them better competitors.

I’ve explored these concepts through games and movement practices with the younger kids. With the older kids, it’s been through movement and discussion.

Not every lesson goes perfectly well.

But when things don’t go the way we thought they would, part of learning involves figuring out how to get through the moments. Whatever the lesson each day, I always walk away feeling wiser from their insight and honesty. +

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

WHAT IS THE

ENERGETIC HIGHWAY?

BY KELLY SMITH (SHE/HER)

Y

ou may be familiar with the chakras, but you may not know the complex and interconnected energetic system within us expanding way beyond the chakras, often referred to as the energetic highway. Primarily made up of three components — chakras, nadis, and prana — these different components serve their own function within this energetic highway system, contributing to our overall well being and functioning in their own unique way. Let’s take a look at each of these components a little bit closer.

Chakra — pronounced Chalk-Rah — means “wheel” or “disc.” An energy center in the body resembling a swirling wheel, these invisible chakras connect with different parts of our physical, mental, and emotional body. There are seven major chakras in our body, commonly depicted by their unique color sequence, and they must be kept in balance to maintain optimal health.

Nadi means “channel,” “stream,” or “flow.” Energy moves through the energetic, casual, and subtle bodies via these channels or tubes. There are three main nadis and thousands of smaller, minor nadis or pathways. You need to be aware of three main nadis: Ida, Pingala and Sushumna. Each of these nadis have their own unique purpose and energy.

Ida is the left channel for energy to pass through. Energy or prana passes through this feminine, cool, moon stream. Think of Ida energy as the moon energy, and Pingala on the other hand as the sun energy. Pingala is the red,

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masculine, fiery hot stream in which energy or prana passes. Sushumna is neither masculine nor feminine, but instead the central channel running from the base of the spine to the crown of the head, connecting the base and crown chakra. Kundalini energy can rise in this channel.

Together these three main nadis create the major pathways for prana to travel through. Ideally, we would be balanced between the Ida and Pingala energies, and prana would flow freely up and down Sushumna. Prana is a Sanskrit term translated as life force energy or vital energy. The energy flowing through us, prana activates

The chakras, nadis, and prana all work together to create the energetic highway which flows through all of us.

through breath and many mind/body practices like yoga, acupuncture and pranayama.

The chakras, nadis, and prana all work together to create the energetic highway which flows through all of us.

If you think of all of these things as a highway system, Sushumna would be the major highway. Ida and Pingala would be two frontage roads running on either side of Sushumna, and the chakras would be the exits on the highway. Prana is the traffic or cars using this highway to get from point A to point B within our bodies.

In an ideal world, traffic would be free flowing in all directions without any issue, but sometimes we can get a traffic jam at a particular exit (chakra) or nadi, which can disrupt the entire system. A few common signs of a chakra imbalance include fatigue, feeling “off,” anxiety, irritability, moodiness, aches and pain in the body, and an inability to focus. Although a chakra or energetic imbalance isn’t uncommon, it can be unpleasant, and there are many ways you can bring balance and harmony to the energetic highway within you.

Common balancing practices include yoga postures, pranayama practice, acupuncture, reiki or energy work, cupping, sound baths, and chakra meditation focusing on the name or color of each chakra. In their own unique ways, each of these modalities stimulate, balance, and bring harmony to the chakras, nadis, and the prana flowing through you. So maybe the next time you practice pranayama or yoga, focus on this energetic highway, or find a local sound bath or community acupuncture space to cultivate balance within your energetic highway. +

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

CHAIR YOGA: Accessible Yoga

a yoga practice by adapting yoga poses around their specific injury.

•

for Everyone

OFFICE WORKERS: Sitting at a desk all day can create tension in the neck, shoulders, and back. Taking a short yoga break right at your desk can not only help alleviate pain and tension, but also reduce anxiety and work-related stress.

As a reminder, be sure to check with a healthcare professional before starting a movement practice when dealing with chronic conditions or injuries.

MARY MCCALLUM (SHE/HER)

What do I need for Chair Yoga?

I

n my six years as a yoga instructor, my absolute favorite class to teach is chair yoga. I am so thrilled to see chair yoga growing in popularity as a practice where the benefits of yoga can be accessible to everyone regardless of age, size, or ability.

Who is chair yoga for?

Everyone can benefit from chair yoga! However, certain groups of people may find it more accessible than a traditional mat-based practice.

•

INDIVIDUALS WITH CHRONIC CONDITIONS AND LIMITED MOBILITY: Practicing seated yoga poses or using a chair for support can make a yoga practice more accessible for those who experience difficulty getting up and down off of the floor, or struggle with balance and stability while standing.

•

PEOPLE WITH INJURIES: Chair yoga offers the opportunity for those who want to start or continue

What is chair yoga?

Chair yoga is yoga practiced while seated in a chair or using a chair for support. Most yoga poses can be adapted using a chair and provide great benefits such as increased flexibility and mobility, improved balance and strength, and decreased stress and anxiety.

OGA CHAIRt Y Guide

A sturdy chair without wheels or arms placed on a non-slippery surface is recommended for chair yoga. If the chair is on a hardwood floor, for example, you may want to place the chair on a yoga mat so it does not slide around on you. If your feet don’t quite touch the floor, place a blanket, blocks, or a bolster underneath your feet for support.

You don’t need a lot of room or a dedicated space to practice chair yoga.

In fact, you can practice anywhere you can sit: at your desk, waiting in the airport, or on a park bench. With endless options, don’t be afraid to get creative with your practice! +

The

Pocke

The

CHAIR YOGA Pocket Guide www.creatingwellnessfromwithin.com/book

Due out April 2023 llmer azine Amy Ze Life Mag YOGA + hief MN

Editor-in-c

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

TRY THIS 5-MINUTE CHAIR YOGA PRACTICE

1 SEATED MOUNTAIN POSE:

Start with both feet grounded on the floor. Sit tall and relax your shoulders away from your ears.

Relax your arms and hands in your lap. Close your eyes or soften your gaze. Take 5 deep breaths.

2 SEATED CAT / COW: On your inhale, arch your back, lift your chest and chin, and look up (cow pose). On the exhale, round the back bringing your chin towards your chest (cat pose). Repeat for 5 breaths.

4 DOWNWARD FACING DOG WITH CHAIR: Stand behind your chair with 3

SEATED FIGURE-4 STRETCH: Cross your right ankle over your left knee and flex your right foot. Take 5 breaths.

Repeat on the opposite side.

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your hands on the back of the chair for support. Start to walk backward and hinge forward at the hips. Extend your arms and relax your head and neck in between your biceps.

Conclude your practice by sitting back in your chair and returning to seated mountain pose. Close your eyes or soften your gaze, noticing the sensations in your body. When ready, slowly blink your eyes open. +

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

BY MIRIAM HANSON (SHE/HER)

THE YOGA VITAMINS “The [yoga] vitamins walk us through a clear evolution of our psychological immune system to thrive in the healthy and pure involution of going back to ourselves, our birthright.”

T

he bad news: enlightenment does not come easy. The good news: the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a step-bystep guidebook, can get us there. In particular, Sutra 1:20 outlines what Mr. B.K.S. Iyengar describes as the yoga “vitamins” to fortify ourselves for the diligent practice of disrupting the deep whirling vortices of self-defeating and self-limiting beliefs. The vitamins walk us through a clear evolution of our psychological immune system to thrive in the healthy and pure involution of going back to ourselves, our birthright.

Sutra 1:20 Shraddha Virya Smriti Samadhi Prajna Purva Ka itar esam: Faith, courage, memory, consistent integration, and inherent wisdom precede wholeness.

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SHRADDHA Shraddha, from shrat (to assure, truth) and dha (to adhere, that which holds truth) classically translates to faith.

This is the faith of deep belief in yourself and what you do, a trust and conviction sattvic in nature: steady, sure, stable.

This devotion is an action, a practice of continuously recommitting.

“Courage is necessary to ask the hard questions, to examine self-defeating behaviors, and to shift into the right gear for the terrain ahead.”

In order to embark fully on the transformation offered by the practice of yoga, Patanjali implores one must build all on this bedrock of faith. We may struggle immensely with even this first step — we doubt, we hurt in the wounds of unresolved trauma, we grow preoccupied with all the demands of simply living in this attention-grabbing world. Faith here involves the choice to ardently believe there is another way.

VIRYA From this trust springs confidence and wholeheartedness, the fertile grounds for the second attitude. Virya — the courage of one acting with deep conviction. If faith is the food, virya is the energy and vitality powered by the sustenance of shraddha. The twin pillars

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

“In continuous integration, we learn to process trauma, to release stuck stress, to identify unhealthy patterns of thinking, behavior, and movement; and to be awake and alive in our wholeness.”

of shraddha together with virya build a scaffolding of resolute behavior and fortified power of action to change.

Courage is necessary to ask the hard questions, to examine selfdefeating behaviors, and to shift into the right gear for the terrain ahead.

Courage rises up to defeat doubt.

Strengthen the tenacity to back up your faith out in the world when the same patterns assert themselves over and over again. Energize to be accountable, to course-correct again and again, and build the momentum necessary to keep taking the high road.

SMRTI The third vitamin reinforces this momentum as it builds. Smrti — the remembrance or repeated recollection of the devotion to involution. In daily distractions, one can so easily lose the thread. The discipline keeping the needle threaded, smrti mindfully connects each moment as it comes to the greater vision. Smrti also encompasses the remembrance of

the lineage of realized beings and of ancestors who conspired to deliver you to this moment in time.

In one practice of Atma Tattva Avalokanam, the very first thing we do upon waking is turn back inward to pause and remember our true essence or that-ness. We listen to the unstruck anahata and go forward into the day vibrant in this remembrance of Self. We might refresh this connection throughout the day so as not to forget in the myriad of distractions.

SAMADHI The more consistently we remember, the closer we get to living in the fourth vitamin: Samadhi, consistent integration.

Given enormous significance as an entire limb of the Ashtanga Yoga system, samadhi is the experience of concentration continuously practiced as a meditation of living.

We wholeheartedly embrace our lives and do not banish any aspect or close ourselves off from integrating even great adversity. In continuous integration, we learn to process trauma, to release stuck stress, to identify unhealthy patterns of thinking, behavior, and movement; and to be awake and alive in our wholeness, or the fifth realization.

PRAJNA Prajna means inherent wisdom. We so easily trust ourselves last. We share every meme published by others as if they hold authority on our own life

experiences. Your personal mememaker, prajna holds the knowledge and authority you bring forth out of your experience and expertise as a human being.

The discriminative knowledge revealed from the fertile ground fortified by the yoga vitamins, you can trust this discernment because it comes purely and directly out of you. It contains within it the relief of coming back to your Self, and in so doing loosening attachments and aversions of your former suffering person.

Through this evolution of establishing our faith, courage, remembrance, consistent integration, and inherent wisdom, we return to the involution of inner awareness. Patanjali, per usual, describes a tangible process to fortify ourselves for the work of freedom from the distortions obscuring our wholeness. As the Dalai Lama teaches: “Naturally arisen innermost awareness naturally exists within you; it is naturally there, not newly generated or constructed by superficial conditions.” Patanjali would agree. +

“Through this evolution of establishing our faith, courage, remembrance, consistent integration, and inherent wisdom, we return to the involution of inner awareness.”

SUTRA 1:20

Shraddha Virya Smriti Samadhi Prajna Purva Ka itar esam: Faith, courage, memory, consistent integration, and inherent wisdom precede wholeness.

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

SPRING CLEAN YOUR MIND with this Guided Meditation

BY KELLY SMITH (SHE/HER)

W

ith spring around the corner and winter soon to be a distant memory, it is the perfect time to think about spring cleaning and new beginnings – not just in your space, but in your mind. Each season serves its purpose, with winter being the time of darkness, death, and rest before the new awakening and energetic rebirth of spring. As we move into spring, we feel ready to spark our energy, clear our

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minds, and welcome new beginnings.

No matter how you refresh, you will want to make sure you clear your mind and take time to meditate, ground, and spring clean.

No matter if you are new to meditation or you’ve been doing it for years, spring is the perfect time to mentally refresh with this meditation.

With people thinking an average of 70,000 thoughts per day, it is important to remain present with your thoughts, do an audit of what you think, and release those old, limiting thoughts and beliefs that will not serve you as you start your new beginning. Suitable for all levels, you won’t need any props for this practice, designed to help you release the old and energetically cleanse.

Find a place free from distractions where you can quietly meditate for about ten minutes. Begin this practice by coming to a comfortable position, either seated or lying down indoors or outdoors. Close your eyes if that feels good to you and begin by taking 3 deep cleansing breaths. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Do this two more times.

Now begin settling into stillness, allowing yourself to slow down and turn inward. Focus your awareness on your effortless breath gliding in and out of your body at the nose. Connect with your breath, and feel its melody as it flows in and out. Allow the melody to meet the percussion of your beating heart. Together, your breath and your heartbeat create a symphony of your vitality — a song you and only you get to

experience because you are here, you are alive, and you are present.

Take a few moments to experience your lifeforce, your breath and heart dancing together as you observe them both. Allow yourself to move deeper inward with each passing moment, journeying towards your true center.

In your mind’s eye, imagine roots growing down from all of the points of contact between you and the surface beneath you. See these roots growing down from the body, through the floor, and into the earth. Watch your roots grow deep and wide, anchoring and grounding you. As you inhale, feel the new, fresh energy of the earth being pulled into your body through those roots, and as you exhale, feel yourself releasing all of the old, stagnant energy you no longer need.

Continue to breathe with the inhale bringing in fresh, new energy, and the exhale releasing any old, stagnant winter energy from your body. Do this for several minutes, feeling your connection to the earth beneath you, and with each breath cycle feeling more alive and more vital, like a slate being wiped clean.

Close your meditation by taking 3 more deep cleansing breaths and telling yourself three times’ “My mind is clear, my heart is open, and I am ready to begin again”. *A note about this practice: if you are able to go outside and practice this meditation in nature, you may find it helps you welcome in that new, fresh spring energy. +

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

ELEVATE YOUR

1. GET GROUNDED: Child’s Pose (Balasana) Visualize what you want for your future and feel yourself in it as if it’s already happening now. Imagine what your life will be like when you live the new evolved existence you want for yourself.

EVOLUTION

2. LOOSEN UP ENERGY:

With Yoga

1

EXHALE

3

6

2

4

7

Seated Gentle Twist Move slowly into the twist and hold while you feel any trapped or stagnant emotions or past trauma begin to loosen and move.

INHALE

3

5

8

BY KRISTEN BROWN (SHE/HER)

E

volution is an exciting but often stressful process. When you change and grow, it requires letting go of past patterns to create a new path forward.

This can be challenging and sometimes painful as you force yourself to release things that don’t serve you to create a new reality.

During times of change your body, mind, and spirit often enter a state of flight or fight as the stress of a new situation pushes you out of your comfort zone. This requires gentle and deep work so as not to add extra cortisol and stress chemicals to your already stressed body and brain.

Rather than power yoga or high intensity cardio, treat your body to a Yin yoga class or simply use traditional yoga poses, doing longer holds to allow the body to rest and release the emotions held within. To amplify the process you can add intention-setting power stones or aromatherapy to your practice.

Try this sequence to give your body the gentle love it needs to evolve to your next level. Hold each pose for at least 3-5 minutes per side or longer for deeper release.

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3. EASE INTO YOUR FLOW: Cat/Cow (Marjaryasana Bitilasana) As you move between the two, envision old or unnecessary energy coming to the surface and getting ready to move out.

4. DEEPLY RELEASE TRAPPED GUNK: Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana) As you relax into the pose, feel inside your body and notice where the old gunk gets stuck. Imagine a white light magnifying those areas and then dissolving those toxic chords and energetic blockages.

5. GIVE YOURSELF A HUG: Knees to Chest (Apanasana) Show yourself some deep love for being brave and releasing those old emotions that don’t serve you. You are worthy and deserving of everything you want, and now you have the energetic space to make it happen.

6. WELCOME THE NEW: Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani) Imagine that vision of what you want entering your life and becoming real. Feel it filling up all the new open space in your body, mind, and spirit. You are evolving in real time!

7. CELEBRATE YOU: Happy Baby (Ananda Balasana) Smile big! Laugh out loud! You are awesome! You are amazing! The life you want is yours for the taking and you now have room for it. Yay YOU!!

8. RELAX INTO THE NEW YOU: Savasana

Rest and receive the new energy and opportunities coming to your newly evolved you! +

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

YOGA THERAPY FOR

HAPPY HIPS + HAMMIES

BY MEGHAN FOLEY (SHE/HER)

I

n ten years of teaching yoga, whenever I ask students for requests of areas of the body to tend to, they consistently ask for hips and hamstrings. In an overly sedentary world, our hips and hamstrings fall into great discomfort. It is common yet not normal to sit on the sacrum, this over time leads to short, tight hamstrings and ineffective glutes.

Through the yoga therapy lens, pain, tightness, and discomfort can motivate first steps in rebuilding awareness and compassion. Everything connects in the body, and nothing works in isolation.

When one part of the body feels strain, oftentimes another part is being underutilized. Instead of labeling parts of the body as “good” or “bad,” I look for the underlying reason why a particular area feels discomfort or strain. As John Muir says, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.”

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The word “pelvis” means “basin” or “container” in Latin. It creates the foundation upon which our spine emerges. The core works most efficiently with the pelvis in a neutral position. Subtleties in pelvic alignment can profoundly affect our anatomy above and below. In my yoga therapy work, almost every time I encounter someone with tight hips, a tight, clenched jaw is also present and vice versa. Healthy hips and hamstrings are the key to happy knees, ankles, feet, pelvic floor, and breath.

The pelvis often experiences imbalances based on our posture. The quadriceps and hamstrings act like a pulley system on the pelvis, pulling on either the front of the pelvis or the back, causing strain when not in collaboration.

The quadriceps are a group of four muscles on the front of the thigh, flexing the hip and extending (straightening) the knee. The hamstrings are a group of muscles on the back of the thigh, extending the hip and flexing (bending) the knee. Both the hamstrings and the

quads tend to be both weak and tight in many bodies. The goal is not to just become more flexible. The happiest, healthiest joints are both mobile and stable. Whenever you want to release a tight muscle, it likely needs strength as well.

Incorporating healthy functional patterns into the body can feel like learning a new language with moments of shakiness, uncertainty, awkwardness, and discomfort. Be patient and compassionate with yourself as you reintroduce more functional movement.

The lower body is the Yin region, governed by lunar, feminine, earth, and water elements. It is our foundation, closest to the earth. The more time, energy, and care we spend realigning ourselves with the earth in both subtle and tangible ways, the more ease we can reincorporate into our bodies and lives. As my mentor and esteemed teacher Leslie Howard says, “Anatomical knowledge is power.” +

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HEALTHY HIPS & HAMMIES PROTOCOL Props are your friends. The mantra is “No pain, MOST gain.”

1. Love Your Feet Deep fascial and subtle energy pathways begin in the feet, extending up the backs of the legs.

Rolling out the feet with tennis balls can release tightness contributing to restricted hamstrings. Pick things up with your feet, walk barefoot, massage your feet nightly with oil, walk on uneven surfaces, and move your feet in a variety of ways daily.

2. Engage Your Quads Flex the opposite muscle of the one you’re stretching (ex. engage the quads when stretching the hamstrings in forward fold). Look at your knees in forward folds and

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lift the knee caps by engaging your quads. Notice if the knee lifts straight up or tracks to the side.

3. Engage Your Glutes Move slower and hold yoga postures, allowing time to engage the glutes anytime you hold one leg behind you in hip extension.

Disengaged glutes in one legged poses or backbends can put unnecessary strain on the low back and hamstrings. Incorporate your glutes in everyday actions like walking and standing after sitting.

4. Maintain Pelvic Neutrality Sit on your sitting bones! They are meant for sitting. Practice sitting on the edge of a chair, without

leaning back. Keep both feet on the floor and stack your shoulders over your hips. Tipping the pelvis excessively forward (anterior tilt) or backward (sacrum sitting in a posterior tilt) can lead to discomfort and postural imbalance. Neutralize the pelvis when seated, lying down, and standing.

5. Embrace a Variety of Movement Try different types of movements every day. Stay hydrated and lubricate the joints with oil massage and a diet rich in healthy fats. Move your body at least 5 minutes every hour. Take at least 10 conscious breaths per day, and send a love note to your body for all it does for you. +

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

COMBATTING THE MYTH of Inevitable Pain with Age

BY ROISIN THOMPSON, L.AC. (SHE/HER)

O

ften in my practice I encounter the phrase, “It’s because I’m getting older.” Creaky knees, back tweaks every time you shovel, an inability to get comfortable no matter how you sit: we hold these up as proof we cannot escape the ravages of time.

The body does change as we age; a reality we can’t deny. But there are ways to prevent, mitigate, and even correct pain patterns appearing in the later phases of our lives.

Movement Strategies Newton was correct about more than just physics. A HUMAN body in motion will also stay in motion. If we want our bodies to continue to work well, we must use them on a daily basis.

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Gyrokinesis Gyrokinesis, a practice with many similarities to yoga, combines movement with breath to calm the nervous system. Accessible to various levels, ages, and abilities, it can be done with minimal equipment. Increasing body awareness in space, gyrokinesis maintains a strong focus on working through the spine, lengthening it through rhythmic movements.

Postural Corrective Exercises Postural Corrective Exercises are also useful tools as we age. We spend time sitting or standing without support, and our low back sags and aches. Our heads tilt forward from computer use or long commutes. Over time these

positions become our daily stances, which aggravates the pain issues accompanying them. Learning which muscles to strengthen and which to stretch, as well as simple movements supporting healthy posture patterns, can be of great benefit to a body in need of a little correction.

The Egoscue Method The Egoscue method is a good postural exercise option, or you can just ask your neighborhood sports medicine acupuncturist! The important part is to keep moving and accept that you may need to learn new ways of moving, adding strategies to your daily workouts to accommodate the way your body changes with age.

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

Treatment Strategies

Breathwork + Meditation

Sometimes we let aches and pains stay around too long before we try to correct them, and we need help getting back to our baseline.

Different types of breathwork have been emerging to help with this. It’s becoming quite a broad field, ranging from simple box breathing for general anxiety to a Qi Gong practice called “Huff and Puff,” used to help release stored emotions. Meditation practices also help in this way, emphasizing nose breathing and slower breaths, both which tend to calm the nervous system.

Working with the breath can free old tensions held in the body, but they can also benefit us if we use them when an emotionally disturbing event occurs.

If we can steer towards balance in the moment, we can reduce how much that event affects us down the line.

Atlas Orthogonal Chiropractic One newer option for spinal health is Atlas Orthogonal chiropractic. Atlas Orthogonal work focuses on the balance between your top vertebrae and the base of your skull. Every vertebrae in your spine connects to the piece above and below it. If the very first piece is off at the top, the effects can be felt all the way down. This specialized approach can aid chronic hip and low back issues, alleviate headaches, increase proper circulation to the face, and sometimes reduce blood pressure.

Orthopedic or Sports Medicine Acupuncture Another specialty to consider is orthopedic or sports medicine acupuncture. These practitioners go through additional training to be able to assess and treat musculoskeletal imbalances, injuries, and the effects of those chronic postural issues. Often well versed in accompanying manual therapies (massage, fascial therapies, and cupping), they provide a view of how the entire body works together while also addressing your overall wellness.

Quantum Neuro Reset Therapy Quantum Neuro Reset Therapy (QNRT) is an option when an experience becomes embedded in our nervous systems, affecting our behaviors, our mood, or our health. It works to reset the brain to produce healthier responses to certain stimuli, recalibrating patterns ingrained when we undergo specific stresses or adverse

“Many options in movement, treatment, and mental health strategies can help us age without the assumption of accepting all pain coming our way. It may take a little experimentation, but it’s worth the effort to stay healthy and mobile through our later chapters.”

life events. I think of it as a wacky cousin to Brainspotting or EMDR. They can all be helpful when trying to clear subconscious hurdles to our health.

Many options in movement, treatment, and mental health strategies can help us age without the assumption of accepting all pain coming our way.

It may take a little experimentation, but it’s worth the effort to stay healthy and mobile through our later chapters. +

Mental Strategies We continue to learn more about how strongly our emotional lives, our experiences, and our bodies entwine.

Whether it’s an old accident, an emotional wound, or a shocking event, we can store those experiences in our bodies as well as our minds. The resulting tension can cause very real physical pain.

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

SUBTLE BODY SCIENCE

Guided by Intuition

BY SHANTI KRISHNA (SHE/HER)

A

little hand gently grabs mine, a subtle ask for guidance through the busy surroundings. As we thoughtfully move in unison, the opposite little hand glides its fingertips along the way, feeling what we pass by and gracefully flowing with trust, ease, and a surrender to the guidance received.

When I found out my daughter was blind at 2 months old, I knew I was in for a profound teaching in life and felt honored to to be chosen as her mother.

To witness her exploring and navigating her environment with subtle energetic perception and light vision, and feeling into spaces she encountered with touch, sound, authentic curiosity, and fearlessness was awakening and admirable.

Years later, through kundalini yogic teachings, I began to discover the science of the subtle body — our ability

38

”[T]hrough kundalini yogic teachings, I began to discover the science of the subtle body — our ability to sense and perceive the infinite and universal reality within the material and physical realm.”

to sense and perceive the infinite and universal reality within the material and physical realm. It became clearer to me what it meant to embody an intuitive essence and how my daughter could move with such grace and flow, regardless of her limited vision.

As taught in kundalini yoga, ten bodies make up the human: the physical body, three mental bodies, and six energy bodies. The subtle body, the

ninth body and one of the six energy bodies, moves beyond what we can see and feel and allows us to flow with divine guidance. Calmness, clarity, and intuition are the embodiments of a balanced subtle body.

With this subtle body balance, you gain the superhuman ability to witness your surroundings with a vivid and open-minded perspective, a deeper sense of understanding, and a trust in

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YOGA + MOVEMENT the flow of life. Guided by a strong inner knowing, you see the bigger picture of a situation and receive the subtle teachings of a perceived obstacle. You see beyond the immediate realities of your current life and master the nuances.

I believe, like many children, my daughter was born with a strong subtle body, which allows her to navigate the world with a developed intuitive guidance system, giving her a sense of assurance as she moves through the unknown.

Most adults have underdeveloped subtle bodies, as it’s not something widely understood nor routinely strengthened. When the subtle body falls out of balance, one may find themself acting naive, becoming restless in their skin, growing easily frustrated by challenges, and feeling misunderstood. When we develop it, we can counter those tendencies and more efficiently evolve into our highest potential in this lifetime.

To be awoken by the innocence of a small child, who tuned out the noise of the modern world and learned the language of intuition to navigate through it, reminded me to embrace my own subtle body and awaken to the guidance from within. +

“With this subtle body balance, you gain the superhuman ability to witness your surroundings with a vivid and open-minded perspective, a deeper sense of understanding, and a trust in the flow of life.”

KUNDALINI KRIYA:

Clarify the Subtle Body This kriya works to strengthen the subtle body, which influences both your ability to receive intuitive information and the power of the information you send out. In addition, it gives you a bright and shining countenance.

Posture & Mudra: Sit in Easy Pose with a straight spine, chin in and chest out. Place your arms down by your sides, palms facing up, without touching the floor. Move your arms upward from this position, bringing your palms to overlap each other a few inches above your head, with the left palm lying flat on top of the back of the right hand. The thumbs should not touch. Your arms should make an arc around your head to match your arcline. Then return your arms to the starting position.

Mantra, Movement, + Breath: The movement of this kriya is best done to the rhythm of the Tantric Har mantra recording by Simran & GuruPrem found on music streaming services. Make an “O” of your mouth. Inhale through the mouth as you raise your hands overhead on “Har.” On the next “Har,” exhale through the “O” mouth and lower your hands back to the starting position.

Continue moving rhythmically with the chant. Use the navel point and diaphragm to powerfully exhale as you bring your arms down. Keep the inhalation and exhalation of equal force and power.

Duration: Aim to start with 11 minutes. When you can do 11 minutes correctly without spacing out, you can extend your practice to 22 minutes. After much practice, the maximum time for this meditation is 33 minutes.

To End: Interlace your hands over your head with your elbows straight. Inhale and hold your breath for 10-15 seconds as you actively stretch your body all around without letting go of the hands. Stretch as much of your body as you can. Exhale. Repeat this sequence two more times. +

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

TURN UP YOUR VOICE!

BY MEGHAN HATALLA (SHE/HER) “Your voice is so low and melodious, I just kind of tuned out.”

“I love what you’re saying, but I can’t hear it.”

“SPEAK UP!”

T

he last note is from my dad, but it’s a refrain I’ve heard many times from many people, in many instances.

Yet I still struggle to notice when my voice gets softer. From what I’ve observed in yoga classes, I’m not the only one.

For group fitness instructors, yoga and meditation teachers, or anyone who speaks in a forum-type atmosphere, finding a consistent range of vocal volume with efficient prompts forms

40

the bedrock of effective instruction.

This isn’t a recommendation to simply speak in a loud monotone throughout the class; it’s a reminder that everyone, from the seasoned to the green, can enhance clarity in their cues.

How aware are you of your vocal volume when teaching? Or what other factors might affect your student’s ability to understand you?

Try recording your next class or session.

Put your phone or device down in one spot. Listen to it afterward (yes, I know, this might be the most painful part of the whole exercise as no one likes listening to their own voice!), and note any of the following tendencies:

• Can you clearly

hear everything?

If you can hear your voice wavering in and out from the point where you placed your recording

device, you can bet your students experience the same thing.

Myriad pieces of advice out there tell you how to increase volume in the studio. The basics come down to taking the time to breathe deeply, avoid strain, stay hydrated, and find a slow, steady cadence.

“[Take] the time to breathe deeply, avoid strain, stay hydrated, and find a slow, steady cadence.”

• Are you over or under enunciating?

Our voices naturally go up and down, but sometimes instructors will exaggerate the emphasis on some words (IN-hale, EX-hale, MAN-tra), which can be distracting.

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YOGA + MOVEMENT If you can hear yourself doing this, tune into why this happens. For some folks, it’s about breath rhythm or increasing diaphragm strength.

Inhale deeply, like you’re literally filling up the entirety of your chest.

Hold for a count of four or five, and then exhale for a count of seven or more. Feel the air coming out, deflating your belly. This helps train you to speak from an “expansive area,” as voice coaches call it, resulting in a more measured tone.

“Becoming comfortable with moments of silence is necessary. You don’t have to offer constant refinements or encouragement.”

• Are you using filler words?

Ah, the comfort of filler words.

In normal speech, filler words include “um, hmm,” and so on.

For a yoga instructor, it includes infusing straightforward cues with qualifiers and adjectives. Are you asking students to gently inhale, prefacing postures with “I want

you to … ,” or punctuating your classes with “great!” or “good!”?

Becoming comfortable with moments of silence is necessary. You don’t have to offer constant refinements or encouragement. Many people struggle with removing filler words from their vocabulary. When you feel the impulse to use a filler word or phrase, try taking a full breath in and out. Is it worth saying?

• Are you slurring?

Slurring is starting off a cue or a sentence strongly but then trailing off toward the end. Your students or audience will hear the first few words clearly but struggle to hear or understand the rest.

Try talking to yourself while driving, doing laundry, or anything allowing you to effectively multi-task. Pay attention to your sentences and if you’re maintaining the same volume (or intentionally lowering/increasing if appropriate). If you’re slurring due to running out of breath, try to speak slower, take more breaths, and relax.

The goal of each of these exercises is to move from a state of unconscious incompetence—the place where we don’t realize what we’re doing—to

unconscious competence, where we can speak well without thinking too much about it. But the steps in between conscious incompetence (where we’re painfully aware of everything wrong) to conscious competence (where you’re aware you’re fixing your issues) can be painful. Give yourself the grace to be yourself but accept it won’t always be perfect. This will lead to feeling heard, emotionally and literally.

Good news for those who need to increase vocal volume: naturally loud and clear speakers can have a hard time modulating their voices between loud and soft, which comes more naturally to us soft-toned folks. Our voices have their own desirable qualities, like being low, melodious, and captivating. Just make sure your audience can enjoy these qualities, too. +

“For group fitness instructors, yoga and meditation teachers, or anyone who speaks in a forum-type atmosphere, finding a consistent range of vocal volume with efficient prompts forms the bedrock of effective instruction.”

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

RECLAIM YOUR ATTENTION

BY MATTHEW TIFT (HE/HIM)

W

e live in a world where human attention is a high-value commodity.

Innumerable notifications, dings, and vibrations compete for our attention. Our ability to stay focused has decreased. Humans now have a shorter attention span than goldfish.

Our problems are not especially new. For a long time, people struggled with attention. Fortunately, a significant body of research confirms what yogis knew for thousands of years: yoga improves concentration.

Patanjali famously states the purpose of yoga is to still the changing

42

states of the mind (yogas chitta vritti nirodha). His Yoga Sutras offer practical advice for your spiritual journey, and a necessary aspect of the journey includes reclaiming your attention.

1 Awareness of physical objects (vitarka)

2 Reflection on the subtle aspects of the objects (vichara)

3 Bliss (ananda) 4 Absorption with the sense of individuality (asmita)

For instance, with a mantra as your object of focus, the four stages of experience could be:

1 You hear the sounds of the mantra 2 You reflect on the subtleties of the sounds after repeating the mantra

Four Pillars

3 You feel a deep sense of joy or bliss 4 You move from feeling “I am

In yoga communities, one of the most popular methods involves calming the mind to focus on a “meditation object,” such as the breath, a candle flame, or a mantra. These meditation objects support the early stages of the journey. In his system of yoga, often described as “classical yoga,” Patanjali describes four mental states we might experience along the path:

Getting beyond the first or second stage can pose a significant challenge.

However, for some people those feelings of deep bliss provide motivation to keep doing yoga.

Patanjali’s advice works not just in yoga classes but also outside the studio.

We won’t get far along the path if we bliss out during yoga class then act in a

blissful” to a state of “I am”

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vindictive or hateful way the rest of the day. In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali offers numerous suggestions to help focus and calm the mind (citta prasadanam). I find these practices the most beneficial:

Chanting Patanjali says repetition ( japa) of the sound “OM” leads to freedom from all disturbances. The sound OM is believed to encompass the sound of the entire universe. Studies confirm that chanting, practiced in almost every culture, can boost attention.

With a doctorate in music, I’m drawn to this suggestion because it involves sound. In my yoga classes, people seem less hesitant to chant when I play my harmonium. But anyone can chant OM and you cannot really do it wrong.

Four Immeasurables To focus the mind, Patanjali recommends cultivating lovingkindness (maitri), compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy (mudita), and equanimity (upeksa). This list corresponds exactly with the four divine

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abodes (brahma viharas) recommended by the Buddha. These practices are not for “getting rid of distraction.” Rather, these four immeasurables allow us to focus the mind in a beneficial way.

Loving-kindness is a practice of directing goodwill to all people, without exception. One of the most popular and beneficial forms of meditation, people practice loving-kindness with phrases such as, “May I be well, healthy, and peaceful.”

Compassion is loving-kindness for those who are suffering. Sympathetic joy is loving-kindness for those who are happy. Equanimity is not indifference, but rather a stability of mind in all circumstances. We can practice equanimity using phrases like, “this moment is perfect, whole, and complete.”

Breathwork According to Patanjali, stability of mind can also be gained by controlling the breath (pranayama). We find most of the staple pranayama of the modern yoga class – such as dirgha,

ujjayi, nadi shodhana, anuloma viloma, kapalabhati, and bhastrika – in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Because Patanjali does not provide a lot of details, many yogis view the Hatha Yoga Pradipika as a “how-to manual” for Patanjali’s recommendations.

Whatever Works These practices represent a tiny sample of what Patanjali offers. His intentionally flexible system teaches that “steadiness of the mind is attained from meditation upon anything of one’s inclination.” Patanjali provides the base and each of us fills in the details.

For example, I experience a special sweetness chanting with my harmonium compared to chanting unaccompanied.

Through practice we discover what works. I found that as I incorporate more of Patanjali’s teaching in my life, I feel more focused, calm, and happy.

My motivation comes less from reading Patanjali and more from experiencing the benefits of living according to his teachings. I encourage you to try these practices in your yoga classes and your life. +

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YOGA + MOVEMENT

REVOLVE TO EVOLVE

W

ith both uplifting and grounding qualities, twisting practices are unique. They can help with our digestion and assimilation of not only the food we eat, but also the information we consume. Twisting poses tonify the kidneys as well.

The lateral postures preceding the twists make excellent preparation to gain more length in the spine, more spaciousness between the vertebrae

44

and in the rib cage, and more access to deeper breathing. Remember to lengthen the side body before twisting, and never sacrifice breath for depth in any posture. If you feel spiritually disconnected, a twisting practice comes highly recommended.

Twisting conveys the spiritual essence of life. We revolve in this practice through stabilizing and rotating; as one part of our body anchors, another moves freely. This serves as a

BY BETSY WEINER (SHE/HER)

physical reminder to stay grounded and leave room for growth and expansion; we need both to evolve. Meditation for this practice is navel centered; focus your awareness of breath at the belly for 3-10 minutes post practice. +

“Twisting conveys the spiritual essence of life.”

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REVOLVE TO EVOLVE PRACTICE: Hold each pose for 5-10 breaths and make sure you attend to both sides in the asymmetrical poses.

Feel free to modify as needed and as always, practice on an empty stomach for the most comfortable experience. Generally speaking, inhale when arms lift or extend, exhale when folding forward or twisting.

1.

9.

Easy pose

2.

Easy pose arms extended

3.

Lateral stretch right

4.

Easy pose arms extended

5.

Lateral stretch left

6.

Easy pose arms extended

7.

Table top pose

8.

Downward dog

10.

Low lunge (right leg)

11.

Pyramid pose

12.

Low lunge

13.

Low lunge with twist (left elbow to right knee)

14.

Downward dog (repeat 9-13 with left leg)

15.

Mountain pose

16.

Arms extended

17.

Plank

18.

Up dog (or cobra)

19.

Downward dog

20.

Warrior II (right leg)

21.

Side angle (repeat 19-21 with left leg)

22.

Wide legged stance

23.

Wide legged forward fold with twist (R arm down then L arm)

24.

Mountain pose

25.

Warrior I (right leg)

26.

Warrior III

27.

Revolved Half Moon

28.

Mountain Pose (repeat 24-26 on left leg)

29.

Puppy dog pose

30.

Child’s pose

31.

Seated twist — right side

32.

Seated twist — left side

33.

Forward fold

34.

Rest on back

35.

Knees to chest

36.

Bridge pose

37.

38.

39.

Reclining twist Reclining twist Savasana (both legs (both legs together, right) together, left)

Downward dog with right leg lifted

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40.

Meditation

45

CONFERENCE

EVOLVE 2023

April 15 + 16 • Eagan, MN NOURISH

•

GROW

•

BLOOM

www.mnyogaconference.com PRESENTED BY:

Amy Zellmer Welcome!

Saturday, April 15, 8:30

Closing Remarks + Giveaways Sunday, April 16, 4:30

Kristen Brown Opening Keynote: Energy Now! Saturday, April 15, 8:45

Jennifer Grubba Bhakti Flow

Saturday, April 15, 10:30

Crystal Knakmuhs Getting Down to the Core of Yoga Saturday, April 15, 10:30

SPONSORS:

Danielle Jokinen Find Freedom Now

Saturday, April 15, 10:30

Laura Adrian Navigating the Wilderness of Emotions Saturday, April 15, 1:00

Pati Richards Myths, Mantra, & Music Saturday, April 15, 1:00

Allissa Obler Channeling Your Inner Wisdom Saturday, April 15, 1:00

Liana Dang Intro to SomaYoga Therapeutic Poses Saturday, April 15, 2:30

46

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CONFERENCE

Nique (Q) Belleville

Connor T. Johnson

Self-care, what?

The Power of Pause

Tanya Rice

Suzy Schaak

Universal Consciousness: Energy Can Heal

Stand In Your Truth

Mary McCallum

Marie Nutter

Body Positive Yoga

Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga & Meditation

Saturday, April 15, 2:30

Saturday, April 15, 2:30

Saturday, April 15, 4:00

Tracy Vacura + Shelley Pagitt Hands On Support While Teaching Yoga Saturday, April 15, 4:00

Hilary Patzer The Power of Acupuncture Saturday, April 15, 4:00

Kelly Smith Chakra Clearing + Balancing Sound Meditation Saturday, April 15, 5:15

Jennifer Gray Cultivating Soul Traits Saturday, April 15, 5:15

Cortney Franklin Turning Passion into Prosperity Saturday, April 15, 5:15

Ted E. Roseen Hips, Hammies & Happiness Sunday, April 16, 8:30

Sunday, April 16, 10:00

Sunday, April 16, 10:00

Sunday, April 16, 11:15

Elisabeth Pletcher Guiding Mixed Level Body Positive Yoga Sunday, April 16, 11:15

Kamie Slegers The Four Pillars of Ayurveda Sunday, April 16, 11:15

Anabelle Lefevre Finding Your Balance Sunday, April 16, 1:30

Jessica Hoch Crystal Energy & Light Within Sunday, April 16, 1:30

Matthew Tift Reclaim Your Attention Sunday, April 16, 2:45

Kami Kessel SomaYoga for Nourishing + Cleansing Sunday, April 16, 2:45

Christine Urish + Rachel Allen McHugh

Jennifer Monsos

Building Social Emotional Learning with At-Risk Youth

Sunday, April 16, 2:45

Yoga for Health Challenges

Sunday, April 16, 8:30

Tanya Boigenzahn Intro to Thai Yoga Bodywork Part 1 Sunday, April 16, 8:30

Jean Nitchals Closing Practice: Relax & Restore with Sound Bath & Meditation Sunday, April 16, 4:45

Intro to Thai Yoga Bodywork Part 2 Sunday, April 16, 10:00

MNYOGALIFE.COM

Continued …

47

CONFERENCE

… continued from previous page

Bringing together yogis of all levels from across Minnesota and surrounding states.

VENDORS

• Sankalpa Therapy + Wellness Center • Kirk House Publishers • NE Wellness • JADA Studios • RADIATE Activewear • Moxie Malas • Blooma Yoga • Mystic Vibes Yoga • Ignite Joy Coaching • MNIV Now • Carpe Diem CBD • Nordic Scents • An Medi-Zen • Prim + Prop • Tula Yoga + Wellness This conference will have a track for self-care (Nourish), workshops (Grow), and education (Bloom) … combining a mix of asana practices, meditation and sound bath practices, lectures, and workshops to serve the MN Yoga Community.

We hope to inspire various levels of yogis, from the beginner, to the advanced, to the yoga teacher.

FOR TICKETS + DETAILS: www.mnyogaconference.com

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49

HEALTH + WELLNESS

GOOD VIBRATIONS The Evolution of Sound Therapy

BY PAULA KECK (SHE/HER)

O

ver the past few years, sound therapy — the practice of using frequency and vibration to sooth and stabilize the nervous system—made its way into yoga studios, therapy sessions, retreats, and meditation spaces across the county. As ancient as yoga itself with deep roots in cultures around the world, the more recent understanding of the science behind sound healing garnered a new appreciation and expanded audiences.

History of Sound Therapy Tibetans have used metal singing bowls and other instruments

50

for healing for more than 2,000 years. In ancient Greece and Egypt, physicians believed the vibrations absorbed from flutes and lyres could treat and prevent medical conditions including mental disorders, indigestion, and insomnia. Beginning in the Middle Ages, cathedrals were built with bell towers, believing those acoustics would bring people closer to the Divine. Researchers began to study the correlation between music and healing toward the end of the 19th century. Today, sound therapies around the world widely use singing bowls, chimes, and other instruments.

while a variety of instruments, including singing bowls, chimes, and gongs, create layers of sounds and vibrations that help relax the nervous system and calm the mind.

Don’t expect a musical symphony when you settle in for a sound bath.

The different tones and frequencies you’ll hear don’t typically include a melody or beat the mind can hook onto like music does. Some tones may feel good as their vibration passes through you, some may feel uneasy. How and where you feel the vibration is thought to indicate where energy is moving or blocked in the body.

What is a Sound Bath?

Benefits of Sound Therapy

More recently, sound therapy sessions are often referred to as “sound baths.” Typically, you either lie or sit in a comfortable position

Multiple research studies prove the benefits of sound therapy practices. One study published

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HEALTH + WELLNESS

in SAGE Journal established that sound meditation helped improve participants’ moods, and decreased their levels of anxiety, tension, anger, and fatigue. Research credits this to the stimulation of the vagus nerve, our body’s superpower for regulating the nervous system. Sound therapy, like other meditation practices, helps to flip the switch from sympathetic response (fight or flight) to parasympathetic response (rest and digest), ushering in a sense of peace and calm.

Getting the Most Out of Your Sound Bath Experience

• Plan a gentle re-entry.

At the close of a sound bath, you may feel dreamy and relaxed, so take your time to “come out” of the sound bath. Consider attending an evening sound bath, then head home to sleep without focusing on screens or devices.

My Evolution from Yoga Teacher to Sound Therapist As a yoga instructor for the past 20 years, I often incorporated chimes and singing bowls in my classes.

Through the years, that dabbling in

sound and frequency evolved into a passion and in 2021 I became a Certified Sound Therapy & Sound Healing Practitioner. A year later, together with my sister, Lila Marquart, also certified in sound therapy, we created Soul Sister Sound Baths.

We have been blown away by the interest, as well as the impact on attendees. The beauty is even someone who never meditated before or felt comfortable in a yoga class can receive the calming effects of this collective experience: finding time to just be in community, to be still, to listen and explore their own inner world. No phones, no scrolling, just you … bathed in sound. +

Many yoga and other wellness studios offer sound bath experiences.

A simple Google or Facebook search may be your best bet for locating one near you. Sound bath tracks are available on many listening services, however, to experience the true vibrational healing effects, it’s best to attend a live in-person session.

• What to bring?

Plan to arrive early, dress comfortably, and bring a mat, blanket, pillows, etc. to create a comfortable “nest” for yourself. Also remember to come hydrated, since sound travels better through water – including a well-hydrated body.

• Set an intention.

Sound bath leaders often offer a theme or guided meditation at the start of a session to help participants find focus. If your mind starts to wander, and it will, remind yourself to use your breath and your intention as your anchors.

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HEALTH + WELLNESS

AYURVEDA

FOR CATS AND DOGS

BY LAURA WILLENBRING (SHE/HER)

A

yurveda, the science of life, has been taking care of the welfare and health of animals for thousands of years. Many of the Ayurvedic principles encouraging balance for people can also apply to our pets. It complements Western medicine for its focus on body-based harmony and imbalance prevention, as well as support during disease recovery.

Historical Reference Pashu Ayurveda, the veterinary science branch of Ayurveda, features further specialization for animals who play a significant role in the culture: Ashwa Ayurveda (for horses), Gaja Ayurveda (for elephants), Go Ayurveda (for cows), plus many more. The Shalihotra Samhita, considered the primary Ayurvedic veterinary text, includes animal focused care using principles, herbal remedies, and care practices adapted from the human side.

Other classical writings such as Charaka Samhita, the Matsya Purana, and Garuda Purana also include references to veterinary care.

Modern Day Application While a majority of the historical writings relate to animals of agricultural significance, we can still apply Ayurvedic principles to our companion animals. Understanding our pets in a state of balance (prakrit) or imbalance (vikruti) utilizing tridoshic theory offers a customized approach to wellness and supports a sattvic life.

Vata Vata dosha relates to the elements of Air and Ether. Qualities include dry, cold, light, mobile, clear, rough, irregular and subtle. Vata is the kinetic energy in the body and nervous system, and controls bodily movement. Imbalances can look like neurological disorders, vomiting, diarrhea, and anxiety conditions. Preventing imbalances might include warming cooked diets, including

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HEALTH + WELLNESS beef or pork, slowly introducing anything “new,” and interacting with your pet from an energetically grounded place.

Your Pet’s Constitution Questionnaire

Pitta Pitta dosha relates to the elements of Fire and Water. Qualities include slightly oily, hot, intense, light, fluid, sour/malodorous, mobile, and liquid.

Pitta governs digestion, absorption, assimilation, nutrition, metabolism, and body temperature. Imbalances may manifest as obsessive behaviors, fighting tendencies, or inflammatory conditions. Preventing imbalances can be accomplished by utilizing a cooling diet, such as white fish or turkey, calming practices of routine, and giving our driven pets “jobs” to do through training, sport events, and social play.

Kapha Kapha dosha relates to the elements of Water and Earth. Qualities include oily, cold, heavy, stable, viscous, smooth, and dense. Kapha controls body stability, structure, and lubrication.

Imbalances may manifest as respiratory problems, allergies, tendencies towards weight gain, and lethargy. Preventing imbalances can include exercising consistently and utilizing fiber rich foods such as cooked pumpkin or boiled sweet potato, while avoiding heavily processed foods and treats. *Questionnaires offer a snapshot into the life of your pet. Interpret with gentleness and curiosity rather than as an absolute, as pets can be affected by seasons, lunar events, weather of the day, or even the stress level of their pet parent!

By utilizing the wisdom of Ayurveda, we can make better decisions about our pet’s care. We can utilize the rich history plus modern day understandings to invite a preventive and integrative approach to pet wellness. The value of knowing and practicing Ayurveda not just for ourselves but also for our pets allows us to align with our nature to live sattvic lives full of vitality and vibrancy. +

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Whether it’s your Kapha cat occasionally dealing with furballs or your Pitta pooch and his summertime hot spots, we can look at these patterns through the lens of Ayurveda to guide us in integrative pet care.

Go through and circle which best represents your pet currently. Add the values in each column, and you have an insight into your pet’s tendencies or what areas may be out of balance:*

VATA

PITTA

KAPHA

Physique

lean, thin boned

moderate build

large boned

Body Weight

low weight/lean

moderate weight/size

overweight

Eyes

small, dark, active

sharp, bright, red/yellow

big, calm, beautiful

Coat Quality

thin, dry, flaky, curly

oily, warm, straight

thick, cool, wavy

Nails

dry, brittle, break easily

sharp, flexible, pink

thick, smooth, dark

Belly

thin, guarded

moderate

big, pot-bellied

Appetite

varies, worries over food intense, guards food

consistent, indifferent

Digestion

gassy, bloating

quick

slow, sluggish

Water

obsessed, seeks often

moderate

rarely seems thirsty

Bowel Activity

constipation, inconsistent regular, loose or diarrhea thick, slow

Character

hyperactive, restless

impatient, competitive

dull, slow, calm

Activity

very active, high energy

driven consistent

steady, graceful

Stamina

tires easily

moderate

good stamina

Sleep Patterns

intermittent, sleepless

light sleeper

deep, heavy sleeper

Voice

weak, hoarse

strong, loud

deep, even toned

Health Issues

painful, anxious, depressed

infections, inflammation

weight/digestive issues

Temperature Preference

warm and humid; avoids cool/dry

cool and dry; avoids warm/humid

warm and dry; avoids cool/damp

Total in each:

*Questionnaires offer a snapshot into the life of your pet. Interpret with gentleness and curiosity rather than as an absolute, as pets can be affected by seasons, lunar events, weather of the day, or even the stress level of their pet parent!

Information in this article is intended to be for educational purposes only and does not substitute professional medical advice or consultations with a licensed veterinary professional.

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HEALTH + WELLNESS

O

h, sh*t.” I walked into the packed yoga shala, and a rainbow of yoga mats lined up edge to edge all the way up to the walls. I scanned the room for any spot in which I might wedge myself. I only saw an ocean of yogis from all over the globe that came, like I had, to practice under the tutelage of the father of Ashtanga yoga, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.

It was 4:50am. A fellow traveler the night before told me to make sure to, “arrive early, it fills up fast.” Apparently, ten minutes early was not early enough.

Then, I saw two spots! One was in the front row, a little off the right, just in front of the platform from where Saraswathi, Pattabhi Jois’s daughter, would be teaching. The other was ON the platform itself, perpendicular to the rest of the class. I did not want to be in the front row on my first day, but I sure as heck wasn’t going to be on display up on that platform. I didn’t run, but I’ll use a good yoga term when I say, I walked with “intention.” With a slap-crack I unrolled my mat to stake my claim. I found child pose and took a few cleansing breaths, knowing this was exactly what I wanted and where I needed to be.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DISCOMFORT

BY TED ROSEEN (HE/HIM)

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I started teaching yoga in 2003.

By 2007, I gained a nice following of students, but my yoga grew stale, my life feeling similar. Like so often, our life on our mat tends to reflect our life off our mat. I needed a shake up. I was too comfortable. One day, I went home, jumped online, and searched “YOGA INDIA.” I saw the link for the K Pattabhi

Jois Ashtanga Institute at the top of the list. When I called the number, the first words from the voice over the crackling line were, “Do you know what time it is?!” This would be the first in a long line of moments of discomfort that would get me to where I am today.

The Mirror of Context Yes, studying yoga in Mysore, India for 3 months did great things for my yoga practice and the understanding of my body, but, more than anything, India helped me cultivate a greater sense of understanding of who I was and who I am. The surroundings in which we live oftentimes narrate our idea of self.

When we take ourselves out of the context of our day-to-day life we are forced to discover our un-narrated self.

Who am I beyond my job, beyond my family, beyond my friends? How full is my cup when I am by myself? We all want our cup of contentment and joy to be full, but we need to fill that cup from within. I love my job. I love my family. I love my friends. But, they don’t fill my cup, they overflow it. I fill my cup.

A Match Needs Friction You don’t need to go to India to raise a greater sense of self-awareness. This is an extreme example. You just need to lean into those moments when you feel the pause of resistance. Not the pause of resistance coming from sensibility and “going with your gut,” but the pause of resistance from encountering the draw and repelling nature of the unfamiliar.

When we lean into that friction, we hold hands with our anxiety, and it’s scary, it’s turbulent. But just like a match, we often need this friction to light that spark of discovery and self-actualization of our un-narrated self.

Friction for you might come from being out amongst the masses, or it might be found on the couch in the catacombs of your self, but be open to that sensation of “I don’t want to do that, but…I kinda do.” Because the next time you say, “Oh, sh*t,” might be the start of something great. +

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SELF EVOLUTION

BY DANIELLE VENTICINQUE (SHE/HER)

W

e all have an innate desire to evolve and live our best lives as the greatest version of ourselves. That said, we often get in our own way by keeping a selfdefeating mindset, limiting beliefs, or not practicing consistency or patience.

However, all these obstacles can be overcome.

But first, it’s essential to define the best version of yourself. How would you like to evolve or grow? What are the steps required to get there? What’s stopping you?

GROWTH MINDSET We place many perceived limitations to our evolution on ourselves. These limiting beliefs harbored in negative self-talk create a sense of unworthiness.

Recognize these thoughts as counterproductive and untrue, pause and slow your mind. Dismiss these thoughts as a means of nurturing a growth mindset and believe change is possible. Perhaps even try some positive affirmations.

I am capable of growth.

I am worthy of personal evolution.

By flipping the narrative and thinking of challenges as another avenue to learn and grow, we create a fast path to success, attacking any negative perceptions of challenges.

Incorporating the word “yet,” into your words and self-talk will foster growth in the realization that the skill is still being acquired or the goal is processing.

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Be cautious of a lack of control mindset. Remember, life happens for you, not to you. You control your mindset, habits, and behaviors, which will determine your fate.

HABITS Everyone can grow and evolve into a completely new version of themselves by cultivating the habits developing the individual.

As with any evolution, it starts with a slight change, creating consistent habits supporting the desired outcome. These daily habits will eventually evolve into a lifestyle, becoming part of the evolved identity.

As Lao Tzu pointed out, “ ... Watch your actions, they become your habits, watch your habits, they become your character, watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”

Are your current habits supporting or hindering the destiny or personal evolution you seek?

PATIENCE It can be challenging to remain patient in our instantly gratifying world where questions are answered with a couple of clicks and packages arrive at our doorsteps within the hour. But, as science taught us, evolution takes time. There are no instant results. It’s widely accepted that it takes 21 days to create a habit and 90 days to make it a lifestyle, so be patient with your evolution. There’s no better time than the present to begin. Your best self is waiting for you to get out of your own way. +

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INTUITIVE EATING

I

t’s no secret yoga helps guide us toward being more in tune with our bodies. Having the ability to listen to our inner wisdom is a gift, whether it’s focusing our attention on the functions of our bodies instead of our looks or increasing mindfulness as a result of regularly spending time on the mat. While yoga is powerful in helping us look inward, another framework — called Intuitive Eating — provides us the opportunity to do this as well.

Introducing Intuitive Eating Intuitive Eating was created in 1995 by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Eleyse Resch. According to Tribole, “Intuitive Eating is a self-care eating framework, which integrates instinct, emotion, and rational thought [ … ].

Intuitive Eating is a weight-inclusive, evidence-based model with a validated assessment scale and over 100 studies to date.”

This foundation is made up of ten principles, ranging from making peace with food (through removing judgment, good or bad, around food so all types are neutral), to respecting your body (by focusing on its function and improving body image), to exercising and feeling the difference it makes (by noticing positive effects of movement instead of the number of calories burned). There

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is also an emphasis on satisfaction with what we eat and attentiveness to hunger and fullness cues.

Tuning In As yoga has been shown to help us tune into our bodies and remove the focus from our outward appearance, so has Intuitive Eating. Instead of concentrating on how we look, this framework encourages us to consider how our bodies’ functions benefit us.

How do our legs help us in daily life?

Which of our hobbies require the use of our arms?

While it may sound basic, many of us need help relearning hunger and fullness cues, especially subtle ones. For example, when trying to learn our bodies’ understated hunger signals, many people realize they get a headache every day around lunchtime or feel “hangry” before eating an afternoon snack. In addition, a subtle sign of fullness is eating more slowly as the meal goes on, even if the brain hasn’t registered the feeling yet.

This ability to sense these cues, even when discreet, allows us to avoid extreme hunger and subsequent uncomfortable fullness (think about how quickly we consume food when ravenous). It also encourages our bodies to send us these signals in the first place, as when they realize we

BY KOURTNEY JOHNSON, RD, LD (SHE/HER)

are not ignoring hunger or fullness sensations, they will alert us to them, which also ensures we eat an adequate amount of food throughout the day.

For people who struggle to feel satisfied after eating, this framework helps tune in to that sensation as well.

Being satisfied with what we eat is a very important part of Intuitive Eating.

We can experience this feeling by consuming adequate amounts of foods we truly want at the moment, limiting distractions at meals or snacks, and not engaging in negative self-talk.

When we leave a meal feeling satisfied, it decreases the desire for more food later on. This means decreased cravings and less likelihood of standing in front of the pantry after a meal, wanting to eat something else for it to feel complete.

Health Benefits Many of us likely practice yoga in part because of the health advantages, from improving depression to decreasing blood pressure. Intuitive Eating complements yoga here too, as it has been shown to benefit our health in many ways.

Tribole and Resch state that Intuitive Eating correlates with many positive health outcomes, including decreased triglycerides and blood pressure, fewer episodes of out-of-control eating

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and binge eating, and less guilt and shame for eating certain foods. It also correlates with higher self-esteem, increased HDL levels (good cholesterol), body appreciation and acceptance, and the consumption of a larger variety of foods.

We know these health outcomes benefit our overall well-being, including that of the heart, kidneys, brain, and immune system. However, the effects of decreased shame and guilt around food, increased body appreciation and acceptance, and higher self-esteem might be less obvious. These benefits are associated with improved mental health including better psychological hardiness, which when taken together with all the other advantages of Intuitive Eating, play a role in preventing eating disorders and improving overall health.

Putting it all together A powerful way to improve our well-being, yoga can be even more influential when paired with Intuitive Eating. Both avenues are associated with outcomes such as improved mental, cardiovascular, and brain health.

For those interested in learning more about Intuitive Eating, Kourtney recommends visiting Intuitiveeating.org or reading Intuitive Eating: Fourth Edition

by Tribole and Resch. +

A podcast devoted to empowering you to live your best life by taking accountability for your own personal wellness.

Special Guests Jessica Hoch

Beyond the Bracelet — Crystals and Intentions

Lilly Zaborowski

Allison Rissell Community Well-Being

Dr. Laura Willenbring

Community and Connection for Better Health

Nature as Medicine

Megan Adams

Dr. Hilary Patzer

Rebecca Sebastian

Maria Jones

3 Ways to Boost Your Energy

The State of Health and Wellness

Acupuncture vs.

Dry Needling

Yoga Beginners: Try Chair Yoga

Kelly Smith

How to Connect With Your True Self Through Yoga Nidra

Heidi Mueller

The Power of Scent and Well-Being

Subscribe on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts

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57

HEALTH + WELLNESS

THE EVOLUTION OF

A PHARMACIST

BY DR. SARAH SHORE ANDERSON (SHE/HER)

A

s you learn, grow, and evolve, I guarantee you will have successes worth celebrating and failures worth reflecting on. One day you will realize your failures, mistakes, and less-than-ideal happenings led you to your successes and next steps on your career journey.

Sometimes bad luck is actually good luck in disguise.

Upon graduating from college, I was placed on the ranked waiting list for pharmacy school. I took a year off to work as a Health & Wellness Coach at a local health plan. Little did I know this little detour in my career pathway would lead me to where I

58

am today 14 years later: establishing my own business practicing as an integrative pharmacist and health coach. I’m ultimately utilizing my knowledge and passion for lifestyle and functional medicine and the art of coaching skills to help people and organizations thrive!

Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want and create something new … the worst that can happen is you get a “no” or “not right now.”

I continuously look for new and unique opportunities to make a difference and impact in the healthcare space. I found myself pitching proposals, crafting new roles,

“There is power in choice.

We can choose to stay stuck, or we can choose to be bold and courageous.”

and finding niche solutions to solve problems and add value in a novel way. Whenever I start to feel stuck and acknowledge I am not living out my purpose or utilizing my strengths in ways that fill my cup, I pivot. I think outside of the box, network with my connections, and take time to clear up how my next endeavor could fill a gap. There is power in choice. We

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can choose to stay stuck, or we can choose to be bold and courageous.

Go rogue every once in a while, and take action.

I would not consider myself a free spirit; however, I do have an entrepreneurial spirit. Some of my most joy-filled moments in my career involved bringing my vision to reality, taking ownership over my work, and cultivating harmony in my life.

Having the space to try new things, be inspired, and dare to move on from comfortable-yet-unfulfilling work can open doors and send you off exploring paths you never knew existed.

Reflect on how past experiences shape your current decisions.

My mom passed away while I was in pharmacy school, which informed me how I want to show-up and be present for my kids while they are little. I advocate for and prioritize flexible working situations during this season of life, and found my personal and professional priorities and values in full alignment, giving me an underlying sense of peace and contentment.

“Having the space to try new things, be inspired, and dare to move on from comfortable-yetunfulfilling work can open doors and send you off exploring paths you never knew existed.”

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“These small self-care habits are like puzzle pieces: once pieced together, they ultimately create the collage of your soul and outrageously joy-filled life.”

Be well.

Put yourself on your priority list.

Find those things in your life that make you feel alive and present — possibly yoga, a brisk walk in nature, playing on the floor with your kids, or meditation. Identify those non-negotiable items that must be present in your day in order to create the harmony you desire in your life.

These small self-care habits are like puzzle pieces: once pieced together, they ultimately create the collage of your soul and outrageously joy-filled life.

Putting the puzzle pieces together.

Your experiences, knowledge, strengths, perspectives, and values inform how you curate your life, give language to who you are, and help explain the “why” behind how you choose to live. Have faith and trust in the fact that wherever you are right now, this is where you are meant to be. Looking back, you will see how this moment fits into the series of happenings leading to your future.

Take time to revel in the unpredictable and wonder-filled twists and turns of life that make you who you are today. There is only

one wildly talented YOU … keep shining YOUR light. Whether it be a fiery blaze or soft glow, you make a difference in this world. Get curious.

Create what doesn’t yet exist and pave your own path. Cultivate a growth mindset. Curate the life you want to live.

Reflections:

• If you could do anything

you wanted knowing you could not fail, what would you choose to do?

• If you could reimagine an aspect of your life, what would that look like?

• What is one thing you can

do this week to take a step towards actualizing that vision?

• Thinking about your gifts

and abilities that are not currently being utilized, how can you enhance and cultivate these right now?

• What do you need more of

and what do you need less of in your life to intentionally move forward towards your purpose? +

“Create what doesn’t yet exist and pave your own path. Cultivate a growth mindset. Curate the life you want to live.”

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HEALTH + WELLNESS

AYURVEDIC

SLOW-AGING Transformation

BY KAMIE SLEGERS (SHE/HER)

W

estern science affirms that Ayurvedic lifestyle and energy management practices extend telomere length, protecting us from decline and disease.

What are telomeres, and how do they affect aging?

Telomeres are DNA sequences at the end of a chromosome, protecting it from fraying and safeguarding our genetic code. Each time a cell divides, shielding telomeres can either shorten or lengthen when circumstances are suitable, as found by Elizabeth Blackburn, a biochemistry and molecular biology researcher and Nobel Prize winner.

When our telomeres shorten, negative genetic traits emerge and aging accelerates as we become more vulnerable to stress and disease. When conditions are favorable, we create an enzyme called telomerase that extends telomeres, preventing disease and prolonging life. Follow these invaluable tips for a longer, healthier life.

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Rein in Chronic Stress While our telomeres can recover from individual stressful events, they cannot cope with chronic stress.

Research reveals telomeres shortened from chronic stress relate to a barrage of health concerns, such as metabolic syndrome, inflammation, compromised immunity, heart issues, respiratory problems, obesity, and cognitive decline.

Where to begin:

• •

Meditation and restorative yoga Pranayama exercises: Bhastrika and Pratiloma

These practices allow us to slow down and empower our bodies to be present, breathe into our lower ribs, activate our rest and digestive systems (parasympathetic nervous system), and deactivate our fight or flight responses (sympathetic nervous system).

Right Exercise The right kind of exercise may be the catalyst for longer telomeres.

Exercise can increase longevity, ward off heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure; reduce cholesterol, and help

us experience more joy. Fortunately, we can be something other than an athlete or a gym rat to obtain the benefits.

Ayurveda recommends:

•

45 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise three times a week, which research shows can double telomerase levels (as published in the European Heart Journal)

• •

Short bursts of intense training Nose breathing while exercising

Exercise improves the use of oxygen, thereby decreasing the amounts of oxidation or free radical damage in our body. Our evolutionary survival was based on movement and our telomeres thrive when we get active.

Proper Nutrition at the Right Time According to Blackburn’s research, our telomeres’ most influential adversaries are inflammation, insulin resistance, and oxidation. Inflammation is shown to shorten telomeres, which can be caused by refined, processed foods. Oxidation causes free radicals to dine on telomeres, and a healthy diet packed with antioxidants provides DNA protection.

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HEALTH + WELLNESS

•

Eat non-processed whole foods with alkaline qualities (organic when possible).

•

Avoid fried foods, refined carbohydrates, sugary foods, soda, and juices. Limit baked goods.

•

Plan three meals a day around the same time each day without snacking.

•

Increase intake of berries, broccoli, tomatoes, apples, sweet onions, leafy greens, red or purple potatoes, beans, nuts, seeds, fruit, and whole grains. Drink green tea.

•

Consume omega-3 fatty acids found in cold-water fish.

Insulin resistance, or type 2 diabetes, is a modern-day epidemic.

Research shows that sugar is worse than previously thought, especially concerning the health of our telomeres.

Sleep Hygiene As we age, we require more sleep.

A balanced daily routine is essential for a long and healthy life. Melatonin, our body’s most potent antioxidant, is delivered at night to initiate sleep by snoozing our daytime clocks and activating our nighttime clocks so the body can rebuild, rejuvenate, and detoxify during sleep.

Ayurveda recommends:

•

Seven to eight hours of sleep each night.

•

Dimming lights after sunset, blocking blue light in the evening, and possibly supplementing with melatonin.

•

Mindfulness of stimulants like caffeine, work, and other activities that keep the mind active.

Ayurveda recommends:

• •

A seasonal plant-based diet.

Small amounts of animal protein providing B12, iron, omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, and vitamin D.

•

Adding herbs to meals. Herbal studies found benefits in turmeric and Amalaki.

•

Decreasing alcohol intake.

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Ayurveda’s main objectives are proper lifestyle, sleep, nutrition, and energy management for optimal wellness.

Find Contentment Sattva, which means to be at peace, describes a compassionate, devoted, giving, and thoughtful way of being.

It speaks of non-violence, integrity, gratitude, generosity, and unconditional love.

In the quest for instant gratification and pleasure from the outside world, we stress our minds through overworking, manipulation, lying, cheating, and withdrawal, sometimes leading to sarcasm, pessimism, depression, and resentment.

Ayurveda recommends:

•

Before reacting, attempt to view situations from the sattvic perspective of compassion and understanding.

Awareness transforms into an opportunity to break away from the habitual pattern of being influenced by the outside world. It allows us to respond peacefully—above the emotional highs and lows.

It takes time to adjust life and escape the patterns we create. Start with one area of focus that seems attainable.

Then continue to add or change other areas of your life as you evolve into a wiser, more peaceful, and more understanding version of yourself. +

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HEALTH + WELLNESS

CHANNELING YOUR

INNER WISDOM

BY ALLISSA OBLER (SHE/HER)

be. Learning to channel your inner wisdom and chart your own path feels like a special kind of magic. So, what’s the secret? Well … if you are reading this magazine, you are already on the right track.

A

s I sit down to write this article, the words to “Don’t Stop Believin’” keep rolling through my head. After all, I am a small town girl and often feel like I live in a lonely world. Perhaps you can relate to that feeling too: the one where you never quite fit in. Where you have all these beliefs and feelings that don’t quite match up with others.

I spent much of my life looking for my tribe and didn’t truly find it until I found yoga. As I worked my way through my yoga studies program, I began to experience an unveiling – the removal of all those things that were not really me, to reveal my true self. This yoga stuff really works!

Through yoga I finally began to feel like the person I always knew I was meant to be.

As I continued to grow and evolve in my own practice, I learned to channel my inner wisdom more effectively. And for me, “channeling your inner wisdom” is often synonymous with “getting out of your own way.” It’s easy to get tangled up in expectations and cultural norms, losing sight of who you are to fit into someone else’s idea of who you should

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1. Tune in to yourself.

Yoga teaches us to become more aware. When you tune in to your inner voice, body sensations, and emotions, you begin to notice who you are on a deeper level. By increasing your awareness, you can better recognize your triggers and patterns, and can then adjust your dialogue and actions accordingly.

2. Follow your gut.

By being aware, you also learn how to follow your gut. You know things. You feel them in your body, in your heart, and in your gut. But recognizing those things and believing in them are two different things! Sometimes we question ourselves, which can be a helpful way to tell the difference between ego or fearbased thoughts and those that are really us. To access your inner wisdom you must learn to make those distinctions.

Questions to Consider

• • •

Will this bring me joy?

• •

Who am I doing this for?

Would I do this if I could set fear aside?

Would I choose this if there were no barriers?

What keeps me from moving forward?

3. Take action.

Channeling your inner wisdom requires action. And no one can do it for you! You’ll often know when something is for you. Have you ever been on the cusp of making a purchase but instead waited to see if the item kept calling to you? It’s the same with your inner wisdom. If it is for you, the idea or notion will stick with you. It will keep you awake at night. It will distract you in the middle of your favorite show. It will consume your thoughts no matter how much it scares you. So take action! Even if it’s just one small step.

Fear is excitement without breath.

4. Practice, practice, practice.

Practice may not make perfect, but it will create consistency and build confidence. The more you practice tuning in and taking action, the easier it will become to follow your gut. You’ll begin to recognize your patterns easier and readjust quicker. You’ll become masterful at quieting your inner critic, ego, and fear. You will also be better able to stand in your own truth, tuning out the voice of your external critics or those who don’t align with your way of thinking.

When you step into your true self and channel your inner wisdom, you’ll light up your life in new and exciting ways — ways that inspire you toward continued growth and invite others to do the same. +

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EVOLVE

BY SARAH JANE WROBLEWSKI (SHE/HER)

O

ver the last three years, we have been pushed to expand beyond our containers of comfort as individuals and as a community.

First, it was a matter of survival as we recovered from the pandemic, violence, marginalization, and the loss of personal freedoms. Now that we know we can “do hard things” (to coin a COVID buzz phrase), we answer the call to redefine ourselves and our place in the community.

During the pandemic so many of us changed the way we worked, restructured our family units, and confronted the stability of our mental health in a crisis. Maybe we quit drinking, bought a rowing machine, got a dog, or created a “pod.” Healing practices across the board saw an increase in business in 2021 and 2022.

The isolation of lockdown provided a perfect incubator for exploring health and healing through individual yoga therapy.

“Communal baths show up in health rituals around the world and connect human beings through the practice of self-care.”

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Yoga Therapy in the Viniyoga tradition supports a discipline inspired by the pañcamaya model, which acknowledges five parts comprising our whole: body, breath, mind, emotions, and behavior. If we practice yoga only to improve our physical flexibility, then we ignore the potential for expansiveness in our breath, or openness in our attitudes, or authenticity in relationships.

Yoga Therapy also understands the effects of stress on our systems — so having worrying thoughts about the pandemic impacts not just the thinking mind. They also show up from a worn-down body, disrupted sleep, low frustration tolerance, and hopelessness.

Working with a yoga therapist is like making a blueprint of yourself and building a yoga practice personal to your growth. Everyone has different structure, history, challenges, and goals, but the practice can be personalized to bring optimum benefits to the individual.

By adopting a practice embracing these five elements, the individual can expand beyond a single, or even dual, dimension. We can evolve into better versions of ourselves.

Communal baths show up in health rituals around the world and connect human beings through the practice of self-care. However, in COVID time, many of us became nearly phobic of gathering in groups. Re-connecting with other humans and sharing our

discoveries complements the very accessible introspective self-inquiry of the last few years. So elemental is the act of cleansing and purifying, doing it in a community synergizes and heightens the benefits. Water holds the ability to erode, on a physical and energetic level. We can use it to move emotion and soften tissue at the same time.

When a group of strangers enter the baths in a therapeutic way, they make a commitment to heal together. This happens first on an individual level and then becomes collective.

“Beyond the communal and cleaning properties of water, the positive effects of body work drastically increase when a client does a steam, sauna, soak, or cold plunge before or after the treatment.”

Beyond the communal and cleaning properties of water, the positive effects of body work drastically increase when a client does a steam, sauna, soak, or cold plunge before or after the treatment.

It is ours to choose how we will evolve beyond the COVID age. In our socially distanced, individual-screen, disconnected world, we forgot our ability to impact our communities by gathering, clarifying, and raising the vibration of healing for all. It is time for us to move within and beyond the self, and remember we belong to each other.

We can use the ancient practices of yoga and communal bathing to adapt to modern challenges. By integrating this wisdom, we commit to self-care and share in the process of curative connection. +

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A

nnie rushed through the busy coffee shop, steaming latte in one hand, phone buzzing in the other. She let out a “whoosh” of a sigh as she dropped into her seat. Apologizing for running late, she began a litany of excuses, making it clear she was everyone’s go-to person for getting things done.

She had always been that person, no matter how exhausting, and she did it with a smile. But life changed for Annie. Her parents experienced health issues as they aged. Her kids got older and would soon be leaving home. Since the pandemic, she realized her values changed — she wanted to be more intentional with her time and energy.

She felt a new chapter brewing for her — things she wanted to do, passions to explore, purposes to be discovered.

As our conversation flowed that day, Annie suddenly looked at me with wide eyes. “What if I’m still becoming? What if … all the hard and heavy experiences over the last few years have led me to this moment? What if I’m evolving into the person I’m actually meant to be?”

I’ve had countless conversations just like this over the last couple of years.

I’ve watched young moms wonder what they will do as their kids become more independent. I’ve watched career women decide the constant climbing isn’t enough anymore; they want their contributions to “mean something.” I’ve chatted with couples who achieved their dreams and are ready for the “next big thing” to work toward together. Every single conversation comes down to: What do you really want? And what’s next?

As a Joy Coach, I get to guide people through getting absolute clarity about what they really want for their life; assessing the challenges standing in their way and providing a safe space to create forward movement, build momentum, and celebrate with joy as they create a life they love. Each person’s journey is unique, but I always start with these five steps:

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5 STEPS TO

“WHAT’S NEXT?”

BY MEGAN ADAMS (SHE/HER)

5 Steps to Begin Asking “What’s Next?”

1. TAKE A BREAK: Running from one thing to

the next doesn’t allow us the time to check in with ourselves. Schedule in a small amount of time each day or a couple of hours on the weekend just for you. Use this time to let your Spirit relax and reconnect to your core self.

2. CREATE A VISION: Set aside a couple of

hours as a personal retreat. Set up your space to provide comfort and inspiration, relaxation and reflection. Take some deep breaths and let your mind wander.

Imagine your future self one year from today – your best self, the person you feel yourself evolving into. As you look around this vision, notice what you really want for your life. Enjoy the feelings that come up and hold them tight! As you hold this vision in your mind, finish this sentence starter: “I Am _____.” This is the word you will be living into. This is “what’s next.”

3. SET INTENTIONS: You’ve created

a beautiful vision of the person you are evolving into, now it’s time to get practical. In your journal, write your “I Am” statement. Then for each of these 6 life areas (Health, Love, Connection to That Which is Greater, Career, Finances, Rest/ Play), write down 1-2 intentions of how you will live into this area as someone who already is your “I Am.”

4. ANCHOR YOUR VISION: Write down

what you saw and felt as you imagined your future you. Attach your vision to a physical object (or more than one) that connects to one of your senses. You might create a Vision Board, write a reminder on a post-it to put on your mirror, or find a scent reminding you of the life you’re being called towards. Every time you see, smell, taste, touch, or hear your anchor you will be prompted to check-in with that vision.

How are you stepping into that future you?

What could you do to lean in more fully?

5. SMALL CHANGES: As you set intentions

and create small steps to move forward, the key is small steps. We don’t evolve overnight. We become over time with life experiences, expanding physically, mentally, and emotionally. By choosing to create small steps towards the life we envision, we give ourselves grace. Too big of changes are a sure-fire way to get frustrated, give up, and feel the awful grip of failure. But small steps? Even 1% change is change in the right direction.

Annie started here and now has a life she loves, blending her passions and her career, living into her “second chapter” purpose. Now it’s your turn …

How are you evolving? What’s next for you? +

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HEALTH + WELLNESS

EVOLVE INTUITIVELY

BY JULIE HILL (SHE/HER)

“Intuition is more important to discovery than logic.” — Henri Poincare

W

hat is Intuition?

According to Wikipedia, intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning. Different fields use the word “intuition” in very different ways, including but not limited to: direct access to unconscious knowledge, unconscious cognition, gut feelings, inner sensing, inner insight to unconscious pattern-recognition, and the ability to understand something instinctively without any need for conscious reasoning.

Decades ago, my Business Mentor Horst Rechelbacher, Founder of Aveda Corporation and Intelligent Nutrients, shared with me some insight into how he created his Holistic Beauty Empire. The main element he felt for his success was intuition. It guided his decision making process. Since that conversation, I took what he shared with me to heart and relied on intuition both personally and professionally.

Here are a few intuitive tips I used throughout my personal life as well as my career: Inspire yourself through daily meditation. Meditation is one of the best ways to access your subconscious mind and awaken your powerful intuition. It MNYOGALIFE.COM

a muscle that needs developing, the more you use intuition, the stronger it will become.

Understand intuition by learning as much as you can about it. Gather data on-line, attend seminars, network, read books, and listen to podcasts. It’s important to have fun in the process. We become more creative when we play with a purpose.

Investigate, and when possible, interview highly intuitive people. They will give you input and guidance.

I learned from many enlightened teachers who gave me insight into how they accessed and developed their intuition. can benefit your mind, body, and heart.

Meditate to elevate intuitive results.

My key practice is walking meditation, which leads us to the next tip.

Nurture your intuition through nature walks. Breathe deep, quiet the mind, and listen to the sounds of nature. You will feel rejuvenated and enlightened at the same time. I have been moved by the quote from Malidoma Patrice Somé for many years: “Nature is the silent witness to intuition and without nature, we cannot revive our intuition.”

Trust your gut instinct. You will

become more intuitive as you take action on the hunch or gut feeling. Like

Transform yourself by being in the present moment. Tap into your intuition by being in the here and now. When connected in the moment, your intuition will be a guide.

“Our evolution is instinctive. As soon as we are ready to move upwards, we automatically develop desires and ideas that live on the level above. Your only job is to not suppress those new internal pulls. And that’s often easier said than done.”

— Unknown Today is the best day to start tapping into your intuition. I hope my tips help you along your way. +

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HEALTH + WELLNESS

THE EVOLUTION OF

EMBRACING EASE

BY MICHELE J. RUSINKO (SHE/HER)

O

n a Friday afternoon, just before 5 p.m., I received a phone call from my primary care doctor. She said, “You have breast cancer — invasive lobular breast cancer.” She told me to expect a call from the Andreas Cancer Center. Almost immediately, the phone rang again, and the friendly voice on the other line needed to arrange appointments with an oncologist and a surgeon. I stood in my kitchen and felt all sensation drain from my body.

I’ve spent my career teaching dance and somatic sciences to college and university students. With a deep, welldeveloped sense of interoception, I trusted my body to guide me. Hearing this diagnosis pulled the plug on my circuitry.

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“[M]y previous training in dance, somatic sciences, and yoga, combined with my personal experience undergoing cancer treatment, positioned me to help others facing the aftermath of mastectomies.”

The following morning, I got up, put on my yoga clothes and walked to the St. Peter Yoga studio. My friend, Kelly, was teaching that day. She knew about my diagnosis. Kelly said, “I am surprised you are here.”

I replied, “I had to be here.” I did not know how to think of myself as a cancer patient. I only knew I needed to

feel what was going on in my body to make good decisions. My yoga practice became my pathway back to felt sensation.

The following year brought two surgeries, an aggressive course of chemotherapy, biological therapy, and hormone therapy. Whenever possible, I crawled over to my mat and did what I could. “You have excellent range of motion and very few adhesions.

Whatever you are doing, keep doing it,” observed my medical team. I thought, "I am doing what you should be teaching people to do!"

One morning, lying on my mat feeling weary, I tried to move the stiffness out of my arms, shoulders, and chest. I thought, “All I want is comfort and ease in my body.” I realized how my previous training in dance, somatic sciences, and yoga, combined with my personal experience undergoing cancer treatment, positioned me to help others

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HEALTH + WELLNESS facing the aftermath of mastectomies.

I called the St. Peter Yoga studio’s owner, Tressa Bushaw, and asked if I could teach a yoga-based class called Embracing Ease.

I began filled with righteous enthusiasm and insecurity. In the early days, it was often just my friend Teresa in the class. Slowly, news of the class spread. Soon others contacted me, saying they had a different type of cancer; could they still join the class?

Over time, others called, saying, “I have never had cancer but I heard it is a good class. Can I take it anyway?”

Embracing Ease evolved to welcome all who wanted to explore a gentle, strength-building class. It was not uncommon for those participating to go out for coffee afterwards. We joked that our tagline should be, “Come for the yoga, stay for the coffee.”

Yoga teacher Kelly shared she once met a friend at the same coffee shop where our class gathered. We must have been having a good time, because Kelly’s friend leaned over and whispered to her, “I don’t know who those women are, but I want to be friends with them!”

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We had forged a community ­— then the pandemic arrived. St. Peter is a small town, and I knew these women well.

Some had lost breasts, and some had lost husbands. I refused to surrender this community to the losses. I took a deep breath and embraced my love of learning to try to figure out how

“What began as a way to retrace my steps and to find my way back to my own body evolved into a way to weave new connections as a community.”

to teach virtually. The early attempts were far from elegant. I set up a private Facebook group and experimented with Facebook Live. From June until October, when the weather permitted, we met in the town park as lawn mowers rumbled and children played.

Once temperatures began to dip into the low 30s, the time came to figure out Zoom. Many class members felt quite isolated during the first winter of the pandemic, and our twice-weekly Zoom class became a lifeline. We celebrated when individuals got vaccinated and dropped soup off on doorsteps when participants contracted COVID-19. What began as a way to retrace my steps and to find my way back to my own body evolved into a way to weave new connections as a community.

Once we began meeting virtually, our community grew. Folks from Wisconsin, New York, Florida, and Connecticut regularly join us. Embracing Ease continues to evolve as I try to find the balance of teaching in-person, online, and in a hybrid model. What has not changed is our search for connection ­— connection to our own bodies as well as connection to each other. What began as a class to help individuals navigate cancer evolved into a community navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. As a class, as well as a community, we are thriving. +

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HEALTH + WELLNESS

SELF-CARE 2.0

Self-care that finally serves you

BY REBECCA SEBASTIAN (SHE/HER)

W

e are tired. We are tired of doing, stressing, planning, and managing. It feels like there is no task undone, no obligation unfulfilled, and no time left for us.

What is the solution for this culturally given life of overwhelm, stress, and anxiety?

Self-care, of course. But not the selfcare we think of from Instagram. Not the spa days, chocolates, bubble baths, and champagne girls’ weekends we are told are self-care. Think real, practical, life sustaining self-care.

This is how we start Self-Care 2.0 Throughout the decades, the original version of self-care became a commoditized hybrid of the practices taught by medical practitioners, revolutionaries, and academics. But this version of self-care isn’t working for us anymore. We are increasingly told to spend more money and do more things to “fill our cup.”

We will start with the most crucial factor in deciding what you are going to do for yourself — time. How much time do you have? A breath? A moment?

A break? Let’s break each one down separately.

A Breath Do you only have time for a couple of breaths to get yourself together?

Then take some and make those breaths skillful. The easiest breath I found is what I call “ugly sighing.” Take a big breath in and exhale loudly through

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your mouth. Pretend you are at a boring lecture and be loud about it. Repeat three times. Note how you feel.

A Moment Maybe you’ve got only a moment, which is between two and ten minutes.

How do you decide what to do? This is where we front-load some ideas to make deciding in the moment a lot easier. Make a list of 20 items you can do that take between two and ten minutes and allow you to dial down your brain and feel satisfied. These can be anything from holding a mini dance party in your kitchen, to spending time with a pet, to vacuuming the floor. The only conditions: can you do it on brain autopilot? Does it make you feel at ease?

After you’ve listed 20 activities, leave it somewhere obvious so whenever you need to take a moment you can go to the list and pick an activity that sounds fun. Making a list when you feel at ease is crucial for your self-care success. Too often we get caught up in a cycle of knowing we need to do something for ourselves but feeling too mentally overwhelmed to decide what to do. We then end up not choosing or choosing something that doesn’t help us feel better. This thought work ahead of time helps us make better decisions when we really need it.

A note before we head to breaks.

I challenge you to consider all care activities neutral. If you like to scroll TikTok and eat chips because that makes you feel better, please put that on your list. The list technique works best when everything you put on your

list comes from a neutral state. I, for one, love a good cup of hot chocolate.

I also dislike writing emails. The two together feel a lot like self-care to me.

I am not going to judge me so please don’t judge you for choosing something that regulates your nervous system and helps you get through a day.

A Break With that in mind, let’s slide into taking a break. A break lasts 30+ minutes. To figure out what to do, make another list. This time make a list of 50 things you can do to take a break.

I encourage you to make this a free writing exercise; sit down and rapidfire out the list. Don’t worry if activities repeat, just sit down, and make a list of 50 things you can do for your own care and wellbeing. This could be a massage but could also be a walk in the park — which costs significantly less. It could be calling a friend. It could also be making a spreadsheet of your finances because financial care is now and always was self-care.

Think less about spending money on expensive trips or spa weekends and more about what you could be doing that you enjoy or will nourish you in some small way. I love a bookstore, and even if books aren’t in my budget, I will snag a chai and hang out. It makes me feel more at ease and feels like I am taking care of myself. That’s the point of skillful self-care, to fill our own cup. Now you could always drink in one big gulp, but it is more sustainable to take one skillful sip at a time.

That is truly revolutionary, and truly self-care 2.0. +

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HEALTH + WELLNESS

SATYA + GROWTH

BY MARIE NUTTER (SHE/HER)

B

y the time you read this, you might already be asking yourself where your New Year’s resolutions went, or when you can start reopening your cabin for the summer. We’d all love to skip over Springtime in Minnesota, an awkward phase. As much as we’re ready to shake off winter and jump into warmer weather, there’s this challenging time of not knowing when we’ll see the fruits of our labor or enjoy the sight of life coming back to us through outward growth.

Known as “truth” in Sanskrit, Satya is the second principle laid out in our Yamas and Niyamas; one of the eightfold paths in living our lives off the mat. So what the heck does Satya have in common with growth? The truth of the matter is, WE decide how much to grow and when. In fact, our Satya – or stated truths in life – constantly changes as well. We know this already by how much we may double down on an idea, value, or thought that worked for us in the past, only to realize it may no longer be true or beneficial to our present. If

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our minds and bodies can change over time, so can our beliefs.

Being human means we have the right to change as much as we deem necessary for the betterment of ourselves and community. In our collective picture, it has always been necessary and in our best interest to evolve in order to survive and possibly thrive. The way we eat, live, pray, exercise, think, and relate to others will always be a work in progress. As an optional form of reflection, I ask you to think about where you feel your Satya might still have room to grow?

For me, my past truths came in the form of trying to predict the future, especially when it comes to my projected way of being. This may sound silly, but since grade school I always held a picture in my head of the way things would be as an adult. Maybe you can relate? In every circumstance, I felt strong in my self predicted convictions regarding career, family, or way of life. Each instance of temporary belief proved to me I was in fact … wrong.

When the life before you paints a different picture than the one in your head, there can be an initial or prolonged sense of loss or misdirection.

Without further reflection or acceptance

of our momentary place in life, we can get lost in the space between our inner and outer realities. So too can our Satya ebb and flow between varying states of reality until we land upon the one we feel most connected to at this time. In my previous circumstances, I felt the predicted events in life should always happen way before the work finishes.

For example, if I can see myself as a nurse or yoga teacher, I immediately want to become one. It doesn’t mean I’m afraid to get my hands dirty and do the work to get there, it just means my belief of where I think I should be is already self-limiting if I don’t allow myself to grow there in the appropriate amount of time. If I were to constantly think I’m not arriving on time in my own life, my Satya could possibly lead my self-worth in a direction that begins to hurt and not help my ability to grow or evolve overtime. One truth might start to lead to another (good or bad) depending on our current perspective.

This path, if negative, might even prevent us from letting go of behavior that doesn’t serve us while decreasing our flexibility in holding more than one truth at a time.

So what does that mean for me or anyone else like myself who would love to jump to summer without dealing with the frustrations of spring? It means we’re humans influenced by societal pressures to be everything, everywhere, all the time; i.e. unrealistically robotic.

Through past struggles both personally and professionally, I found I am in fact not a robot, and I can hold more than one truth at a time. I can commit myself to others AND be okay with finding time for myself. I can be excited for who I might become AND be content with who I am right now without shaming myself in the process.

This is the beauty of being alive and understanding YOUR truth. You can be whoever you say you are, and I hope in this messy and sometimes awkward season of life you continue to find your evolving Satya and keep growing in a way supporting the best version of you. +

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HEALTH + WELLNESS

THE POWER OF

THE SANKALPA

BY MEGHAN HATALLA (SHE/HER)

I

f you’ve ever participated in Yoga Nidra, you’ve probably been prompted to create a Sankalpa.

It’s a bit of a tall order, especially since in most Yoga Nidra scripts, you’re given about 10 seconds to tune in to your heartfelt desire. But taking time on your own to create a Sankalpa to use in and out of mindful practices can truly generate change.

What is a Sankalpa?

Sankalpa is the Sanskrit word for intention. San means “to become one with” and kalpa means “time” and “subconscious mind.” Setting a Sankalpa is similar to setting a goal or a New Year’s resolution, but it differs a little.

When you set a Sankalpa, you assume you already have the thing you’re striving to achieve. Yes, it sounds contradictory, but this is the essence of non-dualistic teachings: you are already whole, yet at the same time, you are constantly growing and becoming. It’s a similar working principle to the Law of Attraction.

And that’s why, when you state your Sankalpa, you state it in the present tense, not in the future. For example, you might create a resolution that says: “I will lose 10 pounds.” But a Sankalpa sounds more like “My body feels fit, strong, and healthy.”

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HEALTH + WELLNESS

Mindset is Everything Your thoughts are integral to how you experience reality. Studies show that how you perceive your circumstances affects you more than your actual circumstances. For example, let’s say you are laid off from your job.

You might interpret these events as proof you’re an imposter who’s bad at your job. Or you might simply interpret them as budget cuts happen, and you’ll find a better fit. Which one more accurately depicts the circumstances?

Finding the Sankalpa Sweet Spot Sometimes our innermost heartfelt desire is very clear to us. Sometimes it can feel a little muddled. That’s where creating a desirability matrix can help.

Create a graph with two rows labeled:

1. What I have 2. What I don’t have And add two columns labeled:

“[I]f you focus on the idea that you already have everything you need to reach your goals, then you’ll start accomplishing them.

In every moment, we get to choose what we want to focus on. That’s the real value of the Sankalpa.”

Confirmation bias is a compounding issue affecting mindset, too. This is when we look for proof to uphold what we think is true. If you focus on looking for barriers, then you will only see barriers. If you are laid off and only see all the failures in your past job and none of the opportunities or successes, you’re falling into confirmation bias.

But if you focus on the idea that you already have everything you need to reach your goals, then you’ll start accomplishing them. In every moment, we get to choose what we want to focus on. That’s the real value of the Sankalpa.

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1. What I want 2. What I don’t want Fill in the boxes meeting the criteria (i.e. What I want/have, what I don’t want/ don’t have, etc). As you fill this out, note the thoughts circulating in your mind as you think about the future and creating lifestyle shifts.

When you’re ready, zero in on the box listing the things you want but don’t have. This is the Sankalpa sweet spot, where you can start fine-tuning your personal Sankalpa.

Taking It with You In my in-person workshops, we take time to journal and meditate, ultimately drafting two or more statements.

From there, we can start to look more closely at the relationships between the different statements. There are always common themes to pull from and crafting the final ‘I am’ statement flows easily as we talk through thoughts and mentally consolidate.

But the most important piece of the workshop is integrating this ‘I am’ statement into your life. Sankalpas are commonly used in Yoga Nidra or take

on the form of a mantra or dharma in any yoga or meditation practice. But what about the less perfect moments of life? The moments when you really need to be reminded of the power of your inner resource?

By bringing your Sankalpa with you in different forms, [using Post-Its or a background on your phone, for example,] it helps keep your mindset on track. It’s a way to set the tone of your day and your interactions, and a gentle reminder to feel confident in yourself.

I’m a fan of writing my current Sankalpa iteration on Post-Its and putting it on my work monitor and bathroom medicine cabinet, or creating a graphic and using it as the background on my phone. I set reminders on my calendar with just my Sankalpa as the subject.

By bringing your Sankalpa with you in different forms, it helps keep your mindset on track. It’s a way to set the tone of your day and your interactions, and a gentle reminder to feel confident in yourself.

“You are what your deep, driving desire is.

As your desire is, so is your will.

As your will is, so is your deed.

As your deed is, so is your destiny.”

— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad +

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LIFESTYLE

EDITOR’S PICKS

BY AMY ZELLMER (SHE/HER)

GOOD PHARMA COFFEE AND TEAS

$24.99 — drinkgoodpharma.com

Comforting functional tea and coffee routines to enhance your body and mind. Good Pharma (from the founders of Mighty Leaf Tea) spent years developing the perfect functional tea and coffee blends so all you have to do is brew and enjoy the benefits. Tea, roots, herbs, functional mushrooms and botanicals infuse and dissolve for flavor, function and optimal bioavailability. +

AVIATOR

THE RED EYE HOODIE FOR WOMEN $118 — aviatorusa.com

The very first style we designed, the idea for the Red Eye Hoodie came from the need for a garment with the style and function to take you from the plane through your journey.

A nice and easy pullover hoodie seemed like a great place to start. By adjusting the hood shape, we created a hood that can double as a sleep mask. We added a mitten feature to what we call the “3 Way Cuff.” This comes in handy when you need to stay warm or when you don’t want to touch anything with your bare hands. Sizes XS-2XL +

JIVANA

PITTA SOOTHING FACIAL SERUM $115 — lovejivana.com

Calm and hydrate your skin with our Pitta Soothing Facial Serum. An antiinflammatory blend of Squalane and Niacinamide combined with Amla, Manjistha, and Resurrection Lily to support sensitive, stressed, or irritated skin. Visible signs of a Pitta imbalance include skin redness, irritation, and flare ups of rosacea or eczema. Our cooling, milky essence-like serum gently soothes and rebalances redness or irritation, leaving your skin feeling comfortable and cared for, fresh and dewy. Infused with the soft and refreshing aroma of Blue Tansy essential oil, it can also aid in clearing the nasal airways. Take a deep breath and inhale to calm your mind. +

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LIFESTYLE

CHI FOODS

ORGANIC PLANT-BASED MEATS $11.99 — www.sprouts.com

The first certified organic line of plant-based meats, CHi Foods is a healthy alternative made with real ingredients. It’s rich, it’s meaty, and it’s full of umami. CHi Foods’ star ingredient is the CHi Nut (aka the Sacha Inchi Nut) — a protein packed superfood nut rich in plant-based Omega 3s. These nuts are sourced from Southeast Asia where the CHi Foods crew works with local village leaders to create sustainable economic solutions. Launching with 3 flavors of plant-based ground pork, those looking to eat and feel better will out and out salivate over the CHi-Rizo, Italian Herb, and OG Ground Pork flavors. Packed with 11 g. of complete protein, all products are Keto-friendly, Paleo-friendly, zero net carbs, top 9 allergen free, and incredibly delicious. +

SMARTWOOL

WOMEN’S CLASSIC THERMAL MERINO BASE LAYER BOTTOM PLUS $110 — smartwool.com

Whether you’re working up a sweat or simply looking to stay warm and comfortable, our Women’s Classic Thermal Merino Base Layer Bottom Plus is up for the challenge.

100% Merino wool fabric enhances comfort and breathability while staying odor resistant. With Flatlock seam construction designed to minimize chafing, you can stay as comfortable as possible, from exploring to chilling. Sizes 1X-4X +

KNACK BAGS

SERIES 1: MEDIUM EXPANDABLE KNACK PACK® $185 — knackbags.com

The bag that launched the iconic Knack style. Professional and modern, the Series 1 Medium Expandable laptop backpack combines great everyday function with great travel function in the same bag. The idea behind Knack came from a simple observation: wherever we looked, we noticed an epidemic of people carrying multiple bags. Work bag and a gym bag. Backpack and computer bag.

Roller-bag and carry-on. +

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LIFESTYLE

ALIGNING YOUR DOLLARS TO

YOUR DREAMS

Your business changed.

Have your finances changed with it?

BY LORI (REHNELT) AUFDERHAR (SHE/HER)

A

s our businesses evolve, our business plans change too! You may have been required to write a business plan to obtain a small business loan and launch your business. Then maybe you put the business plan binder on the shelf or close the file safely in your computer’s documents in case you need to borrow more … Ugh! When we put our business plan on the shelf, so to speak, it’s out of sight, out of mind, and not looked at again.

A fluid document, business plans evolve and change with your business.

Have a look at it. Does it reflect your current status? You can use this powerful tool as a way to evaluate and grow your business instead of letting it sit there gathering dust. When evaluating your business plan on a regular basis (this doesn’t require hours and hours, keep it short and simple), you can use the time and details to brainstorm other opportunities or to stop processes that are failing to produce the cash flow you hoped for.

Oftentimes, we start down a path in our business hoping it will take off.

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“When evaluating your business plan on a regular basis [ … ], you can use the time and details to brainstorm other opportunities or to stop processes that are failing to produce the cash flow you hoped for.”

When it doesn’t, I see business owners chasing their tails, spending precious time trying again and trying harder rather than focusing on something that does work. Pressing pause in our business to evaluate can be done on a consistent regular basis. Put it on your calendar, make it a date, make it fun!

Let it help you more clearly define your niche or help you get creative with your schedule. What works best for you?

When are people showing up for your classes? Does your schedule need to change by season? For shorter winter

days, later in the day may work best, while early summer mornings may be the way to go when it’s cooler. Your customer's attendance will be telling, are you tracking it?

What do you want out of your business? What is your target income?

What is your energy level? Are you still as passionate about your business as when you started out? Are you willing and able to put in the time and energy necessary to produce the results you seek? Are you being realistic? Can you do anything different? Can you do more? Scattered focus equals scattered results. Are you trying to be everyone to everybody and getting burned out?

"Pressing pause in our business to evaluate can be done on a consistent regular basis. Put it on your calendar, make it a date, make it fun!"

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LIFESTYLE

“There is no time like the present to schedule a review of your business plan and consistently add to your calendar.”

Think about the sections in your business plan.

• COMPANY DESCRIPTION:

Describe each service or product line

• FINANCE

• Funding: where is the money for the startup costs (seed money)?

• •

How much are the startup costs?

Once established, what are the ongoing costs?

• Projected income:

What are you charging for your services or product line?

• Accepted payment types: Cash, credit card

• EQUIPMENT, INVENTORY, SUPPLIES • TECHNOLOGY • Sign up options • Credit card processing method • Email

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• MARKETING PLANS: How are you

marketing your business, and what is the cost in terms of time, money, and energy?

• Website • Social Media • Samples/coupons

• LOCATION: Where are you conducting your business?

• BPI – BUSINESS PROCESS

IMPROVEMENT: This is an ongoing

evaluation of all categories in your business plan and a great “maintenance addition” for documenting and tracking purposes.

Even when you review your business plan regularly, unexpected things come up. We often view change as a threat.

For Example: maybe the space you rent is no longer available and you must relocate! This space is conveniently

located and your clients regularly participate in your classes. Now what?

Your business feels threatened due to the relocation. You grow concerned about the cost of rent for another space.

Doubts begin to threaten you too! Will my clients be willing to drive farther? If my rent goes up, and I need to recoup the cost in charging more for classes, will I lose my client base?

We can look with a fresh perspective instead of viewing things as a threat.

An opportunity to grow! This can be a good thing, as hard as it can be to make the necessary changes. Use the right language with your clients, showing it’s a win/win for them too! Maybe you offer specials for new clients in the new area, or you offer coupons to the regular clients moving with you. How about a referral bonus — like a free class when you refer someone?

There is no time like the present to schedule a review of your business plan and consistently add it to your calendar. I recommend right after you’ve paid your bills for the month as you become very aware of the expenses.

Tax time is a great time as you pull your details together for your tax return. My favorite time to review my plan is when I’m looking ahead to the next season.

Instead of right before the start of the new calendar year, when I see many business owners planning for the next year, consider starting your evaluation one or two quarters sooner? So, in September, start planning for the winter or even the spring schedule and class offerings.

You know your business and yourself; I know you are wise and will figure out the best time for you! +

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LIFESTYLE

NETI SOLUTIONS for a Better Season

ALINA HORNFELDT (SHE/HER)

W

hen the seasons change from winter to spring, we look for the new buds on the trees, a warm caress in the air, and fresh beginnings. But with these exciting signs of renewal may come some unpleasant features: seasonal allergies, lingering sinus infections from the winter’s colds, and nasal dryness. One way to get relief from these and more is using a neti pot.

The history of the neti pot dates back over 5,000 years to ancient hatha masters who taught their students a variety of neti practices, including jala neti, which includes flushing the nasal passages with water, milk, or ghee to prepare the mind and body for meditation and pranayama (breathing techniques). The Himalayan Institute introduced the first commercially available neti pot in the west in 1972, made of ceramic. As westerners’ health and wellness lifestyles began incorporating yoga and Ayurvedic practices, companies produced neti pots in various materials, such as plastic, copper, and stainless steel. When Oprah demonstrated a neti pot on her show in 2007, she brought it into the mainstream, cementing its place as a valuable tool in the medicine cabinet.

The benefits of using a neti pot include, but are not limited to: thoroughly rinsing the nasal passages and clearing all mucus, relieving sinus

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pressure, improving breathing and limiting congestion, and improving symptoms without the side effects from over-the-counter medication, such as stimulation or drowsiness. Always check with your healthcare provider before introducing a new treatment into your regimen. Children should use a neti pot only with the direct supervision of an adult. It is also vital that you use the neti pot correctly. With careless use, a neti pot or nasal wash can leave you with more problems than you started with!

When getting started with a neti pot, you must consider a few essential things. You can choose a neti pot from the selection found at your local health food store. Often you can find beautiful handmade glazed ceramic options,

but a more budget-friendly option like a plastic pot is just as effective.

Traditional neti pots most often look like small teapots and use gravity to assist the flow of water through the nasal passages. They have an open top, a handle, and a long spout. Check to ensure you get a smooth neti pot with no rough edges, especially at the tip of the spout, as this part will be placed inside your nostril. You can also find a squeeze-bottle type of nasal cleansing device, but these require finesse when using. Otherwise, it may be an uncomfortable and messy experience!

To clean the neti pot and free any debris or dust, wash it thoroughly before usage. The water you use inside the neti pot must be either distilled,

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LIFESTYLE

filtered, boiled at room temperature, or bottled. NEVER use tap water in a neti pot. Plain, unboiled tap water can cause nasal infections. It’s also crucial to use room-temperature water. If you use a prescription nasal solution, that must also be at room temperature. Water that is too hot or too cold will make using your neti pot unpleasant or possibly painful.

Once you’re ready to go with clean water, it’s time to make a saline solution.

Conveniently, you can buy pure salt at your health food store. When you purchase your neti pot, look for the salt on the shelf nearby. The nasal cleansing salt explicitly created for use in a neti pot is finer than table salt, iodine free, and free from impurities. You’ll find it in

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canisters and single-serve packets. The correct ratio is ¼ teaspoon of salt in 8 ounces of your clean lukewarm water.

In your health food store, you may also see some neti wash “boosters.”

These may contain specific essential oils and herbs to make your wash more soothing and moisturizing. Feel free to ask questions of the sales associate at your store for more information and guidance.

You will find directions for making the saline solution and using your neti pot on the packaging, but the basic process is straightforward. Wash your hands and fill the neti pot with your prepared saline solution. Lean over a sink or basin, and tilt your head to one side. Breathe through your mouth, insert

the neti pot’s spout into your upper nostril, and gently raise the pot by the handle so gravity pulls the solution through your sinus cavity and out the lower nostril. After completion, exhale gently through the nose to clear your nasal passage. Reverse sides and repeat the steps through your other nostril. For your last step, clean and dry your neti pot.

Generally safe and side-effect free, neti pots deliver quick results if used properly. After getting the hang of the process and becoming used to the sensation of the water rinse, many people find the practice soothing and an integral part of their connection with their bodies and seasonal wellness practice. +

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LIFESTYLE

3 WARRIOR POWERS OF

AMETHYST

BY KRISTEN BROWN (SHE/HER)

I

n today’s world, we face elements that drain our energy, damage our brain and body, and impact how we think and act at work and at home.

We constantly battle these elements to maintain a clear and focused mind and fully-functioning body so we can evolve and grow.

A brilliant purple quartz crystal, amethyst evokes lightness and clarity.

Its roots in Greek language mean “not intoxicated” which refers to the stone’s usage in protecting owners from drunkenness. This also means it creates a clear mind free from stress and worry.

Known for the crown chakra located at the top of the head, amethyst may be the perfect stone for brain function and drawing in energy to help with headaches, sleep, and protection from external negative energies. Plus it’s excellent for when your goals and visions call to you and require change and growth.

“[Amethyst’s] gentle but powerful energy can help you fight the battles of the day and create a peaceful environment no matter what comes your way.”

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Some of the most powerful and awesome healing properties of amethyst truly turn you into a warrior: •

Shield: The energetic properties of amethyst create a boundary of spiritual light around your body.

Simply carrying this powerful shield keeps out environmental damage to the body, negative energy from other people, and other deteriorating effects on the brain and body.

•

Sword: Amethyst can help you cut cords to things you’re attached to that no longer serve you.

Whether it’s a past experience, toxic person, or internal thought pattern, using amethyst during meditation can help you release negative elements in your life.

•

Peace: When you need to win the battle and have peace in your life, amethyst can help you get there. It clears the space around you and in your head, freeing you from worry and anxiety. It promotes a positive thought pattern and can also inspire creative and focused thinking.

Simply set amethyst on your desk or bedside table, or carry it in your pocket. It’s gentle but powerful energy can help you fight the battles of the day and create a peaceful environment no matter what comes your way. It gives you the extra strength you need when its time to evolve to your next level. +

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LIFESTYLE

BOOK REVIEW:

BETWEEN FRIENDS Not Your Average Romance Novel

BY REEVE KLATT (SHE/HER)

B

etween Friends, written by Minnesota author Susan Schussler, is the third book in her Between the Raindrops series. While the novel ( just under 300 pages) features crossover characters, the third book’s storyline stands on its own, making it easily readable apart from the series. Published in 2016, Schussler’s topics remain very relevant to the growing awareness of mental health and drug abuse. She doesn’t shy away from bringing up tough issues such as suicide, drug overdose, emotionally abusive relationships, and grief.

Set in Minnesota and L.A., Between Friends (Rocky Shore Media L.L.C., 2016) tells the story of Megan, a woman in her mid-twenties who’s still recovering from a toxic past relationship and the loss of her mother. Distant from her family and blaming herself for her mother’s death, Megan struggles to resist revisiting an old relationship with a very persistent ex. Liam, the quintessential Hollywood hottie, is a very casual dater, afraid to make a

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commitment lasting much longer than the night — but he does keep a few rules about the women he sleeps with.

No twins, and no sisters of friends.

When the two meet through mutual friends, there’s an instant connection — but she’s basically the sister of Liam’s friend which makes her automatically untouchable. A series of events (and a few steamy scenes) follow, as both Megan and Liam battle inner demons, backstabbing friends, and complicated families.

With chapters bouncing back and forth between their two perspectives, Schussler lets us into the inner turmoil encircling unhealthy relationships and the ever-present-doubt that we don’t deserve love. Both previously tricked and cheated on by past partners, Megan and Liam struggle with honesty and trust. Together, the two must chart a new course on what love really looks like. “Love isn’t real unless honesty exists,” Liam discovers, a truth that’s even harder to find in our hook-up focused culture.

Schussler markets her books as “realistic romance,” and that’s spot-on for Between Friends. While still very much a romance book, complete with clothes-ripping scenes, heavy panting, and lingering touches, Schussler deftly

weaves together a story highlighting the very real (and brutal) struggles plaguing our modern culture. Liam ends up searching for his drug-addicted brother throughout the streets of L.A., while juggling a heavy-handed father never satisfied with Liam’s achievements.

Megan can’t stop reliving the last moments of her mother’s life, overcome by shame that her family blames her for her mother’s death.

While the pulse-racing sex against a window might not be relatable for all, the themes of deep guilt, self-doubt, and feeling undeserving of true love will surely resonate with readers.

Megan struggles to open herself up to Liam, choosing to protect herself by keeping him in the friend zone, stuffing her feelings in a box she never opens.

“What is it that makes people walk away from me?” she asks herself, unable to let go of her mother’s abandonment and Liam’s seeming disinterest toward her as the novel nears its climax (pun intended). It’s not until both characters let go of their past that they can make room for the future — and each other.

With plot twists and turns, Schussler takes the reader on a meaningful adventure from brokenness to wholeness, reminding us true love is always worth the risk. +

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LIFESTYLE

YOGI’S HALO:

Glow Like the Moon in 3 Steps

BY INDU ARORA (SHE/HER)

W

hat habits will you invite into your selfcare routine this year?

The new year can be a great time to reevaluate habits, routines, and tasks we perform less than mindfully, perhaps even on autopilot.

To live means to change and grow, but it’s easy for our habits to lag behind our mind and spirit as we evolve. Does your daily routine need a firmware update?

During one such evolution from long ago, I arrived at the home of my guru to immerse myself in her knowledge and wisdom of yoga/yoga therapy/Ayurveda.

Like many young people my age, I traveled with my small bag of favorite cosmetics. Very fond of skin care in my

early twenties, my age supported that passion. On the second day of my stay, my guru made it clear to me she was not so fond of this external remedy for glow. The visual of her throwing out all my favorite, carefully curated cosmetics disheartened me.

But just as the clouds clear the way for the sun to shine, in a short (1-minute) conversation, it became clear she would share the secret recipe of the yogis for everlasting glow — an invisible crown, the Yogi’s Halo.

She shared the Yogis Glow, the secret to healthy skin in 3 simple steps.

I urge you to wear this invisible crown, the Yogi’s Halo, every day.

Food for Skin — My Secret in 3 Steps Many ask the most existential question about skin care — ­ what is the best skin care routine for a healthy glow? I offer this 3-step perfect skincare routine to you today as a tribute to my grandmother, and her grandmother, and the cosmic mother who nourishes us all. I remember as a child, my grandmother would walk towards me with a bowl of this nourishing mixture and apply it on my face with her soft, motherly hands and say, “You will glow like the Moon.”

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LIFESTYLE

* YOGIS GLOW: is like magic dust for

My secret to a healthy glow: 3 Simple Steps TOOLS:

• • • •

the skin, made with 100% pure dried herbal ingredients. My grandmother passed the Yogis Glow recipe on to me, then my Guru revised it and my urge to share this heritage and secret revived it.

** NOTE: A good carrier used in a face

mask makes all the difference. Here is an easy user guide:

Yogis Glow powder* Face towel Water Carrier, based on your skin type**

CARRIERS:

STEP 1: WASH Mix a dime-sized amount of Yogis Glow powder with 1-2 teaspoons of water in your palm and rub it on your face luxuriously. Massage, then rinse with room temperature water (you may also use it to remove facial makeup).

Use once upon waking up and once before bed.

STEP 2: SCRUB

• EGG WHITE: in case of wrinkles

Mix 1/2 teaspoon Yogis Glow powder with virgin olive oil or almond oil.

Massage gently and rinse with room temperature water. Apply once a week.

• ROSE WATER:

STEP 3: MASK Mix 1-1 1/2 teaspoons powder with enough carrier** to make a thin paste.

Apply a thin layer on the entire face and neck, avoiding the eyelids and lip area. Let it dry naturally. Dab a cotton pad in almond milk/coconut milk/ cow’s milk to moisten the face. Rub the face using the fingers to loosen the grip of powder from the skin and then rinse using room temperature water.

Follow with your favorite moisturizer. Apply once a week.

or early signs of skin aging in case of irritated skin, rashes, red patches

• HONEY OR WHOLE MILK: in case of very dry, dehydrated skin

“May you glow like the Moon and radiate like the Sun, the beauty of health, goodness, and consciousness. May the realized beings shine through you! Made to honor the absolute beauty.”

— Tripura Sundari.

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The above recipe is from the book SOMA: 100 Heritage Recipes for SelfCare by Indu Arora. The book is available as an e-book or hard copy from the author’s website Yogsadhna.com

• WHOLE MILK OR PLAIN YOGURT: for acne, blemishes, scars, problematic skin

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LIFESTYLE

FOREST BATHING

BY DOMINQUE MILLER (SHE/HER)

An early morning, late September a lightweight coat and a backpack, one filled with stressful feelings.

Want to take that weight off my shoulders by visiting this healing forest, one filled with mysterious wonders.

Cool air is blowing gently it freshens up my mind and it is coloring my cheeks, in a reddish color.

Red as the autumn leaves that are coloring in this forest.

I am greeting her, respectfully when passing her entrance sign.

The blue jay is greeting me back, we both seem to be early birds.

I am starting a conversation with all that is surrounding me; tall trees, tiny critters & so much more.

We are communicating in silence and those unspoken words are telling me a lot.

My heart feels lighter with every step I take.

Although, my legs are feeling heavier leaving miles behind me as well as that stressful feeling.

I am breathing in bright rays of sunlight … inhaling … exhaling a warming up for my body a wake-up call for my soul.

My pace is slow not following manmade signs following my intuition.

Now, my sneakers are plowing through bright green grass while the morning dew is kissing my white socks.

They are getting wet by the overload of kisses feeling fortunate to be a nature lover.

I keep moving forward not ready to turn around even though my socks are soaking wet.

It makes me feel more grounded, grounded with this land I am walking on, we both have our own stories to tell.

My giggles are breaking the silence as I am seeing myself standing here in the middle of who knows where.

Asking myself, while looking at my wet shoes, if I am taking this forest bathing not too literally. Do I?

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MNYOGALIFE.COM

LIFESTYLE PODCAST!

BOOK REVIEW:

WILD YOGA A Practice of Initiation, Veneration + Advocacy for the Earth

W

e exist in relationship to the Earth, our dreams, and one another,” writes author Rebecca Wildbear in her new book, Wild Yoga: A Practice of Initiation, Veneration & Advocacy for the Earth (New World Library, 2023). The creator of a yoga practice also titled Wild Yoga, Wildbear writes with extensive knowledge of the earth we call home — and our duty to protect it: “Wild Yoga is an embodied practice to help us love ourselves, deepen our relationship with the natural world, and stretch our consciousness.”

Receiving her E-RYT-500 certification through Yoga Alliance, Wildbear earned her masters at Johns Hopkins University in the 90s before working as a wilderness therapist and guide.

She’s been leading her program, Wild Yoga, since 2007, which “empowers individuals to tune in to the mysteries that live within the earth community, dreams, and their own wild nature so they may live a life of creative service.”

A survivor of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Wildbear uses stories from her life, as well as her clients’ lives, to document the patterns of the earth and the treatment it deserves.

Drawing from ancient yogic principles, Wildbear writes with unflinching honesty about the importance of being in union with the nature around us. “Once it was like this everywhere: humans lived within nature,” she writes as she portrays

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a world with humans cut off and disconnected from the very land around them. Wild Yoga mixes interpersonal stories, environmental justice, and history, with a plethora of tools to help each person engage with the soil and plants we live among. “Our wellness and our planet home are linked.”

Split into three sections, each chapter of Wild Yoga builds on the previous one, and Wildbear encourages a slow reading, only moving to the next chapter when you feel ready. At the end of every chapter, Wildbear concludes with a yoga pose supporting the chapter’s theme, including pigeon, breath of joy pranayama practice, and cat and dog pose. For clearer understanding, a whimsical illustration drawn by Sarah E. Brooks accompanies each pose. Wildbear also includes a list of practices to help the reader flush out the focus of each chapter, like wandering in nature, befriending a tree, sitting with your grief, and digging into your ancestral history to help connect you with the earth.

The three sections create a flow for Wild Yoga, walking the reader through a journey of discovery. Part 1, ‘The Wild,’ explores how to drop into your body as well as learn how to listen to the natural world around you (receiving the love of trees is a particularly beautiful section).

Part 2, ‘Holy Longing,’ encourages the reader to “open up to the mystery of what you love and grieve,” letting the world sing to you (a beautiful imagery

BY REEVE KLATT (SHE/HER)

that brought me to tears). The third and final part, ‘Beloved World,’ helps the reader learn to listen to their muse and “offer yourself as a love warrior for the Earth.”

The stories Wildbear tells take the reader across the beautiful diversity of land we call home. She writes while in a grove of spruce trees in Colorado high country and in the dry Utah desert, later recalling a childhood trip taking place at a convent in Maryland surrounded by a state park. Wildbear writes about love and loss, describing when her (now ex-) husband proposed to her during a weeklong float in the Gulf of Alaska.

The scenery is stunning and busting with life, even as she recounts difficult conversations and sleepless nights under the stars.

Wildbear isn’t afraid to dive head first into a plethora of topics, intertwining chapters focused on pornography, inhabiting your imagination, grief, the patriarchy, and forest management. All of it ties back to our involvement with the earth and what keeps us separated from caring for our home: our cultural training to be disembodied. “Yoga asanas,” she writes, “have the power to call us back home. To bring us back into the body and show us that being there is essential.” This practice, she acknowledges, is not always easy, but it is a choice, and one that will ultimately connect us with our deepest self. “When we are fully present in our bodies, the places we inhabit can influence our awareness and communicate with us …

We can come to know each ecosystem and ourselves and sense the sacred communion between us.”

A love story to nature and all that makes this living, breathing earth our home, Wild Yoga is a must-read for anyone searching for guidance at the intersection of social justice and the yoga practice. +

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LIFESTYLE

WHY IS IT BENEFICIAL TO

DRINK TURMERIC?

BY BALA SARDA (HE/HIM)

W

hen we were younger, we used to hear our grandparents talk about turmeric all the time. They would call it the best thing for just about any ailment — from a common cold to a more serious illness.

While always intrigued, we never really understood the hype.

For centuries, people used the ancient Indian spice turmeric for its many health benefits. Made from pure turmeric roots or rhizome, the vibrant orangish-yellow spice features a distinctive earthy and pungent aroma with a warm, peppery, and ginger-like flavor.

Organic Turmeric Powder contains more than 3.45% curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric which gives the spice its earthiness and antiinflammatory properties. Turmeric has been used to reduce inflammation, boost immunity, and aid better digestion since time immemorial.

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Here are five reasons why you should add turmeric to your beverages:

1 2 3

IT’S AN ANTIDEPRESSANT: Feeling depressed and anxious?

Turmeric’s curcumin is key to a blissful and happy life.

IT IS ANTI-ARTHRITIC: Turmeric is instrumental in preventing degenerative arthritis, osteoarthritis, inflammatory arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylosis, psoriatic arthritis, gout, and others.

IT HAS ANTIMUTAGENIC PROPERTIES: Turmeric can be one of the best ways to fight carcinogens and chemoprevention.

4 5

TURMERIC BOOSTS IMMUNITY, METABOLISM, AND OVERALL GUT HEALTH: One of the quickest home remedies, a glass of ‘Haldidoodh” or turmeric latte fights colds, cough, and fever, which lowers immunity, and overall digestive health.

IT IMPROVES HEART HEALTH: A healthy heart loves turmeric because it is a natural vasorelaxant and helps to control high blood pressure along with balancing lipoprotein (HDL)cholesterol/total cholesterol ratio.

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LIFESTYLE Not only a great natural remedy, turmeric is full of antioxidants, antiseptic and antibacterial properties, and other health benefits. Turmeric has also been known to be beneficial in other neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, seizures, and chronic stress to name a few. In one Indian wedding tradition, called the Haldi Ceremony, the newlyweds bathe in turmeric clay to bless them with glory, happiness, and harmony in their marital life.

“However, the catch with turmeric is that it’s a bit peppery or bitter for some, and not quite palatable,” said Ujjwala Baxi, a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator. “But that’s not a problem, since you can mix it with some fats like ghee, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado, nut butter, nuts, fish, etc.

Curcumin will be directly absorbed into the bloodstream and easily absorbed without the need of going through the digestive system. This is also why turmeric is commonly mixed with warm milk — any kind of milk including coconut, cow, or almond will work.”

She adds that the body does not absorb curcumin very well, so it can be difficult to reap its full benefits. But adding a tiny amount of black pepper can boost the absorption of turmeric because both the active compounds in turmeric and black pepper are compatible. So, eating turmeric with black pepper can help you get the most out of this powerful spice.

Here’s a quick recipe for

GOLDEN TURMERIC MILK a delicious daily dose of Ayurvedic goodness.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

• • • •

PREP TIME: 2 Minutes COOK TIME: 5 Minutes TOTAL TIME: 7 Minutes

INSTRUCTIONS:

•

Add spices to a small bowl and mix thoroughly.

•

Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it begins to steam.

•

Stir in 1 teaspoon of the spice mixture and continue heating milk, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes.

•

Pour turmeric milk through a strainer into a cup or mug.

•

Add honey and vanilla extract (if using) to taste.

•

Store the remaining spice mixture in an airtight container away from heat and light. +

SERVINGS: 2

INGREDIENTS:

• • • • • • •

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

• •

Jaggery to taste

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1⁄4 teaspoon ground ginger 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves 1⁄4 teaspoon ground allspice 1 cup milk: cow, almond, coconut, or rice milk all work Vanilla extract: optional

A SCANDALOUS WEST WING EVENT with JOSHUA MALINA Joshua Malina, known for The West Wing, Scandal, and The Big Bang Theory, visited Saint Paul last fall to record a live episode of Chutzpod! with co-host Rabi Shira Stutman at the O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University. (photos by Stephanie Fox) www.chutzpod.com +

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EVENTS / Directory

EVENTS RECURRING EVENTS YOGA AT THE RIVER

Levee Park Amphitheater 20 Ramsey St, Hastings, MN

Sundays at 9am: June 4, 11, 18, 25; July 2, 9, 16, 30; Aug 6, 13, 20, 27

Enjoy yoga at the river on Sunday mornings in Historic Hastings. Take in the magic of the mighty Mississippi river while practicing with guest teachers from across the Metro. After class, take a stroll on the River Walk, and be sure to check out all the great shops and restaurants that downtown Hastings has to offer.

Cost: $15/week or $155/summer Register: www.mnyogalife.com/summeryoga

KITTY YOGA!

The Yoga Center Retreat, 4212 Park Glen Rd, St. Louis Park, MN

3/3, 3/19, 4/16 & 5/14

You’ll be feline great after this gentle flow class with some of the cutest, fluffiest and silliest classmates around. Proceeds from this class benefit the pawsitively pawesome organization, the Bitty Kitty Brigade. Paws, stretch and support a great cause.

We litter-ally can’t wait to see you on the mat!! We welcome all ages and skill levels. Bitty Kitty Brigade staff will be at YCR if you are interested in more information on adoption or fostering kittens. Space is limited so do not delay in signing up!

Cost: $20 Donation Register: theyogacenterretreat.com/workshops/

INTO THE NIGHT - SACRED MUSIC Svalja Yoga Studio 16 1/2 1st Ave West, Duluth, MN

First Fridays: Mar 3, Apr 7, May 5

A celebratory 2-hour participatory musical offering full of experiential unity, as we come together from all paths, many lineages, and all directions to share a moment together in song and great heart. We will be doing universal Kirtan, dances of universal peace, and deep dive into the Sufi practice of Zikr. These practices encourage sovereignty while sharing space with others and no experience is necessary. It is forever and always a practice and not a performance.

The vibrations of the voices coming together help to significantly dissolve the barriers between us and our hearts, and our hearts alongside all other hearts.

Cost: $30/$20/FREE Register: www.svalja.yoga/schedule

SACRED SUNDAYS

Svalja Yoga Studio 16 1/2 1st Ave West, Duluth, MN

March 19, April 16, May 14

A 45 minute restorative flow with beautiful live healing

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sounds, followed by 60 minutes of Universal Kirtan shared by a crew of talented musicians. Restorative flow will provide the space for a guided whole-being experience of connecting with your body, breath, and well-being. Universal Kirtan embodies the belief that all paths lead toward the One path. Therefore, no matter your spiritual calling you are welcome.

This experience will include ancient chants to contemporary melodies that contain a transformative power and healing energy. By singing these prayers we join a stream of consciousness and devotion that has been flowing for centuries.

Cost: $30/$20/FREE Register: www.svalja.yoga/schedule

MAGIC THURSDAYS

Svalja Yoga Studio 16 1/2 1st Ave West, Duluth, MN

Every Thursday

Each Thursday we provide a specially cultivated offering designed to support deep healing, rest, release, reprieve, and a sense of wonder and magic.

What if we all hold within ourselves incredible ancestral, collective, and personal strength, resilience, and potential for healing, transformation, and growth?

In these simple moments of beautiful community and co-regulation, may the roots of this sacred healing reach out from us to the collective, solidifying the reality that we are all deeply connected, we are One. Together we are creating a world where all people can belong and be whole.

Cost: $30/$20/FREE Register: www.svalja.yoga/schedule

NEW MOON NIDRA Livestream

Mar 21, Apr 20, May 19, June 18, July 17 , Aug 16, Sept 14, Oct 14, Nov 13, Dec 12

Welcoming the restful stillness of the New Moon in this monthly class. Beginning with simple, mindful movements, we will release into Yoga Nidra, the “sleep of the yogi,” with a guided practice around the monthly new moon. The 60-minute experience inviting ourselves to return to and connect with the wisdom within. All of you are welcome to this practice. Virtual livestream event designed and welcome for all.

Cost: $15 per session Register: www.backtocenterspace.com under “Class Sign-up”

MARCH

230-HOUR YOGA TEACHER TRAINING

The Yoga Center Retreat, 4212 Park Glen Rd, St. Louis Park, MN

3/1/2023, 6/12/2023, 9/14/2023, 9/27/2023 & 10/6/2023 Learn to teach yoga or deepen your practice!

Currently in our 25th year, we are the most-trusted YTT program in Minnesota. Our industry-leading curriculum is led by experts with over 10,000 hours of combined teaching experience. Programs meet

in-person at our studio in Minneapolis and are also live-streamed so you can join us from anywhere!

Cost: $3,200 - $3,500 Register: theyogacenterretreat.com/online-yogateacher-training/230-hour/

ROLL, RELEASE, AND RELAX

The Yoga Center Retreat, 4212 Park Glen Rd, St. Louis Park, MN

March 11th

Join yoga instructor, Mary McCallum, for 2 hours of stress relief and self-care. Learn how to use Yoga Tune-up therapy balls and self-myofascial release techniques to improve mobility, relieve pain, and tame tension from head to toe. You will leave feeling completely relaxed and refreshed! This workshop is suitable for all levels, no previous experience is necessary. Each participant will receive their own pair of Yoga Tune Up therapy balls to continue their selfcare practice at home.

Cost: $45 Register: theyogacenterretreat.com/workshops/

DIVINE WOMAN: CELEBRATE SPRING Livestream

March 25th

Celebrate the Spring Equinox through wombcentered yoga, community connection, and time with devotional mantra, we honor and celebrate body and seasonal transitions through the year. Divine WomanSpring centers on caring for women as we explore the cyclicality of the body with Ayurveda and yoga practices that honor menarche and menstrual health, the Springtime of the body. All of you are welcome to this practice, whatever phase of life you are in. Virtual livestream event with reference guide for participants included.

Cost: $40 www.backtocenterspace.com/events

THAI YOGA BODYWORK PRACTICE JAMS

Devanadi Yoga 4401 Upton Ave S, Minneapolis

March 25th

Practice jams provide the opportunity to grow your understanding of Thai Yoga Bodywork among a community of fellow practitioners. At each session we’ll explore a topic with demonstration and instruction, then practice, and share group discussion to learn from one another’s experience.

Cost $30 register: devanadiyoga.com/schedule-events/

THAI YOGA BODYWORK ADJUSTMENT CLINIC FOR YOGA TEACHERS Devanadi Yoga 4401 Upton Ave S, Minneapolis

March 31st

Infuse your teaching with amazing techniques from the Thai Yoga Bodywork repertoire. We’ll learn adjustments for hamstrings, hips, back, shoulders,

MNYOGALIFE.COM

EVENTS / Directory chest and more, as well as relaxation techniques and even a little flying! Learn proper alignment, stances, and how to protect your back, plus proper ergonomics. We’ll also go over how to discern how far to adjust someone in a pose and discuss the subtleties of energetics. Take your teaching to the next level. Specifically geared towards yoga teachers and yoga teacher trainees.

Cost: $65 Register: devanadiyoga.com/schedule-events/

the Twin Cities area, fueled by a vibrant, engaged, welcoming fashion community.

Cost: Varied www.fashionweekmn.com

A Platform To Showcase Talented, Brown Creatives in the Twin Cities Fashion Industry.

Cost: Varied www.bkwmn.com

ASHTANGA 40-HOUR TEACHER TRAINING WITH DAVID SWENSON

MAMA MARKET

APRIL

4/24 - 4/30/2023

A SUFI STUDY OF JOY!

Svalja Yoga Studio 16 1/2 1st Ave W, Duluth, MN

April 1

Just us for visiting guest Farhad Forrest Pierce, beloved teacher in the Ruhaniat International and a music professor at KSU. He hosts a dance circle in Lawrence Kansas and has quite the atmosphere and sincerity about him as well as joy for the path. Expect Sufi practices (a lot of musical ones) as well as a Dharma talk/teaching.

Cost $40/$30/$20/FREE Register: www.svalja.yoga/schedule

MN YOGA CONFERENCE Eagan Community Center

April 15-16

Bringing together yogis of all levels from all over Minnesota and surrounding states. This conference will have a track for self-care, workshops, and education … combining a mix of asana practices, meditation and sound bath practices, lectures, and workshops to serve the MN Yoga Community. We hope to inspire various levels of students, from the beginner to the advanced, to the yoga teacher.

Cost: $275 Register: www.mnyogaconference.com

THAI YOGA BODYWORK PRACTICE JAMS

Devanadi Yoga 4401 Upton Ave S, Minneapolis

April 21st

Practice jams provide the opportunity to grow your understanding of Thai Yoga Bodywork among a community of fellow practitioners. At each session we’ll explore a topic with demonstration and instruction, then practice, and share group discussion to learn from one another’s experience.

Cost $30 register: devanadiyoga.com/schedule-events/

FASHION WEEK MN Twin Cities Metro Area

April 23-29

The mission of Fashion Week Minnesota is to shine a light on local fashion designers, makers, retailers, artists and creators, and help foster a thriving fashion community. Community is at the core of our mission. We continually strive to cultivate a more representative, more equitable fashion ecosystem in

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The Yoga Center Retreat, 4212 Park Glen Rd, St. Louis Park, MN Don’t miss the opportunity to deeply immerse yourself into the details underlying the practice and teaching of the Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga with David Swenson. Participants will learn safe and effective hands-on adjustments through partner work for all of the asanas and practicalities of conducting a class and yoga theory. As in all courses run by David there is sure to be plenty of laughter and joy woven into the experience. Learn more than you ever imagined possible in a week-long course and have so much fun in the process!

Cost: $995.00 Register: theyogacenterretreat.com/specialtytrainings/

YOGIC SPRING CLEANSE FOR VITALITY + RENEWAL In-person or virtually Minneapolis

April 29-May 13

Spring is a time of renewal — one of the best times to purify the body, mind and heart and restore vitality.

Rooted in Yoga and Ayurveda, our Spring cleanse is an annual ritual of well-being. Featuring: two workshops; structured dietary guidance; holistic yoga, lifestyle and self-care practices; and resources and recordings for personalizing the cleanse to meet your individual needs. Join Angela and Ben to restore your vitality and feel great this spring!

Cost: Sliding Scale, Starts at $75 Register: vincentyoga.com/springcleanse-for-renewal-vitality-april23-may-7-in-person-or-virtual/

FASHION WEEK MN Twin Cities Metro Area

April 23-29

The mission of Fashion Week Minnesota is to shine a light on local fashion designers, makers, retailers, artists and creators, and help foster a thriving fashion community. Community is at the core of our mission. We continually strive to cultivate a more representative, more equitable fashion ecosystem in the Twin Cities area, fueled by a vibrant, engaged, welcoming fashion community.

Cost: Varied www.fashionweekmn.com

MAY

BLACK FASHION WEEK MN

Blooma Studio, 5315 Lyndale Ave S. Mpls, MN 55419

May 6th

Join us at Blooma for local vendors selling handmade gifts the weekend before Mother’s Day. There will be free food and beverages, as well as special yoga classes for the whole family. We will also have a professional photographer doing mini sessions for you and your kids.

Cost: free no registration needed

JUNE

DIVINE WOMAN: WELCOME SUMMER livestream

June 24th

Welcome the Summer Solstice through wombcentered yoga, community connection, and time with devotional mantra, we honor and celebrate body and seasonal transitions through the year. Divine Woman-Summer centers on caring for women as we explore the cyclicality of the body with Ayurveda and yoga practices that honor fertility and pregnancy, the Summertime of the body. All of you are welcome to this practice, whatever phase of life you are in. Virtual livestream event with reference guide for participants included.

Cost: $40 Register: www.backtocenterspace.com/events

YOGA @ THE VINEYARD

Burr Vineyards 10522 County Road 58 NW, Brandon, MN

June 24th

Yoga @ The Vineyard with Nicole Warner to benefit The Alzheimer’s Association-4th Saturdays of the month during the summer from noon-1pm followed with a glass of wine. Requested donation $20 (7$ for the glass of wine and the remainder goes to The Alzheimer’s Association. This class is accessible and takes place outside, while we listen to the roosters and the ducks. Mats are provided, however, you can bring your own also.

Cost: Requested donation $20 No registration required.

JULY

YOGA @ THE VINEYARD

Burr Vineyards 10522 County Road 58 NW, Brandon, MN

July 22nd

Yoga @ The Vineyard with Nicole Warner to benefit

Twin Cities Metro Area

May 5-13

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EVENTS / Directory The Alzheimer’s Association-4th Saturdays of the month during the summer from noon-1pm followed with a glass of wine. Requested donation $20 (7$ for the glass of wine and the remainder goes to The Alzheimer’s Association. This class is accessible and takes place outside, while we listen to the roosters and the ducks. Mats are provided, however, you can bring your own also.

Cost: Requested donation $20 No registration required.

KIDS YOGA CAMP

Yoga Sanctuary Minneapolis MN

July 24-27

At Kids Yoga Day Camp your child will learn how to connect with their body through mindful movement & cooperative games. They will gain awareness of their powerful minds & learn how to guide thoughts by using their breath and bodies. These skills are all taught in playful ways that support each child’s inner light. Kids Yoga Day Camp will be FUN and WELCOMING for all children ages 6-10 years (a little older is fine) giving them opportunity to gain skills and confidence in cooperation, communication, leadership, compassion, flexibility, mindfulness and creativity.

Cost: sliding scale register: www.yogasanctuarympls. com/youth-class-schedule

AUGUST

YOGA @ THE VINEYARD

Burr Vineyards 10522 County Road 58 NW, Brandon, MN

August 26th

Yoga @ The Vineyard with Nicole Warner to benefit The Alzheimer’s Association-4th Saturdays of the month during the summer from noon-1pm followed with a glass of wine. Requested donation $20 (7$ for the glass of wine and the remainder goes to The Alzheimer’s Association. This class is accessible and takes place outside, while we listen to the roosters and the ducks. Mats are provided, however, you can bring your own also.

Cost: Requested donation $20 No registration required.

SEPTEMBER

RIVER VALLEY YOGA FESTIVAL Stillwater, MN

Sept. 21-24

River Valley Yoga Festival is a multi-day, outdoor event featuring yoga, meditation, forest bathing, sound healing, wisdom talks and more. Located in the heart of the beautiful St. Croix Valley, you are destined to find peace, tranquility and activities that ignite your soul.

Cost: Ticket prices vary Register: rivervalleyyogafestival. com/purchase-tickets/

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PARTNERS / Directory HOLISTIC YOGA TEACHER TRAINING + PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION

Yoga Sanctuary 100 W. 46th St, Minneapolis MN

PARTNERS

Sept 2023-May 2024

Our holistic approach integrates trauma-awareness throughout all aspects of training with specific emphasis during our Self-Care Spring Retreat where we will also learn to see yoga through a lens of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. Elemental (fire, water, earth, air, space/sound) themes provide a map for us to interact holistically with yogic concepts including asana (physical postures), yoga history, anatomy, pranayama (breath practices), yoga philosophy, Ayurveda and meditation.Our hope is that during our time together, you will get to know yourself on a deeper level—and that this true Self will be welcomed, nourished and empowered to live with steadiness and ease.

Cost: $2950 (Early Bird pricing $2800 before July 31, BIPOC scholarship available) Register: www.yogasanctuarympls. com/program-overview

DIVINE WOMAN: HONOR AUTUMN Livestream

Sept. 23rd

Welcome the Autumn Equinox through wombcentered yoga, community connection, and time with devotional mantra, we honor and celebrate body and seasonal transitions through the year. Divine WomanAutumn centers on caring for women as we explore the cyclicality of the body with Ayurveda and yoga practices that honor postpartum and perimenopause, the Autumn of the body. All of you are welcome to this practice, whatever phase of life you are in. Virtual livestream event with reference guide for participants included.

Cost: $40 Register: www.backtocenterspace.com/events

OCTOBER

FALL WELLNESS RETREAT

The Steeple Center Rosemount, MN

October 7th

Join us for a half day retreat focused on self care. Enjoy a day with meditation, flow, dharma talks, yoga nidra, sound bath, and more!

Cost: $125 ($95 early bird before 6/31) Register: www.mnyogalife.com/fallretreat

TWIN CITIES METRO AREA An Medi-Zen

9354 Ensign Ave S, Bloomington, MN www.anmedi-zen.com

Art Intimates

www.artintimates.com

Blooma

5315 Lyndale Ave S, Mpls, MN www.blooma.com

Burn Bootcamp CG

8700 E. Pt. Douglas Rd S, Cottage Grove, MN burnbootcamp.com/locations/ cottage-grove-mn/

Crystal Healing Collective crystalhealingcollective.com

Cyclebar Ridgedale

www.cyclebar.com/location/ridgedale

Devanadi Yoga

2711 44th St W, Mpls, MN www.devanadiyoga.com

Excelsior Candle Co.

1500 Jackson St NE, #206, Mpls, MN excelsiorcandleco.com

Functional Health Unlimited

Dr. Lori Lee 724 Bielenberg Dr, Suite 154, Woodbury, MN www.functionalhealthunlimited.com

Good Dog Graphics Co

www.gooddoggraphicsco.com

Helen Wang Jewelry helenwangjewelry.com

Ignite Joy Coaching

www.ignitejoycoaching.com

Inspired Thinking, LLC www.inspiredthinking.org

JADA Studios

275 Market St, Suite 409, Mpls, MN www.JADAstudios.com

Kirk House Publishers

SUNLIGHT’S PANAMA RETREAT

1250 E 115th Street, Burnsville, MN www.kirkhousepublishers.com

Oct. 23-29, 2023

Mary McCallum Yoga + Fitness

Bocas Del Toro, Panama

Join Sunlight Yoga + Apothecary for the best, most restful week of your decade. We are hosting 6-night, 7-day stay on a Caribbean island just outside Bocas Del Toro, Panama. Join us for yoga, beaches, over-the-water-accommodations, and adventures Cost: $2600-$3300 www.thesunlightexperience.com/retreat

www.marymccallum.co

Mastel’s Health Food

1526 St Clair Ave, St. Paul, MN www.mastels.com

Michelle Carlson

michellecarlson1406@gmail.com

MNYOGALIFE.COM

PARTNERS / Directory Mindful in Minutes Podcast www.yogaforyouonline.com

MNyoga

www.mnyoga.org

The Yoga Center Retreat

Muddy Waters Yoga

4212 Park Glen Rd, St. Louis Park, MN theyogacenterretreat.com

270 W 3rd St, Suite 3, Winona, MN www.muddywatersyoga.com

Yoga for Health + Healing with Allison Miller www.allisonmiller.yoga

Sleepy Dog Yoga

Moxie Malas Mpls Yoga

Yoga Sanctuary + Holistic Yoga Teacher Training

Yoga Flow with Kristi

www.moxiemalas.com 2836 Lyndale Ave S, Ste 100, Mpls, MN www.mpls.yoga

Mudita Wellness MN

1903 Greeley St S, Suite 100, Stillwater, MN muditawellnessmn.com

Mystic Vibes Yoga + Sound Healing www.mysticvibesyoga.com

namaSync®

2960 Winnetka Ave N, Suite 211, Crystal, MN www.namasync.com

NE Wellness

1717 2nd Ave NE, Mpls, MN www.newellnessmpls.com

Nourish and Grow Yoga

100 W 46th St, Mpls, MN yogasanctuarympls.com

YogaTed/YOU ARE HERE Retreats www.yogatedyoga.com

DULUTH Muggymoose Massage + Thai Bodywork 394 South Lake Ave, Ste 303, Duluth, MN www.muggymoose.com

Runa Yoga

1515 Kenwood Ave, Ste 400, Duluth, MN www.runayoga.com

Bemidji, MN sleepydogyoga@gmail.com app.heymarvelous.com/yogaflow40

WISCONSIN Align Yoga

1323 Broadway Ave, Ste 222, Superior, WI www.alignyogawi.net

Bodhi Studios, LLC Prescott, WI www.bodhistudios.co

LIGHT HOUSE Yoga + Fitness 1000 Pearson Dr, Hudson, WI www.lighthouseyogafitness.com

Simplify Health Coaching

Sheri Bieter www.simplifyhealthcoaching.com

3033 Dupont Avenue South, Mpls, MN www.nourishandgrowyoga.com

Soul Song Spiritual Coaching

Oasis Chiropractic + Wellness Center

Svalja Yoga

16 1/2 First Ave W, Duluth, MN www.svalja.yoga

NORTH DAKOTA

Salons by JC — Cottage Grove

Yoga North ­— International SomaYoga Institute

NE Wellness, Bismarck

7424 E. Point Douglas Rd, Cottage Grove, MN www.cottagegrovechiro.com

7240 E. Pt. Douglas Rd, Ste 160, Cottage Grove, MN www.salonsbyjc.com/location/ minnesota:cottage-grove

Sankalpa Therapy + Wellness Center

soulsongmn@gmail.com

310 E Superior St, Ste 125c, Duluth, MN www.yoganorthduluth.com

200 East Main Ave, Ste 101, Bismarck, ND www.newellnessmpls.com

OTHER

5221 Viking Dr, Ste 300, Bloomington, MN www.sankalpa.com

ST. CLOUD AREA

Shanti Krishna Studio

Back to Center Yoga — Back to Center Integrated Veterinary Services

Carrie Jeroslow — Intuitive, Conscious Relationship Coach, Author

KPower Yoga

Cognitive Bridges

www.shantikrishna.com

Spirit of the Lake Yoga

6140 Lake Linden Dr, Ste 135, Shorewood, MN www.spiritofthelakeyoga.com

Studio One Yoga

402 N Main St, Stillwater, MN 1940 Lexington Ave, Roseville, MN 4475 Lake Ave S, White Bear Lake, MN www.studiooneyoga.com

Tula Yoga

99 Snelling Ave N, St. Paul, MN www.tulayogawellness.com

Up Yoga

4325 Nicollet Ave, Mpls, MN www.upyogamn.com

Vincent Yoga

www.vincentyoga.com

Wise Womxn

www.wisewomxnwellness.com

Women In Business

www.cottagegrovechamber.com

Yess Yoga

105 E 26th St, Mpls, MN www.yessyogastudio.com

MNYOGALIFE.COM

Cold Springs, MN backtocenterspace.com

809 10th Ave N, Sartell, MN 109 Ash St W, St. Joseph, MN www.kpoweryogastudio.com

Rollga

1249 2 1/2 St N, Sartel, MN www.rollga.com

Shanti Yoga Center

www.carriejeroslow.com Text to book an appt. 702.808.8179 www.cognitivebridges.com

Mountain Reboot Wellness Retreat www.opendooryoga.com

Yoga Teacher Conf Allison Rissel yogateacherconf.com

2820 2nd St South, Ste 150, St. Cloud, MN shantiyoga.center

Yoga Melrose

308 East Main St, Melrose, MN www.yogamelrose.org

GREATER MINNESOTA Hillman House Retreat Space 1164 County Rd 8, Hillman, MN www.hillmanhousemn.com

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CHARITABLE PARTNER

MEET

AMY ZELLMER

LoveYourBrain Community Member

F

ebruary 3, 2014 started out like any other morning. I got up early to move my car due to our building plowing the lots. I took my Yorkie, Pixxie, out for her morning walk, but with sub-zero weather I decided she would rather I carry her (spoiled pooch, I know).

As I carried her down the inclined driveway of our building, I stepped on a patch of black ice. My feet went out from under me, and I landed full-force on the back of my skull.

When I got up I immediately knew I wasn’t ok, but I had no idea the yearslong journey I was about to embark on.

With an excruciating headache, I saw proverbial stars in my vision. I wasn’t sure I could bend over to pick up Pixxie — she sat shivering about 10 feet away from me, so we are pretty certain I went unconscious for at least a few minutes.

Every 11 seconds someone in the United States will suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI). It can happen in literally the blink of an eye, and your life may never be the same ever again.

It took me over two and a half years to find the right doctors to help me finally find some relief from the constant dizziness and headaches. I am nine years into my recovery, and I would say I am finally feeling 90% better, though there are parts of me I have come to accept as the new me, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. Through this journey I met some of the most

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incredible warriors, and have also come to know who I truly am and what I am meant to do.

Early on in my recovery I turned to yoga, my go-to for feeling better.

However, this time, I didn’t know where to start. I not only suffered a TBI, I also sustained a dislocated sternum, severe whiplash, and torn muscles throughout my neck and shoulder area. I met with my yoga teacher privately, and together we came up with five poses I could safely do. I did those poses every single day, sometimes twice a day. I noticed my range of motion, mobility, and balance slowing coming back. Yoga became a daily part of my recovery — and remains that way nine years later.

About a year into my journey I attended a screening of “The Crash Reel,” which follows olympic snowboarder, Kevin Pearce, through his training for the 2010 Vancouver olympics. About two weeks before the olympic games, he had a terrible crash

Amy(R) with LYB leaders Kyla Pearce (L) and Ramsay Pierce (C).

and suffered a life-threatening TBI. Kevin and his brother Adam founded the nonprofit, LoveYourBrain (LYB), in 2014 as a way to give back to the community and help survivors and caregivers build resilience.

In 2019 I had the opportunity to attend the LYB Yoga Teacher Training in Jacksonville, FL as a community Ambassador. At the time, I wasn’t a certified RYT yoga teacher, but had been practicing for about 20 years. I would eventually get my 200RYT in 2020 during COVID lock-down, and I began teaching online yoga classes to my TBI Tribe (a FB group that has grown to almost 11,000 members). I blended my LYB training with my chair yoga training into something extraordinary my community thrives from.

Yoga truly helps us heal, not only physically but mentally and emotionally.

As Patanjali clearly says: yoga is a state of mind.

The LoveYourBrain Foundation is a non-profit organization improving the quality of life of people affected by traumatic brain injury and raising awareness about the importance of brain health. They offer free, research-backed yoga, meditation and mindfulness programs, and retreats for TBI survivors and caregivers.

TO LEARN MORE VISIT: www.loveyourbrain.com or follow on social media @loveyourbrain +

MNYOGALIFE.COM

Yoga at the River

A Summer Yoga Series Brought to you by MN YOGA + Life Magazine

Levee Park Amphitheater: 20 Ramsey St, Hastings, MN Sunday Mornings 9-10am June July August

4, 2, 6,

11, 9, 13,

All are welcome: No one will be turned away for inability to pay.

MNYOGALIFE.COM

18, 16, 20,

25 30 27

Tickets: $15/week $155/summer www.mnyogalife.com/summeryoga $1 from each ticket will be donated to the LoveYourBrain foundation

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