Happy Diwali Everyone!!  Join me in celebrating the Indian New Year at the Crow Collection of Asian Art this Friday, October 28, 2011!  Enjoy the Festival of Lights with diya decorating, rangoli, and mendhi starting @6pm; yoga and chanting with Lisa Nersesova @7pm; then join me for a Diwali Talk and Diya Dance in the Grand Gallery @9pm, followed by a Laxmi Puja!  

Gallery Talk: Celebrating Diwali
8:45 | Grand Gallery
Learn about Diwali with Priya Jhawar, as she explains the meaning of this auspicious holiday and the traditions of how and why it is celebrated. 

Performance: Diya Dance
9 PM | Grand Gallery
Enjoy a Diya Dance by Priya Jhawar, performed in the dark with diyas, or small lamps, to celebrate the Festival of Lights.

 For more info:  http://www.crowcollection.com/event_view.aspx?date=10%2F28%2F2011

Check it out…write-up on the Hip Hop Yoga class that I taught at the Crow Collection of Asian Art last week!!  http://www.smudailycampus.com/news/dallasites-put-new-spin-on-yoga-1.2596617

Incorporating hip hop music and dance moves into the yoga routine, we really ’got down’ and let loose…and yes, we even did the worm!  It was a heck of a lot of fun!  :)  I was scheduled to open for MC Yogi on a big 16′x20′ stage outside, all of Flora Street had been shut down for the event.  With the long drought that we’ve been experiencing all summer, no one expected rain.  But rain it did!!  Fortunately, we were able to move the yoga and concert inside the galleries.  MC Yogi came out to perform after the yoga class.  A truly inspiring yogi and performing artist, MC Yogi combines his knowledge of yoga with his love for hip hop music, creating an exciting new sound that brings the wisdom of yoga to a whole new generation of modern mystics, truth seekers, and urban yogis.  It really was an amazing night!  Big thanks to the Crow for hosting, and to Nicholas (aka MC Yogi), Amanda and Robin for making the journey down south!  JAI GANESH!

Join me tomorrow night, 9/16, at the Crow Collection of Asian                                              Art for a lil Hip Hop Yoga at 8pm, followed by a free concert with                                              MC YOGI at 9pm!!!!  Many activities throughout the night, from                                               6pm till midnight!  For a full schedule of events, check out http://www.crowcollection.com/event_view.aspx?eventID=5236.

Join me this Saturday, 8/27, for a fun and challenging practice as I introduce students to the Second, or Intermediate, Series of Ashtanga Yoga.

Also referred to as “Nadi Shodhana,” the Intermediate Series is meant to open and clear the “nadis” or energy channels throughout the body through a series of deep backbends, hip openers and inversions.  In this workshop, we will break down the individual postures of the Second Series and go through variations and modifications to make these more advanced asanas approachable for everyone.  This workshop is recommended for students who are already familiar and reasonably proficient with the Primary Series.

This workshop will help kick-off the launch of a new Second Series class that I will be teaching at the Dallas Yoga Center starting in September.

Location:                                                                                                                                       Dallas Yoga Center                                                                                                              Saturday, August 27^th, 2011                                                                                                              2 – 4:30pm

Cost:  $45  ($40 before August 14th) 

For additional info, contact Dallas Yoga Center at 214.443.9642                                              or see flier: Second Series with Priya

Join us in the lush tropical backwaters of Kerala, India from February 4 – March 3, 2011 for an Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training and Ayurveda Retreat.  Immerse deeply in the Ashtanga Yoga practice in this teacher training intensive with Caroline Klebl, who learned the Ashtanga Yoga method from Sri K. Pattabhi Jois over the course of nine years in Mysore, India.  I wil be assisting Caroline with this course.  For more information about the training, please contact me or visit http://sourceofyoga.com/.  

This teacher training program meets the 200 & 500 hour international certification standards of the Yoga Alliance.

Northern Uganda is known as a country of child soldiers, abductions, rapes, and mutilation.  Children as young as age seven are taken captive and forced to perform as soldiers, sex slaves and baggage porters.  Human rights groups estimate that as many as forty thousand children have been taken captive, and those numbers are still growing.  Who is responsible for these vile acts?  The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a guerilla militia that has terrorized the northern region of Uganda since its inception in 1986.  Child abductees comprise as much as 80 percent of the LRA ranks.  They are forced to raid villages, execute prisoners and fight against the Ugandan national army.  Most westerners know little to nothing about this “forgotten war”, and our governments have little interest in stopping it.  Perhaps if the rebels were stealing oil rather than children, the world would pay more attention.

One man, however, has set forth on a journey to unify, empower and create a better life for these forgotten children of Uganda.  Abraham “Abramz” Tekya started the Breakdance Project Uganda in February 2006 out of the belief that hip hop can be used as a tool to engage and empower disadvantaged youth in war-torn areas of Uganda.  The mission of Breakdance Project Uganda:  to engage young people in hip hop culture in order to build leadership skills and promote social responsibility for positive change.  Abramz’ dream was to establish a free workshop that would empower, rehabilitate, and heal the community by teaching youth about b-boy culture.  Based in Kampala, Uganda, Breakdance Project Uganda has recently expanded to include permanent classes in Gulu, Northern Uganda.  Abramz teaches classes three times a week to more than 300 kids from all parts of the country.  Many of the children are homeless, victims of war and poverty, and few can afford proper schooling, yet they walk from miles away to attend the classes.

“Bouncing Cats” follows Abramz and the Breakdance Project Uganda on a journey to use hip hop culture for positive social change.  The film, directed by Nabil Elderkin, recently won “Best Documentary Feature Film” at the Urbanworld Film Festival in New York, “Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Filmmaking” at the Newport Beach Film Festival, and “Audience Favorite Award” at Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival.

“Bouncing Cats” is currently screening at film festivals and special sneak peek events across North America.  The film will be screening tonight at 7pm in Fort Worth’s Sundance Square as part of the Lone Star International Film Festival.

All proceeds from the film go to Breakdance Project Uganda.  For more information on the Breakdance Project Uganda and additional film screenings, please visit the Bouncing Cats website at http://www.bouncingcats.com.

Considered the most important of Hindu holidays, Diwali is the Festival of Lights and also marks the beginning of the Indian New Year.  Diwali signifies the day of Prince Ram’s return to his home in Ayodhya after a 14-year long exile and his victory over the demon-king Ravan.  In celebration of the return of their king, the people of Ayodhya lit up the kingdom with thousands of diyas (oil lamps) to welcome Ram back.  Symbolically, Diwali represents the triumph of Dharma, righteous duty, over Adharma, unrighteousness, or the victory of good over evil.

As families gather to celebrate Diwali, homes are adorned with diyas and candles, and streets are decorated with hand-painted, colorful designs known as rangoli.  As we light up our homes, we also seek to light up our minds, our hearts, and our souls.  During this time, may we all find ourselves back on the path of awakening.

Asato maa sadgamaya
Tamaso maa jyotirgamaya
Mrityor maa amritam gamaya
Om shaanti, shaanti, shaantih

From the unreal, lead us to the real.
From darkness, lead us unto light.
From death, lead us to immortality.
Om peace peace peace.

(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad — I.iii.28)

Happy Diwali everyone!!

For Diwali celebrations in Dallas, check out the festivities at the Crow Collection of Asian Art this Saturday, November 6, 2010.  Sculpt and decorate your own Diwali diya, help create a community rangoli made of colored sands, join the staff for storytelling as they share the story of Diwali, and watch traditional Indian dances in celebration of the festival!  For more info on the schedule of events: http://www.crowcollection.com/event_view.aspx?eventID=4925&returnUrl=calendar.aspx%3fdate%3d11%2f4%2f2010

Yesterday, after completing the final outer rim of the Akshobhya Mandala, monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery began its dismantling in a consecration ceremony that is deeply purifying and contributes to the healing of the earth and all its inhabitants. The monks invoked the deities of the Mandala—in this case, Akshobhya, the Buddha of Conflict Resolution—through traditional Tibetan chanting and prayer, and then began sweeping up the colored sands. I watched in disbelief. To see such a magnificent piece of art destructed after hours and hours of painstaking work, day after day, and to see the monks do this with such equanimity and contentment was just incredible. It is a powerful metaphor for the impermanence of all things in life, teaching us the importance of letting go. Some of the sand was distributed to the audience as blessings for personal health and healing. The remaining sand was carried in a procession by the monks to a flowing body of water (i.e., Turtle Creek), where it was ceremonially poured to disperse the healing energies of the Mandala into the world.

Following the ceremony, it was time for us to bid our farewells to the monks. I found myself overwhelmed with emotion. It was hard to say goodbye to our new friends who have become so dear to us over the past week. I will miss their warm smiles, their kind gestures, and chatting away with them in Hindi. I am grateful for all that they have shared with us, and wish them safe travels as they make their way on to Atlanta, where the Dalai Lama will also be presiding next week.

For more information about the Mystical Arts of Tibet tour: http://www.mysticalartsoftibet.org

The monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery started touring in 1988 as a way to spread awareness of their endangered culture, contribute to world peace and healing, and raise support for the Tibetan refugee community in India. There are now more than 2,500 monks living in the monastery in south India, which was rebuilt by 250 surviving monks after the Chinese invasion destroyed their original monastery in Tibet, which housed ten to fifteen thousand monks. For more information about the Drepung Loseling Monastery and how you can support them: http://www.drepung.org/