E-News from LA YOGA Ayurveda and Health Magazine

MAY 2014 | ISSUE 207

May 2014 Issue
Photo: Jeff Skeirik

From the Editor

It’s been hot in SoCal this week. The kind of heat that wraps around the body like a warm blanket, the kind of heat that can ignite wishes for a cool breeze, for watermelon, for fresh mint tea. It is the kind of heat that inspires us to wake early and breathe in the early morning air. But it is also the kind of heat that can feel stifling, contractive, leaving us the need to dispel anything we’re wearing or even feeling that weighs us down. It helps facilitate letting go and cooling off.

What hopefully wasn’t stifling, but helped to facilitate a sense of freedom was this week’s subtle energy around the New Moon. New beginnings give us the opportunity to set intentions and past intentions begin to manifest.

For many of us involved with yoga, those intentions can relate to yoga teacher training, whether as a teacher or a student, a first-time trainee embarking on a path or a long-time devotee searching out continuing education. If you’re involved in a teacher training program at all, please fill out our survey here. We’ll be taking submissions through May 9, and we hope to hear from you.

Today being the first day of May, it is another opportunity to reset and reconnect, to take a deep inhalation and take stock of how we’re charting our course through the year; how we’re stepping on the mat each day, and carrying what we’ve learned and practiced into the rest of our day. Every day we can live our commitment and walk the path with confidence and ease.

Here’s to a Cool Breeze,

Felicia Marie Tomasko, RN
LA Yoga Magazine, Editor in Chief

Add your event FREE on LAYOGA.COM! Find out more.

Upcoming Events

THURSDAY, MAY 1

7:00 P.M. – 9:30 P.M. Naam Yoga LA Shakti Naam Masterclass with Dr. Joseph Michael Levry. Join us as we move, stretch, laugh and fill our hearts with healing joy through the sweet symphony of Naam. Bring your friends and loved ones too. Call (310) 751-7550 to reserve your space. Naam Yoga LA 1231 4th St., Santa Monica.

FRIDAY, MAY 2

Magick on the Mat. Seane Corn and Damien Echols collaborate for a transformative weekend workshop exploring yoga, ritual, Reiki, and meditation for an integrated mind, body, spirit practice.
$275 full weekend, May 2 -4, $80/day. YogaWorks. 1067 N Fairfax Ave. 2nd Floor, West Hollywood.

Tea Lovers Festival. Tea VIP opening reception with a Misono Tana Japanese Tea Ceremony, live music, matcha cocktails, and raffle prizes. The main event is a tea bus tour from Los Angeles to San Diego featuring tea-infused desserts, tastings, Q&As with tea connoisseurs, and story-sharing. May 2 – 25. Various location, Southern California.

8:00 P.M. – 10:00 P.M. Deep Exhale presents “Ritual.” Deep Exhale is the first collaborative effort between long running house music institution DEEP-LA and yoga mecca Exhale Venice. Starts with yoga movement lead by Cristi Christensen and segues into dance, courtesy of DEEP maestro DJ Marques Wyatt. exhale Venice. 245 South Main St, Venice.

SATURDAY, MAY 3

10:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. No Kill LA Adoption Weekend. Meet over 1,000 dogs, cats, puppies and kittens for adoption from more than 50 Los Angeles rescues and shelters. This family-friendly event includes L.A.’s hottest food trucks, exhibitors, and celebrity appearances. La Brea Tar Pits
5801 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.

12:30 P.M. – 4:30 P.M. Yoga for Loving Relationships and Happiness. Learn how your mind was built, what it was designed to do, and how yoga and mindfulness meditation are developed and designed to help with loving relationships. Mission Street Yoga. 1017 Mission Street, South Pasadena.

1:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M. Sample a Teacher Training at YogaWorks. Join YogaWorks Trainer, David Lynch for a free event. Sample a mini teacher training to help decide if a teacher training is for you. YogaWorks Tarzana Studio.

1:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M. Sample a Teacher Training at YogaWorks. Join YogaWorks Trainer, Michelle McKay for a free event. Sample a mini teacher training to help decide if a teacher training is for you. YogaWorks Montana Studio.

2:00 P.M. – 3:30 P.M. Yoga for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain. Simple movements, breathing techniques, guided visualization, and relaxation to learn to reduce stress and to manage fibromyalgia and chronic pain. $20. Yoga Everyone 28914 Roadside Dr. #204, Agoura Hills.

2:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sample a Teacher Training at YogaWorks. Join YogaWorks Trainers, Heather Seiniger and Olivia Barry for a free event. Sample a mini teacher training to help decide if a teacher training is for you. YogaWorks Montana Studio.

2:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M. Family Yoga Class with Beth Prandini and Annie Marks. All Ages, Kids Under 12 Are Free. Every Saturday. Yogis Anonymous 1221 2nd St, Santa Monica.

4:00 P.M. – 5:30 P.M. Yoga for Cancer. Whether a recent diagnosis or many years ago, all ages and levels of mobility are welcomed to attend. You will learn accessible tools and practices that you can incorporate into your life. Chairs will be provided for those not wishing to be on a mat. $20. Yoga Everyone 2814 Roadside Dr #204, Agoura Hills.

4:00 P.M. – 5:30 P.M. On the Path: Mantra, Meditation and Healing Practices for the Urban Yogiwith Sarah Garney. This weekly class is devoted to developing and deepening a spiritual practice with mantra, meditation and healing practices. We will practice specific mantras, meditations and techniques for empowerment, health, prosperity, self-realization and more. Bhakti Yoga Shala 207 Arizona, Santa Monica.

Beautify-LA powered by Kuyam. For one week only, May 3 – 10, book your favorite beauty or fitness appointments at participating salons and studios throughout the Westside. Participating businesses will offer select services at a discounted price on the specified dates. Various locations.

SUNDAY, MAY 4

WEDNESDAY, MAY 7

6:30 P.M. Thrive: An Evening with Arianna Huffington. Live Talks LA presents Arianna Huffington speaking on her latest book, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder. $20-$95. Use discount code LAYOGA for a 10% discount on tickets. All Saints Church-Beverly Hills. 504 North Camden Drive, Beverly Hills.

THURSDAY, MAY 8

Ashtanga Yoga Confluence. May 8 – 11. Celebrate the legacy of Sri K.Pattabhi Jois with Ashtanga Yoga Master teachers: Richard Freeman, Manju Jois, Dena Kingsberg, Tim Miller and David Swenson. Donating a percentage of its proceeds to Yoga Gives Back. YGB premiers its new film at the special screening on May 10th. San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina.

FRIDAY, MAY 9

7:00 P.M. – 9:00 P.M. Sonic Sanctuary. Sacred sound meets ancient Indian melody and mantra with Gabriel Braun and Sheela Bringi integrating Qi Gong, breath, mindfulness, sound healing, and a 70-minute sound bath. $30 Yoga Desa.

SATURDAY, MAY 10

Wanderlust Yoga In The City. FREE 1-day celebration of yoga and music at Santa Monica Pier. Yoga in the City brings Wanderlust’s inspiring mountaintop adventures down to sea level. Free withregistration.

1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Yamuna at YAS. This workshop for cyclists, runners, yogis, and anyone noticing hip restriction presents powerful preventative and maintenance tools to improve performance and facilitate freer movement. $100. YAS Fitness Center. 1101 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice.

1:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M. Divine Energy Immersion. Kayren Peace and Odile Dell’Aquila present an exquisite, healing, loving immersion supported by a gentle crystal bowl sound bath. $111 Beautiful Private Topanga Location.

2:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M. Family Yoga Class with Beth Prandini and Annie Marks. All Ages, Kids Under 12 Are Free. Every Saturday. Yogis Anonymous 1221 2nd St, Santa Monica.

2:30 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. Quieting the Sheaths of The Body with Christine Stein. The quietness of forward bending asanas is a gift for all of us who live in the city. This is a time for inward reflection, quieting the nervous system, and self study. Pre-registration highly recommended. Space is limited. Yoga Upstairs. 5308 Derry Ave, Agoura Hills.

7:00 P.M. – 9:00 P.M. Yoga Dance Trance led by Ariana Bates. Meditation, ecstatic dance, and prana flow yoga are combined with a sound bath savasana. $15 pre register, $20 at door. Stella Luna Yoga 9191 Valley View St, Cypress.

7:00 P.M. – 9:00 P.M. Divine Mother Love Feast. A pre-Shakti Fest event with vegetarian food, kirtan, ecstatic dance, sound baths, and a yoga rave. Enter the $5 raffle for a free Shakti Fest ticket. Benefit for Share Necessities, a nonprofit helping homeless individuals and agencies. Naam Yoga 1231 4th Street, Santa Monica.

On The Horizon

May 16 – 18. Shakti Fest: A Celebration of the Divine Feminine. Shakti Fest is a heart-opening experience with world-renowned kirtan artists from a variety of traditions including Jai Uttal, Dave Stringer, Donna de Lory, and Wah! with yoga classes and workshops led by star teachers like Shiva Rea, Sara Ivanhoe, Mark Whitwell, Saul David Raye, and more. Joshua Tree, California.

May 17. Ayurveda Deconstructed. A four weekend workshop series that brings Ayurveda to you from dosha to detox; the fundamentals broke down, applied and celebrated. Yoga Rock Studios and Liberation Yoga.

May 22 – 26 Lightning in a Bottle. For the past nine years, The Do LaB has been producing innovative and inspiring events. Their signature weekend, Lightning in a Bottle, is a fusion of electronic music with installation art, live performance, spiritual workshops, and an overarching embodiment of cultural and environmental consciousness. San Antonio Recreation Area 2091 New Pleyto Rd., Bradley, CA.

We’re honored to be the sponsor of Yoga Chat with the Accidental Yogist on killradio.net every

Wednesday from 1:00-3:00pm Pacific.

Here’s the link to this week’s podcast that features a trio of small
businesses along Lincoln Blvd in Santa Monica and Venice that feature raw,
vegan, and/or organic treats:

*Healthy Bites Along Highway 1*

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by clicking here.

Submit Your Program for LA Yoga’s Mid-Year Teacher Training Guide

The LA YOGA team is currently compiling our mid-year 2014 Teacher Training Guide. To have your program considered for listing in LA YOGA Magazine’s Teacher Training Guide (June 2014 issue), click here to fill out the submission form by May 9. Preference is given to programs within California.

Email us to inquire about additional advertising opportunities.

Please fill out the form by May 9, final deadline! Email uswith any further questions.

Therapeutic Yoga in our Every Day Lives

In 1975, environmentalist, medical doctor, educator, and visionary Michael Lerner imagined a center that would change the way we care for our health as well as the health and wellbeing of Mother Earth. Over the ensuing years, Commonweal has served as the 21st century model for healthcare, education, and the environment, and supports a wide range of programs.

Dr. Lerner will be one of this year’s keynote speakers as the International Association of Yoga Therapy (IAYT)celebrates 25 years at its June Symposium on Yoga Therapy and Research (SYTAR) in Austin, Texas.

Read our interview from this month’s LA Yoga with Dr. Lerner on LAYOGA.COM. He shares thoughts on how yoga therapy can play a role in our every day lives.

Incorporate the therapeutic benefits of yoga in to your life today with these 3 poses.

Early bird registration for SYTAR ends May 14th. Register now.

SYTAR Early Bird Registration

The Symposium on Yoga Therapy and Research (SYTAR) is a conference hosted by The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT). This year, IAYT is celebrating its 25th anniversary. SYTAR is dedicated entirely to professional education, research, practice, and policy issues for yoga therapy.

SYTAR will take place June 5 – 8 in Austin, TX. The theme of this year’s conference is “Where Your Talents and the Needs of the World Cross” -Aristotle.

Sessions include Ayurveda 101 for Yoga Therapists,Creating a YRx Presence in Your Community, and Yoga Survivorship: Strategies in Cancer Treatment just to name a few. Keynote speakers include Michael Lerner, PhD (pictured), Judith Hanson Lasater, PT, PhD, and special guests including Richard Miller, PhD, co-founder of IAYT.

Early Bird Registration Deadline is May 14th! Register now and save $100.

“The work of our hearts, our heads, and our hands. These are the eternal instruments that human beings have been given. It is through love, wisdom, and will that we create meaning in our lives and discover ourselves and our vocations.” – Dr. Michael Lerner

Read our full interview with Dr. Lerner on LAYOGA.COM

Deep Exhale: Deep-LA and Exhale Venice Come Together for “Ritual”

Deep Exhale and the Lucent Temple of Consciousness present “Ritual” an official pre-Lightning in a Bottle event.

“Deep Exhale” is the first collaborative effort between long running house music institution DEEP-LA and yoga mecca Exhale Venice. This 2 hour journey starts with yoga movement lead by Cristi Christensen and segues into dance, courtesy of DEEP maestro DJ Marques Wyatt.

Go DEEP. Allow the yoga and dance to bring you to your body and the deep house rhythms to carry you home at “Ritual” on Friday, May 2 8:00 P.M. – 10:00 P.M. at exhale Venice.

Yogis, Learn About the Candidates and VOTE

YogaVotes, a project of Off the Mat Into the World, is a national, nonpartisan campaign to get yogis out to vote. For many people who practice yoga, the mat becomes too small to hold our practice. We find our yoga affecting our experience of our bodies, what we buy, the way we treat people, and how we engage in relationships. Let’s extend that awareness to the decisions we make for our schools, communities and our country.

How you can take action:

Become familiar with candidates running in the June primary. On Monday, May 5 at 7:30 P.M. you can hear Marianne Williamson, spiritual author, lecturer, and candidate for election to the U.S. House of Representatives from California’s Congressional District 33, give a talk based on her workshop, A Course In Miracles at The Saban Theatre. Find out more.

Voter Registration Deadlines by State

An Evening with Arianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington is the chair, president, and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, a nationally syndicated columnist, and author of fourteen books. In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, which in 2012, won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. She was named to the Forbes Most Powerful Women list in 2013, and to the Time 100, Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2006 and 2011.

Huffington’s new book THRIVE: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder is a call to arms to redefine how we measure success both in our work and our personal lives.

Read Marina Chetner’s review of Thrive in the latest issue of Find Bliss.

Live Talk’s presents An Evening with Arianna Huffington speaking on her latest book, Wednesday, May 7 at 8:00 P.M. Purchase ticket here and use discount code LAYOGA for 10% discount.

Lala Jewelry at Wanderlust

A love of nature and the yoga lifestyle are the inspirations for Lala Jewelry designs; yoga inspired jewelry with semi-precious stones to energize, inspire and heal. All pieces are made with love in Lake Tahoe, California by lead designer, Lauren Bobowski.

Lauren is also the original creator and designer of Two-Lovers™ necklace and bracelets.

Look for LaLa Jewelry at Wanderlust LA, Vermont and Squaw Valley. 15% off website purchases with code: WanderLA

Giveaway: Two Weeks of Free Yoga on Behalf of Kuyam

Kuyam, a local online scheduling platform, will host the first ever Beautify LA event from May 3 to 10. For one week only, locals can book their favorite beauty or fitness appointments at participating salons and studios the Los Angeles area.

Participating local salons and yoga studios will offer select services at a discounted price on the specified dates. Users can sign up at beautify-la.com and book appointments starting April 29 in just a few clicks.

Kuyam is happy to giveaway 2 weeks of free yoga atYogaHop in Santa Monica. Tweet @MyKuyam and use #BeautifyLA to be entered to win. (New YogaHop clients only).

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Shakti Fest is One Month Away: $50 Off

Shakti Fest is the ultimate Yogic destination retreat and gathering place for the collective consciousness. This three day festival , May 16 – 18, offers an unprecedented line up of internationally renowned yoga teachers, kirtan artists, and workshop leaders including Jai Uttal, Donna De Lory, Sara Ivanhoe, Tim Miller, Wah!, Mark Whitwell and more. Come a day early for Shiva Rea’s Body Pilgrimage Intensive which will include a prana yoga flow, meditation, in nature, and very special guided hike to the “Shiva Lingam Temple.” Or stay a day longer for Saul David Raye’s “Bhakti: The Ancient Path of Love” post-festival intensive. For more details, visit Shakti Fest Intensives.

Join Shakti Fest for one of the most uplifting yoga festivals to date! Tickets on sale now. Use promo code layoga14 to save $50.

Animals in Need: Meet Adam and Little Joe

Adam and Little Joe were rescued from a trash can when they were just 6 weeks old. Adam is calm, sweet and cuddly. Little Joe is outgoing and playful. They are wonderful kitties who were born with a condition called eyelid agenesis; they do not have eyelids. This does not affect their health and they will have cosmetic surgery to correct it when they are fully grown at 1 year old, at our cost.

Both are neutered/microchipped and current on shots and can be adopted together or separate. Email Cathy at or call 310-487-4263 if you are interested in learning more about them.

A Cat’s Tale is an all-volunteer, no-kill rescue group based in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. Their mission is to rescue homeless cats and kittens and find them loving forever homes where they can happily live out the rest of their lives. A Cat’s Tale is part of a coalition of rescue groups who are working towards making Los Angeles a no-kill city for homeless cats. Find them on Facebook.

Jai Uttal’s New CD, Return to Shiva Station

There is nothing in the world quite like the voice of Jai Uttal. It’s the sound of heartbreak and sweetness and pure devotion. After spending his career blending bhajan with Western jazz, pop, reggae, and rock, he is now releasing Return to Shiva Station, a pared-down remake of his classic 1997 album.

Tracks like the “Guru Brahma” invocation are naked and earthy. “Malkouns (Night on the Ganges)” is dreamy, hypnotic, and finishes with a crackly, bluesy, “om namoh narayana.” Return to Shiva Station is artfully produced by Ben Leinbach, who also contributes bass, keyboard, percussion, and backup vocals.

See, hear, and experience Jai Uttal this year atShakti Fest, May 16 – 18. Get $50 off tickets to Shakti Fest by using code layoga14

Read the full album review by Zoë Kors on LAYOGA.COM

Easy Vegan Carrot Top Pesto

This recipe uses the green tops of carrots which is how you might find them at Farmer’s Markets. They are not only edible but extremely nutritious.

The classic way to use this sauce is as a pasta topping. This recipe uses linguine, which means “little tongues”. Since garlic is said to inspire stamina and energy, it can also be used as a dip for veggies, salad dressing, and spread for bread.

1/4 cup unsalted walnuts

1 tbsp + 1/4 cup olive oil

1 tbsp sweet onion, roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, roughly chopped

1 bunch carrot tops, thoroughly washed and roughly chopped

smoked salt to taste

black pepper (optional)

1 lb whole wheat linguine

For full recipe and directions, visit FINDBLISS.COM

Vedic Astrology: Feel the Intersection Between Science and Belief NOW

Sam Geppi Creativity and playfulness can lead us to deep philosophical insights when the Moon joins Jupiter in Gemini. This conjunction brings together the curiosity of a child with the mind of a mystic. Spirituality is a metaphysical science, based on practice and technique, not belief: Feel the intersection between science and experimentation (Gemini) and belief/religion (Jupiter) now.
For more of your May forecast, visit LAYOGA.COM