Silas, rocking handstand on Bodhisattva Yoga's retreat to the DR.

This Bodhisattva Yoga Blog series spotlights our rock star body of practitioners, for whom we are proud. The series is intended to inspire, thought-provoke and nurture the growing, friendly Bodhisattva Yoga community. When you see a featured Bodhisattva Yogin in class, say hello!

Silas came to Bodhisattva Yoga just over a year ago. From the start, it was evident that he enjoyed the philosophical dimension of yoga, along with the play and challenge of our flows. A remarkable quality about Silas is his genuine humility. Even though he had an existing practice prior to working with us, he never once came across as “too cool for school”.

Currently, Silas is among our strongest practitioners; yet beautifully, he does not carry himself as though he is. (Believe it or not, this is rare in today’s world of yoga!) Last fall, Silas obtained invitation into BY’s Sati (Advanced-level) class.

Whether in class, or on retreat, Silas’ friendly, open energy lends to a spirit of camaraderie. Therefore, it was very sad for all of us to learn that our BY rock star will be moving out-of-state this summer. We will miss his great energy, and wish him the best in this period of change. Stay in touch and remain part of our BY family – even if from afar.

Let’s give it up for Silas! Whether or not you’ve met the friendly, consistent aspiring yogi yet, give him a shout the next time you see him in class.

1. Bodhisattva Yoga: What is your age? Your profession and other life interests?
Silas Munro: I’m 30. I am a graphic designer, design educator and an artist. I love the arts of all stripes, particularly the visual arts. I am an avid collector of books and interested in cultural production in its many forms.

On the personal side, I love spending time with my partner Bill and my puppy Niko. We can often be found mornings in Prospect Park watching Niko bliss out off leash with the other dogs!

2. BY: How often do you practice at Bodhisattva Yoga on a weekly basis?
SM: I make time to practice 2-3 times a week. 4 classes in a week when I’m really cooking.

3. BY: What classes do you take on a weekly basis?
SM: Lately I’ve been “glued” to the Monday night BODHISATTVA YOGA class. It’s my de-stress time and I love the focus on training my heart and my mind alongside my body, but that’s kind of every class at BY. The Thursday night SHILA, and Saturday SATI are also in heavy rotation.

If I want more challenging flows I come out for Sunday Morning’s INSPIRED FLOWS, and when my stress level is high I make time for Jess’ DHANA class I am always so grateful for it. Tough Guys take notice, that class is good for you too!

4. BY: Where do you live and what is your trip like to and from Bodhisattva Yoga?
SM: I live in Prospect Heights, so I might be further than some other practitioners, but it’s so worth it. I do a mix of driving, taking the bus, and walking. The on-time starts really make the practice special and help me carve space and time for it in my day.

5. BY: What is it that you like about practicing at Bodhisattva Yoga?
SM: I have to say that BY has a unique blend of mindful yet challenging flows, a sweet boutique space but mostly it’s just a really fun place to do yoga and be in.

6. BY: What is it that you like about your fellow practitioners at Bodhisattva Yoga?
SM: I love how down to earth and real the aspiring yogins are. They are almost always true to where they are, which is often happy, but even when they’ve had a rough day they are honest which I find refreshing and grounding.

7. BY: What is it that you’ve mentally/physically/emotionally experienced as a result of practicing at Bodhisattva Yoga?
SM: Since practicing at Bodhisattva Yoga, I have become physically more flexible, mentally more clear, and emotionally more in-tune and okay with my range of emotional states. It’s really been a gift to my positive potential as a human being.

This Bodhisattva Yoga Blog series spotlights our rock star body of practitioners, for whom we are proud. The series is intended to inspire, thought-provoke and nurture the growing, friendly Bodhisattva Yoga community. When you see a featured Bodhisattva Yogin in class, say hello!

Minnea makes a perfect model Bodhisattva Yogin. She just celebrated a four-year anniversary with Bodhisattva Yoga two months ago! Despite working around chronic arm/shoulder pain when she started with us (Bet you didn’t think we’d remember that, Minnea!), she’s never given up on the practice — even with the occasional lapse.

In addition to her impressive practice career at Bodhisattva Yoga, Minnea exhibits the friendly, warm qualities we champion in our space; she’s quick to smile, laugh and do her best.

Let’s give it up for Minnea! She’s a model of how the practice — in our approach — is best treated as not all or nothing, but in accord to the middle way (Madyama, in Sanskrit). That’s how she’s kept at it for four years and as her interview attests, it’s serving her well– and bearing its fruit! Whether or not you’ve met the friendly, consistent aspiring yogini yet, give her a shout the next time you see her in class.

1. Bodhisattva Yoga: What is your age? Your profession and other life interests?
Minnea Lin: Freelance TV/Film Editor. My extracurricular interests include dog ownership and recently I’ve taken up jogging and a writing class.

Vivekan

This is a weekly post from Bodhisattva Yoga’s founder/director offering weekly bits of research findings, suggestions, and musings on all things directly & indirectly related to the broad Path of Yoga.

Many of BY’s practitioners absolutely love when we present and offer dark chocolate treats. We partly joke and say, “We have some post-practice treats available on the desk. Feel free to mindfully enjoy some in bliss on your way out.” However, a significant portion of our practitioners demur at the offer, stating that it would make them fat. But, now, evidence supports what I thought all along on the matter.

Many are becoming increasingly informed of the benefits of dark chocolate. What many of us didn’t know, until now perhaps, is that there is evidence to suggest that those who consume frequent, but moderate, amounts of chocolate might actually find themselves thinner than their neighbors who deny themselves the delightful treat altogether.

Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and her colleagues present data that overturns the major objection to chocolate consumption: which is, that it makes people fat. Apparently, those moderate, but frequent consumers of chocolate exhibited a lower body mass index than even those who consumed the chocolate less frequently. According to Science Daily,

This was despite the fact that those who ate chocolate more often did not eat fewer calories (they ate more), nor did they exercise more. Indeed, no differences in behaviors were identified that might explain the finding as a difference in calories taken in versus calories expended.

Imagine for a moment just how many more calories are burned then when you take your dark chocolate bliss treat after class. This study wasn’t even on dark chocolate. Ahem. Did somebody say enroll now?

Practicing Yoga sincerely is no small affair. It requires the consistent, long-term cultivation of all the best qualities highly developed (spiritually) men and women can summon and develop. So, give it to yourself. Come out and share your practice and enjoy that dark chocolate too.

In health,
Vivekan

Georges Piette by Lucy Kalantari

This Bodhisattva Yoga Blog series spotlights our rock star body of practitioners, for whom we are proud. The series is intended to inspire, thought-provoke and nurture the growing, friendly Bodhisattva Yoga community. When you see a featured Bodhisattva Yogin in class, say hello!

This month’s BY rock star, Georges, is loved by everyone. He has been gracing BY with his charisma for just over a year now. He is warm, genuine, handsome, strong, and a sincere practitioner. Among Georges’ many other fine qualities are his quickness to make others feel welcomed and speaking well of others. Georges is among a rare practitioner that has clocked-in many asana hours, and yet, is still open enough to explore postural interpretations that differ from his former experience. (That’s called beginner’s mind.) As a result, his asana practice has safely blossomed in a small window of time (one year!).

Perhaps no one else can boast Georges’ indefatigable consistency. Since the very first weekend he came to Bodhisattva Yoga, he has attended an early class every single Saturday & Sunday. (The only exceptions have been when he’s come on retreat with us, or gone on vacation. This is Shila! But wait…) Georges proposed that BY add a weekday afternoon class. Subsequent to our consideration of the idea and then adding the Wednesday, 4pm Ananda class to the weekly schedule, he has attended each of the Wednesday Ananda classes since. This is really inspiring.

George has worked his way up into the SATI (Advanced-invitation only) class when he rocked last September’s Semi-Annual Personal Assessment. Whether it be attending workshops, retreats, classes, etc., here at BY, he adds a great sense of humor and camaraderie.

Let’s give it up for Georges! He’s a model of how we can juggle a lot, be friendly, and still maintain a high level of practice frequency. Whether or not you’ve met the friendly, consistent aspiring yogi yet, give him a shout the next time you see him in class.

1. Bodhisattva Yoga: What is your age? Your profession and other life interests?
Georges Piette: I am 58, a self-employed construction consultant, working exclusively with non-for-profit organizations helping them with their construction projects. The groups I work with are wonderful. We built supportive housing, low-income housing, housing for people with special needs. I am very fortunate to be part of teams whose goal is to help people. I also work for private schools.

We are pleased to announce the raging success of 2012′s Semi-Annual Assessments – in February!

Not only did participating practitioners walk away with useful feedback from us on their current Intermediate-level practice, most of them gained invitation to our SATI (Advanced Flow) class by demonstrating their yogic accomplishments (Sanskrit, siddhis).

Handstands, headstands, spring highs, jump-thrus and meditative seats lit the space on fire. The two of us as proud as parents at a little league game, only rooting for the practice we know can transform the hearts, minds, and bodies of the people we’ve come to adore and champion.

Here are their names in alphabetical order. When you see them in class give them a congratulatory shout! They deserve it!

Linda Baird
Bill Hildebrand
Lucy Kalantari
Michael Payne

Wasn’t all the sweating, tumbling, dusting it off and starting over again worth it?

Our best advice as you continue climbing the ranks for continued growth and evolution: show up without arriving. Fall, laugh, dust if off and start again. Rinse, wash, repeat. The siddhi trees will continue to bear fruit and sometimes even throw it at you when you least expect it!

You ROCK.

Your proud fans,
Jess & Vivekan

Vivekan

This is a weekly post from Bodhisattva Yoga’s founder/co-director offering weekly bits of research findings, suggestions, and musings on all things directly & indirectly related to the broad Path of Yoga.

Oh yeah, science is again proving what many ancient traditions have admonished. That is, eat well to maintain health; and, as we’ve all heard: Eat your veggies. What we likely have not yet heard is: Eat your cruciferous veggies.

What are cruciferous veggies?

Cruciferous Vegetables/totalhealth4life.net

Cruciferous veggies, which include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, swiss chard, kale, watercress, and more, pack a high amount sulforaphane. This is especially so with broccoli. A recent Science Daily article waxes, “Sulforaphane was identified years ago as one of the most critical compounds that provide much of the health benefits in cruciferous vegetables…” Emily Ho, an associate professor in the Linus Pauling Institute and the OSU College of Public Health and Human Sciences, stated, “It’s increasingly clear that sulforaphane is a real multi-tasker. The more we find out about it, the more benefits it appears to have.”

My diet already has what I need.

You may be thinking, “Well, I take vitamins; I get what I need.” I thought the same too; but, “Both laboratory and clinical studies have shown that higher intake of cruciferous vegetables can aid in cancer prevention.” This fact gave me pause. Particularly, when the already mentioned Science Daily article asserted that, although a recent study focused on the benefits of sulforaphane on prostate cancer, the cancer fighting benefits are likely as helpful in combating breast and colon cancers as well.

So join me in increasing our cruciferous vegetable intake, especially that of broccoli. While noting diet’s tremendous role on health, let’s not forget staying active also acts to increase health and ward off dis-ease. Join me in giving dis-ease a one-two punch by eating well, and enrolling into any of our classes now.

In health,
Vivekan

When Bodhisattva Yoga practitioner and rock star (literally!) shared that his yoga practice recently influenced his music, our jaws dropped. Too often we think about our practice as being separate from our life and career. Stories like this are a game changer. We’re proud to host Greg’s deepening practice and what really can be considered a Bodhisattva activity. Here’s his account:

“It was a very bizarre thing. After reading the book What is the What by Dave Eggers, I felt very frustrated. I wanted so desperately to help the people the book was about. It destroyed me. What could I do? A broke musician in Brooklyn who can barely pay his own rent give money to Sudan? Right! Naively I considered giving everything up, packing a bag and going to Africa! So foolish and ignorant, but in my head that’s what was going on. So I wrote a song called “The Lost Boy“, and sent it to a DJ I know in Holland, for no other reason than I thought he might like it, seeing that he does a lot of work for the Red Cross. I had no idea that 14 days later I would be sat on stage in Holland in front of 10,000 people, and 11 million people watching at home on Dutch National TV, playing that song live. Nor did I know my home-recorded demo would be at No.1 in the Dutch iTunes charts. Nor did I know that my song would end up raising almost $50,000 for Red Cross in that time, and nor did I expect that all 5 of my Dutch shows coming up in March as part of my European Tour, would sell out before February. I think what I learned from it all is that art can be a lot more powerful than we sometimes give it credit. We can all help in much more creative ways than just writing a check, and sometimes that way is the most effective too. It’s a very bizarre thing.” ~Greg Holden

Follow Greg!
http://www.gregholdenonline.com/
www.facebook.com/gregholden

Lauren H.

This Bodhisattva Yoga Blog series spotlights our rock star body of practitioners, for whom we are proud. The series is intended to inspire, thought-provoke and nurture the growing, friendly Bodhisattva Yoga community. When you see a featured Bodhisattva Yogin in class, say hello!

Although all of BY’s practitioners are really busy New Yorkers, few manage to juggle as much as this month’s BY rock star, Lauren – and, still keep a high level of consistent practice. Lauren is a doting wife, the present mother of two young boys, a full-time professional, and our 3rd highest attending practitioner for many months now. (Wow!)

Lauren has ascended the BY ladder. She started at BY’s Basic levels; she later developed proficiency in the SHILA (Intermediate level) class; and, she has steadily worked her way up even into the SATI (Advanced-invitation only) class – by rockin’ last September’s Semi-Annual Personal Assessment. On the way, she has attended workshops, here at BY, that facilitated her practice and growth. Most recently, we are proud to say, Lauren has gained acceptance into BY’s 2012 Awaken Your Inner Warrior teacher training/yogic immersion program.

Let’s give it up for Lauren! She’s a model of what we can juggle and still maintain a high level of practice frequency. Whether or not you’ve met the friendly, consistent aspiring yogini yet, give her a shout the next time you see her in class.

1. Bodhisattva Yoga: What is your age? Your profession and other life interests?
Lauren H: I am 32. I am a lawyer by training–I practiced at a Wall Street firm for many years and am now an editor at a legal publication. My other interests are my husband, my two sons, cooking, eating and drinking, books and movies, and my yoga practice. Whenever I can, I volunteer with a few great organizations here in the city working to improve maternity care in the USA, including by expanding access to midwifery-based and out-of-hospital options. I am also looking forward to working toward my yoga teacher certification at BY this spring.

2. BY: How often do you practice at Bodhisattva Yoga on a weekly basis?
LH: Recently, I have been making it to three classes a week. Occasionally, I can sneak in a fourth.

3. BY: What classes do you take on a weekly basis?
LH: Bodhisattva Flow; Shila, on Thursday and Sunday evenings; and, Sati – whenever I can make it on Saturday afternoon. The 8:30 weeknight classes are ideal for my schedule.

4. BY: Where do you live and what is your trip like to and from Bodhisattva Yoga?
LH: I live less than a block away, so typically my trip consists of a three- to four-minute sprint.

5. BY: What is it that you like about practicing at Bodhisattva Yoga?
LH: First and foremost, the incredibly high level of the instruction. Aside from that, the studio is just a lovely place and always immaculately run.  And I also like Vivekan’s iPod play list.

6. BY: What is it that you like about your fellow practitioners at Bodhisattva Yoga?
LH: I like that the group is very diverse in terms of age, profession and other characteristics, but once we get into the studio, we are all just BY practitioners. For such an interesting and talented group of folks, there is just very little ego. Everyone is friendly and supportive, and there is no sense of competitiveness or condescension, either on the basis of our practice or anything else.

Vivekan

This is a weekly post from Bodhisattva Yoga’s founder/co-director offering weekly bits of research findings, suggestions, and musings on all things directly & indirectly related to the broad Path of Yoga.

I was staggered when I recently read in a Science Daily article that the leading type of women’s cancer, in the US, is breast cancer; and, that there were more than 230,000 new cases last year. This amounts to about 30% of cancer diagnoses for women. The American Cancer Society estimates that 39,000 women died of the cancer in 2011.
With the majority of my dear practitioners being female, naturally this is a subject that interests me and makes me wish to do what I can to help women minimize risk – if not all together avert the disease.
Former breast cancer research findings pointed to alcohol as an all around risk for women interested in cutting breast cancer likelihood. As alcohol is understood to increase estrogen levels, which then fosters growth of cancer cells. [This may be so of simple sugars in general.]
No, I’m not encouraging you to become a teetotaler! (Unless, of course, you desire it.) Instead, I present the findings of a Cedars-Sinai study which:

…Found that chemicals in the skins and seeds of red grapes slightly lowered estrogen levels while elevating testosterone among premenopausal women who drank eight ounces of red wine nightly for about a month.

White wine, though, did not have the same effect. The investigators suggested that red wine might stem the growth of cancer cells.
So, go ahead and enjoy that red. However, like most things in life, enjoy in moderation.
Lastly, it should be noted that an active life, a healthy body weight, and an appropriate adipose tissue/muscle fiber ratio also plays a tremendous role in cutting breast cancer risks. Hint. Hint. Be sure to keep your practice consistent. ☺

In health,
Vivekan

Share a lil’ Bodhisattva love with the D.R.!

Wishing the generous holiday spirit was endless, and not limited to a week out of the year? It doesn’t have to stop– in fact, the aspiring yogin wishes to always cultivate the act of giving, even if it seems small in nature, like sending a kind thought to yourself. In the Bodhisattva tradition, it’s suggested to begin practicing being generous with yourself. It would then ideally extend to those directly around you — your significant other, your immediate family and close friends, etc. This can be providing them with a smile, a back rub, a good meal or more that you can realistically offer.

When it feels so good to give, you can’t stop, it’s time to extend generosity to strangers. People you’ve never met, where and when it feels appropriate. It’s not often easy to manage this level of Dhana juggling our jobs, families, etc. That’s where your Bodhisattva Yoga community steps in. In preparation of our February retreat to the Dominican Republic, Vivekan and I wish to share a little Bodhisattva Yoga love with the island hosting us. We thought, what better than Catalina DR, the organization founded by the owners of the Dominican Republic-based hotel we’ll be retreating at this February. The non-profit is lovingly committed to increasing health and education to the local youth in the nearby area we will be retreating.

Whether you’re joining us on retreat, or not, we wish to leave the Dominican Republic a little bit better than before we arrived. Feel free to pack a gift from the list below. If you can’t, no worries, Vivekan and I will represent our awesome BY retreat crew and community! (Donation or no donation, retreating with us alone directly supports responsible travel destinations supporting the local economy.)

Not coming on retreat? You can still get high on Dhana (Generosity). Drop off any of the items below at Bodhisattva Yoga’s check-in desk when you’re in for class, leading up to our retreat Sunday, February 12, 2012:

Art supplies like: (The kids love doing artwork and crafts and these particular supplies are hard to come by on the island!)

• tempura paints
• paint brushes
• construction paper
• feathers
• foam letters
• glitter
• markers
• crayons
• colored pencils

Used infant clothing: (Some new babies have been born to local moms!)

• 0-12 months. (If you don’t have any hand-me-downs but wish to contribute, you can look for a local thrift or consignment shop. Please no brand new clothing.)

xo Jess & Vivekan