Los Angeles, CA - July 2008

What an amazing weekend I had with the earth angels in Los Angeles. I have been teaching yoga workshops in this city since the year 2000 and it remains one of the most delightful places I ever visit.

From the time my plane touches down at LAX I can feel the vibration of creativity. It seems that almost everyone I meet is either recording a CD or making a DVD or writing a script for a movie or trying to be a star in one. That kind of energy really feeds me and adds to my already endless energy.

We had some crazy fun yoga experiences this weekend. Where else on the planet can you get 35 people out of 70 who can balance in the middle of the room on their hands until you have to ask them to come down? Where can you find women in their mid sixties doing arm balances with such ease?

And thank you Jose for the beautiful red roses that we held in our teeth while we all did a giant group drop back.

I am grateful for the chance to teach and play with these creative and light filled souls that I have met through the Anusara community. It has grown so much here in LA and now these students whom I have known for almost a decade are nurturing and guiding students of their own.

You all honor the method and me and I am very grateful. Thank you Brandon Chiang for taking these fantastic photos and for laughing so loudly at my jokes, right there in the front row. Thanks to all of you for sharing from your heart. I received so many thank you notes and heartfelt sharing of your own experiences.

This workshop was entitled "Mastering the Mind." When yoga students have such strong practices, the next challenge has to be a deeper exploration of the mind and you were all in!

Thank you for your love and support. You lift me up.

Here are some great photos of the event.

Re-birthing Berlin

The final stop on the whirlwind tour was Berlin, Germany. This was my first visit and definitely not my last. Berlin is a city that has been re-awakening and re-defining itself since 1989 when the wall came down.

Today there is a renewal of energy and creativity that is so vital and free that it becomes more and more difficult to find reminders of this beautiful city's painful history. And at the same time, much care has been taken to build memorials and leave some of the memories behind in honor of the courageous people who believed in freedom for all.

Vilas and Lalle and Lutz, my hosts and the co-owners of City Yoga saw to it that I was well taken care of and educated around the history of Berlin. I appreciated the tour of the city and I think it helped me to connect with the students a little more deeply. City Yoga is only 4 years old and is already recognized as THE place to do yoga in Berlin. I found the students and the teachers eager to learn and very excited about Anusara Yoga. City Yoga's place in the city was carefully chosen. It is right across the street from a synagogue. Their mission is to contribute yogically to the unification of Berlin. From what I can see, the plan is working. They have poured incredible love and devotion into their trainings and classes and have worked endless hours over these past years.

The quality of studentship was very high and the depth of reverence for the practice of yoga was ever present in each class.

Now they are one of only three Anusara studios in Europe. The other two are in Italy, Roma and Bologna.

Bravo my friends! I can't wait to return. After five weeks of constant traveling, I feel great. (Must be the European lifestyle and of course, the FOOD!)

This was truly the trip of a lifetime and I plan to make it an annual experience for years to come.

On my last day, Vilas gave me another tour of Pottsdam and all the spectacular parks and castles. I had never seen anything like this before.

Incredible Italy

This was my fourth visit to teach in Italy, the country of one half of my heritage (my mother's side). Mama Mia! It is so easy to fall in love with Italy. These people just know how to make food and they know how to enjoy it. They live, love and laugh with great gusto.

Piero Vivarelli, a certified Anusara Yoga teacher in Bologna, has grown a large, enthusiastic and thriving Anusara Yoga community over the last five years and I am very happy to be considered a part of that family. The first time I visited he had a group of about 22 in a gym where he was teaching.

Each year after that, the workshops grew steadily to first a weekend with 30 people and then 45 and this year we had 80!

The most amazing thing is that some of those original 22 are still with us.

This was a place for me to go deep with the teachings. These students are devoted to their yoga practice and very eager to experience the transformation that comes only from steady practice over a long period of time with patience and devotion.

On Monday morning we had an advanced practice and although exhausted and a little bit sore from the weekend, we all managed to come to new awareness and discoveries at an even deeper level.

I am still trying to learn to speak some Italian and every now and then I would suprise them with a phrase that would make everybody laugh. Another interesting fact---Bologna was the European workshop with the most men during my entire tour. Good going Piero! And of course, I love my female friends very dearly. Caterina and I bonded the way only Italian women can bond as we went on our traditional annual shopping spree. I gotta have my new Italian clothes!

I was able to re-connect with some of my very dear Roman friends who came to Bologna for the weekend. Ciao Alba, Claudia and Paula. I always feel so loved and cared for in Italy.

Greatness in Greece

Every time I teach Anusara Yoga in a new place I learn another new thing about the power of our practice. Athens is a very busy crowded city loaded with all kinds of people living life fully pretty much around the clock. (Except on Sunday mornings when they like to sleep in from partying all night Saturday!)

Everywhere we went in the city we could still see a view of the Acropolis up on the hill. Though the city is crowded and cluttered and decorated with graffiti, I found a unique kind of beauty in the mixture of ancient ruins and old buildings. Some modern structures here and there. I also experienced some very creative driving and parking!!

The most seasoned students and teachers attended the workshop helping to make it very vibrant and powerful. The thing I learned is that yoga, although alive and well all over the world, has been taught so carefully in the past, with so many rules and restrictions, that many students and teachers are afraid of their bodies. There is value in this type of teaching as it protects people, and yet the gift we bring with Anusara alignment principles and philosophy is a welcome release from this fear and it was accepted with open arms.

What could be more delightful than helping others to release themselves from the bondage of fear?

They have a saying in Greece that means "slowly, slowly" and it is evident that life is meant to be enjoyed. It is woven deeply into the culture.

Our last night, my hosts Eraj and Vivi organized a group of people to go Salsa dancing in an area called Psiti, the hip part of town. Outdoor cafes and hanging white lights make this one of the newer more happening areas for cool people like us. We found a great place with live Latin music and danced till the wee hours. This is how I like to experience a new city. Good food, rocking yoga, lots of laughter and great dancing. Yasou! I will be back.

I then flew to Santorini for a little resting holiday. It was fun to explore the caldera and Oia. I can't wait to return next year.

Cool Copenhagen

How it all began: I met Soham, one of the owners of Hamsa Yoga while I was teaching in Chiang Mai, Thailand as a guest at Jonas Westring's teacher training. He said "Why not stop by Copenhagen while you are in Europe next spring?" I am so glad I took him up on this offer.

First of all, Soham is a magical being. He doesn't spend a lot of time stressing out about anything-- including his yoga practice, which is very beautiful by the way. And everywhere we went in town, people know and love him so much that they tended to give us things for free!

Soham and his business partner Trine have created a very wonderful studio with a hip international vibe. Trine is the perfect balance for Soham. Formerly an executive with a bank, she is totally organized and motherly all at the same time. In the short time I was with them we ate great (and often decadent) food, practiced yoga, went sightseeing and became good friends.

Notice I always put the food part first? This entire trip was really about eating!

It was rainy and cold the entire time I was there, but that didn't stop Soham from giving me the grand tour of Copenhagen on a bike! Anyone who knows me well knows that you would have to be pretty persuasive to get me to ride a bike in traffic, in the cold rain! But I did it and he was patient and I learned that it really is a biking culture, unlike anything I have ever seen in the states. Cars actually wait for bikes. Imagine that!

We saw the Little Mermaid and had a great vegetarian lunch in the hippie town of Christiania. And of course we ate traditional Danish cakes and drank hot chocolate with real whipped cream. Again---for those who know me----see how persuasive Soham is? I don't eat cake!!!

Trine took me to a place where we could use the steam and sauna and rub rosemary oil with salt all over our bodies. That wonderful ritual was the perfect preparation for our lively afternoon teacher's practice. (see photo) These lively fun loving teachers are all genuinely interested in studying Anusara and it was pure joy to share it with them and all of their students. I look forward to returning to visit these strong and fun people again next year.

Celebrating Zurich

The hearts and homes of the yogis in Zurich kept me warm in the cold winter becoming spring weather. This was my first time in Switzerland and I am happy to say that Anusara Yoga is alive and well there. Jeff Fisher moved there from Los Angeles a couple of years ago and his efforts, along with many other fine teachers, have created a strong and growing community of people who are sincerely interested in transformation on both personal and global levels.

I had great discussions over beautiful meals with students on every subject, from politics to relationships to yoga and the "green revolution".

The city of Zurich reminds me of Disneyland in some ways. It is very neat and clean and there are some famous and colorful clock towers. One afternoon Jeff and I went to a private club where people can use the sauna, steam and jacuzzi. We sat in the jacuzzi outside the deck watching the swans go by in the lake. Does it get more idillyc than that?

I look forward to returning to Zurich in March. I think they are going to be hungry for more intermediate poses. They love a good challenge. I reminded them that Anusara makes the easy poses harder so the hard poses will eventually become easier.

Europe 2008

Marvelous Madrid

Madrid is a vibrant, busy, youthful city with beautiful old art and architecture. This was my first stop on my whirlwind tour and I had a week to do some sightseeing and get used to being in Europe.

My hostess, Gisela, generously took me into her home and into her life for the entire week. I played games with her nine year old son Ismael, we practiced yoga and we walked all over the city together.

On the weekend,about 30 students gathered for the first Anusara workshop Gisela had ever hosted in her studio, Arati. We all laughed and played and worked hard and became friends in 48 hours. We may have worked a little too hard because we made plans to go out Salsa dancing on Sunday night and everyone cancelled because they were exhausted. Gisela and I had a great time though! We danced with all kinds of characters and this was only one of the many times during the week that I gave thanks to my high school Spanish teachers. It all comes back, like riding a bicycle. The students were very whenever I taught any part of the class in Spanish.

Other highlights were a typical Sunday lunch at the home of Gisela's parents. Being one half Italian, I am very accustomed to being fed with passion and enthusiasm. It was a lively and delicious feast of love, fantastic food and raucous laughter. (Language is never a barrier when it comes to food and laughter).

The next day we took a tour of Amore de Dios, the most famous Flamenco Dance School in Madrid, where Gisela's mother is the well-loved receptionist. People come from all over the world to train there. We admired and understood their hard work and dedication to their art form. Que Maravilloso!

We spent one morning at the Prado museum and enjoyed meals at almost every one of the unique and delightful vegetarian restaurants in Madrid. There are many!

I was absolutely in food heaven on this trip. Muchas Gracias a todos por una semana encantada! I want to see more of Spain and hope to return in 2010.