Yoga mats. Stretchy pants. Big smiles.
HUGE lessons.
This weekend's Vancouver Yoga Conference was amazing, from start to finish.
It was a lot to take in. A lot of incredible yoga moments.
Here's a few of my favourites.
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Spent Friday from 9 - 4 p.m. learning from teacher
Michael Stone, all about yoga, pranayama and bandhas.
And life.
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| Teacher Michael Stone |
"The heart of your yoga practice is to be really, really intimate with your own life," he says, adding that yoga teaches us to be able to "meet what moves through us whether it's pleasurable or painful."
I love that.
If you ever have a chance to study with Stone, jump on it.
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| Teacher Seane Corn |
Woke up Saturday with
Seane Corn's two-hour empower flow, a hamstring butt-kick of a class that left me buzzing on my mat in savasana. As usual, she lifted up the room with her stream of wisdom, and awesome vinyasa transitions.
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| Teacher Brad Waites |
Next up,
Brad Waites and a class on healing the knees through Purna Yoga.
"If you have knee problems, they are most likely due to tightness in your hips," he says, pointing out that the knee is a hinge joint so doesn't have the mobility of the hip.
"Any tightness of the hip distorts the relationship of the knee to the hinge joint," he says, adding it's all about finding balance.
I loved this approach to hips and knees, especially since we did a practice sequence that creates balance and hunts down areas that aren't even.
In my own body, I found some overly flexible spots and areas that weren't as open as I suspected. Was a great class.
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| Teacher Maria Garre |
Maria Garre's all-day teacher's exploratorium on Sunday moved a group of us teachers through the how-tos of stitching together a wave sequence, inspired by Shiva Rea.
A great refresher, with lots of inspiring ideas to share.
Loved it.
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| Me (left) and fellow conference volunteer in our lululemon uniforms, after a 12-hour day Friday. |
Hugs, meandering, people-watching and trend-spotting.
The yoga garden and show area was a little dizzying, in a good way. There was so much to see, taste and test.
So much to take in.
The best part of it all? It was awesome to see such a big gang of yoga buddies gathered in one spot.
Yogis rock.
