Yoga Journal Conference, San Francisco

I'm feeling better! Not 100% yet ~ I still have kind of a nasty cough ~ but the actual flu-y part is pretty much done with. Ugh! Don't get the flu if you can help it, folks! It's no fun!

Anyhoo, here's my blurb about the YJ SF Conference: It was great!

Hahaha - okay, that's not all you get. Jeesh. Read the rest of my thoughts below and feel free to comment! In the meantime, everyone, stay healthy and rested this winter! The flu sucks!

Soo.... the YJ conference was great. Although, I had started getting sick and did not attend every session that I signed up for, I still made it to most of them, and it was really great simply to be able to have a class with some of these teachers. It was physically demanding (especially if you're in the early stages of the flu! Ha.) and some of the classes I felt I got some real "takeaway" information, but others I just participated and just had a great practice. There were about 2000 people there (though that could have been spread across the weekend - it's just a number I got), mostly women, mostly white, mostly 30s-50s, though definitely some older and some lots older. Lots of very happy faces and warm, real smiles. Great shopping! Hahaha. It was definitely a consumer event, but I did get a lot of good "real" yoga out of it, too!

On Saturday, I did a Kundalini class with Gurmukh, which was fun and long - if you've never done Kundalini, it's very, very different from a typical Iyengar- or Ashtanga-based "flow" class. There's a lot of chanting and weird, seated positions, shaking yourself and rocking and moving in different ways, plus meditation, some dancing, and Savasana.

Then I did a class with Desiree Rumbaugh on Handstands and Pincha Mayurasana ~ and WOW, I *loved* her as a teacher!! She's sharp, witty, lighthearted, funny ~ she pretty much embodies everything I like about Anusara :-) We partnered up and learned a bunch of great tips for these poses. The class was called "Yes! We have no bananas" and it was all about NOT having a banana shape when you're inverted. Again, typical Anusara to make it kind of silly and goofy, but still so practical and useful.

On Sunday, I took a Jivamukti class with David Life, which was more like a regular practice that I would do ~ I didn't really learn any new tips or anything, but it was fun to see him in action and the music in the class was great. Then I did a class with Shiva Rea, a Shakti-based, women-only class that started out with a lot more Kundalini and Tantric yoga, and typical Shiva Rea trancey, dancey, flowy stuff - it was fun and a room full of swaying, chanting women is pretty groovy to see :-)

Then on Monday, I did an all-day with Gary Kraftsow on Yoga for Back Care - and took so many notes! I feel like I learned a *lot* from him. His approach is all very therapeutic and he emphasized coming in and out of the poses, building them up, rather than holding them for a long time, to get the most therapeutic benefits in this instance. I really have a lot of respect for him as a teacher and I think I might look into finding ways to study with him further. I personally really liked his style and his approach to yoga (which is really Desikachar's approach, but he's westernized it in the sense that he teaches group classes and doesn't do everything 1:1).

There was also the Michael Franti concert on Friday night, which was great (if you've never seen him play live, definitely go - it's a real treat and you can't get that from a CD!) - he also did a keynote talk on Saturday during lunch, about bringing peace to the community, taking our yoga off the mats, and how we are living yoga, bringing peace in the ways that we can. Saturday night was the kirtan and the Shiva Rea trance dance thing, both of which were pretty fun but also didn't hold my interest for too long (maybe 'cause I was getting sick? Or maybe not. Either way, I left the dance early). On Monday, Dr. Dean Ornish did a keynote talk based on his new book, The Spectrum - which is basically a way to eat and live healthfully in mind-body-spirit. He's a vibrant figure, though, and a great speaker, but his talk was so short! I bought his book, anyway - that's a good tactic, huh? Short speech, so the audience has to buy your book to hear more! Hahaha.

So, overall, it was great and I'm really happy I went and if I have the money to go again next year, I probably will. That's it in a nutshell!