well, we’ve just about recovered from a truly awesome weekend!

friday night’s Zen & Zin was off the hook…49 sweaty yogis and 4 (almost as) sweaty teachers tested the classroom’s capacity and came through with flying colors….special guest teacher Megan McNeal from Power Yoga Works in Philadelphia got us “into the groove” with rockin’ Sun Salutations and chair variations that turned up the heat (expect to see more of those!)…Lisa sweetly took us through one tough balance sequence, and David turned it way up with creative pushups and side planks…are you still feeling them?

after that excitement, saturday was a pretty chill day around here…a few classes and then scoping out the deck for our Outdoor Flow class at Paradise Ridge Winery on Sunday…we went through about 8 different “set-up” ideas to optimize the view from your mat, finally coming back around to our first instinct…which proved to be just right…

Sunday morning dawned foggy, but 60 yogis showed up to play anyway….and play we did! on a beautiful deck, shaded by an amazing oak with a view overlooking the vineyards…the sun was out by Savasana and the day was truly spectacular…there is nothing like outdoor yoga…the fresh air, the sounds of nature and the stillness of a quiet morning make for a powerful, peaceful practice…

the morning really couldn’t have been better…these photos don’t do it justice, but our photographer, Brian Kohlman, got some great shots…we’ll be posting them later this week! also, a big shout out here to our “assistants”, Megan and David who stepped up and shared the love…

but the best part of the day was the “off-the-mat” yoga experience that we shared…the class was a food/donation drive for the Redwood Empire Food Bank….an organization that is working harder than ever in these days of economic struggle. more than 70,000 residents of Sonoma County use the Food Bank each month, 20% more than last year and 40% more than 2008. we asked everyone to bring a food item or cash donation for the Food Bank, but we had no idea how generous some of our members would be…many of you showed up with whole grocery bags full of food and/or opened your checkbook to give freely…the car got so packed, Megan had to ride home with Lisa!

we were humbled and inspired by your generosity. as promised, we stepped up to donate $10 for each Outdoor Yogi…so with your generous donations, i was able to drop of more than 400 individual food items and $800 at the Food Bank yesterday!

all of this reminded me the true meaning of “karma yoga” — acting without regard for the fruits of ones actions…when John Lennon sang about “Instant Karma” he was spot-on…giving with no expectation makes you feel good immediately and it’s the kind of good that really makes you feel human, connected and, well, like a superstar. there is no substitution…shine on!!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 at 4:32 pm and is filed under karma projects, special events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.