Beyond Yoga Events

I am so happy to announce that I have been teaching at Beyond Yoga for the past few weeks now. It's definitely the prettiest yoga studio in town! Sorry, no photos yet but will reveal the charming look real soon. For now, I'd like to invite you to our upcoming events.

I wrote about Anna Carbonell in this previous blog post. She'll be in town for a few more months so get a chance to experience her classes while she is here. Coming up is the Jivamukti Spiritual Warrior class this Thursday and the Lady Niguma Yoga Series starting next Thursday!

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 Another must is the Saturday Night Live Jivamukti Open Class with LIVE percussions by David & Dona Esteban followed by Vegetarian Cuisine by Beyond Cafe. It's an exciting & healthy alternative to your usual Saturday plans. Please spread the word to your family and friends. For more information please call or text 0917-5BEYOND (0917-5239663) or email inquire@igobeyondyoga.com

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Want to Hula?

Last Thursday, I joined a Music Vinyasa class by Anna Carbonell, one of the teachers in the newest studio in the metro...Beyond Yoga.

blissful yoginis after Anna's class

If you do not know her (yet), she is a senior Jivamukti teacher based in New York. Another interesting thing I found out is that Anna has been dancing the hula for over 18 years and has learned under the tutelage of Michelle Akina and Janu Cassidy of the Hawaiian Cultural Foundation (HCF). She now studies with a Kumu Vicky Holt Takamine, a master teacher living in O'ahu, and belongs to a halau (hula school) called Pua Ali'i 'Ilima o Nuioka. Anna has performed across the U.S. at various venues and events with HCF and Aloha Hula NYC. In addition she has featured as a Polynesian dancer in television commercials and has worked as a model for many years, appearing in Cosmopolitan, Self, All You Magazines and various print ads and billboards throughout mainland US, Hawaii and Asia. Anna has also appeared as "Liat" in South Pacific, a Tahitian dancer on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien", numerous roles as a Pacific Islander in daytime soap operas and even a cameo opposite Blair Underwood in "Sex in the City". Anna now focuses exclusively on Polynesian dancing and teaching yoga.

FYI, Yoga & Dancing are two of my passions! So this upcoming Dance workshop is a definitely a MUST for moi!

Beyond Yoga presents a Hula Tahitian Dance workshop on Thursday, Oct 27 at 6:30pm

Learn to move your hips gracefully to the melodic sounds of Hawaiian music and “shake” rhythmically to the drumbeats of Tahiti. Learn to move your hands to tell the story behind the Hawaiian lyrics and to express your own sensuality as you dance the ote'a (traditional dance from Tahiti). Let your breath move the spirit within to embrace the beauty of your whole being.  Anna will teach you the basic footwork, hips and hand motions, and “eha” (breath) in order to tell the story and the essence of a song. 

You will learn a hapa haole hula song and will end the class with a review of the basic Tahitian steps.  Be prepared to sweat. 

No previous dance experience required. Please bring a sarong and wear comfortable clothing.

P600 drop in rate for non-members and P300 for members. Please call to 0917-5BEYOND (0917-5239663) to reserve.

Aloha!

An Omen from the Gods

Something magical happened on my last day in my farm. As soon as I woke up, I laid my yoga mat on the garden to get ready for yoga then I heard my friend Denise squeal with delight. I looked towards her and saw this....

A glowing rainbow! 

The last time we saw one incarnate was in Port Barton. I truly felt that the land was speaking to me...whispering to me some secrets I have yet to decipher.

"Though rainbows are often explained as the bridge from the realm of the gods to the earth, more often, they are seen as a kind of omen.  As a sign from heaven, they are interpreted in a variety of ways: a portent of impending war or conversely, a seal of the Creator's promise not to destroy the land in another global Flood. " (Taken from this website)

Daniw gave this the day I went away...

What is this telling me? It surely was a sign to hold on to this sacred space. Because our dreams are never over :)

Denise and I with our little ones

with Bo and Toni of Escola de Samba de Manila

Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high,
And the dreams that you dreamed of, Once in a lullaby.
Oh, somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly,
And the dreams that you dreamed of, Dreams really do come true.Someday, I'll wish upon a star,
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where trouble melts like lemon drops,
High above the chimney top,
That's where you'll find me.
Oh, somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly,
And the dreams that you dare to. Oh why, oh why can't I..?
Well, I see trees of green and red roses too,
I'll watch them bloom for me and you.
And I think to myself: What a wonderful world..!
Well, I see skies of blue and I see clouds of white,
And the brightness of day.
I like the dark and I think to myself:
What a wonderful world..!
The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky,
Are also on the faces of people passing by.
I see friends shaking hands, saying, "How do you do?"
They're really saying, " I...I love you!"
I hear babies cry, and I watch them grow,
They'll learn much more than we'll know.
And I think to myself: What a wonderful world..!
Someday, I'll wish upon a star,
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where trouble melts like lemon drops,
High above the chimney top,
That's where you'll find me.Oh, somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high.
And the dreams that you dare to, Oh why, oh why can't I..?

Photo credits to Bogey Bernardo

Wellness Events This Weekend

All of a sudden, there is an upsurge of health & wellness events in the Philippines which delights the Virgo in me. Thank you to the warriors of light who continue to inspire us and bring awareness to all! Let's pass it forward and spread the love. Here are some upcoming events this weekend you shouldn't miss.

WHEN: October 15 - 16 (Saturday & Sunday)

WHERE: The Grove, Rockwell

Beyond Yoga and Urban Ashram, the two newest yoga studios in the Manila are collaborating with The Grove by Rockwell Land & catalogue 63 to bring you two full days of FREE yoga classes this Saturday & Sunday! Just check the schedules at http://www.catalogue63.com/ for more details.

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You've probably heard about the hip vegan cooking school called Kitchen Revolution. If not, then you must have been living under a rock the past year. I got to meet Marie Gonzalez here in Puerto Princesa a few weeks back. She made a smashing bean salad mix for our picnic brunch at Nagtabon which was devoured by all that was there.

She normally conducts weekly vegan workshops from her home-kitchen in Alabang. Lucky you, she will be conducting a FREE green juice and smoothie workshop this Saturday morning at St Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City. Learn a thing or two about why fruit and vegetables in liquid form is liquid gold for your body. 

WHEN: October 15, Saturday

WHERE: St. Luke's, Quezon City

 

Marie states in her facebook profile that researching for the class has convinced her more than ever that the solution to life’s problems, tears, sicknesses, and hangovers is green juice and smoothies.

Via Kitchen Revolution in collaboration with Corridor of Hope, the cancer support group of St Luke's Cancer Institute.

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WHEN: October 15, Saturday

WHERE: Bahay Kalipay, Puerto Princesa

And last but not the least is another FLOW event this Saturday...but this time, it's FLOW YogaSamba sans the Surf (unless we surf cosmic waves) in Bahay Kalipay, Puerto Princesa, Palawan! Yes, the FLOW team will be coming over to conduct an afternoon on Yoga, Drumming & Samba plus a Raw Thai Vegan lunch and a Raw Mediterranean Dinner from the new graduates of Pure Joy Academy, Daniw Arazola & Asha Peri! For more inquires please contact 0917-8386261. Limited slots.

The Cosmos Within Me

 Taken from this craniosacral blog

“On the average, a human being breathes 18 times a minute. This may, of course, vary, for our breathing is different in our youth, and in old age, but if we take an average, we obtain as a normal figure for the respiration, 18 breaths a minute. We thus renew our life rhythmically 18 times a minute.


Let us now see how often we do this in one day. In one hour this would be equal to 18 x 60 = 1080. In 24 hours: 1080 x 24 = 25,920, that is to say, 25,920 times.” (From a lecture by Rudolf Steiner of 28 January 1917, “Man’s Position in the Cosmic Whole; the Platonic World Year”)

Wow! Pretty amazing to know that we are living on earth, sharing the most basic rhythm of life (the breath) with the entire cosmos.