Prologue I am a yogi. I practice, teach, and train people in the art of yoga. This was not my dream job, and I hesitate to call it a job at all. It feels more like a calling, as they say, or even my soul’s purpose, at least for now. Though I live in New…
Today, more and more elders, ages 65 to 95, are living active, interesting lives. Some live at home and explore activity and learning opportunities at senior citizen centers or adult day care facilities. Others are residential participants at retirement communities or assisted living facilities. As health care improves and becomes more widely available, this age…
Hands to Heart: A Yoga Service Interview with Susan Lovett At Yoga Service Council one of our core tenets is supporting and celebrating the work of great Yoga Service Organizations. One of our Board members of Yoga Service Council, Susanna Barkataki, sat down with Susan Lovett , the founder and director of Hands to Heart…
Black Yoga Teacher Alliance Conference at Kripalu, August 25 – 28, 2016. I just returned from a family reunion! Had no idea I was even going to one. I registered for the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance Conference at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, in Stockbridge, Mass. I have been to quite a few…
So many wonderful yogis have been born on the mats in the beautiful Linehan Chapel on the campus of Nazareth College. Students at Naz have the amazing opportunity to participate in yoga classes on campus six times per week. The yoga programs at Nazareth have earned national recognition in the world of higher education. But…
Operating within the juvenile justice system, The Art of Yoga Project provides yoga, mindfulness and creative arts programming for incarcerated and exploited teen girls. I had the opportunity to visit the center last week to participate in the weekly yoga practice and join forces on a visual storytelling project with the girls. After fingerprint tests…
Pain and disease awaken us to convictions, which are necessary to our moral condition. ~ Samuel Johnson These pains you feel are messengers. Listen to them. ~ Rumi Pain is the great teacher of mankind. Beneath its breath souls develop. ~ Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach February was the first month in over ten years that I did…
Yoga’s popularity has been felt across all fabrics of American life. The private sector has successfully commercialized its products and services. The social sector is developing infrastructure to positively impact the lives of people that might need contemplative practices most, but can access it least. The yoga community will need a growing network of advocates inside and outside of government…
Susanna Barkataki: So tell us a bit about your role in Yoga Service. What motivated the yoga service work that you do and the creation of the retreat for Alzheimer’s caregivers? Melissa Smith: My father has been the caregiver of my step mother for more than 10 years. She was diagnosed in her late 50’s and…
Trauma as Spiritual Crisis When we talk about purpose in yoga, we use the word dharma. Dharma, a Sanskrit word denoting one’s “ethical duty,” serves as our guiding principle for living. A need and desire for dharma is innate, yet changes over the course of our lives. If we were to intermix Western psychology and…
