I recently had the great good fortune to attend the Toronto Yoga Conference, an experience that I am still not finished digesting. People came from far and wide to attend this conference. In fact I was in the minority, being a local.   I felt lucky to be able to return to the comfort of my own bed at the end of each of three exhausting days.  Yes, three whole days.  Did I mention I’m a yoga nut?

It was hard to decide which workshops to sign up for and I changed my mind many times.  The choices seemed endless. Seane Corn was one of the biggest pulls for this conference.  You  may have seen her on the cover of the conference guide.  She is a yoga celebrity.

 

 

 

 

Apart from her hair….he he he, one of the things I like about Seane is her sincerity.  She wears her emotions on her sleeve.  She isn’t above delving into her difficult past when describing her journey to yoga and she realizes that ultimately the goal of yoga is not to impress with perfectly executed poses, but something just a bit deeper.  What that might be is different for everyone.  For Seane, one of the things it means is a non-profit organization called Off the Mat and Into the World , of which she is the founder.  From the OTM website: OTM uses the power of yoga to inspire conscious, sustainable activism and ignite grassroots social change. We do this by facilitating personal empowerment through leadership trainings, fostering community collaboration, and initiating local and global service projects.  Great stuff.

We have one of Seane’s yoga DVDs in our collections and it is a good one, called Detox Flow:

 

 

Click on the link to place a hold on a copy.

 

 

 

In the end I didn’t register for any of Seane’s workshops.  Maybe next time.  One of the best things about yoga is that you get better at it over time, and teachers get better at teaching it too.  So if I do see her at another conference she will be even more awesome.  🙂

 

 

We have two upcoming events for those with seediness in their souls. 

The first is The York Region Seedy Saturday on March 2nd, at Vaughan City Hall.  Featured activities include: Garden vendors (including local and heirloom seeds), Fresh food café, community seed exchange, speaker presentations, children’s activities and door prizes.   Brought to you by the York Region Food Network, Seeds for Change Gardens, Vaughan Public Libraries, Markham’s Green Print Sustainability Plan, and Green Directions Vaughan.

The second is a presentation on seed saving with a Mississauga Master Gardener, at Pierre Berton Resource Library, Saturday February 16th, 10.15 – 11.45 am.  Register at the Information desk, or by phoning 905 653 7323 extension 4314.

We have a digital DVD available for download that is a complete demonstration of the asanas, or postures, of the Ashtanga yoga Primary series.   The foundational, or Primary series, is the first of six asana series that a practitioner will move through in Ashtanga, though many will never leave Primary.  Primary is very challenging.   Primary is more than enough for a whole lifetime for many people.

This is the man who demonstrates the postures in said DVD:

Richard Freeman is a very funny man, with a very bendy body.  He will show you what Primary series looks like after you have been practicing for forty years.  If you try to look like him when you practice you will make yourself very upset…so don’t try.  Plus, you could hurt yourself.   Not to mention make an asana of yourself.  However be prepared to be overcome with the urge to move and stretch while watching said DVD.  Stretching is what dissipates all that tension that sits in your shoulders and rests in your lower back.  The deep breathing that goes hand in hand with the postures will air you out like a bright Spring day!

This is how you will feel after practicing:

This is the digital DVD available for download:

Ashtanga Yoga: The Primary Series

There is a saying out there that goes something like this: Everybody can practice yoga…….the old, the young, the sick, the stiff, the unathletic, the big, the little.  The only people who can’t practice yoga are the lazy people!  The best way to practice is with a teacher, but for those just curious, or wanting to see a dedicated yogi do his thing, this DVD is very useful.  And easy to download.  As with our other Overdrive products, limited checkout periods apply.