Join Liza Laird for her Yoga and Yarn Retreat to Good Commons in Plymouth, VT, November 3rd – 6th! More info below from Liza’s website:

Yoga & Yarn Retreat to Good Commons

November 3rd – 6th | Plymouth, VT

Good Commons is the perfect place to learn to knit or refresh your skills with Expert Knitter Nancy Laird. Nancy, a yogi and lifetime knitter, will share with you her skills and knowledge of the art of knitting.

Liza Laird is a yoga therapist in NYC. She found her love of yoga and knitting from her mom, Nancy, and loves to share this passion.

This dynamic duo will take you through and teach you how to practice yoga + knit! No previous experience required! All levels welcome.

Rates/Registration

~ $150/per person – day pass

~ $485/per person – loft

~ $615/per person – shared room (based on double occupancy)

~ $825/per person – private room

Check out this video below to learn more:

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Click here for more information and to register today!

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“Wake up. It’s later than you think!” -Chinese Proverb

About Sonic

Sonic Yoga is ‘yoga for the people.’

About to celebrate our 10 Year Anniversary in November, we began our journey in 2001 in the heart of New York City’s bustling Hell’s Kitchen district and quickly blossomed into a mecca for NYC’s cultural community  looking for a super-friendly place to come together and practice yoga.  Since then, we’ve welcomed more than 50,000 students into our family and trained hundreds of teachers, from nearly every continent on Earth (save the North & South Poles, but we’re working on that).  In 2005 -2010, we were rated NYC’s #1 yoga studio by Citysearch and we hold a 4 Star status on Yelp.com

But, enough about us, we are here for YOU! Our students are our family (without the awkward Thanksgiving brawls).  When you come to play in our house, you’ll have the opportunity to cultivate a healthier, more-vital body, a peaceful, centered state of mind & an awakened spirit!  Oh, and you might make a lot of great friends and sweat a bit, too!

Class Descriptions

Flow 1

This practice is about creating a balance of heat and calm in the body. It begins with a minute or so of cleansing breath, moves into a gentle flowing warm-up, 5-minutes of core (ab) work and then 40-minutes of moderately-paced standing flow, drawing upon postures that are challenging, yet accessible to a wide range of students. It then returns you to the mat for the balance of practice and ends with a few minutes of breathwork, savasana and meditation.

Flow 1-2

This practice is about creating a balance of heat and calm in the body. This practice and ends with a few minutes of breathwork, savasana and meditation. Flow 1 has a stilling quality that leaves you refreshed and restored. Flow 2 Often sweat drenching practice cultivates cleansing heat in the body and builds strength, stamina and focus. Flow 2 is a vibrant/alive journey that leaves you refreshed, inspired and alive. This blended class will cater to all levels and will provide the opportunity for students to experience a intelligent multi-level practice.

Flow Fundamentals

Once you have graduated from a workshop or simply become acquainted with the basics on your own, you are ready to begin flowing a bit more. This gentle, interactive practice is designed to instill newer students with the comfort, strength and knowledge needed to explore their blossoming practice or give more accomplished students a gentle, more fundamental practice option and a focus on specifics. The flow is stopped to provide more detail and give more opportunity to explore and learn at your own pace.

Flow 2

This powerful, often sweat drenching practice cultivates cleansing heat in the body and builds strength, stamina and focus. Flow 2 begins standing and moves into a 50-minute dynamic standing flow, incorporating a wide-range of arm-balances and “sense of adventure poses.” The pace is brisk, yet intelligent, and the intensity and heat come more from the pace than from the holds or complexity. From here, we move to the mat for deeper, longer forward, back and hip-opening postures, 5-minutes of dynamic core work and deliver you into a scrumptious savasana and final meditation. Flow 2 is a vibrant/alive journey that leaves you refreshed, inspired and alive.

Hatha Flow

This practice places a large emphasis on the breath (pranayama) to explore commonly practiced postures (asana) and uses variations with different energetic focus (bandha) to increase the benefits of the postures and allow accessibility in more complex postures using the techniques of Hatha Yoga. Expect to hold postures longer than you might in a standard vinyasa class.

Center

This yummy 1-hour experience is perfect for students of all levels looking for a deeply centering experience. We open with a gently flowing, classical 30-minute flow, sequencing individual poses and counterposes with each other. We then come to the mat for 15-minutes of cleansing and centering breathing exercises and end with a delicious 15-minute guided meditation and relaxation.

Donation Community Class

An opportunity to study with our most talented new teachers at a discounted rate. These classes are Level One and give our budding teachers the experience they need, while providing you with a beautiful yoga experience. Pay what you can!

Prana Flow 1

Prana Flow is an energetic, creative, full-spectrum approach to embodying the flow of yoga cultivated by Shiva Rea and the Global Vinyasa Collective of Teachers. Students of all levels are empowered to experience prana – the universal source of breath, life-energy and conscious intelligence – as the navigating source of yoga practice and vital living. Practitioners learn classical and innovative approaches to vinyasa yoga and the state of flow drawn from Krishnamacharya’s teachings, Tantra, Ayurveda, Bhakti, Somatics and Shiva’s teaching experience from the last fifteen years.

Prana Flow 2

Prana Flow is an energetic, creative, full-spectrum approach to embodying the flow of yoga cultivated by Shiva Rea and the Global Vinyasa Collective of Teachers. Students of all levels are empowered to experience prana – the universal source of breath, life-energy and conscious intelligence – as the navigating source of yoga practice and vital living. Practitioners learn classical and innovative approaches to vinyasa yoga and the state of flow drawn from Krishnamacharya’s teachings, Tantra, Ayurveda, Bhakti, Somatics and Shiva’s teaching experience from the last fifteen years.

Click here for a full class schedule

Teacher Training

Sonic Yoga offers 200 + 300 hour certifications that enable you to change people’s lives and and earn a great living teaching yoga!

We are The Center For Yoga Studies at Sonic Yoga NYC. Since 2001, we’ve offered our highly-regarded 200-hour Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Certification Program. And, in 2007, we’ll be introducing a number of more-specialized certifications.

Over the last 5-years, we’ve graduated hundreds of teachers and grown from one to nearly 10 graduating classes a year in two different languages. You will benefit not only from the experience of our amazing faculty and strong-reputation, but from our voracious quest to constantly improve, add-to and refine the program every time we present it. From cutting-edge, multimedia anatomy presentations to ancient healing mudras, you will experience the best in professional yoga education in an easygoing, super-friendly and supportive environment.

Click here for more information on 200-hour teacher training

Click here for more information on 300-hour Prana Flow teacher training

Upcoming Workshops & Events

March 9th – 11th

FLuid Power Teacher Training w/ Twee Merrigan

March 15th – 23rd

Sacred Journey to Machu Picchu with Johanna Aldrick & Lori McAlister

March 24th

Trance Dance w/ Jeffrey Duval

April 20th – 22nd

Yoga & Ayurveda: Applying ayurveda to your Yoga Practice w/ Maria Garre

June 11th – 17th

Solstice in Iceland! Retreat to Iceland w/ Jeffrey Duval

Testimonials

“In the city there are so many studios now offering a full 200 and 500 hr training programs. But both during the training and before, there was a very welcoming sense of openness, innocence and encouragement led by the teachers and the overall vibe of the Studio. I can’t say that intrigued me elsewhere. The benefits and the gift I received from my time in the program exceeded my expectations and more than anything,, I am feeling grateful that I have a sense of excitement and confidence about teaching at the present, and in the future. This, I attribute to cool, well versed, and approachable teaching. That and the many friendships and teacher-student relationships that organically developed remind me the studio is not a quick-certification, but a grounded, thorough, honest program. Whoo hoo!” – Christine C.

“This was one of the best month’s of my life, I grew so much. The teachers were so welcoming, compassionate and open. Being told to make mistakes and accept where we are was a fantastic thing to be told at the start. All the people in my group were amazing, so open, loving and understanding, as well as very inspired and great future yoga teachers! I also feel I am doing something ‘right’ for me, which is a blessing. Sonic is a great place to have found that.” – Harry T.

“Sonic Style is a joyful expression of life! It’s about the dance between mind, body, and spirit.  I feel at home at Sonic because I am free to express my natural energy, whatever it may be that day, without fear of judgment.  And it’s always a spiritual up-lifter, too!” - Kira S.

Click here to visit Sonic’s website today!

In his period play of the same name, Oscar Wilde hit the nail on the head with the subtitle: A Trivial Comedy For Serious People. Such is life, really.

The word earnest is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a serious and intent mental state” or “a considerable or impressive degree or amount”. To me, earnestness sounds like serious sincerity. There is no way to lose when you are earnest, because when you mean everything you say and say everything you mean, it all comes back to you the way you meant it to.

I have a very dear friend, let’s call him Henry, who is the poster child for earnestness. Henry doesn’t make jokes, but he can be very funny. He cares passionately and deeply about things. He is the guy clogging your Facebook news feed with links to articles about government spending, environmental disasters, and the arrival of spring flowers in the desert. He becomes visibly agitated when let down by a friend. He is incredibly generous, inviting everyone he knows over when he makes a pot of soup. He is impossible not to tease, and equally impossible not to like.

The importance of being earnest is NOT the importance of taking life seriously (a dangerous and dumb thing to do), but rather the important of being true to oneself, in the sense that we stop being true when we lose sight of our passions and beliefs, practices that we are deeply intent on.

I read in earnest, I work in earnest, I practice yoga in earnest; if I did not, my life would cease to be a trivial comedy for a serious person, and become a drama for a trivial person, a cycle of samsara if I’ve ever heard one. As we grow up, we are tempted every day to lose our earnestness, and thus to lose ourselves – in fact, being ironic is as trendy as moustaches and living in a loft in Williamsburg.

Yesterday I was walking downtown, wrapped in the throes of some drama or another (I’m hurt by this friend’s habit of always being late, I’m annoyed that my roommate is so chatty in the morning, I’m pissed that my job doesn’t pay me more, blah, blah). I was going to meet a friend at a bookstore, and was not in the mood to socialize. Irritable, I called my mom, who is usually pretty good at talking me down from my high horse of self-righteous annoyance. She said, “anger is your worst enemy, humor is your best friend.”

I was pacing in front of the bookstore as we talked, not wanting to disturb the other patrons with my whining. On the corner, a homeless man was painstakingly going through a pile of garbage, opening each bag and pulling out chosen items for his shopping cart. As my mom talked, he began to sing, in a joltingly operatic baritone, the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody”. He was very serious and intent on his singing, which was beautiful and laughable in a not-at-all cruel way. I wanted to laugh because it made me feel so suddenly happy, and the bubble of angst in the pit of my stomach burst. I thanked my mom, met my friend, and had a good night.

This musically inclined hobo was essentially the Lama of Crosby and Prince, for he helped me see reality for what it was in the same way that deeply spiritual people do – pointing out the absurdity of life. Maya, reality, is a limited world, which can be depressing as all hell when you see it for more than a trivial comedy, in which we all act a part. Believing that what we see and feel is permanent and all encompassing is like watching a movie in a theater and believing that we’re all part of the movie, that we will never escape it. Treating life like a drama is just as terrifying, and also just as nuts.

Monks are funny, but in a serious, practical sort of way. There’s a Buddhist poem, describing enlightenment, which goes like this:

“Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. 
After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water … but no longer trip over things at night.” ~
Skye Milo

Which is the same idea as the touristy Thai saying “same same, but different”, which in turn is just another way of describing the Importance Of Being Earnest:

Look, nothing has changed. The world’s still trivial and silly. You are the one who has changed, and your seriousness has added depth to your reality. Look, nothing has changed. Look, everything is different.

Le Poisson Rouge

158 Bleeker St. NYC

Minimum age: 21+

Doors Open 8pm

Show Time: 8:20pm

Cost: $5 | Free w/ CMJ Badge

——

The Schedule:

8:20 – 9pm VDRK & Free Magic

9:00 – 9:30pm Viper Creek Club

9:40pm – 10:10pm

10:15pm – 10:30pm Machine Drum & Jesse Boykins III

10:30pm – 10:45pm Dom Kennedy

10:50pm – 11:20pm Body Language

11:25pm – 12:10am Sepaclure

12:10am – 12:55am Kastle

12:55am – 1:40am Egyptrixx

1:40am – 2:40am Savage Skulls

2:40am – close VDRK & Free Magic

Hope to see you there!!!!

Check out our interview with Paige below:

YNON: So, Paige, can you tell me a little bit about yourself, what is your “yoga background?”

Paige Elenson: I am a native New Yorker, born and bred. Yoga “found” me in the ’90s when I was on a college spring break to Cancun, Mexico. I went to Tulum to try a yoga class, assuming I would go back to Cancun late that night for a party. The class was with Baron Baptiste, and I never went back to Cancun until it was time to get on an airplane to go home. I have been studying and teaching Baptiste Power Yoga for over 10 years, and teach with Baron at his international teacher trainings. I am also influenced by Jivamukti and AcroYoga.

YNON: Very cool, and I assume that your love of traveling grew from there. How did you end up in Africa? When did you first go there?

PE: I was on a family vacation in Africa in 2005. AcroYoga had sparked a major love for handstands and going upside down in general, and while on Kenya on Safari, we drove by a group of young Kenyan men doing handstands. We were in the middle of the bush, so my Dad warned me not to get out of the car – but I jumped out and started doing handstands with these young men. As it happens, they were a group of professional acrobats that were practicing for a show at a tourist hotel. They were enthralled with my flexibility and wanted to learn yoga. We had a real connection, one that exceeded race and nationality. They e-mailed me months later and invited me back to stay with them. Little did I know we would be staying in the slums of Nairobi, not at a chic tourist resort. I spent a month teaching yoga in the slums, hand in hand with an acrobatic program they called “Sarakasi.” We reached hundreds of young people, who without basics like food and shelter, were coming in droves to take our yoga classes. It sparked a passion to see yoga outside of the studio walls and to share it with people who were hungry and ready for it.

YNON: Wow. That is amazing. So tell us a little bit more about your organization, the Africa Yoga Project

PE: What evolved from that meeting in the middle of the bush is pretty amazing. With the support of Baron Baptiste and his community, we have facilitated the first yoga teacher training in Kenya. We now employ 48 of those teachers, who are all youth from the slums, to teach full-time in their communities. Our teachers are world-class Vinyasa teachers, and teach in environments that most would not even think of visiting. We teach at prisons, brothels, orphanages, social halls – we teach over 200 free classes and reach over 3,000 students per week. Besides teaching yoga, our team is empowered to make change in their communities. They identify and create community projects that change people’s lives. We have built two schools, funded critical operations, paid school fees for young women and helped to clean up the environment. Africa Yoga Project is transforming people and places from the inside out and using Yoga as the catalyst to light it up.

YNON: Wow. Amazing. So how can we help?

PE: This weekend we have an amazing opportunity to support Africa Yoga Project through taking the Yoga Aid Challenge. We are having amazing events that support funding our programming all over the US and Canada. You can register at www.YogaAid.com.

One aspect of AYP’s mission that excites me the most is “By inspiring the global yoga community into active service, AYP delivers effective and innovative programs which create opportunities to learn and contribute across the communities of East Africa.” It is such an opportunity to watch our volunteers and the personal breakthroughs they experience by coming to Kenya. One way to contribute is to come to Kenya and work in the trenches with us. A trip to Kenya as part of the Africa Yoga Project Ambassador Program is the journey of a lifetime.

Here is some information about our Ambassador Program:

By taking the pledge to become an Africa Yoga Project Ambassador, you are making a powerful commitment to change the world one person at a time. The Africa Yoga Project works with vulnerable populations in East Africa by using the transformative power of yoga to empower communities and change lives. Our core group of students are between the ages of 16 – 30 and live on under $2/day. Many are personally affected by HIV/Aids, and are living, or have once lived, on the streets. Through commitments of active service, such as yours, Africa Yoga Project is able to deliver effective and innovative programs that foster peace, improve self-sufficiency, and create opportunities to learn and contribute across East Africa. Our Ambassador Program allows you the opportunity to experience, first hand, the work of Africa Yoga Project, while at the same time giving you the opportunity to contribute on a personal level. As an Africa Yoga Project Ambassador, you will commit to a fundraising pledge of $5,000, which will go directly to funding the progrmas that we offer. To help you meet this pledge, you will engage your community and the support of those around you. You will “lead the change” on a local and global level. In the coming days, weeks, and months prior to your journey to Kenya, you will represent Africa Yoga Project – you will be an Ambassador!

YNON: Thank you so much for everything that you are doing. The event this Sunday in NYC is sure to be amazing, with teachers like Elena Brower, Dharma Mittra, and Dana Flynn offering their teachings…What is the biggest lesson that you have taken out of this seva work thus far? Can you share it with us?

PE: My biggest lesson is that one person really does make a difference, every single one of us. The power of ONE is HUGE as we are all one and connected in a way we can’t begin to imagine.

Thanks so much to Paige for taking some time to catch up with us and to Todd Beer for the amazing photos.

YOU can help – check out www.YogaAid.com and if you are in NYC this weekend, come give love with us at the Yoga Aid Challenge

Check out the flyer below for details on Sunday’s event in NYC

:: COME OUT AND SUPPORT – we hope to see you there! ::

Many companies sponsor softball, soccer or relay teams for their employees, or provide discounts to get workers to the gym. But how would you feel about getting a company discount on Bikram Yoga classes — 90 minutes of tough poses in 105-degree temperatures, stripped down to something like a swimsuit and sweating shoulder-to-shoulder with your boss?

Some employers have begun offering discounts for their employees at Bikram Yoga NYC, which has four locations in Manhattan, says co-owner Jennifer Lobo. Begun in the U.S. in the 1970s by Bikram Choudhury (pictured right), Bikram Yoga is practiced in high temperatures to make participants’ muscles more malleable, and less susceptible to injury, Ms. Lobo says. Thanks in part to all the sweating, “you feel light and totally stress-free” after a class, she says. Many practitioners dress in bikini-like attire to stay cool, or “as little as you feel comfortable wearing,” Ms. Lobo says. A law firm, a lingerie company and a fashion-design firm, among other employers, have secured employee discounts on the classes, she says.

As intrigued as I am by Bikram Yoga, I would stick to advice given last year by Wall Street Journal columnist Christina Binkley: Never undress to anything like a swimsuit in front of co-workers. “Once you’ve stripped to the equivalent of skivvies in front of your colleagues, you’ll never be fully dressed again in their minds,” she wrote. Of course, a company discount at a Bikram Yoga center doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be sweating next to your boss in the same class. And workers with gyms on company premises often face the awkward situation of working out in skimpy exercise gear next to their colleagues or managers.

The sports and activities employers choose to sponsor in support of wellness vary widely with the culture of the company.  Some companies tailor company teams to the passion of the CEO. The former Sun Microsystems long had an informal ice-hockey team, for example, led by CEO Scott McNealy, an avid amateur player and fan. Other companies field triathlon teams or distance-relay teams.  Still,  only 22% of employers currently sponsor an organizational sports team, down from a high of 33% in 2004, according to an annual employer survey by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Readers, what sports or other stress-busting activities would you like to see your employer offer a discount? Do you have a company team, or employer discounts at particular activities? If you were the boss, what exercise pursuits would you encourage employees to pursue?

- Sue Shellenbarger