Inner Light Outer Peace Yoga Blog

Someone very special.

Dad, thank you for sharing.

This was the sunset on Saturday from the entrance to the Beach at Todd’s Point in Greenwich. Even though that bit of earth seems to be ‘protected’ by the Town of Greenwich for use only by residents of Greenwich unless you jump through the non-resident hoops and deplete your leisure budget to enjoy what the earth gives us all for free, no questions asked, we pulled over and were allowed to watch the sunset from outside the gate. Well, for all of about five minutes before we were warned to move the car.

Anyway, result below – well worth it and immeasurable in time is a gift from nature as beautiful as this.

Wow, did we have great weather for the sailing! And an awesome group of Yogis, friends, spirit seekers!

Check out the pictures below. Next Yoga Sailing (and the last of the Season) is Saturday, 10/3 for sunset and Full Moon Rise with guest meditation teacher, Carlo Codato. Look for details to follow later today.

Meet Lana!

Lana has been so kind to allow the studio to display her beautiful canvas entitled, “Finding The Natural Order of Things”. You may have noticed it already or will certainly be graced by it’s beauty the next time you come to class. And what better theme to practice with then finding the order of things? It is as ever present a question in Yoga as the enigmatic, “Who am I?”.

We have practiced Yoga with Lana in quite a few different studio spaces and most recently we love to welcome her at Dew Yoga. We asked her the usual questions about Yoga. Enjoy reading her responses and be sure to say ‘Hi’ next time you see her and feel free to contact her for art and design needs, her contact info is below.

Q: How long have you been practicing Yoga?

A: I have been practicing yoga since 2000. I immediately gravitated to it after my first class where I felt very challenged but also a sense of calm and self-acceptance. I had not experienced this before. I did not practice regularly that first year, but since the day after 9/11/2001 I signed up for a beginner class and began to practice yoga consistently. All these years it has been a source of solace and strength. As I change, my practice changes.

Q: What fills your time off the mat?

A: Mostly these days I try to balance rest, work and play. After a car accident ten months ago, I had to shift how I lived my life. To live I do freelance design for print, web, video and environments. I also make art, which like yoga allows me to express my life force in a playful, free way. Making art is a process of discovery just like yoga. To me this is the joy of life.

Q: How has your yoga practice affected your life off the mat?

A: Yoga has affected every aspect of my life. Before I did yoga I used to be tense up and hold my breath. Since practicing yoga I learned to breathe as simple as that sounds. It helps me accept my body, whatever my form at any given time, while also cultivating strength and grace.

Mostly, yoga has helped me become more me. It helps me know my true heart away from the distractions of our busy, worldly lives. It has helped me tap into my spiritual center by instilling a meditative, mindful state. In this it is a great gift.

Q: What would you like to share with others about Yoga?

A:I discovered that yoga is for everyone. All you have to know is how to breathe. If you can do that, you can do yoga. Yoga is not just exercise. It’s an approach to life. It’s about honoring yourself and others.

Contact Info:
Lana is available for a range of creative projects:
• Design for Web, print, video and environments
• Creative project management/mentorship and teaching
(aka bringing out the best in people)
• Design for home, office, retail and outdoor environments
• Fine art, murals and commissioned art projects

I’d be delighted to hear from you.
design@lanayu.com
917-847-3964

By Elysa DeMartini

Lately I have been asked “Do the Karma donations make a difference?”
In one simple, beautiful and graceful word, yes! An unequivocable, resounding yes!
No donation is ever to small even if it is just a prayer of gratitude or a kind word or gesture.

For the past three months, we have been holding our Yoga Stimulus class at Dew once a week and have been so grateful to the response. It has been so joyful to be pass on these gifts to the respective places.

I personally take the food and clothing to Wilson Food Pantry every week and watch the circle of life in action. The food goes to the kitchen where, it is put aside for the monthly Sunday dinners that the women prepare to help fund the Pantry and pay the bills. These dinners are open to the public and cost $8 a place. Talk about good food, made from love and for a good cause! You can’t beat it! Southern cooking, in it’s best terms! I lived in North Carolina for 12 years and know a few things about southern cooking and can tell you it’s as close as you can get!

So that bag of rice that you donate, can actually feed 40 people. Do the math, $320 will help Joyce buy the some of the food from The Food Bank, pay a light bill or buy the dolly that will help the volunteers not break their back lifting stock. It may not seem like alot of money, but believe me, to us at the Pantry, it’s a miracle. The food that is not used for Sunday dinners is put on the line and passed out to the clients.

The clothes get put out and are donated to the people directly. The joy to watch mothers get new clothes for their children and themselves is nothing short of beautiful. Women who don’t often get new clothes, due to circumstances beyond their control, get thrilled to receive clothes with tags still on them! “Oh My GOD, there are tags on these!!!” is heard as they come across this as it is a needle in a haystack. These clothes, shoes, toys, sheets, towels are new to them and they are soooooooo very grateful!

We were blessed to receive baby goods and formulas once. It was a special day as a new mother, whose baby was a week old was having problems with finding the right formulas. She practically cried because it was a good bit of formula. I, not being a mom, can vouch that formula is expensive and to find one that works, is costly. imagine not being able to have that ability and dealing with a newborn. I am happy to say the baby is doing very well as is the mom.

The pet supplies, Jen brings to the animal shelter, where they couldn’t be more gracious as they have been affected as well with their funds and supplies being affected due to these economic times.

Every bit helps someone, somewhere. Even if it is just a kind word or gesture. Pay it forward and watch. See how a smile, a hug, a phone call or a kind word can change someone’s day or mood. Then notice how you feel in your heart. A bit lighter, brighter and most definitely more loving to yourself and our world.

Remember, you are a point of light and let your light shine.

and Carlo made me smile via email with this.

Yesterday, I was having an ‘internet challenged’ moment which evolved into an internet challenged day. Having the need to get online for just five minutes, I spent far too many minutes rebooting, reconnecting, regretting dependence on technology, reasoning and then finally realizing I was not going to solve the problem on my own and phoned Cablevision.

A service interruption was my problem and it would be restored in the afternoon however, I needed to let the Beach Yogi’s know about class that very same evening and time was running away from me at full speed.

I headed to Starbucks to use their wi-fi and even though the Barista said it was simple, I remained challenged.

It was one of those moments where as a Yogini, I step back from the situation and dare to ask myself, “Jen, is this a sign that Beach Yoga is not meant to be tonight, or is the Universe challenging me at every turn just to be sure I really want this?”

I can not remember which brilliant teacher said, “Some hurdles, road blocks an brick walls arrive only to strengthen our resolve.”

Contemplating this, I was reminded to open myself to the grace of kindness and the importance of community in service to one another when a woman, sensing my frustration, all aglow with new life in her belly and a vivacious toddler at her side approached offering assistance.

After chatting, I realized it was Meg Robustelli who I had not yet had the pleasure of meeting in person but have been in contact with by e-mail. She runs a great blog called Fairfield County Child, “Unique Places to eat, shop and play with your little one” A while back she ran a post on Kids Yoga with super joyous Ronnie Oster. Check out Meg’s site, it is updated often and has all the low down on events, happenings, specials, even give always to her readers!

Meg, thanks for noticing I was stuck and taking the time to lend a hand even when your hands were already full. I think it take a village to raise a parent, or a blogger, or maybe it takes a human heart to get stuff done when we are so dependent on technology. You set a great example of kindness and community to your daughter.

Friends, pay it forward, random act of kindness – today! I promise I will too.

How often do we take for granted that we turn on the tap and fresh, clean water is available and so abundant that we let plenty slip down the drain and out to sea.

“One billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean drinking water. That’s one in six of us. charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of public donations directly fund water projects.”

Ike from Green Finds/Samples for (eco)mpassion has placed some charity:water bands at the studio.

Overhead expenses for charity:water are funded by private donors so by purchasing a band your $5.00 goes directly to drilling and well building projects that will put clean water in someone’s cup. Buy 4 for $20 and you have provided clean drinking water for one person for 20 years! Wear them and help spread the word, we can make a difference.

Read more about charity:water here and also learn about other ways to help. Watch some of their incredible videos and see donations in action. They have already 1,247 projects in action. Amazing.

Buildings in the cities of the future.

Click here to read about the concept of big buildings that can provide freshly grown food for it’s inhabitants, dramatically reducing carbon footprint.