India Supera Traveled the World to Find a Guru and Founded Feathered Pipe Ranch

For 44 years, India Supera floated around the property at the Feathered Pipe Ranch, welcoming new guests like old family, sharing meals on the lawn, and stories in front of the stone fireplace. Stories that included tales of her travels in the 1960s and the extraordinary circumstances that led to her vision for America’s first healing center of its kind.

The 2019 season, however, was different. She had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and given two weeks to two months to live. Leaving her in full preparation mode for the ultimate adventure into the unknown—the transition of her body and transcendence of her soul.

“I see things differently now that I feel like I’m in my final act,” Supera says. “No matter how much you’ve studied, nobody knows what’s on the other side. Now the decades of mindfulness and meditation practice can come together to help me consciously leave my body without resistance.”

In the wake of the news, she’d asked me to visit, to listen as she reconciled the magic and mystery of her life, and ponder what’s next in the presence of an eager ear. With 40 years between us, there was so much to ask, to learn, to preserve from the woman I considered a teacher, an elder, a grandmother. I sensed my own attachments to our relationship taking hold. Desperate to keep her here, yet her steady surrender to what is continually guided me back to presence.

I walked quietly into the bedroom where she rested and slid horizontally across the foot of the bed, her two cats dutifully standing guard but willing to share the space with my warm body. After some shuffling for the four of us to find comfort, we began, as all good stories do, somewhere near the beginning.

Dropping out without Dropping In

Born in Orange County, California, to an artist father and a private detective mother, India Supera became serious about her spiritual path early in life, recalling her first out-of-body experience when she was just seven years old. “I’d tell my mom I was having a conference with my grandmother’s spirit, and she’d just tell me to come to bed whenever I was finished,” Supera says. “My parents never tried to interfere, which only strengthened my psychic abilities.”

Not surprising for a girl who’d rather contemplate alternate dimensions than go to the high school sock hop, Supera felt unmet by her peers. She knew there was more to life than what you could learn in a classroom—and she set out to find it. When she was 16, she ran away to Mexico, where she met John Lily and Timothy Leary, and they bonded over mystical and psychedelic experiences despite the 15 year age gap. “They used to say that I ‘dropped out [of the matrix] without ever having to drop in,’ because I was so young,” Supera recalls with a laugh.

As her appetite for enlightenment grew, her travel focus narrowed. The plan? “Go to India and find my guru.”

The Decade of Adventure

What followed was a decade of adventure: The Summer of Love in San Francisco. Hitchhiking across America. Flying Icelandic Air to Europe and traveling overland through Italy, France, Greece, and Turkey. Supera caught rides through Afghanistan. She contracted an almost fatal illness in Pakistan and was adopted and nursed back to health by the royal family. She was saved from the rushing waters of the Ganges by a group of sadhus then shaved her head, concealed her identity and became a wandering sadhu herself. She slept in Hindu temples, threw her passport into the river and renounced all belongings except for her toothbrush. She met friends along the way, and journeyed on her own when necessary.

Finding the Guru

Finally, she found her guru, Sathya Sai Baba, in Puttaparthi, India, where she lived for several years, learning Ayurvedic cooking, nursing, astrology, yoga, chanting and Hindu rituals. “Sai Baba’s in the 70s was a confluence of the world’s most interesting and influential people—professors, artists, musicians, politicians, philosophers, famous actors,” she recalls. “It was a fast-track to the type of education I valued, and even when I was just living under a tree at the ashram, I wanted to stay forever.”

As they say, the universe has different plans.

Feathered Pipe Ranch + Yoga Journal

In her early twenties, Supera was asked to return to America to care for a friend with terminal cancer. When her friend passed, she left Supera 110 acres of land outside of Helena, Montana—with a dying wish that it would become a healing center.

Owning land and living in the United States was far from Supera’s plan. For a year, she gave away furniture, thought about selling the land, meditated on the purpose of this inheritance, and held sweat lodge ceremonies to pray and connect with spirits, asking for guidance for the way forward. She even returned to India to call on Sai Baba’s wisdom. “Teach what you know,” he said. “Make it a place for leaders.”

Her vision began to become clear. Slowly, and deliberately, the Feathered Pipe Ranch was born. In the summer of 1975, Judith Hanson Lasater taught the first yoga workshop—three weeks for $250, complete with tipis, bonfires, asana and pranayama practices, and delicious vegetarian meals.

It was a spark that ignited the fire of yoga in the West and became internationally known in the yoga and healing space.

In addition to Iyengar-style yoga workshops, early programs included Journeys Out of the Body with Robert Monroe, Metabelief Operant Training with John Lily, Human Energy Systems with Jack Schwarz, Natural Healing with Dr. Bernard Jensen and Paavo Ariola, and Goddess in Every Woman with Jean Shinoda Bolen. “Because we were part of the Sai Baba community, we had the most amazing people in our circle,” Supera says. “We were young and had no money, but the right people showed up willing to help, and we did darn well from the beginning because we were the only ones in the country doing non-guru yoga and consciousness retreats—us and Esalen.”

William Staniger, a Montana-native, Janice Paulsen, a business-whiz, and Supera, who held the heart of the group, formed the Holistic Life Foundation (now known as the Feathered Pipe Foundation), which funded and organized the yoga programs at the Ranch. That same year, the foundation paired with Judith and Ike Lasater to create Yoga Journal. “We were a bunch of kids figuring it out, and we had our hands in multiple ventures at once in those days,” says Judith Hanson Lasater, international yoga teacher and cofounder of Yoga Journal. “The Feathered Pipe Ranch, Holistic Life Foundation and Yoga Journal formed a tripod, a three-legged stool of sorts. All helping each other to raise awareness for yoga and increase access to the teachings that we believed in and benefited from.”

Originally known for being “the hippies at the end of the Gulch,” India Supera and the Feathered Pipe Ranch family have built the center into a one-of-a-kind destination, dedicated to preserving the essence of yoga as a lifestyle and way of being. “When many other places have given in to the diffusion of yoga, the Ranch is dedicated to the traditional pillars of service, devotion and ceremony,” says Lasater. “After 44 years, it’s still one of my favorite places on Earth to teach—and to exist as a human being.”

A Final Acceptance

India and I talked for over an hour, resting between answers and allowing her time to sip her fresh-pressed green juice. Her lips turned upward in a childlike grin when I asked her to reflect on how far the Ranch had come since the original vision: “As silly as it sounds, I do believe the Feathered Pipe Ranch has changed the world,” she says. “We were at the beginning of a big paradigm shift in America, and although I pictured it to be more extreme—like the Earth splitting on its axis and everyone valiantly choosing peace—I look back and know this place has been at the center of a lot of healing.”

She adds that change doesn’t always have to be so loud, a sentiment distant from the intensity of her early life, yet a natural progression that’s stemmed from years of watching transformation occur softly every summer in Montana. “People come here and they lie on the lawn, canoe in the lake, participate in sweat lodges, laugh and eat good food—and find a place where they can be themselves, just like I was looking for all those years ago. That alone changes a person.”

Reflecting on her life, Supera tells me she can’t think of a single thing she’d do differently. “I have sheer gratitude for everyone I know—them knowing me and me knowing them. Gratitude to everyone along the way who helped me fulfill this vision. There are no mistakes; it’s really just one big love fest.”

India Supera

India Supera, Founder, Feathered Pipe Ranch: September 4, 1946 – October 29, 2019

Andy Vantrease

Andy Vantrease is a writer, wanderer and holistic health enthusiast. She is currently traveling throughout the Western United States, deepening her connection with the earth through simple living, spiritual practice and play. Follow her adventures on Instagram: @andy.vand

The post Remembering a Global Visionary: India Supera appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Life-Changing Experiences

A few months ago, I was telling a friend about the revelations I had during my yoga teacher training. Moving through trauma in my body, breaking habitual patterns of the mind, realizing the complexity of dis-ease and reclaiming my voice–to name a few. I found myself, in the end, describing the experience as “life-changing,” coating the phrase in disclaimers before I uttered it.

“I know this sounds cliché,” I said as I held my breath, hoping he didn’t think I was melodramatic or trying to be trendy. The word “life-changing” has become so diluted.

His response startled me. “That’s amazing! Yes, despite what we’re taught to believe, we can, in fact, have transformative experiences on a regular basis.” He might as well have said, “DUH! Welcome to the world.”

Conscious Impact and Sustainable Development in Nepal

This was a conversation with Jonathan Lee, longtime volunteer and media coordinator extraordinaire at Conscious Impact. Conscious Impact is a 501(c)(3) dedicated to sustainable development in Sindhupalchok, Nepal. And it is where I was heading just a month following my training.

This conversation was before we had even met in person, when we were connected only through the social sphere prior to my arrival at camp. His words woke me up, not only because he was so nonchalant with something I was hesitant to share so early in a friendship, but because I knew it meant he had experienced life to be that same kind of magic. The kind that inspires people to live with more intention and purpose, knowing we’re all interconnected.

When I finally arrived in Takure, it was apparent that many of his experiences of magic and wonder occurred while volunteering here with Conscious Impact.

Having just completed my yoga training and a two-week trek in the Annapurna Region of the Himalayas, my heart was ripe for the picking. As volunteers, we lived in tents and enjoyed a simple lifestyle that invited the body’s natural rhythms to be the primary way-finders. Living close to the Earth in these mountains, I developed an intimate relationship with humility.

Nature, Mercy, and Nepal

Mother Nature has no mercy here—until she does. The mountains harbor raw power, breaking you down with unrelenting rain, leeches, fog so thick you can scoop it into your hands like cotton candy. Then, when your tears suggest you can’t handle another day, the clouds clear, the sun rises over the snowcapped peaks to caress your face and warm your drenched clothing. And all at once, you are overcome with gratitude for such generosity. An outpouring of love that you accept with your head leaned back, eyes closed and heart open.

I had several of these experiences in Nepal, overcome with the feeling that I am the only one, right here and now, living this exact life. How special I am to witness the way the water flows over the rocks like a well-fitted wedding gown or to watch that particular bee sucking nectar from the yellow wildflower at my feet. How Divine the timing of it all. How quickly it came and went and will come again in a different way, for another unique witness. How easy it was to see the impermanence of life here—emotions, weather, thoughts, relationships, breath—fluid and cyclic.

Yoga, Service, and the Earth

Waking up to the sound of insects and birds as the light shines through my mesh window, I’m greeted with another day of fresh, damp morning air. I get dressed and walk up to the yoga terrace to see five fellow volunteers on their mats, awaiting my cues for a morning asana. After practice, my team cooks breakfast. Local potatoes and eggs seasoned with herbs, garlic, and onions from nearby farms.

We receive a milk delivery from Nayaran Mama, who lives five minutes up the road. I spend the morning transplanting oregano, spinach, broccoli, and other vegetables in the greenhouse. They are crops that will eventually be harvested and eaten by hungry, hardworking volunteers. In the afternoon, we plant moringa trees on the terrace below New Camp, to introduce diverse nutrients to the soil and help stabilize the land as the roots dig deeper into the Earth.

In time, when Mother Nature has nurtured the trees with sunshine, water and air, volunteers will enjoy the edible leaves that provide energy to our bodies. Locals may become interested in growing and eating them too, as they’re a new species to this area.

The Lessons from Volunteering with Conscious Impact

Volunteering with Conscious Impact, I was reunited with the land in a way that felt much like a homecoming. I felt sexiest with my bare feet in the earth, dirt lining the underside of my fingernails and toenails. The agriculture and natural building work, my little orange tent, the moon ceremonies, the yoga and meditation, the cooking. I witnessed true symbiosis in action here, learned the balance of give and take, and was reminded that my actions—and inactions—have ripple effects.

Every one of CI’s projects, whether it’s rebuilding, agriculture, or youth empowerment, is viewed from all angles. The idea is to respect the complexity of the current cultural, environmental, and societal circumstances before determining the best way to proceed. The projects are thoughtful and rooted in reverence for the land and all its inhabitants.

Is it the quickest way to work? No.

Is it dedicated to the longevity and growth of the community, the earth and the individuals that make up both? Yes.

This organization, with its “build your own adventure” and “show up as you are” mentality brought me back to my self. It allowed me the time and space to reignite my curiosity and take a deeper look into my role in this world. And how I’ll use my particular skills and gifts to make a difference in the lives of others as well as help reinvigorate the health of this planet we call home.

Learn more About Conscious Impact

Conscious Impact is the embodiment of yoga—on and off the mat. To volunteer with Conscious Impact, visit consciousimpact.org.

Andy Vantrease

Andy Vantrease is a writer, wanderer and holistic health enthusiast. She is currently traveling throughout the Western United States, deepening her connection with the earth through simple living, spiritual practice and play. Follow her adventures on Instagram: @andy.vand

The post Conscious Impact: Living Yoga in Nepal appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Rebecca Smith photographed by Jessica Serra Huizenga at The Confetti Bar.

As an Army medic, Sara Limb was in constant rotation between training in Korea and combat in Iraq. This resulted in four years of sleepless nights and a schedule that no human can withstand for long – at least not without a practice. “When I saw that my comrades were falling apart mentally, I started to share my personal yoga practice with my unit,” says Limb. “I led Yoga Nidra, deep pranayama breathwork, and one-on-one therapy sessions for injured soldiers who couldn’t go into the field or go home.” Limb now lives and works in Huntington, West Virginia. She is a full-time yoga teacher and advocate for Veterans Yoga Project (VYP).

Veterans Yoga Project

Veterans Yoga Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of military veterans through Mindful Resilience Training. These are programs developed specifically to undo the nervous system dysfunctions that underlie Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The protocols include focusing on breath, meditation, mindful movement, guided rest, and gratitude.

VYP trains instructors on how to teach yoga safely and effectively to veterans and active-duty members of the military in clinical settings, yoga studios, VA centers, and in individual therapy sessions. The organization also hosts free healing retreats for veterans and their families at The Feathered Pipe Ranch in Helena, Montana every summer.

“There has been an incredible increase in awareness about how these practices help support the transition from post-traumatic stress to post-traumatic growth,” says Dr. Daniel Libby, a clinical psychologist and Executive Director of VYP. “In July, 2017, we reported 103 yoga programs taught by VYP-trained teachers. These teachers are reaching active duty service members, veterans, families, and even mental health staff. We are constantly working to spread the word that these techniques truly help.”

Veterans Gratitude Week

Veterans Gratitude Week is the VYP’s largest event. In 2019, it is held November 8-18. The initiative involves encouraging yoga teachers around the country to host donation-based yoga and meditation classes or to donate the proceeds from their weekly classes to the cause. In 2016, instructors held 425 classes across 46 states for Veterans Gratitude Week. In 2017, their goal was to raise $85,000 for VYP programs, with groups committed to holding more than 500 donation-based classes across all 50 states.

“Veterans Gratitude Week allows communities to come together to support the men and women who protect and serve our country,” says Libby. “We want as many yoga teachers as possible to get involved through donation-based classes, fundraising through their studios, and spreading awareness in their communities. All proceeds go directly toward our programs with veterans and training more teachers in trauma-based Mindful Resilience so they can pass it on.”

Veterans Yoga Success Stories

The Veterans Yoga Project directly impacts people. For example, Larry Kofler has benefitted firsthand from the organization’s mission. Kofler served in the Army in the late 1960s, and came to yoga through the Northport, New York, VA Medical Center, where he has been attending classes for almost two years. He has seen dramatic improvements in his physical health, anxiety and sense of community. “After being a couch potato for years, I now walk between four and five miles every day. The breathing exercises have improved my lung function, according to tests from my pulmonologist,” says Kofler. “The meditation helps me cope, and the camaraderie of the other vets in all age groups has been great.”

Christian Allaire’s Veterans Yoga Story

VYP board member and yoga instructor Christian Allaire spent 20 years in the US Coast Guard. He was searching for his place in the civilian world when a friend brought him to his first yoga class. “Once I stepped into a power yoga studio, I found my new community,” Allaire says. “It made sense to me. There was a routine, a start and end time, a leader, and it was a system that took into account the whole person.”

Allaire raised nearly $10,000 during Veterans Gratitude Week in 2016. He began his efforts in June and educated students at his studio in Marin County, California, on the challenges of military service. “There were not many veterans in my local community. So when I began to raise awareness to the civilians that I teach, they really showed up through donations, volunteer time and fundraising ideas,” Allaire recalls. “I put a fish bowl in the studio asking people to donate if they weren’t going to be able to attend classes during Gratitude Week. The bowl filled up again and again.”

Yoga as a Transformative Practice

Veterans in the VYP programs report that they sleep better and they are able to concentrate and think more clearly. Veterans practicing yoga say that they are also able to more effectively manage anger and aggression and generally find comfort in their own skin. Allaire says, “Yoga is a transformative practice, and I believe that it’s a complete system for leadership.” He also mentions that he is now pursuing a Master’s Degree in Yoga Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. This is the only school in the United States — and one of three in the world — to offer this program. “The military never taught us about breathing, mental fitness, or diet to help the mind and the body function properly. I wish I knew about yoga when I was on active duty, that’s for sure.”

Get involved in the Veterans Yoga Project

To get involved, visit veteransyogaproject.org/veterans-gratitude-week.

Andy Vantrease

Andy Vantrease is a writer, wanderer and holistic health enthusiast. She is currently traveling throughout the Western United States, deepening her connection with the earth through simple living, spiritual practice and play. Follow her adventures on Instagram: @andy.vand

The post Veterans Yoga Project Approaches PTSD with Mindful Resilience appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

This was my first retreat and I put a lot of work into it.  But I had powerful assistance from this land. It created the space for transformation and truly aided in the experience.

For thousands of years, people have traveled to global power spots like Machu Picchu and the Egyptian pyramids to investigate the mysterious energy of lands said to help heal the body, increase creativity and awaken the soul’s purpose. For those looking to visit a domestic destination of equal transformative potential, The Feathered Pipe Ranch in Helena, Montana, is one of these sacred sites, and just so happens to host some of the best yoga retreats in the country.

Feathered Pipe Ranch in the Rocky Mountains

Surrounded by more than 100,000 acres of natural forest, the Feathered Pipe Ranch sits in a valley on the Eastern side of the continental divide, an energy vortex nestled tightly within the Rocky Mountains. With untouched wilderness and abundant wildlife, spring water flowing from every faucet and clean, crisp air, natural order is protected at the Ranch.

“People of all walks of life have been making pilgrimage to this spot since the 1970s to experience the power of the land and the nature,” says India Supera, Founder and Executive Director of the Feathered Pipe Ranch. “Montana connects heaven with earth, and we attract the greatest teachers and guides.”

Teachers at Feathered Pipe

Many of today’s foremost voices on yoga, meditation, wellness, and health have come through the doors at the Ranch: Joseph Campbell, Seane Corn, Dr. Andrew Weil, Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen, Rodney Yee, Patricia Walden, Erich Schiffmann and Judith Hanson Lasater, to name a few.

One of the newest additions to the Ranch family is J. Brown, a yoga instructor, writer and founder of Abyhasa Yoga Center in Brooklyn, NY. As a city boy, Brown admittedly wasn’t sure what to expect for his first retreat, yet signs continued to confirm the calling to Montana. “I was doing a podcast with Erich Schiffmann and mentioned to him that I had been contacted by the Feathered Pipe Ranch,” says Brown. “He basically said – ‘You have to go. Don’t ask questions, just go’.”

Brown quickly understood Schiffmann’s advocacy. “When I arrived, it felt like my body began operating on a totally different frequency than what I’m used to in New York City,” Brown says. “It is so remote, away from everything – even the definitions of who and what I am.”

J Brown: Gentle is the New Advanced

Brown’s non-dualistic approach is revolutionary and refreshing on the modern yoga scene. His mission is to transform the mindsets of his students, or friends, as he refers to those who attend his classes. Brown begins his ‘Gentle is the New Advanced’ program with the history and philosophy of yoga to supply context for practice then introduces attention to the breath, the most tangible source of life. Asana postures are at the bottom of the to-do list, creating a space free of competition and physical expectations. The goal of his teachings? To be gentle, find balance and joy, and learn to set healthy boundaries and stay within them.

“Everything about our world encourages us to strive for more, to progress and push ourselves past our edges to attain some unknown thing,” says Brown. “If we take a step back and see that we are all mystical beings on this earth, surrounded by infinite space, we don’t need liberation, enlightenment or to be realized. We are whole, and yoga can help us to live that and be okay in our lives.”

Brown begins the dialogue by sharing his own story, offering a transparency and trust that trickles into every discussion thereafter. “I was 16 years old, standing in a hospital room where my mother had been for months, battling terminal leukemia. Until then, I had not been emotionally capable of seeing her this way, but was forced to go because they thought she might not make it through the night. My mother and sister were panicked and hysterical, and I suddenly had a moment of clarity and calmness, a sentiment that I had never felt before as a hyperactive and scattered kid. I grabbed my mother by the gown and locked eyes with her. I said, ‘Mom, I love you very much and I’m going to do great things in my life and make you proud of me.’ Then I walked out, and it was the last time I saw her.”

In the years following, Brown moved from LA to New York and graduated with a Fine Arts degree from NYU. He fell into a state of disillusionment and despair, searching for the poise and soberness he had felt at his mother’s bedside. “I hit a very low point and the only two things that made me feel slightly better were yoga and bass guitar,” says Brown. “I dove into them obsessively because they were preventing me from ending my life, and I couldn’t break the promise to my mom.”

Brown practiced and taught Ashtanga and Iyengar Yoga for years, yet he was in chronic pain, still grieving his mom’s death and was, by all accounts, miserable. “If this is how I feel as a yoga teacher, how was I supposed to help anyone?” he recalls thinking.

On the cusp of quitting yoga, Brown traveled to India, where he found a rare and special teacher in Swami P. Saraswati, and through many meetings learned that yoga practice is not a linear progression towards achieving certain poses, but rather a process of learning how to take care of oneself as a whole. “Swami had me do simple wrist rolls then stopped and asked me how I felt,” says Brown. “Each time I would wax poetic about anatomy and expect more challenging poses (that never came). On the third day, we did the same thing and upon being asked how I felt, I blurted out, ‘I have no idea!’ Swami smiled widely, and it dawned on me that the poses didn’t really matter. Up until that moment, I hadn’t associated yoga with my emotional being at all. I was so disconnected from it.”

Brown ultimately found his way to an entirely therapeutic orientation in the tradition of TKV Desikachar and T Krishnamacharya, and currently studies with Mark Whitwell, Leslie Kaminoff, Amy Matthews and Gary Kraftsow. “By simplifying, slowing and centering my practice on breath, I was able to cultivate a more measured and patient mode of engagement and a different context for my practice where I was no longer trying to transcend my difficulties but rather learning how to ease them and just enjoy the fact that I am here,” Brown says.

The Experience at Feathered Pipe

Enjoying life isn’t hard to do at The Feathered Pipe Ranch. Prayer flags – some bright and crisp, others faded and wind-ripped – wave between the ponderosa pines at the Stupa that overlooks the lake. A resident rabbit – aptly named ‘Buddha Bunny’ – inhabits the rocks and watches over morning meditations and quiet contemplations. Tents, cabins, tipis, and yurts dot the mountain terrain and are connected by easy foot trails and solar lamps.

The Ranch hosts one retreat per week in the summer months, creating intimate and heartfelt connection with plenty of down time to canoe, hike, nap and hear stories from long-time staff members – tales that shift the most skeptical minds to believe in divine intervention.

Anne-Marie Corley, a yoga teacher, writer and veteran of the United States Air Force, describes her time at the Ranch as a huge sigh of relief. “This week gave me permission to relax, to not need to do anything but be alive, because I am whole, and I just needed to see it,” Corley says. “Having come with a fair amount of distress, I felt really held by the entire group, by the retreat space, by the incredibly nourishing meals and by J.’s philosophy of breathing and moving to get us into our lives, not doing so to escape them. It was just all so beautifully woven together.”

Creating space for guests to have their own experiences goes far beyond the idea that there is one correct way to do things. Brown actively encourages students to incorporate props when necessary, modify poses and even change the shape of or avoid certain poses altogether. “We’re looking for a balance point rather than a maximum,” says Brown. “If you can’t have facility of breath with the movement you’re doing, ease up. This may not make for the best Instagram photo, but it’s safe, strengthening and functional.”

Zane Williams, a photographer who has been visiting and working with the Feathered Pipe Ranch for 25 years, gravitated to Brown’s teachings immediately. “I knew after the first morning class that J. was unlike any other teacher I have had in my 35-plus years of yoga,” Williams admits. “Breath was the work of the practice, the teacher-student relationship entered a new post-lineage time, and seeking or striving for ‘advanced’ poses would be placed on an ‘only-if-joyful’ basis. J. teaches yoga that is about self-discovery and developing a truly personal (home) practice.”

By the end of the week, Williams recognized that moving forward, his yoga will no longer be primarily a pursuit of form, but a practice centered around breath facility, with form following. “This was beyond any expectation I had going into the retreat,” Williams says. “Everything will be different now.”

Brown describes his own recent transition, moving from New York City to Easton, PA and preparing to close his Brooklyn yoga studio after 10 years. His personal practice continues to evolve and with it, his approach to teaching. “As a teacher, I get to witness others as they reconcile their situations and come to reverence for life’s majesty,” Brown says. “Playing some role in facilitating people discovering yoga and health reaffirms everything I hold dear.”

The author at sunset.

Neil Boyd, Vice President of the Feathered Pipe Foundation, says, “Once you’ve been to the Feathered Pipe, you’re family.” In alignment with this accolade, Brown has scheduled his retreat for 2018 and plans to return with his wife and two daughters, to share in the magic, and to hold space for old and new friends with nurturing intimacy, humor and individual care.  “This was my first retreat and I put a lot of work into it,” says Brown. “But I had powerful assistance from this land. It created the space for transformation and truly aided in the experience.”

Images courtesy of Zane Williams

Andy Vantrease

Andy Vantrease is a writer, wanderer and holistic health enthusiast. She is currently traveling throughout the Western United States, deepening her connection with the earth through simple living, spiritual practice and play. Follow her adventures on Instagram: @andy.vand

The post Finding Balance and Joy at The Feathered Pipe Ranch appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.