The documentary film One Child Nation tells a personal story, yet also sounds a universal warning. It recounts a very recent (in our lifetime), modern tale of how a dictatorial country can set policy that, even though inhumane, is obeyed by the masses. Those same people also suffer the consequences.

What the policy was, when

The subject of the documentary is the Chinese One-Child Policy, a birth planning program launched in 1979. That policy was written into China’s constitution in 1982. Recently, after 35 years, the country expanded to a Two-Child Policy despite declaring that “the one-child policy has made the country more powerful, the people more prosperous and the world more peaceful.”

The filmmakers of One Child Nation (including director and producers Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang) were all born in China under this program, and they uncover how Chinese officials convinced/coerced families in small villages to give up their reproductive rights. Nanfu Wang, a 32-year-old first-time mother now living in the US, goes on camera to ask relatives, neighbors, family planning officials, doctors, and human traffickers how this restrictive policy was possibly enforced.

Dramatic stories

Throughout the policy era, propaganda touting either the beauty of having just one child or conversely the punishments for more than one child (fines, losing your home, and your child) were blended into background of life in China. It eerily alternated between threats and beautiful art, both styles reflected in billboards, textbooks, opera, folk dance, theatrical performances, children songs, and TV ads. Nanfu even unquestioningly participated in such folk dances as she was growing up. Although this propaganda was omnipresent, nonetheless, second children and unwanted daughters were still conceived. Tens of thousands, if not more, sterilizations and abortions were performed — often by force.

Nanfu interviews one elderly midwife who had performed sterilizations and abortions in accordance with the policy, executing these orders for 27 years. Today, out of guilt, she only treats infertility with the hope of creating a new life to reverse each of the 50,000 killings she performed.

Chinese culture has a strong preference for male offspring. Since no ultrasounds were used during the period to determine the sex, baby girls were born and abandoned to die. Nanfu’s own mother, whose name means “bringing brother soon,” helped her own younger brother discard his baby daughter in basket with $20 with the hopes that someone would take her. The family checked on the little infant, but she died in the market days later. Nanfu’s mother recalls this story quite matter-of-factly, although Nanfu’s uncle tears up, remarking how his daughter would be 27 or 28 now.

Consequences

Footage from 2002 shows the government recognizing family planning officials with pompous awards and reporting on state TV that the One-Child Policy had “prevented 338 million births.” And, the policy went on for another 13 years. The general consensus of the villagers in the film was that the program was good for the country.

China began allowing overseas adoptions in 1992, with at least 130,000 babies adopted overseas during the policy. That opportunity led to nationwide fraud and corruption, with many “overquota children” being kidnapped and sold to orphanages. Many of the adopted girls were not orphans at all. Nanfu follows the efforts of an American family trying to identify the Chinese families of their adopted daughters, as well as setting up a nonprofit to help other families in the same situation.

Resignation

The midwife that was interviewed rationalized that when she aborted full-term living fetuses, “I had to put national interest above my personal feelings.” Watching the film, it is all too hard to comprehend. Nanfu comments on the irony of growing up in China where abortions were forced and then moving to the US where abortions are restricted. “Both are taking away woman’s control of their own bodies.”

A specific story is a warning tale for a controlling government

The One-Child Policy resulted in too few young people to care for the elderly. Since 2015, China’s new policy has been “two children is just right.” All evidence of the old policy is being erased, replaced by Two-Child Policy messaging. If the memory of the recent past fades, the only thing left will be today’s propaganda, and no lessons will be learned. That’s why we need films like One Child Nation, so the past is not forgotten.

This restrained and subtle film won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Documentary. One Child Nation is available to stream on Amazon.

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post One Child Nation Film Review appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Imelda Marcos in Manila and Ilocos Norte in a still from The Kingmaker. Photo by Lauren Greenfield.

Greed. International Real Estate. Presidency. Abuse of Power. Family Legacy. Stylish Fashion.

Does any of this sound familiar? The family name I’m referencing is Marcos, not Trump. The country is the Philippines, not the USA. The notorious first lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos ran an authoritarian kleptocracy along with her husband Ferdinand Marcos for 20 years. They were ousted and exiled by an uprising in 1986. Imelda is still alive today, unrepentant, and back influencing Philippine politics at her current age of 90. And she is planting the seeds for a future Marcos ruling family. Alarm bells should be ringing.

Lauren Greenfield’s documentary The Kingmaker is a deceptive portrayal of the elderly Imelda, as she relates her life story in interviews. The filmmaker contrasts Imelda’s recounting of her life as savior and victim with video, photographic, and newsprint evidence which frequently contradict Imelda’s account. You can expect to be blown away by the societal portent of this movie if you’re familiar with Lauren’s previous body of work. Her decades-long interest in photographing excessive examples of wealth and consumerism has resulted in documentary films, TV shows, and books — most notably the award-winning docs The Queen of Versailles, Generation Wealth, and Thin.

Who is Imelda Marcos? Her public profile is of a beauty queen, an elegant and mega wealthy first lady of international renown, a notorious shoe hoarder, and a shamed wife of a disposed dictator who was run out of his own country. Although democratically elected, the Marcos carried themselves as King and Queen, eventually imposing violent martial law on their county and absconding with the nation’s wealth. They sheltered a purported $10 billion, embezzled from their country and invested in numerous Manhattan high rises, original masterpiece works of art, and at least 170 bank accounts. At the same time, the beautiful and fashionable Imelda paraded around the globe, meeting with all of the top world leaders.

The first half of the film lets Imelda tell her well-rehearsed version of her public-facing profile through on-camera interviews. Although in her late 80s at the time, Imelda may have slowed down, but her deviousness shines through. Her adamant self-glorifying, self-sacrificing version of her legacy is repeatedly debunked. The film even uses the interview space in her home as film verite, allowing Imelda’s presentation of herself surrounded by priceless works of art to leave room for interpretation without comment.

The Kingmaker is full of visual evidence of the Marcos’ excess spending and abuse of wealth. One dramatic example is a safari park she and President Marcos created by importing 104 African animals to the island of Calauit, evicting the population to make room for the animals. In the decades since the fall of the Marcos regime, the animals have survived on this neglected island and have suffered terrible physical manifestations from generations of inbreeding (such as giraffes with weak necks).

Since the Marcos’ exile in 1986, the democratic government has only been successful in repatriating a billion or so dollars from the couple’s widespread investments. Imelda pleads innocent of any knowledge of her hidden riches, portraying herself as a victim and sacrificing mother to her nation. “I want to be mother of not only the Philippines, but of the world. No one can stop me,” she says pursing her lips. She proudly hands out single bills of cash to street beggars and hospitalized children without any sense of irony.

Imelda Marcos in a still from The Kingmaker. Photo by Lauren Greenfield.

Yet, Imelda is an enduring fox. The second half of The Kingmaker covers Imelda’s return from exile and her ability to mount a surprising political comeback. Despite her troubled past, Imelda has been able to get herself, her son, daughter, and extended family elected into political positions in the Philippines. It appears she also financed the sudden rise of strongman Rodrigo Duterte to president in 2016, with the expectation that he will soon anoint her son Bongbong as the Vice President (by arresting the current VP). The Marcos family may rule again with a second act. If you learn anything from The Kingmaker, it is to stay tuned.

The Kingmaker opens theatrically on November 8.

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post The Kingmaker: Lauren Greenfield Documents Imelda Marcos’ Comeback appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Documentarian Matthew Diretta turned his camera to the streets in Disco’d

Living in Los Angeles, it’s easy to look away when passing a homeless person. Which is what happens every time I leave my home near Venice. The scope of the problem, the reality of the harshness, the causes, the solutions are all so daunting. It seems easiest just to avert our attention. We may want to feign ignorance, but 60,000 people are navigating life on the streets of Los Angeles on any given day.

First-time director Matthew Siretta did just the opposite of look away. After using his camera to capture street after street lined by blue tents, Matthew got unflinchingly up close to see and listen to a dozen denizens of the Skid Row and Hollywood encampments. The result is the intimate documentary Disco’d, a visceral portrayal of downtrodden life on the streets. In this film, you can envision urban tent life without suffering the smells, the highs, the pains, the danger, the cold, the drug deals, or the daily search for the human necessities of water, food, and a place to relieve waste.

According to the Urban Dictionary, “To be disco’d is to be discombobulated to the upmost capacity. To be completely thrown off, having no idea what the hell is going on around.” The men in the film frequently get disco’d, as they matter-of-factly state. They lose track of their possessions. The contents of their tents get strewn about the street. They get scammed in drug deals “trickery.” Most of this confusion appears from being too stoned on whatever they smoke or inject. In one lamentable scene, the elderly stooped Lou talks of hope for a new liver as he smokes a bowl of heroin or crack.

Grandmotherly Julie is the most relatable. A jovial yet hardened and raspy-voiced poet, she lucidly reads from her notebook, “Feelings of melancholy, some kind of voodoo the streets, each place a haven to sleep or not to sleep.” When Julie is gifted a hundred dollars by a stranger during the holidays, she goes to a drugstore to buy cleaning products, a wreath, and a battery-operated lighted Christmas tree to brighten up her tent, as well as a knife to protect herself. People want to help her. But Julie’s experience of both moving into miserable subsidized housing and her subsequent decision to move back to the streets are equally frustrating to witness.

Most of the film is shot in the dead of night, creating focused personal connections with the subjects. Looming over their lives are posted LA Sanitation notices that warn of an upcoming city sweep of the sidewalks to dispose of all loose possessions and disinfect the streets. The film ends with the sweep. The residents must take all of their belongings off the block for this time period, as clawed sanitation trucks scoop up anything left behind. You dread how much work this entails and realize how hard it is to do so in their otherly, disoriented, disco’d world. Right on our very streets.

Disco’d is screening at the Downtown Independent beginning on November 8.

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post In Disco’d, Matthew Siretta documents people living on the streets appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

It might as well be reaching the summit of Everest, that’s how far-fetched running a marathon is for Brittany at the beginning of Brittany Runs a Marathon. At 27, she is lost in her dingy Queens lifestyle, with a part-time job she won’t take seriously, regular partying, and generally self-destructive behavior. Who hasn’t felt lost at the beginning of adulthood?

Running for Transformation in Brittany Runs a Marathon

This heartfelt dramedy depicts Brittany’s personal journey and is written by first-time director Paul Downs Colaizzo, who comes from a theater background. The story was inspired by his best friend Brittany’s personal struggles. The resulting film, Brittany Runs a Marathon, is inspirational yet modest — like Brittany herself. She is a relatable underdog, a misfit of a young woman who finds transformation after hitting a personal rock bottom. The character is portrayed with verisimilitude by actor Jillian Bell, an Emmy-nominated SNL writer with a long resume of supporting TV and movie roles. Garnering a lot of positive street buzz, this Sundance Film Festival entry sold during the festival earlier this year for a whopping $14 million to Amazon Studios.

The film begins with a snore, setting the tone for presenting uncomfortable personal and body issues. Brittany is not committed to her theater lobby job — she is underemployed and has a generally lackluster approach to life. When trying to score Adderall from a doctor, she is painfully informed that she is obese. This left hook throws Brittany for a loop. As her life seems to fall apart, a sympathetic neighbor knocks on the door. The neighbor Catherine (Michaela Watkins), a divorced artist, is not unfamiliar to pain. An avid runner, she suggests Brittany join her running group.

The Camaraderie of Running in Converses

After resisting for quite a while, Brittany eventually convinces herself to go for a run. In a realistic scene, she puts on two bras and ratty Converse shoes and has to encourage herself to just get to the end of the block. This minor effort exhausts Brittany, yet becomes her first Mount Everest. Eventually she does join her neighbor’s running group, where Brittany meets another novice runner who becomes her motivating sidekick. During runs, Catherine slows down to accompany the slower runners and enjoy their goofy company. We, too, are distracted by the wack-pack camaraderie and don’t even recognize how fit the runners are becoming.

Running the NYC Marathon

After all the fits and starts, it takes Brittany a couple of years to win a lottery space for the New York City Marathon. When it finally happens, you feel like a co-participant since Brittany’s running scenes were shot during the actual live event. During this period, she also grows in her personal life. She stops partying, pulls away from her toxic roommate, and slowly builds self-respect. Comedic turns come from her relationship with man-child Jern, played by Utkarsh Ambudkar (The Mindy Project). The quirky couple has a low-simmer friendship that sweetly and awkwardly develops into something more. Brittany is also supported by her older, paternalistic brother-in-law played by comedian Lil Rel Howery. His character is one we don’t often see onscreen: a sympathetic father substitute.

Director/writer Paul Downs Colaizzo poignantly captures a female millennial voice and point-of-view. “My concept for the film was to take a stock character from big American comedies – the ‘hot mess,’ the ‘fat sidekick’ —and turn the camera squarely in her direction. What’s her human story? What does she struggle with? And how is her story everyone’s story?” He accomplishes this as Brittany Runs a Marathon makes you consider the personal marathon that you can conquer.

See Brittany Runs a Marathon

Brittany Runs a Marathon Opens in Theaters on August 23. #RunBrittanyRun Visit the website for more details: www.brittanyrunsamarathon.movie

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post Brittany Runs a Marathon appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Honeyland offers no explanations, a story simply just unfolds. This documentary begins with a woman’s pilgrimage in an arid high desert mountains supported by unusual harmonic music. Is this modern day or an ancient time period? It is a doc, so it must be recent. And, where in the world are we? It turns out that we are following an isolated Balkan villager who collects honeycombs from her secret beehives tucked in mountainous rock and hidden in the walls of stone ruins. With her bare hands, she pulls juicy honeycombs out of the cacophonous hives. But she only ever takes half of the honey at any time.

Hatidze tenderly takes bees and honey back home, chanting and releasing the bees on the way to her mud-and-stone hut in an abandoned village. Caring for her ailing deaf mother, Hatidze is clearly loving and generous, yet sadly she appears as abandoned as the ruins she lives amongst. Her teeth are terribly misshapen, she longs for a husband, her aging mother has no health care, and their diet seems very limited –relying heavily on honeycomb.

This quietude of Hatidze’s foothill village, populated by this one industrious beekeeper and her bedridden mother, is punctuated when a nomadic family moves into the ruins next door. They show up with six children and a herd of cattle. You watch this inexperienced family attempt to cattle farm and harvest honey like Hatidze. They shortly learn what happens if you don’t respect Hatidze’s survival rule for the bees of taking only half of the honey; instead, they retrieve most of it from their bee racks. The family’s attempt to rush to market ends up killing many cows and most of the bees. They inadvertently create devastating results, and before winter, the family packs up and is gone. Only Hatidze is left to weather the harsh winter season.

The stoic beauty of Honeyland is filled with wonderful contrasts. Bright, wide daylight landscapes contrast with golden ambient candlelit or stove-lit interior closeups. The intimate family life moments are not easily forgotten. Hatidze’s primitive and isolated lifestyle among ruins with no running water or electricity is contrasted by incidental reminders of nearby modern life: a bus ride to the bustling city to sell honey, airplanes flying overhead, a cell phone video taken at the local festival. And, strikingly, Hatidze’s stoic respect for the bees is contrasted with the family’s vulgar and frenetic attempts at farming.

Directors Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov explain, “Hatidze’s story is a microcosm for a wider idea of how closely intertwined nature and humanity are, and how much we stand to lose if we ignore this fundamental connection.” They became interested in Hatidze’s story after noticing her secret bee holes during an environmental video shoot in their native country of Macedonia. Not understanding the ancient Turkish vernacular of the two villager families, they edited the entire film before a translation was done, thereby creating a very visual story.

Award-Winning Sundance Doc

With such stunning cinematography, it is hard to believe this film is a true story. No wonder Honeyland garnered three awards at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema Docs, the Cinematography Award for World Cinema Docs, and the Special Jury Prize for Impact & Change.

Honeyland Opens in Theaters

Opens in theaters July 26. Playing in LA at the Laemmle Royal. Learn more at: honeyland.earth

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post The award-winning documentary Honeyland shares insight into our relationship with nature appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Documentary Film Free Trip to Egypt’s producer and creator Tarek Mounib talks Transformation

Free Trip to Egypt Producer Tarek Mounib

Producer Tarek Mounib had what some people might consider an unusual dream or mission—to bring a group of Americans concerned about what they perceive as an Islamic threat—to meet actual Muslims in Egypt. The resulting adventure was captured on film for the documentary A Free Trip to Egypt. LA YOGA caught up with Producer Tarek Mounib to ask him some intriguing questions about the making of the doc and what experiences may not have been captured on film.

 

LA YOGA: What is your professional background? How much experience do you have with coordinating travel—and with documentary filmmaking?

Tarek: I own various companies, so people sometimes call me an entrepreneur. I have two software companies, one health center, and a couple other minor things. I didn’t have much experience with travel coordination, but one of my companies is a software offshoring company. We have European and American customers, and the software is developed in Egypt. I did, on multiple occasions, travel with European and American managers and brought them to Cairo. I showed them the company, but also showed them around Cairo. That gave me the confidence that I could bring people to Egypt; and I felt safe and comfortable doing that.

This is my first documentary film. The project inspired me–and I just had to do it. I think the skillset that I did bring is the same as with my previous projects and companies. I think I have developed the skillset where I can identify and attract top talent and good people, then bring them together for a common goal. That’s what really helped me in making this film.

LA YOGA: How did you find the Cairo hosts and how did you go about matching them with visitors?

Tarek: The whole process of finding the Cairo hosts was completely different than what we did for finding the Americans. When we were looking for Americans, we basically approached anybody and everybody, and we were fine with taking random people who were concerned and giving them this experience. On the other hand, with the Cairo hosts, we wanted to find people whom we could really trust, because the host had a very important responsibility–which was taking care of the Americans. This was a responsibility I took very seriously.

I only considered hosts that I personally knew, or if someone I personally knew, also knew them, so I could really be sure somebody I trusted could vouch for them. That’s why I was comfortable with all the hosts.

The other factor we were considered was diversity. We tried to reflect the diversity of Egypt in the hosts, especially the diversity of interpretations of Islam. I think Egypt is one of the countries that is diverse in terms of its interpretation of Islam.

You have people who are really secular, people who are really religious, and a variety of colors and shades in between. I was quite happy with the degree of diversity we managed to achieve with the hosts.

Pairing them up with the Americans was fun. It brought up for me the curiosity of a child: What would happen if you put this person with that person? I was curious whether the human connection would really give the magic to make people see beyond their differences.

For example, when Ellen was saying one of her worst fears was Muslim men, I thought to myself, “What would happen if we paired her up with an Egyptian Muslim revolutionary?”  I was curious what would happen there. Or when Jason and Jenna are talking about spreading the love of Jesus into the Middle East and baptizing Muslims, I thought, “What would happen if we paired them up with an Orthodox Muslim family? The man with the beard, and the woman covering her face. How would that unfold? Could they get along? Again, would the hearts connect and see beyond these differences? I was curious what would happen with all these pairings.

LA YOGA: How did you find the director, Ingrid? How was your working relationship?

Tarek: When I started the project, the first thing was trying to identify the people I was going to work with. And I tried to find really talented people. I started talking to film production companies here in Switzerland where I live. I found a lot of good companies, very professional, and I was happy with what I found. But I still didn’t feel that I found the right person. When I was going through that process, a friend of mine, who’s also a friend of Ingrid’s said, “You have to talk to Ingrid.” I said, “Okay, I’ll do that.”

Ingrid was in San Francisco at the time. I FaceTimed with her and her husband at the time Forest, who also came on board as a producer. He actually wrote the music for the film as well. He did an amazing job. Within the first five minutes I knew Ingrid and Forest were the right people for this film. They just got the soul of the project. They knew what it was all about.

And then as I studied Ingrid’s work and I spoke to her deeper, I realized that her whole goal and the whole reason why she’s a director is because she’s a storyteller, in the sense that she wants to showcase people’s humanity. She wants to bring out the true person on camera. That was exactly my goal. It really matched.

The working relationship was great. It was difficult at times because we both felt complete ownership of the project. it was important to me that the people on the team felt as much ownership as I did, but because of that there were different visions that we would argue about and different scenes we wanted to include. We managed to work it out.

What was really beautiful in the end was we were all happy with the resulting film. That made me feel good about the difficult process. We’re still very good friends. I think we must have done something right.

LA YOGA: How did you go about raising funding?

Tarek: I personally funded all of this through my companies since I was in a fortunate place where I didn’t have to look for external funding. I’m hoping maybe some of the money will go back to the companies, but we’ll see.

LA YOGA: What was the easiest part of this endeavor? And what was the most challenging?

Tarek: I don’t know if it was the easiest part, but the part I felt most grateful for was the talented people who joined. In addition to Ingrid and Forest, we were lucky with the people that just happened to be available. I had reached out to Kurt Engfehr, who was the co-producer and editor of Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11. We had a good discussion. This was before we even started filming, when I was just embarking on the project. He liked the idea. He thought it was cool, but you could tell he was also a bit skeptical about it actually working.

He recommended Pierre Haberer, who is also a topnotch editor with a wealth of experience and an editor for the Academy Award nominated film The Square. Pierre came onboard early and did an amazing job. Kurt was really excited and came onboard after we came back from Egypt and I told him that we actually did everything we said we were going to do (the five parallel camera crews and that we had footage).

Kurt and Pierre took over the editing. And then along with Ingrid and the others, we had a really amazing talented bunch of crew and filmmakers. And in Egypt, we had some amazing people who just happened to come onboard. It was really nice to see it being so fluid, having people jumping on with so much excitement.

There were different challenges in each phase of the project. In the beginning, the challenging part was actually finding Americans who would want to go to Egypt. I was surprised; I thought we’d have hundreds of people wanting to come, but it wasn’t that easy.

Sure, there were those that were concerned about their safety, but the biggest challenge was people who were worried about how they would be portrayed on camera. We would have some interesting people, but in the end, they would pull out just because they didn’t want risk looking bad. That was quite challenging.

Then there was the challenge of the trip as a whole: all the logistics of the parallel camera crews, the activities, and the coordinating. Sometimes we had 50, 60 people that we had to coordinate in the streets of Cairo.

After that, we had 250 hours of film footage that we wanted to get down to an hour and a half. That was another other set of challenges. Then, when we finished the film, who are we going to show it to? We were lucky enough to get into 500 theaters across the United States. That was exciting!

Now we have the challenge of filling those 500 theaters with 80,000 people. Each phase brings a new challenge.

LA YOGA: Were there any surprises or revelations not captured on camera?

Tarek: I think some of the details of the relationships between us weren’t completely captured on camera. But, I think the main essence was.

For example, when I visited Jason in Kentucky after the Egypt trip a few months later just to see how he was doing and how the trip affected him, there was a point in time where he just didn’t trust me all of a sudden. He didn’t want me filming in the church, and he didn’t really want to speak to me. Then, he was accusing me of things. I was really taken aback. It felt uncomfortable and we even had a bit of an argument.

I took him aside and asked, “What’s happening here?” I went out with him and Brian completely off camera, without crew or anybody, and got to the bottom of it. He opened up. I opened up. We connected. We built this new foundation of trust and became really close friends. It was a magical evening. At the end of the evening, we were walking in the streets of Louisville in the middle of the night, and this homeless person comes up to Jason. Jason’s kind with the guy and connects with him. I saw another side to Jason that I wasn’t able to see before that.

There are a few connections that weren’t completely captured, but I think the essence of what we all went through, and the magic that we all experienced was definitely captured in the end.

Free Trip to Egypt

Read LA YOGA‘s review of Free Trip to Egypt.

See Free Trip to Egypt in theaters.

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post What it Takes to Plan a Free Trip to Egypt appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Free Trip to Egypt Showcases a Path to Tolerance through Travel

The premise is intriguing. Invite a random selection of Americans who support the Muslim ban to an all-expenses-paid trip to Egypt. We all have heard that personal interactions will lessen the fear of strangers, and the documentary Free Trip to Egypt sets out to test this concept.

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post Lessons from a Free Trip to Egypt appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Have you ever dreamed of leaving the city and living off the land, growing your own crops and gathering your own eggs? John and Molly Chester had that fantasy when they lived in a Santa Monica apartment that boasted only a porch garden. Then they actually purchased a 200 acre orchard called Apricot Lane Farms. The acres are located in Moorpark, in Ventura County, a community of approximately 35,000 people one hour north of Santa Monica.

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post The Biggest Little Farm Documents the Inspiring Growth of Apricot Lane Farms appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Apollo 11 Delivers Viewers to the Moon

We have The Right Stuff, Apollo 13, Apollo 18, First Man, From the Earth to the Moon. Do we need another film about manned spacecraft missions? A resounding yes, it turns out. If the film is Apollo 11.

Apollo 11 is an astounding documentary. It is brilliant in its breathtaking simplicity, masterful editing, and tremendous sound design. The movie is compiled from lost high-resolution color film and uncatalogued audio recordings. These are synched together to create a chronological documentation of the 1969 mission to the Moon. The result encapsulates an experiential film. You feel as if you yourself are in Mission Control and then travel to the dark side of the Moon with Astronaut Michael Collins. 

Apollo 11 incorporates a trove of newly found footage that had been sitting in the National Archives for nearly 50 years.  It seems incredible that NASA filmed every step of the mission from so many angles with such high-definition cameras. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are credited as cinematographers, as you see their astronauts’ eye view captured from inside the spaceship.

Astonishing Never-Before-Seen Footage

Without any voiceover, the film provides a poetic visceral experience. Aside from matching up control room audio and astronaut voice recordings, the only narrative explanations in the doc are a few mind-blowing onscreen statistics (velocity, distance from earth, distance from moon). Very simple clear illustrations of the trajectory and various maneuvers complete the contextual supplements. 

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

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Sundance: Film’s Winter Wonderland

Amidst the snowy mountains and crisp air of Park City and surrounding towns in Utah, Sundance Film Festival brings throngs who support and admire independent filmmaking every Winter. The 2019 festival proved a banner year for female participation, diversity of subject matter, and sales of women-led films for distribution.

Inclusiveness at the Festival

One of the things that struck me about the 2019 festival was how it embraced inclusiveness in filmmaking. Of the 112 films selected, at least 40 percent were directed or co-directed by women, 36 percent by a person of color, and 13 percent by someone who identifies as LGBTQIA+.

This shift is in part due to the promotion of Kim Yutani from Senior Programmer to Director of Programming in 2018. She represents the first woman and first person of color to head programming at a major international film festival.

“There’s a shift happening, and we are not only part of it but we’re responsible for leading it,” Yutani said in Utah.

Female Directors Win Biggest Awards at Sundance 2019

The four Grand Jury Prizes were all awarded to films directed or co-directed by female filmmakers. Best U.S .Drama Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu), Best U.S. Documentary One Child Nation (Nanfu Wang), Best World Drama The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg), and Best World Doc Honeyland (Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov).

Actress Amy Ryan, Actress Mindy Kaling, and Director Nisha Ganatra at the Chase Sapphire hosted after party for Late Night at Chase Sapphire on Main at Sundance Film Festival 2019. Photo by Dan Steinberg/Invision for Chase Sapphire/AP Images

Popular Sundance Films Sold to Streaming Services

Amazon shelled out more than any other buyer at Sundance – much more than Netflix — by spending $41 million on just five films. They gambled big on Mindy Kaling’s workplace comedy Late Night directed by Nisha Ganatra, political investigative thriller The Report starring Adam Driver, Audience Award winner Brittany Runs a Marathon, US Documentary winner One Child Nation, and Shia LaBeouf’s childhood reenactment Honey Boy (my favorite of the festival).

With the expansion of online streaming services purchasing Sundance premiering films (Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, HBO and Apple), there is now a greater possibility to watch a wide scope of festival favorites at home. Quite a few of the purchased films will have theatrical distribution, so keep a lookout for Sundance films in the theater as well.

My Favorite Films at Sundance 2019

In my week in Park City, I saw 17 films. All were solid, but a few really stood out.

Honey Boy

One of my personal favorites was Shia LaBeouf’s semi-autobiographical Honey Boy. It is written by Shia and directed by Alma Har’el. Honey Boy tells Shia’s story of a child actor raised by a troubled father as they both demonstrate love for each other. Shia LaBeouf portrays his own father, while Lucas Hedges represents the movie star Shia, and Noah Jupe expertly plays the 12-year-old TV star Shia. Alma won the Special Jury Award for Vision and Craft for her powerful and yet delicate filmmaking.

Fighting with My Family

Fighting with My Family premiered at Sundance, although it was not in competition for awards. The Rock brings to light the true story of a British family who dreamed of participating in the WWE. Uplifting and kighthearted with a heart of gold at its core, the movie is directed by creator of the UK version of The Office Stephen Merchant.

Untitled Amazing Jonathan Documentary

Untitled Amazing Jonathan Documentary is a surprisingly hysterical low-budget doc about a retired Vegas magician (Amazing Jonathan) who announced five years ago that he had a year to live. Is his illness a ruse or is it real? Ben Berman tracks down Jonathan today and discovers that he is not the only one interested in Jonathan’s whereabouts. Reminiscent of 1986’s Sherman March, the director somehow becomes the subject of the film.

Apollo 11

Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller, is a brilliant documentary reconstruction of man’s mission to the Moon. It is put together from a newly discovered trove of unseen 65mm archival footage, and unheard audio recordings. We already have The Right Stuff, Apollo 13, Apollo 18, First Man, and From the Earth to the Moon. Do we need another film about manned spacecraft missions? A resounding yes, it turns out.

Brittany Runs a Marathon

Brittany Runs a Marathon by director and screenwriter Paul Downs Colaizzo is an inspiring comedy showcasing a woman living in New York City trying to reclaim her life one city block at a time. Starring Jillian Bell, this crowdpleaser won the Audience Award for the U.S. Dramatic Competition.

More Noteworthy Films

Other Sundance critic and crowd favorites include the following. Look for The Farewell (starring Awkwafina), The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Luce, and Blinded by the Light. Check out festival favorite Knock Down the House, a political documentary about the 2018 elections which sold to Netflix for $10 million.

Embody VR Experience

VR Experiences at Sundance

Several VR experiences at the New Frontier exhibition brought technology to the arts.

Embody by Melissa Painter, Thomas Wester, and Siân Slawson engages users with peaceful visualizations encouraging the viewer to try yoga poses and a deep physical sense of calm.

Aquarela, directed by Victor Kossakovsk, is a cinematic journey through the transformative beauty and raw power of water.

Runnin by lead artists Reggie Watts and Kiira Benzing offers an interactive dance experience. You are transported to a retro-future dance party where you can show off your moves alongside a troupe of dancers.

 

Yoga at V Suite

Sundance 2019 Wellness Lounges

From Friday to Sunday, there were three relaxing lounges providing a variety of experiences on Main Street in Park City. WanderLuxxe offered insider access to a daily Wellness Lounge By Essential Costa Rica. The morning began with lululemon-led yoga classes, followed by a treatments with Sunlighten infrared saunas, vegan skincare and cosmetics, and Women in Film panels.

Wellhaus was the first fully integrated health, wellness, and CBD-focused concept house at the festival. The lounge was sponsored by Charlotte’s Web, the Colorado-based CBD industry pioneer, and The Herbal Chef Chris Sayegh, who is famous for CBD and cannabis-infused fine dining events. In addition, the LA-based health and wellness company REME, an app for mindful health and wellness, offered VIPs their choice of B12 shots, energy boost IV drips, and hangover IV drips, plus chair massages.

Another lounge opened during second half of the festival. V Suite, created by Adriana Ryan of vegan toothpaste brand UGLY by Nature and TMG’s Paolo Sadri, with sponsorship by MegaFood, provided vegan celebrities a respite during the festival. “At Sundance, healthy meal options are scarce with vegan/plant-based options virtually nonexistent,” Ryan said. “The tight schedules, crowds, and often inclement weather can make off-site visits impossible. So we created a smarter, serene alternative that lets celebrities relax and regenerate privately.” The suite featured vegan meals prepared by Miami-based chef Stephanie Lobato plus massages and daily yoga classes.

My recap of the festival represents only a few highlights of the most action-action-packed 2019 Sundance Film Festival!  The schedule includes numerous panel discussions, musical performances, Q & As, and many many more films. It is a whirlwind of entertainment that could be spread out over months, not just 10 days. Look for the best of this year’s offerings at home and in the theaters soon!

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

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Sharkwater Extinction Shares Rob Stewart’s Ocean Activism

Rob Stewart graced this earth with his passion, gentleness, intelligence, beauty, and compassion on land, in the ocean — and also on the big screen. He was a filmmaker, activist, biologist, and famously a friend to sharks. Rob was at one with sharks of all kinds, equally comfortable hugging them as he was advocating for them. A rare human being.

Sadly, Rob died in 2017 at the age of 37 during the making of this, his third documentary film, a follow-up on the subject of the hitherto-unknown plight of shark populations at the hands of the fishing industry. His first film Sharkwater not only won awards but also helped improve legislation worldwide.

Sharkwater Extinction opens on digital and in demand on February 1 and in select theaters on March 1. His friends and family have already used the footage to help change public policy in California, banning mile-long fishing nets in 2018. These films will ensure that Rob’s commitment to saving sharks from extinction and his legacy of conservation activism will continue to carry on.

Rob and his dive team had shot most of the footage before he died. His parents and partners have lovingly since completed the film. Yoga teacher, diver, conservationist, and filmmaker Brock Cahill is one of those filmmaking and diving partners.

The Destruction of Shark Hunting

Sharkwater Extinction is an homage to Rob, but also a reminder to the world that shark hunting is as destructive as ever. The size of the often-secretive shark fishing complex is astounding; it is a multi-billion-dollar industry. At least 150 million sharks are killed each year, even the endangered hammerheads.

Rob regularly risked his life, including being shot at, when capturing footage of shark slaughters in Panama, Costa Rica, South Africa, and even off the coast of California. It seems he exposed just the tip of the iceberg. Sharks, being the largest predators on earth, are key to the balance of our ecosystem. With their systematic decimation, what will become of our oceans?

The film reveals that shark meat is currently being disguised by renaming it and selling its byproducts for use in pet food, cosmetics, and livestock feed. It is sold under the guise of popular fish names for human consumption. As Rob says in the film, sharks (like dolphins) are at the top of the food chain in the ocean, and as such toxins compound in their bodies. It is not safe for anyone to eat shark meat.

Rob Stewart, Activist Filmmaker

Rob always lived on the edge as an activist filmmaker. He describes in the film how frequently he escaped death. Rob took chances not only with the sharks but also with the ruthless illegal and legal international shark fishing trade. Shark fins, the subject of his first film, have long been used as an ingredient in soup. To this day, they command a hefty price, as high as $200 per fin. Captured sharks are stripped of their fins and left to die. Rob’s efforts led to the banning of this practice in 90 countries. But that has not stopped the illegal trade.This film and Rob’s call-to-action will bring more attention, and hopefully inspire more change in laws and practices.

Rob died due to faulty oxygen calculations for new equipment that allowed him to go deeper in search of rare sharks. He did not die at the hands of sharks. Lost at sea, he was not even eaten by sharks, his body was recovered for an autopsy. In one quiet but mind-blowing scene in the film, Rob is underwater looking the other way when a shark bumps up against his hand. Rob instinctively, without looking, pets the eight-foot vilified and feared creature on the nose. He was a shark whisperer – the sharks seem to know that he is their savior.

See and Support Sharkwater Extinction

Sharkwater Extinction is a very moving tribute to Rob, and the film is as fluid, stoic, and dramatic as his life. Although sharks have a larger-than-life scary reputation, their populations need to be protected from consumerism and greed. Rob’s passions carry on today through his website: sharkwater.com.

See the film, spread the word, and support his conservationism. Start with the film’s trailer here; you will be stunned by it.

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

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Avicii: True Stories Directed by Levan Tsikurishvili

Obscurity, success, fame, burn out, suicide.

I’m not talking about the fictional A Star is Born but about Avicii: True Stories, one smart, slightly obscure documentary. You may know Avicii as a mega famous DJ. You may know he died too soon at the age of 28 in April 2018. This riveting film is a very intimate glimpse into his rise to immense fame and rapid burnout.

In Avicii: True Stories, you watch the young Swede Tim Bergling mix music beats and get discovered at age 17 by a promoter who becomes his manager in 2007. The budding artist continues to develops his craft and assumes the stage name of Avicii. In short order, he releases a club hit with the song “Levels,” in which he loops vocals by Etta James. As Avicii, Tim headlines his first festival show at age 21 on Governors Island in New York, where the audience sings along every one of his songs and repeatedly chants his name. Tim’s genuine awkward surprise at the success of the gig is captured after the show. “I was so blown away.”

Then, Tim’s life enters the fast lane. His music becomes huge in the club scene and on YouTube. His timely career blossoms alongside the rise in popularity of Electronic Dance Music (EDM) and the ever-growing EDM worldwide festivals. Avicii headlines more than 100 shows year-in-and-year-out. He also encounters health issues, surgeries, prescription abuse, and extremely high levels of stress…

Amazing Footage in Avicii: True Stories

The festival footage in Avicii: True Stories is astounding. Many shots are from over the shoulders of Avicii from his perspective looking out on the throngs of fans. Tens of thousands (sometimes 60,000) loving young faces with upright arms bounce and smile to his music spun by Avicii on an elevated platform with fireworks in the foreground and massive projections of his image behind him. The overall impression is of the DJ with a god-like hold over the crowd. But what you see in the film is Tim, a frail pale talented guy doing his best.

The intimate footage and personal discussions on the road provide insight into Tim’s struggle with massive fame. How does he reconcile his true stature with his perceived stature? His story is all very reminiscent of a 21-century Kurt Cobain. During the extensive touring, Tim’s management team rents private jets and one magical mansion after another for him to record new music. Despite the amazing circumstances and gorgeous settings, Tim’s head more often than not is in a 15-inch laptop or desktop computer.

By all accounts, Tim was extremely creative. He recognized early on that unlike the other DJs, he did not have to sample vocals and beats, but could create actual EDM songs. He improvised unique tracks, collaborating with a variety of musicians and singers. His song “Levels” became a mainstream crossover hit, yet he released only two full albums (True in 2011 and Stories in 2014) that fueled his touring career. The dramatic ups and downs in the story are punctuated by Avicii’s own music as the soundtrack to the film.

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

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Urban Yoga Aligns with Desert AIDS Project

Kristin Olson’s Urban Yoga in Palm Springs has long been a beacon of yogic community through classes, workshops, gatherings, fundraisers, and more. For example, Kristin and the team have sponsored Urban Teen Yoga at Palm Springs High School for PE credit for 20 years. And Kristin initiated discounted classes for HIV/AIDS Clients and employees of Desert AIDS Project in 2000. And, for the past 11 years Urban Yoga helmed by Kristin Olson guiding a vibrant team has occupied a splendid and welcoming studio in Palm Springs.

Building a CommUnity

As of November 2018, Urban Yoga aligned with Desert AIDS Project (DAP) to create a new yoga studio in Palm Springs. UYC at DAP that serves the thriving Urban Yoga CommUnity, as well as the general public, DAP clients, and the center’s doctors and employees.

Kristin Olson at Desert AIDS Project. Photo by Barry Schoenfeld.

Students joined Kristin to help transfer the sumptuous Urban Yoga decor to the new studio on the DAP campus. The tranquil room is carpeted with a state-of-the-art Deepak Chopra InnerSpace grounding floor. This unique feature provides the benefits of earthing through the absorption of negative-charged free electrons.

Students will also recognize the elements unique to Urban Yoga. These include: favorite teachers and classes, kirtan and soundbath events, familiar incense, the full-wall mirror, colorful pillows, and the watchful Ganesh and Buddha statues.

The two entities, UYC@DAP, share a focus on the mental, physical, and spiritual well-being of the “Planet & the Peeps.”

Desert AIDS Project

David Brinkman, CEO of Desert AIDS Project, says, “The healing communities of Urban Yoga and Desert AIDS Project joined together to increase our collective impact in the Coachella Valley.  Through partnering under one roof, we provide a more holistic approach to health and wellness.”

Palm Springs Mayor Rob Moon (left) with CEO David Brinkman (right) at Desert AIDS Project

Desert AIDS Project is one of the most influential HIV/AIDS nonprofits in the country. Serving 4,500 people within 11,000 square miles of California, the center has already been treating people holistically with testing, treatment, Ayurvedic diets, acupuncture, meditation, and yoga. Forward-thinking, DAP is a national model with its innovative care programming.

Kristin says, “In addition to wellness, we focus on mindfulness and increasing the strength and flexibility of the body to create the balance and union of Body, Mind, and Spirit.”

Urban Yoga

The Urban Yoga schedule features a mix of Gentle, Beginning, and Restorative classes as well as challenging Energetic Flow, Bottle Rocket, and Vinyasa 2-3 classes. Join UYC@DAP classes and be a part of this happy, dedicated CommUnity in their new home. Urban Yoga Center moves to Desert AIDS Project, 1695 N Sunrise Way, Palm Springs Call: 760-320-7702 or Visit:
urbanyoga.org

 

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post Urban Yoga Center at Desert AIDS Project in Palm Springs appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Preparing for Prizes at Science Fair

This Sundance award-winning feature-length documentary profiles a dozen or so high school students as they prepare their science projects for entry into their local science fair. The top presentations from these competitions then qualify for the International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), held in 2017 in Los Angeles — “Hollywood” as the kids call it. The film soars as it takes you inside the preparation, the excitement of participation, and the anxiety of being judged.

To say that these kids are bright is an understatement. Throughout the film, I found myself wondering if the judges were actually qualified to discern the validity and comparative value of the arcane, complex student projects. Do they really understand the nuances found in those detailed presentation boards and in the oral presentations from the often shy students?

For example, three American students want to revolutionize how stethoscopes are used worldwide. Their work includes building the diagnostic instrument with the use of a 3D printer and connecting it to a database. Two Brazilian students are looking for a cure for the Zika virus. Another reinvents a flying single wing aircraft, a prototype long ago abandoned by the aeronautical field. Female students and teachers compete valiantly on equal terms with their peers, and their spirits are inspirational.

One of the emotional highlights of Science Fair is the dance party at the international event. The camera immerses us in the center of the high voltage pent-up energy of the brilliant yet awkward scholars. The kids seem to feed off the DJ’s music, their nerves, and the energy of being surrounded by their intellectual tribe.

Dedication and Discovery

Science Fair profiles students who clearly win from the earliest stages with their remarkable projects. These students have the honor of participating at the international level and then going on to Ivy League universities. It is inspiring to witness their hard work, focus, and dedication. The film is full of hope as we witness the next generation’s love of science–and of discovery.

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post Rivalries and Revelries Create Drama in the Film Science Fair appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Free Solo: Gripping Rocks & Gripping to Watch

Rock climbing has significant history in California, specifically in the Yosemite Valley. Not surprisingly, one of our own has taken the sport to new heights. Alex Honnold free solo climbed the prestigious 3,200-foot wall face of the El Capitan mountain in Yosemite in 2017, as documented in the gripping film Free Solo.

What does it mean to free solo a mountain, you ask? Free climbing is the term describing rock climbing that uses ropes only to protect the climber from falling very far. Free soloing takes this skill one step further—to the furthest extreme—by scaling heights without any ropes at all. Practiced by a select few, many notable free solo climbers have died participating in their sport. Alex Honnold is the current superstar of the free solo world.

Not surprisingly, free solo climbers like to climb in privacy so they can fully concentrate on each and every hand hold and foot hold. They are rarely filmed in the act since drones and cameramen can provide distractions, however slight. In the making of this film, Alex and director Jimmy Chin struggle with whether or not to film Alex’s attempt to free solo El Cap — or to let him sneak away into the night and climb anonymously. Fortunately for us, the film was made.

The Experience of the Film

Silently, dizzyingly, the movie opens high above the Yosemite Valley Floor treetops with Alex’s red tee shirt contrasting against the granite rock wall. His body is completely stretched out with only his hands and feet shoved into rock crevices to support him. The first sound is simply Alex’s heavy breathing. From the very beginning, Free Solo is dramatic, gripping, and romantic. You are witnessing mankind at his most primal and most accomplished self.

Alex, who has lived in his van for years in order to climb, is philosophical about his sport. He started soloing as a teen because he didn’t want to talk to other rock climbers, being too shy. Climbing requires, “Higher-level concentration without ropes.” Thus, he never told anyone he was free soloing big routes because he did not want any pressure. “I think that the free soloing mentality is pretty close to warrior culture, where you give something 100% focus because your life depends on it.” Yet, “It does feel good to feel perfect, like for a brief moment.”

Watch the Free Solo Trailer

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post An Epic Free Solo Captured on Film appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Potential Guide Dog Puppies are Adorable in Pick of the Litter

If you love dogs and/or humanitarian causes, here is a must-see film that combines both. Pick of the Litter (directed by Don Hardy Jr and Dana Nachman) is a behind-the-scenes documentary about the preparation of guide dogs to serve the blind. Compared to the white cane commonly used by the visually impaired, a guide dog permits the blind to walk without restrictions and to explore unknown, complex areas. Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) breeds guide dogs, arranges for volunteers to raise them, trainers to train them, and then matches dogs to requests from the blind.

In the film, five beautiful Labrador retrievers are born to a female dog selected by a committee for her positive traits. These five pups are predestined to be raised as guide dogs. At two months old, they go to the volunteer raisers who teach the dogs obedience and manners. If the dogs progress satisfactorily, they return to the center at 16 months, where they will be specifically trained to be guide dogs for the blind.

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post Pick of the Litter Follows Adorable Guide Dogs in Training appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Nicholas Petricca at Kundalini Yoga By The Sea. Photo by Samir Janjua.

WALK THE MOON’s frontman Nicholas Petricca talks death, breath, and his new studio Kundalini Yoga By The Sea

You might recognize the lyrics and the catchy dance tunes of massive hits including “Shut Up and Dance” (“She said, ‘Oh oh oh, shut up and dance with me”) and “Anna Sun” (“This house is falling apart”). These songs by the band WALK THE MOON became quintessential Songs of the Summer in recent years. In addition to inspiring us to dance, Nicholas Petricca, lead singer and lyricist of the band WALK THE MOON, is a straightforward, authentic fan of Kundalini Yoga.

Photo of WALK THE MOON by Brian Ziff.

Since 2011, Nicholas has experienced fame and the chaotic rock-and-roll touring with WALK THE MOON, averaging 300 performances a year.

And since 2016, Kundalini Yoga has been his go-to practice, helping him transition from overnight sensation to long-term hitmaker, with a new album and a new outlook. His impassioned transformation has led Nicholas, just 31 years old, to become co-founder of Kundalini Yoga by the Sea (KYBTS), a neighborhood studio in Santa Monica.

When did you start practicing Kundalini Yoga?

At different points in my life, I had heard about yoga, trying Bikram and Hatha yoga. I always appreciated it, but it never personally resonated. Then in November, 2016, a dear friend was training to become a Kundalini instructor, and I was fascinated. I went to (now closed) Golden Bridge and experienced such joy. I was just grinning, feeling connected in this joyous way: I liked the fast, repeated motion connected with breath, the chanting, the singing. In yoga, began to learn more about my chakras and connected with them for the first time. In one class, Kundalini Yoga awakened a new energy in me.

Kundalini Yoga By The Sea

Instantly, I became a member of the studio, going every week. My band moved to LA temporarily to write and record. I found out three months into my Kundalini practice that Golden Bridge was closing its doors, and my favorite teacher Dharam Dev Khalsa mentioned she was looking for a new studio. I knew I could do something, and I expressed interest in making the new studio a reality. She was intrigued, introducing me to Kia Dharam Atma and Lisa Arshawsky, and the ball got rolling. I strongly felt the call to keep this community going and to create a space for the community. Kundalini Yoga by the Sea (KYBTS) opened in June, 2017.

Dharam Dev Khalsa, Nicholas Petricca, and Kia Ancilotto. Photo by Samir Janjua.

Becoming involved in KYBTS was serendipitous, synchronistic. At the time, I was in middle of a transformation. My band had reached global success with “Shut Up and Dance.” We had toured continuously for five years. One tour covered 25 countries on five continents in just two months. We were on the verge of burnout, my father was sick, and I was searching for a path to inner peace.

I don’t come from a yogi community or family, and I still feel like a newcomer. I’ve been shown something that not everyone has seen, the Kundalini community and experience. Kundalini Yoga is a bit of a hidden gem. In Kundalini, I love the emphasis on the inner teacher.

Nicholas Petricca and Students at Kundalini Yoga By The Sea. Photo by Samir Janjua.

Tell us about your transformational year…

In the summer of 2016, my father’s Alzheimer’s Disease was getting worse. The band reluctantly cancelled our tour, and I went home to be with family. It affected me emotionally and artistically. My dad’s disease brought me in touch with darkness, depression, and tragedy. It shifted the depth with which I approached my music. My family found that, in the darkest moments of Dad’s condition, music was one of the few ways we could still connect and smile together. I know that whatever came next for me creatively would be transformative.

We began writing and recording in LA in November, 2016, with me going back and forth to Ohio. I was actually in the studio at end of January when I got the call that my father was in bad shape and I headed straight home. He passed in early February, 2017.

I came back to LA after his funeral. I returned to my yoga class and felt his presence with me and I didn’t want to let him go. At the end of that first class, Dharam Dev Khalsa played a song with the lyrics, “My love embraces you long after we have said our goodbyes. And I will be with you. I will be with you. And I will be with you.” (From “With You” by Jai Jagdeesh.) Pretty amazing.

Nicholas Petricca at Kundalini Yoga By The Sea. Photo by Samir Janjua.

How has your yoga practice changed your life?

Kundalini lessons shift how I approach daily life, moment to moment. I have a sense of stillness and trust in my inner teacher, recognizing myself reflected in the world around me. I am finding that oneness and sameness of the spark of life within me and around me, trusting the flow.

My yoga practice has also improved my relationship with my bandmates. Only through loving communication could the band approach our demons and then make the best album we’ve ever written (What If Nothing, released in November, 2017).

Photo of WALK THE MOON by Dustin Kessler.

What does yoga do for your lyrics?

The message in my music, I’ve found, runs parallel to the themes of empowerment and transformation in yoga. Our latest record (What if Nothing) is by far the most emotionally raw and vulnerable, more than any before. The lyrics are pretty autobiographical. On our first single “One Foot,” the refrain repeats “One foot in front of the other,” and that’s the only way we’ve made it through this process. I would say the song “Sound of Awakening” is the autobiography of my personal transformation. It was written as my dad was dying, and in a way it’s a love song for my mom.

The distance
And the difference
Between us
Is just illusion

How does the breath used in Kundalini practice affect your singing?

Breath is consciousness. Historically, even Biblically, breath is associated with spirit. With that understanding, breath shifts how I look at what I’m doing. When I focus a laser beam of breath into a microphone in front of thousands of people, I’m sending out this soul message, a spirit shockwave. The vibration of my voice carries the words connected to my experience and the melody that has come through me. This vibration carries all this, let’s say, spirit juice. Breath is the vessel through which people are receiving my art. Nowadays, I view myself as a rock and roll shaman, ha.

How do you practice on the road?

My KYBTS partners have lovingly set up me up with links and videos to Kriyas I can practice on tour. Unfortunately, it’s definitely a challenge to find any private space at all on the road. The tour bus sleeps 12 people, all living in a shared space. We temporarily get a dressing room at each venue, but then suitcases and gear are always coming in and out. As a group, the band works together creatively, and we live together as roommates, business partners, best friends, and performers. We never get to check out of the office. So I tend to practice yoga when I get a hotel room to myself on days off, once or twice a week.

What is special about Kundalini Yoga by the Sea?

Number one, I love the community. I am really connected with the vibration of the community being so kind and committed to everyone’s personal growth.

Kundalini Yoga By The Sea. Photo by Samir Janjua.

Visit Kundalini Yoga By The Sea

We want to extend our invitation to check it out. There are weekly classes, special workshops, and events, as well as opportunities to hang out, like the Chant and Chai Evenings. We have regular events that include Dance Soulsa, New Moon and Full Moon Sound Baths, Healing Circles, Reiki Trainings, and KRI Certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training Levels 1 & 2 Intensive Weekends.

First Class Free: Nicholas Sent Me!

Let it be known! If readers of LA YOGA Magazine come into the studio and tell them, “Nicholas sent me,” they can have a free first class. Sat Nam!

Kundalini Yoga By The Sea in LA YOGA

Read more about Kundalini Yoga By The Sea

More Information about WALK THE MOON

For more information about WALK THE MOON, including the band’s current touring schedule, visit: WALKTHEMOONBAND.COM. You can catch the band this summer at The Forum in Inglewood on July 19.

Kundalini Yoga By The Sea

For more about the Yoga studio Kundalini Yoga by the Sea, visit: kundaliniyogabythesea.com

 

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post Nicholas Petricca: Rockstar Yogi appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

YogaSlackers

I took a lesson from YogaSlackers at Wanderlust Squaw Valley in Lake Tahoe several years ago. YogaSlackers is a group of roving slackliners who live the outdoor adventure life. They also teach yoga poses on slacklines. Co-founded by Jason Magness and Sam Salwei in 2005, YogaSlackers has a roster of 138 teachers who have taught slacklining to over 30,000 people at festivals worldwide.

Advice from YogaSlackers

Breathing, focusing, and relaxing are essential to stabilizing on a slackline.

YogaSlackers teacher Raquel Hernández-Cruz is poetic about slacking, “You need the ability to turn off external environment. Focus, with no other option than losing all external factors, go within to your true self.” Slacklining is, “Similar to a yoga class, yet the slackline gives you feedback on your self-regulation.”

Yoga on the Line

When it comes to incorporating a yoga practice on the line, Raquel advises that you focus on progressions. “First learn to stand on one leg while a friend sits on the line for you. This will provide stability. Once you can hold that pose (slacker stance) for a few breaths, have your friend move farther and farther away from you until they no longer need to be sitting on the line for you. After that you can start playing with switching feet, finding balance between each step. Eventually you will be able to walk with ease.”

“While most people think about slacklining as standing practice, remember that you can use the line as your new thin yoga mat. Incorporate sitting, kneeling, arm balances and even inversions on the slackline. Do the pose on the ground and determine how to modify it to fit the line, then focus on finding your new place of balance. You may be surprised to discover that some poses are easier here than on the ground. With a little bit of instruction, everyone can slackline. And it can build character! Laughing out loud after each attempt is a great way to start.”

Find YogaSlackers at Festivals and Beyond

YogaSlackers can be found at Wanderlust Squaw Valley and Wanderlust Whistler in Summer, 2018. They also run teacher trainings, adventure camps, retreats, and classes worldwide: yogaslackers.com

Read more about Slacklining

Read more about the growing sport of slacklining.

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post YogaSlackers and Slacklining appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Walk the Line: Slacklining

If you’ve ever thought about running off to join the circus to enjoy the thrill of walking a tightrope like a Wallenda, you might be intrigued by the outdoor sport of slacklining. It is a challenging practice accessible to beginners that offers a method for connecting mental focus, breath, and embodied practice.

Slacklining is a moving meditation that strengthens your ability to concentrate and cultivates your ability to balance. Even without practicing fancy poses on the line, slacklining is an embodied practice of yoga.

What is Slacklining

A slackline is a sturdy synthetic webbed strap, one or two inches thick, that is hung between two trees or poles at various tensions, heights, and distances. The concept is similar to tightrope walking, but there is give (slack) in the line, so no balance pole is required. West Coast-based rock climbers originally co-opted the sport from the circus in the 1980s. Slacklining has grown into a worldwide sport, with tricks and extreme feats. Yet, the basic practice is a hobby that can be great cross-training as well as an integrated yoga practice.

Slacklining on Muscle Beach in Santa Monica

I first tried slacklining at the impressive and creative Original Muscle Beach on the Santa Monica boardwalk, where people seem to recreate circus acts on the sand for their own enjoyment. A community of work-out enthusiasts gather here to challenge themselves in various unique ways (progressive rings, rope climbing, acroyoga) and have fun.

At the south end of Muscle Beach, the City of Santa Monica created a slackline park simply by installing some dozen solid tall posts. Slackliners bring their own lines and set them up at various heights and lengths. Advanced slackers will often set up an easier slackline nearby for beginners who approach and want to give it a try.

Balancing on a Slackline

Whenever someone steps on a slackline for the first time, their leg bent up on the line will shake and shake and shake, as will the slackline — sometimes tremendously. Even with one foot still on the ground. Once they stand up and hold on to the shoulder of a friend, they feel the sense of balance and the wonderful potential experience of slacklining. But when they try to stay up on their own, the first-timer inevitably asks, “When will the shaking ever end?” After all, people are balancing on a swaying surface!

Looking back, I don’t remember exactly when my shaking subsided, but I do remember I was determined to become steady and take some steps. After repetition, I was able to balance and walk the length of the line. Now that I’ve been at it for some time, if I go even a week without slacklining, I start yearning for the release I feel when I am up on the line. My feet love the pressure-point tension, and my body craves the relaxation when I am balanced and walking above the ground.

Balance and Meditation on a Slackline

I’ve always been attracted to balance activities such as roller skating, rollerblading, skateboarding, figure skating, snowboarding, and stand up paddle boarding. While I have not necessarily excelled at these activities, I have always found them appealing and satisfying.

As I learned to slackline, I experienced the additional benefit of the meditative experience. Slacklining is a moving meditation. You must be present when you walk on a slackline. In order to balance, you first need to stop looking down (what?!) then find an eye-level focal point in the near distance (drishti) and loosely keep your attention there. Then, lower your center of gravity and breathe. The calmer you are and less distracted you are, the longer you will stay on the line.

Take it One Step at a Time

Of course, there is a learning curve, and it’s often steep! Improvements in skill, even micro-improvements, come from conquering your nerves. As a beginner, take it one step at a time (pun intended). To walk, first balance on two feet for a few seconds, then balance with just one foot on the slackline, then try to put one foot in front of the other. For more stability, choose shorter slacklines that are closer to the ground.

While walking on the line requires skill, balance, and concentration, there are other dramatic slacklining practices that are popular throughout the world. These include yoga poses, tricklining, longlining, highlining (over elevations like a canyon), and waterlining ( over a body of water including a pool). a The maneuvers in tricklining resemble snowboarding halfpipe tricks: extreme air flips, twists and rotations. Both tricklining and longlining are performed at the Muscle Beach Santa Monica.

Equipment and Finding Community

As a novice, I started out on a two-inch basic Gibbon line (the most common brand) and eventually switched to a one-inch “yoga” line after trying it out at a festival. For me personally, the one-inch slackline gives me greater stability. I can wrap my feet on the sides of it and it even feels like foot reflexology.

At first, I practiced on other people’s lines, then I invested in my own equipment. You can buy a basic beginner slackline for about $35 from retailers specializing in outdoor equipment. YogaSlackers sells gear (I purchased their $90 eline), as does REI, as well as online outlets. You can set up a line (with towels as tree protectors) between two trees.

If you stop by the slackline park at Muscle Beach Santa Monica, you may find dozens of slacklines set up at various heights, lengths, and tensions between the sets of poles. Ask to try one of the shorter, lower lines already set up. I find that slackers are, by and large, kind and generous teachers.

Advice from Slackliners

Repeat a mantra: ‘Breathe, step,’ and say it out loud as you move.

Be sure to smile — it relaxes the face.

Public parks, festivals, and classes are only a few of the places where people share tips and techniques. Of course, you can find plenty of info online.

YogaSlackers Beginner Class

YogaSlackers has a beginner class on YouTube.

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post Slacklining as a Moving Meditation appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Lives Well Lived Filmmaker Sky Bergman and her inspirational Grandmother

What is a life well lived? It is worth paying attention when the answers to this question are given by spirited, content, senior citizens. In the documentary film Lives Well Lived, Celebrating the Secrets, Wit & Wisdom of Age, first-time director Sky Bergman inquisitively asks 40 seniors for their words of wisdom. Their responses are surprisingly commonplace but never cliché.

The filmmaker was inspired by her 100-year-old grandmother. Sky became fascinated by her centenarian grandmother’s optimism, and sought to document how she and others like her make the most of life. Sky asks sweeping questions including, “What is the secret for a happy life?” Through montages, you glean nuggets of personal philosophies from the each of the film stars.

Ciel Bergman, one of the stars of Lives Well Lived

What a Life Well Lived Includes

According to the film, a life well lived includes the following:

“Being endlessly engaged in whatever your passion is.”
“Setting a goal and trying to achieve it.”
“Following what you believe in.”
“Having friends that support you.”
“Knowing when to say no and when to say yes.”
“Being contented within your own skin.”
“Having respect.”
“Accomplishing your goals.”
“Loving people, being peaceful within yourself.”
“Taking chances, learning new skills, not being in a rut.”
“Knowing the world is a better place because you’ve gone through it.”

Inspiration in Lives Well Lived

Life lessons, sure. But more than just reflections, the film profiles the beautiful lives of some of these upbeat folks. Many of the octogenarian-plus Americans featured here were born outside of the country. All of them lived through World War II, and many were directly affected by it. In the film, they appear to have accepted what they have and have had. Many of these inspiring seniors have discovered fulfilling pastimes in their later years, such as music, dance, and the arts.

Yoga Teacher Emmy Cleaves, A Life Well Lived

Take for example the life story of Emmy Cleaves, who is an active Los Angeles yoga instructor at age 86. As a youth, she became separated from her mother at age 15 at a train station in Latvia during WWII and was taken to Germany, where she was raised by a kindly school teacher. Since Emmy was born on July 4, she chose to come to the US when the war ended. Years later when Stalin died in 1960, her mother came to Los Angeles for a long-awaited reunion. “Never become a victim, there’s always hope,” she says.

In 1963, Emmy met her soulmate at the Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, and they are still married today. She defines herself as a yogini. A popular teacher, she teaches Bikram Yoga sequences in a leotard. Her sage advice, “I want as many people to do yoga as possible… it is a priceless gift you can gift yourself. Health is where everything is at.” And for the maturing crowd, “It is not your numerical age, it’s your biological age. Think young, act young, feel young, forget the number.”

More Lives Well Lived

The website for the film Lives Well Lived has a section called Shared Stories where anyone can post a photo and anecdotes of a loved one, living or passed, who embraces the sprit of a life well lived.

Go See the Film!

The film opens in Los Angeles (at Laemmle Monica Film Center, Town Center 5 in Encino, and Playhouse 7 in Pasadena), Palm Desert, Santa Barbara and Laguna Niguel on April 20. It rolls out nationwide in select cities as well. For more information and lists of screening dates and locations, visit: lives-well-lived.com

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post The Film Lives Well Lived Celebrates the Wisdom of Age appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Ramen Heads Directed by Koki Shigeno

Ramen shops are all over LA, with both local and Japanese chefs offering a classic or artisanal noodle experience. So, just maybe the fine residents of our city will be interested in the new film Ramen Heads. This feature-length documentary explores the cultural phenomenon of ramen in Japan.

Chef Osamu Tomita in Ramen Heads

Described as resembling the warm memory of a lover, the infatuation with ramen in Japan has created legions of chefs seeking to imprint their personal stamp on the soup. The film profiles many of these chefs. Yet it focuses primarily on Chef Osamu Tomita. Chef Tomita has won the title of best ramen chef for multiple years in Japan.

For the uninitiated or those who are only familiar with packaged ramen noodles, traditional ramen soup begins of a broth made generally with pork, chicken or fish stock. The broth is poured into individual bowls to which are added long noodles (often handmade). It is most commonly garnished with items such as soft-boiled egg, seaweed, and bamboo shoots.

Ramen Heads follows Chef Tomita’s dedication to tweaking his signature broth, and preparing the subtle ingredients garnishing each dish. He plates each bowl in his shop himself, six days a week. According to Chef Tomita, the emphasis has to be on “slurp-ability.” So he makes his award-winning noodles longer, thicker, and smoother than many other shops.

They say that all famous ramen shops are “absolutely tiny.” It is amazing to watch the various chefs (mostly male) throughout Japan create their own identity within a soup bowl in their kitchens. They make “art that exists in the moment, then disappears.”

History of Ramen in Ramen Heads

The film also provides a history of ramen in Japan, which surprisingly only goes back to 1910. Packaged dried ramen noodles were invented in 1958. This made ramen accessible to the economically suffering post-war Japanese. Eventually generations of American college students were introduced to the cheap, filling meal. Now, it’s time to for all of us to be reintroduced to the handmade gourmet and craft versions of ramen.

For more information about screenings in LA, Santa Barbara, and nationwide, visit the film’s screening page.

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post Ramen Heads Film appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Amanda Giacomini and some of her 10,000 Buddhas on a Miami Wall. Photo by Matt Roy

Lessons about practice and community through painting 10,000 Buddhas

In 2017, artist Amanda Giacomini achieved her multi-year goal of painting 10,000 Buddhas. She did this by screen printing on paper, oil painting on wood, and by creating large-scale public murals in public and private spaces. While it was a landmark goal that she had set for herself, Amanda continues to paint Buddhas. Throughout the project, Amanda has taught yoga alongside her husband MC YOGI at their studio in Point Reyes and on the festival circuit.

She took some time to share her process with LA YOGA while she was creating a two-wall Buddha mural inside the studio at the La Quinta Resort & Club A Waldorf Astoria Resort.

LA YOGA: Tell us about your process.

Amanda: The first 99 Buddhas I painted by hand. When I decided to ramp up to 10,000 Buddhas, I knew it was too much to do that many by hand. So, it took me a year to figure out the process of using the stencils in painting.

LA YOGA: What inspired your leap from the first 99 to setting a goal of painting 10,000 Buddhas?

AG: That was one of those magical moments. It was a little intuitive clairvoyant download. I had such a rich experience painting the first 99 in my studio. While I was painting, I was educating myself, immersing myself in learning about Buddha. I was learning about his life story, his past lives, and his teachings. I didn’t want it to end. One night I was painting very late at night and it just occurred to me to keep going.

Then the first big public wall I did was in Miami (pictured here). While I was painting so many people came by and wanted to take pictures. I wasn’t even finished and they would stand and do a mudra, or a yoga pose, or simply sit and meditate with the Buddhas.

LA YOGA: When it comes to painting so many Buddhas, including the large walls, how does your yoga practice support you?

AG: My yoga practice maintains the strength of my body, my physical endurance, and even the concentration mentally to work for up to 14 hours—even in intense conditions.

When I did an outdoor wall in Washington DC, it was hot—it was 97 degrees. (That wall is on P Street near Logan Circle right next to the Whole Foods.) To be able to paint all day, outside, in the heat comes from the physical stamina I have as a yogi, and the ability to just quiet my mind and be one-pointed for many hours. All of that is the result of 25 years of practice.

LA YOGA: What has surprised you the most going through the process of painting 10,000 Buddhas?

AG: I surprise myself all the time. Until I did it, I didn’t know the courage it takes to paint a big giant wall. I didn’t know I had it in me to drive a giant 60-foot boom lift and climb up there and spray paint a wall. I was proud of myself for not backing away from the project when it got big. For years and years as an artist, I painted small. This project has tested me in a lot of ways. The street art game is a very masculine world, there are a lot of great women, but it’s still dominated by men. So, doing this makes me feel like a strong woman.

LA YOGA: Now that you’ve been doing it for a few years, do you have any thoughts or goals of where you want it to go next?

AG: I’m kind of in the flow. Now, I feel I’m spreading Buddhas around the world. And I think, what better thing to leave behind?

LA YOGA: There is a lot of meaning behind these images. Now that you’ve had a relationship with them, what do they mean to you?

AG: They represent the power of practice. All of these Buddhas are sitting in meditation poses practicing. The different messages of the mudras are symbolic reminders of philosophy. To me, the Buddhas are symbols of equality, equanimity, and connection. There are lots of little Buddhas practicing together to create a field of energy. I think this represents the new paradigm we are in of spiritual practice.

I feel like we’re moving away from having the one master that everybody bows down to, and instead we’re much more of a collective group of friends and colleagues and communities that are supporting each other and uplifting each other. This is the power of the sangha or the community.

The Three Jewels in Buddhism are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. This image encapsulates all three but it really reminds me of the sangha. In my own life, I met my husband through the yoga community. Most of my close friends and all of the people I work with are part of this community. There’s a huge bond between those of us who practice, a point of connection.

We can do our own practice, but we also benefit from the knowledge and the path that others have been taking. We learn from each other. Sometimes I meditate by myself, but when MC YOGI and I meditate together, it’s stronger. When you’re in a big group of people meditating together, it’s just magic.

When we’ve led big classes with over 1,000 people doing yoga, breathing, sitting, and meditating, that energy is unbelievable. It’s through the roof. You just feel the whole space transform. I believe in the power of people coming together and practicing. I think that’s how we change the world.

For more information about Amanda Giacomini and the 10,000 Buddhas visit: 10000buddhas.com/10000buddhas/

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post The Story of Amanda Giacomini and the 10,000 Buddhas appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Kundalini Yoga By the Sea studio in Santa Monica. Image by Samir Janjua Photo.

Kundalini Yoga by the Sea is a welcoming studio in all senses of the word. Owners Dharam Dev Kaur Khalsa, Kia Ancilotto (Kia Dharam Atma), Lisa Arshawsky, and Nicholas Petricca share a commitment to the practice. They’ve created a light, airy space that offers traditional Kundalini Yoga, as taught by Yogi Bhajan. The studio serves all ages and levels. The weekly schedule hosts more than 43 classes with a roster of more than 40 teachers.

Classes at Kundalini Yoga by the Sea

The wide variety of classes on the schedule include Kundalini Yoga and Meditation, Prenatal Yoga, Partnered Prenatal Yoga, Mommy and Me, Sunday Family Yoga, and First 40-Days Postpartum Circles. (Pre-registration is required for the postpartum circles). Pranic Flow Yoga, practices that include a sound bath are on offer. In addition, classes with a special focus in Yoga for Recovery Stress, Trauma and Addiction are held at the studio. If you want to learn more about the science of sacred sound, try Mantras in the Kundalini Tradition. Check the schedule for the pre-dawn sadhana.

The Mama Tree at Kundalini Yoga by the Sea

Studio co-owner, teacher, midwife, birth educator and nurse Lisa Arshawsky created The Mama Tree, which offers the prenatal, mommy and me, and new mothers support programs at the studio as well as birthing preparation classes, immersions, and services.

The studio features more than weekly classes. The variety of weekend offerings include a number of different kinds of workshops as well as panels on birthing, sound baths, kirtan, Conscious Spiritual Art Shows and Women’s Circle Gatherings. Look for the 2018 teacher trainings: Level One KRI Aquarian Teacher Training Program featuring 10 legacy Kundalini teachers, and a Mommy & Me Yoga Teacher Training.

The single-room space is brightened by a custom, ocean-themed mural (which makes a beautiful backdrop for social media photos). Located just six blocks from Santa Monica Pier, Kundalini Yoga by the Sea is across from a Metro stop and the neighborhood has plenty of three-hour street parking. The studio also boasts its own original boutique clothing line called ‘Gusoo’ and sells lovely globally-sourced fashion.

More information on Kundalini Yoga by the Sea

Kundalini Yoga by the Sea
605 Colorado Ave, Santa Monica 90404
310-963-9811
kundaliniyogabythesea.com

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post Kundalini Yoga by the Sea appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

About Wasted! The Story of Food Waste

In this enlightening film, we see solutions to today’s rampant food waste. According to Wasted!, delicious food can be delivered resourcefully and with minimal amounts of byproducts, “expired” products, and leftovers ending up in landfills.
 

 

Use everything, waste nothing.

 
Chef Bourdain says, “I don’t like the idea of being an advocate; I shrink from even the appearance of a hashtag…” Yet as a chef, food waste has always bothered him. When he was a young culinary student, the teachers pounded into him “use everything, waste nothing.”
 

Learn More About Food Waste in Wasted!

Food waste figures in the US are staggering: 30-40% of the food we produce goes to waste, 90% of that ends up in landfills. We waste food along its entire cycle – from the fields, to processing plants, to retailers, restaurants, schools, and homes.
 

Food waste figures in the US are staggering: 30-40% of the food we produce goes to waste, 90% of that ends up in landfills.

 
Wasted! showcases the practical solutions to reducing food waste at every point in this cycle that are being implemented by innovative leaders and companies.
 
Directors Anna Chai and Nari Kye have both worked on Anthony Bourdain’s TV shows (Mind of a Chef and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown). They frequently witnessed chefs complaining about waste, which motivated the research for this film.
 
Wasted! ends with an action plan onscreen. Watch the film and spread the word!
 
In Cinemas October 13. For more information, visit the website.
 

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post Food Waste Truths Unveiled in Wasted! The Story of Food Waste appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.