As director of YogaActivist.org in Washington, D.C., Jasmine Chehrazi already has an impressive resume at the age of 29. She has opened studios in and taught in outreach programs in poor neighborhoods, created a database of hundreds of Yoga teachers working with alternative populations and devised a technique of teaching Yoga to those who suffer [...]
Be Here, Be Love, Be Now with Ram Dass To even attempt to put words to the impact Ram Dass’ grace and presence has had over the past forty-plus years would be a task, indeed. In 1967, one young Dr. Richard Alpert, former Harvard psychologist, made a foray to India in 1967, where he met [...]
Legal Corner: Ayurveda California issued its first Naturopathic Doctor (ND) licenses in January, 2005. Naturopathic doctors are primary care providers. They are trained and licensed to diagnose and treat medical conditions and diseases independent of a medical doctor. They can provide adjunctive treatment for cancer in collaboration with a medical doctor. The provider must be [...]
Feature Film About Shaman, Yogi And Artist Heyoka Merrified Premieres In Ojai The burning sweet grass smoke wafting from the Earth and Sky Temple (honoring the sacred masculine and feminine spirits) begins Heyoka Merrifield’s day. He lights his peace pipe (based on the tradition brought by White Buffalo Woman) which he hand-carved from pipestone from by [...]
Jnani Chapman is a master at speaking to the body; she’s skilled at the sweet-talking compassion that expresses the type of love that we may be lucky to experience in this lifetime. Yet if we’re really lucky, we cross paths with someone like Jnani who believes that this love happens not just because of luck [...]
Being A Yogi On The Edge Thanks to Sara Ivanhoe, we announced an essay contest in the October issue of LA YOGA asking readers to write about the difference between doing Yoga and being a yogi. Thanks to everyone for their thoughtful submissions and we hope you enjoy copies of Sara’s gorgeous DVD Yoga on [...]
Yoga On The Road We could say that practice occurs outside of any place, that there is nothing we need; we could practice in a cave, in the dark, by moving aside the living room coffee table. But we all know that the place in which we practice offers an added sense of inspiration. As [...]
Our sense of touch is one of our most human traits and penetrates the core of our needs. Through our sense of touch we help shape the world around us by manipulating tools, and also bring the external world inside of our selves. Our sense of touch pervades our skin from head to toe and [...]
The Grace Of Oil Massage On Straw Mats Awakens The Circulation Of Prana Nearly naked, sitting a straw mat in a sparsely furnished room in Kannur, Kerala, simultaneously vulnerable, curious and expectant, I waited for my first treatment session to begin. I had traveled half-way around the world to Kerala to receive Kalari treatment, the [...]
A Personal Reflection on Kalari All is quiet inside the Kalari practice space. I enter the space slowly, first touching the red clay earth and then my heart as sign of respect. My teacher’s voice echoes in my mind, “When you enter the Kalari, leave everything behind.” I head to the Puttara, the main altar, [...]