Saturday April 7, 8pm: RAGA MOVES Performance at YoGanesh

Thank you all who made this event so special.

Scroll down to read more about the artists. More photos here. 

YoGanesh is delighted to host a very special Spring music and dance event

Please bring your friends ... 

Acclaimed dancer Amanda Turner

Saturday April 7, 8pm

~

RAGA MOVES: An evening of Indian Classical Music and Modern Dance

~ featuring ~

Sundar Das 

on Bansuri flute

and internationally acclaimed dancer 

Amanda Turner 

$15

We have bolsters, blocks and a few chairs to sit on, but bring a favorite cushion if you like to sit on the floor.
Organic teas and cookies will be served

Click here to RSVP on our Facebook Event 
or pay in advance here

or email yoganeshyoga@gmail.com

Call 646 - 326 - 7471

Sundar Das on Bansuri flute

Bansuri flute player Sundar Das has accompanied Kirtan Wallahs including Krishna Das, Shyam Das, Wah, David Newman (Durga Das) & Mira and Jai Uttal. He composes soundtracks for multimedia yoga programs and film, and plays live flute music for yoga classes, Buddhist gatherings and Yoga retreats - his CDs are popular with many yoga teachers. Sundar Das has been practicing Yoga and devotional chanting since 1971 and lived in an ashram for 16 years both in the US and in India where music composing, playing and recording was his selfless service.

Acclaimed international dancer Amanda Turner

Amanda Turner works throughout the U.S. and internationally as a master teacher, choreographer and consultant, and was voted by Dance Magazine as one of New York's Top 10 Women Artists "who are doing it all". She was a solo dancer in The Phantom Of The Opera and has danced Evita, West Side Story, Hello Dolly, Oliver, Beauty and the Beast, Little Me and Damn Yankees, among many other accomplishments. 

Amanda is also a fully certified Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant (ALC), an Ayurvedic Yoga Specialist (AYS) and a member of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA). She brings all of these principles of balance of the mind, body, and spirit to her work.

Amanda Turner bio | Website

We hope to see you there - support YoGanesh and these wonderful artists so they can keep the music alive! 

Thank you to Ganesher Dana Wolf for suggesting that YoGanesh host Andrew, Sundar and Amanda for this performance. Namaste! 

WOW! $30 for 30 days - New Student Special!

$30 for 30 days ... that's our current special for NEW STUDENTS and STUDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN AWAY FOR 6 MONTHS. So take advantage of it!

If you come to a class, please pick up some of our "green groovin' elephant" postcards on your way out to share with friends and family, and leave them in your fave places in your nabe. (We have a special Love Thy Nabe photo album on Facebook to celebrate those business - we're all helping each other support our community in this recession.)

There a loads of new classes - Beginner Basics, Rocket Yoga, classes early, lunch and late, and some great new teachers. Great value!

Our new WEBSITE is in the works. If you just type yoganesh.com you will stumble across it in its scaffolding and the timetable is not connected. Please type the full www.yoganesh.com to get our current one with everything working.

Namaste for your patience! Go to the Yoganesh Schedule.

Coming up April 7, 8pm - a fantastic RAGA MOVES concert featuring Indian Classical Music by Andrew Rai,  Sundar Das and acclaimed dancer Amanda Turner. Mark it in your mental calendar and watch for the next blog post!

VIDEO: Learn to Float with Phil Lynch

Saturday, January 28^th 
4pm - 6pm - $30
(Sign up now at YoGanesh.com)

Expand your practice by adding “flight” to your transitions! This workshop will connect upper body strength and alignments to your lower body control. Strengthening the core will be the focus to take you to a new level of development and understanding. 

Through metaphors, demonstrations and a lot of practice, you will learn principles of lightening the hips and legs while tapping into your upper body power. Various Arm Balances will be explored to break down the practice of jumping back and through; which is especially geared to those that practice Ashtanga Yoga. Lighten your load and your practice and Learn to Float! Level 2/3 regular practitioners recommended. 


VIDEO: Phil Lynch Flow (from Phil's Website)

Ah, the float ...
We're not talking root beer or the giant "Hello Kitty" float at Macy's parades or even the float we all had in our weekly budgets before the recession hit ... we're talking about that oh-so-cool move you see some apparently super human beings doing, mostly on YouTube. Wait, can I learn to do that too?

Yes you can, says Phil Lynch, who is teaching Yoganesh's first ever Learn to Float workshop on Jan 28, 2012.

Stills from the Phil Lynch Flow. 

Floating (or "flying") is a technique taught at more advanced levels of Ashtanga-Vinyasa yoga. It refers to the ability to "hover" the feet - and even the entire body - momentarily in the air when jumping backward or forward from downward facing dog. There are many videos on YouTube illustrating this technique, but check out the terrific "Phil Lynch Flow" which we have reproduced from Phil's website (see above).

We caught up with Phil (floating mid-way between a Crow to a Chaturanga pose) and asked for the inside scoop:

Phil, what exactly is "floating"? 

Landing lightly or silently when jumping to or from the hands. jumping though the hands/arms either back or forth, hovering the feet off the floor while standing on one's hands

What are the key areas of the body involved in making it happen? 

Every part of your body except the facial muscles.

Do you have to be able to do a handstand first, for example? 

No, but it helps.

Do we need wrists of steel? 

I hope not!

What are intermediate milestones we can aim for in getting there? 

Jumping back out of BAKASANA (Crow pose) in to CHATTARUNGA (low push up).

Are there some things to mindful about, who shouldn't do it? 

You shouldn't hold the breath unconsciously or hurt yourself.

How long did it take you to learn, what was your path? 

It just seemed like a natural progression as my body/breath opened and I became strong and flexible. I didn't really "learn it" from any one so I had to break it down or deconstruct it, in order to translate it and attempt to teach it to others. Any description or instruction can help but just like maps, they don't take you any where, you have take action or travel to get it.

And where can we take action? 

My Learn to Float workshop is on Saturday, January 28th 2012 from 4-6 PM at YoGanesh! 

Phil was interviewed by fellow YoGanesh teacher Lynette Chiang

Zentle Yoga: a restorative class taught by founder Norma Kerner (every Wed 4pm)

Zentle yoga is a melding of Asian/Indian influences - Yoga, Qi Gong, Restorative, vibrational and blissful. Come check it out, Wednesdays at 4pm - Norma

Norma, you teach a special and personal class called "Zentle yoga." What exactly is it? 

It's a combination of simple Hatha Vinyasa asanas and qi-gong (energy training) along with vibration and body tapping.  It sounds a bit New Age but Qi-gong and these other things have been practiced for hundreds of years in Asian countries.  

What kinds of modalities do you incorporate? 

Qi Gong is an energy training modality used in many Asian countries. They are gentle movements that move the stagnant energy in our bodies. Medical Qi-Gong is used in hospitals in China as a way to heal energy channels (meridians) in our bodies. The universe is made of energy so it makes sense to use that energy as a healing and restorative tool.  I completed a 200-hour Teacher Training Program in Taoist Energy/Healing at Tao Yoga and I also completed a 200-hour Teacher Training Program in Hatha Yoga at BambooMoves. My diverse teaching style is a melding of these two practices, Indian Hatha Vinyasa yoga and Asian Qi Gong (or Chi Kung). 

Who do you think would benefit most from your class? 

Anyone who wants a more restorative practice and want to give their bodies a little lovin'.  We are constantly abusing our bodies by rushing around and not taking a moment to breath and connect to our bodies. I believe that we have to love ourselves before we can  love others.

How can we expect to feel after it? 

Hopefully, blissed out and renewed!

Anything else to add?

A neuro surgeon, Jill Bolte-Taylor, was on Oprah a couple of years ago.  She had had a stroke and she wrote a book about her experience with feeling people's energy during her coma. She said she could feel the energy of the nurses as they came into the room and whether they had good feelings towards her or not. It was fascinating!  That is what qi gong is all about - feeling one's energy.