Guest post by Kaci Yoh

“Only in Colorado do I have to cue yogis to come down from arm balances.”  ~Noah Maze

Well, what can I say, Noah?  Your statement filled me with pride as I pushed my body through your exceptional LEAP! Class on day 2 of Hanuman.  As my ego filled, I noticed how attached I was to accomplishing the postures you cued.

I heard a running dialogue in my mind:

“This class is great.  My arms are getting pumped.  I am going to be so much stronger.  I have never been able to contort myself into Tittibhasana (Firefly Pose) and here I am holding it like …

As I was walking past a group of yoginis who had just been released from their morning class on Friday, one answered her phone and excitedly proclaimed “I ended up going to my morning class and I’m so glad I did because it changed my life.”

In 2 hours, she changed her life. The hardest part was getting there. To think she almost missed that opportunity.

Once you arrived in Boulder, at Hanuman Festival 2012, things were chill (at least vibrationally). Smooth sailing with lots of smiles, joy and freedom.

There was a contagious willingness, an eagerness, that spread rampant across the festival grounds. An outbreak of honest seeking. The yogi(ni)s who …

By guest blogger Tabitha Farrar

Its the end of the third and final day of the Hanuman Festival 2012, and this blog is late. Day One and Two I had already written three blogs posts by lunchtime and than another in the evening. Cycling back and forth from the festival to get home and write and then back again.

This blog is late because today, I just wanted to stay at the festival all day and …relax a bit. (That was hard for me to admit. I wrote and erased it three times.)

And relax I did! I had time to chat to some friends, to watch some Yogaslackers, watch and participate in some …

By guest blogger Tabitha Farrar

The last class that I took today was another with Anand Mehrotra. For the sake of balance, I decided that after the mornings physical asana based class with Richard Freeman, I wanted a more kriya based devotional class in the afternoon.

We were told the story of Hanuman:

Hanuman, worshipped for his strength, valor, agility, is a man of great learning. He is considered to be an avatar (incarnation) of Lord Shiva. Hanuman, a great devotee of Sri Rama, is the symbol of devotion and dedication. Hanuman carried Sri Rama and Lakshmana on his shoulder when they were in search of Sugreeva, the king of Vanarav in Kishkindha and helped them find Sita. Prior to the war between Sri …

By guest blogger Tabitha Farrar

I have lived in Boulder two years, and I have never taken a Richard Freeman class. I have heard many things, so I was very intrigued to take his “Making backbends and finishing poses feel right” class on Saturday at Hanuman.

I like backbends. Which was another reason that I was excited to attend this class. In fact, backbends happen easily for me; what Istruggle with is the reverse, forward fold with a flat back – my nemesis. For just that reason, I like forward folds too, and anything that helps me stretch my psoas muscle as I recognize that this is the true culprit.

Having attended one of his …

By guest blogger Tabitha Farrar

Kula- Community of the heart.

Hanuman festival is a kula of Yogis…..

What defines a Yogi?

Someone who practices asana? Someone who chants? Someone who meditates? One that “OOooommmms”?

In my opinion it is no single activity that defines yoga – yoga is anything that builds union between mind and body, between one and another, between human and organism, between us and the universe.

There are however things that are noticeable about people that practice any kind of yoga…..

For example: Yogis do not drop trash on the ground. Yogis tend to seek out organic foods. Yogis don’t discriminate for race or gender. Yogis smile a lot.

So at a yoga festival, the accumulation of all these people …

From monkeys…

to crows…

flying…

swimming, hiking, biking…

practicing…

In this land of magic mountains, there is only love.

We’re shedding the layers to come back to our true selves.

Share