Getting back to California was so exciting for me. Lake Tahoe holds a very special place in my heart, so coming here for a yoga festival combined with music and nature was just perfect.
I arrived to Squaw Valley on Thursday with my two sisters. We were giddy with joy on the shuttle as we took pictures and conversed about our jam packed schedule. We were later joined by one of my sisters 2 friends from Portland, so a suite packed with five females was going to be very interesting.
We wanted to lay low and check out the grounds. Did some shopping, had lunch, enjoyed a nice chilled beer and of course caught some rays by the pool.
The next day I spent an early morning hike with Shiva Rae along the river. Apart from being surrounded by so much paparazzi (seriously, what a turn off) I tried to dive in deep while we meditated along the Ganga. It was very interesting to listen to Shiva, as she is one of the masters of the yoga path. Her soft spoken voice and her delicate way of approaching her sentences was very mesmerizing, until a photographer would budge in front of me to take several snaps... totes ridic.
I arrived to Squaw Valley on Thursday with my two sisters. We were giddy with joy on the shuttle as we took pictures and conversed about our jam packed schedule. We were later joined by one of my sisters 2 friends from Portland, so a suite packed with five females was going to be very interesting.
We wanted to lay low and check out the grounds. Did some shopping, had lunch, enjoyed a nice chilled beer and of course caught some rays by the pool.
The next day I spent an early morning hike with Shiva Rae along the river. Apart from being surrounded by so much paparazzi (seriously, what a turn off) I tried to dive in deep while we meditated along the Ganga. It was very interesting to listen to Shiva, as she is one of the masters of the yoga path. Her soft spoken voice and her delicate way of approaching her sentences was very mesmerizing, until a photographer would budge in front of me to take several snaps... totes ridic.
Photos Taken By Me
I then followed her over to North Face to try out Kalari Vinyasa. This approach is to train the complete self, the body, the emotions and the mind. Our practice began with movement based warm up and conditioning exercises. Then we moved to a set of flowing movement sequences called forms. Each form takes on a specific quality of either energy-generating (masculine) or energy-focusing (feminine). Shiva explained that both types are equally important to the practice of the student and are equally challenging. Kalari is a physically demanding practice, but the beauty is that persons of any physical condition can participate. It's literally dancing yoga, most of the time I found myself looking around as I had no idea what I was doing. I certainly was one of those people that signed up to this class just because I enjoy the presence of Shiva.
It's such a great experience to be here. There are so many people across the country that have made it out to Squaw Valley, you can definitely feel the energy.
And as the rivers that flow from the east and the west merge in the sea and become one with it, forgetting that they were ever separate rivers, all creatures lose their separateness when they merge into pure being - Chandogya Upanishad.
Namasté,
RSS Feed