YogaIowa Fall 2014: The Anniversary Issue

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Creativity

05 inside out brain fitness

07 your brain on yoga

09 transformative travel: brazil

10 kundalini yoga and creative energy

14 yoga+artistic expression

19 tools of the trade

YogaIowa is Turning One!

his issue marks YogaIowa’s first anniversary! While one year is not as momentous as five, ten, or twenty-five, it’s still a big deal to me

since I work full-time, teach yoga, and have a family. I started this publication with

nothing more than a dream, a dribble of personal savings, and a giant leap of faith. My dream was to create a publication that would encourage, inspire, and empower readers on a path to balanced and authentic lives through yoga and living a holistic lifestyle. I really think it all manifested because of yoga and meditation! So it’s only fitting that I honor this issue with my practice, which unleashed my creative and daring fires to start a publication from scratch. I’d like to think YogaIowa is building a nest, helping people discover that when you are part of something bigger than yourself, you feel connected and powerful in a way you never have before. Not only that, YogaIowa is positioning our state as having a thriving yoga community—a place where we have been able to become a part of one another’s lives.

I want to say how grateful I am to those of you who have taken this journey with me—readers, writers, advertisers, photographers, field editors, my yoga teachers, designers, proofreaders, Facebook fans, and even our printer in Webster City. In every way, I am so happy to have you. You’ve blessed me abundantly with your notes and words of encouragement. As we honor the past, I am looking toward the future and delighted to announce that Tracey Kelley has joined the YogaIowa team as managing editor in charge of deepening its engagement with great journalism.

Tracey provides our publication with terrific expertise. For many years, she’s worked as an editor/writer for major publications, websites, and specialty communications. More than that, she’s had a fierce passion for YogaIowa since day one, serving as an incredible resource and talented writer. Now, I can focus on ad sales, distribution, circulation, etc. I’m so grateful for her infectious energy and enthusiasm for connecting with our audience of yoga practitioners and health-conscious readers.

As always, we value your feedback and invite you to email us at [email protected] with your thoughts and suggestions, or write to us at YogaIowa, 522 NE Georgetown Blvd, Ankeny, IA 50021.

Creativity in Everyday LifeIn this issue, we explore the relationship between yoga and the creative journey. Nine yogis share their insight and discoveries on how yoga has enhanced their sensitivity and emotional connections to their art. We also look at Kundalini Yoga and how it can help you reach your highest creative potential. Plus, we introduce a new restaurant review featuring innovative, sustainable, and vegetarian cuisine. If you have a restaurant recommendation that fits this description, let us know.

Namaste,

…with world renowned teacher and author

Christina Sell

S H A K T I Y O G A S H O P P R E S E N T S

OCTOBER 24-26

CLASSES FOR ALL LEVELS • WORKSHOPS • TEACHER TRAINING

In the Shops at Roosevelt • 515.255.2703 • shaktiyogadm.com

THE POWER OF PRACTICE

Details and registration at shaktiyogadm.com

IN THE SHOPS AT ROOSEVELT • DES MOINES

Did you know? A yoga session can boost brain function, says a new Journal of Physical Activity

and Health study. After twenty minutes of hatha yoga, subjects’ reaction times

and cognitive skills improved significantly. “Yoga helps you focus by keeping

distracting thoughts away,” says study author Neha Gothe, PhD. So whether you are an artist or an accountant, hitting the mat aids creativity in everyday life.

YogaIowa’s Newest Field Editor

Meet Trishia Gill, RYT 200, our newest field editor from Sioux City, Iowa. Trishia is a former nurse and avid reader of medical literature and yoga methodology books. She is a mother of five and teaches yoga

at Yoga & Moore and Evolve Yoga, both located in Sioux City. Feel free to contact her at [email protected] with story ideas and events happening in the western part of the state.

Sign up for one session or the whole weekend. Only a few spots

remaining—

REGISTER TODAY!

On The Cover Amy Putney Koenig at the Pappajohn Sculpture Park located in downtown Des Moines featuring artwork by twenty-one of the world’s most celebrated artists. Read Amy’s profile on page 16. Photo by Doug Smith.

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EDITOR ’S LETTER

Awaken Your

where do you practice

to inspire creativity?

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE AT FACEBOOK.COM/YOGAIOWA

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nell

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EXERCISE YOUR BODY, MIND,

AND SOUL AMONG INSPIRING

WORKS OF ART AT THESE

GALLERY’S AND MUSEUMS.

AMESChristian Petersen Art Museum Iowa State University 1017 Morrill Hall C0-sponsored by the University Museums and Recreation Services Wednesdays, 5:20 pm (free)

ANKENYAnkeny Art Center with Annette Vance 1520 S.W. Ordinance Road Thursdays, 1-2 pm ($)

DES MOINESDes Moines Art Center with James Miller 4700 Grand Ave. There is generally a yoga practice held just after an exhibit opens; call (515) 277-4405 for more information. (free)

Moberg Gallery with Drew Maifeld 2921 Ingersoll Ave. Mondays & Thursdays, 6-7 pm ($)

GRINNELLFaulconer Gallery with Monica St. Angelo Grinnell College Bucksbaum Center for the Arts 1108 Park St. Co-sponsored by Faulconer Gallery and Live Well Grinnell Mondays & Thursdays, 12:15 - 12:50 pm (free)

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A U T H E N T I C P O R T R A I T U R E F O R S E N I O R S

DESMITHPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 515-244-4133

3 Natural Ways to Stay balanced &Bright during the HolidaysTHE HOLIDAYS CAN BE ONE OF THE MORE STRESSFUL TIMES

OF THE YEAR. KEEP YOURSELF BALANCED AND BRIGHT THIS

SEASON WITH QUICK YOGA SESSIONS, MEDITATIONS, AND

AROMATHERAPY APPLICATIONS WHILE YOU’RE ON THE GO.

BY CHARLYNN AVERY

QUICK YOGA SESSIONS• Child’s Pose. Good for relaxation,

restoration, and digestion, this pose is perfect at any time.

• Standing Forward Bend. Use this pose to open up your low back after a long day of traveling and to recover after a big meal.

• Downward Facing Dog. This pose is great for general balance and relaxation, and is a gentle aid to digestion.

BALANCING AND BRIGHT MEDITATIONS

• Stay present. When you find yourself rushing and trying to skip ahead, stay present. Enjoy each moment for what it has to offer.

• Focus on the positive. Remind yourself of the good things this season can bring. Love, peace, and gratitude can be simple mantras.

• Offer cheer. When you can’t focus on anything else, smile.

WAYS TO USE AROMATHERAPY AS YOU TRAVEL

• Aromatherapy sticks. If there’s no time for a recipe, lavender and peppermint aromatherapy sticks are great for your purse to have an on-the-go solution.

• Frankincense and lavendar. Diffuse a combination of frankincense and lavender to soothe your mind and stay balanced while enjoying the spirit of the season. Just add two drops of Frankincense and six drops of lavender to your favorite diffuser and enjoy!

Charlynn Avery is an aromatherapist and educator for Aura Cacia, a registered brand of Frontier Co-op. In her work, she travels around the U.S. teaching about safe and effective essential oil use. Avery is a licensed massage therapist and aromatherapist and currently holds additional certifications in holistic nutrition, Thai massage, life coaching, and hypnotherapy. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University and received her additional education through both Carlson College of Massage Therapy and the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.  

RELAXING AND WARMING BODY BALM

4 drops balsam fir needle essential oil3 drops camphor essential oil2 drops nutmeg essential oil3 tablespoons coconut oil Measure out coconut oil into a small bowl. Add essential oils. Mix the oils together and warm in hands before massaging over body.

PUBLISHER/EDITOR

Angela Banowetz Ossian

MANAGING EDITOR

Tracey l. Kelley

THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS

Lisa Acheson Charlynn Avery Val Brown Sheree Clark Kate Connell Sandy Eimers Nancy Footner

Jules Green Denny Kelly Leslie Klipsch Olivia Kvitne Renee Posner Bridget Toomey Jack Wilkes

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Doug Smith, Dani Fox

ART DIRECTION

Cooper Smith & Co.

COPY EDITOR

Becky Langdon

YogaIowa is published four times annually by: YogaIowa, LLC, 522 NE Georgetown Blvd., Ankeny, IA 50021Copyright 2014 Yoga Iowa LLC. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission by the publisher. All rights reserved. YogaIowa assumes no liability for damage or loss. Locally owned, locally minded.

yoga-iowa.com FACEBOOK.COM/YOGAIOWA

FALL 2014 VOLUME 2, NUMBER 4

Comments & submissions Send comments, story ideas, calendar submissions, press releases & public announcements: [email protected] • 515.979.5585

FIELD EDITORS: Central Iowa: Linsey Grams [email protected]

South Central Iowa: Brandi Kastler [email protected]

Cedar Rapids: Kim Reed [email protected]

Western Iowa: Trishia Gill [email protected]

AdvertiseAdvertising Account Executive: Ron Klipfel [email protected] • 515.554.4686

SubscribeYogaIowa is available free of charge at Iowa yoga studios and more than 400 locations throughout central Iowa. To order an annual subscription delivered to your door, please send $15 to Subscription-YogaIowa, 522 NE Georgetown Blvd., Ankeny, IA 50021. For changes of address and other inquiries, contact us in writing at the address above, or [email protected]. To request delivery to your business, contact [email protected].

ADVISORY BOARD

Sheree Clark, holistic health and nutritional coach Diane Glass, facilitator, Tending Your Inner Garden Denny Kelly, founder of Yoga in the Park—Des Moines Ann M. York, PT, PhD, E-RYT 200, RYT 500, Associate Professor, Des Moines University

YOGAIOWA IS DISTRIBUTED QUARTERLY THROUGHOUT IOWA.

HELP US CONSERVE RESOURCES. Share this publication with a friend. Recycle it when you are done.

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ccording to Ayurveda, the three pillars of good health are diet, sleep, and lifestyle. When in balance, these pillars purify the body and emotions, and develop and nurture optimal mental performance in the following areas: learning and

comprehension, processing and retention, as well as memory and recall.

Diet Food for thoughtWhat are you eating and how are you eating it? In Ayurveda, the act of eating is life-giving, so take the extra time and effort to cook your meals with fresh organic ingredients. “Intelligent” foods provide whole nutrition for the body and mind, and when prepared with loving attention, they contain prana, or vital energy.

The process of eating intentionally honors the food we consume. It improves our digestion, allowing the body to maximize more nutrients for optimal mental performance, healthy tissues, proper digestion, and elimination. Healthy digestion is the cornerstone of Ayurvedic health; it is essential, as it converts food into energy-producing nutrients and overall vitality. To eat the Ayurvedic way:

• Favor fresh, well-cooked foods, when possible. Avoid eating leftovers (food over one day old), genetically-altered, processed, preserved, or artificial foods.

• Maintain regular mealtimes and have your main meal at lunch, when your “digestive fire” is functioning best.

• Eat slowly, chew your food well, and enjoy your meal in a settled, undistracted environment.

• Avoid cold or iced drinks. They tend to dampen the “digestive fire.”

Sleep What is your bedtime routine?If your bedtime routine involves sending that last email, text, tweet, or pin when the lights go out, you might find yourself twisting and turning all night. Instead, work during the day and save your bed for rest.

The body heals itself during sleep. Ayurveda recommends turning in before 10 p.m. and waking with the sunrise. When the sun sets, our bodies naturally slow down, and turning in at this time honors millennia of evolution, giving our bodies maximum rest. Sleep before 10 p.m is nourishing, restorative, and rejuvenating. Rising early with the sunrise resets our body each day and can create a healthy habit for our rest cycle. This schedule might seem completely unrealistic for some of us, so there are small adjustments that you can make to enhance the quality of your sleep and improve mental performance during the day.

Power down all electronics, and don’t bring any of them into your bed. Instead, take thirty minutes to do the following:

• Step into a warm bath with aroma therapeutic oil. Ayurvedic practitioners have been using this treatment for thousands of years.

• A gentle oil massage of the lower arms, legs, hands, and soles of the feet increases circulation, loosens toxins, and stimulates nerve endings.

• Ahhh! Time to get into bed. Make your room as dark as possible, or slip on a silk-lined eye mask, so that your body can produce melatonin, the important sleep hormone, naturally as you drift into a peaceful night’s sleep.

Lifestyle De-StressA balanced, calm mind provides focus, direction, retention of knowledge, and problem-solving ability. The times we live in can be challenging, and you may experience stress or anxiety as a result. Over time, mental performance can be inhibited by stress and anxiety, and if left unchecked it can become severe enough to damage or destroy brain cells.

Don’t fret! Ayurveda has many simple practices that can help manage stress.

• Practice stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation, or the meditation of your choice. Also enjoy occasional short breaks of silence, even just five minutes, during periods of intense mental activity. Learning to develop some silence within will go a long way.

• Simplify by getting organized: Make lists, plan ahead, and avoid rushing your life.

• Maintain a healthy schedule: Balance work and relaxation.

• Make daily exercise a priority in your routine. Balance between your diet, sleep, and lifestyle balances your doshas, or mind-body attributes of vata, pitta, and kapha. Fortunately, we are a unique combination of all three. When your doshas are in equilibrium, good health, beauty, and optimal mental function are in perfect balance.

AYURVEDIC TIPS TO HELP YOU FIND BALANCE IN YOUR DIET AND SLEEP WHILE YOU BANISH STRESS. BY RENEE POSNER AND VAL BROWN

Renée Posner joined MAPI (Maharishi Ayurveda Products International) as VP of Marketing in 2013. Renée’s experience with the mind-body connection goes back even further. Renée learned transcendental meditation while

studying physiology and has been practicing for more than thirty-five years. Renee has a B.S. in biology from American University and studied physiology at Georgetown University School of Medicine, providing her early foundation in health and critical thinking.

Val Brown, RYT 200, joined Maharishi Ayurveda Products International (MAPI) as the social media manager in June of 2014. She’s pursuing Ayurvedic Wellness Consultant

Certification through Maharishi University of Management. In addition to working at MAPI, Val is a certified Relax and Renew restorative yoga teacher.

Unwind before bedtime by sipping a calming cup of tea.

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A Joyful Season for Meditation

GET A HOLIDAY GLOW—TRY MEDITATION TO

KEEP HOLIDAY STRESS AT BAY. BY JULES GREEN

The changing seasons provide opportunities for deep reflection. In autumn and winter, I look back over the past year’s growth while anticipating a busy holiday season and the delights of planning for the year ahead. Inevitably a little fear, a little regret, and a little wondering “what if” appear in the midst of my daydreaming, reminding me of the importance of simply being here, now. My daily meditation practice has taught me to live, love, celebrate, handle stresses, and face challenges while maintaining a joyful center amidst it all. I wish the same for you.

Meditation comes in many forms, techniques, and traditions. At its core, it’s the act of employing a simple mental technique that calms the mind and settles the body into a state of deep rest. When the body rests deeply, it heals, rejuvenates, restores.

Stress is a response, not a situation. So is relaxation. Both are necessary for survival but can become habitual. Whatever we experience consistently, we become. When stress is our consistent response, our bodies record this—with higher blood pressure, a suppressed immune system, hormonal imbalances, digestive disorders, and even deterioration of neurons in the brain. We begin to believe this is just how life is or accept the effects of stress as a personality trait, rather than acknowledging what stress really is—a maladaptive response.

Meditation helps us adapt to the demands of the moment. Meditation reduces anxiety, depression, and stress hormones, flooding the system with a “neurochemistry of bliss”: serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins. It improves functionality of the prefrontal cortex, responsible for higher order thinking, logic, planning, and creativity. Rather than firing off at every little frustration, the “reptilian” or “instinctive” brain sleeps until a true fight-or-flight survival situation arises. Fearlessness and compassion increase. Meditation improves the health of the deep limbic system, the part of the brain that interprets meaning, including our bonding experiences with each other and sexuality. The amygdala, a little nut-sized bundle deep within the limbic system responsible for our emotional learning, cools down instead of causing us to react in anger, frustration, and panic.

It’s time to meditate Never before have there been more demands on our physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies than today. Our society functions in a stressed-out, sleep-deprived, over-worked, caffeine-induced state that we accept as normal. These traits may be amplified during the holiday season. Yet we are not designed to live like this. Our natural state? Bliss. Peace. Fulfillment. Joy. Productivity. Creativity. Progress. Love.

Within each of us lies an animating presence. Your presence is aware of all things, has been with you since birth and is considered the real you. More than just your body or mind, this presence embodies all of the qualities I mentioned above. Meditation enables you to tap into this presence and your natural state. With regular practice, your intention of learning to meditate will fulfill itself effortlessly and create a new normal that ushers in a sustainable season of joy in your life.

An educator for more than two decades, Jules Green, M.A., A.C.C., is a certified meditation teacher specializing in mindfulness and mantra-based practices and the study of consciousness. She’s also a certified holistic life coach specializing in life fulfillment, life purpose, and relationships, as well as a certified Reiki practitioner. Jules’s previous professional life spanned Europe, Mexico, Central and South America, and India, culminating in a rewarding teaching career in New York City. She now resides in her home state of Iowa with her family and travels

throughout the United States for speaking engagements, to teach meditation, and to facilitate coaching workshops.

JOIN US FOR CReatIve QIgONg Qigong (chee-gong) is a form of gentle meditation

exercise that helps you increase self-awareness, build

internal energy, and develop a healthy mind, body,

and spirit. Classes incorporate gentle movements and

breathing exercises, along with group discussion of

timely topics, to develop your mind and body’s ability

to heal physically, mentally, and emotionally.

(515) 313 1156 / www. INNeRpROSpeR Ity.COm

quiet your mind / connect with your body / feel your soul /

S H O W T H I S A D T O R E C E I V E A F R E E C L A S S !Classes are held thursday evenings / 7:30 – 9:00 pmShakti yoga Shop / 4119 Rollins ave / Des moines, Ia 50312

to learn more, and to sign up, visit www.innerprosperity.com

Meditation reduces anxiety, depression, and

stress hormones—flooding the

system with a “neurochemistry

of bliss.”

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MIND. BODY. SPIRIT. THIS TRIAD IS THE FOUNDATION OF EACH YOGA PRACTICE. YET WHILE

THE EFFECTS ON THE BODY ARE EASY TO DISCERN, INFLUENCES ON THE MIND AND SPIRIT

ARE MOSTLY SUBJECTIVE. GABRIEL AXEL, M.SC., E-RYT 500, IS A NEUROSCIENTIST AND

YOGI WORKING TO QUANTIFY OUR EXPERIENCES MORE DIRECTLY. BY TRACEY KELLEY

yoga makes a better

Share with us your journey as a neuroscientist and as a yogi.

My journey began with the question “What is it that makes us human?” Born

with the proclivity of a scientist, I decided to look at the brain as a possible place to

find that answer. Throughout my academic training and independent investigation, I

found the brain to be a hologram for the laws of consciousness and nature. In order to forge a more

integral path, I needed to understand consciousness from the inside, from first-hand experience. I

then intensified my yogic zeal to dive into the heart of beingness, with the goal of complete development.

What is the insula, and why should all yogis be interested in it? Self-awareness has been shown to be intimately correlated with activity in the part of the brain called the insula. It is involved in the dual-purpose circuitry of introspection and socio-emotional intelligence. Mindful meditation has been demonstrated to increase activity in the anterior insula, which in turn reduces the perception of pain, or nociception. Scientists have reason to suspect its involvement in higher degrees of self-awareness.

How does yoga prompt neuroplasticity, or the capacity the brain has to rewire itself? The more we practice nonjudgmental attention to deeper layers of being, measured by developmental changes in the quality of our awareness, the bio-energetic currents of our nervous system progressively open and clear. Yoga helps to erode away at concretized self-perceptions, which alter the activity of brain circuits. The conductive nature of the nervous system produces electromagnetic and scalar fields that encode all aspects of our experience.

How can we use yoga to expand creativity?Yoga helps to integrate what may be presently disparate aspects of our being. Skillful yoga promotes a confluence of bio-energetic currents, which simplifies life and allows our intuition to come to the fore. When our nervous system is “cleaned up,” the result is more lubricated creativity.

You’ve said that yoga is not “what” we do, but “how” we do something. Yes. There is a misconception that yoga has to appear a certain way. Yoga means “union,” and the way we get there is by how we choose to engage with experience, with our integral reality. The best yoga is the simplest of all, the most integrated of all, once all the uncooperative

currents of our being become confluent. This takes time and fixity of purpose. The last stage of the Zen Oxherding Pictures is the “return to the marketplace,” where one appears ordinary whilst being extraordinary. Focusing on the “what” fosters attachment to outcomes. If you’re focused and spiritually attuned, life will be lived with virtue and dignity.

What is your Neural Axis program? Neural Axis is an accessible platform for self-management informed by cutting edge neuroscience and yogic science. It is both a repository/database for knowledge on how certain yogic techniques may result in certain changes to the nervous system and a system for guiding practitioners into greater wholeness. The idea is to tangibly anchor development in an integral age by taking into account neurobiological health, yogic and self-awareness techniques, as well as the sociocultural contexts in which these are enacted. Clients can practice tailored methods that meet them where they are.

What benefits have people experienced with the program?The modern mind often needs to logically anchor itself in something tangible, and the neuroscience element offers the language for that. Participants have greatly benefited from the fusion of neuroscience with yogic science because it helps them know where they are, where they are headed, and why. Participants have gained an increased understanding of their development, the capacitance of their bio-energetic channels, and the freedom of engaging life as a creative engineering project. There’s a technique for virtually every need, and Neural Axis aims to help individuals realize the potential of their nervous system. 

Any further thoughts? The key aspect of our being is the ability to choose how we live and how we engage. You could be a semi-conscious organism, but you’re endowed with the gift of human birth, which is a huge responsibility. It takes courage to see this and not run away. How many summers do you have left in this body? Tend to the fire within and utilize consciousness for greater good. I suggest not to take it for granted, make life sacred, choose where attention goes, purify, and keep evolving.Learn more at GabrielAxel.com

Tracey L. Kelley, RYT 500, is certified in Freestyle Hatha Yoga, Adamantine Yoga, and Lakshmi Voelker Chair Yoga. She specializes in working with beginning and intermediate yoga students. She’s the managing editor of YogaIowa and the founder of re: communications, a firm focused on improving communication through mindful listening. Learn more at recommunicationsmedia.com

Yoga helps to erode away at

concretized self-perceptions,

which alter the activity of brain circuits.

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Give yourself the gift of regular homepractice this seasonTHE HOLIDAYS CAN SET YOU BACK ON YOUR HEALTH AND

WELLNESS GOALS OR BE A TIME TO RETREAT FURTHER INTO

YOUR HOME SADHANA AND CONTINUE TO CULTIVATE YOUR

HOME YOGA PRACTICE. BY KATE CONNELL

Between holiday parties, prepping for time with family and friends, and clocking in hours of shopping, it can be difficult to find motivation, time, and the effort to commit to your yoga practice. In addition to the scientific and feel-good benefits of a yoga practice, a personal home practice allows you to dive deeper into your self-care and spiritual practices, to begin to cultivate a stronger relationship with self, and to inhabit your body in a way that encourages symmetry, strength, and connectedness.

Create self-trustEmbarking on a personal home practice means committing to a level of self-care and prioritization. This inevitably creates self-trust, which is amplified by the continual promise to show up even when it’s hard or unknown.

Embody: Reflect on your personal sankalpa (intention) and journal on what self-trust means to you. Write about how you uphold the promises you make on and off the mat and begin to create ease in areas of your life that keep you from your personal yoga practice, especially during the joyful, yet busy, holiday season.

Seek and acknowledge an inner guideYour inner guide can truly shine in a personal practice setting. Often when we create the container for our inner guides, this allows us to create boundaries around our practice and explore deeper.

Embody: Pick a few home practices where you ask yourself the question, “What is trying to happen here?” Use your practice as an opportunity to listen to and honor your inner guide’s voice.

Use movement and breath as a mirrorYou can use your yoga practice as a lens into how you act in and interact with the world. Our practice then becomes an off-the-mat practice.

Embody: Start journaling your explorations on the mat. Create a space where you reflect on your interactions and reactions while you’re practicing, and also when you step away from your practice. You may find some interesting correlations.

Cultivate physical transformation Many of us are attracted to yoga on a physical level, and a home yoga practice can deliver bodily transformation in a multitude of ways.

Embody: Set sail with a sadhana (personal practice) by committing to a daily yoga practice that you engage in for a specific length of time. Include asana and meditation, and pick a location, time of day, and length that is reasonable to your intention.

The benefits of a home practice differ from yogi to yogi, but the creation and continual cultivation of a home practice that suits your life and needs will certainly benefit you during the holidays and all through the year.

Kate Connell is a passionate curator of at-home practitioners and a mentor for yoga teachers looking to master the art of teaching private yoga lessons and create a business they adore. Her niched private yoga teacher training debuts this fall. Sign up for the Teacher’s Toolbox, a free weekly newsletter packed with tips for the private yoga teacher at www.YouAndTheYogaMat.com.

DebClarksYogaExperience.com

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Brazil

have a yogic trip to share?

E-MAIL US AT

[email protected]

enchanted mountain retreat, brazil BY SANDY EIMERS

After six years of dividing my time between my paycheck and my passion, I submitted my notice at the pharmacy. Two days later I received confirmation that I had been selected as Joseph Le Page’s assistant to help revise his book, The Yoga Teacher’s Toolbox, at his home in southern Brazil for ninety days beginning in May 2014.

Joseph and Lilian Le Page are the founders of Integrative Yoga Therapy. They’ve spent the last thirteen years creating Enchanted Mountain, their home and yoga retreat/training center built into the side of a magnificent mountain just outside the surf town of Garopaba. The guest cabins, temple, yoga practice rooms, and reception hall are constructed with recycled wood gathered from over 150 abandoned homes in Santa Catarina.

During May and June, we worked on book revisions daily. Joseph practiced each pose on a nearby mat and I typed the revisions. We took a midday break to swim, surf, walk the expansive ocean beaches, or enjoy stand-up paddle boarding on a nearby lake. In July we continued the work at the Le Page’s winter home north of Rio de Janeiro in Bahia on the Maraú Peninsula.

This incredible trip enabled me to make connections with yoga practitioners from all around the globe while in Brazil. I will continue to work for and with Joseph to further heal the separation of dis-ease with the unifying effects of yoga.

WE ASKED IOWA YOGIS TO SHARE THEIR TRAVEL EXPERIENCES THAT

DEEPENED THEIR DEDICATION TO PRACTICE AND YOGIC LIFESTYLE.

Most memorable moment July 12. A full supermoon rose over the Atlantic Ocean while I bathed my newly purchased crystals mined in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Three greatest gifts I brought home• Palo Santo, or holy wood, to be burned for

energy clearing• Brazilian music! My favorite: “Lenda Das

Sereias,” Marisa Monte• No Residue Mantra from Lilian Le Page,

generally shared before meals, placing one open hand on either side of your plate.

Sandy Eimers is a pharmacist, yoga therapist, and owner of balance yoga lounge and balanced breath school of yoga, in Ankeny, Iowa. She recently completed four weeks of study at the Kripalu Center of Yoga and Health in western Massachusetts with Joseph LePage of Integrative Yoga Therapy. She is available to work with health care practitioners interested in learning how therapeutic yoga can assist in managing chronic dis-ease, and works

one-to-one with students in search of health through unity.

No Residue Mantrafrom Lilian Le Page

Om, Annan BrahmaRaso VishnuPakto Devo MahesvaraEvam Jnatva Tu Yo BhunkteAnna Dosho Na Lipyate

Translation: Brahma gives us food. Vishnu gives us the ability to find its essence. Shiva allows this essence to be assimilated into us. When you eat with this expanded awareness, the food becomes pure and no toxins remain.

From left: Ellen Schaeffer, IYT affiliate coordinator;

Joseph Le Page, founder of IYT; and Sandy Eimers

enjoying fresh coconuts!

The beach from Vulture Rock at Guarda do Embau

For more information about the Enchanted Mountain Retreat, visit Integrative Yoga Therapy at iytyogatherapy.com

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INSPIRE

transformative

Three Minutes to Energy, Creativity, and Prosperity There are many Kundalini Yoga kriyas and meditations that work on the fifth chakra and help you unblock it. Try this one from Kundalini Yoga by Shakta Kaur Khalsa:

Sitting in Easy Pose, make hands into fists and bring them to the sides of the body at chest level with the elbows pressed back. Extend your chest out. Take five deep breaths, then inhale deeply and hold the breath. With the breath held, begin punching the arms alternately. When you cannot hold the breath any longer, exhale. Inhale and repeat the powerful punching motion with the held breath. Exhale, inhale, and repeat one more time for a total of three times. Then sit, eyes closed, and breathe as slowly as you can for two minutes. Stretch and relax.

Kundalini Yoga, by Shakta Kaur Khalsa This guide to Kundalini is a great reference for both beginning and advanced practitioners. Try the kriya “Three Minutes to Energy, Creativity and Prosperity.”

Kriya, by Yogi Bhajan A classic resource for kriyas, meditations, mantras, and visualizations. Two you may enjoy are “Meditation for Creative Manifestation Kriya” and “Creative Energy Kriya.”

Physical Wisdom, complied by Hanjot Kaur Khalsa and Yogi Bhajan  A manual for all that is Kundalini, this book contains a number of direct-path meditations, including “Meditation for the Navel Center, Heart Center, Throat Center and Third Eye.”  

The Kundalini Experience, by Guru Dharam S. Khalsa and Darryl O’Keefe   Another comprehensive reference for physical poses, breathing techniques, and focused meditations. Try “Creativity II” to expand your potential.

Yoga & Creative Energyany yoga practitioners have heard of Kundalini but don’t really understand what it is or how it works. Kundalini lives

inside each of us and is typically in a dormant state. Kundalini energy is a creative and healing energy, and raising it allows a person to reach his or her full potential.

Kundalini in Sanskrit translates to “coiled.” This is why in the yogic tradition Kundalini is portrayed as a coiled serpent at the base of the spine. Kundalini is the uncoiling of the inner awareness of our spiritual selves. This energy can sit at the base of the spine until it is activated and it is able to rise up through the chakras. Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan is a safe and effective tool we all have to help us raise this powerful energy and allow our creativity to flow.

When we do Kundalini Yoga, this energy mixes at the navel point and moves down to the root chakra at the base of the spine. The energy then spirals up through the sushumna (the central column or channel of the spine) to the pituitary and pineal glands in the brain. From there, it makes a double loop in the throat chakra, and then flows back down to the heart center, the navel point, and the root chakra. There are two nerve channels called the ida (negative energy) and the pingala (positive energy) that intertwine around the sushumna. These two nerve channels feed the Kundalini energy throughout the nervous system.

The throat chakra, or the fifth chakra, is associated with self-expression and creativity. The physical areas of the body associated with the fifth chakra are the throat, trachea, thyroid gland, ears, and nose. On a physical level, this chakra directly relates to speech and a person’s ability to effectively communicate and express herself. If a person’s fifth chakra is out of balance, he may experience weakness in his expressive and descriptive abilities.

An artist takes great care of his tools. Yet the

fundamental tool, the mind, is left wandering,

full of conflicting desires. It is necessary to be

able to tune the mind to the basic life forces

and to be able to relax the mental processes so that spontaneous

creative impulses can come through.

~YOGI BHAJAN

Each Kundalini Yoga kriya, or series of exercises, works on moving the Kundalini energy through the chakras. There are thousands of Kundalini kriyas. Each kriya includes a sequence of postures, pranayama, and mantra that work together in a specific energetic way. Every kriya is unique and focuses on a different result. There are many Kundalini Yoga kriyas and meditations that focus on creativity (see sidebar for one example). Asanas that enhance creative expression through the fifth chakra include Shoulder Stand, Cobra Pose, Plow Pose, Camel Pose, and neck rolls. And all mantras give you an opportunity to open the fifth chakra.

Kundalini is an energetically powerful lineage of yoga and will help you to reach your highest creative potential.

Bridget Toomey, RYT 200, is certified by the Kundalini Research Institute, and teaches Kundalini Yoga at Heartland Yoga in Iowa City. She began practicing Kundalini Yoga after spending time living in India. She was initially drawn to Kundalini Yoga’s holistic approach using all aspects of yoga including asanas, mantra, mudras, meditation, and pranayama. She is a member of the International Kundalini Yoga Teachers

Association and a Reiki practitioner. Bridget currently works for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in patient financial services as an education coordinator.

KUNDALINI YOGA HELPS YOGIS FIND THEIR CREATIVE FLOW, FOCUS, AND INTUITION BY BRIDGET TOOMEY

books to exploreExplore new ways to open your path to creativity with these Kundalini exercises, meditations, and kriyas. All books are available at SpiritVoyage.com.

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I’ve been noticing lately that a few of my regular yoga students are missing from Guided Self-Practice on Monday mornings. One recently confessed that she is often too sore from attending other yoga classes around town on the weekends to do her regular daily practice of Adamantine® Yoga come Monday.

This made me reflect on my own practice and how much I value the simple fact that I never feel sore. That’s right, never. I don’t believe you’re supposed to feel that way. I don’t think it’s necessary. I believe you should feel better because you have practiced, not worse.

But when you import some of the ideas prevalent in more traditional exercise modalities, it’s easy to conclude that if you don’t get sore/feel the burn/breakdown the muscle that you’re not getting the benefits. I disagree. I think there’s a reason why many modern yoga teachers are teaching classes that “kick-your-asana” and leave you feeling sore, and it might surprise you. I also think there is really no precedent for this in traditional yoga itself. Lastly, I don’t think it’s very “yogic”at all. There, I said it. Now to back it up.

Read the rest of this blog entry, Upgrade Your Asana, at AdamantineYoga.com and find out why I believe there’s a better way for you to practice yoga. —James Miller, founder, Adamantine® Yoga

Does your practice KICK YOUR ASANA?

AdamantineYoga.com

LEARN MORE—AND VIEW THE

REVOLUTIONARY ADAMANTINE® YOGA

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FOR ME. IT CREATES BALANCE IN THE BODY AS A WHOLE. MY CREATIVITY IS

A PART OF WHO I AM. I’M AN ARTIST. I’M A HUMAN. -AMY PUTNEY KOENIG

YOGA ENRICHES THE FLOW OF BREATH, BLOOD, AND

NINE CREATIVES TELL US

WHAT INSPIRES THEM.

BY LESLIE KLIPSCH PHOTOS: DOUG SMITH,

DANI FOX, AND FEATURED ARTISTS

yoga+artistic

Ben Easter at the Pappajohn Sculpture Park in downtown Des Moines. Read Ben’s profile on page 15. Photo by Doug Smith.

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In 2005, when Greg Houseal was seeking relief from a bout with sciatica, he attended a student-taught university wellness yoga class. Having always been a runner, he appreciated how yoga not only seemed to offer relief from his ailments, but also enhanced his stride and overall physicality.

Since then, yoga has impacted his life in many ways, including in his artistic endeavors. Making pottery is a hobby Houseal has enjoyed for decades. Tending toward functional art, he creates forms such as bowls, plates, mugs, cups, and platters—as well as the occasional ceramic “Gumby yogis doing poses.”

In producing pottery, clay must be wedged to a proper consistency so that it has just the right amount of moisture. Wedging also lends strength to the final form by removing air pockets and aligning the clay particles in a uniform direction. “Wedging might be likened to having a healthy diet, staying well-hydrated,

and getting adequate rest in our own body in preparation for practice,” Houseal explains. “Like yoga, clay requires a brief period of centering on the wheel before you can throw a form. There’s a learning curve to centering clay, and that just takes practice and awareness, which informs experience. And like yoga, it requires both practice and non-attachment to the outcome. Many failed pots teach you that!”

Houseal has also found yoga to be a great teacher of patience, which is especially valuable on days when he’s not necessarily in a creative mood but sits down at the wheel anyway. When the creative muse does settle into his psyche, Houseal finds he’s more patient with the process of unfolding and less inclined to rigidly adhere to a preconceived outcome.

There are other similarities between his yoga practice and his art as well. “Sitting at the wheel is kind of like showing up on your mat to practice. You never quite know how it’s going

to go, what’s going to come out of the process, what you might learn,” Houseal explains with a wisdom reminiscent of what the artist Pablo Picasso once said. “Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.”

Artist Jennifer Murphy creates glass that is not just nice to look at, but that is also functional in nature. Because she does not believe in having things in her life that do not fully integrate with her own personal values, when she creates a piece she ponders how people might use it; for instance, how a piece of jewelry might be created to be multi-functional. As she creates, she’ll wonder: Can this be a pendant and an aromatherapy diffuser? Can specific stone pieces be integrated into a specific piece in order to magnify the energy that flows in both the glass and the stones? As a spiritual healer, Murphy says she seeks to infuse each of her creations with its own healing energy for whomever it chooses.

Yoga, which Murphy has been practicing consistently for eight years, has enriched her art. “Being able to be centered and focused when I work is key,” she explains. “I can tell when I am having an off day, the work is clunky, and I can’t find the right rhythm and the right process. When I have been disciplined in my spiritual

practice, the work flows, I flow with it, and the pieces come out as they are supposed to.”

Not only does she find her practice to be an energetic outlet, but she also believes yoga helps her creativity. “The physical movement and subsequent energetic movement that yoga affords me invites the energetic and then physical movement required for glass pieces to be born,” she explains. For Murphy, yoga is a practice that supports the connection between spiritual and physical movement, something that is also required to move glass into form and function. “Essentially,” she enthuses, “both are forms of energy movement and I feel an incredible synergy with them.”

Years ago when actor and photographer Ben Easter was faced with anxiety surrounding auditions, his acting coach and friend, Jamie Rose, suggested he try ujjayi breathing. It was a recommendation meant to naturally lengthen his breath and help him relax, but it ultimately led to a meaningful yoga practice that Easter believes has enriched both his work and his life.

In the fifteen years since, the Des Moines-based artist has been practicing yoga and says that he has managed to be more present and thus able to gain access to something bigger—something he defines as a higher consciousness and a connectedness to the world around him.

“It is my job to be aware and witness,” Easter says. “As a photographer, I must be able to capture the moment. As an actor, I must be present and at the same time play ‘make-believe’ the best I can to convince my audience it is truth.”

The same acting coach had more wisdom to share with Easter: Accidents or unexpected events that happen in the moment are a gift for an actor because it pulls an individual into the moment, keeping it honest. Easter feels the same holds true for photography. “The unexpected moments are a gift, and that is where the magic happens,” he says. “It is imperative that I am present in order to be of service to my client.”

Since his first class at Liberation Yoga on La Brea Boulevard in Los Angeles, Easter has been hooked by yoga and finds that when he doesn’t practice, he has a more difficult time being available creatively. “The connection I have with yoga is very important and very intimate,” he says.

It’s this connection that Easter believes has profoundly enriched his work by keeping him present in the moment and open to magic as it happens—whether he happens to be in front of the camera or behind the lens.

Jennifer Murphy

When I have been disciplined in my spiritual

practice, the work flows, I flow with it, and the pieces come

out as they are supposed to.”

“The unexpected moments are

a gift, and that is where the

magic happens.”

Ben Easter

Greg HousealPOTTER/CERAMIC ARTIST · CEDAR FALLS, IOWA · YEARS PRACTICING YOGA: 9 www.cederfalls.com at the city-owned Hearst Center for the Arts

PHOTOGRAPHER/ACTOR · DES MOINES, IOWA YEARS PRACTICING YOGA: 15 www.beneasterphotography.com

GLASS MAKER · CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA YEARS PRACTICING YOGA: 13www.nolimitslifecoach.com

‘Like yoga, clay requires a brief period of centering on the wheel before you can throw a form.”

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“My art begins with my need to make sense of the world,” says native Iowan, writer, and yogi Robin Bourjaily. “I love words, the way they interplay and reflect off of one another; I love the way punctuation and even white space on a page makes meaning. The polished, finished product presents an opportunity to connect with my readers and to offer something to the ongoing larger conversation of the creative world. When I am successful, my writing represents my relentless pursuit of living a reflective life.”

A former English professor and owner of Radiant Om Yoga in Windor Heights, Bourjaily offers Poses & Prose workshops, giving creative types the opportunity to connect to their inner, authentic artists on the mat and on the page.

“Yoga points me to my true north,” she explains. “Practice helps me to get

quiet, to be more introspective, and to silence the whirl that is

so often overwhelming and all around me—the needs of my house, business, family, friends … these can easily get noisy and demanding. When I practice, those demands fall away. Out of the quiet comes creative inspiration, sometimes in the form of an image or even just the twinkle of an idea.”

Early on, she had a glimmer of the idea that yoga and writing dovetailed, but couldn’t formulate the words to express the relationship. Then she discovered Jeffrey Davis’s book, The Journey from the Center to the Page. In 2007, Bourjaily took her first workshop with Davis at the University of New Mexico’s Summer Writing Festival in Taos. “Jeffrey’s Yoga As Muse practice put into words, on the mat, and on the page for me everything I was finding true about writing and yoga—not only do they go together, but yoga practice encourages writing with an authentic voice. Yoga’s skillful means give writers freedom to circumnavigate writer’s block and the internal editors that so often frustrated creative expression,” she relates.

For a woman who finds creative thinking to be a high-energy, often chaotic, mental and physical exercise, yoga brings a sense of calm. Sarah Grant, an abstract painter and the owner and lead designer at Sticks, Inc., is new to yoga, but has already discovered great benefits from the early stages of her practice.

“Yoga has given me the opportunity to turn off my creative thinking for an hour or so a day, which is a big deal when you have a creative mind that is always on go mode,” she explains. “Yoga has allowed me to see my whole self is not just to be determined by my art and creativity…it has made me calmer and less driven to be ‘on’ creatively all the time.”

Beyond her work and art, Grant enjoys activities like kayaking, golf, and gardening, as well as a group of family and friends, and two Labradors. Inspired by her three adult daughters who all practice yoga, Grant began her own practice less than a year ago and says she feels happier because of it.

“I was nervous to start,” she says, “but in [instructor] Mathew Koder I have found a gentle, yet advancing, self-guided practice that keeps me calm and has cast away aches and pains of sixty years…mentally, physically, and in my heart.” As she’s traveled through life as a successful working artist, she has learned to appreciate the multi-dimensional nature of being human—noting that devoting life solely to creative endeavors can quiet other special parts of a person that make up the complete individual.

Since her introduction to yoga, she has not looked back. She and a friend have also been diligent at rallying their age sixty-plus friends to join them. “My life feels so complete when I practice…and in some way lacking when I must miss a practice for other life activities,” says the artist. “I plan to be a yogi ‘til my last days.”

Amy Putney Koenig’s paintings are bright, graphic, loose, raw, and funky, often with animals, women, and symbolism. “I like my paintings to be inspiring and empowering,” she says. “They tell stories of life and death and everything in between from my personal view and wide spiritual path.” Describing her collage work as a combination of photographs, antique papers, and found objects, she aims to invite curiosity in the viewer and display affection for Victorian ephemera and spiritualism.

Koenig, who has a studio in Des Moines, is also an art director and yoga instructor. Her endeavors coexist with her belief that as she works on being disciplined in her yoga

practice, so comes focus for her art and creativity. “If I cut corners in my breath or postures it is likely I cut corners in other areas of my life,” she explains. “Yoga practice helps me see the areas I sneak and hide from being my best self so I can let it go and tune in on truth in life. Yoga enriches the flow of breath, blood, and spirit for me. It creates balance in the body as a whole. My creativity is a part of who I am. I’m an artist. I’m a human.”

Describing herself as a “wild roller skater but never sporty,” Koenig had braces and corrective shoes as a child and both of her ankles were broken and reset in high school. Since taking her first yoga class fourteen years ago through Des Moines Park and Recreation, she has felt like it was something she could do. For her, yoga has been an exercise that invites consideration and a letting go of unnecessary perceptions and reactions.

Inspired by everything from bones to old buildings, Frida Kahlo to French fries, Koenig finds yoga helps to clear away some of the negative static and brain chatter with breath and movement, allowing what’s good, positive, and productive to flow. Simply put, her yogic life and creative life are fused by practice. “Practice your practice,” she counsels. “Practice who you are and what you love. Practice art, both making and seeing. Practice creative thinking. Practice life! It takes work to grow and create.”

Amy Putney Koenig

“When I feel a failure in my work, I have a tendency to walk away from it

and be hard on myself. Yoga has helped me see this is all just part of the creative journey.”

“T he most important tool is to be open to the connective tissue between yoga and all aspects of your life

off the mat. Creativity isn’t limited to art, music, and writing. Yoga teaches us to expand our thinking, change

our approaches, and bring creative ingenuity to all aspects of our lives. It keeps us from getting lodged

in one way, one idea, one philosophy.”

Robin Bourjaily

MIXED MEDIA ARTIST/PAINTER · DES MOINES, IOWA · YEARS PRACTICING YOGA: 14

www.facebook.comDarkHeartArt

ABSTRACT PAINTER · DES MOINES IOWA YEARS PRACTICING YOGA: 6 MONTHSwww.Sticks.com

Sarah Grant

FICTION & NONFICTION WRITER · CLIVE, IOWA YEARS PRACTICING YOGA: 16

www.radiantomyoga.com

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“Dance has always felt like a spiritual practice for me. As Einstein said, ‘Dancers are the athletes of God.’ I’ve always felt that.”

Carol Morehead took her first ballet class at age three, continued to train throughout high school, majored in modern dance in college, and has taught and performed for the past thirty years. In the midst of a lifetime of devotion, she still prefers to be in dance class than just about anywhere else. “When I’m dancing, I feel deeply embodied, at home in my body and aware of my power and strength as body and brain move in synchrony. I’m grateful to be able to dance so well at almost age fifty-nine,” she says.

Meditation and yoga have also long been part of Morehead’s life. She began her twice-a-day practice of Transcendental Meditation at age thirteen. “In the silence of meditation we can contact that field of infinite creativity within,” she explains. “And yoga helps to open the subtle energetic channels in the body, and then moves the Shakti, the Divine Bliss, throughout the body. When I started practicing the TM-Sidhi Program in 1976, I experienced a quantum shift of that directed internal energy moving upward and throughout my body, which is the impulse of Divine Play or Shakti.”

Such discipline has influenced her art in tangible ways over the years. “My dance took on a fuller and more powerful quality when

I learned to consciously breathe with my movements. It took years to develop, but much grew from teaching Kripalu YogaDance for twelve years, which merges movement with breath with music.”

Dance is a physical art form and Morehead says she aims to channel internal energy into her movement and performance. “But dance is also temporary,” she says. “One movement after another disappearing in time and space. You see it and then it’s gone, so I try to infuse each movement and moment with power and meaning.”

“Surrendering, letting go, non-judgment, and acceptance are all principles taught through yoga and meditation that have also helped me be more creative,” says painter and art therapist Molly Ludwig-Henningsgaard. “I am eternally grateful for these lessons because they have helped me become my true self. My true self can express herself through painting and art in ways that reflect back to me who I truly am. That is an amazing gift that I cherish!”

Ludwig-Henningsgaard employs a process she calls “soul painting” and has found that doing so allows her to see another side of herself. She approaches art with intention and allows whatever she is feeling to be expressed, whether sadness, anger, or joy. The process, she says, teaches her more about her true self, revealing passion, creativity, and spirituality.

Yoga and meditation contribute to Ludwig-Henningsgaard’s art and enrich her creativity. “In yoga I have learned to move my body in ways I didn’t think I could,” she explains. “This challenge to my physical body can be applied to the challenge I have set with my art—maybe I try new brush strokes or new approaches to applying paint. Yoga has given me courage and self-confidence; I use that in my art to explore new ways of creating.”

Mahara

If you ask musicians Sven Oskar and Bob Macko what their art means to them, you’ll get two different, but equally passionate, answers. Oskar will tell you that, to him, art is “my internal life made external.” Macko regards art as his “highest expression,” one that speaks of “passion, spirit, consciousness, and the inner flame of the human soul.” Together, Oskar and Macko meld their ideas about art with their musical talent and interest in yoga into a collaboration that incorporates acoustic instrumentation, electronic sounds, and world influences.

As a performing duo named MahaRa, the two create sounds and styles ranging from alternative rock to hypnotic to divine soundscapes using diverse instruments including the acoustic guitar, Indian tabla, Native American flute, and Australian didgeridoo, among others. They offer sound healing workshops, as well as live music for yoga classes, workshops, and events. In fact, it was during his first live performance at a yoga class years ago that Macko initially felt a connection between yoga and creativity.

“There are many moments while composing or performing that I recall lucid meditative experiences,” Macko says, explaining his idea of the relationship between yoga and art. “These moments impact my music in profound ways, and everything seems to turn into a ‘sacred flow.’ I’ve noticed that while creating in that space that people have a much deeper and profound heart-centered experience.” Similarly, Oskar finds that his yoga and meditative practice are constant companions as he creates, saying that seeking a connection to source and an alignment in body and spirit is his daily intention.

For both members of MahaRa, the creative life and a spiritual path have presented themselves harmoniously. “They flow out of each other as I seek to bring spirit into matter at every opportunity,” says Oskar. Macko, too, finds little separation between the two. “I ohm wherever I go; in cars, in elevators, and sometimes during hugs,” he says. “I love to match the vibration of my voice to my environment.

Carol Morehead

“A yogic life means a balanced life–a balance of work, rest, play, yoga, and meditation. In balance our creativity can flourish. The old adage ‘the artist must suffer to create’ just isn’t true.”

DANCER/CHOREOGRAPHER · EVANSTON, ILLINOIS & FAIRFIELD, IOWA YEARS PRACTICING YOGA: 44, SINCE AGE 14www.InspiredYogaDance.com

SVEN OSKAR · MUSICIAN/POET · DEKALB, ILLINOIS YEARS PRACTICING YOGA: 25

BOB MACKO · MUSICIAN · CHICAGO, ILLINOISYEARS PRACTICING YOGA: 6 www.MahaRaMusic.com www.facebook.com/MahaRaBand

ART THERAPIST/SOUL PAINTER · SIOUX CITY, IOWA · YEARS PRACTICING YOGA: 8

www.facebook.com/Molly Ludwig-Henningsgaard

Molly Ludwig-Henningsgaard

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YOGA+ART

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Yoga for menGUEST CONTRIBUTOR, YOGA INSTRUCTOR, AND

ARTIST JACK WILKES, RYT 500, WEIGHS IN ON THE

PRACTICE OF YOGA FROM A MAN’S POINT-OF-VIEW.

BY JACK WILKES

Nearing the end of my fifth decade, I believe men in America still adhere to the American Myth. Our images of strength and might reflect our external need to control, driven by ego, with the fear of threatening our masculinity. Accepting the positive changes of what yoga might provide is difficult. The modern yoga introduction to this country favors the stereotypes of women—starting with Indra Devi’s alliance with Elizabeth Arden promoting beauty inside and out during the 1940s. Lilas Folan provided a yogic view on public television during the 1970s and later, Judith Lasater led the power yoga revolution of the 1980s. Yoga became identified as a woman’s exercise. K. Pattabhi Jois, B.K.S. Iyengar, and T.K.V. Desikachar made an impact, but didn’t have the strong commercial advantage that most men would notice. There’s a contrast in the yoga experience for men and women. A typical modern man’s approach to yoga differs in the brain and in how lifelong patterns were reinforced. Patanjali expressed samskara—grooves or pathways of the mind that hold behavior patterns, positive and negative. When you realize them, these pathways can be altered and eventually burned away by longer periods of yoga practice. The challenge is to accept that through breath and movement, this allows you to turn inward.

The male American Myth reinforces men’s disposition toward spatial activity and mathematical and directional encoding, setting patterns that rely on the external or the physical shell. Strength is measured externally, power correlates to aggression, and the male ideal is building a shield of armor for the body. Ego directs self-esteem, which is not what the yogis of Mysore intended when twelve-year-old boys sat in Lotus after gymnastics and yoga, meditating to turn inward to quiet the mind.

As a teacher, most men come to my classes wanting to be more flexible, in fear from previous injury, for stress relief, and/or for the social aspect of a class. My intention is to meet them where they are, to guide them concisely, mindfully—without judgment or expectation—and with the deepest respect, providing tools through breath and asana. My hope is to help them witness an internal journey, to recognize and re-pattern those grooves. As a practitioner, yoga is a way of life; a consistent practice becomes a necessity. I connect with my authentic self, not living within the confines of yesterday and tomorrow, but being present to now. For the modern man, the willingness to take this journey must be present, regardless of which path he pursues.

Jack Wilkes, RYT 500, is certified in Freestyle Hatha Yoga and Adamantine Yoga. He teaches at Kris’ Hot Yoga Studio in Waukee, Iowa. He specializes in a Hot Vinyasa class based on lengthening, and leads other classes from beginning to more advanced students. He’s the owner of Jack Wilkes Art: Production of Fine Art, Consultation and Mentorship Program. An instructor at the Des Moines Art

Center, he specializes in anatomy, figure drawing, painting, and mixed media. He enjoys the company of good friends, exploring places, hiking, yoga, and power walking.

“There’s a contrast in the yoga

experience for men and women.

A typical modern man’s approach to yoga differs in the brain and in how lifelong patterns

were reinforced.”

COMMUNITY + FAMI LY• F

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ADVICE ON OUTFITTING YOUR KITCHEN. BY SHEREE CLARK

Today’s home cook has such a huge range of appliances, gadgets, and utensils to choose from it can be overwhelming. But counter space is valuable real estate, and there is no need to clutter your kitchen (or your life!) with this season’s “As Seen on TV” gizmo. Here are a few of my must-have, healthy-kitchen tools.

Don’t put off your healthy food adventure because you don’t have this tool or that appliance. Can’t afford to buy new? You can often find good deals on eBay, Craig’s List, or at garage and tag sales. Get started now and build up your kitchen arsenal as your means will allow.

Sheree Clark, M.Ed., AADP, CHHC is a holistic health and nutrition expert with a private practice she calls Fork in the Road (fork-road.com). An inspiring author, television show host, teacher, motivator, and raw vegan chef, Sheree works with clients across the country to help them get the most out of life by improving their health.

tools of the Trade

M E D I T A T I O N • Y O G A • H O M E A C C E S S O R I E S

P A U S E t o B R E A T H E

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Kevin Thoren • (515) 577-7847 [email protected]

Opening your heart to a more fulfilling life

Massage • CranioSacral Therapy • Qigong Healing Therapy Far Infrared Bio Mat Distributor • John of God Crystal Lights

www.banyantreetherapy.comCHEF’S KNIFE A good knife is, hands down, my number one pick for “what to invest in first.” A healthy-eating lifestyle includes food—mostly fruits and vegetables—that must be chopped. A good, comfortable chef’s knife makes hours in the kitchen seem like minutes. Brands to consider include Shun, Mac, Henckels, and Wusthof. Expect to pay $80 or more for a higher-end knife. Also, get a quality cutting board, preferably not plastic and definitely not glass. I prefer bamboo or maple.

HIGH-POWER BLENDERA strong blender will make the creation of things such as creamy soups, thick smoothies, and fresh nut butters a breeze. My favorite brand is Vitamix. And while some might think $400 and up is a lot to spend on a blender, know that this workhorse comes with a seven-year warranty. Its versatile speed ranges from 11 to 240 miles per hour, which lets you not only do more, but also do it faster.

FOOD PROCESSORThe term “food processor” can include a wide range of appliances, but here we’re talking about larger units that have chopping, slicing, and shredding capabilities, depending on their accessories. If you already own a food processor, you probably have used the standard S blade, but if your appliance also came with disc/slicer blades, learn how to use them. They will open up a whole new, creative-food-prep world for you!

JUICERWith so many kinds of juicers available, selecting the right one can be confusing. Consider the ways you intend to use your machine and how much you are prepared to spend. Centrifugal juicers are the most popular and the most affordable. Single-gear (masticating) juicers are generally more efficient than centrifugal juicers, but they can be slower and usually require more chopping of food before using. Twin-gear (triturating) juicers yield more juice than the other machines but it takes longer to make the juice and requires a little more effort to clean up afterward. They also tend to be more expensive than the other types of juicers.

DEHYDRATORAn electric food dehydrator is perfect for simple preservation, such as sun dried tomatoes and banana chips. I also use mine for more elaborate concoctions like pizza crusts, kale chips, and cookies. My favorite brand is Excalibur. The temperature can be regulated, and the doors and trays are all removable, making it easy to clean. Consider purchasing a few nonstick dehydrator sheets, which allow you to make fruit leathers, crackers, and other “wet batter” treats that would drip through a standard mesh sheet.

A good knife is, hands down, my number one pick for “what to invest in first.”

L I FE + HEALTH

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT • DES MOINES • RURAL ORIENT

FARM-TO-TABLE DELICACIES IN A WARM, HOSPITABLE

ENVIRONMENT BY OLIVIA KVITNE Every Thursday evening, Food for Thought at the Wallace House in West Des Moines provides a changing menu with several vegetarian options by head chef Katie Porter. What makes this dining experience unique are the special guest experts who visit tables and engage patrons in weekly subject matter with the intention of sparking dinnertime conversation and building community. Subjects for conversation are usually based on wellness and cooking, with topics ranging from yoga, to Iowa wine, to home canning.

The Wallace House is part of The Wallace Centers of Iowa, providing local food, sustainable agriculture, and a unique farm-to-table dining experience. The renovated home turned restaurant is inviting and quaint. Soft chatter and laughter reminds you of entering a beloved relative’s home for a holiday.

Produce for meals is grown at the Henry A. Wallace Country Life Center farm in Orient, Iowa, then delivered to The Wallace House Thursday mornings. Chef Katie bases her weekly menu on seasonal vegetables. “There are so many combinations and dishes that you can do with vegetables. It’s exciting coming up with different things,” she says. “It can be challenging at times in a good way. You need to be a little more creative with what’s available.”

Her creativity is quite a treat for patrons. From appetizers to desserts, the combination of tastes felt like experiencing food for the first time. The Farm Vegetable Plate and Peach Tomato Salad kicked off a three-course meal with tastes that popped in my mouth, resulting in a pleasing juxtaposition of spicy and sweet. The plate was quite simple, keeping most of the veggies in their purest forms beside the pickled peaches and eggplant canned from last year, which complemented and intensified their flavors.

The main course of Pan-Seared Early Morning Harvest Polenta and Eggplant Timbale was flavorful yet light, with flaky polenta reminiscent of cornbread. The side of tomato jam, with a consistency of chutney, was a surprisingly perfect addition.

Ginger Pear Crisp and Pan-Seared Peach with Hazelnut Ice Cream was an ideal final accent to a palate-pleasing meal.

The greatest part of eating food picked at a farm and brought to your plate the very next day is experiencing the natural flavor of food at its purest. It’s truly an art form to maintain this commitment to local, seasonal food while exploring creativity in preparation. Chef Katie finds a balance between the two that turns a vegetarian meal into a palatable delicacy.

Olivia Kvitne is happy to be part of both Los Angeles and Iowa yoga communities. She has been called “The Lois Lane of Yoga” as she is Assistant Editor for LA Yoga Magazine and specializes in yoga classes for veterans, military, and first responders. She has taught for the LA Fire Department and LA Police Department, and created and taught the yoga workshop, Yoga for Heroes, held in Des Moines in July 2012. Look up her YouTube page to see Olivia in action. Twitter: @OliviaKvitne

Food for Thought is held Thursday evenings from

March to mid-December. Reservations are

encouraged.

Remember to bring a bottle of wine with you

for them to cork.

For more information on Food for Thought and other

programs through the Wallace Centers of Iowa,

visit Wallace.org.

pleasures at the table

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ff the mat is where we spend most of our time being “who we think we are.” On the mat is where we discover “who we truly are.” Integration is allowing these two worlds to come together with a sense of

peace and harmony.I didn’t realize how different these two worlds were for me until

I discovered the practice of yoga and meditation. Today I have tremendous gratitude for those teachers and friends who have come into my life to help me with the realization and awareness of how unawaken I have been most of my life.

My off-the-mat daily world now reflects more of the awakening that has taken place on the mat. I thoroughly enjoy travel, people, adventure, and new experiences but am now more aware of the soul perspective of all this activity.

The lesson that love and fear are the two basic choices has been a really tough lesson for me. To this day I find it hard to believe what that ratio is. I would like to say it’s eighty percent love and twenty percent fear, but that is far from my current truth. The good news is that love is winning more of the battles, and fear is beginning to surrender more of its paralyzing control over my behavior, feelings, and emotions.

As my off-the-mat love for myself continues to grow, I challenge myself with personal experiences that allow me to expand beyond my “small fearful world.”

I have a very strong desire to learn and live my true nature. We all have these amazing gifts, and I want to explore and realize them to the fullest. I have found that yoga, meditation, Reiki, and the emotional freedom technique have all been wonderful tools to help with this journey.

The world within us and the world around us are going through tremendous change. It’s a wonderful comfort to have yoga and meditation as my anchors during this turmoil.

A trip to Chicago in 2008 inspired Denny Kelly to create one of the Des Moines Park and Recreation Department’s most popular programs, Yoga in the Park. Each Saturday at Gray’s Lake from June to September, nearly 300 people gather. The Des Moines program has become a model for other communities. Now he enjoys bringing people together with Meditation Around Town, a free, monthly meditation that is offered to the public each month at unique locations around the city of Des Moines, Iowa. Kelly is also a Reiki Master/Teacher.

GET TO KNOW DENNY KELLY, FOUNDER OF YOGA IN

THE PARK & MEDITATION AROUND TOWN

“As my off-the-mat love for myself

continues to grow, I challenge myself with personal experiences

that allow me to expand beyond my

‘small fearful world’.”

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Soaring Crane Acupuncture RENEE DALRYMPLEMasters of Science in Oriental MedicineLicensed Acupuncturist

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submit your questions for ask the teacher to [email protected]

I’ve never considered myself a creative person. In fact before yoga came into my life, the idea of self-expression and being vulnerable enough to share a creative idea could make my stomach turn. But the more I get to know who I am through my practice, the more natural it feels to brainstorm, to share, and to actually execute creative ideas I have in my professional and personal life. Recently, we asked our local yoga teachers about their experience with yoga influencing creativity:

The more we tune in to our body and mind, the more our creative juices flow.

What spark of creativity has yoga helped you discover? MOLLY ANDERSEN

BODY & SOUL WELLNESS DUBUQUE, IOWA

I recently wrote a kids’ yoga book! I was so inspired by a kids’ yoga class I was teaching

and decided to put it into print. It was just published last month!

EVAN HARRIS TAPAS YOGA SHALA ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS

Entrepreneurship: creating ways to connect with students, other teachers and yoga

peers, and my community at large through business ownership.

BY LISA ACHESON

Leaving chronic headaches and the corporate world behind, Lisa Acheson, RYT 500, has yoga to thank for her new life of ease. Lisa is an authorized Adamantine® Yoga teacher, sharing this sequence with students via Guided Self Practice and private sessions in the Beaverdale neighborhood in Des Moines, Iowa.

SANDY EIMERS BĂL•ANCE YOGA LOUNGE ANKENY, IOWA

I have found that yogic breathing improves the quality of my creative

endeavors by centering my efforts in the present moment, while asana aligns my physical body to maintain the flow of prana. I have used mindful breathing creating in the kitchen, crocheting, designing/sewing, and writing. My practice supports cultivating patience – letting go of the expectations I have for myself and simply enjoying the process of creating!

JODEY BRETTHAUER VELDT YOGA ANKENY, IOWA

I encourage my students to be less fearful upon entering their daily

routine by offering a class structure to them with different inversions, or maybe to be more open to new ideas after an inspiring hip-opening class. By teaching and empowering people, I also become empowered by their growth and yoga journeys and have many more ideas for creating a sacred class outline for them.

www.meditationaroundtown.com

JULY 17 6 PM | Greenwood ParkMeditation Leader: JULIE RICE

AUGUST 216 PM | Iowa State Capitol GroundsMeditation Leader: JUDY OLSON

SEPTEMBER 186 PM | High Trestle Trail BridgeMeditation Leader: ROBIN BOURJAILY

OCT 16 6 PM | Terrace Hill Grounds Meditation Leader: SANDY EIMERS

NOV 20 6 PM | World Food Prize Building Meditation Leader: MARY ST. ONGE

DEC 18 6 PM | Des Moines Social Club Meditation Leader: BRETTE SCOTT

COMMUNITY + FAMI LY

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Most of my formal education has been in the Fine Arts, specifically painting and drawing, and I equate the genius of B.K.S. Iyengar with the genius of Picasso. With the invention of cubism Picasso broke all the “rules” of classical western art, opening the world to modernism. B.K.S. Iyengar, through his eighty years of intense, uninterrupted, and innovative practice, reinvented classical yoga for the modern age. A creative and brilliant teacher, he developed a precise, erudite, and systematic methodology, bringing yoga to thousands of people of all ages and abilities throughout the world. For me personally, he saved me from what could have been a life of disability and pain.

As a certified Iyengar teacher, I am challenged to develop and refine the skills not only to be a proficient educator but also, like my guru, to never stop evolving in my studies and my teaching. This has given me a life filled with meaning and purpose, with the added bonus of being part of an Iyengar Yoga family that spans the globe.

In Light on Yoga, his classic text, Iyengar describes yoga as a “timeless, pragmatic science evolved over thousands of years, dealing with the physical, moral, mental, and spiritual wellbeing of man as a whole.” I am certain that yoga has become so ubiquitous today because of B.K.S. Iyengar. No one will be as influential as he has been. He changed my life, and I will be forever indebted to him. His passing marks the end of an era, but he leaves behind a profound and enduring legacy.

NANCY FOOTNER, CERTIFIED IYENGAR YOGA TEACHER, DIRECTOR, FRIENDSHIP YOGA, IOWA CITY Founded in 1993, Friendship Yoga is dedicated solely to the Iyengar Yoga method.

b.k.s. iyengar, through his eighty

years of intense, uninterrupted, and innovative

practice, reinvented classical yoga for the modern age.

Remembering a Yoga MasterTO HONOR IYENGAR’S LIFE, WE ASKED NANCY FOOTNER WHO TRAINED WITH HIM TO REFLECT ON HER

MEMORY OF HIM AND HOW HIS TEACHING AFFECTED HER LIFE AND THE GREATER YOGA WORLD.

Phot

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Yoga master and beloved guru B.K.S. Iyengar passed away August 20, 2014 in Pune, India. Time Magazine named him one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2004.

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