Upcoming Workshops!

We're trying to make so many things happen this summer at Sat Naam. It's going to be a lot of work and we're so new at doing this, but I really think we can get it together. I just contacted a woman named Neelam who runs and designs community gardena and nutrition programs. She's going to come by the space next week and maybe take a yoga class:) I can't wait to meet her and exchange ideas about having our own community garden at Sat Naam.
We've also met a really nice woman, Lacey. She offered to work with us and have a sound healing workshop this summer. She works with sick people and tries to help them heal through sound. She told us how she got involved with sound through healing her own pain and how she wanted to share that with others and incorporate that with a yoga practice. I can't wait for her to bring her energy and her gift into our space. Hopefully, we'll also be having a yoga in spanish workshop in the summer too. I really want to move forward with this especially because a lot of the population that is in the community we are a part of are spanish speakers.
One last project I wanted to make note of was Haruko's community video project! We're going to have a great time and get to know the community better. Haruko is a great artist and I'm excited to have her be a part of Sat Naam!! To check out more of her work go to www.kissoftheworld.net.

Library Talk - May 1st

On May 1st, I was invited to do a talk and introductory demo on yoga at the Jefferson Vassie D. Write Memorial Library. This is the local community library in Jefferson Park. I started the talk by asking the group what they thought yoga was and if they had ever done it. We also talked about the health benefits of yoga. Then I went into how breath is so important not only when doing yoga, but also in every day life especially when dealing with stress. We did a couple of easy breathing exercises together and a few very simple stretches. I just wanted the people to know that you don't have to be a pretzel to do yoga. It was definitely a good experience for me.

Field Trip

Last Wednesday Mrs.Cordero's 1st grade class from Celerity Nascent Charter School came to Sat Naam for a field trip. I must admit, Lance and I were a little nervous having 20 7-yr olds running around the space, but everything ended up going great!! We split the kids up in 2 groups of 10. Ten kids had an hour long yoga class with me where we talked about where yoga came from, how old the practice was, and where India was in relationship to California. Because Sat Naam's decor is very much influenced by India, where my family is from, we have some statues of Lord Ganesh and other figures dominant in Indian culture in the space. One kid asked what Ganesh was. I wasn't exactly sure of how to answer that question - sometimes people (usually adults) are reluctant to talk about cultures they're not familiar with, I mean I didn't want to offend anyone. I answered the question the best I could and talked to them about how Ganesh got an elephant head and what he represented to people that were Hindu and how they could relate it to what some of them may know about.
While I was teaching yoga, Lance took the kids into the back room to make Mandalas. He explained to them what a Mandala was and it's history and then gave them each a circle to color and make their own. After they were finished they had to tell the group what the drawings were and what it meant to them. When 1 hour has passed the groups switched - that way both groups had a chance to make a mandala and take a yoga class. We finished the field trip off by giving the kids a snack - BURFI and Indian sweet kind of like cheese-cake. We had carrot, pistachio, and plain. Some of the kids totally loved it and others were not into it at all. The next day I asked the kids what their favorite part of the field trip was most of them said Savasana - Rest Pose:)

Preliminary Creations - April 21st!

We had our first Art event at Sat Naam on Saturday April 21st 2007. Lance Williams (who is 1/2 of making Sat Naam happen) exhibited a collection of his drawings, paintings, and sculptures at our Creative and Healing Arts Center. The opening reception was a great success for Lance and the space! People from all over LA came by to check the work out - I think this was a first event for something like this in the neighborhood to happen:) The energy was excellent and Lance got 2 more opportunities to show his work at other gallery spaces. I can't wait to have more events like this at the space, I'm hoping events like this will be happening on a monthly basis. My good friend, Mirabelle Ang, will be showing her documentary film "Match Made" in June. I'm also hoping that people within the Jefferson Park community will also come through and want to hold events at Sat Naam as well. The future holds so much;)