Now, I'm old enough to recall the yoga boom of the early 2000's when the fitness culture began dominating yoga classes in gyms and large studios with vinyasa yoga. At that time, physical practice was hot and heavy everywhere. You'd have to go digging to find anything spiritual, or even meditative. But that's exactly what I did.

The foundation of my classes are a practice of asana, meditation, and breathing which I call breath-centered yoga. Over the past 20 years, I've read a hundred yoga philosophy and history books, practiced for tens of thousands of hours, watched three dozen documentaries, and taught this class a dozen times. I love it every single year!

This blending of eastern and western cultures started more than a hundred years before I began practicing...

See, when well-heeled Americans wanted a taste of eastern mysticism, and Indian yoga teachers wanted to make a living teaching yoga, they passed each other sailing across the ocean into each other's cultural territories.

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From the 1920's through the late 1940's, the Americans came back home from India and taught in a way that would suit western ideals. And the Indian yogis -- well, they couldn't go home. They were stuck here until 1948 because the American government had withdrawn their citizenship in 1924 during the Indian Citizenship Act which rescinded citizenship of eastern Indians along with native Americans. Thus, this is how about 30 recorded traveling yogis made their living in a country they could not call home.

But modern vinyasa yoga actually has its roots in an ancient spiritual practice that started at least 2,500 years ago in India, and there is evidence to suggest that it may go back even farther, to 5,000 years ago in ancient Egypt, called Kemet.

If the story of yoga and its spiritual (and sometimes sordid) history holds interest for you, I invite you to join me for History, Philosophy, & the Yoga Lifestyle.

We will also cover many other topics for the modern yogi. (See flyer below for what topics will be covered which day.)

We meet on Sundays from 11am-5pm March 1st through April 22nd (no class on Easter Sunday). Each class is $88 for personal enrichment, or $750 when enrolled in Yoga Teacher Training (includes mentorship and a handbook of notes on each class).

If you'd like to enroll let me know right away so I can send you a welcome email with instructions for the class. I welcome your inquiry, and hope to see you soon!

Kindly,

Kristen Fewel