Yoga in the Prison System

If you've ever seen a Robert Sturman photograph, you'll know how graceful and gifted he is with a camera. His love of both yoga and music have taken him to many places around the world, creatingan incredible body of stunning work. Now his craft has taken him into the prison system of California...

The following interview gives some insight into what yoga is bringing to prison inmantes and how Robert is bringing his art to a place often completely devoid of beauty.
Q: Please briefly describe the work your doing in the penitentiary:
A: After years of creating with yogis on the beaches of Southern California, I was invited into the California Penitentiary system as a visiting artist to make art of prisoners who were practicing yoga.

Q: From your experience there, what kind of impact do you think yoga is having in the prison system?
A: Most of us do not understand and will never understand what it is like to be imprisoned. After class I usually get in conversations with a few of the men and here are a few things I heard them say.

"Savasana was the first time I ever closed my eyes in the open prison environment."
"When the teacher said try to be angry from this place (after savasana) one of the inmates told me later that he could not get angry if his freedom depended on it. That's how relaxed he was."
"They said things like it was an opportunity to get away, even just for an hour, and be somewhere different."
The warden's words: "One thing I've noticed is that the guys who are doing the yoga are making better choices."

Q: How do you feel the work you're doing is impacting the prisoners?
A: On a long term note, the work I am doing is raising awareness and making it normal that yoga is something being offered in the prison systems.


On an immediate note, the prisoners have a great time being in the pictures. The choice that they have made to enroll in the yoga class is a choice to hold onto what little dignity most of them have left being locked up. People light up when they are being seen. And, seeing is pretty much what an artist does.
After class, the warden let me work one on one with a few of the men. There was one particular model really was great to work with and we made many strong pieces together. When we were done working he said, "Damn that was cool. When I get pout of here I want to be a yoga model." I kind of smiled to myself knowing he would be the guy featured in my Yoga Journal article.

I went back to that prison three months later and the article had just come out with a full page picture of him in Sukhasana and I was able to give him a copy.

Q: As an artist, can you please describe your compositional techniques, and what inspires you to create your art?
A:Composition is a matter of knowing it feels right within me. That is all I go by.

Q: Can you describe your creative relationship to your subjects being that they're often yoga teachers and musicians?
A: Yoga is very beautiful and that is why I continue to return to creating with them. There is a longing to touch the divine that is very easy for me to capture through asanas. I do yoga and I make art. The yogis are my models. Degas would be jealous. Music – I love music and I cannot explain it. The arts were invented because words were limiting in describing the extraordinary beauty all around us. Music is immensely sacred to me – It is its own art and touches me in places that no other art can reach. I am inspired by the music and my work aspires to touch that place. It is a lofty goal – but this is what keeps me going deeper into the mystery of creation. I am a musician — I am just presenting it to the best of my ability with a different palette.

http://robertsturmanstudio.com/home.html

ROBERT STURMAN RECOMMENDS:

Transparency Tk 2

Hi everyone!  I wrote a transparency blog post a few weeks ago then pulled it down to rethink and reword. I really appreciate the support that people who read it sent in as these first few months of operating haven't been without their challenges.

As we try to create a website dedicated to the music of yoga we find ourselves humbled by the immense effort it takes to launch a company. The support and excitement we've received has been amazing... and for that we're eternally grateful. But at this point the challenges seem endless.
Funding is of course hard to come by... many investors see the profit margins of digital music to be too small for their interests. Describing the big picture takes time and patience... many months can be spent with a potential investor only to have them decide to back away from investing.

Website bugs are tricky little critters! We've had some critical issues that everyone says is par for the BETA course, beta meaning that we're still in an open testing phase of our launch. Regardless of the reassurance I get, it's still hard knowing some people have had a frustrating time browsing our site. My deepest and most sincere apologies! We hope you understand and come back to enjoy the vibes soon...
On the positive side, my co-founder Amani Friend has done an incredible job of filling the site with almost 10,000 hand-picked albums from all over the world. Legally licensed with 70% of the profits going to the artists, it was a monumental undertaking for him which he did all on a sweat equity basis. Both he and my other co-founder Craig Kohland then went through and picked out a wide array of the best opening, building, peak, cool down and relaxation songs for teachers to use in making playlists. To my knowledge this has never been done before in the history of modern yoga music. It's truly a triumph.

We've also been blessed in the past two months with an amazing array of advisors, industry experts, marketing gurus, tech wizards and other timely angels. Their sole, soul mission seems to be simply to lend a helping hand and ask for nothing in return. Can't argue with that!

Finally, Craig did an amazing job these past few months of bringing the YogiTunes team to 3 very important festivals: Wanderlust Tahoe, Bhaktifest and Earthdance Northern California, where he created the first ever 'Yoga For Peace' event. All three festivals were an excellent opportunity for YogiTunes to get out to the people in a living, breathing way that serves us as much as it does the company. What, there are real people out there? I thought I was just relating to a digital world through my 24" monitor.

So that's it for now folks... more to come on the transparency tip soon!

Written by Alex King-Harris here, CEO of YogiTunes (aka Rara Avis)

Autumn Harvest Practice

Crisp, crunchy leaves of red, gold, and pumpkin orange has been slowly falling off the trees that stand as sentinels around the hay field that is my backyard.  It is a blessing to have the space and privacy a Midwestern, rural backyard affords and I am thankful to exist here.  Welcome Fall!!

A great aspect of home, personal practice is the creative way you can include your environment and invite nature into your asana and meditation.  In this offering, I invite you to connect directly with autumn by practicing with a tree for 4 weeks.

If you haven’t tried this before, autumn is a fantastic starting point.  Try taking your mat (or just bare feet!) and find a tree.  Commit to coming to this spot once a week for 4 weeks.  Set up your mat towards the tree as if it was your teacher.  To center in, take a few rounds of breath.  Breathe in a little more than you think you can and press out the breath a little longer than you think you can.  Notice your enhanced awareness and use it to study the tree.



Notice all the nuances of the tree, practicing dharana (one-pointed focus).  See the bark, the bugs, the sticks and stems, see everything in detail and then all at once too.  Can you see the microcosm and the macrocosm at the same time?  Listen closely to the natural sounds of the tree as well.

Be attentive.

After this meditation, bring yourself through a series of your own personal practice poses and culminate in Vrksasana (Tree Pose).  Depending on your time and your needs, this can be any style you wish and for as long or as short as you desire.  Once you peak to Vrksasana, see if you can embody the tree in front of you.  Allow movement as the tree moves, merge with its essence.  Allow a long hold, but release before the point of strain or forceful gripping.

Yoga asanas are a reflection of deep meditation and joining with the forces of nature in our material world.  This connection allows us a path to Samadhi (union with the divine)and a way to reflect on what is true, for in nature, everything is perfect and in balance.  We can bring this essence in to ourselves and clear our inner disturbances.

I ask you to try this for 4 weeks because of the incredible changes you see in the autumn with trees.  Try to journal about your experience and allow your creativity to bubble and be inspired by fall.  Please feel free to share your experience in this space.

As you undertake this practice, I offer a YogiTunes playlist for your indoor practice of yoga music to inspire your autumn asana or relaxation practice at home or in the studio.  Enjoy!!!

-Written by Kirsten Hedden, who teaches at Namaste Wellness Studio in Peoria, IL

-Check out her new 'Harvest Playlist' on YogiTunes!


-Also for a delicious selection of Nature rich soundscapes, check out the YogiTunes Nature section

Crystal Light Bath

Yoga Music Therapy is something very dear to me. I personally took a 2 year apprenticeship in this amazing work when I was fresh out of music school, under the tutelage of then VancouverIsland based yoga teacher David Goulet.

His mastery of relaxation music, frequency, breathing techniques, yoga and diet helped many terminally ill people to heal themselves rapidly.

So when I bumped into my friend Ariana Sivan at a recent visit to Harbin Hot Springs, I was of course delighted to hear that she was offering something called a Crystal Light Bath. It works of the same philosophy that yoga music therapy does: Our energy centers have specific frequencies that they resonate at and can be brought back into alignment in a similar way that one would tune a musical instrument.

The following Q&A takes us a little deeper into the world of Crystals and how they can help bring balance and rejuvenation in such challenging and often stressful times.

Q: What is a Crystal Light Bath?

A: A Crystal Light Bath has 7, clear and highly-polished, cut-quartz crystals suspended about 10” above an individual lying on a massage table fully-clothed. Each crystal has been cut to a specific frequency and aligned above each energy center or chakra. Colored lights, matching the chakra colors, radiate light and energy through the crystals to each respective chakra, and shine on and off in certain rhythms to cleanse, balance, and align your energies. The one receiving the session rests face up, with eyes closed, bathing in the energy for 30-60 minutes.

Q: What’s it like to receive a session?

A: There are all types of experiences from the deeply profound to the most subtle energy shifts. It can range from a soothing meditation and deep rest to profound inner revelation, and even all in one session. Your system attunes to the high frequencies of energy that support healing at all levels; mental reprogramming, emotional rewiring, physical reconstructing and spiritual recharging. This work has a growing impact on health & consciousness with its inter-dimensional effect - a feeling of lightless of being. The vibrational patterns may manifest as higher levels of awareness and consciousness. Also, on a physical level, sometimes old injuries or surgeries are revisited to give healing energy to those areas, so there may be some slight discomfort, yet generally it passes fairly quickly.

Q: Where did it originate?

A: The concept of the Crystal Light Bath was channeled to Joao Teixeira de Faira, affectionately known as John of God, who had it developed for practical use & incorporated it as an important healing modality at his healing center, Casa de Dom Inacio (The Casa) in Abadiania, Brazil. It is prescribed for rejuvenation, alignment & balancing of our energy fields, which in turn, aids in the process of spiritual & physical healing. This allows deeper, more subtle energies to be brought in balance, allowing the body’s own natural healing mechanisms to function as they were designed to do.

Q: What are the scientific observations on Crystal therapy?

A: Crystals have some of the highest molecular orderliness found in nature. Light passing through the crystal will resonate with the structured patterns of the crystal. Water can take on a variety of molecular patterns. It is known that when water forms well organized and geometrically shaped molecule patterns, it has increased surface tension and bonding properties. This is the pure state of water found in healthy cell tissue, while ungeometric and disorganized water molecules are found in unhealthy cells and cancer cells. Thus, one explanation for the health giving effects of crystal therapy is that the well organized vibration resonating from the crystals helps to organize the water in our tissues and cells. Much of our understanding of crystal therapy was developed by Marcel Vogel, who spent his lifetime investigating quartz crystals. He designed experiments demonstrating the power of crystals to affect physical processes.

The experiments of Vogel and his associates proved the following:

* A precisely cut quartz crystal produces a constant vibration of the same frequency as water in its purest state.

* Moving water will pick up the vibration from the crystal through resonant interaction and this transferred charge will restructure the water.

* A cut crystal can be charged with intent to structure water. Since we are made up of 80-90% water this carries extremely strong implication for how our health can be affected.

Q: Who can benefit?

A: Everyone. That’s the beauty of it.

Q: When is it not recommended?

A: Never. The session is non-invasive and has no contra-indications.

Comments about the Crystal Light Bath…

-"Feel renewed, balanced & deeply relaxed."

-"Its mystical innate wisdom gives me exactly what I require every time!"

-"I felt my chakras vibrating and the energy emerging through my entire body."

-"I could feel the integration of my body, mind, spirit, & so gently."

-"Arose with a slight tingling sensation at the end which I can liken to feeling slightly more “alive”"

John of God, Casa De Dom Inacio, Brazil

Ariana’s Crystal Light Bath can be experienced at the world renowned Harbn Hot Springs. A worthwhile visit for anyone looking to relax, restore and realign.

And of course, Ariana is a BIG MUSIC FAN given that we here at YogiTunes also deal in healing frequencies of vibrational goodness. Check out her list of recommendations:

Rara Avis

Masood Ali Khan

Fanna-Fi-Allah

Girish

Random Rab

MC Yogi

Karnamrita

Interview by YogiTunes Co-Founder/CEO Alex King-Harris (aka Rara Avis)

Brown Chicken, Brown Cow

If you are totally confused by the title, let me say it’s a parent friendly way to say Boom-chicka-bow-wow without kids knowing you are using sexy speech. I heard it on road trip and adopted it into my sexy speak code.

The agni in my mula bhanda area (if you know what I mean ;), well it apparently died when I got pregnant. I was freaked out because from everything Hollywood had taught me, pregnant goddesses are supposed to be down with the boom boom. My libido didn’t get that message and after my little guy was born and my breasts turned into milk machines I still couldn’t find that fire. It’s taboo to talk about this stuff, so often a new mom is left alone, confused, and really nervous about being able to physically connect with her partner. So let me tell you something:

THIS IS NORMAL.

You are still sexy. You are still beautiful. You are still you, but may I say, even better! Your libido will return and rest assured, you are still attracted to your partner and they to you. Now breathe.

While there is no panacea to cure this phase automatically, there are some practices that helped me and that I want to share with you.

• Vigorous Asana – if you want transformation, you have to stoke the fire. (Please check with your doctor to see if you are ready for this; as always, honor your body’s limits). Incorporate lots of standing poses and connect with your primal nature through the Earth.
• Meditation on Mula Bhanda – in a seated pose, focus moving mula bhanda in and out, just as you are breathing. Increased awareness helps direct the fire within.
• Ujjayi & Uddiyana Bhanda – Engage these elements when practicing asana. For your first practice post-partum (and with Dr’s OK) choose an experienced teacher to give you a customized sequence.
• Nadi Shodhana – This pranayama will help balance you. Use caution with Kapalabhati, you will need the guidance of a senior teacher with experience post partum before you should engage in the breath of fire.
• Physically Connect – Make a conscious effort to hold hands and every day set an intention to give your partner a kiss. No. Matter. What.
• Love – consciously remind yourself of your appreciation for your partner, your gratitude in sharing a family, and feed your emotional connection.
• Try Music – YogiTunes are just as great to inspire your intimate practice as your asana one. Start slow and build. Try yoga music designed to be fluid and fire inspired. Check out some of our Sensual Sutra playlists to find a soundtrack for your seduction.
• Patience – This too shall pass. My midwife told me that the woman’s body is on a natural two year cycle as it takes about 2 years before a woman’s body is back to a prime ability to birth. It’s different for everyBODY. This means hormones remain out of whack for a while.
• Read Together – read some sensual poems or find a fun Kama Sutra and try reading to one another. For some, this will be a new and somewhat awkward practice, but it evolves and easily becomes a favorite one.
• Choose To Engage – Just like early morning asana practice, you have the choice to continue to sleep or to wake up and practice. The more you practice, the easier it becomes. You will ease the samskara that tells you you’re not into it. Once you get going, your libido agni will rekindle.

I wish someone had told me these things when I was worried and confused. I wish women felt the freedom to talk about this more too. Believe me – this was hard to pour out.

I hope you can find solace through these practices and use the music to enhance the mood. Please feel free to share your own experiences and practices in the comments. Until next time……Brown Chicken, Brown Cow.

-Written by Kirsten Hedden, who teaches at Namaste Wellness Studio in Peoria, IL

Check out YogiTunes's Sensual Sutras collection:

- some pretty juicy stuff in there!

More Sensual Love Making Playlists coming soon!!

Reduce Stress with Slow Breathing - the App

Well folks, they say there's an app for everything. This time it's for something really helpful... taking the science of breath to a new level, MyBrainSolutions has developed an app that helps users slow their breathing down in order to experience increased levels of relaxation.

 What's really interesting is that the app helps you find your RESONANT FREQUENCY. Which as a sound healer, I have to say piqued my interest.  I love resonant frequencies... and what's so cool is that they're different and unique for everyone. It turns out that when it comes to relaxation, it's the space between your heart beats that is most important - and it has to vary. If the space between beats is steady, it's a sign of stress.

Relaxation comes with an organic rhythm... something that we can always be reminded of when we're in nature, surrounded by asyncronous, assymetric rhythms that pulse in patterns that are deeply nourishing for our beings at all levels.

More about the app:
Called MyCalmBeat, the app uses a heart rate monitor that attaches to the ear to detect a person's optimal breathing rate, or resonant frequency, which is unique to each person.

At this breathing rate, the company says the user can increase the variability of their heart rate to lower stress levels.  "People don't realize the profound impact that slow breathing can have until they actually sit down and do it for 10 minutes and then they feel completely different," said Savannah DeVarney, vice president of product marketing for MyBrainSolutions, the creators of the app.

After finding their ideal breathing rate, animated exercises show users how to breathe at that rate, while the heart monitor provides feedback about the variability of their heart rate.

"Normally people think of 65 beats per minute as a good resting heart rate. But we're not necessarily looking at heart rate -- we're looking at the degree to which the space between consecutive heart beats varies," DeVarney explained. When a person is stressed their heart rate becomes consistent and variability is minimized. But when relaxed, variability is maximized, slowing down as you breathe out and speeding up as you breathe in.

"We know that for most people their resonant frequency is between 7.5 and 4.5 breaths per minute. The software maps your heart rate variability through each of those rates to find the breathing rate where it becomes maximized," said DeVarney. This frequency remains consistent throughout adult life, and usually only varies during childhood or pregnancy.

DeVarney said the company collaborated with Dr Richard Gevirtz, a professor at the Alliant International University in San Diego, California, who conducts research in heart rate variability. She said in people who meditate for hours increased heart rate variability is one of the characteristics of being in a highly relaxed state.

"Meditators will find their resonant frequency naturally through trial and error, so we know that there's something in that."

Other biofeedback-based heart rate monitor apps include Instant Heart Rate which uses the iPhone's camera to detect a user's heart rate, rather than an external ear clip.

The company recommends training ten minutes a day, three times a week.

The app is available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry.

For Sonic Support in the process of DEEP RELAXATION, check out our co-founder Craig Kohland's album:


one of the best relaxation albums ever!

The Breakfast Yoga Club - BYC in the House!

INTERVIEW with Breakfast Yoga Club founder Ricky Tran and Houston BYC founder Melissa Smith, both who hail from Texas...

YogiTunes Co-Founder Rara Avis is about to head out that way to dive a little deeper into the thriving Texas yoga community - Austin here we come! Also Desert Dwellers is booked for the Texas Yoga Conference this coming February, when we'll be trying to hook up with the BYC to do a serious commUNITY throw down!






Q: Can you briefly describe what the BYC is exactly?

A: The Breakfast Yoga Club is a yoga social for building commUNITY. Our mission is to unite the yoga community by offering fun yoga + music events with different studios working together when possible. The vision came from Ricky Tran in hopes to unite and build community within studios. It sprouted in Dallas and has spread to other cities, Austin, Houston, and oklahoma city. Each city has it's own flare to it with the entire emphasis of building strong bonds between teachers, studios and students alike.

Q: What inspired you to come up with the idea for the BYC?
A: We witnessed too much separation in yoga communities everywhere and brainstormed on a way to bring yogis together at home in Dallas. What brings people together? Yoga, great music and food (breakfast).

Q; When did it form?
A: June 2010

Q: Who's currently participating?
A: The cities are: Dallas, Houston, Austin & Oklahoma City. In Houston, we first find a location outside of a studio, like a park, community center, store, etc. and then build the class around that neighborhood. Finding all the studios, gyms, anything that has yoga and inviting them to be a part of the class. We have a 2 hour round robin yoga class with music, a featured charity and a representative of each studio teaching. It rocks!

Q: How often do you do events?
A: Some offer events quarterly or monthly, other cities more often.

Q: What's the future vision?
A: We'd love to see BYC in every major Texas City and spread from there. We'd like for leaders in each community to step up and bring people together for yoga, music, and the community regardless of practice, studio or lineage. If you'd like to start one in your city, send us an email, let's talk.

Q: Please tell us a little bit about where the Texas yoga community is at right now
A: (Ricky) I was blown away at the last BYC Houston and the graciousness of the studios that participated. 2 of the studios (Yoga West & Yoga on the Brazos) actually cancelled their classes and asked their students to come out and support the event. We had over 175 attend our last one. It was so inspiriting to see so much diversity in teaching styles and in practices come together. I think the yoga community needs this right now. Together we grow Yoga. Apart, we just create our own thing... I want more than ever to see all studios succeed. The more we hold each other up, the easier it is for all of us to rise and shine.

Q: Can you recommend any albums or playlists on our site that you really dig?
A: I'm really digging Steve Gold, Sean Johnson & the Wild Lotus Band, and Desert Dwellers :)


If you're interested in creating a Breakfast Yoga Club in your area, check them out at
www.breakfastyogaclub.com - reach out to Ricky or Melissa and rock it for your community today!