Festival Spotlight: Barefoot & Free Yoga Festival

Festival Spotlight: Barefoot & Free Yoga Festival

Festival Spotlight: Barefoot & Free Yoga Festival

By iana velez

PROFILES

Yoga Love Magazine - McKenzie Riepen - bio pic

Looking for something to do this summer? We are thrilled yoga festivals are back and can’t wait to check out all the amazing events taking place around the world. This week we had a chance to connect with Beth James, the creator of Barefoot and Free Yoga festival about her festival, inspirations, and what she’s looking forward to! Check out this great festival taking place Aug 4-Aug 6, 2023 at Proud Lake State Park, Michigan.

Special thanks to Beth for offering an exclusive code for our community: YOGALOVE for 15% off passes!!

What inspired you to create a yoga festival?
I was first inspired 8 months pregnant at my friend’s wedding in the woods where Barefoot takes place. I kept going back to the woods, thinking about it and so I decided to try it out. I had been a yoga teacher in metro Detroit community for several years so I knew the community well but honestly had no idea how to put on something of this magnitude, but I followed my intuition and it said DO IT along with the beautiful forest & the trees.

What makes your festival unique?
We are immersed in nature, plus I believe the forest spoke to me that day and every year the woods is blessed for us to be blessed in the forest. We are surrounded by tall pine trees, the clean Huron River and fresh clean Proud Lake. Yet we are going 30-45 minutes outside of the busy city area of Metro-Detroit.

What offering/presenter or class are you most excited about for this year’s event?
I am excited to showcase all the amazing Michigan talent. In particular we have an emphasis on more shamanic healing; sound baths, plant ceremonies & talks and discussions regarding the benefit of alternative therapies such as psilocybin, ketamine, and cannabis. I am excited about the joining and understanding of how yoga and nature are the medicine people need most right now.

Learn more:
@barefootandfreeyoga
www.barefootandfreeyoga.com


SPECIAL OFFER:
YOGALOVE for 15% off passes

Yoga Love Magazine - McKenzie Riepen - bio pic
Yoga Love Magazine - McKenzie Riepen - bio pic
Yoga Love Magazine - McKenzie Riepen - bio pic
LOVE PROFILE: Shari Vilchez-Blatt

LOVE PROFILE: Shari Vilchez-Blatt

LOVE PROFILE: Shari Vilchez-Blatt

Founder Karma Kids Yoga

PROFILES

LOVE PROFILE- Shari Vilchez-Blatt - Preschool Group Tree

As we prepare for our June 2023 release of our print issue themed LOVE, we reached out to our amazing community to share with us a few thoughts on love. Our first feature celebrates Shari who was a VP, Advertising Director before completely changing her path to combine two things that are close to her heart – yoga and children. She created Karma Kids Yoga in 2002, encouraging playful and imaginative movement through yoga as the core philosophy. Shari has trained over three thousand people around the world to teach yoga to children through the renowned Karma Kids Yoga Teacher Training Program and her latest endeavor is her Girl Empowerment Series. Shari is currently working on projects with Sesame Workshop…stay tuned.

Share with us what you love about what you do:
I’m a children’s yoga teacher. I love what I do. It’s playful, unpredictable, humorous and always an adventure. I love when children surprise themselves with their own abilities. I love observing them use the yoga and mindfulness tools that I share and feel the benefits. But what I love most is when a child is about to give up and I can encourage them to believe in themselves, remind them that they were made to do hard things, they tap into their courage and strength and nail the pose! Their expressions and excitement beam with pride. This makes my heart explode every time.

Share with us what you have learned about LOVE:
Love is easy to spread around! I’ve learned that the more I spread it within the community, the more it flourishes and grows. When spreading love, I feel love back. When spreading love with children and teens, they’re more likely to open up, trust, share, connect and hopefully continue to spread love. Love feels so much better in the body and mind than any other emotion I can think of.

What inspired you to support Yoga Love Magazine?
This magazine is unlike any other yoga enthused publication I have ever seen. I love that real teachers, not yoga celebrities, are featured.I love that it feels approachable and connective versus like a fashion magazine. It feels like a community that you’re welcome to join versus “look at us.” I love the tireless spirit of a female Latina leader and all female staff that makes this magazine happen and I feel big love when I support this.

INTEGRAL YOGA INSTITUTE

INTEGRAL YOGA INSTITUTE

INTEGRAL YOGA INSTITUTE

ABOUT:

The word “Yoga” means union or yoke in the ancient Sanskrit language. It is a perfect description of the science and philosophy of Integral Yoga. Integral Yoga® synthesizes the various branches of Yoga into a comprehensive lifestyle system. The purpose is to support the harmonious development of every aspect of the individual. The six branches of Integral Yoga® are each powerful tools to gain self-mastery. When combined to affect the whole being the results are at once subtle, profound and measurable.

Integral Yoga Institute was founded in New York City  by Sri Swami Satchidananda, a spiritual teacher from India, who came to America at the invitation of the artist Peter Max. On October 15, 1970, a beautiful brownstone building on West 13th Street in historic Greenwich Village was dedicated as the New York IYI. Both an ashram and a teaching center, it became a beacon for spiritual seekers from all over New York City and is the place where thousands of people experienced Yoga for the first time.

Over the years, the New York IYI has grown to become one of the most respected and beloved Yoga centers in the city, an oasis for busy New Yorkers and out-of-town visitors. Four Yoga rooms, each painted a different color and each displaying a symbol honoring all faiths to reflect Swami Satchidananda’s credo that “Truth is One, Paths are Many,” together constitute an environment of peace and serenity. Traditionally, more than 6,000 students each month attend 125 weekly Hatha Yoga classes at all levels, including Prenatal, Postnatal, Flow, Restorative, and Gentle. IYI pioneered Yoga for those with H.I.V. and AIDS. Nearly 200 active teachers teach as Karma Yoga—that is, as an unpaid offering.

Courses and workshops in meditation and breathing practices, health and nutrition, and other, related teachings create a unique and rewarding atmosphere for learning and sharing. Students gather both online and in-person for Scripture Study to read and discuss such fundamental works as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Bhagavad Gita. Kirtans (devotional chanting) and Satsangs (spiritual discussions) draw people from all over the country. Over the years, IYI’s renowned Teacher Training program has certified hundreds of teachers in Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Hatha Yoga, Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga, Meditation, and Gentle and Chair Yoga.

IYI offers many classes and workshops on using Yoga to deal with a wide variety of life-threatening and chronic physical  and mental health conditions, including Yoga Therapy, Cardiac Yoga and more.  It has introduced programs called Yoga At Work® and Yoga At School™ to promote its message that Yoga is for everyone in every setting.

The New York IYI is a living embodiment of Sri Swami Satchidananda’s teachings, a community where the goal for all people is to have an easeful body, a peaceful mind, and a useful life.

ACCESSIBLE YOGA ASSOCIATION

ACCESSIBLE YOGA ASSOCIATION

ACCESSIBLE YOGA ASSOCIATION

ABOUT:

Accessible Yoga believes that all people—regardless of ability or background—deserve equal access to yoga. Through education and advocacy, we share the teachings and benefits of yoga with those who have been marginalized. We envision a world where everyone has access to the yoga teachings that offer individual empowerment and spiritual awakening. We identify and remove barriers to access, build strong networks, and advocate for an accessible, equitable, and dynamic yoga culture.
Janie Larmour

Janie Larmour

Janie Larmour

Yoga Plus Magazine - Teachers - Janie Larmour Bio pic

LOCATION:

Australia

TAGS:

Zen Ki Yoga® Therapy
Anatomy

MEMBERSHIP:

teachable.com

BIO:

Janie Larmour created Zen Ki Yoga® over her 25 years of intensively working with others and studying yoga, anatomy, fitness, weight training, shiatsu, macrobiotics and oriental medicine. She teaches and is based in Sydney, though regularly presents at conferences, expos and teaches workshops all over Australia, New Zealand, the USA and UK. You can train with Janie online and via Skype or simply participate in her online classes at your convenience by subscribing to her online yoga studio.

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