LOVE SPOTLIGHT: Come to Life Yoga

by iana velez | Sep 2, 2023 | ARTICLES, Profiles

LOVE SPOTLIGHT: Come to Life Yoga

PROFILES

To celebrate the release of our print issue themed LOVE, we reached out to our amazing community to share with us a few thoughts on love. This week we celebrate Come to Life Yoga located in Fort Myers, FLA and founder Kimberly: “Kimberly has been practicing Yoga since 2009. She is an E-RYT 200/ RYT 500 yoga teacher and a certified sound healer. She has a passion for teaching as yoga saved her life. She shares her story frequently. She found yoga is a great way to improve endurance in other physical activities. Before or after any workout, yoga will help your body relax while stretching, strengthening, and lengthening the muscles. Kimberly chose to become a teacher and open Come To Life Yoga in Fort Myers, Florida in 2014 so others can enjoy the amazing benefits and overall health through yoga. She takes pride in small group sessions and individual sessions to make sure the students get full knowledge of the yoga benefits and how to maintain overall health. The Hatha/Vinyasa yoga combination she teaches is for all levels and beginners. She also teaches power, heated vinyasa, Yoga Nidra, restorative yoga, yin yoga , adaptive yoga, chair yoga and sound bowl classes. She has a registered yoga school with the Yoga Alliance and teaches a 200 hour yoga teacher training and an YACEP sound healing course. She also focuses on helping other local small businesses by doing events together, yoga retreats and teaches at other yoga studios while she travels.” Pick up your free copy of Yoga Love Magazine at Come to Life Yoga today!

Share with us what you love about what you do:
When I opened in 2014, it was to share love with others through the practice of yoga. You will see signs everywhere in the studio about love as reminders. It is because of the love and support of yogis that Come To Life Yoga and Sound Healing still exists after a pandemic and two major hurricanes that damaged the studio. I tell students to remember to love who they are first so they can love others. We find in yoga that it is a union of love. I have learned that unity and community provides us love.

Share with us what you have learned about LOVE:
Love is everything and everyone. If you love everything and everyone it brings you peace and fulfillment.

What inspired you to support Yoga Love Magazine?
When I found Yoga Love Magazine and was told the issue was about love, I knew I had to join it and help them reach others too. I am so grateful to be part of such a wonderful cause.

LOVE SPOTLIGHT: Yoga in the Adirondacks

by iana velez | Sep 1, 2023 | ARTICLES, Profiles

LOVE SPOTLIGHT: Yoga in the Adirondacks

PROFILES

To celebrate the release of our print issue themed LOVE, we reached out to our amazing community to share with us a few thoughts on love. This week we celebrate Yoga in the Adirondacks which sits in the Adirondack State Park of New York, and founder Rhodella Hughes. Pick up your free copy of Yoga Love Magazine at Yoga in the Adirondacks today!

Share with us what you love about what you do:
I love teaching yoga and feel extremely blessed for the opportunity in the practice. I love creating a “safe space” to embrace the practice of yoga. Our yoga shala, The Divine Acres, home to Yoga in the Adirondacks (YitA), where yoga embraces nature. We are located in upstate NY, in Bakers Mills of the Adirondack Park. Our gardens are a labor of love that source our farm to table meals at our seasonal retreats. I love working with my husband, Patrick who manages The Divine Acres farm. In addition to our miniature donkeys, sheep (most of them born here on the farm) ducks, chickens and turkeys; we have a farmstand after our morning yoga practices. I love our story and our mission. Yoga in the Adirondacks is a journey in the current moment, changing in harmony with our focus to enhance our community in the highest and greatest of good.

Our vision is to bring positive living to light in our community and ourselves using healthy living, yoga, essential oils and more. We offer the opportunity to find the courage to seek within ourselves the seed of change for any new beginnings using our individual tool boxes. Yoga can bring us growth, peace, and gratitude within ourselves, connecting with our beautiful and majestic Adirondack Mountains and all they have to offer.

I love always being a student. I am currently in study for Yoga Therapy. I have initiated a 3rd grade yoga and mindfulness program in our public school and I am very excited to be delivering my first workshop at our school staff day on Yoga & Mindfulness for Educators. I love that yoga continues to grow and I love to be the witness of how the practice is beneficial for our overall health. A big piece of my heart is the love for our children, the youth, the future of our tomorrow. YitA will be offering an after school yoga program for our students. The things I love to say when I teach yoga “our palms, the extension of our own heart”, “our neck, the bridge between our heart and mind”, “softness in the strength”, “find your breath”, “find your feet.”

I love educating and sharing essential oils and bringing them through practice along with chakra singing bowls for supporting the balance of our vibrational frequencies. I love teaching Yoga Nidra, Veterans Yoga and AromaYoga.

Share with us what you have learned about LOVE:
When we align ourselves with love the lessons speak for themselves. A lesson in LOVE is about our alignment with a full, open, strong and clear heart. A lesson of compassion, understanding, kindness and peace with the calm in a human journey knowing that love is stronger than fear. Love is Divine. Divine is here to shine. The authentic you shines love.

What inspired you to support Yoga Love Magazine?
My initial inspiration to support Yoga Love Magazine was through the connection of trust. I was delighted to be a part of something bigger than myself. So grateful to be a studio partner and look forward to continuing

SPOTLIGHT FESTIVAL: WILD WEST YOGA FEST

by iana velez | Aug 19, 2023 | ARTICLES, Festivals, Festivals 2023, Profiles

SPOTLIGHT FESTIVAL: WILD WEST YOGA FEST

Oct 14th, 2023
Forestburg, TX

FESTIVALS

Looking for something to do this Oct? 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 Lori Klinger, owner of The Ponderosa Guest Ranch (home of the fest) and the creator and visionary behind the Wild West Yoga Fest taking place in Forestburg, Texas who we are thrilled to partner with! You will be able to get complimentary copies of our magazine at this festival!

What inspired you to create a festival?
I have been hosting yoga retreats and workshops, music events, and dinners here at the ranch since we opened in 2018. The festival is a combination of all that we do on steroids! 🙂 I love bringing communities together and Texas is so incredibly spread out, I thought what a wonderful way to unite yoga communities in and around the Dallas/Ft Worth area and beyond. A festival is also an easy, fun and less intimidating way to dip your toe into yoga and the world of all things health and wellness. While this has been a grassroots effort that is mostly word of mouth, the festival has steadily doubled in size each year. This is year three and it just keeps on getting bigger and better!

What makes your festival unique?
It has a hippies and cowboys kinda feel. The 160 acre ranch setting with longhorns, horses, and fan favorite “Donkey” roaming freely makes it a “Texas safari” of sorts. It is a true backroads sanctuary just an hour outta the metroplex that gives festival goers a real feel of relaxation and immersion in nature. It’s a one day festival, but has lasting blissful effects especially for those escaping the daily grind of city life. It is next level high vibes!!! And by pure coincidence the total solar eclipse lands on the day of the festival. We will be having a little lunchtime watch party. Almost too good to be true!

What offering/presenter or class are you most excited about for this year’s event?
That’s a tough one. Our lineup is chocked full of incredible teachers with varied styles from start to finish, but I am so incredibly humbled and stoked that MY teacher Amy Ippolitti will be joining us this year. There are so many things to get excited about…In addition to top notch asana classes, we have aerial yoga, acro yoga, ice plunges led by a Wim Hof instructor, hooping, a sound bath, a festival wide drumming circle, live reggae music, and a vendor village with tarot, reiki, henna tats, farm fresh items and all sorts of goods for purchase. We also have speakers up top to stimulate your minds while you enjoy some downtime, or lunch from a variety of food truck options. It is literally the BEST.DAY.EVER.

IG: @wildwestyogafest
FB: Wild West Yoga Fest
Learn More

ALOHA SPIRIT

by Chanty Cohen | Aug 10, 2023 | ARTICLES, Profiles

ALOHA SPIRIT

By: Abhaijot Kaur
Photo: Federica Dallorso

PROFILES

The archipelago of the Hawaiian Islands is more than just warm weather, beaches, volcanoes, valleys and Polynesian culture. It is the spirit of love, or Aloha. Before my feet hit the āina (Hawaiian for land) I could feel deep within my heart this was the place I needed to be. I had never been to Hawaii before, and I thought, “Why is this land calling me?” and day by day, the feeling would come through strongly. My partner and I decided to pack our bags and head to Hawaii.

When I arrived on the āina, I instantly knew why my soul called me here at this time. It is because the islands are set on a foundation of Aloha. My soul must have known I needed to be here as the world was collectively going through a time of massive transition. We all know the word Aloha. On the surface, you may think of Aloha as a salutation as it is a typical greeting in Hawaii, but it is much more than that. Aloha is a philosophy that directs a code of conduct and way of life. The concept came from the need for Hawaiians to live in peace and work together, as Hawaii is very distant from most places on the earth. Coming together in harmony and kindness in all relations be it the land, people or animals was a priority, so the Hawaiians adopted this Aloha spirit. Aloha spirit is uniting rather than divisive, and a code of conduct that is so relevant for humanity right now as it transcends race and differences and embraces togetherness and equality.

Akahai: kindness, expressed with tenderness
Lōkahi: unity, expressed with harmony
Olu‘olu: agreeable, expressed with pleasantness
Ha‘aha‘a: humility, expressed with modesty
Ahonui: patience, expressed with perseverance.

Aloha creates a unified atmosphere of Love, Peace, and Compassion. It is a simple prescription of how to live a life where your heart is so full, it is overflowing with the ability to influence others around you with the presence of your highest spirit on behalf of all. I am so grateful to be here living Aloha on this sacred, loving archipelago. In return, I embody that spirit of life everywhere I go.

Here are some of my favorite ways of creating Aloha spirit every day and anywhere:

Smile at the people you pass on the street and greet them with a hello. A smile is an act of kindness.
Share something if you have a surplus. Sharing is an act of unity.
Need help with something? Ask for it. Sometimes we are terrified to ask for help, but we need to remember we are not alone. Asking for help is an act of humility.
Pay a compliment. Compliments are acts of pleasantry.
Sit in observation through meditation, or stand in observation when in line running errands. Observation is an act of patience.

The beauty of Aloha spirit is you can take this philosophy with you wherever you are. After all, I think we can all agree that humanity can use more love, or Aloha spirit.

Visit Abhaijot at her eco luxury permaculture farm: wai-mana.com

WEB SPOTLIGHT: SHAYS WARRIORS

by Chanty Cohen | Aug 2, 2023 | ARTICLES, Profiles

WEB SPOTLIGHT: SHAYS WARRIORS

By: iana velez
Photos By: Lani

PROFILES

To celebrate the release of our print issue themed LOVE, we reached out to our amazing community to share with us a few thoughts on love. This week we celebrate one of our partners, Shay, founder of Shay’s Warriors, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was formed in the Coachella Valley to help the cancer survivorship community. Shay was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in 2016 and Shay’s Warriors was brought to life in hopes of providing a healthy, inspiring, and safe space for all cancer survivors to thrive and connect. Check out our interview with Shay here and learn more about her work below:

Share with us what you love about what you do: I am the Visionary and Founder of Shay’s Warriors Life After Cancer, and in this role I wear many hats. But my favorite hat is being able to sit down and listen to survivors. They trust me at some of their most vulnerable times to help lift them up in prayers, love and light. They also trust me to share their stories that help inspire other cancer survivors. It is an absolute honor to do what I do.

Share with us what you have learned about LOVE: It may sound cliche but my ultimate definition of love comes from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 LOVE is patient and kind; it does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with truth. If we sti8ck to this everything can be done in love and if you truly understand this you can speak from a place of love in your heart always with a broader outlook on life itself. Because when you have love in your heart and soul there is no room for hate.

What inspired you to support Yoga Love Magazine? I like to support people’s dreams, especially Women & Latino Owned small businesses. We should support each other to learn, share and connect with our world through stories, photos and so much more.

Learn more: Shay’s Warrior

LOVE Spotlight: Bhakti Fest

by iana velez | Aug 1, 2023 | ARTICLES, Festivals, Festivals 2023, Profiles

LOVE Spotlight: BHAKTI FEST

FESTIVALS

We are so excited to celebrate the release of our amazing LOVE themed issue! This week we had a chance to connect with some of the amazing presenters at this year’s Bhakti Fest taking place in Joshua Tree, CA this Sept where the Yoga Love team will be! We asked some of our favorite artists and presenters to share with us some thoughts on what they have learned about LOVE. Check out their thoughts on love below.

Dj Drez

Love itself is perfect and it exceeds the most beautiful definitions.

Krishna Das

You don’t have to create Love or Happiness, just uncover it. This is what happens over time as we find a way to live without fear, and with an open heart. Real Love is like the sunshine. It shines on everything everywhere. I have no doubts that love is who we truly are.

Shiva Rea

What I learned about love
In this journey of life on the path of Bhakti Yoga,I have learned that love can be shared – beyond species – in that creatures share love and compassion beyond their species like the tiger that nurses piglets, cats that care for lil chicks, and that great bond that can thrive amongst humans, creatures, and all of the plant world. Love is the perfect symbiosis of our relationship with our living sacred Earth.

Love is our embodied super alchemy supporting our immune system, longevity, and flow states, and yet can be non-local such as the love in from wisdom beings, Gurus beyond time and space. Love nourishes us when the desert of life is dry when we feel the load we carry is almost going to break. Love gives us buoyancy. Every day, we can realize that love is breath – an ocean that is breathing us now and ultimately as Ram Dass, whispers to us, “love is non-judgemental awareness.”

May we open to the ocean of breath as love and may all beings be transformed in Divine love as our very nature.

Nina Rao

This is a verse from a devotional prayer that Sri Siddhi Ma sang to Maharaj-ji Neem Karoli Baba:

Yourself devoid of attributes, you shower love and grace on all,
Desireless yourself, you are the creator of the Universe.
Formless, yet thou art the true eternal Siddha, The God of all, you are known to be bound by pure love.

SRIDHAR SILBERFEIN

Love can be very fleeting, here one moment and gone the next. Best to immerse oneself in the inner love of the divine and be happy in the moment

JAI DEV SINGH

Love is simple, wisdom is love

Petra at The Sound Mind Garden

Love abides in pure motive. Love wants nothing of you, and everything for you. May all beings find happiness. Sarva Mangalam.

Allison Eaton

Love is the answer to everything.

Divasonic

Love is the highest and truest of all frequencies amplified in the presence of sacred community – ‘Divasonic’

Egemen

My time on this planet I have learned that everything is here to teach me how to love.

NIDHI PANDYA

What I have learned about love is that we often lock love in our hearts and may end up spending our entire life in shrinking, terrifying scarcity. But when we open the door of our heart and let love flow, we can see it grow. And as it grows, it transforms our own life and the lives of others; it fills all dark spaces with light and eases all density into flow.

RADHIKA DAS

I’ve learned that to love means to serve. To put aside, sacrifice and tolerate the discomfort of material life in order to give and share practices, like kirtan, that will enliven our true identity – the soul.

YOGRISHI VISHVKETU

Openness and healing at all levels. Om

You will be able to get complimentary copies of our magazine at this festival! Yoga Love Magazine readers can use the code yogalove when they check out for a 10% discount on ticket purchases