Ryan Leier, founder of Yoga Vinyasa for Youth

May 21 marked the 9th Yoga Jam Event in Whistler and for me this event went to a new level. For one, my goal of raising $10,000 has been met and exceeded. For another the event is reaching out to new people of various ages, abilities, health...the boundaries are expanding.

Ryan Leier, a yogi with a remarkable open and loving quality, flew out from Saskatoon, brought a huge posse to the event and connected us all in a soulful and rich practice. He is the Director of One Yoga, Saskatoon and now Vancouver as well as the founder of Yoga Vinyasa for Youth. He is bringing yoga to the most important demographic, our future leaders.

Ryan co-taught with Reno Muenz, his student and fellow teacher. The respect between these two inspired me. His business partner Dustin Fruson assisted the participants in a strong and supportive way. Ryan has a community of friends, co-workers, partners and students that is rich and committed. Much like his own yoga practice.

Big connection and lots of love at the Yoga Jam!

People ask me "how do you get these teachers to come, fly out from various cities and teach for free?" If I had to think about it and plan for it I don't think it would happen. Tension comes into my body when I think about "convincing" people. But the Yoga Jam Event is the easiest event to enroll people into. All I do is ask. Photographers, musicians, volunteers, they are all a big yes, and it has nothing to do with me. Yoga works like that. I have reached out to the very vast Baptiste trained teachers since they all have a special link to the Africa Yoga Project. We're like a big family that supports this incredible initiative and we all have huge respect and admiration for Paige Elenson who is the founder. Both Ryan and Paige share the ability to see Yoga as a means for connection and peace, no matter who, no matter where. They very often face obstacles in their quest to reach out but they keep on saying yes and venturing forward. Paige often says, "I don't know how, but I keep on saying yes." Through them I see now what my vision is to offer Yoga Beyond Boundaries, yes with capital letters.

Each Yoga Jam Event brings new faces and people willing to "give it a try". This last event brought over 60 people of 3 generations together from 6 to 70. Beyond Boundaries. We worked in pairs, connected through breath, laughed as we toppled over, perhaps even went into a pose that we hadn't considered possible. Beyond Boundaries.

Crista Shillington "backpacking"!

The next Yoga Jam Event is in Vancouver, generously hosted by Gloria Latham at Semperviva, City Studio June 18 from 1-3pm. She has offered up her biggest studio along with three of her most lit up teachers to lead us through an all-styles yoga practice. Crista Shillington, Wes Salter, Cameron Gilley and Gloria will give us a taste of Yin, Power, Hatha and Kundalini yoga set to live music.

All I had to do was ask. Gloria was a swift yes and saw no boundaries what so ever. Now trust me, I do get to hear no, probably more often than I mention. But with this event, somehow I don't seem to care, I keep asking anyway. The yes answers I get are so bright and memorable that the nos drift away. One person, one breath, one yes at a time. I am up to dropping boundaries.

I recently assisted at the Baptiste Foundations in Action Training in Seattle which has left me brimming with inspiration and passion. I admit that I find myself with an extra wide funnel for this bubbling energy and growth and I'm not sure where to direct the spout. But if there's one thing I took from the weekend it was that sitting with emotions is the route to transformation. So I'm sitting with not knowing what's next and am opening my eyes to pathways of expression.

For me being with uncertainty is a challenge. I come from a culture of "get er done"ness. My husband calls this the "Konantz Cram". For those of you who know my family well will have a good chuckle at this term. A perfect example: my mother. A woman who grew up with a mother in a wheelchair, much older brothers, a father who was taken to war, and bred into a culture of "smile and nod". She was the youngest child to be at enrolled at boarding school at the age of five. Since there were no others her age she was alone in a big dorm room. Smile and nod. She went through life with little resistance and, well, got er done. Raising 3 kids in the age of wife home, husband works was something she took on in a creative way. Finding time to educate herself further, without sacrificing time to do paper maché with us all, she received a degree in fine arts. Get er done. My mother exemplified what we in the Baptiste community call "being a YES". She took on the good, the bad, and cancer with a YES. She taught us to accept what is and if there's something missing go and get it. This attitude showed up big at the last Yoga Jam Event where my 75 year old mother was a YES for a handstand. (The photo shows feet behind her which belong to my father, her feet are in the air!)

So my question is what is it that gets in the way of us all being a YES? Can we create a radical shift in our culture to each live life fully from a YES? What would be possible if so? I believe it would show up as peace worldwide.

Imagine if each person had the mantra of "I am enough. I am a YES. What's next?" Imagine if the world operated from this perspective? As I wrote this a huge sigh came over me and I relaxed into my body. Peace.

My hope is that more people will come to the Yoga Jam Events. Yes, I'm asking you to show up. It's fun, for a great cause and brings us all together. I'm asking you to be a YES to this event. What is it that stands in the way of participation? Can any concern for looking good be replaced by a concern for feeling good? I ask this of myself too so that I can show up more powerfully in my family, community and for others.

I loved that when I rushed over to assist my mum going up into handstand I whispered to her that she didn't have to do it, her response was "I'm doing it". Simple. Nothing in her way. Inspiration in the flesh.

I am so excited that the fabulousness of the Yoga Jam Events is spreading into other communities. Recently two Rachels put on a sweet Yoga Jam Event in their home town of Eagle Colorado. So many beautiful stories came from it, connections were made, abundance generated and the community was elevated. Perfection! Stay connected to the Yoga Jam happenings on the Yoga Jam Events Facebook Page. Help me with my goal to get over 1000ppl to "like" the page so we can spread the awareness.

Recently I met many amazing people at the lululemon ambassador summit in Whistler. I had the privileged spending time with my teacher Baron Baptiste as well as Leah Cullis who is lighting up the Baptiste world. The room was electric with uber keen people and a very positive vibe, and not the cheesy fake kind, the really grounded super honest and vulnerable kind. One such person is Lisa Shields from the lululemon store in Carlsbad California. Sweet, energetic and a walking breathing YES. She is all about hosting a Yoga Jam Event in her community! Yes! My vision of taking the event around the globe is happening, one community at a time. Carlsbad watch out, Lisa is unleashed!

Lisa is busy planning her event and asked me for the guidelines of the event. I started writing and thought that I would share my vision blogstyle. So here it is! If you would like to host a Yoga Jam Event in your community let me know! erin@whitegoldyoga.com

I've been grappling with the notion that every time I sit down to write about the Yoga Jam it seems to revolve around Cancer lately. You may wonder, if I've been so personally affected by Cancer, why would I be fundraising for the Africa Yoga Project? The answer is deep, complex and truthfully not completely formulated in my mind.

I will start by saying that my personal experience at my teacher training with Baron Baptiste showed me that I have an ability to stand up and have a say. I was so moved by hearing about Moses and Catherine's journey from the slums of Nairobi to teaching Yoga in their community that I had to stand. I was brought to my feet. Moved. It occurs to me that I stand for something. I can take a stand for those who want to fight for change. Those who fight against all odds to bring about peace, to themselves or others are my heros and I want to be a champion to them.

I work, sing, promote, love the Africa Yoga Project and all that it stands for simply because it makes me happy. Cancer makes me scared and pissed. Yoga is breath, Cancer is fear. Yoga is wellness, Cancer is illness. These are the deep felt, not ever expressed out loud kind of feelings I have. I guess it leads to the question, what gets us to stand up? What are we willing to work for? Is it to make a statement, make money, make friends, get love? Maybe all of it, maybe none, we are so individual and absolutely right in our motives. I'm driven to bring peace to Africa in a big way, and I admit that it's fueled by how pissed I am at Cancer. Does it need to make sense? No. Not even to me. I just know that I follow my heart, follow my intuition and keep moving forward no matter the obstacles. And obstacles, judgment and resistance is plenty in all our lives. The greatest source of both inspiration and degradation comes from my internal chit chat. I can only start to affect change in the world by getting out of my own way. I say that phrase often because it's so clear to me that the only thing that stops me from greatness is me. My fear. My anger. The story I create.

I watch my Dad coach my brother through his Cancer treatment, cheer him on. This is a long way from little league. I look down at my own 5 year old son and the pain is unimaginable. Too hot to touch. I strap on my running shoes and try to make sense of it, pounding the pavement trying to shake off the helplessness I feel. If I can't help him right now, what can I do? I become a crusader for something that can change, support a project that is in line with all that I believe in. Generate hope. Somehow the work becomes easy. I'm driven. It may be true that I am avoiding really looking Cancer in the eye, but I don't care. I looked my mum in the eye through two bouts of Breast Cancer, I look my brother in the eye as he questions how this happened to him, I look all the Cancer patients in the eye as I wait for my mammogram appointment. And still I choose to send my energy, love, support, hard work to the Africa Yoga Project. Why? Because it makes me happy.

Please come to the next Yoga Jam April 30th.  Help elevate the world by doing something that makes you happy - I promise this is it! Who knows this may lead to the cure for Cancer! Yoga is full of endless possibilities.

You can also support this cause by visiting the Yoga Jam Events Facebook Page and "like" it!

My mother has many sayings of which I quote often. Let me list a few gems, "go out there and make a difference", "you have to have a marketable skill", "manners matter" and of course "showing up is 90% of life". In other words, my mum is always up to something big!

Saturday's Yoga Jam showed me that the message was heard loud and clear in my family. As I've written before, my brother is fighting Cancer and recently underwent surgery. His prognosis is great and certainly the disease doesn't stand a chance with a dude like him. So how does he spend his very first day out of the house after the surgery? At the Yoga Jam. Damn, that's cool. I hear so many people say they will come when they get "better at yoga", or when this happens, or that...not him. He lets nothing stand in the way of showing up, and showing up big. We need to understand deeply that yoga doesn't judge. It's a healing place, a place where we gather together in our differences, on common ground. I'm really not sure what culture was created where people stop participating because they're afraid of being judged? I admit to suffering from the same affliction. Ask me if I join mountain bike groups without any "concern for looking good", I'd likely squirm and come up with an excuse or go into a story about my inability to keep up. We are all the same on some level when faced with a fear. Can we learn from my brother? Can we up our game in honour of those who do it anyway? I'll join a mountain bike group if you come to Yoga! Deal?

Now back to the Yoga Jam. I have started on this path of offering different teachers each month and it never ceases to amaze me how the flavour changes each time. We went from a dance party to the Black Eyed Peas and practicing the "Lady Gagasana" posture with Will Blunderfield and Lara Kozan to a sweet, gentle, compassionate afternoon with Tanya Di Valentino and Colleen Felgate. All the more enhanced by the beautiful acoustic guitar by Polek and a live painting show by Kris Kupskay. The teachers brought the Yin and Yang of their very different personalities to us through their unique styles. It's amazing what manifests since I had been feeling the need for some soul nourishment with all that's happening in our world. It's damn scary out there. We may not admit it, but we're ungrounded. With disease and disaster abound I maintain that the very best place to go is to the mat. Through breath, meditation and asana we can stay present which is all we have. That's what Tanya and Colleen brought us.

 
It warmed my heart to see families coming together. Four members of my family, Sylvie Paré with both her daughter and mother, baby Bodhi plus 3 members of the Elmas family, Sarinda and her daughter, cousins, and friends who are like family all joint palms in a simple honouring of coming together just as we are. We can drop the concern for looking good and be up to something bigger. Let's all make a pact, the next time we say no to something, can we ask "what's standing in my way of showing up?" Trust me, when you show up it lights up my life. I love having you - all of you.

I just spent the weekend in the midst of 80 or so soul seeking women (and a few men) at the Seane Corn workshop at Semperviva in Vancouver. The topic revolved around what Vinyasa Yoga is all about, the types of people most attracted to it (ie me and all fiery type A's), how best to teach it and what it tends to reveal. What I loved about the weekend is that Seane seemed to recognize that the topic didn't have far to go with us. She seemed to see that we were all searching for some deeper truths about ourselves beyond the fact that we're sweat mongers. The workshop evolved into work around our energy centres or Chakras as we moved deeper into postures that challenged our deepest layers of tension. Now we're talking my body said. Let's get into the nitty gritty. While in these deep and juicy postures she challenged us to ask ourselves big questions. What are our patterns, what are our blocks, in what way do we limit ourselves, how do we hold on to what we believe to be true? All I could think about was my brother's battle with Cancer.

So what does Cancer have to do with it? I know that since I was told that I have an 80% chance of developing the disease I have been scared, stressed and sad. I went to the mat and worked it out. What does a percentage really mean? What is Cancer anyway? All I can begin to understand in me is what is happening now, today and appreciate that I will never know the whole truth about anything. Down dogging, chattarungaing, lunging, creating heat in my muscles and freedom in my joints, that's the truth.

And while I watch my brother (who by the way is my absolute hero, idol, love and light) struggle, fight, laugh, cry his way through this affliction I can only stand by and support him on his path. It would never serve him for me to take it on or make it about me. Yes, I can question what is it about Cancer in my world, with my mother having it twice, my sweet dog dying of it and my super hero brother getting it at such a young age. I don't get it. I guess that's the point. That's what I have to breathe into. Suddenly I understand that my true path is in releasing the tension around "trying to understand", or trying to find meaning in everything. The effort around being victimized, being fearful, being paranoid only lands me deeper into a rigid life. I'm up to bigger things than that.

While asking some bigger questions about what areas in our lives are blocked or dull it's so important to remember to keep living BIG. To appreciate that every obstacle in our path diverts us onto something bigger and better. Live big, love bigger and light up the path ahead. I do this in honour of my amazing mother who revolutionized her life and mine because of Cancer. I do this in honour of my brother who can find humour in the darkest moments.

I can say in all honesty without any kind of self promotion, the Yoga Jam has been the purest venue for open hearted grace. A place of healing, celebration and joy surrounded by our community. Yoga relieves the tension on a broad scale. This is what the world needs. This is what we need to fight Cancer.