When you need to see something good…

CGood.tv is a new streaming platform that is dedicated to conscious, uplifting and transformation films, series, documentaries, music videos, podcasts, live events, and more. There is something for every mood and amount of time.

Cgood.tv is now live and available for free!

“I always wanted a media platform that reinforced a daily conscious practice, with healthy diet and positive consumption choices. And now, the uncertainty of recent events has fortified my belief that a well told visual story has the power to change the world—because it changes how we see the world.” shares Trina Wyatt, who is the founder and CEO of Conscious Good.

The platform is temporarily available free of charge and will later shift into an affordable subscription-based membership.

The beta launches with a new series produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Betsy Chasse (What The Bleep Do We Know?!, Song of The New Earth, Pregnant In America)

“I was excited to meet the challenge of creating something inspiring and empowering while being in lockdown! Working with content creators, poets, animators, musicians and editors and such amazing luminaries was certainly a highlight for me while staying home. Their messages remind me of what humans are capable. The piece shares stories, poetry, music, art and thoughtful inspirations from around the world.

Teachers and Speakers on C Good TV

C The Good features some of the following teachers and speakers, including YouTube sensation Tom Foolery and his short film, The Great Realisation, Trina Wyatt, Sister Dr. Jenna, Michael B. Beckwith, Marianne Williamson, Charles Eisenstein, Temple Hayes, Andrea Pennington, Kelly Noonan Gores, Dr. Habib Sadeghi, Dr. Sherry Sami, Dr. Foojan Zeine, Puria Kästele, Sister Jayanti, Deirdre Hade, William Arntz, Snatam Kaur Khalsa, Havilah Malone, Piper Dellums, Lexie Potamkin, Louis Gosset Jr., Jeremy Loveday, Starhawk, Mark Lakeman, Nikki Sanchez, Jason Guille, Akira Chan, Arjuna O’Neal, Raamayan Ananda, Cynthia Bledsoe, Jo Gillard, Amber J. Lawson, Betsy Chasse, Chambolion Fairley, Sinead O’Callahan and Conscious Good’s Creators Network community members.

The CGood TV app is available on all major platforms. This includes iOS, Android, Amazon FireTV, AppleTV, AndroidTV, Chromecast and Roku. Look for it on the web at CGood.TV.

Staff Writer

The post Tune into Inspiration with CGood TV appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Universal Mother by Martina Hoffmann

Visionary artist Martina Hoffmann describes her paintings and sculptures as “subtle reflections on the nature of women in a realistic style that marries the fantastic to the sacred.” Her art creates a visual language that reflects universal consciousness. “My work is an attempt to portray consciousness and love as unifying forces beyond the confines of cultural and religious differences. As a visionary and artist, I hope to shine some light on the interdependency of all life on this planet and its interconnectedness with the universe at large,” Hoffmann states.

For 30 years, Hoffmann co-created with her husband, visionary artist and fantastic realist Robert Venosa, who died of cancer in 2011. When Venosa was diagnosed in 2003, doctors gave him three months to live. The couple enjoyed another eight-and-a-half years together through their dedication to holistic, integrated healing approaches. A year before Robert’s departure, Hoffmann lost her father. Her home and studio were partially destroyed during the devastating Colorado floods in 2013, and she lost another close family member a year later. In 2015, she lost her mother. To recover from the trauma and many years of caregiving and work through the integration of these profoundly life-changing events, she took solace in her studio.

An outstanding new series of work began to emerge, leading her through grief to beautiful new beginnings.

Transmutations by Martina Hoffmann and Robert Venosa

“Transmutations” is a selection of Hoffmann’s and Venosa’s works portraying ayahuasca visions. It opens April 21, 2018, at the Museum HR Giger in Gruyères, Switzerland. Transmutations an extensive journey through other worlds and the inner landscapes of Hoffmann and Venosa. The exhibit includes a large selection of Hoffman’s earlier work inspired by shamanic journeys with sacred plant medicine in the Amazonian rainforest. It also includes recent paintings reflecting her experience moving through the “shadow” of loss and grief and the closing of a dark chapter and the opening of a new one “where light awaits.” A separate gallery will showcase a selection of Venosa’s best-known works. Works that express the full spectrum of his path as an artist, “from luminous, crystalline astral planes through to mesmerizing other-worldly landscapes.”

This is the first comprehensive exhibition that features the couple’s art side by side since Venosa died. It contextualizes the co-inspiration that both artists enjoyed and the mutual spiritual understanding they shared during their 30 year relationship. “Transmutations” explores the mysterious and essential nature of consciousness, expressed as energy, that exists in all living things.

I met Martina and Robert in 2008 at Sita Sitaramaya‘s now legendary Visionary Convergence in the Peruvian Amazon. It was where I first experienced ayahuasca during a trip with my husband, ethnobotanist and Medicine Hunter Chris Kilham. A giclée of Hoffmann’s brilliant, otherworldly Tree of Knowledge holds a place of honor in my studio, curiously reminiscent of my own ayahuasca journey visions. I recently had a chance to catch up with Martina to talk about her life’s journey and her exciting upcoming exhibition.

Speaking with Artist Martina Hoffmann

Zoe Helene: You’ve been focused on your studio work lately.

Martina Hoffmann: Yes. It was something I needed after the years of worries and caretaking for my father, Robert, and then my mom. Losing everybody pumped me empty, and I really needed to catch up with my work. I still receive a lot of invitations to teach, talk at conferences, and paint at the festivals, all of which I’ve always enjoyed very much. But for the last years, I’ve stepped away from many of these activities, mostly from teaching, which Robert and I did for so many years. It takes tremendous energy to support your students’ creative process. I felt that I needed to regenerate first before teaching again. Also, it was time to focus my energy inward and on personal creative expression.

That’s wonderful—and what it takes—and it’s showing in your newer pieces.

This a period of my work where I’m trying to come back from something. I was definitely traumatized by everything that happened. You can feel spiritually prepared for these types of losses and experiences. But nothing will ever prepare you for the harsh reality of hospitals and everything you have to deal with around your loved ones’ serious health issues – especially when you’re seeking integrated wellness options beyond typical Western medical approaches, including the work with shamanic journeys. Imagine accompanying a loved one for almost nine years to every doctor’s visit, dealing with every allopathic wall thrown in your face, having them call you crazy for not wanting to opt for surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy, and then having test results that prove that your choice was the right path for you.

Robert was given three months to live at his diagnosis. This was when we traveled to the Amazon—where we were with you and Chris. We knew he had cancer, but we decided to do the spiritual work and fine-tune our already healthy lifestyle. We ate exclusively organic (a lot of it raw), plus exercise, meditation, journeying, travel, huge doses of love and gratitude, living each day to the fullest, and creating a great deal of art. Everything was really a success.

But cancer can be an up and down journey, and you have no choice but to deal with the doctors and people who do not agree with your choices and life views. On a daily basis, I became Robert’s greatest ally in his healing journey and became his shield. Some of the scariest moments would be our regular calling in for blood test results. Sometimes he would say, “Can you please just call for that test? I just don’t have the courage today to do it.” Sometimes it was a good result, and sometimes it wasn’t. And the years and years and years of dealing with a looming cloud over your life is very stressful.

This factored into your work after Robert passed?

It all factored into my work, yes. Over the last few years, I think my work has been about confronting and integrating all of these experiences. I went into a dark hole for a while and really pulled back from the world to live in that space, and I feel my work has become even more authentic because of it all. It’s been my mirror, the mirror of my feelings and my journey through these shadow worlds, and my way of pulling myself through what I now know was a good-sized depression.

Aligning to the Realm by Martina Hoffmann

It’s normal and healthy to grieve. Are there any pieces that specifically speak to that?

Yes. For example, the painting Aligning to The Realm. It’s a friendly piece, but there’s a sort of looming entity in the background. I never felt threatened or completely incapable of functioning, but I definitely sensed there was this grief and trauma, and all these film-like memory sequences in my mind’s eye replaying everything that happened. Sometimes I would get into spaces where I felt a tangible energy, like a darkness trying to close me in. Often, I couldn’t put my finger on it, and I would think, “What happened to my life? I used to be such a happy-go-lucky woman, and my life was beautiful, and now all of that has changed.” I noticed some sort of a PTSD that was triggering certain strong responses to any form of stress, something I’d never experienced before.

This particular painting is called Aligning to The Realm. I named it because we can’t run away from what happens in life. The best thing I could do was stand my ground, focus in—knowing the guardians are present—and sail through it. “Aligning to the realm,” has become my mantra.

What do you mean by “the realm?”

I mean everything that makes up our physical and energetic reality. Everything that is part of our life as well as our larger reality, really. Not just the material, but also our expanded reality, the energetics, the vibrations, the spiritual connections, the guardians, the nature spirits, or however we connect in our practice.

Who is the woman standing in the painting Aligning to the Realm? The horned goddess? Would you say that is a depiction of yourself?

I think all artists always paint self-portraits. Whether they are actual depictions of our features or not, a painting is mostly about us. So yes, she’s an expression of myself. She’s very pagan, a little horned one, and wears her deer antlers and energy with pride. She’s naked and stands alone, but she has her snakes watching over her. I always see the snakes as my guardians.

I was going to ask you about the snakes—because of course, they’re the ancient goddess. They do tend to show up, especially with ayahuasca for some reason. As a child, I was always looking for critters, which I always released. Catching a snake was a big deal. But other than that, I didn’t really have much relationship with snakes aside from being a symbol.

It’s the same for me. While I think snakes are very beautiful, I don’t have any particular physical connection to live snakes. But they entered my awareness very prominently in my visions, during my first experiences with ayahuasca. They made such an impression that I now consider them spiritual guardians and allies. They hold powerful symbolism of transformational energy.

I experience snakes during ayahuasca ceremonies, too. I find it fascinating that so many people do. What’s that about?

Many indigenous painters, such as the late Peruvian ayahuasca shaman and visionary artist Pablo Amaringo, paint snakes. And he described and depicted the entire range of snake spirits inherent in ayahuasca mythology in his work. This was published in detail in Luis Eduardo Luna’s book Ayahuasca Visions. Personally, the moment I’d see a snake appear during a shamanic session, I knew the journey and the healing had begun.

Pablo was a good man. And yes, from what I understand from the indigenous ayahuasca healers, the snakes are aspects of the medicine communicating with the pasajeros. And for you, the snakes are also a personal totem and a death-and-rebirth symbol.

Yes, I believe so. As a November baby, they are also my animal totem in the native American medicine wheel. And since my first spirit encounter with them, they’ve really stayed with me. I trust them.

Tree of Knowledge by Martina Hoffmann

My past work was very much focused around translating and showing the language of ayahuasca. But I’ve not worked with the medicine for several years now and have not felt called lately. However, once the doors of perception have been opened, they remain so. Sacred plant teachers are sacraments and very powerful tools. They have a way of dissecting you and letting you visit all aspects of your being down to the deepest level, your shadow side included, so you may understand what you truly are and help remove any blocks that prevent you from becoming whole before they reassemble you.

I’m like you in that I don’t crave journeying with psychedelics. It’s more about intention—definitely quality, not quantity. And I need time to integrate fully and put the lessons to use in my life and do my work in the world.

There are many paths to expanding and gaining consciousness…and journey work is definitely not for everyone. But I feel it’s most essential to be doing our individual work in loving awareness of the interconnectedness of all life things and the interdependency of all parts of our ecosystem, if we truly wish to help human progression. There’s so much need for this right now. The changes we’re going through on a planetary level—that’s what’s really important to me.

Universal Mother by Martina Hoffmann

On that note, I’d love to hear your thoughts about where we are as a species and how we’re caring for the planet.

Well, personally, I feel positive in that I see many people — surprisingly from all walks of life — waking up these days, being quite aware about what’s going on and expressing concern. When I talk to people at the store, the outdoor food market, anywhere really, they know. People understand that we’re being poisoned by the chemical agents in the air, water, and soil.

Let’s talk about Universal Mother. It’s a masterpiece.

I would say it’s one of my most important paintings right now. I created her after my mom died, so a part of the energy I was putting into this piece is about the transmutation she underwent. The two phoenixes, symbols of rebirth, are guarding her throne. In my memory, she’ll always be my physical mother, but now she’s also become my universal mother. This piece is all about the feminine principle – and by feminine, I mean aspects present in all sexes. We can only move toward wholeness if we become all-inclusive.

More change happens with love and moderation than with fighting energy or aggression, even if it comes from women. Everything is easier when it’s achieved through love, hope, and inspiration. Depicting and supporting this in my art is my way of supporting all aspects of the feminine, material as well as spiritual, and is my authentic power.

Crest by Martina Hoffmann

Tell me about the Crest image. Is it new?

Yes, that’s very new. I created it with tempera and crayons on paper. Crest represents a scarab and is reminiscent of my trip to Egypt in 2013 with Nicki Scully. We took a small group down the Nile in an authentic Egyptian sailboat and stopped at every temple along the way to do initiations and rituals we created by visioning the night before each temple visit. I was blown so open at that time. It was just a few months after my husband’s passing. I was alone as well as free to create something new, and what better place to start than in this magical country where so much of our culture originates.

All my life I’d been feeling a strong attraction to Egypt, but nothing prepared me for this journey. As soon as the plane descended onto Cairo and I saw the vast stretches of dusty desert below, I felt like I was coming home! This little Crest drawing encapsulates a small portion of my amazement. The scarab symbolizes the death and rebirth cycle of life, my reliving many past life memories, remembering information that I had no intellectual knowledge of prior to my trip, and my personal rebirth into a brand-new phase of my life.

Contact by Martina Hoffmann

Your work is about visiting other worlds, visitors from other worlds, and envisioning the future. I grew up on good science fiction and futurism, so I’m very open to the idea of aliens. The idea makes perfect sense to me from a probability perspective. It’s foolish and arrogant to think we are the only intelligent life form in the vast universe.

Yes, and there are three new pieces that I feel are really related to this way of thinking. When writers and filmmakers imagine spacecrafts—UFOs and alien ships—coming to visit Earth, they’re often portrayed as some sort of mechanical/metal or material machine. Well, maybe there are other kinds of ships and other life forms? Maybe what we imagine to be space vessels are also the entities themselves, and they may be gaseous, energetic, or perhaps purely vibrational—there are so many possibilities! Whatever they may actually look like—should they really exist—perhaps they’d be completely unrecognizable to our eyes and human senses.

Detail of Contact by Martina Hoffmann

So, for the past few years, these fluid, translucent forms have been emerging in my work. It makes me wonder whether there is some actual truth to them. Perhaps these entities and vehicles of transportation are not machines at all but biological, alive, and conscious.

There’s a movie I really love called First Contact because the spaceship or the craft is very simple looking and organic at first sight. But it is infinitely more complex and “other” than we can imagine. Well, as it turned out, I painted my piece called Contact just before the movie came out and without knowing the specific nature of this biomechanical vessel as portrayed in the film. So, are we beginning to collectively tune into some energy that is already here with us, or are these visions of alien life forms that might be coming to visit soon?

The Arrival by Martina Hoffmann

Why not? Who knows? At the very least, these visions are emerging in the collective consciousness. Another one of my favorite new pieces is The Arrival.

In my most recent paintings, more and more of these forms are coming through that are—for lack of a better word—channeled. My art is always channeled. I don’t plan or question what I do; I just do it and trust that what needs to be expressed and manifested is emerging naturally. I’ve just completed a large triptych for the HR Giger Museum exhibition called The Landing, which represents a form akin to my paintings Alien Life Form and The Arrival. It’s translucent. It’s energy.

If you look at the workings of the body and of nature, it’s quite extraordinary. If you look under a microscope, for example, it’s very alien looking.

Oh yes, yes, and so much in deep visions of altered states of consciousness are of a fractal nature, but so are all forms of life and everything in the universe, the basic building blocks. Our cells, our bodies, and all of nature grows in fractal patterns.

The Landing by Martina Hoffmann

We just saw the movie Annihilation. It’s an ambitious movie, and some parts worked better than others, but what did work was truly remarkable. When the alien finally shows itself in its true form at the very end, it’s pure movie magic.

I’ve only seen the Annihilation trailer, but my first reaction was that I was looking, for the first time, at visionary art that was expressly created for the screen. Many science fiction and futuristic movies are getting closer to what is portrayed in visionary art or fantastic realism.

The movie Avatar was also inspired by major visionary artists, but Annihilation seems even more transcendent and alien, less material—more about energy and more about, what could life forms or other worlds really be and look like? The moviemakers also made a great effort to portray otherworldly energy, which is complex and complicated. I mean—how do you portray other worlds that are made of elements we don’t even have here on Earth?

How do you express a multidimensional space, unlike ours? We live in three dimensions, but perhaps they live in multiple dimensions—who knows how many? This is also something we may see during shamanic journeys.

Alien Life Form by Martina Hoffmann

The word “alien” actually means “other,” so when we’re talking about extraterrestrial, we’re talking about something so different that we don’t yet have language to describe it –not necessarily alien as in from another galaxy, but more alien in the sense of difficult for us to fathom.

I’ve often asked myself during my past shamanic journeys—especially when things were very visual—whether this was me or “other” as the visions often seem extremely alien, yet very familiar at the same time. I like the shamanic analogy that says the spirit worlds and our consensus reality are interconnected and everything in this reality has a spiritual counterpart. Here the other worlds are the true nature of things and the real cause of events in this world.

How do you connect yourself with such worlds or how do these things come in?

What I paint oftentimes has no basis in this reality at all. It just arrives. I can never be quite sure how.

Your newer work, especially, appears to be a poetic or archetypal depiction of something universally human coming from somewhere inside you.

Yes, totally. I agree. And it’s positive! It’s loving. I don’t know how other people see my art, but when I paint, whatever I do—even if it’s unusual or alien-looking or strange—I never feel that it holds aggressive, negative, nor evil energy. While it is definitely in the range of “other,” it is positive in the sense of no harm and keeps a certain aesthetic of beauty. I’ve never had an attraction to the grotesque.

The nightmarish.

I don’t like portraying nightmares. I know people have them, and I’m no stranger to knowing that those realities are very real to some people. Some even live in them perpetually. It’s interesting that I’m going to be showing at the HR Giger Museum because his (Hans Ruedi Giger’s) work depicts such a particularly dark realm. Yet the way he painted it was absolutely beautiful.

There was artistry to it.

It’s a gorgeous aesthetic, but it’s dark. I saw Giger the last time in 2012, and he passed away two years ago. He shared with us that he was worried about the possibility that after he left his body he would have to live in the reality that he created in his paintings. It will be very interesting to show my work and Robert’s—which is so much more filled with light—in juxtaposition to Giger’s.

Astral Circus by Robert Venosa

Tell me about the exhibition.

This exhibition came by invitation of Carmen Giger, HR Giger’s widow and the museum director. She too loves the psychedelic realm and is passionate about expansion of consciousness. The show will primarily show my art with a smaller but very comprehensive selection of Robert’s best-known work. It’s also going to show the co- and cross-inspiration that we had during our 30-year relationship.

I chose the title “Transmutations” because it’s the process of transmuting a body, spirit, or substance from an inferior nature to a noble nature. It was Robert’s desire to bring people towards the light, and it’s my desire to offer viewers visual gateways so they can open their eyes, hearts, and minds to other possibilities—because that’s what we need most right now. We need to break out of our conventional thinking that Earth on some level is still the center of the universe. We’ve known for the longest time this is not true, but we still often act like it is….

Like Earth is the center of the universe and humans are the most important beings on Earth?

Yes, and we create our own reality at all times, have the choice of whether we identify more with the shadow or the light side of things. In any event, we are just a small, yet important, part in an infinite universe of possibilities.

You are representing the medicine with your work. That’s important.

If we really want to advance visionary art and the consciousness attached to it, we have to be absolutely impeccable, show the world the most inspirational work possible, and put our best intentions and level of artistry forward.

What is your advice for young artists?

The most important thing is that you stick to your vision. Then work, work, work. Dedication, discipline, learn your techniques, and stick to your palate and do it. Robert used to say, “No masterpiece was ever created by a lazy artist.” And trust in your expression. Young artists are often easily dissuaded by outside criticism. A great artist has her own world and her own reality and reigns over her own magical space, which is a universe in itself. There’s only one like yours.

I guess what I always look for in all artists is, how authentic are they? You can tell by the way people talk about what they love to do. It takes a lot of spirit and determination to be an artist. It is also tremendously important to have a fine technique, but this by itself won’t suffice. To become an exceptional artist, it takes personality, persistence, and strength, and this takes time.

You’re in a beautiful new relationship with French visionary artist Pascal Ferry. Can you talk about that?

Pascal Ferry is an amazing human being and very talented artist as well! He started out as a musician (guitarist), then he founded a publishing company called Sidh & Banshees and represented 35 international visionary artists for 14 years. He’s returned to painting and is catching up on all the years he gave his energy to promoting others, and now his energy stays home with him.

When we met, I was still grieving for Robert, but we felt a deep connection. When we saw each other a year later, we were ready to look into giving us a try, and it worked. We got so lucky! When I met Pascal, he told me he had “met” me 23 years before, via Robert’s book Noospheres and the portraits Robert had painted of me. Pascal felt that magical something immediately. But when he read the book and realized I was married to the artist and lived in the USA, he resigned to never meeting me in this life.

Well, fate obviously had other ideas. And we both feel we met through Robert’s wise and well-prepared introduction. Even more astounding is that Pascal amicably separated from his partner of 27 years the week Robert transitioned—destiny, angels, guides? Both of our previous relationships are well integrated and included in our relationship. There is no jealousy nor competition, just love. And true love remains eternal!

Transmutations at The Museum HR Giger

The Museum HR Giger is delighted to invite you to the exhibition
Martina Hoffmann & Robert Venosa
Transmutations
“Transmutation; the process of a body or spirit changing its substance from the Inferior to the ‘Superior’ through technical (alchemical) and/or spiritual (initiatory) means.”
Further information at: www.hrgigermuseum.com

Transmutations

“Transmutation is the process of a body or spirit changing its substance from an ‘inferior nature’ to a ‘noble nature’ through technical (alchemical) and/or spiritual (initiatory) means.”
This exhibition takes the viewer on an extensive journey through other worlds and Martina Hoffmann’s and Robert Venosa’s inner landscapes. It is distributed into three galleries: The first represents Hofmann’s earlier work which was inspired by shamanic practices with sacred plant medicines in the Amazonia Rainforest. These images are executed in a rather colored, symbolic style; they are her interpretations of powerful Ayahuasca visions, as experienced in indigenous, South American rituals.

The second gallery shows her more recent paintings which have been created in darker tones, reflecting the artist’s personal experience with the ‘shadow,’ namely, working through loss and grief and showing the light that remains present throughout it all.

Martina Hoffmann’s art is decidedly feminine. It places the human being and his/her confrontation with ‘the other’ in an intimate cosmos where the awareness of our connection to the Universal Matrix allows us to discover the tools for healing and transmutation. She transcribes her ecstatic experiences, as well as her subtle reflections on our place in the universe, in a symbolic, visionary style where the fantastic touches the sacred.

The third exhibition gallery features a selection of works by Martina Hoffmann’s late husband, the Fantastic Realist painter, Robert Venosa. Representing different periods of his artistic path, they span from his early work of luminous, crystalline astral planes, through other-worldly landscapes, to his mesmerizing Ayahuasca visions.

The exhibition, “Transmutations,” shows the co-inspiration that both artists enjoyed and the mutual spiritual understanding they shared during their 30-year relationship. It also explores the mysterious and essential nature of consciousness, expressed as energy, that exists in all living things.

Zoe Helene

ZOE HELENE is a cultural activist who is unyielding in her fight for the rights of women, wilderness, wildlife, and sacred plants. She is the founder of Cosmic Sister, an eco-feminist educational advocacy group championing women’s healing, self-liberation, and empowerment through legal work with nature’s most profound medicines, including cannabis, ayahuasca, peyote, and psilocybin. (@CosmicSister)

zoehelene.com

The post Love, Loss, and Aliens: The Art of Martina Hoffmann appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Small Mouth Sounds Playwright Bess Wohl

LA YOGA: It sounds like being a seeker while simultaneously maintaining a sense of questioning are part of your experience.

Bess Wohl: Completely. Part of what I was struggling with in the writing of the play is a question that the director helped me find at the heart of this play. We’re all searching for some sort of peace. But given the chaos of the world that we live in, this brings up the question: Is peace the appropriate response? Should we be peaceful? One of the characters asks in the play, “Should we be at peace?” Given what’s happening in the world, shouldn’t we do something?

LA YOGA: Oh, that’s a great question!

BW: Yeah. And it’s one of the questions of the play. It’s something that I’ve come to more of an understanding of as I’ve worked on the play, and learned through writing it.

One of the great things about Small Mouth Sounds is that it has drawn a community of teachers and spiritual people that I’ve met and learned a lot from through the making of this play.

But the question of whether or not we should be at peace, this is a question that I’ve struggled with as I was on these retreats. It is the question that is at the heart of this play. This is a question that the characters are struggling with a lot. I think that you can find peace and you can retreat from the world, yet the world right now is in dire need of people to engage with it and actively work to make it better. One thing that I’ve learned through the making of this play is that those two things don’t necessarily have to be at odds. But I wasn’t sure when I started.

Small Mouth Sounds and Theater as a Force of Change

LA YOGA: How has the process of writing this play changed your own practice as a seeker?

Bess Wohl: It has changed me dramatically. One of the people I met through the making of this play was this wonderful teacher named Sharon Salzburg. She said something in one of her talks that I thought was so great. Sharon said that there’s a Tibetan idea that a work of art should be judged how much it changes the person who made it…how much the making of it changes the artist, and the journey they go on. I think that’s an interesting idea.

I start, always, with a question that I honestly don’t know how to answer. Sometimes I never find the answer. And sometimes I find some kind of answer through the making of it.

In addition to “Should we be at peace?” I wondered, “Is change possible?” And “How do people change?” Is the attempt to change a futile journey? Just when you think you’ve changed, you get smacked in the face with an old habit or an old idea.

All of the characters in the play are struggling with the question of whether change is possible. When trying to change, some of them do and some of them don’t. In the process I realized, “Oh, change is not only possible, it’s the only thing there is!” Change is constantly happening! It hadn’t occurred to me until I had gone on a pretty long journey with this play, finished the writing of it, and started to step back from it a little bit.

LA YOGA: It sounds like this work is not only about your change; it is also about the director’s change, and even the audience’s change. Is there something that you were hoping to stimulate in the audience or are you leaving it open a bit?

Bess Wohl: One thing that I always hope for when I write a play is that the experience of watching the play will create some kind of change in the audience. Even if it’s temporary or even if it’s just for the time when they’re in the space as the actors.

So I do think that my hope is for some kind of movement or experience for them. At the same time I never really want to prescribe exactly what it should be. I think that everyone will have their own experience. The funny thing about this play is that because there is so much silence in it, I’ve found that audiences tend to have very different and personal experiences of the play. Some nights it’s hilarious, some nights it’s very quiet. Some people find it very sad, some people think it’s completely ridiculous and funny.

I think there is a strange way in which the absence of words creates a little more flexibility in terms of how the play can be interpreted and experienced. It also creates a dynamic in which what you put into it is what you get back.

At one point the teacher in the play says to the student, “You think you’ve come here to meet me, but really you’re only here to meet yourself.”

When the play is operating best, the audience meets themselves in the experience of watching the play.

LA YOGA: You’ve spoken about feeling a sense of identification with the teacher, in the sense of the playwright as narrator, as the voice from the side giving ideas that everybody has to process in their own way. This made me think about your experience as being a point of reflection that offers people the jumping point of their own experience.

Bess Wohl: It was tricky to find the balance between the wise teacher and being able to have fun with that character. I wanted to be able to mine the humor and I also wanted it to have truth to it. I didn’t want it just fall into parody or satire. That was really important to me. I wanted the teacher to have his own journey. He was the last character to reveal himself in terms of making sure it felt like he was a fully-fledged human.

The thing that cracked it for me was realizing, “Oh wait, I’m closer to this character than I thought.” In leading these people through this retreat, the teacher is trying to do the same thing that I’m trying to do when I try to lead an audience through an experience. I started to empathize with the teacher. It’s a man in our current production but it’s written as being gender-less. When I did empathize with the teacher, I could find the humanity of that character.

LA YOGA: I appreciate that challenge, because it could be situation where you could just make fun of someone. Some things that a teacher says at any kind of retreat, especially taken out of context, can sound sort of ridiculous.

Bess Wohl: Exactly.

Small Mouth Sounds at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica

LA YOGA: But in context, those words can be thought-provoking. I’m looking forward to seeing it play out. Are you going to have the opportunity to see it in Los Angeles?

Bess Wohl: I’m coming out to Los Angeles for rehearsals and I’m looking forward to sharing it with LA. There is this community of people who are interested in this world, thoughtful about spirituality, and who are seekers and committed to self-discovery. I’m so curious to see how it is received by the LA community. Part of what’s fun about this play is the people who have never even heard of a yoga retreat who encounter it, and people who have been on 8,000 yoga retreats or even people who own retreats come and encounter it. I’m hopeful that we have a good time sharing the play with LA.

Read more of the interview with Bess Wohl on la.events.yoga

For more information and to order tickets, visit The Broad Stage at http://www.thebroadstage.org

Felicia M. Tomasko

Felicia Tomasko has spent more of her life practicing Yoga and Ayurveda than not. She first became introduced to the teachings through the writings of the Transcendentalists, through meditation, and using asana to cross-train for her practice of cross-country running. Between beginning her commitment to Yoga and Ayurveda and today, she earned degrees in environmental biology and anthropology and nursing, and certifications in the practice and teaching of yoga, yoga therapy, and Ayurveda while working in fields including cognitive neuroscience and plant biochemistry. Her commitment to writing is at least as long as her commitment to yoga. Working on everything related to the written word from newspapers to magazines to websites to books, Felicia has been writing and editing professionally since college. In order to feel like a teenager again, Felicia has pulled out her running shoes for regular interval sessions throughout Southern California. Since the very first issue of LA YOGA, Felicia has been part of the team and the growth and development of the Bliss Network.

www.blissnetwork.com

The post Small Mouth Sounds at The Broad Stage Playwright Bess Wohl on Inner Peace appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Amanda Giacomini and some of her 10,000 Buddhas on a Miami Wall. Photo by Matt Roy

Lessons about practice and community through painting 10,000 Buddhas

In 2017, artist Amanda Giacomini achieved her multi-year goal of painting 10,000 Buddhas. She did this by screen printing on paper, oil painting on wood, and by creating large-scale public murals in public and private spaces. While it was a landmark goal that she had set for herself, Amanda continues to paint Buddhas. Throughout the project, Amanda has taught yoga alongside her husband MC YOGI at their studio in Point Reyes and on the festival circuit.

She took some time to share her process with LA YOGA while she was creating a two-wall Buddha mural inside the studio at the La Quinta Resort & Club A Waldorf Astoria Resort.

LA YOGA: Tell us about your process.

Amanda: The first 99 Buddhas I painted by hand. When I decided to ramp up to 10,000 Buddhas, I knew it was too much to do that many by hand. So, it took me a year to figure out the process of using the stencils in painting.

LA YOGA: What inspired your leap from the first 99 to setting a goal of painting 10,000 Buddhas?

AG: That was one of those magical moments. It was a little intuitive clairvoyant download. I had such a rich experience painting the first 99 in my studio. While I was painting, I was educating myself, immersing myself in learning about Buddha. I was learning about his life story, his past lives, and his teachings. I didn’t want it to end. One night I was painting very late at night and it just occurred to me to keep going.

Then the first big public wall I did was in Miami (pictured here). While I was painting so many people came by and wanted to take pictures. I wasn’t even finished and they would stand and do a mudra, or a yoga pose, or simply sit and meditate with the Buddhas.

LA YOGA: When it comes to painting so many Buddhas, including the large walls, how does your yoga practice support you?

AG: My yoga practice maintains the strength of my body, my physical endurance, and even the concentration mentally to work for up to 14 hours—even in intense conditions.

When I did an outdoor wall in Washington DC, it was hot—it was 97 degrees. (That wall is on P Street near Logan Circle right next to the Whole Foods.) To be able to paint all day, outside, in the heat comes from the physical stamina I have as a yogi, and the ability to just quiet my mind and be one-pointed for many hours. All of that is the result of 25 years of practice.

LA YOGA: What has surprised you the most going through the process of painting 10,000 Buddhas?

AG: I surprise myself all the time. Until I did it, I didn’t know the courage it takes to paint a big giant wall. I didn’t know I had it in me to drive a giant 60-foot boom lift and climb up there and spray paint a wall. I was proud of myself for not backing away from the project when it got big. For years and years as an artist, I painted small. This project has tested me in a lot of ways. The street art game is a very masculine world, there are a lot of great women, but it’s still dominated by men. So, doing this makes me feel like a strong woman.

LA YOGA: Now that you’ve been doing it for a few years, do you have any thoughts or goals of where you want it to go next?

AG: I’m kind of in the flow. Now, I feel I’m spreading Buddhas around the world. And I think, what better thing to leave behind?

LA YOGA: There is a lot of meaning behind these images. Now that you’ve had a relationship with them, what do they mean to you?

AG: They represent the power of practice. All of these Buddhas are sitting in meditation poses practicing. The different messages of the mudras are symbolic reminders of philosophy. To me, the Buddhas are symbols of equality, equanimity, and connection. There are lots of little Buddhas practicing together to create a field of energy. I think this represents the new paradigm we are in of spiritual practice.

I feel like we’re moving away from having the one master that everybody bows down to, and instead we’re much more of a collective group of friends and colleagues and communities that are supporting each other and uplifting each other. This is the power of the sangha or the community.

The Three Jewels in Buddhism are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. This image encapsulates all three but it really reminds me of the sangha. In my own life, I met my husband through the yoga community. Most of my close friends and all of the people I work with are part of this community. There’s a huge bond between those of us who practice, a point of connection.

We can do our own practice, but we also benefit from the knowledge and the path that others have been taking. We learn from each other. Sometimes I meditate by myself, but when MC YOGI and I meditate together, it’s stronger. When you’re in a big group of people meditating together, it’s just magic.

When we’ve led big classes with over 1,000 people doing yoga, breathing, sitting, and meditating, that energy is unbelievable. It’s through the roof. You just feel the whole space transform. I believe in the power of people coming together and practicing. I think that’s how we change the world.

For more information about Amanda Giacomini and the 10,000 Buddhas visit: 10000buddhas.com/10000buddhas/

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post The Story of Amanda Giacomini and the 10,000 Buddhas appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Santa Monica steps it up this weekend. For the COAST Open Streets Festival, the city is creating one of the biggest block parties in the region. On Sunday, October 1 both Main Street and Ocean Avenue will be closed to auto traffic.

That’s a 2-mile stretch open for biking, skating, and strolling amongst bands, performers, art, and food. The festival stretches from Wilshire Boulevard on the north end to Marine Street on the south end. The schedule is expanded from the 2016 initial COAST celebration. In 2017, there will be even more entertainment focused on art, culture, mobility and sustainability.

The programming is almost overwhelming. Check out some of the following highlights along the two mile car-free route:

COAST Open Streets Santa Monica

Ocean Avenue

The COAST Stage on Ocean Avenue will feature KCRW DJ Anthony Valadez, hip hop dance troupe Antics, and salsa all-stars Rumbankete, plus drop-in dance classes on the street. You’ll find the Shakey-Quakey House earthquake simulator, and the Camera Obscura Art Lab open for making art. These various activities here are perfect choices for families.

Colorado Esplanade

Expo riders in the area of the Esplanade will find stilt walkers, brass bands, and dance troupes throughout the day. Bike rentals and repairs are available from the Santa Monica Bike Center, and all you’ll have to to is take a short stroll to discover  more activities at Santa Monica Place and the Third Street Promenade.

Santa Monica Pier

The Pier Stage will include performances by Sister Speak and Rod Lightning & the Thunderbolts of Love. Families can enjoy activities and giveaways bike at Santa Monica Pier Aquarium plus bike decorating at noon followed by a bike parade at 2 p.m.

City Hall

The Sustainability Zone will feature beats from solar DJs The Sycons, a community art project with a photo booth, and meet-and-greet with commissioners and other elected representatives. Stop in to meet the Mayor!

Civic Auditorium (outside)

All things GoSaMo in the Mobility Zone with free bike valet and repair and music by Venice Beats. Free live t-shirt screen printing, food trucks, and a Bike Rodeo and helmet decorating for kids.

Main Street

Enjoy strolling performers, extended hours at the Santa Monica Farmers Market, workshops and gardening tips at the Community Garden, and a scavenger hunt of historic landmarks. Crafts and games for all on the front lawn of the Ocean Park Library.

Go green to get to COAST

Check out a Breeze bike at any of the 85 stations, rent a bike at multiple other locations, take a bus or the Expo Line to Santa Monica. Last year’s attendance was 50,000! The fun goes from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Learn More: santamonica.gov/blog/what-not-to-miss-at-COAST-open-streets-festival

Karen Henry

Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!

The post COAST Open Streets in Santa Monica appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Photo of Ebony Williams by Nikita Alba .

Beyonce has, purely and simply, changed the entire game. From what it means to be a performer, an artist, a woman, a voice of and for our generation, this woman has written history with her lyricism, and watching Beyonce in motion is bearing witness to what future generations will say: This is how being a mogul, a mother, and one bad mamma jam boss is done. Beyonce is a force of nature in her own right, but her dancers are the sound and the fury behind her message, supporting her, and thriving in their own right as women of a new age. One of her dancers is Ebony Williams and Ebony is just that: a powerful woman, an icon, a “Single Lady,” a sincere, mature, big dreaming, bigger doing, and beyond rooted, grounded, and real deal kind soul.

By the grace of good timing, I had the opportunity to sit with Ebony in a Brooklyn warehouse while she was between rehearsals for Beyonce’s historic “Formation” world tour. She told me the story of her life, her dreams, and her legacy.

Ebony’s story begins as a child raised by a single mother. “I was always the kid in front of the television mimicking whatever videos or artists were on the screen. A friend of mine, a neighbor, went to a local dance school and would come home and teach me what she learned because my mom couldn’t afford to pay for me to go at the time. Eventually, my mom decided she would do whatever she had to do to get me into a dance school because, clearly, I loved it that much.” Ebony began her formal training in elementary school when Boston Ballet School (the official training program of the Boston Ballet) started a program for inner city kids called City Dance.

Her talent was evident and her work ethic allowed her to excel, but by the time she reached high school, Ebony’s full-time immersion in dance became overwhelming. She says, “I just wanted to be a normal kid for a second. Do all the wrong things. Chase after boys. Become a cheerleader. So I did.” After she finished high school, she began studying to become a physical therapist and quickly realized that this was not her career path. Meanwhile, one of Ebony’s former teachers from Boston Arts Academy’s after school dance group (Ebony was in the dance group but not part of the school as an academic student), Fernadina Chan, reached out when she heard that this talented young lady had halted her dance training. “Fernadina was the reason why I even auditioned for the Boston Conservatory at all. I had no prior info about the school without her knowledge,” said Ebony. Ebony landed the audition with the Boston Conservatory and made her return to dance.

Photo of Ebony Williams by Casey Brooks. Styled by Martin Tordby.

Still, it wasn’t all easy. “I got into the school (Boston Conservatory). I started at the lowest ballet level because I hadn’t trained. The second semester, I got into the highest ballet level, and by the end of those four years, I was the first black girl to get a ballet award.” Knowing that she wanted to explore where dance could take her, Ebony Williams began researching ballet companies worldwide, and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet captured her heart. Though she didn’t pass the audition, the company director liked Ebony and invited her to take class with them, but she realized that financially it was impossible.

Eventually, Ebony traveled to Montreal to participate in Springboard Danse Montreal, a program founded by The Juilliard School faculty member Alexandra Wells that brings in choreographers from around the globe to work with young dancers. There, Ebony Williams was selected to dance in Ballets Jazz de Montreal’s final piece. As fate would have it, one of Cedar Lake’s dancers was also at Springboard and called her director to say, “That girl you liked in New York is here in Montreal.” What happened next is the stuff of destiny made visible. The Cedar Lake Artistic Director Benoit-Swan Pouffer flew to Montreal and after a brief audition, he told Ebony that he had come to offer her an apprenticeship, but after seeing her dance, he would offer her a full contract. Ebony had just made it into her dream company.

Ebony is living proof of the validity of following and fighting for your dreams. She states, “It’s waiting for you. You have to be open and willing to receive it, but it’s already destined. There’s no need to rush it.” Ebony’s story is evidence of how her words ring true. While dancing with Cedar Lake, Ebony would sweat and dance through eight hour rehearsal days, then at the end of the night, she would jump into a hip hop class at Broadway Dance Center in New York City—seeking the balance between her beloved contemporary ballet and the hip hop and commercial dance worlds that she grew up emulating.

One of her friends in class told Ebony about a workshop held by legendary choreographer, Laurieann Gibson (whose credits include choreographing for Michael Jackson, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, and Beyonce.) It turned out not to be a workshop at all, but an audition. Ebony stayed, and showed the commercial world that this ballet dancer could be risky and funky. In the middle of Ebony’s audition freestyle, Laurieann stopped the music to ask, “Who are you and where have you been?” The rest is exquisite history as Ebony went on to do pointe work for Rihanna in bamboo earrings and shades, book Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” music video, and was called in for both of Beyonce’s “Made in America” and “Formation” world tours.

As a strong proponent of giving back, it is clear Ebony’s excellence goes beyond her dance and into the world. “I love working with young people,” said Ebony. “I mentor young girls – some that are going off to college. They remind you that you can’t be complacent because you are exactly where they want to be but you want to tell them and teach them how to be better than you.” For Ebony being a mentor is about more than an individual dancer, it is part of her contribution to the contemporary legacy of the art of dance. She says, “The legacy is bigger than just me. It’s about our art as a whole. It’s a culture, and I believe that we are all related in dance because I feel like that’s what runs through my veins is movement. For that reason, you’re my sister and so many other people are my brothers.” Ebony Williams is also expanding her artistry into design. She is launching a clothing line, Ebony Skin, and wants to start a foundation that works with animals.

Photo of Ebony Williams by Casey Brooks. Styled by Martin Tordby.

Amidst all of this, Ebony is adamant about the importance of staying “connected to what’s true to me which is Ebony Williams, the dancer who wants to keep it evolving and fresh and new.” Ebony, a consummate creative artist, technical elite dancer, commercial superstar, and savvy businesswoman, is also one down-to -earth, kind, and heartfelt human. “Being real and human is also what makes you great as an artist.” Ebony’s humble, generous, and kind demeanor is disarming. Her charisma and wisdom are divine. Ebony often says, “I didn’t choose dance. Dance chose me,” and for anyone witnessing Ebony’s trajectory, it is easy to see. Ebony is living and breathing her jaw-dropping brilliant and bright destiny.

Marja Lankinen

Marja Lankinen, founder and CEO of Yoga for Dancers, is a yoga therapist and commercial dancer in Los Angeles and travels the globe teaching yoga and meditation: yogafordancers.com

www.yogafordancers.com

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Living a devotee’s life has many manifestations, forms and actions. After even a brief glimpse at Robert Sturman’s stunning series of ecumenical devotional art, I experienced the universal power of love made possible with an intention to unify body, mind and soul. In Vedic terms, Sturman’s seva (selfless service) is his artistic creation art. Whether it is a series of portraits of Tibetan Monks in Kathmandu, or a still life of a cigarette vendor in Merida, Mexico, Sturman’s artistic third eye always focuses on the infinite nature of being human. Sturman’s gift is to produce realistic images of people who come alive through free-form visual poetry. Both representational and mysterious, this artist’s multimedia pieces reflect the alchemy of his signature blend of painting and photography.

Sturman grew up in an environment where his parents, Herbert and Beverly, cultivated an interest in literature and art. When Sturman was 14 years old, he received his first camera, a Pentax K1000 and his father persuaded him to enroll in a photography class. “I asked him what I was supposed to take pictures of,” Sturman recalls. His father responded with, “Anything that you love.” Little did he know that this wisdom would become the most significant advice he would ever follow; it is also the foundation of Eastern spiritual paths.

Sturman graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a degree in art with an emphasis in painting and drawing. He continued to develop his work as an artist with apprenticeships and further study in art school, as well as travel and time with his unique canvas.

He combines his studied disciplines of photography and drawing into one art. Sturman’s eye captures a still image with a Polaroid SX70 camera, and then his fingers deftly produce an energetic painting, infusing the moment with shakti, making something that might have been static, dance. His unique process includes carving into the wet and supple Polaroid Time Zero film surface of a photo he has taken at just the right moment, with just the right light. When the film’s surface is still maleable, he utilizes a variety of handmade tools until he feels the image has been manipulated and transformed to reach its ultimate potential.

“Everything is done on the spot while the image is still warm, so wherever I make a piece of art that is where I have to sit and do the carving.” The work-in-progress is later enlarged using an optimally high-resolution scanner and further processes through which none of the original light radiance or color luminosity is lost. Because Sturman chooses his subject matter in advance with its inherent color values in mind, his palette is extraordinary. Coupled with the impressionistic brushstrokes of Sturman’s hand implements, the result is a pure fusion of painting and photography that is quietly beautiful.

Sturman’s early work featured images both provincial and urban; his subjects were often street vendors, beggars or small Third World mise-en-scenes in Mexico. After Sturman’s initiation into the awareness of his own inner consciousness, he was introduced to a variety of spiritual teachers who would influence his art beyond any expectations. At 30, Sturman visited India where he was introduced to the teachings of Osho. “Most people know Osho as a mystic philosopher,” Sturman explained. “He was also a great painter and focused heavily on the principles of creative energy. This was what I had been missing in my education. I learned what it really meant to tap into the life force of creativity and it was in India that I feel I received the degree of education that the West had failed to recognize.”

Yoga became his art and each composition a visual manifestation of inner peace and meditation.

The Pose of the Yogi

While staying in India for two months, Sturman’s work took on an entirely new consciousness and his images began to evoke a deep inner understanding of surrender and contentment. The experience of being in such a busy foreign space was filtering into his creativity and manufacturing the divine in startling compositions that included Buddhist stupas (sacred monuments) in Nepal and sadhus (yoga masters) all over India.

“Everywhere I went, people would stare at me and be interested in what I was doing,” Sturman says of his time in India. “I used an old Polaroid camera and it seemed every person that saw me wanted me to make a picture of them. People were begging for money, begging to practice their English with me and surrounding me when I would sit and do the carving of the photograph. I was thousands of miles away from home, and I was trying to survive in this wild, exotic and unfamiliar place.”

Just as any yogi learns how to release stress and awaken kundalini energy from a variety of postures and adjustments, Sturman’s art has evolved through the familiar learning process of trial and error. Though Sturman doesn’t proclaim to be a master of any specific meditation practice, the 38-year-old-artist uses his creativity to manufacture the balance most yogis manifest through sitting silently with japa (prayer) beads. “For me, meditation is about being quiet and it is available everywhere I go,” Sturman notes. “I like to be quiet. I like to be peaceful. I like to be awake and in harmony with life.”

Yoga is integral to his search for harmony. “I came to practice yoga a few years ago with the intention of being a healthy artist.

I have seen many artists live lives of self-destruction, wallow in darkness and [live out] the old story of being poor, unhealthy and desperate. I witnessed artists take their own lives through suicide and drugs. I never went down the road of self-destruction, but I knew it was time to rewrite the story of the artist.”

Through his commitment to living a happy life, nurturing self-respect and producing art from his inner vision, yoga became his art and each composition a visual manifestation of inner peace and meditation. “A regular practice of yoga helped me to think this concept into existence and live a life in which not only did I create works of art –– I created compositions that visually reflected my own life. In this way, yoga has brought me many blessings.” Yoga has brought blessings, including his wife, Marlize (pictured in red), a frequent and luminous subject in his work.

Today, Sturman draws on this inspiration by working on a new comprehensive body of work titled The Yogis: Poetry of the Gods. The photos and drawings in the collection do not involve traveling to the mysterious enclaves of our Earth, but are directly evocative of the experience of the sacred and express this artist’s gratitude. “My work with the yoga community has turned into an exciting project that is taking me places I have never been,” he relates. “The yogis are an amazing group of people who embody a poetry that is very rare and lovely. The new work is building a bridge between strength and grace.”

With an amused grin and a determined hint of serenity held boldly in every blessed suggestion, this evolving artist is here to make a positive difference in the world.

Polaroid no longer makes Time Zero film, the medium that Sturman uses as the canvas for his work. The expiration date on his supply is November, 2006. There’s no way to know if a picture will come out of the camera image intact or which photo will be his last.

In February of 2008, Polaroid announced that they will no longer be producing any of the instant film that has made them a household name, as they are switching to digital technology and printing from handheld printers.

When Robert Sturman is asked what he will do after his supply of Time Zero runs dry, he invokes a great visionary:“If they took away my paints I’d use pastels. If they took away my pastels I’d use crayons. If they took away my crayons I’d use pencils. If they stripped me naked and threw me in prison I’d spit on my finger and paint on the walls.” -Pablo Picasso

Robert Sturman has traveled the world creating portraits of people and places. His work has been commissioned by the Grammys, and the U.S. Olympic Committee. To view the wide range of his vision or contact him for a portrait, visit: RobertSturmanStudio.com.

Brian Chance

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Daniel Okulitch

Opera singer Daniel Okulitch gets on the mat to prepare to fly in the LA Opera.

Bringing a cult classic to life, on stage, in the air and in song, can be a daunting, even intimidating task, but certainly rewarding.
When Canadian opera singer Daniel Okulitch was asked if he was excited about performing the title role in the premiere of the opera The Fly, he asked, “Are you kidding me? How many science-fiction operas are there?” and “How much fun can one person have and get paid for it?” While thrilling, it’s also hard work. This is due in part to the demands of the role which include hanging from wires, crawling upside down, and going from baring all to full-body fly costuming — all while singing — along with the demands of working with a high-wattage collection of creative genius.

The uniqueness of this particular operatic remake, which premiered this past July in Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet, and takes to the stage at the LA opera in September, is evident in the creative team who came together for its production. Director David Cronenberg (whose 1986 film version of The Fly provided the basis for this live musical production) joined forces with Plácido Domingo who serves as conductor. The opera is scored by the Oscar award-winning composer of Lord of the Rings, Howard Shore and the libretto is written by Tony award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang.

As the character Seth Brundle, Okulitch plays someone who goes through a complete transformation: from geeky scientist researching a molecular transporter machine to hypersexualized superhuman fly hybrid. While more grotesque than the transformations most of us experience, the idea of literally — or figuratively turning ourselves inside-out — is reminiscent of what happens to us in our yoga practice. Drawing on this experience, and to prepare himself for the demanding role, Okulitch relies on the synergistic physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of his yoga practice to prepare for a process of ongoing transformation, both on stage and in everyday life. As he describes, “It’s easy to go through the day and not observe one’s own consciousness and patterns of thought. I find that the act of doing yoga prepares me to meditate. I’m forced to slow down, observe my body and mind. By working on my body, it gets easier; I feel more in tune with my emotions.”

Okulitch’s practice includes the long holds and surrender of Yin Yoga. While the word surrender makes the practice seem easy, Okulitch comments on the mental battle intrinsic to such a practice, “When you’re holding frog for five to ten minutes, and all the body can do is scream at you, you have to calm your mind and focus on battling your own instincts.” Along with mental discipline, Okulitch has found physical transformation, working through inflexibility in his hamstrings and hips to give him more facility as an operatic stage fly. In addition to his ongoing yoga practice, Okulitch includes a yoga nidra and meditation before performing onstage.
A self-described yoga neophyte, after noticing the difference in body and mind, Okulitch plans to stick with his practice long after he folds up his fly suit.

Practice for Performance

Okulitch’s Vancouver, British Columbia-based teacher Shivani Mercer understands the demands of performance first-hand after
years of performing as a musician and touring around the world with rock and roll bands. She cites two practices that Okulitch found helpful in preparing for his role in The Fly.

Brahmari (bee humming pranayama): As Mercer states, “Not only does brahmari reduce blood pressure, it tones the vocal chords and helps to relieve insomnia.” When Okulitch traveled to Paris to premiere the role, the combination of time changes and stress affected his sleeping habits; brahmari practice provided a positive solution.

Yoga nidra (deep yogic relaxation): Mercer describes yoga nidra as an opportunity to “explore and let go of samskaras (deeply held patterns) while in a state of relaxation or psychic sleep. Thirty minutes of yoga nidra is equivalent to three hours of solid sleep. It kept his energy going and his mind clear for the work he was doing.”

The Fly debuts at the LA Opera on September 7 — September 27. Visit: laopera.com

For more information about Daniel Okulitch, visit: danielokulitch.com.

For more information about Shivani Mercer, visit: puraluna.com. Yoga instructor Shivani Mercer is involved in the Karma Yoga effort Project 1080, launching an October auction of an art piece that includes 1080 photos of the beauty of Mother Earth to support feeding 2000 children a day through Sivananda Math, a program of the Bihar School of Yoga’s Rikhia Peeth ashram. Eighteen people will be traveling to India in December for the project. Visit: puraluna.com/a_outreachprojects.html.

By Felicia M. Tomasko, RN 

Felicia M. Tomasko

Felicia Tomasko has spent more of her life practicing Yoga and Ayurveda than not. She first became introduced to the teachings through the writings of the Transcendentalists, through meditation, and using asana to cross-train for her practice of cross-country running. Between beginning her commitment to Yoga and Ayurveda and today, she earned degrees in environmental biology and anthropology and nursing, and certifications in the practice and teaching of yoga, yoga therapy, and Ayurveda while working in fields including cognitive neuroscience and plant biochemistry. Her commitment to writing is at least as long as her commitment to yoga. Working on everything related to the written word from newspapers to magazines to websites to books, Felicia has been writing and editing professionally since college. In order to feel like a teenager again, Felicia has pulled out her running shoes for regular interval sessions throughout Southern California. Since the very first issue of LA YOGA, Felicia has been part of the team and the growth and development of the Bliss Network.

www.blissnetwork.com

The post Practice Makes Performance appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

At Diavolo Theater, April 5, 2008

June 2008: Volume 7/Number 6

The seven dance performances showcased by 3 Cities: 3 Choreographers shared an allusive, perplexing beauty. Though diverse in background and training, choreographers Misa Kelly, Kerstin Stuart and Louie Cornejo seem equally interested in poising dance at the intersection of the choreographer’s intellectual satisfaction and the spectators’ viewing pleasure. The result, while as varied as their creators, made for an evening of dance that was lively and at times unsettling, but always visually alluring.

Misa Kelly, Artistic Director of SonneBlauma Danscz Theatre, opened the evening with choreography that referenced marionettes, gymnastics and yoga, while interspersing compulsive scratching, percussive footwork and out-of-control bodies that twitched and crawled in circles on the floor. Kelly’s pieces – especially Nadar Sabe Mi Llama el Agua Fria – explored the coexistence of athletic genius and disability in the same body, while maintaining an insistence on aesthetic appeal.

Kerstin Stuart’s choreography brought viewers’ attention to a precise focus by using articulation and gesture as building blocks for larger stories about human nature. Bent fingers, cocked feet or a gaze held slightly too long all demonstrated how the body speaks articulately even when words fail. Her lengthy piece Zu-sam used one couple’s interpersonal dynamics to pose gestural, rhetorical questions about the nature of longing. Why, Stuart seemed to be asking, does wanting more from a relationship make one feel grotesque?

Louie Cornejo’s Weathering used nine dancers to tell a story about the construction and erosion of landscapes and relationships over time. The dancers entered the stage carrying stones which they placed around the periphery of their movement; then they exploded in frenetic activity, collapsing, supporting each other, and disappearing off the edge of the stage – only to return again later. As rocks passed from one hand to another, Cornejo seemed to be asking us if emotions might weather our lives just as the elements weather mountains into pebbles.

Rebecca Joly lives in Santa Monica where she writes about yoga, art, and science fiction.

By Rebecca Joly

Photography by: Am Wu

Misa Kelly

Brian Chance

The post 3 Cities: 3 Choreographers appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

My first encounter with Sufism was in Pune on the banks of the Mula River, where I used to meditate at the tomb of Saidullbaba, a Sufi mystic. Sitting beside the white marble tomb, draped in green brocade and scattered with rose petals, I felt a wonderful energy of peace. At the time, in 1980, I had no idea that one day I too would be a Sufi practitioner.

A decade later I met Lex Hixon, also known as Sheikh Nur al Jerrahi, at a spaghetti dinner in Boulder, Colorado and took hand as a dervish in the Ashki Jerrahi Sufi order. Under Nur’s guidance, my practice of Dhikr began.

Remembrance makes people desire

Dhikr means remembrance, and is a process of remembering Allah through his ninety-nine beautiful names. There are two ways of practicing remembrance, the audible Dhikr which is done in community and the silent Dhikr which each dervish practices at home, using a tespe, Islamic prayer beads.

Communal Dhikr often involves movement in a circle, accompanied by drumming and song. It is a collective experience of ecstatic devotion.

Courageous dervish dancers whirl

Typically dervishes meet weekly for communal Dhikr, while silent remembrance is a daily practice. Formal silent Dhikr involves recitation of la ilaha illallah, ‘nothing exists apart from Allah.’ This recitation helps establish the dervish in unity consciousness. Along with this central divine name, each aspirant recites specific names as guided by their Sheikh. One pronounced effect of Dhikr practice that I experienced over several years was an outpouring of mystic dreams, as well as an enhanced ability to interpret the spiritual dreams of others. The Sheikh or Sheikha uses the dreams of the dervishes to guide them to the divine names that are most suitable for them to recite for their spiritual development.

Formal recitation is just the beginning of the path of remembrance. Gradually remembrance enters deeper levels of the seeker’s soul, heart and innermost heart. Divine remembrance becomes a permanent state, even when the aspirant is asleep. My eyes are asleep yet my heart is awake, never asleep, as the Prophet, peace upon him, said.

Gradually a dervish comes to see that love alone exists and is all in all. This is unity consciousness. The following poem expresses my experience of oneness in love through the path of remembrance.

To whom shall I prostrate?

Alakananda Ma is a mystic, teacher and Ayurvedic guide at Alandi Ashram in Boulder, Colorado. She is the author of The Rainbow Bridge: Prophetic encounters with the Mother’s path of unity, and From My Heart to Yours, among other books. http://www.alandiashram.org

References:

William Chittick, The Sufi Path of Love: The spiritual teachings of Rumi
Lex Hixon, Atom from the Sun of Knowledge
Sheikh Muzaffer Ozark Al-Jerrahi, The Garden of Dervishes

Every being in the Three Worlds is Thy form,

Each face the dearest face

Each heart the most beloved one.

I am grateful to the smallest ant

For it has trod the wine

With which I am crazed,

Grateful to each fallen leaf

For I, too, have shed

The one I thought I was.

Lost in the Only Lover

I dance with each alone.

Alka says, “I am the Lover of the Lovers of Love.

My heart is on fire for every heart in creation.”

––Alakananda Ma

Around the central pole of existence

Learning to dispense with themselves

And love others completely…

Hands firmly linked

Voices intone with intensity

The beautiful Divine Names

Forming the primordial chorus.

May we set our hearts on fire

Filling them with radiance and power!

–– Lex Hixon

the journey. It makes them into travellers.

— William Chittick

By Alakananda Ma

Brian Chance

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