TBT: Sukava Bodhe: Chicago Area Yoga Festival

The first weekend in September this year was Sukhava Bodhe's kick off for the hopefully annual festival. Hosted about 1.5 hours from the city on a beautiful old farm, yogi's camped out, flowed, mediated, breathed, slacklined, and had access to amazing vendors and performers.

I was unable to take any asana classes due to a finger injury, but that didn't really seem to matter because the schedule was so full of other options. Besides classes offering various yoga styles the festival hosted mala bead making workshops, thai massage (self and partner), slack lining, bee keeping, paddle board yoga, pranayama, meditation, nutritional classes, kirtan, and more.

What was so great about this festival is that you could drop into any class, there was no pre-registration for the classes so you could plan as you went. The festival also offered tons of discounts and sales right before the event to make it more affordable. For the complete cheapos of the  world like myself they offered volunteer opportunities in exchange for free admission.

I met some great yogi's, found some new, local products I want to try, and got to take classes with senior teachers.

The two days that I attended we were hit with very severe storms the first night and a strong down pour the second afternoon. The festival still went on and worked around the weather.

One of the class venues after the storm, the silks were so pretty.

This pond was so cute, people were always out on boards or swimming since when it wasn't raining it was warm and sunny!

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Tons of acro classes to take and people acroing all over the place. An acro-camp is held at this same site over summer (how fun)!

Slacklining and slackline yoga- I tried this and it was soooo difficult!! I would love to try again, the focus, balance, and relaxation required is intense.

Fresh honey from the Bee Keeping class, we were able to just break off a piece and eat it. I have never had such good honey- it makes me want to keep bees. 

I will post information next summer regarding SB 2014- Yogis of all levels, even people who just like to camp and play in the pond would enjoy the festival! Bonfires and drum circles!!

Time to order business cards: Vote to help me decide

Pose of the week: Virabadrasana III (warrior 3)

This week I need to be a warrior! I have a midterm, a pile of stuff that needs to be graded, a budget that I am trying to stick to, and a final to give (its the week before fall break so all things Loyola tend to be crazy).

The battle may change, be it stress, school (are those one in the same?), a frustrating situation, but my weapons are my breath and my heart, and of course those killer abs-- after all core strength is super important in yoga.

The warrior poses in yoga are foundational for so many other poses, additionally they are used in many beginning classes, but don't be fooled these poses are challenging.

Benefits

• strengthens legs, ankles, back, abdominal muschles, shoulders, and arms (holy cow)
• helps build balance

Preparing for the pose and coming into the pose:

• Before even attempting this pose find your breath (prana) and your gaze (dristi)
• warm up with anjaneyasana (crescent lunge), uttanasana (forward fold), vrksasana (tree pose) and vira 1 (warrior 1)
• from vira 1 gently push off the back foot bringing all the weight into the front foot
• root down through the front food, keep the leg muscles activated
• begin to tilt forward bringing the chest parallel to the ground and lift the back leg
• keep your hips square-- this may mean that your foot is only six inches off the ground and thats great because you are still receiving all the same benefits
• keep the back foot active (think flexing the foot and pushing out through the heel) and the toes pointing down to the floor.
• place your hands at heart center, out to airplane, or extend you biceps up by ears reaching the fingers forwards

Props and Modifications:

• a block on the ground under your hands allows for greater stability and a longer holding of the pose
• doing the pose with the back foot pressing into the wall is a great way to help you balance and is also super challenging, this may work the body more than the pose in the center of the room
• try coming into the pose from tree pose or from tadasana

Counterposes: I always feel this pose in the hip of the standing leg, it is an aggravating tightness and it makes me want to open my hips.

• malasana (yogi squat)
• supta baddha konasana (reclined butterfly)
• balasana (devotional pose / child's pose)

Have a great day and be a fierce warrior!

Kombucha!

Finally the post of the finished product!  I was a little nervous tasting the first couple sips even though it tasted good I was hesitant to drink a large amount in case something went wrong- I mean that culture is a lot funky looking.

This first picture is the final batch of the magic potion! 

Benefits of  drinking Kombucha:

Detoxing the body- the drink  contains enzymes that help break down and flush toxins out of the body.

Joint Health- Kombucha contains glucosomines which helps prevent arthritis through maintaining cartilage structure.

Digestion- Kombucha's culture and yeast make it a pro biotic drink aiding the digestive system in breaking down and absorbing nutrients into the body.

Immunity- As an anti-oxidant rich beverage, Kombucha helps boost your immune system and increases your energy.

 

The Mayo Clinic site, which I deem as a pretty reputable source when googling some ailment (way more than Web MD which always convinces me I am dying), states that there is no scientific research supporting the benefits of Kombucha and that until further  information is available it is advisable to stay away from the drink-- but let's be honest, I really enjoy it and plan on continuing to drink it. The lack of studies may be attributed to the fact that it is not going to benefit any drug companies to fund the research for a product that is cheaply produced and sold. Pre-cold war, Russia and Germany conducted studies on the benefits of this drink and more recent studies have began to take place and be released in the US.

  This is the culture that grew on top of the Kombucha! I removed it and the mother culture was still on the bottom- not sure if this was normal but I haven't had any negative side affects from the bottles I've drank.

 If handling the culture make sure you have a clean towel and extremely clean hands while managing the culture- don't leave it out of liquid for too too long.

 I probably should have prepped bottles more ahead of time, but working with what I had in the kitchen I bottled them up and popped them in the fridge. I rotate filling the smaller two and bringing them with me.

I saved the culture to make a new batch but I hadn't realized the liquid all evaporated and now the culture is no good so I will most likely be ordering a new kit. Seriously for about $14 I got about 10 bottles of Kombucha out of it-at least. I am now saving more bottles so that I can just grab and go rather than funnel and fill!

Love Kombucha? Give home brewing a try- it was super easy and way more economical.

Friday Five: five little things I am grateful for

1. Netflix- After a lot of reading and critical thinking and planning throughout the week sometimes there is nothing like a great marathon- this week it was season two of Scandal, I just couldn't stop and was thankful the next one was readily available.
2. Microfiber cloths- instead of constantly replacing swiffer duster pads or floor dusters I just use the wand and replace it with a microfiber cloth then wash it. They pick up so much.
3. Q-tips- handy little suckers! I love using them to clean little crevices and remove nail polish I get all over my finger tips 
4. Sensational Bites- it is a great little bakery just down the street from me and it has become my Wednesday morning ritual. They always have a great vegan c.c. cookie and spotlight other vegan treats- currently it is a delicious pumpkin, c.c. cupcake with a brown sugar icing on top. They also have the best iced coffee and hot coffee I have found in the city, I am proud and sad to say that they know my order when I walk in.
5. Dyson Vacuum and Help- the Dyson website is one of the most user friendly websites I have ever used and they can totally make you feel like the handiest person in town. It was super easy to follow various steps to clean the vaccum.




Friday Five: five little things I am grateful for by cloch1 featuring Dyson

Dyson / AmazonBasics Microfiber Cleaning Cloth, (Pack of 24) Amazon.com

Pose of the week: Sphinx Pose

This is one of my favorite poses- it always makes its way into my sequences because it can feel so dang good.

Benefits:

• energizes abdominal organs
• fights fatigue
• stretches and strengthens the spine
• stretches / opens chest abdominals
• stretches shoulders
• reduces anxiety

Coming into the pose:

• lie on your stomach, ankles together, top of feet and toes press into the floor, root down through pubic bone
• prop your self up by bringing your forearms to the floor, shoulder distant apart and parallel to one another, the elbows should be bent 90' and should line up under the shoulders.
• once in the pose make sure you keep pressing into your forearms and hands to avoid collapsing into the pose
• open the chest by pulling / drawing (without actually moving) your forearms and hands back as your chest  reaches forward.

Making it feel real juicy:

• keeping the form from above drop your left ear towards your right shoulder then repeat on the opposite side eventually making half circles moving your ears from one shoulder, chin down towards the chest, finishing with the ear to shoulder on the opposite side. 

 Prep and Counterposes:
Sphinx pose is a baby cobra (bhujangasana) variation, because it is not a deep back bend a round of cat/cow is a great prep for this pose. Sphinx can then be modified into full cobra. A gentle forward fold or twist feels great after sphinx.
Pic: www.wondermondo.com

Going Green: Interior Decorating

I love the feeling of this room from an old Architectural Digest magazine and wanted to try to make an eco-friendly version of the room 

West Elm woven rug- is made from recycled fabric, West Elm has an entire recycled/green line

Cisco Brothers Chair- the entire company is based on sustainability, they have an awesome collection of chairs with character. There is a patchwork one that I would love to have in my house (it will surely appear on the blog soon).  

Cisco Brothers Fabric- the sustainable company also sells material, the one above would be great to reupholster  chair or for window treatments.

Benjamin Moore Natura- you can order the VOC free paint in any of the company's colors.

Dorothy Draper Dresser- there are a number of these for resale on ebay and other auction sites or you can re-purpose an old dresser by checking out this DIY on how to do your own Ikea Hack 

  

Art, Vases, and Old Books- these little details really add to the room, all of which are great items to find at flea markets, thrift stores, and garage sales. Find colors you like, pieces that speak to you, or buy it while you are on vacation as a souvenir that isn't something you would be embarrassed to display but will remind you of your trip.

Bronze ceiling light - sold on Etsy it is hand made from recycled materials