Happy Spring Green Yogis!

Thanks to numerous Yoga studios that have greened their environment, the Green Yoga Association's Green Studios Program is alive and well. With more than 100 members, the program continually brings in new studios, such as Nandi Yoga in San Mateo, which is certified "Green" by its county. Regardless of their size or capacity, Yoga studios around the world are finding ways to be eco-conscious businesses, community centers, and role models.

In a recent conversation with Kate Vogt, facilitator of the Green Studios Program, Kate shared her enthusiasm about these studios' deep commitment to care for the well being of their students, studio, and the planet. Kate has been fostering the program since the Green Yoga Association transitioned to an all-volunteer community (from a paid staff organization in 2007). She and others have helped realize the next phase of the program beyond the pilot with an online handbook. Studios can download over 100 pages of notes from the three-year pilot program and find eco-friendly tips. Sign up is now free with encouragement to also become a member of Green Yoga Association. We invite you to read more about it.

The program evolved from its earliest days when there were few resources on greening a work environment to today's burgeoning green marketplace. In our early years, we were pioneers in fostering practical awareness around Yoga products, especially Yoga mats. Laura Cornell, our founder, educated the Yoga world on the toxicity of PVC particularly in our Yoga mats. Her passion sparked the trend toward Eco-Friendly Yoga mats. Every major yoga mat manufacturer in the US now makes an Eco-Friendly Mat. Yea for Laura's passion! The shift has inspired the Green Yoga Association to be true to its philosophical roots of the inherent connection of Yoga and ecological awareness in all its programs - Green Studios, Green Yoga conferences (May 29-31, 2009), and Green Sanghas.

All of us on the Green Yoga Association Volunteer Council hope you will be inspired by commitment of the studios around the world that have contributed to the Green Studios Online Handbook through their inspiring dedication to greening their yoga.

In peace,

Paige Wyatt

Beyond the Green Studios Program and Into Green Yoga

by Paige Wyatt inspired by Kate Vogt

The Green Studios Program continues to be a useful and thriving source of inspiration and change. My conversation with Kate began as a check-in about the Green Studios program and quickly became a philosophical discussion on what Green Yoga means and how it manifests. When the Green Yoga Association brought awareness in the yoga community around Eco Friendly Mats, the Yoga community listened. We didn't stop with Yoga mats. We began to look at all the products we were consuming. We began to look at how we were transporting ourselves to our yoga classes. We began to look more deeply at what we ate, where it came from and how we prepared it. Granted, many of us already did all these things, but every day more people were coming into the yoga community from the mainstream American population and discovering this new culture and new way of living. Within the yoga community, more people started noticing the plastic bottles and plastic yoga props and plastic everything and realized we could all exercise our power of choice and simply not buy them.

Now there is a shift in the collective consciousness of our Green being. We are becoming less attuned to buying a certain product so that we can "be Green." We are realizing that being Green comes from within. It comes from feeling Ananda - pure contentment, satisfaction, bliss - so that we don't feel the need to buy things we don't truly need. We feel complete so we don't go out and shop. We may have a thought that we need some material possession and instead of running out and buying it, we more readily notice and stop our impulse. We touch in to our natural contentment. We rest there some more. We let time pass. After a few weeks or a month we notice that the desire or craving for something has faded or completely disappeared. If the pull to acquire is still there, we are likely to explore whether "Do I really need that, or do I just want it?", "Why do I want it?" and "Can I I satisfy that need in another way - maybe a used item?" We are moving toward living a life of aparigraha, non-grasping, non-hording, and we are one step closer to santosha, contentment, tranquility.

Many of us start a Yoga practice to feel better in our bodies, some to feel better in the mind. Whatever the reason we begin to change. We do feel better, we lose the cravings for things that aren't good for us. We become more content. We buy less, consume less. Our tastes change. Our priorities change. We become kinder to ourselves and to others. When we go more deeply into the practice, the Yamas and Niyamas - the practices of relating to ourselves and to others respectively - begin to arise as a natural outgrowth of being yogic and Green in the world. Our Yoga practice transforms from something that we "do" to something that we "are." We realize that being Green is no longer something that we acquire or emulate but it is who we naturally are. We see the plastic bottle floating in the ocean as a cut on our own hand. We feel the six pack holder around the bird's neck choking off our own air supply. Our whole life begins to change, and we inspire others. Our collective consciousness rises; our collective being heals and becomes more connected.

The Green Yoga Association as a group of like-minded people is still an infant - only a few years old. We're just barely learning to walk. But Green Yoga as a concept is as old as time itself. Yoga from its earliest beginnings " helps us transform our view from that of an individual to seeing ourselves as part of the larger cosmos" (Chris Chapple). Back when living off the land was a way of life. Back when people grew and prepared their own foods and they didn't eat from boxes and cans. Green Yoga was what our ancient yogi brothers and sisters were. Our modern society has lost touch with our roots and our mother, the planet on which we live and are actually a part of. We have become so in our heads about progress and business that often we don't notice our disconnection with ourselves. Personally, I spent quite a few years sitting in a chair for so many hours that I sometimes could not feel my body unless it was in pain. Yoga is bringing us back to our true self and to each other. Yoga is bringing us back to the true nature of Green. By doing Yoga we become green. By doing green we become Yoga.

ECO-YAMA:

Green Affirmations

from Clayton Horton

www.greenpath.org

Satya: Truthfulness

I observe the reality of the need for widespread environmental education and action to maintain responsible stewardship of planet Earth.

I choose to pay attention to the media and environmental research so that I will be aware of the Environmental health and condition of our planet.

No matter how urban or industrial my life is, I recognize my connection and interdependence with nature.

I honor the wisdom of traditional cultures as well as modern science.

"If you go on bowing down to every stone that you see, every stick that you see, every tree that you see, one of them could become the doorway; something will open up."

--Jaggi Vasudev

Featured Business Member Wellspring Lifestyle

Our newest supporter of Green Yoga is Wellspring Lifestyle in Kendall Park, NJ. Wellspring Lifestyle offers Yoga and Health & Lifestyle Coaching. Their Mission is to enhance the lives of individuals and communities. We thank them for spreading Green Yoga and supporting the Green Yoga Association!

Passing the torch
It is my great pleasure to thank our dear friend Richard Marks for his service these past many months in editing our Newsletter.  Rich has embarked on a trip to India and has given his time, energy and spirit to keeping us all connected with each other and our precious planet.  Thank you Rich!

It is also my great pleasure to carry the torch forward and spend some time writing and connecting and conversing with all of you green yogi writers out there to continue to foster the Green Yoga Association as we guide Yogis to a Greener way of life.  Or more appropriately, as we yogis help guide the rest of our species to a greener way of life!

I am very excited to now offering my spirit to Prana.  I hope you all enjoy this issue.

Peace, Aloha and Namaste!

Swimming the River of Fear
by Paige Wyatt, www.paigewyatt.com

Last summer when the economy dipped, my clients stopped updating their websites.  My Craigslist ads for new projects went unanswered.  The Web consulting business I had dutifully built up to supplement my passion for teaching yoga and acrobatics suddenly evaporated.  I panicked.  I panicked some more.  I posted more ads.  No answer.  I started thinking about taking on a part-time job.  I found myself telling my friends how broke I was and how afraid I was.  They were scared too.

I am grateful that I was able to take classes from our featured authors, Dennis Eagan and Katchie Ananda, at the 2005 and the 2007 Green Yoga Conferences.  Both are inspiring yoga teachers with the gift of eloquence.  I am so happy to have their words in this issue.

Dennis leads retreats that combine yoga with the wilderness experience. In addition to his yoga practice he enjoys spending as much time as possible on or in water. He believes global circulation of the atmosphere and oceans is Nature's blueprint of the energy body within each of us. In an upcoming issue of Prana, Dennis will tell us how he brings this deep feeling for water into his yoga practice and teaching.

Katchie is an activist, dancer, artist, priestess and yogini.  She is certified in Anusara, Jivamukti, Ashtanga and Integral Yoga. Katchie teaches about human and animal rights, protection of the environment and social justice in her yoga classes.

It's not too late to take part in the in the Green Yoga mini-conference this weekend in Los Angeles.  Read about it here and plan to attend. . . . A few months ago, GYA Council member Alan Zucker, sent the other members some thoughts about making "another trek around the sun."  The  whole council felt that we should share his birthday thoughts with you . . . . Jeff Davis continues our ongoing discussion of what an eco-yama is.  Please join the discussion by sending your views on this topic for publication in Prana and sharing with the Green Yoga community.

We continue our coverage of the meeting of the Green Yoga Council, August 15-17, 2008, at the Metta Earth Institute in Vermont, with details of the new organization of GYA and the future of its programs . . . . In a recent Council teleconference, there was consensus that Prana needs to publish a definition of what an eco-yama is.  In this and the following issues, the eco-yama section will be dedicated to thoughts on defining an eco-yama.  Please join the discussion by sending your views on this topic for publication in Prana and sharing with the Green Yoga community.