Support a YIPer Walking for a Cause

Our very own YIPer, Stacey Alfonso, will be walking the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer on October 16-17, 2010. Inspired by YIP Teacher Sara Alvarez's wise words on risk taking, she has committed herself to walking the distance of a marathon and a half and raise at least $1,800 in donations. According to Stacey, this is the biggest challenge she has ever taken on, but I believe that no challenge is too big for a person with the support of a united and caring community.
        The fight against breast cancer continues, a lot has happened in the ways of advances for treatment and detection, but there is still much left to be done.  The statistics, as Stacey points out, are "shocking...every three minutes, another woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer." If you, like Stacey, cannot ignore this simple fact, then please help to support her efforts for this critically important cause by making a contribution. You can Click here to View Stacey's Personal Page for the walk and make a donation. If you are not comfortable making an online donation then send Stacey an email (sma301@gmail.com) and she'll send you more information on how to donate.  Stacey is a regular at Saturday's YIP 10:30AM class if you'd like to say hello. 
"Always be generous with your encouraging words, you may find they will inspire others to be the best they can be."   -  Catherine Pulsifer

Outdoor Yoga for [almost] Every Day of the Week

As promised YIP researched what else was going on with Outdoor Yoga and Fitness events this summer in the Washington Heights and Inwood area. Here is what has been discovered:

* Bread and Yoga is offering Free yoga at Inwood Hill Park every Tuesday from 6:45PM to 8:15PM starting June 22nd. http://breadandyoga.com/wp/

* The Fort Tryon Park Sunset Yoga started on Wednesdays at 6:45PM in the Abbey Lawn at Fort Tryon Park (see map). You can call 212-795-1388 for more information http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/forttryonpark

* The Fort Tryon Park also has a Tai Chi class on beautiful Linden Terrace (see map) on Wednesdays at 6:30AM.

Finally, there is us [YIP] every Saturday at 10:30AM and Sunday at 1PM. If you know of any other community yoga or fitness events please feel free to add to this post via comments or email yipnyc@gmail.com

And please remember to take care of yourself when engaging in any sport activity during the summer, always have water with you and apply sunblock if you are planning to be out in the sun for prolonged periods of time.

Namaste!

Sunday, June 13

A beautiful black and white photo of Sara Alvarez's awesome class contributed by Hong Kim.  Sara's page is up now under YIP Teachers so you can let her know what you thought of class.

Cheers and enjoy the World Cup Games! I am feeling kind of depress because I don't have tv with cable :-(

Musings of a Yoga Teacher

I, as well as those that have supported the YIP initiative right from the start, are amaze at how our little group has grown.  I really want to thank you all for your support.  I am really happy that I get to teach you all, and share with you, what I hope is more than an hour an half workout.  I know I sound like a hippie, but I don't care, I am just really happy that there are people in the City that haven't lost the sense of community or have found one in YIP.  And the park, the park! I also hope that the exercises you are learning here on the weekends are helping you smile more often during the week ;-). 

I am  also amazed at the response from the Yoga teaching world.  Some of you (volunteer teachers) hike it up here all the way from Brooklyn, Lower East Side, and Queens to share your love and passion! If that's not Karma yoga, I don't know what is! (cause I live right in the neighborhood and still manage to be late to class).  I really encourage everyone that comes to YIP to take a moment and give the volunteer teachers feedback (look for list of YIP Teachers on right column of blog).  The testimonials of Yippers will go a long way as many of the volunteer teachers are just starting their journey as professional Yoga Instructors.

Lastly, if you have feedback on ways to improve on YIP or would like to get more involved with the initiative or have ideas of your own (for community service) send me an email (yipnyc@gmail.com). I would love to hear from you! Currently YIP is looking for indoor space to keep the initiative going during the winter, if you know of a space (preferably donated) please let me know!

Peace and kindness to you all and I hope to see you this upcoming weekend. Namaste, om shanti shanti.

Alexandra Corazza - Yogi of the Week

In this Yogi of The Week feature I will be attempting to sum up the complex being that is Alex Corazza, no easy task. She is a yoga enthusiast, photographer, world traveler, Inwood dweller, tea drinker, and…and…I could just go on forever so, lets just hear what she has to say about herself and her yoga practice, shall we? Alex, what is your favorite yoga pose? I don't have a favorite pose…I like to keep it moving...so least favorite is any [pose] that I have to hold for too long. What’s your take on yoga? The role yoga plays in my life is it keeps my challenges and goals in check. Encourages me to aim high but be real; to try and stay focused at the task at hand while dreaming big. Strengthen front of the body and the back and the sides. Keep the four corners of my feet spread wide and reeeaaach!!!
Alex is a freelance portrait and event photographer (www.aecphotography.com & www.sweetpeaphotographers.com) who also believes that yoga has helped her gained the strength needed to carry heavy camera bags all over creation and maintain good posture and balance which helps her shooting technique. In her own words, Alex believes that “yoga as a philosophy helps me find beauty which is very important for photographers to do on command.”

So Alex, any photography tips for YIP? What’s our good angle, right, left, or should we just give up and go for panoramic?

HELP YIP STAY GREEN WHILE SPREADING THE WORD

If you've met me (Grisel) or signed the communal informational waiver, then you have probably discovered my pet peeve - wasting paper. I can't stand it! So am very frugal when it comes to making flyers and paper based stuff for YIP.  I've only printed out one batch of flyers (exactly 100 leaflets made out of 25 sheets of paper) since the start of YIP and I don't really see the need to print out more any time soon. Why? because you can help by passing on your flyer to someone new once you are done with it! Once you have subscribed to the listserv all of the information you need is on the weekly e-mail, the times and location of classes and the link to the YIP blog (this blog).  So why not help save a tree or two while at the same time helping to build the YIP community!