By Priya Hutner ·
Courtesy Wanderlust ·
People practice yoga for many reasons, some to heal their bodies, become more flexible and increase strength, while others are looking to deepen their connection with self and wake up to their own authenticity. At the annual Wanderlust yoga festival participants will have more yogic choices than they can imagine to explore the depth of yoga. There are hundreds of yoga classes to choose from, as well as meditation, pranayama classes, workshops and lectures from July 16 to 19.
Guru Jagat ·
Yoga for the Aquarian Age
Do you like to breathe? Kundalini Yogi Guru Jagat brings the technology of Kundalini Yoga to Tahoe.
“I took my first Kundalini Yoga class in New York and it opened me up,” explains Guru Jagat. And, she’s never looked back.
Guru Jagat is on a mission to bring the teachings of Kundalini Yoga to the masses in a way that is applicable and practical. She says that she loves the connection to sound that one can find chanting mantra’s in this particular style of yoga.
“Kundalini Yoga is a technology to upgrade the human operating system. We need something to help us with the velocity of this age and give us the tools to access the human potential grid,” she explains. “And, it assists us with our creativity and physical capacity to hold a compassionate space.”
Guru Jagat says that she loves the way that Kundalini Yoga works from the inside out and supports the systems of the body. It incorporates the physical practice of yoga along with pranayama (yogic breathing techniques), meditation and sound. Coming to Tahoe for the first time, Guru Jagat is bringing the teachings of Yogi Bhajan and the magic of Kundalini Yoga to Wanderlust.
Her mantra: Obey, serve, love and excel, this is how Guru Jagat lives her life and this is what has driven her to open The Rama Institute, the mission of which is to practice deep spirituality that is modern, fresh and community centered.
Seane Rockin | Courtesy Maria Gotay
The Altruistic Yogi
Seane Corn has been practicing yoga since the early 80s. She was working in the Life Café on the Lower East Side of New York City run by Jivamukti founders David Life and Sharon Gannon when she was introduced to yoga. Initially curious, Corn was doing drugs and partying at the time, which didn’t bod well with the owners, it was there that she learned other ways to transcend the feelings drugs offered her.
She says that she liked the way that her body felt after doing yoga and eventually made lifestyle changes that transformed her path. Corn says that she realized she had more energy and was able to release layers of tension from years of holding stress in her body through yoga.
“Yoga helped hold the mirror in the places where I was disengaged and disassociated. I continue to awaken and practice self-inquiry. I realize that within us is truth and love and the essence of that is not outside of self,” she says.
Over the years, yoga has evolved for Corn, and says that she’s become more relaxed in her practice and in her life. She talks about the six non-negotiables: yoga, meditation, prayer, diet, therapy and sleep.
“Yoga is a healing art. I don’t impose my beliefs as an absolute, yoga is about one’s own process and evolution,” she says.
From an early age, Corn says that she was drawn to social justice. She was deeply affected by kids that were being bullied or abused. While working in New York, many in the gay community hung around the Life Café where she witnessed the abuse and stigma that occurred to the people she cared about. Corn was there in the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and watched people she knew dying. She became involved and became a front line protester with ACT Up and the Women’s Health Coalition. As Corn moved from practitioner to teacher the depth of her caring for humanity only grew and led her to start her own foundation, Off The Mat.
“I have an opportunity to use the platform I have to help inspire and effect change,” she said.
Corn says that she has learned numerable lessons from her years of teaching.
“I try to be impeccable and thoughtful with my word, as well as having humility, self awareness and being vulnerable in my teaching, I try to be heart centered in everything I do.
“My hope is that we recognize that all of us have an opportunity to make a huge difference in the world, in how we raise our children, where our money goes, how we vote, we can run for office and hold politicians accountable. Every decision makes a difference,” she says.
Courtesy Wanderlust ·
Learn to meditate, chant or deepen your asana practice at the Wanderlust Yoga Festival with its plethora of yogic offerings from Tantra Yoga Vinyasa to learning about the Yoga Sutras, to balancing, aligning and experiencing. Many of our local Truckee and Tahoe yoga teachers like Nikki Dean, Shari Beard and Meg McCracken will be on hand bringing their Tahoe love for yoga.
Courtesy Wanderlust ·
Tickets to Wanderlust feature multi-day passes, as well as individual day tickets along with special events like Farm to Table dinners, wine tastings and more. Visit wanderlust.com for more information or to purchase tickets.
