Yoga for Hope 2013

By: Shannon Purves

Imagine six hundred people practicing a heartfelt, uplifting yoga flow on the outfield of Petco Park in the San Diego sunshine.

This event is Yoga for Hope, which raises awareness and vital funds for cancer, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS.

There was beautiful energy surrounding the entire event as we took to the perfectly grassy field to practice a special hour and a half yoga flow.

Several amazing teachers lead us through this transformative practice including Bonnie Saldivar-Jones, Claire Petretti Marti, Michael Fukumura and Stacy McCarthy. Each teacher was able to bring their own essence and personality to their portion of the class while collectively interlacing the ideas of unity and togetherness.

The final twenty minutes were lead by the lovely Seane Corne. With cancer being close to her family, she found great importance in being apart of this event. She spoke freely about her struggles while losing her father to cancer and her advice that it doesn't get easier, it just gets different is still ringing in my mind. She opened our hearts and helped us find support in ourselves and our vast yoga community.

It was a pleasure to represent Prana Yoga Center along side teachers Abby Vernon and Shauna MacKay. We stayed after the event and made connections with many of the practicing yogis. It was one of those events that reassure you that you are on the right path with the right people.

"Over the past two years Yogis from all over San Diego have been touched by an event that has humbled our community and opened our hearts to HOPE. Because of your generosity, Yoga for Hope has raised more than $100,000 and united over 1000 yogis and dozens of studio partners to raise vital funds to aid City of Hope doctors and researchers to continue their life-saving work. From its inception, Yoga for Hope has not only been wildly successful, but has also become a popular and sought after event throughout the greater San Diego community."

Please join us next year as we plan to continue making a difference in our community and giving back!

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Clusters Recipe

By: Amy Jo Hearron

Last week, I made a batch of these Chocolate Caramel Pecan Clusters twice, because once just wasn't enough. They were so perfect and sweet and gooey and chocolatey and better than any other candy I've ever had. Yes, possibly my new favorite candy. Maybe because I love the combination of caramel and chocolate with tiny pieces of pecans and have never before found a version that my belly likes before now. Whatever the reason, I am excited to share with you this recipe. Do yourself a favor and make them next time your sweet tooth whispers its wishes.


Chocolate Caramel Pecan Clusters

Caramel Pecan Clusters
10 medjool dates, stoned
2 tbs. raw almond butter
2 tbs. pure maple syrup
1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of pecans, chopped
You have two options here, depending on whether you want to use a food processor or not (I used my hands instead and loved how this turned out).

Food Processor Version
1. Place dates in food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Add almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla and salt and blend well, until you have a smooth doughy texture.
3. Place caramel mixture into a bowl.
4. Add pecans and knead the dough with hands until pecans are evenly combined.
5. Place a spoonful of dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Gently mash the caramel cluster so it is slightly flat on top. Repeat until you run out of dough.
6. Place in fridge.

Hand Mixing Version
1. Place dates in a large bowl and mash with fork. I divided each date into half and mashed one at a time. It was a bit of work, but I prefer working with my hands when possible.
2. Add almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. Mash together with a fork.
3. Add pecans to mixture and knead with hands until well combined.
4. Place a spoonful of dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Gently mash the caramel cluster so it is slightly flat on top. Repeat until you run out of dough.
5. Place in fridge.

Chocolate 
1/2 cup raw cacao butter, finely chopped
1/2 cup raw cacao powder, sifted
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
*You will be using a double boiler and an oven-proof bowl to melt the cacao butter.
1. Place two cups of water into the bottom pot of a double boiler.
2. Place raw cacao butter into an oven-proof bowl that will fit on top of the double boiler pot.
3. Bring water to a boil.
4. Place bowl of cacao butter onto pot until the butter is completely melted.
5. Remove bowl from heat.
6. Add cacao powder and maple syrup.
7. Stir well, breaking up any chunks left in the powder.
8. Let the chocolate sauce cool until it thickens a bit. You do not want the sauce to harden. You do want it to thicken a bit so that it will slowly pour down the sides of the caramel clusters.
9. Once the chocolate is slightly thick, add a spoonful to each of the caramel clusters and cover the sides with the chocolate sauce. I used a spoon to assist this step.
10. Once you have finished, place the chocolate caramel pecan clusters into the fridge and let sit for an hour, until chocolate hardens. Store in fridge for up to a week. AMAZING!

Find more recipes on Amy Jo's new blog, a journal of imaginative kitchen creations and purely sweetened indulgences. These dishes are gluten-free and full of flavor, containing natural ingredients and no refined sugar.

 

What is the fastest, easiest, most reliable way to master any skill?

Apprentices Jessica and Mandy on set

By: Stacy MacCarthy

Find a mentor that is getting the results you desire.

Mentors have been around for centuries.

Krishnamycharia mentored B.K.S. Iyengar, K. Pattabhi Jois, T.K.V. Desikachar & Indra Devi….David Foster mentored Josh Grobin…..Laurence Olivier mentored Anthony Hopkins.. …Obi-wan Kenobi mentored Luke Skywalker… Jim Rohn mentored Tony Robbins…. Benjamin Graham mentored Warren Buffett … Socrates mentored Plato … Plato mentored Aristotle … Aristotle mentored Alexander the Great ….
Throughout my life, I’ve had mentors that have helped me in all the important areas, family, health, career, spirituality and contribution. Finding and choosing a mentor is an important mission and decision.



Apprentices Assisting and Adjusting

A good mentor helps you get a clear-sighted view of what’s most important to you. They should serve as a model for reaching your most significant goals in the most important areas of your life.

A mentor can help us identify where we need to grow. We may be ahead in our health while lagging behind in spiritual awareness. Or emotionally or financially astute but lazy in the way we eat. A good mentor will be honest with us about where we are and then help us work on the areas that need attention. Your mentor should have a genuine history of success & experience that has stood the test of time.

Each year I mentor a group of teachers who are working on the completion of their 500 Hour Professional Level Yoga Training. Over the next six months, you’ll see these devoted protégés observing & assisting at my classes, events & workshops. Please take the time to meet these assidious teachers and thank them for their dedication & service.


“Empowering yoga teachers to grow their practice through mentorship is a profound experience for both parties.  I believe in the impact of one person on another person’s life. The opportunity to share over 20 years of experience creating a thriving and sustainable career teaching yoga is rewarding. As a mentor, I dream of a world for our next generation of yoga teachers in which our yogic light becomes so bright that it will wash away the unnecessary pain and suffering in the world. We can do this. We can build a yoga revolution, teacher by teacher, student by student”.
Stacy McCarthy, E-RYT500, Yoga Namastacy

Prana Yoga Center helps out Yoga for Hope!

A huge THANK YOU to Shauna MacKay for sharing her time, beautiful spirit and knowledge this morning at the "Hatha for Hope" donation class. Much gratitude also to YWTT grad Christie Lane for assisting and all the Yogis who came out! If you missed this event, but would still like to donate to our Yoga for Hope team please visit here to make a donation.

Shauna MacKay is a Prana hatha and happy back yoga teacher. She currently teaches Monday's "Hatha + Yoga Wall" at 10am, and Tuesday's & Thursday's "Hatha Yoga" at 8:30am. Please stop by one of her amazing classes!

My Experience as a Mentor

By: Sara Deakin

I want to start off by saying “CONGRATULATIONS” to all of the graduates of the 500hr Yoga Works professional teacher training. I can’t tell you how impressed I am by the passion and dedication that each and everyone one of the graduates displayed throughout the training. One of my teachers, Douglas Brooks, said “the question is not how extraordinary your gifts are but rather it is how extraordinarily you can use your gifts”. Witnessing their progress, their drive and their inspiring final projects, I have no doubt that there are going to be amazing things that will transpire from this group. There will, without a doubt, be many lives touched and positively altered by this group.

I have been lucky enough to mentor five of the graduates, Paul, Alice, Missy, Bryan and Morgan. Originally when Gerhard asked me to be a mentor for the program I was surprised and unsure that I was ready to take on such an important role. I looked back at my teachers and mentor. They have had such a profound effect on my life as a student and teacher. Was I worthy to take this on? It is a huge responsibility to pass on the sacred practice of yoga. Again I referred back to another teacher, Ganga White, to help me make my decision. He is a firm believer that in order to make yoga applicable and beneficial to our lives today, we must honor history and the wisdom of the teachers that came before us, while at the same time applying our uniqueness and discoveries of the present. So with humbleness, I accepted the opportunity. I can’t tell how grateful I am that I did. I realized that with the insight of my teachers and a promise to be true to my authentic voice, I had chance to share what yoga truly is today, a practice that transforms lives and inspires people to be the best version of themselves.

The time that I spent with my mentees was a blessed experience. We created a playground where we could share ideas, experiences, fears and hopes, and in the end I believed we began to tap into the unlimited potential that each one of us possesses. Pretty exciting and inspirational stuff!

Thank you to Gerhard and my mentees for keeping my heart open and my passion alive! 

Yoga Retreat - Tulum - November 2013

By: Mandy Bustein

Hi friends! It's been quite a while since I've been able to write, mainly because life has become so very busy. In Feburary, I wrapped up my 300hour advanced Teacher Training with YogaWorks, and since then, have been working hard on designing some beautiful retreat experiences for all my yogis out there!

As you may know, I spent the latter part of 2012 in the beautiful Riviera Maya where I fell absolutely in love with a town called Tulum. Over the past five years, this Caribbean coast has blossomed into a magical yoga destination where people from all over the world flock to unplug from the world, reconnect with nature and deepen their practice. Tulum is now the home of a few wonderful yoga retreat centers, raw food restaurants and road-side green juice stands....and their full moon fiestas are not to be missed! While I was down there, I visited the gorgeous Amansala Eco Chic Resort and told Devin, "One day, I will bring a yoga retreat group here."

Well, that "one day" has come sooner rather than later! As soon as I got home in January, my friend Alex, owner of Prana Yoga Center in La Jolla, saw some of my photos from Tulum and asked me to put together a retreat down there. So, there you have it, friends. Be careful what you put out in the Universe, because it is ALWAYS listening :)

Here are the details on our retreat this fall to Tulum, 
I would LOVE for you to join us and discover this magical place..... 

Caribbean Yoga Retreat

with Gerhard Gessner

November 19-24

Tulum, Mexico

Featured in Conde Nast Traveller, Bazaar, Yoga Journal, and InStyle Magazine, Amansala Eco-Chic Resort & Spa offers relaxed beachfront accommodations like no other boutique hotel in Tulum. It's the perfect place to truly get away from it all!

Our Retreat Package includes:

• 5 nights in beachfront accommodations at Amansala
• 3 healthy meals each day
• 2 Yoga classes each day (Vinyasa Flow & Restorative classes)
  with Gerhard Gessner, assisted by Mandy Burstein, RTY-500
• Special Partner Yoga workshop and other opportunities to deepen your practice
• Massage and sacred Mayan Clay Treatment
• Tribal Drumming experience
• Ground transfers to and from Cancun airport

 

Package prices:

• Beachfront Single $1699
• Semi Sea View Double $1499
• Triple Occupancy $1249

*Sign up before June 1 for a $100 discount!

 

All prices are per person basis. Includes all Yoga activities and all meals, plus extras!  * Not included: Flights

$500 non-refundable deposit is required to reserve your space. 

Contact us at retreats@prana-yoga.com to reserve your spot today! Space is limited. 

 

Mandy Burstein is a yoga instructor and writer based in La Jolla, California. She began her journey into yoga on the beaches of Costa Rica and has been captivated ever since. Through yoga and writing, she passionately empowers people to become the best versions of themselves, both on and off the mat.

Mandy teaches at Prana on Monday's at 7:15pm for a Vinyasa 1-2 class, as well as Thursday's at 3:15pm for our Shine Teen Yoga for Girl's class.

Total Transformation for Teens through Yoga

by: Mandy Burstein, RYT-500

“Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future” – JFK

 At Prana Yoga Center, we see the value in our children and know that the healing benefits of yoga are applicable to them as well. Every Monday and Thursday around 3 pm, the lobby of Prana starts to fill with excitement, hugs, giggles and brightly-colored yoga mats as our young yogis start to trickle in for Teen Yoga class. After a long day at school, our students generally come in to the studio frenzied and hyperactive, yet almost always leave feeling restored and ready to tackle the rest of their day with a renewed sense of focus and composure.

A recent article from ABC News investigated the rise in popularity in yoga for kids and teens and this is what they found….

"More practitioners and more parents are becoming aware of the benefits of yoga and seeing their kids can benefit too," said Liz Eustace, CEO of Alignyo, an online yoga community with a newsletter devoted to all things yoga. "The things that benefit an adult will also benefit a child. Stress reduction, mind- body connection, physical strength – these are things that benefit kids as well as adults."

And these benefits, we have most definitely seen come to life at Prana! Over the past two years, my fellow teen yoga teacher, Stephanie Armstrong and I have witnessed a true transformation among our tween and teen yogis. They have evolved into more confident, focused, grateful and grounded versions of themselves. Some of my most proud moments are when, at the beginning of class, I check-in to see how they are doing and ask if they have any requests and they say, “Can we do some restorative yoga today? I’m feeling really stressed out and just need to relax and meditate.” 

It truly melts my heart to know that our students, at the young ages of 13, 14 and 15 now know how to check-in with themselves and figure out what their unique needs are.  This is such an important skill to cultivate that will stay with them the rest of their lives. One day, they will journey away from Prana, off to college, then off to the working world, and the skills that they once cultivated on their yoga mat as teens will come back to guide them through life as present, mindful adults.

Last week, we were invited to spend the day at La Jolla High School to introduce more teens to the healing benefits of yoga....
 

While it can be difficult to convey the amazingness of yoga to 50 high-energy teens in just a short 45 minutes, we did our best to guide 5 different classes through Sun Salutations and a rigorous practice of other challenges poses to show them that yoga can be a great source of physical exertion. We ended each class with a few minutes of relaxation and mini-meditation, allowing them to see that yoga can also deeply relax the mind, decreasing their stress-levels and improving their overall well-being.

 

Thankfully, science is also on our side when it comes to understanding the healing benefits for teens! Professor Kuyken from the University of Exeter studies the effects of “Mindful Meditation” on the mental health and well-being of young people aged 12-16 years.

Here is an excerpt from the MedicalXpress report:  Students from 12 secondary schools either participated in the mindfulness in schools program or took part in the usual school curriculum. Mindfulness has been described as the practice of becoming aware of what is happening in the present moment and of learning to relate more skillfully to thoughts, emotions, body sensations and impulses as they arise. The young people who participated in the mindfulness program reported fewer depressive symptoms, lower stress and greater well-being than those in the control group.
 

And don’t just take our word for it! One of our dedicated yoginis, who has been with us since she was 12 years old is about to start high school in the fall. She has a full schedule of rigorous classes, extra-curricular activities, family obligations and social commitments throughout the week, yet still commits to her yoga practice every Monday and Thursday after school with us.   Here, she tells us why: “I love yoga because it is a great stress reliever and it helps get the tension out of my back. It also teaches me relaxation techniques so I don’t stress out too much for tests.”

Whether it’s the physical, mental or emotional benefits our teen students are looking for, they have access to it all through their yoga practice. If you have a teen in your life that would benefit from yoga, please send them our way. We would love to meet them!

Namaste,
Mandy

Our next session starts Monday, April 8 and runs through Monday, June 10.  Learn more about it here.



Mandy Burstein is a yoga instructor and writer based in La Jolla, California. She began her journey into yoga on the beaches of Costa Rica and has been captivated ever since. Through yoga and writing, she passionately empowers people to become the best versions of themselves, both on and off the mat.

Mandy teaches at Prana on Monday's at 7:15pm for a Vinyasa 1-2 class, as well as Thursday's at 3:15pm for our Shine Teen Yoga for Girl's class.