Farm to Table Yoga Dinners: Get Your Dance On

I've been trying to follow this motto: "Do one thing a day that scares you"-- really pushing and encouraging myself out of my comfort zone. There's a variety of things that I've been tackling along the years like traveling solo and learning to ask for help. My proudest moment to date was on July 27th. I danced to my hearts content! Sometimes (okay a big chunk of the time) I freeze when I dance. I'm enjoying the music in my head but my body won't move as freely. A lot has to do with being self conscious.

So I went to a yoga/dance day-retreat at Growing Heart Farm in upstate Harlem Valley Wingdale.

When you get off of the MNR you're greeted by a beautiful yet eerie deserted insane asylum. You're then guided by Abby Paloma founder of Growing Heart Farm along a paved road passing by golf courses..and then you hook a left...into the woods??? That was an unexpected turn.

Please excuse my pictures. My iphone camera lens is scratched up.

Seriously in the woods. A thin trail lasting about 10 minutes.

Until you reach the farm. Beautiful. Worth the two hour train ride!

So Growing Hearts Farm is a CSA farm, providing produce in multiple areas of Manhattan and Brooklyn. They open their farm for camping, educational purposes and dinners under the name Farm To Yoga. Every event (their last dinner for the season is October 12) is different. The one I went to specifically coordinated with DJ Natasha Blank of Get Your Dance On.

It's a full day event with ground tours and tasting from the land...

Lounging under huge tent toppled with oversized pillows, guitar playing, singing, hula hoops.

And then Abby warms us up with a few yoga sequences. Yoga in nature feels 10xs better than a studio with hardwood floors. Mats were provided but many opted out.

Natasha then eases us into the dance session, making us walk in a large circle on the plush grass. I feel silly. I look at the ground a lot, not wanting to make eye contact. My movements are stiff. 

Soon, the music changes, Natasha makes us close our eyes and sway to the music. I am shy. I close my eyes. I peek to check out the crowd but everyone is in their own element. I sway. Then sway some more. The music is actually very therapeutic. I relax. We flow. The music picks up. Confidence grows. The energy rises. Everyone is dancing--not like when you're at a bar/club trying to "look" a certain way. There's no sexy music playing.  

Natasha partners us up, switches us, partners us up again with another yogi, repeat. You feed off of everyone's energy. I feel no judgement. This is actually...easy. We synchronize our movements with each other--our elbows, then our feet, you lead, I lead. By the time we walked around in circles again, my chin is lifted and I am prancing around. 

This clip is after over an hour of dancing. I think it's amazing how comfortable we got in our skin-- sober. No drugs, no alcohol. It's a liberating feeling-- finding your inner ninja. 

Afterwards we ate an earthy, nourishing meal made grown from the farm. 

Exchange: $75 (full experience: Yoga, Farm Tour, Dinner) $95 (Gold Plate: Yoga, Farm Tour, Dinner and extra support to your farmers) $55 (Dinner ticket: Farm Tour and Dinner) $115 (Yoga, Farm Tour, Dinner and Camping)

Since that Saturday I've been to two other events by Natasha. She's dj-ing at the Afro Punk Festival this weekend. Follow her on Facebook.  And of course, visit Growing Heart Farm!

Farm to Table Yoga Dinner: Upstate NY

Growing Heart Farm's has a combined two of my fondest activities together: yoga AND supper clubs.  The Metro North takes you directly there.  You'll get a tour of the farm, followed by yoga class, ending with dinner.  Cost is $60. Buy your tickets here.

**The catch for me though is that Anne Apparu is the chef for 8/18, 9/16, and 10/6-- and while I love the concept of making a getaway upstate and working on my downward dog--I'm not willing to risk my Saturday to try her out again. You may enjoy her though; she's got good press from others.

Travel: Yoga in Barcelona

I was determined to fit in my yoga practice during my travels in Barcelona. No day should ever end without a proper down dog, right?  Center Cos (Gran de Gracia) and Let's Speak Yoga (La Eixample) were both English friendly speaking classes in the city. I managed to hold crow's pose for the first time ever in Center Cos because my teacher was determined for me to defeat my fear of breaking my wrists (it didn't break!) And as my 12 days in Barcelona were winding down, what I looked forward to the most was my 3 day getaway to the foothills of the Pirinees with SansYoga (Las Ramblas). 

Yoga in the Catalan countryside was so picturesque and relaxing after a week of sites and sounds.

The day is filled with meditation, two 90 minute yoga classes, three family style sit down meals from our in-house chef, and free time to hike/ride bicycles or do nothing at all.

Many thanks to everyone for going out of their way to speak/translate/adding gestures to keep me in the conversations. A big IOU to Bruno for the ride. And a big hug to Sandra for sharing her practice with me.

Sandra holds multiple retreats in the Barcelona area. The next one is October 5-7, 2012. Contact Sandra for more info: sandra@sansyoga.com or http://www.sansyoga.com/en/

More pictures here: http://www.sansyoga.com/en/gallery/

Free Yoga in Park: Thursdays

Um...amazing. Free yoga every Thursday, 7PM, Long Meadow Lawn near Grand Army Plaza opening. Bring your own mat. Hosted by Lululemon Athletica. All levels welcomed. Enjoyed this immensely more than practicing in a studio!

Yoga in a Forest: Open House Gallery

Visit Open House Gallery this month. They've brought Spring early with a forest installation in SoHo: imagine fake grass, rocks, trees, mini pond, birds chirping, and free wi-fi. Doors open every day 11AM to 6PM and closes for good on January 30, 2011.

Every day at 12PM, Yogaworks hosts free yoga classes in the middle room, sponsored by SmartWater.

It's the perfect retreat post-blizzard.
Urban Daddy hosts picnics and movie nights. There's food carts on the weekends. People napping, babies crawling. Find out more information on Facebook: Open House Gallery. 

Dumpster Pool Party : Yoga Theme

**Not food related but could be considered underground**
So last Friday, I was invited to the Dumpster Pool Party in Brooklyn. Havent heard about it? Read the NYTimes or see the how Macro Sea's puts it together on ReadyMade.
The party themes change, guests vary, but the dumpster pool remains as the main attraction.

Once you figure out the exact location, getting in is actually no problem--you dont have to drop any names at the gate or tip the guy sitting on the folding chair--you just casually walk on in-- through a narrow brick building side entrance, and into an open lot. It's meant to be a community destination-- but because of the limited space of the pool, invites are discreet.

On August 14, Loose Chain Yoga Studio held an open event, welcoming hipsters, parent hipsters with kids, yoga fanatics and the like for a free class at the Dumpster Pool. What more could you want on a Friday afternoon? A little downward dog stretch and sunbathing in a dumpster.

In case youre grossed out by the whole concept of swimming in a dumpster-- 1. its clean 2. padded with sand for cushioning at your feet 3. has sand benches built in so you dont just stand there 4. fully lined 5. easy to climb ladders to go in and out of the pool 6. has a water filtering system like a regular pool 7. there is no 7. It's a great experience!

Oh and the have bocce ball. A little something for everyone at the Dumpster Pool.