We are thrilled to welcome Kathmandu Yogi as one of our new Sedona Yoga Festival sponsors.
Kathmandu Yogi is a Chicago-based, fair trade social enterprise that produces limited edition yoga and meditation accessories made by female artisans living in Nepal.
They specialize in meditation cushions, which are not only beautiful, well-made, and functional but also make a human impact. This holiday season feel good about where you are spending your money and purchase mindful gifts for that special yogi in your life from Kathmandu.
Fair trade gifts are gifts that come with a story. It’s the story of the artisans who handcrafted the beautiful products. It’s the story of the artisan’s children who are in school and eating better because the artisan regularly receives a fair wage for the product. It’s the story of the community, the environment, and the cultural traditions that are sustained by the purchase of the handcrafted fairly traded product. When you give a fair trade gift to a friend or loved one, you give a great gift and a story that says so much more.
We are so excited to welcome Kathmandu Yogi as a SYF sponsor this year! Kathmandu Yogi is a local woman-owned purveyor of ethically-made, limited-edition meditation and yoga exercises handcrafted by female artisans in Nepal. Their signature meditation cushions and yoga bags are made from Tibetan brocade silks, indigenous Bhutanese woven fabric and Nepali cotton. The company’s mission is to improve the quality of life for disadvantaged and impoverished populations in Nepal, while educating locally about the global implications of the choices we make as consumers. Learn more at kathmanduyogi.com.
Just for you, Kathmandu Yogi is providing a special add-on option to your ticket purchase. The add-on is an exclusive cushion for the festival, the Red Bhutanese Nomad Cushion. This designed for the yogi on the go, the perfect cushion to travel with you to all yoga festivals and yoga classes moving forward. You’ll be all set at SYF with is add-on purchase, protecting your bum, supporting posture all while using your purchasing power for good!
The Red Bhutanese Travel Cushion will come with the Co-branded packing sack, SYF + Kathmandu Yogi!
While at the festival check out our yoga studio, Aumbase, the exclusive provider Kathmandu Yogi in Sedona! Come take a class while trying out a cushion and see all the beautiful products in person!
Pre-order your Nomad cushion in a commemorative SYF travel case at the special price of $35- $10 off the regular price of $45! You will be able to pick up your cushion when you check in at the conference. Purchase ticket with Cushion add-on here!!
On March 9-12, 2017, Sedona Yoga Festival will celebrate it’s 5th annual 3 day weekend event- in one centralized walkable location in Sedona, Arizona. SYF2017 provides the platform for personal evolution with a focus on yoga and the expansion of consciousness in the undisputed spiritual center of the American West.
With 108 Presenters and over 250 sessions to choose from, ranging from quiet meditation to rockin’ vinyasa, performances, experiential journeys, conscious conversation varying from “your multi-dimensional selves” to “body positive teaching techniques”, to handstand inversion courses, Acro Yoga, Healthy Eating Workshops and so much more…..no two attendees’ weekends will be the same at SYF2017.A fully customizable class scheduling experience creates the opportunity for attendees to truly choose their own adventure.
SYF’s Presenters are deeply committed to the consciousness evolving, and have been carefully selected to set the stage for an unparalleled experience for the conference attendee. Sedona Yoga Festival has an unfailing authenticity that resonates with its community – both within Sedona’s spiritually charged environment and beyond.
SYF’s dedication to providing the platform to inspire unique transformations has helped put Sedona on the map as a yoga destination now receiving wandering yogis, internationally acclaimed teachers, workshops and personal yoga retreats monthly at various locations and studios in town.
SYF has always led the way in recognizing the power of yoga to heal, and has offered specific training events as a way to give back to the larger community. This year, SYF Presents: Traumatic Stress, Healing and Resiliency with Yoga, an integrated optional 20 hour training for Yoga Teachers and Service Providers.
The annual SYF Gives Back program, provides integral tools to share with those suffering from PTSD and severe trauma or those serving this population. In years past, SYF Gives Back has provided successful trainings to hundreds of teachers and service providers to support veterans, first responders and those with PTSD, TBI and other trauma-related illnesses with yoga, meditation and energy medicine.
“Once we recognized the festival’s reach, we decided that we would use the SYF platform to enrich the lives of many by creating awareness & providing training to serve populations affected by trauma. Myself, suffering from PTSD from my service as a wild-land firefighter, I have come to know the benefits of these practices and the horrible impact this affliction has on family, business and community. To date, our humble efforts have affected 1000’s of peoples lives for the better. That has been our aim all along and we are grateful to be in our Dharma… Service in Action. Namaste.”
Along with the rich tapestry of classes and workshops, SYF2017 will also feature a vibrant vendor experience, where participants and the public alike can enjoy food, beverage, and a wide variety of conscious businesses sharing their gifts & wares, arts & culture, goods & services… There will be much, much joy to be shared together throughout the weekend. SYF2017 will be the 2nd year that a kids yoga experience is on the schedule, so don’t hesitate to bring the entire family!
The mystical and magical backdrop of Sedona, Arizona is perfect for the Annual Signature Sedona Yoga Festival, a consciousness evolution conference. Presenting Sponsor and premier venue partner The Collective Sedona is a stunning and recently renovated event venue. Featuring more than 31 shops, art and culture galleries, wineries, breweries, and dining experiences that celebrate modern Sedona and honor its rich heritage, being right next to host properties the Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock & the Sedona Golf Resort allows for a truly walkable, cohesive festival experience with a community vibe. SYF2017 will be held March 9-12, 2017.
Lately, the topic of social media marketing- and how it pertains to the Health and Wellness industry (i.e.. yoga teachers and spiritually inclined healers, etc… yoga marketing) has been a common conversation.
I can’t seem to get through my Kale salad, without hearing about it. I chuckle as my friends relentlessly question the dreaded algorithms of social media, recent updates.. commenting always on number of followers, likes, insights, engagements, filters. Yoga Marketing in a modern world… a conundrum wrapped in enigma.
In my circle of yoga teachers friends, we are all professional marketers/photographers it seems. However, I have not been able to shake the the undeniable feeling, that things in our yogi world, are starting to become a little lack-luster with so much saturation.
Understandably, the nature of our culture today, is that we live out our lives and the daily action of it… through our social media posts, re-shares, and likes. Social media is not for the novice, its a powerful tool for business and more. My mom has a Facebook, and I am sure yours does too. One of my favorite meme accounts, is run by a rainbow-toting, pink-haired, Grandmother called, “Baddiewinkle.” As a society, we have hashtag for everything, your 13 year old niece has a website, we have photoshoots with our latte art, news is created instead of reported, lovers reference each other as, #wcw or #mcm and… my favorite phenomena, now dogs have Instagram accounts (see Wolfie the Huskie).
So I get it- its entertainment, its customizable perception, its marketing, its how we connect with friends, and most importantly, its how those in this industry are able to promote themselves. For yoga teachers – entrepreneurs in their own right… self promotion in this medium, seems inherent (it’s yoga marketing after all).
“I am a yoga teacher, therefore, I must post pictures of myself demonstrating what I do – so others will want to join me on my next retreat or workshop.” I have heard. “I can’t reach my demographic telepathically. If don’t engage on social media… I will loose followers, and no one will come to my class. ” Another powerful statement. When marketing oneself when you are paid by the number of people who attend your offerings, i.e. classes, gatherings, workshops… makes promotion and social media marketing… an integral part of your success.
Yet- Why do I feel like I am stuck in a social media vortex?
I realized – through intense introspection, and LOTS of dedicated practice far away from my phone… (in Sedona) that their are a few simple marketing guidelines, that have simply been lost in binary translation. Because social media became the quick and dirty, “shiney new tool” in our industry – I believe, we kind of… played with it too much, and forgot, some core fundamentals that make this business great.
Back to Basics
Ask yourself- How as a practitioner of transformation, is your content benefiting our broken world?
For me it was simple… To provide authentic, first-person narrative, of my struggle, my story of pain.. and how through the healing balm of yoga, I was able to come back from the dead. Yoga saved my life. This is my story. What is yours? Do you have a clear message? Are you utilizing the many other tools online other than social media? Have you streamlined your brand? Do you have a clear message? Do you have a engaging website? A lead capture? Newsletter?
Good SYF friend and 2017 Presenter, Lynann Politte takes a closer look into this topic and gives you 6 manageable, easy tools to help YOU streamline you online yoga marketing presence in this short and informative video.
Are you Ready for More?
Thursday, March 9, 2017 Join us for an amazing 1/2 Day Immersion with Lynann Politte
Filled with practical guidance in identifying and claiming your unique place in the yoga industry this step-by-step workshop explores ways to integrate the intimacy of the yoga industry with practical marketing strategies. You will walk away with the tools to discover, create and develop your yoga business in a successful way. Lynann offers a unique perspective and approach to brand development and marketing. You will see the importance of staying true to your authentic self and learn how to market your yoga offerings in an effective way so students who resonate with your teachings will find you. Your yoga business will thrive as your yoga marketing expands.
Lynann Politte’s Bio:
“I’m a marketing strategist, manager, promoter and agent for teachers, authors, and musicians in the yoga industry. My specialty is working with individuals who have achieved a level of experience and recognition locally and want to take their business to the next level. I work with my clients to create a plan that increases revenue within your existing business model and integrates expansion nationally and international via workshop, trainings, retreats, books, streaming video and online products. With over 15 years of experience working with producers and studios over five continents, I craft and implement a strategically sound and profitable tour. My experience in managing personality driven brands enables me to help you explore and expand your brand through whichever media or product is most applicable and to create cross marketing strategies that integrate and expand the reach of your message.
I’ve worked with many high profile yoga and wellness experts beginning in 1990s within the infomercial industry, back when low impact aerobics was the craze. I’ve negotiated multi-million dollar product deals and some complicated (and nasty) business partner break-ups. From that experience I discovered that my place (and passion) is being the bridge for the intensely focused and creative wellness expert and the pragmatic-logistical business work.
My strategic planning and marketing background combined with my yoga management experience is a formidable combination for guiding and supporting my clients successfully. My highest value is integrity. My desire is to reframe “business” into a model that is conscious, mindful, and wrapped in integrity. I consider myself a professional who dwells within what I call the “Conscious Business Model”. How I work is a culmination of the tools I learned in business school, my 25 years of business experience, and my own personal soulful work. I love what I do and who I work with.”
Yoga marketing is super fun and cool! Hope you join us…
Written by Daniel Hyman, Healer, Self Love Activist
Where do we look when we want to heal a part of ourselves, but the old and recycled programming from our egoic mind keeps holding us back and will not let go? The obvious answer would be to focus on our Heart Chakra, but sometimes even when we do that work, we still do not get the results we desire.
So what do we do then? How can we heal our heart when our head will not move and is getting in the way of our divine right of love and joy?
An alternate option is to redirect the focal point of our healing away from our Heart Chakra and move to our Sacral Chakra.
In addition to being the “go to” chakra for emotions and having a connection to the element of water, our Sacral Chakra is the energy center that links us to our creativity and pleasure.
Pleasure is something that is felt, and yes, we can think about how we feel about the pleasure we experience but the true joy from pleasure comes from being present and feeling it—not thinking about it.
Understanding the difference between truly feeling something as opposed to thinking about how we feel about it is so important. Often times, the source of what is blocking our healing process of letting go is that we are stuck in our own head, thinking about our feelings.
Finding purpose and forgiveness is key in the process of healing our hearts. On this journey, we find access to purpose and allow forgiveness into our hearts by replacing the old and permitting the new to enter, bringing new experiences of happiness, love, and joy.
To attract the new, we must let go and heal from the old. We have to find a way to replace our old, negative thoughts and feelings that are stopping us with new, positive thoughts and feelings of love and joy that will ultimately lead us to what we truly desire.
We must reverse the polarities.
When positive feelings and thoughts are present, more “light energy” is available to flow through us and accelerate our healing process. The acceleration of our healing generates our vibrations to go higher more quickly. This empowers us to begin attracting more connections and experiences into our lives that are in alignment with what brings our soul pure joy, love, and fulfillment.
One of the best ways to access these new, desired feelings and positive thoughts is by diving deep into our Sacral Chakra and tapping directly into our creativity.
Our creativity is one of our most powerful healing skills. It comes directly from our spirit and like water, it carries the power of flow. When we are in the flow, we return to our natural state of being—the perfect alignment with our higher self and the love that we already are.
There is an art to awakening your creative gifts and tapping into your flow. To learn more, please visit www.goddessdanceiam.com
WANT TO MEET INFINATE BEGINNINGS IN PERSON? COME TO THE SYF 2017 YOGA FESTIVAL
It’s hard to be a kid today. Luckily, there is a magical place at Sedona Yoga Festival for kids yoga ages 6-13! Scheduled to coincide with adult classes there is so much fun to be had at this years SYF. Our kids yoga program will include, Acro yoga, yoga dance, music, art, and much more. Mats and materials provided. Bring: water and snacks. Package details will be available soon.
Children deal with many distractions, temptations, overstimulation and peer pressure. Schools are challenged to do more with less and be creative in how they reach even the most isolated child. Yoga can help children develop awareness, build concentration,manage stress through breathing & meditation, develop focus and learn healthy movement.
Sedona is an ideal family destination, and Kids Yoga, is designed to support families. SYF kids will enjoy an exciting line up of talented presenters like SYF returning Presenter Sitara Van Block.
Kids Yoga Schedule:
Can drop off kids any time between Friday – Saturday 9.45 AAM – 4.15 PM
Can drop off kids any time between or Sunday 9.45 AM – 4.45 PM
Classes are 1 hour long, supervision will be constant during open hours.
We have release forms available on site for parents*
Friday 10th
Class timesPresenters/titles
10-11 AM FunYogawith Alan Alcid
11.15-12.15 Valerie PikeRainforest Adventure
12.30-1.30Aya Sheevaya “YOGA IS KID FUN!”
Rest and Relax
1.45-2.45Ana Hansen Yoga Together Class for Families with Babies
3-4Ali Geter Yogadance andkids kirtan
Saturday 11th
Class timesPresenters/titles
10-11 Valerie Pike Deep Blue Sea Yoga
11.15-12.15 Laura Fuller Lotus Yoga
12.30-1.30 Turasa YogaGame
Rest and Relax
1.45-2.45 Ana Hansen– The Indigo Child Yoga Circle
3-4 Ali Geter – Partner poses, games, dance and sing
Sunday 12th
Class TimesPresenters/titles
10-11 Sitara Van BlockGiant Mandala painting and partner play
11.15-12.15 Laura Fuller Earth Medicine
12.30-1.30 Jill Adams – Playful intro to yoga, games and more
1.45-2.45 Jill Adams – Sound healing,stories, games and yoga
Rest and relax
2.45-4.45 Kirsten RubisEmpowerment 4
Girls Day Camp
2.45-4.45 Mandala Painting
Sitara Van Block – Kids Yoga Program Director
Sitara has taught yoga internationally for 26 years. She has 2 best selling Kid yoga DVD’s on Amazon, Kids World Yoga and Family Acro Yoga.
She has developed kid yoga programs for schools and taught mommy and me yoga for 8 years. Sitara developed the kid yoga program at SYF in 2016 and looks forward to making it even better this year. Sitara is a Transpersonal Psychologist also and we are so honored to have her at SYF 2017.
“There is a special magical place at the SYF for Kids ages 6-13! Scheduled to coincide with adult classes, there is so much fun to be had: Acro yoga, yoga dance, music, art, and much more. Mats and materials provided. Bring: water and snacks. Meet us at the tent on the lawn at the collective.” – Sitara
Meet your Teachers!
Jill Adams- Playful intro to yoga.
Teaching children awareness, centered behavior, story telling through yogic/animal poses & lots of games! Jill also introduces kids to sound healing by playing tibetan singing bowls, bamboo rainstick and a moyo drum.
Laura Fuller- Earth Medicine Yoga
Stones, crystals, essential oils, yoga and imagination are used to give an experience of how nature can help us come back to balance and feel at home in our body and the earth.
Lotus Yoga – The making of a beautiful lotus craft is woven into the asana. We will talk about the symbols of the lotus growing from the mud and land in the sweetness of spirit.
AYA SHEEVAYA- YOGA IS KID FUN!
In this active hour of yoga fun, we will play with a variety of educational toys (wheels, juggling balls, blocks, dancing sticks…) and explore together animal yoga shapes & sounds, simple breath practices, group games, as well as some chanting… Bring your fun kid self!
Sitara Van Block
Giant Mandala painting and partner play Come and join in a big group mandala painting project and then explore fun partner and Acro Yoga like double headed dragon.
Valerie Pike- Rainforest Adventure Yoga with the YogaBerriesGuru
Learn fun and interesting facts about the animals we do yoga poses to. Rainforest Lovers will enjoy the imaginative nature yoga poses. Breathing techniques and movements reduce stress and anxiety, improve concentration and bring a smile to your face. Great stretching for the family. Dads can be pretzels too!
Deep Blue Sea Yoga with the YogaBerriesGuru Valerie Pike
Ocean Lovers will enjoy the ocean themed yoga poses such as Dolphin pose, Boat Yoga Pose, Sea Otter, Plank, Shark Pose, Sea Turtle, Tilting Penguin Pose, Mermaid and partner yoga poses such as Double Boat and Whale Pose.
Join Certified Mini Yogis instructor Valerie Pike to play Yogi Games, participate in a Djembe Drum Circle and learn a guided beach relaxation and Sleeping Starfish guaranteed to help your child rest better. So come along on our Ocean Yoga Adventure and have fun with the YogaBerriesGuru! You can even imagine your yoga mat will turn into a surf board and be ready to spread the harmony wave by wave!
Kristen Rubis
Empowerment 4 Girls Day Camp educates, inspires and empowers girls, ages 9-16, to deepen their unique character, cultivate self confidence, develop core life skills and implement daily self-care through an innovative journey toward self-discovery and inner peace.
Mandala painting for boys Large mandala group project for boys, wear old clothes because of the paint.
Alan Alcid – Class Room Fun Yoga
A traditional series system of hatha yoga, partner yoga and incorporates animal fun poses modified for children to enjoy. The series helps develop physical balance, strength and flexibility, mental focus and concentration.
Ana Hansen – Yoga Together Class for Yoga Families with Babies
This class is specifically designed for mothers or fathers who have babies and toddlers younger than the age of three. This is an excellent opportunity for families to have fun together practicing yoga and playing yoga with the little ones!
Come and create memories as a family, and take your practice into your home!
The Indigo Child Yoga Circle
This class is specifically designed for children from the ages of 5 to 9 that have sensory issues. In this yoga class, children will sing, dance, do yoga, and paint!
Children will connect and learn about their bodies and have fun!
ALI GETER- Yoga dance and Kids Kirtan
Sing, turn your body upside down with kids kirtan and yoga dance. Its time to have lots of fun. Ali blends a colorful mix of expressions to cultivate experience through community. Partner poses, games, dance and song.
Awareness games that use all the senses, an hour of fun with kirtan, dance and helping one another with partner yoga poses.
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Just for you, Kathmandu Yogi is providing a special add-on option to your ticket purchase. The add-on is an exclusive cushion for the festival, the Red Bhutanese Nomad Cushion. This designed for the yogi on the go, the perfect cushion to travel with you to all yoga festivals and yoga classes moving forward. You’ll be all set at SYF with is add-on purchase, protecting your bum, supporting posture all while using your purchasing power for good!
