Nov 1, 2015 | Sedona Yoga, Yoga Conference, Yoga Festival, Yoga Festival Experience
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At the 2016 Sedona Yoga Festival, I will be sharing (for the first time) how participant’s can best use Sedona’s special sites for enhanced Yoga and increased Energy Connection.
Each year Sedona becomes more and more known for “The Vortexes.” What are they, where are they, and is there any science that explains them? The Vortexes are geographical/topographical sites on the Coconino National Forest that can enhance yoga, meditation, mind/body vitalization, stress reduction, healing hurts from your past, and outside-the-box creative thinking and problem solving.
Sedona’s spiritual heritage actually goes back for millennia. The Spring 2015 Edition of the Visitor’s Guide published by the Sedona Red Rock News, states that archeologists believe the Sinagua (native people of this area from 600 – 1400 A.D.) may have held Sedona as Sacred ground, because their ruins ring Sedona. It is felt that they lived on the outskirts and traveled into the red rock area for sacred ceremony. (The vivid colors red/orange and greens ARE physiologically and spiritually inspiring).
Starting in the 1960’s word spread in the United States among spiritual seekers to visit Sedona’s high energy meditation sites.” In 1979 those locations were nicknamed “The Vortexes” and that shortened label has stuck. One of the Sedona Chamber of Commerce’s recent slogans has been, “Isn’t it ironic that the most beautiful place on earth is famous for what you can’t see.” The fundraising bike ride in Arizona for the MS Society has moved from Scottsdale to Sedona and is called, “Ride the Vortex.
The Vortexes are NOT electric or magnetic sites. There is no major electric or magnetic field difference at them. That labeling system was meant to be symbolic, NOT literal. The same is true of the masculne/feminine, and positive/negative labeling systems. It is more accurate and helpful to describe the Vortexes as Upflow or Inflow sites and match that to the topography and the type of prayer/meditation you seek.
I explain more in the video below… Enjoy! See you at SYF2016!
Pete.
[/vc_column_text] [divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” full_width=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [vc_video title=”Vortex Expert Pete Sanders laying it down…” link=”https://youtu.be/OQECdxPyJ18″ full_width=”no” width=”1/2″ el_position=”first”] [vc_video title=”Part 2 – UpFlow Vortexes” link=”https://youtu.be/67vSH5ilz8Q” full_width=”no” width=”1/2″ el_position=”last”] [vc_video title=”Part 3 – Inflow Vortexes” link=”https://youtu.be/5jRTswszXeA” full_width=”no” width=”1/2″ el_position=”first”] [vc_video title=”Part 4 – Combination Vortexes” link=”https://youtu.be/lSens5bgEaY” full_width=”no” width=”1/2″ el_position=”last”] [vc_column_text pb_margin_bottom=”no” pb_border_bottom=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]
Pete A. Sanders is an Honors Graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology with principal studies in BioMedical Chemistry and Brain Science. He is a 35 year Sedona Resident, the Founder of Free Soul (www.freesoul.net), and the author of Scientific Vortex Information, Access Your Brain’s Joy Center, and You Are Psychic!
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Oct 31, 2015 | Sedona Yoga, Yoga Conference, Yoga Festival, Yoga Festival Experience, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Pre-Conference
I have been watching a dear brother on the path lately… Nick Hansinger, co-founder of Source Movement has been laying it down, Realzies these past several weeks. I have been inspired. There is something deeply profound available to each and every one of us, literally right now. The conundrum, oft mistaken as the Truth, exists in only the fact that humanity has become sensitized to a perception of reality, created over millennia, that is incongruous to… ‘what is really going on.’
Consciousness is seeking to take the leap and open into new experiences predicated upon soulfully divined and deeply intuited inspirations. We can all feel it. That deep knowing that propels oneself towards ease and grace in all that they endeavor in the world. The Divine support lended to that one, steadfast in Truth, is what most would call Miraculous.
We have evolved and will continue to explore the edge throughout time, and yet, the ancient scriptures and mythology points to a human experience much likened to human challenges we face today. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Yogis have gone before us and smoothed the path to our enlightenment; to our awakening. It is clearly defined and we are forging it anew in this fiery transformation of consciousness itself.
Heather, myself and the SYF Team have created the platform for your transformation. SYF, a consciousness evolution conference is truly the environment for exceptional growth and change… a transformation into the next phase of your life experience. Whether you have decades of practice or you are just drawn out of curiosity to this notion of a ‘good life’, SYF will meet you right where you are, impeccably providing the perfect teachers and classes to take you to the next level. Newcomers to yoga can experience Master Yoga Teachers, adept at conveying the simplicity of the practice, along with the astounding benefits of a yogic lifestyle, to all levels of experience.
The lineup of presenters, speakers and special guests, each bringing unique and authentic perspectives, were selected to share the many and varied ways to begin or expand a yoga practice. With over 77 presenters and 150 workshops, the fourth annual Sedona Yoga Festival is something to experience.
Our collective experience, cradled in the Sedona energies, will be filled with opportunities to release into the highest and best you. Yoga, meditation, mindfulness, pranayama, energy medicine, kirtan, and more will be the landscape of transformation amidst the spectacular backdrop of red rock country. Sunrise asana and meditation on the lawn, plenary speakers, forums, workshops & classes, blissful kirtans and a World Peace Meditation led by monks of the Dhammakaya Foundation and the World Peace Initiative’s Peace Revolution Project. We are the first ever United States event, blessed and supported by World Peace Architect, Dulce Ruby. SYF2016 will launch you into the stratosphere!
We have taken SYF Gives Back to new levels this year as well. Traumatic Stress: Resiliency and Healing with Yoga unites masters in the field of PTSD and Trauma and presents a holistic, deep dive training in the use of yoga, mindfulness, meditation, and other proven methods to alleviate the symptoms and heal the roots of post traumatic stress and trauma related illnesses. On the heels of previous years service projects aimed at supporting Yoga For Veterans and Yoga For First Responders, we recognize that the human physiological response to trauma is universal, regardless of the experience. This years training will provide proven methods to heal and resolve past trauma, alleviate and eliminate symptoms and lead a more stable and resilient life, along with expert instruction on all aspects of trauma and its affects on the human being. Focus groups, panels and expert testimonial to bring cultural competency various fields in need. i.e law enforcement, fire service, nurses, abuse survivors, etc.
Attending this pre-event training will prepare you to be in service to your family or community if you choose and/or provide insight, awareness and solutions towards the very real and oft debilitating effects of Post-Traumatic Stress.
Dharma. Service in Action.
Click Here for more information about pre/post-festival experiences.
This is the yoga event not to be missed! Feel into it and sense the Sedona experience that awaits you. You will be ever so glad you did.
Namaste.
Marc
Sep 26, 2015 | Sedona Yoga, Sedona Yoga Festival Teacher Feature, Yoga Conference, Yoga Festival, Yoga Interviews
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Meet Denise Thompson, aka Yogirunner, Teacher and Vice President of Group Fitness at Mountainside Fitness
We recently chatted with yogi, teacher and corporate exec, Denise Thompson – AKA Yogirunner, to find out just how she keeps it all together in a fast-paced life…
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Find me as Yogirunner on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!
PINTEREST: Yogirunner
Occupation: Vice President of Group Fitness – Mountainside Fitness & Fit Republic
Hometown: Santa Fe, NM
Current Town: Phoenix, AZ
Where has yoga taken you?
Yoga has taken me to the real me! I finally realize, understand, accept and appreciate exactly who I am. I honor and respect that person.
What are the 4 most pivotal occasions in your career both in and outside of Yoga?
- Jumping from Corporate Wellness to Pharmaceutical Sales (chasing the almighty dollar)
- Realizing it was more important to do what I love than focusing on the dollar – LEAVING pharma sales
- Moving from a fitness focus to a Mind/Body focus
- Making Yoga part of my personal and professional life.
What do you never leave the house without?
I never leave the house without my phone and my Yoga mat.
Where are your favorite places to experience?
Sedona and Kauai are among my two favorite spots on this earth.
What are the first three words that come to your mind when someone says: “grounded” or “connected?”
Truth, Consciousness, One
We want to know what your typical morning looks like! What does your daily practice look like?
I wake up at 5A everyday. I grab a cup of coffee and check email/social media. By 5:45A I start my daily practice in my Buddha Lounge. I get the kids up at 6:45A, make breakfast and have them to school by 8A. My workday THEN begins.
What is one mantra that is like a remedy for your soul?
To Thine Own Self Be True
How do you channel your inner 5 year old?
I dance, sing, run and practice Yoga with my children ages 6 and 11.
Tell us one fun fact about yourself.
I am incredibly Type A and a Black and White thinker. Yoga has opened the door to shades of gray.
What is your favorite pose to teach in your classes? And why?
I love teaching Bakasana. It brings me so much joy to witness people putting trust in themselves and learning to fly. It’s like witnessing a toddler walk for the first time.
If you’re not on a yoga mat, where can we find you?
Running! That’s why they call me YogiRunner.
 
Jul 29, 2015 | Sedona Yoga, Sedona Yoga Retreat, Yoga Conference, Yoga Festival, Yoga Philosophy
That’s us… Pondering… Well, I am Pondering, Heather is looking cool. On our way to another EPICasana experience at SYF2016!
Every year, as we deepen the experience of the Sedona Yoga Festival, there comes that time when we sit and ponder how it all began and where we are today. SYF has become an event not to miss; it has marked the transformation of many a yogi these past 3 years. In the beginning we saw an epic experience, situated in the Heart of Sedona, AZ that cradled the participant in the healing energetics and allowed for a truly transformative experience. Well, the Sedona Yoga Festival has become that and much, much more.
The 2016 Sedona Yoga Festival is rapidly becoming THE yoga festival to attend next year. Whether you have never done yoga or you have practiced meditation and asana your whole life, there will be something for YOU! Save the Dates and/or get your tickets at Early-Bird Pricing now because you will not want to miss out on this. Some big announcements are coming shortly, but for now, just cruise through the website to see what is coming so far… We have added little bits and pieces, so you yogi sleuths out there can start to imagine just how awesomenasana SYF2016 is shaping up to be.
We’ll leave you with a big blast from the past; Yogini Silvia Mordini honors us with her experience of the inaugural SYF2013. See ya in the ethers, dear friends.
Marc & Heather
First Penguins at Sedona Yoga Festival
February 8, 2013. Feels a little bit like the first day at a brand new school. Starting today, I am presenting at the Sedona Yoga Festival to a whole new group of yogis. It is my first time teaching in Arizona (although I’ve taken many a workshop/training here in my Anusara days).
As always before teaching, my thoughts turn to how will I best touch the hearts and minds of my students. What will they think? Will they understand me? Regardless of your experience, Yoga Teachers still get nervous. I may have over 11,000 hours of teaching experience but today will be my first hour in the teacher’s seat at this first ever Festival!
One of my biggest strengths is my humanness. After leading 15 RYT200 Teacher Trainings, I work hard to keep myself off the pedestal and keep things real. I am imperfect, fallible, sometimes quirky, certainly silly, and a bit earnest when it comes to manifesting happiness. Being born in Ecuador to an Italian father and Ecuadorian mother only adds to my uniqueness.
If you know anyone in Sedona coming to the festival, applaud them! They—like me—are First Penguins. The first penguin is a term coined by the late Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch who offered his last lecture there when he was dying of cancer. Here is one of his key pieces of advice: Be the first penguin. “I encouraged students to attempt hard things and not to worry about failing…failure is not just acceptable, it’s often essential.”
Pausch rewarded his students who took the biggest risk with a stuffed penguin representing how when a group of penguins takes to the water, one of them has to take the FIRST plunge. If that penguin survives in the potentially predator filled, dangerous water, then the other penguins follow.
I am grateful to everyone involved with Sedona Yoga Festival. It is heroic to manifest—from nothing—an entire yoga festival, replete with teachers, searchers and healers from all over the world. To every single attendee, presenter, volunteer, and staff, I present you the First Penguin Award! Thank You Silvia!!!
You are magnificent and your courage to jump into the water not knowing what will happen is inspiring. And that is why I am proud to be involved—even if I am also a bit nervous.
To those who are considering doing something that really scares you this year, be encouraged. Manifest your biggest dream! The world needs more First Penguins in yoga, in art, in science, in relationships, in life. Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia
ABOUT SILVIA MORDINI, Happiness Coach, Yogipreneur, lululemon ambassador, manduka ambassador
Enthusiasm to love your life is contagious around Silvia. Her expert passion connects people to their own joyful potential. Silvia lives her happiness in such a big way that you can’t help but leave her classes, workshops, trainings and retreats spiritually uplifted! Born in Ecuador, raised traveling around the globe she is an enthusiastic citizen of the world and spiritual adventurer. She is a long-time Experienced Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) with over 10,000 hours of teaching experience, owned a yoga studio for 9 years and has been teaching and practicing yoga over the last 15 years after being run over by a car and using it to recover physically and emotionally. Silvia will be leading a Tuscan Adventure in Happiness week long retreat in June 2013 and an Amalfi Coast Wellness Adventure in July 2013 as well as offering her Alchemy of Yoga RYT200 Yoga Teacher Training in Costa Rica this August 2013. Silvia is currently writing a book about Prescriptions for Happiness and has a popular blog called Loving Your Life, along with producing her “Loving Your Day” videos.
Connect with Silvia Mordini:
Web: www.alchemytours.com or www.silviamordini.com
Email at silvia@alchemytours.com
Twitter @alchemytours @inspiredyogagal
Facebook Silvia Mordini (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1164596386)
Nov 18, 2014 | Trauma Sensitive Yoga, Yoga Conference, Yoga Festival, Yoga for First Responders, Yoga for Vets, Yoga Pre-Conference
Click HERE for the latest blog – “Magic Portal, Winter Solstice”
My shoes hiking in Sedona Nov 2014.
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This is where I live, and all I see is grey… My body pulses with electricity like current that activates every fiber of my being. My mind begins to panic, yet it, receiving stimulus from my senses, should be reporting to me that everything is ok; there is no threat.
Then why do I just want to explode out of my body, so tense… ready for action, taut as a wire and pulsed to manage… something.
Iron 44 Crash Site (Aug 2008)
But, there is no threat. No something… just the grey, foggy, unreal reflection of what my eyes are seeing at that moment. Today, the tears came again finally when talking to a former colleague about the worst aviation fatality incident in wildland fire history. Iron 44. To me, it matters, yet the story is not necessary to tell. It was traumatic, stressful and life threatening. It involved fellow firefighters (9) perishing in the line of duty, in a horrible way. There was chaos and confusion. It all happened in an instant and the aftermath begins. Hundreds of people counting on me, depending on me to keep my shit together… So, I did.
And so does each and every First Responder, Police Officer, Wildland Firefighter, EMT, Paramedic, and all the likes… Volunteer or paid, these men and woman are the front lines of this countries community safety and well-being, risking life and limb, 
placing themselves in harms way, so that others may come through, whatever the threat may be. These people give all of themselves in selfless service; putting mind, body and spirit through enormous amounts of stress, trauma, fatigue, and physical and emotional extremes. These are our countries unsung heroes; veterans in service of managing domestic incidents.
In the line of duty, each and every service has it’s own very unique and distinctive threats and situations that personnel must deal with, along with the things that they will see and experience. Most people not in these lines of work, will likely have no idea what these men and woman face each day and the things they must do in order to do the work and keep their shit together. But, that will only matter if you choose to serve them and you begin to see the anguish and pain in their eyes. Then, empathy will be your friend and allow you to guide these fragmented beings into a place of peace.
I can now officially say, I have suffered from PTSD. It has had a debilitating effect on my life, relationships, work… absolutely every aspect of life. I have experienced anxiety and panic attacks that have put me to my knees. I have had suicidal thoughts and put away sharp objects. It is very, very real. And, at the same time, it isn’t. I haven’t been on an incident in over 2 years and it has been 6 years since Iron 44. Every day stresses can put me over the edge and I have come to find out, that when that happens, something occurs in my neurophysiology that makes me believe I am back there, where the real stress and trauma happened. In that instant, now and then becomes a reality that at times, I can witness and talk myself through. Others, I can’t and then it is freak out city…
No human being should have to experience this… No One should have to wonder each day if today’s the day I lose it… Hurt my family, my friends… Loved ones.
Will today be a good day or a bad day… Will something trigger me and I lose track to where I am… That there is no danger right now… Yet all my physiology is reporting to my messed up mind is DANGER… And my body knows no different.
I can’t tell you how disturbing it is… How powerless and lost it makes me feel. And how enormous the climb out of this pit of despair looks…
That is the conundrum… Life goes on… Passing me by.
So, here’s the thing: the efficacy of Yoga, Meditation and other mindfulness practices as treatment and prevention has been beyond proven in our scientific community, as well as described in the ancient texts of this thousands of years old science. Whether known, diagnosed or not, our community service men and woman are, will or have a strong likelihood to experience some form of Post-Traumatic Stress and its related illnesses and mood disorders. Having experienced first hand the devastating effects this issue can have on peoples lives, on families and communities, I strongly believe that no one should have to suffer from these cumulative stresses that have such profound effects on the human body, mind and spirit.
Program Director, Olivia Kvitne
We have the ability to manage this; there are many tools available, most rooted in Yoga, Meditation & Mindfulness. We have the infinite ability to heal. Our bodies, minds and spirit ,life itself, imbibed through form known as I… This is an energetic fact. As the sky is Blue, Mark Whitwell would say. Undeniable. So, how do we get there? “This training bridges the gap between the yoga community and a population that may not have considered yoga as an effective and accessible tool to address their needs,” says Olivia Kvitne, Program Director of this year’s SYF Gives Back training. “I am proud to bring together top authorities in psychology, neuroscience and trauma-sensitive yoga to create a down-to-earth and science-based yoga system that can benefit our nation’s everyday heroes.”
But, how weird is that? There can be resistance from this population, so used to suppressing and muscling through.
Exec. Dir. GBYF, Rob Schware
Rob Schware, Executive Director of Give Back Yoga Foundation says, “No one should feel weird about doing yoga, especially first responders who experience injury, trauma, and death. This is the first intensive training to mobilize hundreds of yoga teachers and yoga therapists to come out of their studios and offices and bring their knowledge and skills into police and fire departments.
So, again, here’s the thing: there is no “my trauma is better/worse than your trauma…” or “just power through it…” or “it can’t happen to me…” or “I’m Fine…” Cause matters not. Trauma and stress-inducing incidents, that often involve actual life threat create the same physiological response. And, therein, lies the solution.
One faculty member, Bhava Ram aka Brad Willis, is a former award winning network news war correspondent. A broken back ended his career. After a subsequent diagnosis of terminal cancer he embraced mind/body/spirit medicine and the deeper sciences of Yoga and Ayurveda, through which he ultimately healed against all odds. As a yoga teacher he now shares the message that we all have the inner power to heal. “As one who was on the front lines of conflicts and crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa and Central America, I can attest to the fact that yoga gave me the strength to lift myself out of an abyss of profound physical and mental anguish and ultimately find new meaning and purpose in life.”
Me… back in the day, Mt Rainier NP, WA. (hiking in because 10 minutes earlier we almost crashed at the helispot…)
I am getting better. Over the years in service there were perhaps 100’s of close calls, life threats, death, trauma and stress, I just buried it all, apparently. I have sought help and receive enormous support from my family, friends and community. I have personally experienced the wisdom and guidance of Bhava Ram and with his, and many others assistance am making progress. There is a solution… and I invite you to please share, comment, post, repost, talk about in your community and in general send out the blessings to these men and woman who put it on the line for us… May we never forget.
Marc Titus, Founder & Director
Sedona Yoga Festival
Former Wildland Firefighter & Aviation Manager on a SW Area Type 1 Incident Management Team
EMAIL: 
