Sep 10, 2024 | Sedona Yoga, Yoga Festival Experience
Lead image by Danielle Holman; words by Lisette Cheresson
If you’ve been to SYF, you know that a large bit of the magic — the sensation of something awakening in your soul, drawing you closer to not only the divine but your personal divine purpose — is augmented by the fact that we’re here, in the energetic vortexes of Sedona. It’s said that the iron in the red rocks interacts with our bodies in ways that actually increase our energy; there’s proposed science behind the idea. While the red rocks were sacred to the Yavapai-Apache nation, according to Visit Sedona, the existence of electromagnetic vortexes was proposed and popularized in the 1970s by spiritual seekers and settlers to the area.
If you’re skeptical about the power of electromagnetic energy influencing your soul, there’s another explanation as to why Sedona feels so special. According to past SYF presenter Pete Sanders, speaking to Visit Sedona:
“Sanders explains that the neuro-stimulating red rocks enhances creative thinking and problem solving; the green cacti, agave and pines provoke a sense of hope and renewal; and the vast blue skies and winding creeks of the region incites a soothing feeling of serenity and purpose.”
Whatever the science, we can speak from experience that something intensely spiritual happens out on those red rocks — particularly when we bring our practice and our prayers. It’s why a Sedona Yoga Festival On-the-Land Immersion is so powerful.
We’re excited to announce that all 2025 Immersions will this year take place out on those sacred rocks, led by local Sedona guides. Immersions are deep-dive workshops and experiences facilitated by leaders who help you tap into the wisdom, personal truth, and healing power of specific aspects of yoga. You told us after our 2024 event that being on the land truly augmented this learning — your feedback is not only appreciated, but implemented.
We want you to experience just how nourishing an Immersion on the red rocks can be, so we’re reserving the Thursday and Monday around the festival for these special events. Be sure to add an extra day to your trip when you’re planning! Programming specifics and teachers will be available soon, but festival passes are available now. Learn more and register here.
Sep 1, 2024 | Sedona Yoga, Sedona Yoga Festival Teacher Feature
Ayurveda as Integrated Healing for Wholeness
When we approach yoga, we often do so in a way that feels fractured — we lay out our mat, and it’s time for asana. We sit on our cushion, and it’s time for meditation. Even if we integrate other practices, such as Ayurvedic rituals before bed, we often think about them as separate to-dos that are to be checked off a list. According to SYF2025 presenter Vaidya. Jayarajan Kodikannath, BSc, BAMS, and Chief Ayurvedic Consultant & Academy Director of Kerala Ayurveda, however, we’re doing ourselves and the practices a disservice by thinking of them as separate activities. “What is lacking,” he says, “is the approach and application of yoga as a system. Yoga is a complete integration of an individual starting from the outer world to their inner world. The whole journey of an individual is yoga,” he says.
The honorary title “Vaidya” is a Sanskrit term for a non-codified Ayurvedic doctor who is a part of lineage of Ayurvedic practitioners in the community tradition of Kerala, Southern India, but as teacher and director as well as Ayurvedic practitioner, Vaidya. Jayarajan (known informally to his students as “Dr. J.” for short) brings more to the table — much like the understanding of Ayurveda itself.
Ayurveda is often called the sister science of yoga, and primarily associated with the physical self; a prescription for diet, medicine, physical wellbeing. Yet according to Dr. J., it’s much more than that. “It’s not a physically-oriented healing science,” he says. “It’s a science of life.” While we need our physical body for longevity, to clear out the karma accumulated and grow into a self-realized stage, Dr. J. says with a laugh, “Ayurveda covers the body, mind, and emotion. It’s a complete system of healing — physical, mental, emotional, spiritual — at all levels.” It’s a way to work toward continuous contentment, beyond just healing problems, like whack-a-mole, as they come up. Ayurveda, says Dr. J., is a way to stay healthy, harmonious, happy, and peaceful — no matter what challenges life throws your way.
What It Means to Be Harmonious
This all sounds well and good, but in today’s busy, stressed, and tragedy-heavy world, the idea of true harmony may feel like a pipe dream. And yet Ayurveda, and all the Vedic sciences, teach that we are, in fact, always in harmony with nature and the world around us. “The very definition of life in Ayurveda is that nature flows through you without interruption,” says Dr. J. “You are always in relationship with everything — including fellow human beings, animals, birds, plants, nature. Your sustenance is based on an in-sync relationship with nature and its rhythms,” he says. This is true whether we are aware of it or not. When we are aware of it, however, and intentionally living in awarenesses and pursuit of that connection, this is when we feel harmonious in it.
This doesn’t mean that we don’t feel pain or darkness. “The reality is that if there is daytime, there will be nighttime,” says Dr. J. “If there is hot summer, there will be cold winter. We must understand that everything is part of one — you cannot have only one aspect of existence.” What the Vedic sciences teach are ways to remain neutral, despite the fluctuations of the external world. “The ultimate state of human mind and emotion is to be able to accept not only the pluses, but the minuses too — and to stay neutral as a witness. From here we are able to be a part of positive changes for a shift in ourselves, our family members, our colleagues, our community. We are able to accept reality and make it better. And this is an individual’s dharma, or purpose,” says Dr. J.
Avoiding Spiritual Bypassing
The emphasis on positivity and creating positive shifts does not mean, however, that we don’t recognize or acknowledge the darkness. “The existence of this cosmos itself is in its disorder,” Dr. J. says. “There is no perfection.” But perfection is in the eye of the beholder — the only way we perceive something to be imperfect is through our mind’s perception. “We generally relate that more money means more happiness; or if I’m in a higher position, I’ll be happier; or if I’m in a good relationship, I’ll be happy. These are all human intellectually-created criteria to be happy. In reality, it is none of this — it is our frame of mind. Shifting that frame of mind is what we need, individually and collectively.”
Using Ayurveda to create the experience of inner harmony is exactly what participants can expect to learn from Dr. J. at the Sedona Yoga Festival next May. As we explore how to integrate our practice into our daily lives, Dr. J. will impart what it means to be one cell of the interconnected whole — that is, how we can take care of ourselves in order to be able to move from the whole heart and love others in that place of harmony and healing.
Experience this depth of wisdom and knowledge with Dr. J. in May. Passes are on sale now!
Mar 11, 2024 | Sedona Yoga, Yoga Festival Experience
20 Minutes with SYF Photographer Ty Dobbs
Ty Dobbs is a renowned yoga photographer and conscious content creator, who has been making SYF look good since 2018. His talent lies not only in his ability to curate and create art with shape and light, but also in the energy of his soul, which creates the space for his subject’s true essence to shine through. His work has taken him all over the country, and we’re grateful that he will be returning to SYF in 2024. We sat down with Ty to learn a bit more about his process and his art.
If you’re an SYF presenter and are interested in booking Ty for a private shoot during the event, please reach out to Ty directly!
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SYF: You’re a Texas native. In 2017, you made the move from Dallas to Southern California. How did this journey influence your photography?
Ty Dobbs (TD): This move was big for me. Having studied Joseph Campbell and The Hero’s Journey for years prior, I knew that I was facing my largest threshold yet. With that being said, my photography bloomed out of the experience because I propelled myself into a land of extensive opportunity. From sweeping National Park landscapes, to significant portraiture opportunities. My art grew rapidly once I landed in CA.
SYF: Growing up, you found joy in using cameras to ‘freeze time.’ What is it about photography that continues to captivate you?
TD: Photography always had that magical and fascinating aspect with it growing up. Now, I seek the use of photography (and videography) as a way to express oneself and share a message. I also still value photography as a “time travel hack.” It has the ability to take us back to a distant and forgotten memory… sometimes allowing us to feel the rush of emotions all over again, good or bad.
SYF: You say on your website that you attended “YouTube University.” How has being largely self-taught shaped your approach to photography?
TD: Ah yes, the great YTU. Being nearly 100% self taught means I do not have a conventional way of capturing the moment. It also means a lot of mistakes, but those mistakes are often beautiful in their own way. Instead of going through any formal schooling where I was instructed on the “good and bad,” I was able to determine my own style and answers to each of those labels.
SYF: You describe yourself as a world traveler and a student of life. How has traveling influenced your work, especially in your Vista Views and Memory Moments?
TD: Travel is one of the most potent doses of education I could have asked for on my journey of discovering my craft. It allows endless subjects, experiences, and stories that each leave a lasting mark.
I consider Vista Views and Memory Moments the two pillars of my photography work. Vista Views is my landscape portfolio and Memory Moments consists of my commercial and portrait work. Both are equally as important. Vista Views are quite literally the epitome of the subject matter, while Memory Moments have contributed to the relationships that have formed via traveling and living different places.
SYF: Having your work featured in art galleries, like in Big Bear, CA, must be exhilarating. How does it feel seeing your work displayed in such settings?
TD: It truly is exhilarating. It feels amazing! It has been a few years since my Big Bear gallery days and still my wife encourages me to find a new local gallery where we live now in Southern Utah. I’m sure there will be a time where I enter into the local gallery scene again. I believe pictures are meant to pull you in… and that is more challenging to accomplish in an Instagram post or digital screen.
SYF: As a yogi and a photographer, how do you feel these two paths intersect in your life and work?
TD: I was a photographer first, then I found yoga — and then I married the two into Yoga Photography with the help of some great mentors (ahem… Robert Sturman). The path of yoga allowed me to be more conscious with where I pointed my camera. Searching for the light became more than just a metaphor. As the Yogi within me grew stronger, so did my desire to capture people living their purpose. That has contributed to some pretty incredible international trips and experiences at festivals all around the globe!
SYF: Having photographed the Sedona Yoga Festival for several years, what are some of your most memorable moments or photographs from the festival?
TD: I will never forget my first SYF in 2018, and just being amazed by the intention and community. It felt like home. Now with each year that I return, I get to reconnect with new and old friends. It has become one of my absolute favorite annual pilgrimages.
SYF: In your opinion, what makes a great photograph, especially in the context of a vibrant event like SYF?
TD: In my opinion what makes a great photograph is being able to feel something when you look at it. In the sense of SYF, that could be the beautiful, warm, and welcoming landscape. Or a participant moved to tears from a transcendental meditation they just experienced. SYF provides so many beautiful moments to all who attend. That makes it so easy to capture the magic — if you are tuned into its frequency. ;)=
SYF: What advice would you give to aspiring photographers who wish to follow a path similar to yours?
TD: I would say to go for it! If picking up a camera and pointing it at ANYTHING makes time feel as though it stops… then photography is probably a path for you to consider. Don’t let experience, or equipment hold you back. Seek opportunities to work that Creativity muscle as often as possible. Live in that joy and be prepared for the miracles that will soon follow.
SYF: What future projects or dreams are you currently pursuing or hope to pursue?
TD: I am currently working to build a large online course database for practitioners of all styles. From Yoga to Acupuncture and even Detoxing, I have had the pleasure of working with over a dozen experts in their field. I have always found the quote “If I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” by Newton both fascinating and inspiring.
We live in an age where we can learn and develop at increasingly rapid rates, and we can attempt to consume a career’s worth of knowledge in a rather short period of time. This realization left me feeling inspired to offer a platform for conscious entrepreneurs to share their skills. I call my platform Inspired Conscious Content. My current mission is to help colleagues discover new ways to put themselves out there!
SYF: Finally, is there a message or a thought you’d like to share with our readers and your future clients?
TD: To anyone reading that has NOT been to SYF so far, my first message is to tell you that you’re missing out by not going each and every year. The experience is similar to that of an intensive yoga retreat in some distant land. It will leave you feeling full and embodied! To anyone who would like to connect and hear more about photography, videography, or Inspired Conscious Content… Please reach out! I would love to chat and see if there is an opportunity to work together. See you all at SYF.
Join Ty and other luminaires at the 11th annual Sedona Yoga Festival, March 14–17. Passes available here!
Lead image, of course, by Ty Dobbs.
Mar 6, 2024 | Sedona Yoga
Social Action Empowered by Interconnectedness
by Jill Robinson
Quantum physics, with its enigmatic principles and mind-bending discoveries, seems an unlikely path toward understanding our transformative potential as a practicing yogi. However, if we approach this path through the lens of David Bohm’s theory of the holomovement, we find that Yoga’s philosophy and quantum physics share an important core principle–interconnectedness.
The practice of Yoga seeks to harmonize the mind, body and spirit. Through techniques encompassing physical postures, breath control, meditation and spiritual philosophy, Yoga allows us to explore the depths of human consciousness and the interconnectedness of the individual within the Cosmos.
Both quantum physics and Yoga invite us to transcend the illusion of separation. This awareness infuses our practice of Yoga with a deeper resonance, inspiring us to embody the principles of unity within ourselves and expressed outwardly through social action for the greater good.
Weaving Together Practice with Purpose
As yogis, we each have the power to be a catalyst for change. When we are in flow within ourselves, we can better amplify the quality of our relationships and community participation. It’s why taking action rooted in love and compassion, finding harmony within and in our relationships, are all expressions of our yogic powers enhanced by the scientific understanding that we truly are connected. Our actions and vibrational qualities matter in how we are best able to transform ourselves and our communities.
Everyone’s wisdom and experience is needed in our collective efforts to transform the world. Fortunately, our personal practice allows us to tap into our unique gifts and purpose–all vital within the Holomovement.
Knowing that we each play a part in our evolutionary unfolding, we find a greater meaning in our practice and how it can be applied to every aspect of our lives. Within the Holomovement’s network of Holons, we can amplify this in action through collaboration and intention.
The holotropic attractor to the Holomovement’s Theory of Change is the ability to offer actionable purpose while simultaneously building community within this movement. The Holomovement is set into motion through self-organizing Holons, groups of three or more individuals engaging in community action within a framework of the Holomovement’s unifying principles.
This collaborative network of Holons is an expansive, creative ecosystem accelerating humanity’s highest potential. Within the Holomovement, each Holon has an opportunity to collaborate and co-create with fellow groups, creating an exponential wave of impact and a critical mass of positive action.
The Science and Spirit of Creating a Global Tipping Point
The key to creating this global transformative tipping point, and the Holomovement Theory of Change, is found in the equation for quantum physics E=hf. Taking a bit of creative freedom, founding steward of the Holomovement Emanuel Kuntzelman explains the potential found in this equation:
“’E’ symbolizes the energy generated from the impact of our decision to act; ‘h’ represents intention of compassionate action for the greater good; and ‘f’ stands for the frequency of our consciousness and spiritual connection that coheres in love and Oneness. This reveals how with enough action, informed by higher consciousness, we can create a world that works for all.”
Unlocking this transformative change lies within Planck’s constant (h), the input of action in E=hf. Whether we are conscious or unconscious of our actions, our energetic waves are already rippling outward with their effect. The Holomovement is an invitation for each of us to consciously become the h factor. As Yoga practitioners, this is a chance to align practice with purpose, and enjoy the experience of interconnectedness both on and off the mat.
Learn more about aligning your practice with social action during the Sedona Yoga Festival! Stewards of the Holomovement will be participating and sharing how our Yoga community can create holons to support personal and social transformation. Tickets available here.
Mar 4, 2024 | Sedona Yoga
Relationships As Health: Ayurveda’s Healing Power with Insiya Rasiwala-Finn
by Insiya Rasiwala-Finn
“No one is an island.” I paraphrase the poet John Donne here, which is a thought that always comes to mind whenever I think about Ayurveda, the ancient wisdom tradition from my homeland of India. It is only when we allow for and witness the relationship between all aspects of life, that we can begin to understand the healing power of Ayurveda. But what does that mean? What is the interplay of this ancient wisdom tradition and our modern relationships?
Defining Relationship
At a time where the fabric of how we live is changing so rapidly, in which we struggle with isolation and a culture of extremes, it can be helpful to dive deeper into traditions which have withstood the test of time. These ancient maps to living well offer us potent insights into how we may be able to bring more connection and peace into our present day lives. Peace, after all, begins with our relationship to ourself first, and then expands into how we connect with all beings and the environment around us.
To understand why, let’s discuss a foundational principle of Ayurveda: that we are made up of the very same building blocks that exist in the entire universe. Sometimes it’s called the principle of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm.
What are these building blocks of all life? The seers of the past called them the Five Great Elements. Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space.
Consider the earth in the universe and the earth in your own body. The bones and the muscles, the dense parts of ourself, are created from calcium and phosphorus and magnesium — all minerals that exist in the rocks we see strewn around Sedona. There is water outside and within. The rivers, lakes and oceans of our planet, the water contained in plants; it is what gives our cellular structure pliability and movement and flow. It is in our blood and our lymph. The third element is Fire. The external fire, which is the universal fire, is the sun, what cultures across millennia have worshipped for its life giving form; as well as borne witness to its destructive power. Within us, we have the fire of digestion that helps us to transform not just food but also all thoughts, sensory information and sensation that we take in. This internal fire is called our agni.
This is again one of the main pillars of Ayurveda, which tells us right off the bat that we are not just what we eat; we are more importantly, what we digest. Our inner fire is the fire of our passion, our ambition and our zest for life, it is also the fire that transforms what we take in to live our lives every day. Keeping this agni balanced and healthy is what will allow us to thrive and live a life of purpose and vitality.
The last two elements are Air and Space. Air is the life-giving air we breathe in and out — it connects us to our larger environment and gives us life. Without air where would we be? If you did think you were an island, this is a good time to put that thought at rest!
And finally, we have Space or Ether, the most subtle aspect of the cosmos. In yogic thought, Ether is the spaciousness from which the Aum sound of creation arises from and dissolves back into. Within us, Ether is the space between each inhale and exhale; the pause between thoughts. It is the aspect of ourselves that is most connected to a higher self, to infinity.
Understanding Balance
Ayurveda tells us that when we are in balance it is because the elements within us are flowing in and out of us in a balanced way. Balance means that we are taking in the right amount of of food, sleep, and sensory information, which includes touch, connection, and what we see with our eyes, hear with our ears and what we eat. Balance means that we are transforming these inputs into the right resources for our mind body spirit continuum to thrive. Additionally, balance means that we are eliminating what we don’t need. When one of these processes is skewed, we begin to feel uneasy and out of balance, and we move from health towards disease.
How do we minimize the possibility of disease according to Ayurveda? We can begin by taking simple daily steps that create habits of flow, sustenance and ease. By aligning with universal principles of the elements, we can experience wellbeing and vitality and bounce back from challenges with resilience and happiness.
Here are 3 simple tips you can incorporate into your life today, based on Ayurvedic wisdom.
- Minimize technology. Turn off all devices at least one hour (ideally two) before you sleep so that your body is not processing all the high speed sensory information before bedtime, but is instead able to turn its attention to helping your nervous system calm down and rest.
- Eat seasonally. Local, seasonal foods are what offer us the best benefits against seasonal shifts. And you will notice that when you eat in this way, you begin to crave exactly what you need in that particular season. For example as we move towards spring, you may want to eat less denser foods, e.g. reduce the amount of dairy you might eat or the sweet taste, and instead explore more fresh, vibrant bitter greens that are sprouting up with life to support the natural cleansing of spring.
- Commit to doing at least one thing slowly and with intention every day. It could be watering your plants, reading a poem, making time to journal, a yoga or meditation practice. Life is moving very fast these days; and we must balance out the speeding whorl of endless to do lists with pauses that remind us that we are connected to something higher.
Learn more and dive in deeper into Ayurveda with Insiya at the festival! Passes are still available. Use code INSIYA10 for 10% off any Pass — Day Passes and 2-Day Passes also available!
Jan 30, 2024 | Sedona Yoga
Why Co-Creation is Key to Personal, Community and Global Change
by Jill Robinson
With the abundance of online classes and infinite amounts of accessible resources, it can sometimes feel that our personal evolution is a lone endeavor. At its extreme, cultural conditioning has led us to believe that transformation and healing are individual pursuits, outside of our relationships and community network.
Innately, we know this is an illusion. Many of us have experienced the transformative power of being held in a loving community as we navigate our personal growth. Our yoga practice, which is deeply personal in its unfolding, requires a trusting community to support and guide us. The experience of evolving and practicing alongside fellow practitioners can be uncomfortable in its vulnerability, but so often is a necessary piece toward realizing our higher self.
It’s not just in our personal practice that co-creative spaces are vital for development. When engaged within larger community, we are able to tap into an expanded field of shared wisdom, creativity, and even productivity toward community transformation. We are energetically nourished by being part of a larger group with a shared vision.
SYF Presenter and author Jivana Heyman reminds us that “transcending our individualism is a thread woven throughout the history of yoga.” Transformative change of any kind doesn’t happen alone.
Amplifying A Wave of Co-Creative Energy
Jivana’s words resonate with the Sedona Yoga Festival belief that “evolution is a collaboration,” inspiring a vision to create a total energetic transformation co-created by our attending practitioners. The Festival will be a launchpad for personal evolution, amplified by community support. The aim is to carry this transformative experience outward — in ways that effectively transform — after the time we spend together. Because the teachings of yoga are not about personal evolution and transformation alone; in our practice and intentional community building we have the opportunity to inspire a ripple effect of community activation. It’s why SYF has partnered with the Holomovement, to help support yoga practitioners in putting their elevated practice into social action.
The Holomovement aims to catalyze a worldwide movement that ignites a critical mass of individuals and groups to activate their purpose through inspired collaborative action that serves the good of the whole. Just like our personal practice is exponentially enhanced by being in community, so too does global change occur when we embody the co-creative spirit of collaboration.
As political scientist Erica Chenoweth said; “No movement that mobilized 3.5% of the population has ever failed.” That’s 280 million people on the planet aligned in co-creative collaborative action to heal and change the world.
This social movement, guided by science and spirituality in a unifying worldview, puts theory into practice through its network of Holons. A term coined by Hungarian British author and journalist Arthur Koestler, ‘holon’ refers to a whole that is simultaneously part of another whole. It is the tiniest, holistic part of the entire unit.
It’s an inspiring validation that ever since the Big Bang (or the Big Breath), everything, every living form, has been connected all along. Perhaps this is why our personal practice and evolution depends so much on the health and vitality of our communities. We truly are all in this together!
Everyone is Invited (and Needed) to Co-Create Change
Within the context of the Holomovement, Holons are three or more people engaging in a transformative project while sharing and co-creating with fellow Holon community members (and beyond!). SYF participants will have the opportunity to speak with stewards of the Holomovement to learn how to form and even register Holons as they emerge during the Festival.
Projects of all scopes and timelines are valued in the Holon community, as well as projects already in motion that are aligned with the Holomovement’s core principles. A few examples to get you inspired include:
- Meditation or Interspiritual Prayer Circles
- Community park, beach or trail hike clean-ups
- Regenerative farming or permaculture projects
- Mentorship programs or other nonprofit organizational work
- Yoga programs for children or vulnerable communities
In this social experiment, the Holon network connects organizations and projects around the globe to create a culture of trust and support opportunities to learn and share with fellow change-makers.
Members within the Holon network engage and participate within a community hosted by Hylo, an online platform designed to support collaboration. In this emerging space, we are all empowered to shape the trajectory of the Holon network through story-telling, revolutionary impact stories of innovation, online meetups, events and grant funding.
Perhaps even more exciting is that as members of this Holon network, we are co-creating the next frontier of community engagement, operating with a new worldview of interconnected wholeness. This is not a top-down vision, but the conscious tending of a symbiotic relationship, where we all are able to joyfully serve a vital role in a regenerative and compassionate society.
In this empowering and uplifting play-space it is unity, not uniformity, that boosts our creativity and potential for finding solutions to our global challenges. We don’t have to sacrifice our individual soul and calling. In this co-creative group consciousness, we have the ability to enhance both our individual and collective transformative potential to heal and change the world. Look for stewards of the Holomovement participating and leading conscious conversations about Holons throughout the Sedona Yoga Festival!
Join us in March for a chance to activate your personal practice and connect with an extraordinary community ready to take their personal practice into action. Tickets on sale now!