Yoga Day

ALL DAY

BIOETHICS  VILLAGE GARDEN

9:30 AM

10:00 AM

Meghan Maris | Yoga as Skill in Action

Shuo Wang & Alex Topper | Coffee, Sound, and Meditation: An Exploration through the Six Senses

HISTORY VILLAGE PATIO

ECC  1857

Zoë Slatoff | Śānti (Peace) Mantras

Tasheena  Medina  |  Movement  Meditation

HISTORY VILLAGE PATIO

ROSKI HALL

MA Info Session

Judith Carlisle | Dying, Death, and Yoga: A Virtual Offering

UHALL  3999

UHALL  1000

Melissa Townsend & Laine Wherritt | Art as Spiritual Practice – Painting the Yoga Sūtras

De Jur Jones | Accessible Chair Yoga, Not Just for Seniors!

UHALL  3999

ROSKI HALL

Maureen Shannon-Chapple | Wise Speech: Internal, External, & Collective

Yoga Gives Back | For the cost of one class, you can change a life!

UHALL  3999

UHALL  1000

Taina Rodriguez-Berardi | Embodied Intersectionality -- An Accessible Yoga & Social Change Practice  

Shaping a Better Future for Yoga

ROSKI HALL

UHALL  1000

LMU YOGA DAY WELCOME

Christopher Key Chapple, PhD

SPEAKER BIO

Christopher Key Chapple is Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology and founding Director of the Master of Arts in Yoga Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. A specialist in the religions of India, he has published more than twenty books, including the recent Living Landscapes: Meditations on the Elements in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain Yogas (SUNY Press). He serves as advisor to multiple organizations including the Forum on Religion and Ecology (Yale), the Ahimsa Center (Pomona), the Dharma Academy of North America (Berkeley), the Jain Studies Centre (SOAS, London), the South Asian Studies Association, and International School for Jain Studies (New Delhi). He teaches online through the Center for Religion and Spirituality (LMU) and YogaGlo.

Recent book: http://www.sunypress.edu/p-6860-living-landscapes.aspx

YogaGlo Classes: https://www.glo.com/preview/teachers/dr-chris-chapple

Master of Arts in Yoga Studies: https://bellarmine.lmu.edu/yoga/

Descriptions

“Wise Speech: Internal, External, and Collective”

In this session, we will look at the practices of wise speech, non-harming and truthfulness in both the Buddhist and yoga traditions as they relate to effective and mindful communication in the contemporary world. Can we be both truthful and non-violent? What is the relevance of these practices in addressing the energies of shame and blame, both internally and externally? What is the role of wise speech as we work to build an equitable and loving world? Come explore these themes together.

Maureen Shannon-Chapple has been a practitioner of yoga and meditation since her teenage years. She has worked as an educator in a variety of roles, including classroom teacher, parenting instructor, teacher training and college teaching. She is a graduate of the 2008 Spirit Rock Meditation Center's Community Dharma Leader Training and has led mindfulness classes and trainings at InsightLA, Loyola Marymount University, and Mindful USC, as well as other community settings.

Descriptions

Śānti (Peace) Mantras

We will begin by breaking down the Sanskrit words and discussing the meaning of a couple of well-known śānti (peace) mantras. We will then chant these and other mantras together, ending with a peace-centered meditation.

SPEAKER BIO

Zoë Slatoff earned her Ph.D. in Religion and Philosophy at Lancaster University, U.K. and is now the Clinical Professor of Sanskrit in the Yoga Studies program here at Loyola Marymount University. She has been practicing and teaching yoga for over 25 years and had a beautiful Ashtanga Yoga Shala in NYC for 12 years. She is also the author of Yogāvatāraṇaṃ: The Translation of Yoga, a Sanskrit textbook for Yoga students.

Descriptions

Dying, Death, and Yoga

Seeking to understand death as another experience of impermanence and change, this workshop explores how yoga philosophy and practice can affect our understanding of death, and, ultimately, of life.

SPEAKER BIO

Judith completed the MA in Yoga Studies in 2020 with a thesis focusing on yoga philosophy and death. Previously, she taught computer information systems and computer science focusing on issues of ethics, epistemology, and linguistics.

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Descriptions

Shaping a Better Future for Yoga

Description: Join graduates from the Yoga, Mindfulness, and Social Change certificate program to create a vision for Yoga that is truly liberatory, spiritually grounded, and culturally appropriate. These graduates will share about their open letter to the Yoga Alliance as part of the broader discussion about how Yoga is shared in America, allowing for attendees to reflect upon their own Yoga practice and its potential for personal and societal transformation.

HOST

Indy Rishi Singh is a wellbeing engineer and the podcast host of Political Hope ( www.wedeepen.com/podcasts-political-hope ) He leads corporate wellness workshops-retreats with Fortune 500 companies, provides burnout & resilience retreats-workshops for healthcare workers, law enforcement and activist organizations, mindfulness workshops with students in schools and universities, and is an active volunteer locally and globally. Indy is a cooperative co-founder with SOGO, developing technology to improve civic engagement and empower citizens with civic wisdom (www.democraSEE.club). He is also a co-founder of an education apprenticeship company called Cosmic Labyrinth (www.CosmicLabyrinth.world) which combines volunteering with education and entertainment. He is on the board of advisors for an evolutionary orphanage in Varanasi, India (www.yogamission.uk). Indy is a wellbeing consultant for several tech wellness projects www.Nola.chat www.japahealth.com

SPEAKER BIO

Courtney Ng is a writer, racial equity activist, and mentor for young people. She has been practicing Yoga for over ten years and completed both the 200 hour Yoga teacher training and Yoga, Mindfulness, and Social Change certificate program at LMU. She cares deeply about practicing and sharing a version of Yoga that is honest, authentic, and creates peace both for individuals internally and for the society as a whole. 

Gayatri is a grad student in the Yoga Studies program focused on intersectional animal and environmental justice. Their spiritual practice consists of activism based in dharma and yogic ethics, yogāsana, mindfulness, bhakti, mysticism, and the vegan lifestyle. They creatively document their advocacy and life journey on their Instagram @goddessgaya.

Meghan Maris is currently a student of LMU's Master of Arts in Yoga Studies and has been teaching Yoga since 2000. She is intrigued by the relationship of our inner workings and how they influence our outer experience particularly in regards to how we can direct the power yoga practices generate for ethical social change.

Shuo Wang or Iris Wang is from Beijing. She moved to Los Angeles from Hong Kong in late 2019. Before coming to the United States, she founded Nada Specialty Coffee brand in China in 2013, and she is an experienced coffee roaster, competition judge, and international certificate coffee taster. Nada in Sanskrit means Consciousness about to manifest as the universe. It also means subtle sound. She hopes that having a cup of energetic coffee allows people to come back inside again to connect with the soul and the universe. In 2021, she launched the Adopt a Coffee Tree no-profit project in Yunnan, China. She wants to build an ecosystem to improve the lives of coffee farmers and protect coffee forests. And she is currently a graduate student and graduate assistant in Yoga Studies Masters Program. In 2022, She completed the Yoga, mindfulness, and social change certificate at LMU. Ins: irislovescoffee

Descriptions

“Yoga as Skill in Action”

During this 45-minute Haṭha Yoga class we will utilize the body, breath, mind, and philosophy as modalities to explore Yoga as "skill in action." Dedicated yoga practice renders the clarity of mind to take action with greater sensitivity and awareness expanding our ability to be more compassionate, loving, and accountable to ourselves, others, and Earth.

SPEAKER BIO

Meghan Maris is currently a student of LMU's Master of Arts in Yoga Studies and has been teaching Yoga since 2000. She is intrigued by the relationship of our inner workings and how they influence our outer experience particularly in regards to how we can direct the power yoga practices generate for ethical social change.

Descriptions

Coffee, sound, meditation: An exploration with six senses 

This is a brand-new experience for the six senses (taste, smell, vision, hearing, touch and proprioception), this proprioception allows us to keep track of where our body parts are in space. Through the adopt a coffee tree project, the high-energy coffee and mount Shasta snow mountain water is used. For the sound, we will be using chanting, crystal bowls with different sounds, Tibetan singing bowls and other instruments combined to bring people a sensory experience. You will receive healing and relaxation on all three levels of body,mind and soul.

SPEAKER BIO

Shuo Wang or Iris Wang is from Beijing. She moved to Los Angeles from Hong Kong in late 2019. Before coming to the United States, she founded Nada Specialty Coffee brand in China in 2013, and she is an experienced coffee roaster, competition judge, and international certificate coffee taster. Nada in Sanskrit means Consciousness about to manifest as the universe. It also means subtle sound. She hopes that having a cup of energetic coffee allows people to come back inside again to connect with the soul and the universe. In 2021, she launched the Adopt a Coffee Tree no-profit project in Yunnan, China. She wants to build an ecosystem to improve the lives of coffee farmers and protect coffee forests. And she is currently a graduate student and graduate assistant in Yoga Studies Masters Program. In 2022, She completed the Yoga, mindfulness, and social change certificate at LMU. Ins: irislovescoffee

Alex Topper- is a current student in the yoga studies masters program, he is a Film producer, and Nichiren Buddhist. He has extensive experience in Sanskrit chanting and spiritual rituals. Healing through chanting and spiritual rituals. He has produced several documentary short films in Japan, as well as short films in the US

Descriptions

Art as Spiritual Practice – Painting the Yoga Sūtras

Art offers an intuitive, accessible entry point to the spiritual experience, in deep and powerful ways that philosophy cannot – both through the act of creating, as well as through the finished piece. When we engage creatively with a spiritual text like the Yoga Sūtras, we can develop and nurture a personal relationship with the text, interacting deeply with it, immersing ourselves in it, and opening ourselves to its transformative potential: to upend us, to scare us, to amaze and astound us, and, ultimately, to transform us.

Join us for a “Fireside Chat” about Art, Spiritual Practice, and the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, with Melissa Townsend and Laine Wherritt. A selection of paintings from Melissa Townsend’s work with Book Two of the Yoga Sūtras (Sādhana Pādah, On Practice) will be on display. Melissa and Laine will have a conversation about all things Spiritual Practice and Art – with a special focus on practice as presented in Book Two of the Yoga Sūtras.

SPEAKER BIO

Melissa Townsend is an artist, writer, Sanskrit teacher, and internationally known psychic and astrologer. A Yoga practitioner since 1984, she teaches Yoga Philosophy and has translated, painted and authored The Yoga Sūtras of Patanjali: A Visual Meditation. Book One, Samādhi Pādaḥ and Book Two, Sādhana Pādaḥ. 

Laine Wherritt is a recent graduate of the LMU Yoga Studies program. She wrote her thesis on the intersection between art and spirituality looking at how art and the process of creation parallel many spiritual practices. She currently writes Education Policy Communications for Non-Profit Children Now.

Descriptions

Movement Meditation

Movement Meditation uses the art form of dance as the primary medium of discovering self-awareness and mindfulness. Dancing through seven primary areas of mindfulness in motion: breath, sound, body, story, mind, spirit, and fusion (of all elements), with a respect to the attitudes of mindfulness, participants tap into their body’s own healing resources and realize that we all have a unique creativity just waiting to be cultivated.

SPEAKER BIO

Ta-shee-na (Free Running Stream) Medina moved to Los Angeles in 2011 from the sunny state of Arizona to attend AMDA Performing Arts College. Since graduating with her BFA in Dance Theatre, she has choreographed for numerous projects on the stage and the screen. When she’s not doing dance related work, she is often educating others through the practice of Yoga, Movement Meditation, and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) while utilizing her gift of energy work as a Reiki Practitioner since 2014. Tasheena is currently the Assistant Manager of IntoMeSea, a Quantum Wellness Studio located in Santa Monica and deepening her studies as a graduate student of the Master of Arts in Yoga Therapy Program at Loyola Marymount University. As an educator, Tasheena strives to help humans at all levels to feel comfortable in their practice, learn essential techniques, and ensure a safe environment with a holistic and mindful approach. Learn more about her at www.tasheenamedina.com Social Media: @tasheenamedina

Descriptions 

Embodied Intersectionality -- An Accessible Yoga & Social Change Practice   

As intersectional beings yearning for connection and community, it is through the shared lived experience that we cultivate a sense of belonging and become bound in a solidarity of empathy and compassion. Though, we also find ourselves bound by systems of inequality based on historical, political, and cultural social constructs that deepen the dynamics of difference. In this embodied yoga and social change practice, we will examine how one’s multifaceted identity, with regard to the intersection of gender, race, gender expression, sexual orientation, class, age, ability level, geographic location and other key social identifiers, determines one’s proximity to power and privilege, or disenfranchisement towards marginalization and oppression. Together we will hold ourselves accountable for action and advance the realization of accessible, just, and equitable embodied practices for all. With a concentration on education, advocacy, and community building, Yoga & Social Change incorporates Yoga philosophies and practices as tools for personal growth and powerful instruments of individual and communal transformation. This will be an all-levels, restorative, and gentle physical practice that will otherwise challenge and stimulate the connective tissue of the mind-body-spirit complex. Bring your yoga mat, props, journal, and an open heart. 

SPEAKER BIO

Taina Rodriguez-Berardi (she/hers) is a scholar-practitioner of yoga’s history, philosophy, traditions, and Sanskrit texts. She has an MA in Yoga Studies from Loyola Marymount University where her research focused on the historical origins, culture, and customs of transnational yoga systems at their intersection with social justice movements and activist communities. As a yoga teacher and YTT educator (ERYT-500, YACEP), Taina integrates revisionist history storytelling, embodiment practices, movement therapeutics, modern health science, and trauma-informed wellness to create equitable and accessible yoga classes for people of all ages, sizes, shapes, abilities, and backgrounds. Taina truly believes that yoga can be beneficial for everyone and endeavors to create a holistic experience that harmonizes the entire mind/body/spirit/community complex for all her students. Taina lives with her husband, twin babies, and two cats in Southern California where they enjoy the meditative pace of the Great Outdoors and indulge in getting to know the beaches, mountains, and backcountry nature spaces of the region and beyond. To connect with Taina, please visit: www.HelloHolaNamaste.com 

Description 

Accessible Chair Yoga, Not Just for Seniors! 

Learn how to use a chair to enjoy the benefits of yoga for wellness in workplace, schoolroom or anytime while seated. Especially beneficial for people that use wheelchairs. All are welcome. 

SPEAKER BIO 

De Jur Jones, who moonlights as a flight attendant, has been a yoga devotee since 2001. She attended Loyola Marymount University’s yoga therapy program. De Jur is an ambassador for Jivana Heyman’s Accessible Yoga program and found her niche in teaching yoga therapy to marginalized, unresourced people with Prison Yoga + Meditation, Susan Burton’s A New Way of Life Reentry Project, Journey Out and Exodus Recovery. De Jur is also a contributor to the Yoga Service Council’s best practices book series and the featured model in Accessible Yoga: Poses and Practices for Every Body. She is guest faculty at Loyola Marymount University and a Symposium on Yoga Therapy and Research presenter. De Jur’s hope is to use yoga to shine a light on social justice, inclusion, and diversity. 

Description 

“For the cost of one class, you can change a life!”

In 2006, as I began to learn yoga asana and philosophy, it hit me very hard that I needed to use all my capacity to help others, especially the underserved women and children in India, motherland of YOGA. I was benefitting so much from the daily practice of Yoga, I had to give back. I shared this idea with my yoga teacher and the studio manager who all supported the idea. That’s how Yoga Gives Back was born with our mantra — For the cost of one yoga class, you can change a life. "---Kayoko Mitsumatsu, YGB Founder. In this panel, we will share how YGB has grown to be a global movement of gratitude engaging yoga communities in 30 countries in the last fifteen years. YGB Films will be shared to show the real voice and impact of YGB's work in India that reaches to over 2,400 underserved women and children today. More details about Yoga Gives Back: https://yogagivesback.org/

SPEAKER BIO 

Kayoko Mitsumatsu, YGB Founder/Exec Director Prior to moving to the USA in 1992, Kayoko was a producer/director for NHK Japan’s National Public Broadcaster, working on prime-time current affairs and documentary television programs; and cultural attaché at the Embassy of Japan in London. Her passion for documentary filmmaking to bridge diverse cultures and to share the voice of voiceless is rooted in the perspective gained from years of living abroad including Australia, Brazil, United Kingdom, and USA.