Pravassa partners with Buddha Nose to launch Wellness Pop-Up Shop

Pravassa partners with Buddha Nose to launch a beauty and well-being pop-up shop at the 2011 Yoga Journal Conference in New York. Taking place May 13th - 16th, at the NY Hilton Hotel, the NY Conference is 5 days of yoga with over 40 Master teachers, including Elena Brower and Rodney Yee, and 100 classes.

The Buddha Nose Beauty and Well-Being Pop-Up booth, brings together some of the most sought after wellness brands including:

Buddha Nose - USDA organic mind-body beauty products
Pravassa - Healthy Travel
Wembe - Fair Trade Soap from the Amazon
ARGHAND - Sustainable Skincare from Afghanistan
RMS Beauty- Organic color cosmetic line
Tata Harper - Natural and Non-Toxic skincare line
Niseema - Integrative Bodywork Therapy
Michael McGinley - Health Coach
WellandGoodNYC- NY's most influential wellness website

The Yoga Marketplace, set up outside the conference, is open the public and will feature over 50 yoga related companies.

Download the full partnership Press Release.

The Largest Yoga Event was also the Shortest Yoga Event

The threat of rain did not stop 10,000 yogis from showing up to New York's Yoga on the Great Lawn, but it did send everyone home early. Crowds streamed into Central Park starting at 4pm on Tuesday and waited in line for hours to get their Jet Blue Yoga Mats and free snacks. As the Karma Crew made sure to everyone got in and secured spots, the bands entertained the crowd and yogis warmed up with stretches and partner assists. Yoga assistants such as YogaWorks' Heather Seagraves and Equinox's Ruah Bhay circulated and were ready to get hands-on. 

Elena Brower finally took the stage as the drops started falling. Up front master teachers Alison West and Sadie Nardini, among others, were ready to help spread Elena's words and demo the postures. One of the most fantastic scenes of the night was Siri Dharma Mittra, who is in his 70's and could out backbend most of the crowd. Unfortunately just as quickly as the yoga portion of the evening started, it ended. Noise from the helicopters hovering above made it hard to hear Ms. Brower's directions and rain pelting the yoga mats turned them into slip 'n slides.

Alas, 10,000 people made their way quickly out of the park in a nice yogic fashion. A rain date has been promised so that we can all try again! Hopefully this time the weather will pay attention. Visit our YouTube channel for some videos from Yoga on the Great Lawn.

photos - top right: line through the park; center: Alison West & Sadie Nardini, bottom right: Elena Brower and Siri Dharma Mittra

photos clockwise: Bent on Learning girls, Masters at the front of the stage, group down dog before the rain, waiting to begin, Mittra backbends.

The Yogic Union of Brock & Krista Cahill

I first heard of Brock & Krista Cahill when they were asked by Schuyler Grant of Kula Yoga Project to host a weekend workshop in NYC. Unfortunately I was out of town and missed the big event, but I learned more about this high-flying married Los Angeles based duo online by watching some crazy cool video's where they show off their gravity defying style. I was enamored.

Imagine my surprise last month when I took Elena Brower's class at ViraYoga, an Anusara yoga studio in Soho and I wound up practicing next to her special guests, Brock & Krista Cahill. Elena announced that the following afternoon, there was going to be a special 3 hour workshop entitled Flight Club led by Brock & Krista. I signed up right away. Now was my chance to experience their hang time myself.

With only 9 other students in the workshop, I knew I was going to get some individual attention and the opportunity to improve my practice, plus Yogitoes gifts don't hurt! Opening sequence was no joke! With rock & roll blasting, Brock and Krista took turns leading us through everything from handstands into vasisthasana into wheel. Now that we were feeling warm, press handstands were on the agenda. While I'm not able to do one yet, this workshop gave me the opportunity to continue to play with the balance and learn that I am not getting my hips and shoulders far enough in front of my hands. 

I was beyond impressed with my fellow yogi's who were not as exhausted as I was at this point. To take it to the next level both Brock & Krista demonstrated our next challenge: Crow into Headstand, back into Crow. They gave us some tips for practicing against the wall, but even then I was at a loss. The 3 hours flew by and I was excited to take what I had learned and practice it at home. I'm still apply my shift in balance to my daily practice. Maybe when they return to NYC next year, I'll have improved enough to take it to the next level.