I saw this interesting lookin’ fella at the Angkor Centre for Conservation and Biodiversity. ACCB is the first nature conservation centre in Cambodia. The centre features a variety of birds, monkeys, and more. It was established to preserve and breed rare wildlife in Cambodia. It’s a 1.5 hour tuk tuk ride from Siem Reap town and you can enjoy beautiful scenery along the way.
Boquete, Panama : How to get there and what to do:
Boquete, Panama proved to be the perfect change of pace from the hot sun of Costa Rica.
Boquete is located in the hills of Northwest Panama, and it’s a great spot for all types of travelers. While this mountain town is a hub for backpackers traveling through Panama, tourists and retirees have also found Boquete to be an ideal place to relax and take in some nature. We loved our five day stay here and look forward to coming back.
The heart of this small city is a few streets offering shops, tour centers, markets and restaurants. There is a beautiful bridge that crosses over the Caldera River – a great place to spend a day reading and relaxing.
A view of the small mountain town
From Costa Rica: After six hours of traveling we arrived in Boquete, Panama. We started in the Osa Peninsula in Puerto Jiminez, Costa Rica. We took a ferry across the Golfito Bay to a town called Golfito, Costa Rica. From Golfito we jumped on a local bus headed to “Canoas” or Paso Canoas, Costa Rica, the west coast border town between Costa Rica and Panama.
We then had to go through the somewhat challenging process of immigration. Panama expects you to have an outbound departure ticket when you come into their country. We think it’s a bit of a scam; they either make you buy a bus ticket back to San Jose, Costa Rica ($14) or a plane ticket back to your home country. At an internet café in Canoas we decided to buy a flight back to the US – ten minutes after we got our stamp we canceled the reservation.
We crossed the border into Panama, a country that looks like a “sister country” of the United States. The highways are new and beautiful. The buses or “collectivos” are jitney-style and offer air conditioning. It’s a pleasant change from some of the more rural aspects of traveling through Costa Rica.
We jumped on a bus from the border to David, Panama, a transportation hub located in the northwest of Panama. After about five minutes at the station, we boarded a bus for a 1 hour ride to Boquete.
If you are coming from San Jose, Costa Rica, there is a morning bus from the Tracopa terminal that leaves at 7:30AM ($15-20). This bus takes about 9 hours to get to David.
If you are coming from Panama City, Panama, there are daily flights to David which are about $100 each way. There are also both day and night buses from the Albrook Terminal. Look to spend between $15 and $20 on the bus from PC.
Many backpackers come from Bocas Del Toro, Panama. There are shuttles that run direct between Bocas Del Toro and Boquete ($29). We suggest you bus to David and take a bus from David to Bocas ($10). This route adds an extra hour or two to your travel time, but is an easy opportunity to save money.
This is the route we took to get to Boquete from Costa Rica
The Gaia Hostel. We had an amazing experience at this top rated hostel ($13). Its clean, comfortable, and spacious. Amenities include free wi-fi and inexpensive laundry service — but not much in terms of tours and activities. If you’re looking for help arranging tours or excursions, take a walk to Hostel Mamallena, located in the Central Park square.
Word from the wise: always bring ear plugs and a sleeping mask to any hostel!
A view of Hostal Gaia
1) Hike Volcan Baru.
Kate wrote a great guide about our experience trekking Volcan Baru. Check it out in the above link.
Kate at the top of Volcan Baru!
2) Visit The Lost Waterfalls
This fantastic hike through a cloud forest that will bring you to three gorgeous waterfalls. It takes 1-3 hours to complete the trek depending on your level of fitness. On the way to the falls it is very common to see monkeys, sloths, and fascinating birds including quetzals.
One of the three waterfalls on the short trek
3) Boquete Coffee Tour
Many people head to the fincas of Dos Jefes, Kotowa or Café Ruiz. All of these are beautiful coffee plantations with plenty to see. You will learn a lot during one of these sessions. The process of how your favorite brewer selects the coffee they serve may or may not scare you into switching to tea. We were impressed with the level of English at Dos Jefes. If you are on a short trip, this is not to be missed in Boquete.
4) Cliff jumping and climbing at the Mini Canyon
A lot of backpackers love this day trip provided by Hostal Mamallena. Boquete features some incredible rock formations that are great for climbing and cliff jumping into the water. Bring sunscreen as the sun is very powerful in this area.
A view of the Mini Canyon in Boquete
5) Visit the Hot Springs
There are four or more pools at the Caldera Hot Springs and they are all-natural!! Skip the tour guide on this one and take a taxi — be sure to also arrange for a ride home. Entrance to the hot springs costs $5. Tip: Go in the early morning or in the late afternoon as the water gets very hot during midday.
Hostel: $11 USD
Food: $5-$10 USD
Transportation: $2 USD
Traveling to Panama or Boquete, Panama for the first time? Post a question in the comments section below, we’ll respond with advice!
We have a special guest interviewee for this week’s interview which is focused mainly on yoga and athletics. This is the final week of our 8 week yoga interview questions and answers series. For each of the past 8 weeks, we’ve presented interviews of 8 influential yoga bloggers. We’ve asked 8 engaging questions and released an interview every Saturday at 8am US EST.
For this week’s interview, we’re both fortunate and delighted to present Sage Rountree from sagerountree.com. Yoga’s explosion in the West within the last fifteen years can be much attributed to Sage and leaders like her. It was Sage who has succeeded in breaking down barriers and stereotypes about yoga. Not too long ago yoga was perceived as taboo in the West — especially for men. Fast forward fifteen years to last week when Sage was teaching yoga to the University of North Carolina Men’s Basketball team. Times have certainly changed and the connection between yoga and peak athletic performance is now a widely accepted scientific fact.
We’re very fortunate to have the opportunity to feature Sage on Lucid Practice. In an indirect way, I suspect it was Sage’s books, articles, and views that somehow led Brian and I into a yoga studio for the first time in 2008. We are all connected indeed.
Enjoy the interview and leave a comment or question for Sage in the comments section. And in case you’re wondering, Sage Rountree is indeed her real name!
1) When and why did you start practicing yoga?
I was turned off by the first few classes I attended—they were both intimidating and humbling, and it was only in my first pregnancy, when I enjoyed the sweetness of prenatal classes and the community of the other students, that I started to enjoy the practice. As I was training for a marathon when my elder daughter was a baby, I found a class to attend regularly, and I realized in the race that the benefits of my practice went far beyond the physical. Thanks to what I learned in yoga, I was able to stay focused, breathe fully, and finish with a smile in a time faster than I’d dreamed.
Sage Rountree
2) As former college football players, we’re advocates of yoga’s physical and mental benefits for athletes. Can you touch on on a few of these benefits?
Yoga builds strength, flexibility, and focus—both physically and mentally. It also fosters balance, not just of the body in space but in the spaces within the body: the front and the back, the left and the right, the top and the bottom. Better yet, yoga encourages athletes, especially team-sports athletes who have a rigorously scheduled practice calendar, to find balance between work and rest. It gives athletes time and space to settle in to simply being, and thus jumpstarts recovery. (I wrote a whole book on this balance between work and rest, The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery. I call it my guide to how not to work out.)
Sage Rountree yoga books
3) You’ve worked with collegiate athletes, Olympians, NBA and NFL players. Can you highlight an individual experience where you felt you made a real connection and had a profound impact?
Just last week, I was called in to teach the UNC men’s basketball team. At the time, they were in the midst of a ten- (now twelve-) game winning streak, and many of these games had been played in a very short period of time. My visit was intended as a special treat for the weary players, and their delight at walking in to what they thought would be another hour of practice and drills was completely gratifying. Nothing is more critical to performance than being able to center and relax, and without a quieter yoga practice and time to absorb all the work of training, it’s hard to continue to play at your best. After a hard stretch of pushing themselves to the edge of their abilities, these guys did a great job of relaxing—of playing the other, softer edge (the edge of consciousness).
Sage Teaching Yoga
4) What are two or three asanas that you think greatly impact athletes? (i.e. what asanas are good for explosion & being a dynamic athlete?)
Some of the more glamorous transitions—jumping back, jumping forward, and jump switches—can help build strength plyometrically, but most serious athletes are best served doing this in more sport-specific ways. The perhaps boring but true answer is that Tadasana (Mountain Pose) is the base for everything else. Learning that well, finding good balance front to back, left to right, and top to bottom, is critical. To increase the challenge, change Tadasana’s relationship to gravity: make it Plank, make it Handstand, bend it at the hips and make it Downward-Facing Dog. Better yet, turn that dog upside down and make it Legs Up the Wall, for recovery!
For any athlete who runs, which is most of us, having a good balance between strength and flexibility in a split-leg stance is important, thus Anjaneyasana (Crescent Lunge) is useful. Any pose that challenges us to pay attention and challenge our perceived limits—repeating a pose one more time, holding a stretch, or letting go even more—is going to make us better athletes.
5) On the surface it might seem that yoga (noncompetitive) and high level athletics (ultra competitive) are worlds apart. You are both an athlete/coach of competitive sports but you’re also a yoga teacher. How do you approach this apparent dichotomy?
Competition comes from the Latin for “striving together.” Sports challenge us to do our best, regardless of the outcome. This is what yoga teaches, too: practicing effort with nonattachment to results. Here’s one of my more popular posts for my Yoga Journal blog, Active Yogi, on competition.
6) We’re attuned to the fact that yoga is an effective proactive tool in preventing injuries. In your experience, how beneficial is yoga in helping athletes heal and recover from injury?
As a teacher, I try to be clear that while yoga is good for rehabilitation (find a teacher with a physical therapy background!), it’s far better for injury prevention. Sports injuries come from imbalance. Acute injury stems from a loss of balance in space; overuse injury comes from an imbalance in the body; and burnout—mental injury—comes from an imbalance between work and rest. Yoga practice helps us find and maintain balance on all fronts.
Sage Rountree Books on Athletic Recovery and Mindful Racing
7) What yoga or wellness books have had the biggest impact on you?
On yoga, Erich Schiffmann’s Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness; T. K. V. Desikachar’s Heart of Yoga; and Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews’s Yoga Anatomy. Most folks buy that latter book for the insightful art, but the opening section on cells, the breath, and the spine is priceless.
Jean Couch’s The Runner’s Yoga Book is a classic in the yoga-for-athletes field; without it and Jean’s work, I wouldn’t have written my books, including The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga and The Runner’s Guide to Yoga.
Sage practicing right before the bend
On wellness, I love the work of my friend Matt Fitzgerald, especially his Brain Training for Runners. Matt synthesizes recent research on the brain to explain how we limit ourselves and how we can move beyond false limits. It’s fascinating.
Bonus Question) What style of yoga do you practice & why?
I combine a range of disciplines, depending where I am in my training cycle. In the off-season and base, there’s more power yoga; as I approach a race, more yin yoga. Throughout, I make a point of complementing my yoga practice with Pilates (though you wouldn’t know it from my gracelessness in many Pilates exercises). The attention to core and glutes has removed a lot of niggling foot pain.
And trail running is the best yoga practice I know. It makes me pay attention—to my footsteps, to my companions, to nature. I go to the forest every day.
8) Many of our readers are just beginning to practice/study yoga. What advice do you have for beginners?
If your first class, or first few classes, aren’t great for you, keep looking. Just like there are different models of running shoes that suit different runner’s needs, there are different teachers and styles. Keep trying until you find one that fits well—it’s out there, and it will make all the difference.
About Sage:
Sage Rountree is Yoga Journal’s Active Yogi blogger and author of several books including The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga and Racing Wisely. With over a decade’s experience teaching yoga, Sage is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher at the highest level (E-RYT 500) with the Yoga Alliance and sits on the faculty at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. Her nationwide workshops include weekends on yoga for athletes; trainings for yoga teachers on working with athletes; and running and yoga retreats. Her students include casual athletes, Olympians, NBA and NFL players, and many University of North Carolina athletes and coaches. Sage competes in running races from the 400m to the ultramarathon and triathlons from the super sprint to the Ironman. She holds coaching certifications from USA Triathlon and the Road Runners Club of America, and she writes for publications including Runner’s World, Yoga Journal, and USA Triathlon Life. She lives with her husband and daughters in Chapel Hill, NC, and co-owns the Carrboro Yoga Company and the Durham Yoga Company. Follow Sage on Twitter and Facebook.
8 weeks, 8 yoga bloggers, 8 questions, posted each Saturday at 8am.
Stay tuned for our next interview series which will likely be with influential travel bloggers. Check out our previous seven interviews with influential yoga bloggers:
This concludes our 8 week yoga interview questions and answers series! I’ve learned a lot, made amazing connections with inspiring bloggers/teachers and felt like I became a more accomplished interviewer throughout the last two months. Hope you’ve enjoyed and learned a lot…. I certainly have!
Feel free to leave a comment or question for Sage in the comments section!
Today is the 7th week our 8 week yoga interview questions and answers series where we’re presenting interviews of 8 influential yoga bloggers. We ask 8 engaging questions and release an interview every Saturday at 8am US EST.
For this interview, we’re happy to learn more about Adriana from adrianapalanca.com. We originally connected with Adriana after finding her blog and reading about her development as a yoga student. Adriana is a fantastic writer, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading her insights on yoga, travel and life. We’re very fortunate to have the opportunity to feature Adriana on Lucid Practice. Enjoy the interview and leave a comment or question for Adriana in the comments section.
Now on to our yoga interview questions and answers :
1) Can you start by giving us a little bit of background about yourself and your blog. How did you start practicing? You’re a writer and a yoga teacher. Was blogging about yoga a natural progression?
I knew I wanted to be a writer from a very young age. I was penning stories as soon as I could write. But I didn’t discover yoga until I was 28, when I quite suddenly developed allergies and asthma. I don’t know what (or who) compelled me to take a yoga class, but I desperately wanted to stop being afraid of my body and hoped that yoga could help.
Over the years, my time on the mat helped me to move past my suffering and discover a relationship with myself that I never imagined possible. And it’s been the much experience with my writing. Writing is a perfect foil to the catharsis of the yoga practice, allowing you to document and further explore the revelations discovered on the mat. The more I practice, the more clearly I write. The more clearly I write, the more I seek practice.
2) How can readers benefit from reading your blog?
For me, blogging is an extension of my yoga practice and of what I teach. Even if I’m not writing about yoga, I’m still practicing what I’ve learned on the mat. That is, I’m expressing my truth in a compassionate way, with clarity, offering a different way of looking at the world, but never losing touch with my sense of humour or love of the ridiculous. I believe that this gives my writing an honesty that readers can truly relate to.
3) Many of our readers are avid or aspiring travelers. There’s a section on your blog about travel. Tell us what travel means to you and why it is important in terms of spiritual and personal growth.
When you travel, you have no choice but to be in the present moment. Every day is packed with exciting possibility, every new outing brings new marvels or a new encounter. You’re so stimulated by all that’s new, it’s impossible not to be in the present moment.
On a more personal note, in my mind, travel is renewal, allowing me to refresh my body and refuel my creativity. It’s also an opportunity to discover something new about myself. One of my favourite things to do during a trip is to sit at a sidewalk café and sip an espresso while people flow by. This reminds me of how vast and beautiful the world is and it helps me to transcend the usual parade of thoughts that follow me around. And of course, travel also helps me to see my own city with fresh eyes when I return.
4) You write a lot about presence and breathing during yoga practice. How important are these components?
Breathing is the whole purpose of the yoga practice. Without the breath there is no practice. When you breathe deeply and you can stay with that breath, that’s how you create presence. This is what we learn on the mat and hopefully, take that lesson with us into the world.
5) Tell us a little bit about one of your top three yoga blog posts.
My favourite blog post about yoga is My Yoga Practice is Nothing Special. It may be a little too esoteric for some, but it expressed a breakthrough moment for me. When I realized that the yoga practice is not magical. It’s what you are able to accomplish through the practice that’s magical. It marked the moment when I stopped treating my yoga practice like it was a precious thing outside myself and realized that it was a part of me. Only took 12 years!
Otherwise, my favourite blog posts don’t directly address yoga, but talk about revelations I came to thanks to the practice.
Adriana’s mascot 🙂
6) What yoga or wellness book or books have had the biggest impact on you?
Mostly recently, the books of Judith Hanson Lasater, because I’ve fallen in love with the restorative practice. But if I had to name one book that shifted my perspective in a permanent and impactful way, I’d say “When Things Fall Apart” by Pema Chodron.
7) Do you practice a specific style of yoga? If so, why?
I practice whatever my body is asking for. When I need to stretch and move, it’s vinyasa. When I need to take care of myself, it’s restorative or yin. If I need to stay home, I stay home!
8) On what form of social media do you connect w/ other yoga practitioners most effectively?
Facebook is the most obvious answer, but I’m discovering that the exchange of ideas is far greater on Twitter.
Bonus Question) What advice do you have for people who are just beginning to study & practice yoga?
Breathe. If you learn nothing else in the first few classes, you’re fine as long as you continue to breathe.
About Adriana:
Adriana Palanca is a writer and yoga teacher living in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. To read more, visit adrianapalanca.com.Facebook: www.facebook.com/WouldntStopPickingAtItTwitter: @apalancaInstagram: www.instagram.com/apalanca
8 weeks, 8 yoga bloggers, 8 questions, posted each Saturday at 8am.
Join us next Saturday AM for our next interview and check out or previous six interviews:
Stay tuned next week as we wrap up our 8 week yoga interview questions and answers series!
Please leave a comment or question for Adriana in the comments section!
Today is the 6th week our 8 week yoga interviews series where we’re presenting interviews of 8 influential yoga bloggers. We ask 8 engaging questions and release an interview every Saturday at 8am US EST.
For this interview, we’re happy to learn more about Maria from the popular blog Daily Downward Dog. We originally connected with Maria on Twitter. Maria is one of the pioneers of yoga blogging, we’re fortunate to have the opportunity to feature her. Enjoy the interview and leave a comment or question for Maria in the comments section.
1) When did you start practicing yoga?
Back in my early forties, I started having trouble getting out of bed in the morning due to back pain brought on by scoliosis and stress. I told myself I was way too young for that nonsense, and took the advice I’d been given about practicing yoga to relieve back pain. After I did my first few downward dogs, I was hooked and knew that yoga was the elixir I needed. Like most people, though, the daily grind of the corporate world kept me off the mat for extended periods of time. I took a deep dive back into the world of yoga five years ago, eventually traded in my black power suits for black stretchy yoga pants, and have been riding the waves of an incredible yoga high ever since. If you had told me five years ago that I would now be teaching yoga, I would have thought you were crazy.
2) What drove you to share your message & your practice with the world through a yoga blog?
My first blog MariaMedia was a place to share all the things I was passionate about, like yoga, travel, books, food, and strong female role models (aka Women Who Rock). On that blog I began chronicling my yoga journey with daily snippets on a page titled The Daily Downward Dog. As my yoga practice began to blossom the snippets turned into longer posts and it was a natural progression to spin The Daily Downward Dog off on its own in 2011.
Yoga has completely changed my life in many ways. I used to be a stressed out executive, and today I’m a blissed out yoga teacher. My back pain has gone away, and most of all, I just notice that I’m a happier person. I’m blessed to be doing work that I love and am passionate about. I smile more, I laugh more, I’m full of gratitude, and I wanted to share all of the benefits of yoga with anyone who would be willing to read my blog.
3) Talk a little bit about one of your top three yoga blog posts.
Wow, that is a really tough question because I have so many favorites. I will say that I started to notice in the summer of 2012 that I really began to come into my own voice in my yoga teaching, which was very exciting and fulfilling for me. It seems that I can find yogic inspiration everywhere and I take these experiences and weave them into my yoga class themes and also began sharing them on The Daily Downward Dog. Now I get requests all the time to post my class themes and I love it when people come up to me and tell me that they read one of my posts and it inspired them. A few of my favorites: Top Thrill Yoga about using the power of pranayama breathing in stressful situations, like right before taking off on one of the scariest roller coasters at Cedar Point with my niece, Plenty of Fast Out There about taking the time to slow down both on and off the yoga mat, and P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E about why it’s called yoga practice, not yoga perfect.
4) Music can be such a powerful tool in asana and/or meditation practice. How do you make music selections for your own personal practice and for practices you teach?
I’m not a fan of the harpy, Zen-like genre of yoga music. During portions of my playlist I like to include upbeat music. Sometimes that means a song has a little soul or maybe even a little rap (thank you, MC Yogi), and I always include a little reggae. Some of my favorite artists are Donna De Lory, C.C. White, DJ Drez, Girish, MC Yogi, Trevor Hall, Snatam Kaur, and Michael Franti. I have a whole page on the Daily Downward Dog devoted to posts about my yoga class playlists, yoga theme songs, awesome yoga musicians and new music releases.
When I first started teaching I used a lot of mainstream music with lyrics. As my teaching has evolved I’ve found myself turning to more instrumental and kirtan music. It is important to me that people can hear the cues and also that the music does not distract or take them away from their practice.
I have to say that the sounds of waves, wind, and birds chirping make up my favorite soundtrack while practicing and teaching yoga on the beach.
5) You’ve written about how yoga has healed your back pain. Let’s say someone comes to you having had 5 years of chronic back pain. They’ve never practiced yoga, but they’re at the point where they’re willing to try anything. What’s your advice?
I would encourage them to speak to their doctor first to make sure they are able to practice yoga. Then I would offer suggestions on which classes to take or private instruction, so they get a gentle approach that focuses on the asanas that will stretch and strengthen the back and core body.
Some back pain is brought on primarily by stress, so starting out with basic pranayama breathing exercises and meditation can be a huge help in reducing stress and alleviating back pain.
For those suffering from back pain brought on by scoliosis, I highly recommend Elise Browning Miller’s Yoga for Scoliosis DVD.
6) What yoga or wellness books have had the biggest impact on you?
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is my go to book and bible of yoga.
7) What style of yoga do you practice & why?
I practice several types of yoga, but my favorites are Hatha and Vinyasa. I like the classical approach to the asanas in Hatha and the flowing breath with movement of Vinyasa. When I take a Vinyasa yoga class I feel like I’m dancing on my yoga mat. My favorite kind of yoga class is when you start with a pranayama exercise to clear the mind and get centered, spirited Vinyasa flow, and then time after savasana for meditation.
I’ve been known to try different kinds of yoga to mix things up, so in the last year I’ve tried SUPYoga, Bikram, aerial, acro-yoga, and wall yoga. I love that there are so many different types of yoga, and enjoy trying them all.
8) On what form of social media do you connect with other yogis/yoginis most effectively?
Facebook is really effective for communicating upcoming classes and workshops with my local students. Twitter is a fantastic way to connect with yogis all around the world, and I’m beginning to use Instagram more as a tool for sharing pictures from my yoga retreats and beach yoga classes.
Bonus Question: What advice do you have for people who are 40 years or older and are just beginning to study & practice yoga?
It’s never too late! Come to the practice with an open mind and accept the fact that you won’t be able to do everything perfectly. Yoga is not a competition, and no one is going to judge you if you are not super flexible. We come to yoga to become flexible, not because we are flexible.
Take your time, learn to breathe, turn off your internal critic, turn up the corners of your mouth, smile, be curious, explore, and embrace this awesome practice of yoga. I think one of the most important things to remember as students of yoga is this simple fact – Yoga is a practice. You have the rest of your life to practice and grow in it. No need to beat yourself up if you can’t touch your toes or do a handstand. Instead, repeat this mantra: How cool is it that there’s still so much to learn about yoga? I have the rest of my life to go on this amazing yoga journey.
About Maria: Maria Santoferraro, E-RYT, is first and foremost a student of yoga and hails from the beautiful shores of Lake Erie, Ohio. A former marketing executive with a ‘Crackberry’ addiction, she now enjoys spending her time teaching yoga on the beach, building yoga brands, and creating meditation videos forHangTen Meditation.
Her playful, heart-opening teaching combines meditation, breath, alignment, and asana in flowing Hatha yoga classes that encourage students to reconnect to their bodies and breath and to fill up with joy. Maria incorporates uplifting class themes, music, poetry, laughter, and the spiritual teachings of yoga to create a peaceful environment where students can quiet their minds, let go, and experience a deep sense of calm and well-being.
In 2011, she was able to combine two of her greatest passions – yoga and the beach – to start her own beach yoga “studio” on the beautiful shores of Lake Erie, Ohio, where she has shared yoga with hundreds of students. She has added her passion for travel and adventure to the mix with her second beach yoga retreat on the idyllic Caribbean white sand beaches of Aruba from April 22-27. This beach yoga bliss retreat will include daily inspirational yoga and meditation classes led by Maria and the opportunity to bust out some yoga moves on a standup paddle board (SUP yoga).
Go from stressed out to blissed out on her blog The Daily Downward Dog, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Join Maria this coming April for Beach Yoga Bliss in Aruba on Eagle Beach at Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa or for one of her yoga workshops.
8 weeks, 8 yoga bloggers, 8 questions, posted each Saturday at 8am.
Hope you’ve enjoyed our yoga interviews series and that you’ll join us next Saturday AM for our next interview! Check out our previous five interviews:
Please leave a comment or question for Maria in the comments section!
Today is the 5th week our 8 week yoga blogger interview series where we’re presenting interviews of 8 influential yoga bloggers. We ask 8 engaging questions and release an interview every Saturday at 8am US EST.
For this interview, we’re happy to learn more about Roseanne from It’s All Yoga, Baby. We originally connected with Roseanne after reading her interesting views on yoga in the west. Roseanne is one of the pioneers of yoga blogging, we’re fortunate to have the opportunity to feature her. Enjoy the interview and leave a comment or question for Roseanne in the comments section.
1) Can you start by giving us a bit of background about yourself and your blog. How did you start practicing? When did you start blogging, and what did you expect readers to get out of it?
I started practicing yoga casually while I was a university student in the mid-90s, but I got deeply into it 10 years ago. I started blogging, reluctantly, while I was working as editor of ascent, an independent yoga magazine. This was around 2006/7, when the magazine industry hadn’t yet figured out how to work with the internet or these new blog things. When ascent went out of business in early 2009 and I found myself out of a job and with an abundance of free time, I started It’s All Yoga, Baby. I wanted to stay connected to the community of teachers and practitioners I’d met while working at the magazine, and I also wanted a place to develop my voice and opinions on yoga in North American culture, to be able to speak out in a way that I couldn’t when I was at the helm of a magazine. I didn’t expect anybody would actually read it or be interested in it, and for the first three months I kept the blog a secret while I built my confidence. Slowly, from there, I started to comment on other blogs and share my posts with colleagues and friends, and then it just kept growing and growing.
2) It’s All Yoga Baby examines the relationship between yoga and popular culture. Can you touch on general or specific hypocrisies of yoga in the West when compared to the roots of traditional Eastern yoga?
First of all, I don’t think traditional yoga is without its hypocrisies; the roots of yoga are often tangled and complicated, and I’m not interested in idealizing or romanticizing them. Nevertheless, one of the general hypocrisies of modern yoga that I find fascinating is the value system that has gotten lost as yoga has become more popular and mainstream. My feeling is that at its essence, yoga is about living a simple, immaterial life and being content with what we have – but yoga has in many ways, ironically, become a status symbol, with a code of fashion, “spirituality lite” trends, and cult of personality teachers.
3) Tell us a little bit about one of your top three yoga blog posts.
One of my favourite blog posts is my coverage of Yoga Journal’s dismissal of an international boycott of Hyatt Hotels in order to hold their 2013 conference in San Francisco. I had followed that story for six months, interviewed union activists, and published the post just before the January conference. I was amazed at the response and the discussion that ensued (although not surprised at all by YJ’s lack of engagement and their generic corporate reply to the issue) – SF yoga practitioners even showed up at the hotel and picketed in solidarity with workers and activists. The whole thing affirmed that there is a powerful and thoughtful cohort of practitioners who align their yoga practice with a vision for social justice. It was beyond inspiring.
4) There are organizations sprouting up in an effort to preserve traditional yoga and to prevent the rampant commercialization that we see in the West. Do you think these organizations will be successful in decelerating the Westernization of yoga or will the practice continue to be diluted here in the West?
I’m less concerned about the dilution of the practice than I used to be. I think yoga is in a constant state of evolution, and it’s responding to North American culture in diverse and fascinating ways. Some of these are awesome (like yoga as part of this holistic stress reduction program in Toronto schools) and some are ridiculous (like doga, yoga raves, SUP yoga). What will be interesting to see is what has a lasting impression, what forms yoga in the West will take in the next 10, 20, 30 years and beyond. We’re in the midst of a massive boom, and the popularity of yoga is showing no signs of slowing down. I’m curious to see if it will hit a tipping point, and what will happen then.
5) What yoga or wellness book or books have had the biggest impact on you?
Stephen Cope, Yoga and the Quest for the True Self; Swami Radha, Kundalini Yoga for the West; Michael Stone, Yoga for a World Out of Balance.
6) Do you practice a specific style of yoga? If so, why?
I happily practice a no-name unbrand of yoga in my living room, responding to whatever is happening in my body on any given day. My roots are in the service and reflection based Yasodhara Yoga, which I studied at an ashram in western Canada, and I’ve also studied and trained in Anusara Yoga, before that scene imploded. To shake things up, I practice once a week or so at a community studio near my house, and I also love to check out new classes and teachers around town. But my home practice is essential in keeping me grounded, connected and sane.
7) On what form of social media do you connect w/ other yoga practitioners most effectively?
Twitter, for fun conversations and up-to-the-minute news (on not just yoga but culture and politics), and Facebook, where a community of people discuss blog posts and yoga news on the IAYB fanpage.
8) What advice do you have for people who are just beginning to study & practice yoga?
Just do it. There is a practice, teacher and style for everyone, so be willing to experiment and explore until you find something that clicks. Avoid reading yoga blogs. Don’t talk about yoga non-stop with friends and family, you’ll just annoy them.
About Roseanne:
Roseanne Harvey is a writer, editor and geeky girl who lives and loves life in Montreal. She is the founder of It’s All Yoga, Baby, a blog about yoga and other things, with a mission to spark investigation into the relationship between yoga, the body and popular culture. IAYB questions, provokes thought and shines a critical light on yoga culture ~ while celebrating community, service, creativity, the independent spirit and good ol’ fun. Founded in spring 2009, IAYB has grown to be a leading voice in the North American yoga community.As the former editor of ascent magazine, Roseanne isn’t afraid to use her media literacy skills to call out the hypocrisies and contradictions of modern yoga. She is all for dismantling the dominant hegemony of rock star teachers, expensive class fees and designer clothes/accessories/products. She also loves supporting progressive yoga projects, innovative and independent teachers, and general awesomeness. Active offline as well as online, Roseanne is a co-producer of Yoga Festival Montreal and the co-editor (with Carol Horton) of 21st Century Yoga: Culture, Politics & Practice Find Roseanne. You can connect with Roseanne on It’s All Yoga, Baby, on Twitter, and on Facebook.
8 weeks, 8 yoga bloggers, 8 questions, posted each Saturday at 8am.
Join us next Saturday AM for our next interview and check out our previous four interviews:
Please leave a comment or question for Roseanne in the comments section!
Today is the 4th week our 8 week interview series where we’re presenting interviews of 8 influential yoga bloggers. We ask 8 engaging questions and we release an interview every Saturday at 8am US EST.
For this interview, we’re happy to learn more about Brandon and Anne of The Yoga Nomads. Brandon and Anne reached out to us on Twitter and we learned that their hometown is right near Danielle’s (in Minnesota.)
Brandon and Anne recently touched down in Mumbai, India. Their mission is similar to Lucid Practice in the sense that they’re creating a travel and yoga community. Enjoy the interview and leave a comment or question for Brandon and Anne in the comments section.
1. Can you start by giving us a bit of background about yourself and your blog. How did you start practicing? When did you start blogging, and what did you expect readers to get out of it?
Deep down I’m a nerd with an insatiable appetite to learn and discover. Constantly seeking new experiences and looking for “it.”
I’m a Minneapolis native (and advocate) and aspiring location independent entrepreneur. Craft beer geek. Live music junkie. Obsessive nomad.
I started practicing yoga a little over 5 years ago. One random Saturday in college, a buddy invited me to tag along for a ‘free yoga class.’ Had nothing to lose so I went along and ended up really liking it. Pretty boring story actually…
My girlfriend (Anne) and I started The Yoga Nomads for a couple reasons:
We started The Yoga Nomads in July of 2013. Originally our plan was to teach yoga in exchange for accommodation as we travel the world. We booked up teaching gigs throughout Colombia, Bolovia, and Peru. Then we decided we wanted to do Asia instead and scrapped our entire South American plan. Funny how life goes…
The new focus for The Yoga Nomads is to provide like-minded individuals with the tools needed to practice yoga while traveling. We will create a guide for each country aimed at nomadic yogis, review studios, retreat centers, etc. There are a couple bigger ideas that we’re working towards, but that’s all I can say for now 🙂
Also, we just arrived in Mumbai, India via a 1-way ticket on January 28th, we’ll be traveling Asia for an undetermined amount of time!
Anne and Brandon – camping in the BWCA (2013)
2. You mentioned that you and Anne never envisioned yourselves creating a career in yoga. How were you introduced to yoga? What has changed since your first practice?
We were both introduced to yoga through friends about 5 years ago (prior to meeting each other). We each spent a few years practicing but not taking it too serious. Then we started dating and our passion for yoga increased, as it was something special that we shared. We ultimately decided to take training through CorePower Yoga. Upon completing teacher training we both knew that a big life change was on the horizon. So we decided to set a date to travel and teach yoga, 6 months later we quit our jobs to do just that.
Since our first few classes, our practice has steadily become a larger part of our life. Early on it was a workout, now it is a way of life. I cannot imagine not having yoga in my life. When we started studying and reading about yoga it took on a deeper meaning. Teacher training also taught us about the rest of yoga… you know, other than the physical practice 🙂
3. Tell us a little bit about one of your top three blog posts.
Since getting serious about my personal yoga journey I’ve often wondered what I can do to improve my practice. I found out that several of my peers felt the same. So, I did my research and compiled 24 ways to supercharge your yoga practice. Students with any experience level can benefit.
4. Many of our readers are interested in earning enough to live sustainable lives while traveling. Can you talk about your preferred ways to earn money while traveling?
Currently, we have relationships with hostels/hotels where we can teach yoga to guests in exchange for accommodation. Although this requires readers to be yoga teachers, I know hostels/hotels offer similar ‘skill exchanges’ such as web development or even tending the hostel/hotel bar.
Bonnaroo music festival
5. Let’s talk experiences — what has been the most memorable experience you’ve had while traveling?
I would have to say trekking in the mountains outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand. We white water rafted, rode elephants, and the scenery was amazing. The reason it was so memorable was because of the people… it’s always about the people! We went in a group of 10-12 people, representing 7 countries. Started off as strangers and ended the 3 day trek as lifelong friends.
6. What yoga or wellness book or books have had the biggest impact on you?
There are 2 books that come to mind. If you want more book suggestions, I wrote a piece on the top 9 books every nomad should read.
7. Do you practice a specific style of yoga? If so, why?
We were schooled in Vinyasa style yoga but regularly incorporate the Bikram series in our practice. We both love trying new styles and feel that students can benefit from exploring. We look forward to practicing Ashtanga “mysore style” in Mysore, India in March.
8. On what form of social media do you connect w/ other yoga practitioners most effectively?
We use Facebook and Twitter mainly. Yoga practitioners seems to be more receptive on Twitter. It’s always fun connecting with other like minded individuals. As a matter of fact, our relationship with Lucid Practice started via Twitter!
Two bonus questions:
9. What advice do you have for people who are just beginning to study & practice yoga?
10. What are your upcoming plans, both travel and non travel?
Anne and I arrived in Mumbai on 1/28. We’ll spend about a month in each country for the foreseeable future. However, our itinerary is very flexible. During our travels, we will be focused on teaching/studying yoga as well as working on The Yoga Nomads with a goal to become location independent.
If you are interested in putting together a yoga retreat, please email brandon.quittem@gmail.com to discuss how we can work together!
About Brandon:
Brandon is a co-founder of The Yoga Nomads which provides the tools needed for you to practice yoga while traveling. Brandon is an avid outdoorsman, yogi, obsessive nomad, craft beer geek, and live music junkie. Favorite country is Thailand. Currently spinning: Tame Impala, Ratatat, Father John Misty, Bassnectar, and Alt-J.
8 weeks, 8 yoga bloggers, 8 questions, posted each Saturday at 8am.
Join us next Saturday AM for our next interview and check out our previous three interviews:
Meredith LeBlanc of The Pondering Yogini
Tonya of The Yoga Deck and Ultima Healing
Jen and Liz of The Travel Yogi
Please leave a comment or question for Brandon and Anne in the comments section!
Yoga Blogger Interview: Tonya of Ultima Healing
Today is second week of our 8 week interview series where we’ll present interviews of 8 influential yoga bloggers. We ask 8 engaging questions and we release an interview every Saturday at 8am US EST.
For our second interview, we were pleased to interview Tonya of Ultima Healing. We connected with Tonya a few months back after our readers had asked us questions about Stand Up Paddle Board Yoga. We decided to interview Tonya because of her expertise in practicing on the water!
Enjoy the interview and leave a comment or question for Tonya in the comments section.
3. Being former collegiate athletes, we’re drawn to the combination of yoga and athletics to make for stronger, more dynamic athletes. Have you had any experience on the water with athletes? How long does it take for most athletes to be able to practice asana on a board?
I have had athletes in my class, but in general SUP Yoga is something you want to try more than one time. Each time you bring your yoga practice to the water you connect. All of my students improved each time on the paddle board. Improve may not be the word, I think connect is probably better. They became more connected, the first time is so exciting and something new but each time you return you let go a little more. Allowing yourself to connect to the water, wind and beauty of taking your yoga practice to a different level. Disconnecting to our very connected world and breathing into each pose while on the water. SUP Yoga is definitely a slower practice than most Vinyasa classes.
As an athlete, for conditioning you engage so many different muscle groups while maintaining balance on the board. As students become more comfortable I see poses that I can’t believe can be done on a paddle board. I teach an introduction to SUP Yoga class which I suggest for someone new to yoga and or paddle boarding. I lead 2 all-levels classes each week and I know that students can intensify their practice or take it down a level. The best part is trying fun things you thought to be impossible on a paddle board. I always joke “the first person in the water gets a prize” someone always falls in and then usually everyone falls in. I love all the smiles and laughter!
For athletes SUP Yoga adds an amazing opportunity to condition the body in a new way. This past summer, I incorporated Yin Yoga in classes. A Yin Yoga practice is great for athletes after other conditioning, bringing this practice to the water and board really allows any tension to release from the body.
4. What are some of the experiences and emotions you feel both physically and mentally while practicing asana on the water?
Personally, when I practice on the water, I feel a calmness that takes my practice to a different level. Even when I am doing a self practice that may be intense, I feel so free. Physically you engage different muscles while maintaining your balance on the paddle board. I can practice on the water for hours. It allows you to let go of your expectations and flow with the water.
5. How often do you practice SUP yoga in comparison to your regular yoga practice? Why?
During the season, which is usually 5 months here in Pittsburgh, I practice on the mat and SUP Yoga 6 days a week. That is the great thing about The Yoga Deck (28ft. pontoon boat) my floating yoga studio. I practice SUP Yoga and then I can practice on the mat outside on The Yoga Deck.
It is so important for me to do a self practice. It balances me and allows me to practice with my breath, to flow, connect and be with self. I love taking my practice outdoors. During the winter months I continue my self practice indoors. I do miss the water but I appreciate the seasons and know Spring is just around the corner. I stay connected to nature always. I love our snowy winters and being outdoors regardless of the temperature.
[Bonus Question] What are the main differences between a standard hatha practice in a room, shala, or platform vs. practice on a board in the middle of the water?
I feel the main difference is letting go of your expectations this allows connection to unfold. When you are new to SUP Yoga you have to connect. At times on your mat you may move through your practice not connected and with the mind wandering…On the water you are connected to nature and many elements. You are more conscious of your breath. Your practice can not be without the breath. Even after practicing for years, I still find myself accidentally holding my breath while on the mat at times.
On your paddle board without the breath, you soon meet the water. Your practice on the water evolves in time. I think that is the magic, what once was achieved on the mat is new on the water. The difference is connection.
6. What yoga or wellness books have had the biggest impact on you?
I read numerous books at one time. I love anatomy and meditations books, an amazing book I love is The Psoas Book by Liz Koch. I recently finished Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh and it has the most beautiful messages! I am currently reading Sacred Space by Denise Linn, I love books about energy and balance!
7. On what form of social media do you connect w/ other yogis/yoginis most effectively?
I love all social media as it connects us to people we may not normally have access to. Instagram is one of my favorites because I have loved photography since I was a child. Photography is one of my many jobs and passions. Instagram has a wonderful group of yoginis and yogis!
I love to post and participate in challenges. I just finished co-hosting my second SUP Yoga challenge. The first one was #YoSUPtember and the most recent was #supyogachallenge. I enjoy connecting with other yoga teachers, spreading the SUP Yoga love and also bringing people into the world of paddle boarding. All of our SUP Yoga challenges are for everyone, we encourage people to join on a paddle board or on the mat!
8. What advice do you have for people who are just beginning to study & practice yoga?
I think finding a teacher that you connect with is very important. Find a home studio and focus on you and your practice. I love yoga workshops, usually they are all-levels so I encourage you to try new classes or different styles of yoga.Most cities have amazing teachers that travel and teach workshops that can offer new insights for your practice.
If you are new to yoga I think it is important to do a self practice at home. This provides a place for you to really focus on yourself.
Finally I believe meditation is one of the most amazing aspectss I have discovered through my love of yoga. Taking the time daily, to sit, reflect, and breathe, can open yourself up to your own true knowing…
I meditate everyday. Meditation can be anything. You can meditate while you take a walk in nature, before you go to bed, on your yoga mat or my favorite, on a paddle board. Meditation can be sitting with self drawing in the breath, it can be 2 minutes or 20. Guided meditations are amazing also, they can provide beautiful visualizations and can help with focus. Every breath allows peace and space in the body…healing begins within!
Tonya’s Bio:
Tonya Kapis has been practicing yoga since the late nineties. In 2009 she began a dedicated yoga practice and in 2010 became a 200RYT with Yoga Alliance. Her teaching style is Vinyasa based focusing on the breath and personal alignment that allows her students to guide themselves deeper or gentler into each pose. Using the breath and never forcing any pose is always a focus in her class, to flow with ease. Every practice is different, we all have days that we flow with our breath and other days where our balance eludes us.
In 2012 she started teaching SUP Yoga and in 2013 she opened The Yoga Deck. The Yoga Deck, LLC is a floating yoga studio, a 28ft Pontoon Boat. During the Spring/Summer/Fall seasons she teaches outdoors, on the boat and SUP Yoga. Taking your practice outside the studio allows for a connection to nature, water, and all of the elements. Each class ends with a guided meditation to further connect or guide the student inward to higher self and peace.
Tonya lives outside the Pittsburgh area and most likely will be found at The Yoga Deck or discovering the beautiful waters of Pennsylvania. This past fall she launched her website, Ultima Healing where she shares blog posts, photos, SUP Yoga, art and her love of Leg Warmers that she up-cylces!
You can also find Tonya on Instagram as freespiritbeauty, or on Twitter and Facebook.
8 weeks, 8 yoga bloggers, 8 questions, posted every Saturday at 8am. Join us next Saturday AM for our next interview. Click to see the first interview of this series, conducted last week with Meredith LeBlanc of The Pondering Yogini.
Please leave a comment or question for Tonya in the comments section!
Via Buzzfeed:
From J.K. Rowling, Ray Bradbury, Maya Angelou, and a bunch of other people who know what they’re talking about.
Check out 23 more quotes — here.
Lucid Practice is growing by the day. We want to really thank everyone who has visited our site and hope that you will come back. Thank you!!
We hope to inspire people and have a website that is 100% positive, all the time. Our goal was to affect one person’s life positively and and based off of your feedback, we have done that and much more! It’s humbling to have any type of impact on this world by sharing and writing positive, inspiring pieces on yoga, travel, wellness, art and more.
We would love for the Lucid Practice Community to continue to grow and affect people. In addition, we would love to see members of our community start their own blogs and websites and dig deeper into themselves. We’re happy to help you with this process.
With that, I think it very important that we share our outreach with people with a “transparency income report.” This marks the end of the first six months working on LP and it will be fun to include everyone on the month to month journey of growth (whether that be positive or negative!).
Summary:
AWStats Traffic: Traffic has continued to grow since inception in April. We want to first promote our statistics from our web host’s, Blue Host, traffic program AWStats. People argue which program presents the most accurate look at traffic. It’s interesting to see our outreach through AWStats.
In April, we started this blog for ourselves as a medium for journaling and posting interesting material. In May, we decided to share the blog with a few friends and family members. On May 24, we decided to stream our posts on Twitter which opened up the process of “sharing our blog.” We are very excited to say that in September we reached nearly 4k unique IP addresses (3,955) whether that be people’s computers, tablets or mobile devices.
To see that our readers have come back over 12k times (12,393) in the month of September alone is very inspiring. We believe that we are sharing great content, and we hope that people feel some of the positive vibes we are feeling when reading some of the material shared.
Google Analytics Traffic: We just finally set up our Google Analytics code correctly last month (we are new to this). We had previously been using a GA plugin that was not working efficiently. Their is definitely a disparity in statistics between AWstats data and Google Analytics Data. There are many arguments on the internet which traffic counter gets the best data. We only think its fair that we go with the two most popular sites for traffic. Even with the disparity, we would be very happy with September bringing 2,321 unique visitors to our site.
Social Media:
Twitter has been the main driver of traffic to our website. We are very happy to have over 4,500 twitter accounts “following” us on twitter. We felt in May when we started the Twitter feed that people may be interested in reading about travel, wellness, and yoga among many other topics. We love interacting and connecting with many of our readers through Twitter and hope to do lots more in the future. Please, if you have not, reach out to us. We want to learn from you.
Facebook Likes on the Lucid Practice Facebook page have been harder to come by. We have not promoted our Facebook page and I’m not exactly sure when we will begin. Facebook has 1.2 billion users. We would certainly love to connect and share positive, inspiring messages with some of those users!
I have not maintained a personal Facebook page for 2 years so the functionality is a bit foreign to me. With a blinding total of 6 likes we would love if you clicked the like button (click here!) on our Facebook page. We have also started Google Plus and Pinterest pages but have not managed them as much as we would like to.
Advertising: We’re not currently doing any advertising though we have been approached and we are starting to get interest from advertisers in preliminary discussions. We are in a blog consultation program and learning everyday about how to make this a full-time job. Being location independent is something we believe is a true Lucid Practice. Hopefully, with time and practice, we can develop a strategy that stays true to our values and promotes links, products, activities, trip information on our site that we feel will benefit our readers.
Total Revenue: $0
Google Page Rank: (0/10) Google has not updated PageRank since February 4, 2013. LP commenced in April 2013. We are looking forward to the next updated ranking!
Domain Authority: 14 (Via OpenSite Explorer)
Page Authority: 19 (Via OpenSite Explorer)
Alexa Ranking: 10,601,728 (Via Alexa)
Sites Linking In: 27 (Via Ahrefs)
One of the keys to the growth of Lucid Practice has been our readers encouraging and sharing our blog. We can’t thank you enough for each positive message thanking us for what we’re doing. We also appreciate you sharing our blog (via email, Twitter, etc.) with your friends, family, and network. This is how we’ve been able to spread our positive, uplifting messages at a rate that has immensely surprised us. We are honored and humbled to have so many readers and such a loyal community in such a short period of time. Thank you and remember that by sharing an uplifting, informative message, you have created a positive ripple in the universe. Where that ripple stops? No one knows….
