- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
Save the Date…We are excited to announce our 5th annual Fall Yoga Retreat- October 24-28, 2012. The retreat will be held at Camp du Nord on pristine Lake Burntside, just up the Echo Trail from Ely, Mn. We will enjoy four days of practicing, studying, hiking, canoeing, taking sauna, eating well, relaxing lakeside and fireside and cultivating community. With the natural beauty of the Boundary Waters as our back drop, this is the perfect place to find the stillness and spaciousness from which to see life clearly. We will explore the yogic wisdom teachings on the human searching for meaning, joy, freedom and the means to realize these. Through the lens of yogic self-reflection, this “time away” is an opportunity to rediscover our highest self, and how we can bring that more fully into our lives and the world.
Please stay tuned for further information on the specific focus of the retreat, rates, lodging- visit www.dunord.org to tour our retreat home. We hope to see you there!!!
Be well, A + B
We are excited to announce our dates for this year’s Fall Yoga Retreat.
October 24-28th at the lovely Camp duNord in Ely.
Pencil it in!

I am freshly back from our annual winter Retreat in magical Montezuma Costa Rica. Our group spent a week practicing and studying yoga twice each day. Practices were followed by delicious local meals over looking the emerald green ocean off the southern tip of the Nicoya Perninsula. Between practices, our days were spent in Costa Rica’s world famous abundant natural beauty at the beaches, ocean, waterfalls, rivers and jungle- or perhaps relaxing in a hammock and watching the monkeys and iguanas running around the Mango Grove at Hotel Los Mangoes. We were even fortunate enough to see bio-luminesence- envision glow-in-the-dark- teal waves crashing against the black canvas of the nightime ocean and starlit sky. The combination of yoga, the natural world and the community of practitioners is a powerful combination for gaining perspective, healing and awakening. While a blog post certainly cannot convey the most sublime experience of yoga amidst the natural world, here is a little video of a morning practice, with live musical accompaniment by Goundan on the Hang Drum. Can you feel the vibe? Pura Vida!!!
Read MoreI recently finished teaching a 6 week Beginner Series. It was unbelievably refreshing, surprisingly so!
A room bursting with curious minds and open eyes. I am reminded of the Buddhist teaching of Beginner’s Mind: a mind that is fresh and awake to possibility, a mind different than the mind we bring to our habitual ways of thinking and acting.
This series challenged me to cultivate my Beginner’s Mind as a teacher; with the language I used, poses I taught and teachings I shared. I was helping to build a foundation, an introduction to the vastness of Yoga.
People come to yoga for varying reasons and its important to inquire about what brings us to the mat. Whether its a desire for spiritual growth, hope of healing from injury, need to reduce stress or to tone the body: be honest. It will change day to day and evolve with ongoing practice, however, take time to check in with the first breaths on the mat, create an intention and ask the question, how can I be a beginner in this moment?
Today, I challenge you to see with fresh eyes.

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I am excited to announce that I will be Co-Leading a 235-hr Intensive Teacher Training this summer, from July 9-August 3rd in Minneapolis. I will be joining Tanya Boigenzahn Sowards and Devanadi Yoga in offering this special training. Tanya is a senior student of Yogarupa Rod Stryker, and one of the most committed and competent teachers in the midwest. This training is appropriate for all committed students and teachers of yoga, looking to delve deeper into yoga and themselves. For more information, please follow: Summer Teacher Training Intensive 2012 There will be an information session for this training on Sunday March 25, from 1-2 pm. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Namaste,
Ben
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