Author Archive
announcing: yoga + body image, the book!
Melanie Klein and Anna Guest-Jelley are doing some of the most important work in the yoga community. Both women are committed to writing about the complicated relationship between yoga, body image and feminism. So it’s natural that they should team up and co-edit a collection of essays exploring this tricky territory. Yoga + Body Image will be ready for the world in 2014. Melanie has all the details below – read on!
It is with great pleasure that Anna Guest-Jelley and I officially announce our anthology on Yoga + Body Image forthcoming in 2014.
I first met Anna almost three years ago. I was introduced to her work through her blog post “Welcoming the Curvy Yogini.” Not only did Anna’s words speak to me but I was taken by her brief bio at the bottom wherein she described herself as “an advocate for women’s rights by day, a yoga teacher by night.” Given my work as a Sociology + Women’s Studies professor and my activist work, I felt I had stumbled upon a kindred spirit.
Anna and I had our first phone conversation in 2011 and the synergy was palpable. We immediately realized that we had to collaborate on a project. After a few months of percolating, we realized that it only made sense to collaborate on a book focusing on yoga and body image. Continue Reading
IAYB is teaming up with sponsor Yoga for Round Bodies to bring you a super giveaway! Win a one-hour Skype sesssion with YRB founder Tiina Veer and learn how to modify your yoga practice to suit your body.
The Toronto-based Yoga for Round Bodies offers classes and retreats for plus-sized women, as well as trainings for yoga teachers. Driven by a mission to make yoga accessible to more people, YRB is part of a growing movement of full-bodied teachers and students who want to reclaim the practice.
Up for grabs: 1 one-hour private Skype session with Tiina Veer, available in two options.
1) For yoga students – learn tips and tricks to bring into your regular yoga practice.
2) For yoga teachers – a consultation with Veer addressing specific needs for your students.
TO ENTER: leave a comment below* telling us why you’d like this special Skype session (whether you’re a yoga student or teacher) before 5pm EST on Sunday, May 12. One name will be drawn at random.
* All comments will be added to IAYB’s weekly digest mailing list. If you’d prefer to not be added, simply write OPT OUT at the end of your comment.
Jenna’s spirit lives on in memorial shrines & people’s hearts.
Jenna Morrison was a yoga teacher, mother and community organizer killed while cycling through her Toronto neighbourhood in November 2011. An active member of the Toronto yoga community, her memory lives on and will be honoured in a Korean-style reflexology footpath in Dufferin Grove Park.
On a cold April evening, I met up with her good friend Aidan Lawrence in a Montreal café to hear more about the project. He’s working with Morrison’s husband, Florian Shuck, and a group of friends in Toronto to raise the $120,000 necessary to build the footpath.
“Jenna was the hub of many communities,” Lawrence told me. “Her death drew together the bike, yoga and healing communities.” Continue Reading
Imagine all of these people dancing (image via Lunch Beat Mtl FB page)
Montrealers, ditch your noon hour yoga class and dance! While a little stretching and breathing on lunch break is always a good thing, sometimes you need to move your body in reckless and spontaneous ways.
Enter Lunch Beat. From the country that brought us Robyn, the latest Swedish craze is sweeping the world and finally lands in Montreal on Thursday, May 9 from 12:00 – 1:00 pm at Cinema Excentris. Montreal-based DJ Hissy Fit will be on the turntables, and each participant will receive a vegetarian lunch from Cafe Méliès and a bottle of RISE Kombucha (included in the $10 admission).
Lunch Beat started in June 2010 with 14 friends dancing in a garage, and locally-organized events have since popped up around the world. Their vision:
By promoting 1 hour of day time dancing we make it possible to fully embody the buzzwords of playfulness, participation & community. A physical knowledge that will make you create magic during the rest of your day too, and so will make Lunch Beat your week’s most important business lunch.
Daytime dancing and magic, FTW! Also, you have to love any dance event that has its own manifesto. Get your tickets for Lunch Beat Montreal here – and don’t worry, your noon hour yoga class will be waiting for you on Friday. Continue Reading
A couple of weeks ago, I pulled a quote from an interview with saxophonist Colin Stetson and posted it on IAYB. Shortly afterwards, his publicist emailed me and offered to set up an interview so I could hear more about his “yoga regime.” I agreed, since I’m always interested when yoga shows up in unlikely places. Best known as a bass saxophonist, Stetson uses a circular breathing technique that allows a continuous tone. Pranayama helps keep his lung capacity in top form, and his asana practice prepares his body for the physical rigors of holding a massive instrument.
Stetson took a break from his drive between Montreal and a cabin in Vermont to talk to me about how his yoga and meditation practice has developed, the ways that yoga helps him access his creativity, and how discipline doesn’t always have to be a struggle. Listen to our conversation below – then go listen to Stetson’s mesmerizing and unsettling music. Actually, listen to the music first, then the interview. Or just skip the interview entirely and listen to his music. Better yet, go see him live at one his upcoming tour dates.
