In the airport of Sao Paulo….after 3 incredible months of Vida Brasiliero, I am full of emotion and energy, excitement and enthusiasm and a revived sense of why I have chosen this path of teaching yoga.
As the story and timeline goes, after the Curitiba weekend, I came to Sao Paulo for the last weekend and had organized a retreat at Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza, an organic coffee farm 4 hours out of the city of Sao Paulo. Registration was very low due to a number of other Yoga events happening so we ended up as a group of 8. Arriving to the farm was a LONG journey and we got there after dark, which always makes a road trip seem a bit longer. However, we were greeted with a delicious dinner and our host, Silvia Baretto, who made us feel so comfortable with her open heart and nurturing ways despite being sick with the flu!
We had a tour of the grounds and all after the drive and meal had a great nights sleep in our new weekend farm. The Yoga room at FAF is one of the old coffee production areas and was a very simple room but with a beautiful mandala on the wall and a view of the surrounding farmland. Our mornings on the retreat were pretty cold and we had rain the first day as well….but alas, the yoga, the group and the energy of an organic farm proved too strong for bad weather to bring us down! After 3 months in Brazil, I am feeling super confident with my Portuguese and led the classes all in Portuguese, well, OK, my ‘theme setting’ was done in English because I really want to create a sacred space and intention for the practice and need my native tongue for that, but all the rest was in Portuguese.
With the first day totally rained out, the group shared most of the day together eating and bonding by the fireplace and the library….there was some Acro Yoga, guitar songs and general friendliness….very family like! On the second day, the weather cleared enough for us to get a tour of the Natural Coffee fields, which are different from the Organic coffee fields. We were expertly guided by Joao, the main farmer and master of the land….and wow, was he something special! His energy, presence and insight to farming and our connection to the Earth was inspiring to me, and I feel pretty ‘earthy’ with many of my practices and habits! As we began the walk, Joao would tell us about the local plants we were walking by and occasionally pull one from the ground for us to sample! Eventually, the group arrived at a field of coffee plants that was in the middle of the MatAtlantico (Atlantic Jungle). This way of farming means that there are no fertilizers, no trimming, and virtually no ‘production’ to the growing….all nature’s work! the coffee plants were spread among the other plants in the jungle and it all looked very…well, natural! Joao explained to us how the community of plants works and that some plants are ‘amigos do cafe e outras….nao amigos.’ And he showed us where the friendly plants were making the coffee grow nice and big and the others didn’t look as strong. He shared with us some of his wisdom about how when plants (and he went on to tell us that ALL beings) are all friendly when they are young and then they grow to be ‘not friendly’ (much like the other beings on the planet!). So when he knows that two plants are not getting along too well, rather then killing one or uprooting them, he cuts them down to ‘children’ size and they learn to get along! Really! I made the analogy of humans that sometimes need to play children’s games or make music in order to ‘get along’….Joao also talked about the solar and the cosmic energy that plants live off of and he was full of cosmic energy himself with his smile! At one point, he wanted to tell us how happy the Organic coffee plants were. He explained that plants that are fed toxins and sprayed with chemicals become stiff and break in the wind and with other pressure….however, organic coffee plants are flexible and strong due to their natural state. He demonstrated this by grabbing the top of a tall coffee plant and bending it down to the ground. “See….A Yoga Coffee Plant, flexible!” He said with a huge smile (see photo below!).
As the weekend continued on, our little group became closer and closer and I felt very connected to everyone by the end of our time. We had a great Polenta party dinner on Friday night with a big marble slab acting as a shared table for a pile of polenta that we could each our special toppings to our portion and a make your own Pizza night on Saturday. Lots of great fun and laughter and opening for everyone. On Sunday before we left, we also got a truck tour of the organic coffee fields which are cultivated with some organic fertilizer and the plants are cared for…and we were enlightened with Joao’s insights to the land again….and all the while, our amazing and very gracious hostess Silvia made sure everything was taken care of and also enjoyed in the Yoga and group dynamic. It really felt like we were all being welcomed to part of the FAF family which was very special. I intend to return to the farm next year to lead a week-long connect to nature retreat and hope you’re can come!!

So now, they are calling my flight to New York to board…so I will leave this post as this and start the next final reflections and sentamentos do Brasil from the air…

Family and Friends…again….WOW! It’s been a whirlwind experience the last few days in Rio that have been stirring the pot of emotions, feelings and connections. I finished my programs at Blyss Yoga and was very happy with my teaching experience there. Once again, I felt totally received by the students in classes and the ideas and concepts I am sharing about the path of Yoga are breathing new life into the communities where I travel. My teacher intensive programs at Blyss were well attended and the teachers who came have already shared with me that they are passing on the information / insights to their students…which is extremely satisfying to me. I know I am just a link in the chain of this path of Yoga and when I can share my studies, practice and ever evolving philosophies to open minds and hearts…then the waves of vibration carry on and stay strong.

After teaching to teachers…for the second time on this tour, I had an amazing experience teaching kids in another of Brazil’s Favela’s (slums). This venture was a bit more independant and slightly scary as I organized to enter into the Cidade de Deus (City of God) Favela. Many of you may have seen the film with the same name that shows just how rough, violent and out of control life is in this Favela. Through mutual friends, I found Fatima Lopes of the Brazil / Canada Cultural Center who helped me with everything. She and the cultural center work with a school within the favela teaching the kids art, music, computers, English and various forms of body movement. On Wednesday morning, i awoke early (6:30) to catch a bus from Jardins Botanico to Barra Point. I was by myself and with my guitar on my back. After almost 3 months here in Brazil and with my hair and tan….I have to actually convince people that I am not Brazilian (or try talking to them in Portuguese!). So the bus was no problem. Fatima told me to get out at a mall and take a taxi to the main praca at the entrance to the favela. I did and the taxi driver was very curious about why I was going to the favela alone with my guitar…I explained to him (in Portuguese) that I was a traveling yoga teacher and going to offer a class to the children. He told me he doesn’t go into the favela and I heard the same from many of my friends here. I told him that the children are so isolated in there that even their own countrymen are afraid to enter the favelas and that these kids especially need contact with the outside world if we are ever to break the cycle of violence and economic oppression that exists. He looked at me rather strangely and was happy to be arriving to the place where I would leave! Fortunately, as soon as I arrived at the Praca, Fatima called and said she was 2 minutes away and to wait the bus stop. This was at the ‘entrance’ to the favela and I felt totally fine being there on the street. It was a 3rd world country experience with busses, street vendors, workers and kids all over…and a random gringo with a guitar!

True to her word, Fatima arrived within 2 minutes and whisked me away in her car. We started driving into the Favela and she explained to me a bit about the school and the programs there as well as a little ‘tour’ of the favela. We got to the school within 10 minutes and the street outside was fairly empty except for a maybe 5 - 7 old men at the bar across at the street enjoying their 8:45 AM beer! We went in to the school and were greeted by the staff…soon, Socorro, the director of operations (a title I just gave her now!) arrived and was really happy to meet me. The kids were also arriving and she guided me upstairs to the room where I would teach. The last experience I had at Casa do Zezinho was a production…lots of kids, an altar, many cameras and people of all varieties wanting to see what we were doing. This morning at REI, the school, it was me, Fatima, Socorro and 23 children ages 9 - 14! As I walked into the room, one of the boys was in handstand! And the others were playing around…but they quickly all sat down and put their attention on me. I sat in front of them in lotus pose and smiled and looked at them. Many tried (and some succeeded) with Padmasana (lotus pose) and I began to give them an introduction to myself and to Yoga. None of them had ever heard of Yoga! A few had heard of India but they all knew about California! I introduced to them the idea that everyone in the world breathes so when we breath, we are actually connecting to everyone else on the planet…and not just people. They thought that was pretty cool…I gave a nice ‘intro to yoga for kids’ talk for about 10 minutes and then we were all ready to move. I asked them; ‘Where does the Sun rise’ in the morning…they were a bit confused…I asked them to point in the direction of the sunrise, and none of them knew. I knew where East was (it is one the first things I do when I arrive in a new city…align my inner compass) and turned them all there. Then we started a story of the sunrise and sunset with Sun Salutations….and were off and running…after about 20 - 25 minutes of lots of yoga poses and fun, we were all ready for a shift so I put them into savasana (relaxation). They all got on the floor and most of them closed their eyes like I asked! I sang to them a beautiful song in Spanish I recently learned (Promesa - by Shimshai) and brought them back from relaxation. I could see a subtle shift in most of their eyes and they were certainly more open and relaxed then when I first arrived. I gathered them close and gave a little concert / sing-a-long….not mantras this time, but Michael Franti, Bob Marley, Marissa Monte and a Portuguese translation of Lokah Samastah Sukino Bhavanto (Todos os Ceres, Em todos lugares, Seja Feliz e Livre)…we were all pretty blasted open afterwards. Looking into their eyes and singing with them and seeing their smiles really touched my heart and the reflected smiles that came back to me acknowledged that they were touched as well.

After the show, they were working on a dance coreography that there were really excited to show me! I sat a the front of the room and was elated to watch their dance…they were great! Coreographed moves, all moving together and with style and rhythm…muito legal! When the piece ended, I was almost in tears and they were all super happy. One of the helpers at the school then arrived with a shirt from the school for me. I gladly put it on and took some photos with them…and Fatima had a great idea. They have been following some of the Olympic Torch travels and Fatima suggestd that perhaps I could take this shirt from their special school in the favlela of Rio and take photos of me wearing it in all the places I go…and send them back in email to them. I LOVE this idea and am very happy to get to share stories from the world to these kids while they have a sense of connection to world through the shirt! Stay tuned for stories and photos!

After the class, Fatima and I talked a bit about how to bring more yoga teachers to the school and ways we can support each other and then she took me back to the bus stop for my ride home. I had great feelings of joy and happiness having seen and brought smiles to the faces of those children (see the photos on the photo page!) and also was inspired to create more opportunities for myself like this in other cities on my tour….if you happen to reading this and have a school / community center I could teach a free class to kids….let me know!!!! I also had feelings of great peace and gratitude for the blessed life I am living right now which were balanced with feelings of sadness and despair of what will happen to the lives of those children and to the millions of other children who live in poverty and violence. One thing I did notice with these children was that none of them looked ‘hungry’ per se…but after the class, I saw them all eating cookies and packaged junk food….this is a major hurdle in the health of the planet….shifting the tide of diet and nutrition. Brazil is rich in fruits and vegetables but there is a terrible over consumption of junk food, packaged food and sugar. When you order your fresh juice a the local corner suco stand, you have to request No Sugar or else it comes with 2 heaping spoonfulls…in Gods naturally sweet fruit juice!!! Caramba!!!! These children (and most children in the favelas) do not have the guidance or direction to learn to eat healthy and take care of themselves, which is like violence against themselves…then they are faced with gunfights, drug trafficiing, and lawlessness on a daily bases with violence on the outside. There is a lot of work to do….

Fatima and her Organization can be found here:

http://www.centroculturalbrasilcanada.org.br/

As my life is about balance…and often that takes the form of radical extremes, my afternoon experience was equal but opposite and incredibly educating in a different way. My good friend in Rio, Antonio Tigre, has been teaching yoga to children for several years now and he called me in the afternoon for a little hike. It was a welcome call and trip to the top of a park overlooking the lagoon of Rio and then it came to go as he had a class to teach at Nirvana, Rio’s super posh chiky-micky yoga studio. After my experience of teaching to kids in the favela, I wanted to learn from Antonio so he invited me to his class in the afternoon. He was amazing and although he acted like a kid the entire time, they respected every word he said. He guided them through a few poses and then had 2 or 3 games that were super fun (I played with the kids!). Then I watched as Antonio saw 2 girls in the class doing something different from the group…he walked over to them and asked what they were doing. They explained it to him and he quickly called all the others around….and had the children make us a brand new game on the spot….he allowed them to make the rules, the guidelines, how and where to start, etc….it was truly inspiring to see him empower these kids and for them to use their creativity and imaginations and to be allowed to run with their ideas to make a new game! Antonio told me this is the work / philosophy of one of his teachers and I look forward to trying it out next time I teach to kids…plus the games that he created that are very fun and effective.

From the City of God to Nirvana….classes of Yoga for kids who live lives within 10 miles of each other, but completely alternate universes…this is much of life in Brazil and very unique!

Ola Blog readers,

I have just landed in Rio de Janeiro after another incredible week in Florianopolis. I’ll re-cap the adventures and then when I have a bit more time post a bit about two things I’m pondering lately; dedication vs. discipline and taking risks…

After the very positive experiences in BH, I returned to the island sanctuary of Floripa. The weather was a bit cool so I took a few days to just be…some beach time, good practices and a lot of ’shanti time’. I taught class at Yoga Shala on Wednesday to a small group and gave a great Vinyasa Flow to them….lots of new stuff for the students and well received. Then I had 2 great adventure days leading into the teacher training weekend…

I called my friend Manu on Thursday and she was excited to hear from me and invited me to go to ‘circus’….not to ‘the circus’ but to play on Silks hanging from the ceiling. I have seen many performances of them before and was excited to try them. We arrived at UFSC (local university) and there was a class of Silk happening so Manu and I stretched a bit and then did some Acro-Yoga and other acrobatic tricks…she’s a bit of a circus performer type and showed me some great new stuff. It was great to be her base while she jumped and flew all over! Then we went to the silk and she gave me a little lesson and up I went. I was amazed at how safe I felt with using my hands and feet (Yes….the keys!!) to hold myself about 4 or 5 meters in the air. She gave me instructions from the ground and I made my way upside-down, split between two ropes and a few other poses that were really great. It was extremely tiring for me and the women who were there in class and the other teachers really amazed me with their strength and grace. I posted pics on my photos page (about > photos) and you can see my with my first circus act!!!! I had the pleasure of dinner with a new friend on Thursday night as well that brought some light and high vibration back to me. Thanks Claudia!

Then on Friday, the adventure continued with Paragliding! I got a call around mid-day from a friend I met who takes tandem rides on a parachute and it was truly special. We went to the top of Morro do Logoa and there were lots of pilots eager to fly as it had been a few days / weeks since conditions were good…Richard got everything set up, gave me a 3 minute lesson, really!, and strapped me in. There will be some other photos of that coming soon. Then he got the chute up in the air, gave me the instruction to start walking forward and the next think I know he’s behind me strapping in and the lift of a giant parachute pulled my feet off the ground and we were airborne. That initial sensation was really amazing. Something I have always wondered about….running off the side of the mountain until the wind carries you away. It was magical…then we cought a few thermals (warm updrafts of air) and up we went. The total flight was about an hour and the system is super easy. There was a seat on my pack and I literally just sat there and took in the amazing views of flying above Lagoa and the surrounding area. At one point, we even caught a thermal while it was making a cloud and were in the middle of this forming cloud….WOW! And with about 10 - 15 other chutes in the air, it was a very special afternoon. On the way down, Richard wanted to do a few loops which felt really amazing to have the G-forces, but made me a bit nautious…As for the landing, there were less instuctions then for the take-off, but successful and fun getting back to Earth. I felt completely spaced out afterwards for a few hours and Richard commented that being in the air like that (paragliding or hang gliding) is one of our only chances to be completely supported by the air in the natural way and I truly felt that in all my being. I got home, took a nice hot shower to prepare for class that evening and barely was grounded enough to make it to class. But alas, I’m a professional and made it happen.

The weekend was teacher training at Yoga Shala. I was an invited guest teacher of my good friend Camila’s training and had a super powerful weekend of teaching 18 very eager and interested students. There was lots of technical information as many of them were fairly new to asana practice (which I found very interesting seeing as it was teacher training, but I think many of them want to develop their practices deeper and then possibly teach) and lots of ‘David’s theory of vibrational living’ talk and….the Hands and Feet are the Keys that can open the doors of the Elbows and Knees which will lead you into the Kingdom of openness in the shoulders and hips! This analogy and methodology is going to be the fuel for my book…coming sometime in the next 5 years

Then Sunday afternoon after teacher training, I had some quality time on the beach with my new friend and am now working on a new song….It never gets easier to say Good - bye.

Now in Rio, I’ve arrived at Casa Carlao, a Yogi whom I have not yet met, but we have mutual friends and he’s invited me to his home. The doorman greeted me and brought me upstairs and I’m about to wrap this up and take an Acai in Ipanema before 6:30 class (as a student!!) at Blyss. My program at Blyss starts tomorrow and I am really excited to be back in Rio. Oh, there’s a pretty serious epidemic of Dengue Fever here in Rio right now. So I’ve brought plenty of repellent. Supposed to re-apply every 3 hours to keep the mossie’s away.

As a quick overview….I’m feeling very supported by friends and family through email and Skype. I am fully immersed in the ocean of emotion that is my traveling life and I am holding a vision for some major growth which is poised on the horizon.

Dear Blog readers…wow, I am eternally grateful and actually a bit surprised at how many of you are reading these posts and taking the time to write to me personally to comment on the state of (my) life these days. I feel totally loved and supported and appreciate all the communications.

I had a good last few days in Sao Paulo with a return to Casa do Zezinho for a small and more intimate group yoga and music event. It was super sweet and I have some new photos in the Sao Paulo page of pics…and then a great afternoon being ‘the star’ again for www.informeyoga.com.br where my new friends interviewed me in Ibirapuera Park about my philosophies of yoga, Vinyasa, teaching and living yoga and then made a little short video clip that will soon be edited and posted on YouTube for the world to see! I am now back in Florianopolis and and very happy to be back on the ‘Ilha de Magia’ (Magic Island) where I am leading Greenpath Teacher Training Module II all weekend. The honor and pleasure of leading Teacher training never ceases to amaze me and my experiences of late (loneliness, self judgment along with bliss and ego inflation!) are serving me wonderfully with new rich material with which to lead and live yoga by example!

Before I left Sao Paulo though, I had an interesting insight…the traffic in Sao Paulo is really some of the worst in the entire world. My last day there, there was a traffic jam that was measured to be 90 KM long…really. As a result of the traffic along with a very lackadaisical society my insight was this: Traffic in Sao Paulo is a legitimate excuse for inefficiency!

The last post about comparison and judgments brought about a series of replies ranging from compassion and empathy to acknowledgment and sympathy. Its interesting to still be in the space of comparison of how things were in those moments when I was comparing myself to other teachers to what is happening now where I am comparing myself to my state a few days ago. All the observations are very insightful and as I have been teaching lately, the first steps of transformation are becoming aware of triggers and initiators of self defeating and distracting thought forms so that we can work with them. I am now more and more aware of my triggers and have also been listening to some pretty potent teachings on MP3 that are teaching me ways to ‘flip the script’ so to speak when I have these thoughts / distractions. If you have a chance, check out:

http://www.abraham-hicks.com/

and The Lost Teachings of Yoga by Georg Feuerstein…both are very mind and heart opening sources of knowledge.

I also received this thoughtful post from a friend which draws a clear distinction with with what I have been feeling and sheds some Yogic insight to the process:

“When you are alone you are not alone, you are simply lonely - and there is a tremendous difference between loneliness and aloneness. When you are lonely you are thinking of the other, you are missing the other. Loneliness is a negative state. You are feeling that it would have been better if the other were there - your friend, your wife, your mother, your beloved, your husband. It would have been good if the other were there, but the other is not. Loneliness is absence of the other. Aloneness is the presence of oneself. Aloneness is very positive. It is a presence, overflowing presence. You are so full of presence that you can fill the whole universe with your presence and there is no need for anybody.”
Osho The Discipline of Transcendence, Volume 1 Chapter 2
All the best from the Ilha de Magia…next post is going to explore the distinction I am working with between Dedication and Discipline. It seems to be coming up a lot as I talk to Yogis here in Brazil ad reflect upon my own dedication and discipline…

And for the record, since I’ve been back in Floripa, I went out 2 nights in a row and feel my energy and vibes on the up and up again! I had a great day on the beach on Thursday and made a beautiful and profound ritual and offering to Yemanja on Friday coinciding with the Full Moon…Look out ;)!!!

Light and Love,

David

Hey Blog Readers….I’ve been in Sao Paulo the whole week with a variety of experiences going on, but feeling somewhat limited in my residency at YogaFlow. I have been staying here at the studio, which I really Love because the students are super friendly, there is a private room for me to practice (which I have been taking full advantage of) and the energy of YogaFlow is very peaceful…and I am missing my social life!

But before going into that, a little Yoga Re-cap. I had classes here Thursday and Friday night which were Candle-lit Vinyasa classes and they were great. Although there are vinyasa classes here, most of them are very ashtanga based with their sequencing and I brought something very different to them. Lots of groovy music, the candles and the fluid movement made for juicy classes.

Saturday was Building to Backbends and the peak experience of 6 Urdvha Dhanurasana’s is always a delight. Hearts and energy bodies blasted open. There were several Iyengar teachers in the room (which honestly makes me a bit nervous every time!) who all loved it and there were new students to yoga as well who have a new passion for the foundations of asanas.

Saturday afternoon was The Natural Link. There were only 12 students and we gathered in a circle (which is how I prefer to teach this workshop) and took the journey through the elements. I practiced with them and every time I create this experience, it works! Even in a city of 22 million, we were one with nature by the end of it all!

Turns out that Pedro Kupfer, a friend of mine from several years ago and “Mr. Yoga” Brazil, was here in SP offering a free Satsang on Saturday afternoon. Initially, I tend to feel a bit jealous and sad that students do not chose to come to my classes, but alas…I make space for those emotions and trust that the students that needed / wanted the experience were there. This has happened several times before where my travel schedule of traveling 1/2 way around the world coincides with local favorites which means that attendance at my classes drops significantly. The Portuguese word that I am working with for that is ‘Entrega’….surrender.

Saturday night we hosted Kirtan at Yoga Flow and Charlie (owner of Yoga Flow) and my friend Sergio accompanied musically and there was strong Bhakti energy. I attempted to record it on the laptop, but something didn’t work….Entrega. After the Kirtan, I was pretty spent and slept well.

Well…there’s lots to write about the energy at Yoga Flow where I am staying is always active with students and teachers.  And I need to get ready to leave for the weekend….so I must stop with this.  I’ll be writing over the weekend though and have some more reflections and thoughts.  This post seems kind of dry….for now!