this summer, our featured teachers converge on the importance of moving with awareness.
meet reema datta • mama, yogini, and author, reema was born into a family of yogis in the advaita vedanta lineage, steeped in the vedas, upanishads, and bhagavad gita. in 2015, she founded yatri: yoga for emotional healing™ and offers meditation, visualization, mantra and movement to liberate ourselves from kleshas or destructive emotions.
this october, reema will offer her signature 300-hour teacher training program (yoga alliance certified). based on the wisdom of her family lineage, students will explore the practice at the level of thoughts, emotions, body, and consciousness to experience the goal of yoga: healing and freedom. train with reema
reema’s practice right now: dharma
reema explains that the word dharma means “the right thing to do for you” and comes from the sanskrit root dri, “to hold together.” our dharma is that which gives us integrity and makes us who we are. with everything going on around us, remember this one thing – we have choices. each choice that we make is who we become, and affects our reality. keep it simple. each moment, do the right thing for you. be aware of what you allow into the temple of your body – what impressions, people, websites, articles, books, shows, music, food, advice, thoughts. a temple is something we keep clean, something that we are very careful of what we let in. you are the temple. be mindful of your choices. they affect how you see and experience the world around you.
meet bex urban • a meditator since age 4, thanks to her family’s commitment to spiritual practice, bex teaches yoga and pilates, offers reiki, and guides meditation in marin county, california. her vinyasa classes are revered for their mindful sequencing and incorporation of mantra and kriya. she also offers these practices in custom formats for private groups and corporations.
this october she’ll return to a favorite retreat destination, sonoma county’s ratna ling center. a weekend with bex is a chance to reset, realign and reclaim your best self. retreat with bex
bex’s practice right now: patience and “gratefulness”
patience and “gratefulness” are bex’s daily inquiries. she distinguishes the latter from gratitude, as “gratefulness” implies a state of being.
in her asana practice, bex plays with cadence to shift her mindset. some days, that means really slowing down and reminding herself, “i get to do this practice!” she always aspires to move with awareness — “breathing is a gift and being able to bend is a blessing.”
shifting her framework is also supporting her as life opens up again, choosing to see opportunity over obligation.
meet heisue chung • heisue is a trauma-informed yoga teacher in los angeles. she believes that through movement of the body we can find both personal and collective healing and liberation.
this spring she launched “toolbox practice,” an online series of joint exercises and mobility training, intended to help people maintain their physical health and prevent injuries. proceeds benefit the mumbai-based non profit khaana chayiye (“we need food”) providing meals to india’s most vulnerable populations during the covid crisis. for the summer season she looks forward to teaching again in person at her local studios in los angeles and pasadena. practice with heisue
heisue’s practice right now: radical self care