Yoga Travel

,

Handstand Workshop in Beijing!

,
Handstand Workshop in Beijing!

We’ve got a Core Strength Workshop coming up this weekend at Space in Shanghai! If you want to be able to do arm balance poses and handstands you need to have a strong core, and this doesn’t just mean the superficial abdominal muscles. Join me this weekend and learn about the function of all the core muscles on the front, back, and sides of the trunk. We touched on a little of this work in the Handstand Workshop. We even did 108 Yogi Bicycles! A very auspicious number! Thank you to everyone who came out to practice and went deep with me in this Handstand Workshop! Hope to see you in class or at a future workshop!

,

I hiked for 3 hrs on the Great Wall on Friday!

,
I hiked for 3 hrs on the Great Wall on Friday!

Hi Everyone!

I hiked for 3 hrs on the Great Wall on Friday! So beautiful. My host, Robyn organized a car to take me to this really remote area where there are not a lot of tourists and it’s very quiet and peaceful. The weather was perfect! It was such an incredible experience. The wall is amazing! I can’t imagine how they built it so long ago. It was very peaceful. I stopped several times and just sat down and rested. Very calm and quiet. I only met 3 other people on my hike. Beautiful landscape. It’s so high too. 30 feet in most places. And wide. Sometimes it’s very steep and you are walking up stairs after stairs, almost completely vertical in places, as it climbs up the mountain. What an adventure! I had no idea I would go either. Afternoon off and the suggestion of, “Do you want to go to the wall today?”. Life can be pretty wonderful sometimes if we get into flow and just let go and go along for the ride. If you are one of those people who always over thinks things, practice saying “yes” more often. I think most of our regrets don’t come from trying things that didn’t work out. They come from us missing opportunities because we didn’t say “yes” to something. Go for it! If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out but at least you tried and didn’t get in your own way.

Namaste.

,

Challenging Shiva Power class on Sunday morning.

,
Challenging Shiva Power class on Sunday morning.

We dove deeper into our pranayama practice after class. The afternoon was a fun breakdown of sun salutations A and B from Mysore Style Ashtanga and some variations on these 2 sequences.
We spent a lot of time working on the transition from Plank Pose to Low Plank. This is a challenging transition that most of us aren’t doing properly. If you clean up this transition you can prevent a lot of future shoulder injuries.


I taught the students how to jump forward and how to jump back in their sun salutations too and we worked on these transitions together. I think the best advice I got when I was first learning to jump in my sun salutations is to jump up and then down. Break it into 2 parts. Don’t think about jumping forward or jumping back. Just think about jumping up first.
Thank you, everyone! What a fun weekend. I look forward to seeing you all again. Good luck with the rest of the training and great job this past weekend!

. Namaste!

I’ve been back in Qingdao this week!

I’ve been back in Qingdao this week!

I’ve been back in Qingdao this week! Really fun group of students came to take 2 Shiva Power Master Classes with me. A hip opening and shoulder opening class on Wednesday night and a deep twisting and core strength class on Thursday night. Thank you to everyone who came out to practice. It was nice to see you all and practice with some of you again. Looking forward to next year!!! I think we are going to plan a longer training program if I can fit it into my schedule. Thank you to my student, Faye who graduated my Shiva Yoga 200hr RYT Teacher Training Program 2 years ago for organizing these classes. And thank you to Belle for translating. It’s been a long time my friend. Have missed you. Namaste

“Yogas Chitta Vrtti Nirodhaha”.

“Yogas Chitta Vrtti Nirodhaha”.

“Tapas, Svadhyaya, ishvara pranidhana” — Yoga practice consists of effort towards concentration, leading you into the fire, staying present to your experience and studying your mind and your patterns, and letting them go, ultimately surrendering to that which is beyond your ego.”

Beautiful gift from my host, Stella. Thank you so much. I love it.
And it’s very hot and humid here. It will come in handy as well.

On to the next adventure!

On to the next adventure!

I’m flying to New York today. It’s a long journey. First to Chongqing. I have a layover and then a direct flight from Chongqing to JFK. It’s been an amazing trip so far. These last 2 weeks in Shanghai have been a lot of fun. I’ve met a lot of new students and made a lot of new friends. My first stop on this trip when I left Los Angeles was to New York. Feels like a long time ago! I’m excited to be back in New York.

,

Dreamer Yoga Festival!

,
Dreamer Yoga Festival!

This was a fun night. Grateful to have been invited and honored to teach with such a talented group of teachers. Some beautiful performances after the teacher introductions and a hot and sweaty Zumba class at the end of the night. I even got an award for being one of the students dancing with the most enthusiasm during the Zumba class. Not necessarily with the most talent but with the most enthusiasm.

,

Backbending Workshop!

,
Backbending Workshop!

From our Backbending workshop last week in Shenzhen at Dream Space Yoga!
I love this deep Shoulder stretch and Chest opener. It’s a great partner pose that is a real “feel good” pose for both partners.
I’ve been working a lot on opening my shoulders and my hip flexors to deepen my backbend poses.
If we are really honest with ourselves, the “yoga mirror” shows you everything you need to look at, all of your imbalances, all of your strengths and all of your weaknesses. Do you have the courage to look in the mirror — and are you willing to put the effort into making the necessary changes in your life — both on and off the mat to find balance?
What are you working on right now? What areas of your body need to open up or get stronger? What areas of your life need some attention?

,

Yonion Festival — Day 4!

,
Yonion Festival — Day 4!

Yonion Festival — Day 4! My last class at the festival. What a fun day!I taught a Shiva Power Class/Backbending Workshop. We had a thunderstorm in the middle of the class. We were dry under the tent but the power to the sound system had to be cut and it poured rain. It was so loud.
Part of our yoga practice is going with the flow. We shifted to a much more workshop style class. My translator and I tried to be as loud as we could but it was still hard for the students to hear us. I ended up gathering everyone close to the stage. We demonstrated a few things to work on and then I sent them back out to their mats to practice. We did this a few times and it was actually quite a fun way to present to such a big group. Sometimes you get these wonderful spontaneous moments from just accepting things as they are unfolding. My teacher Dharma always used to remind us — Everything is happening the way it is supposed to be. What’s that famous quote — Yoga is not about stopping the waves but learning how to surf.

One of the greatest - Tymi Howard

One of the greatest - Tymi Howard

There’s some great teachers here at the Yonion Festival this year! I’m honored to be teaching alongside some of the best in the world. One of the teachers here is Tymi Howard. So nice of Tymi to come to my Shiva Power class today. Tymi has a big following all over the world, and especially here in China. She owns Guruv Yoga in Orlando, Florida too. I have been collaborating with her at her studio for the past year but we had never met and we finally got to connect in person here in China. Small world. This year she invited me to teach a small part of one of her Teacher Training programs too, which was a lot of fun. She has a wonderful community in Orlando. I’m excited to be heading back to Orlando in June to teach some classes and workshops at her studio again too. Love this girl! And I love this picture.

Visiting Sister Irene in Amorgos.

Visiting Sister Irene in Amorgos.

After a long detour where we made a wrong turn and ended up taking a beautiful winding road across the island we finally got back on the main road and headed to see Irene at another monastery. Sister Irene is such a special woman. I love visiting her when I come to Amorgos. She has put so much energy and so much love into taking care of her monastery. It’s beautiful!

My apartment in Athens is right below the Acropolis!

My apartment in Athens is right below the Acropolis!

My apartment in Athens is right below the Acropolis! Athens is such a beautiful city. I’ve spent the last two days walking around and exploring little, narrow cobblestone streets, cute cafes — with incredibly fresh food, and checking out some of the beautiful architecture and historic buildings here. The city has a really nice vibe. I’m so glad I’ll be back next week and get to do a little more sight seeing. I’m teaching classes and workshops next weekend at Panos Skylos and Upward Dog Yoga! Excited to practice with you again Athens Yogis.

Celebration dinner!

Celebration dinner!

Celebration dinner on Saturday night at Mako Restaurant! So good. Love this restaurant. Good food and great company. It always feels so good when we complete one of these training programs but also a little sad that it is over. Make sure you are breathing into every moment. Soak it up! This is your life. It’s happening right here and right now.

,

Pranayama Workshop!

,
Pranayama Workshop!

In Hatha Yoga — pranayama is used to balance the nervous system, bring clarity to the mind, and remove the veil of darkness that is covering the inner Light.
In Raja Yoga — pranayama is used to make the mind fit for concentration and is a preparation for meditation.
A very powerful evening working with the breath. Great job, everyone!
Some questions to consider: Why do we have two nostrils? Why would you want to predominantly breathe through the nose vs. the mouth?
This workshop kicked off a big weekend of Shiva Power classes, Shiva Meditation classes, and a Hip Opening and Arm Balancing Workshop! 🙏❤️Thank you to everyone who came to the workshop and thank you to Baja Soul Yoga for hosting. We have Asana Breakdown all week and then another big weekend coming up. Hope you can join us!

Something in the water...

Something in the water...

There’s something in this Dubai water. Feels like I’m just floating and light as a feather! Thanks for the fun play session! Lol.

I posted this picture on social media and some people wondered if it was real. We had so much fun playing and creating this and other pics. The XYoga Dubai Festival had this booth set up with everything rotated 90 degrees, so you could do these really crazy and wild looking asana variations. You were lying down but when you take a picture and rotate the pic 90 degrees it looks like you are defying gravity. Pretty cool!

Either that, or maybe I have more siddhi powers than I often share. Lol.

Dubai Eye 103.8!

Dubai Eye 103.8!

I had the opportunity to be on a popular radio show today on Dubai Eye 103.8 today and got to share about yoga and my journey! The hosts were really wonderful, funny, and asked great questions. It felt so good to be able to share a lot of knowledge about yoga, the benefits of the practice, and share my own story and yoga journey. Grateful for the experience! I hope the interview inspired a few people to get on their mat and try yoga. It’s definitely changed my life in a number of positive ways.

Exploring During Elysia Convention

Exploring During Elysia Convention

Yogis! It’s that time again. I booked my flight to Greece yesterday. Want to come on an adventure with me? Join me at the 3rd Annual Elysia Yoga Convention, at the 5* Aegialis Hotel & Spa, on the Greek Island of Amorgos! The convention is March 28th - April 4th! It’s an incredible value! Accommodation, 3 gourmet meals per day, Island excursions, and full yoga program — all for one low price! There’s single, double, and triple occupancy available. I hope you can join me. Amorgos is a really special place. See you there!!!

www.elysiayogaconvention.com

,

Last Shiva Power Class w/ Kula!

,
Last Shiva Power Class w/ Kula!

My last Shiva Power class at Kula Yoga, in New Smyrna, was yesterday morning. It was a little bittersweet. We had so much fun practicing together all week. I will miss practicing with this Kula Yoga crew. I’m leaving for Orlando today, sad to go, but also feeling very inspired by the community here in Port Orange and New Smyrna. This community reflects so well on Jodie and Jackie Anderson. You’ve created such a wonderful space here and attracted such a wonderful group of teachers and students. What a great group of yogis! I found everyone very open and receptive on this trip and it was so easy to teach your students all week. Thank you again for inviting me to come and share. Grateful for you both. Blessed that we have crossed paths and excited for the continued journey and future collaborations. Kula Yoga — I’ll see you in the fall. I’m back leading my 300hr Shiva Yoga Teacher Training which will be spread over September, October, and November. I look forward to seeing you then! I’m sure we will have some open classes and open up some of the workshops during the training too. It will be fun to practice with you all again. Namaste.

Call 310.800.8614
mail@garthhewittyoga.com