…have yoga mat will travel

The Yo Yo Yogis

100 STUDIOS IN 100 DAYS… Seattle to San Diego. Join The roadtrippin’ YoYoYogis as they bring you, our fellow zen lovin’, soul-explorin’ brethren; the most mind-bendin’, body stretchin’ peace providin’ practices on the left coast… Check it out!

Hot New Blog!!! My First Month of Yoga…Join this urban, “never done yoga before” Seattleite as she makes some unexpected discoveries.

Seattle, Washington, June 15, 2009

Shakti Vinyasa Yoga / Ballard – Lisa Black

Seattle Skyline from Kerry Park

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Shakti Vinyasa Yoga / Bellevue – Lisa Black

Pike Place Market

A Mecca for fruit, veggies, flowers, damn good street musicians, tourist, and the YoYo’s, Pike Place Market is a microcosm of the Emerald City. Old, young, every color and country on earth is represented in the outrageous gift of this square mile. Fun & Funky, the sights and sounds of this farmer’s bounty enlivens every YoYo cell and encourages us to just breathe and be as we prepare for a return trip to the teachin’ excellence of Lisa Black.  Tonight we head across town to Shakti Vinyasa Yoga EAST to her newest studio in Bellevue, Washington.

Peter Avolio and Lisa Black

Yogalife / Greenlake – Fran Gallo

Green Lake

Green Lake Sidewalk Cafe

Dog-walkin,’ stroller-pushin’ hoop-shootin, fish-catchin’ sail-boatin’, road-bikin’, roller-bladin’, & power-nappin; Green Lake, a magnet for urbanites in search of a respite from the big city is just 10 minutes from downtown Seattle.  A magnificent park and 3 mile track circles this tree-lined paradise resting on the shores of a surprising reservoir.

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The SweatBox Yoga  / Capitol Hill – Laura Culberg

Alfresco Dining in Capitol Hill

Not exactly 40 days and 40 nights but record breaking days in a row withOUT rain in Seattle hit 29! That was until today as the YoYos changed all that and created more pouring precipitation than humanly possible at Seattle’s premiere Bikram Yoga Studio appropriately named The SweatBox. How many times have the YoYos come out of class and heard a red-faced, wiped-out yogi say, “I’ve never sweated so much in my whole life”? Today, was the YoYo’s turn! We looked at each other, wiping bucketing perspiration from our blurry eyes, acknowledging silently that we had totally got our butts kicked by Laura Culberg, co-owner of this unpretentious Bikram yoga studio located in the urban alternative neighborhood of Capitol Hill.

Laura Culberg

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Got to get going’ to our morning yoga class before heading’ out to The Naked Parade in Fremont at 12 noon!  It’s not really called, “The Naked Parade” but according to Seattleites, the “Summer Solstice Parade”, brings out a smorgasbord of bodies tattooed with bright paint and nothin’ else… ridin’ around on bikes.  The YoYos wouldn’t miss this for the world!   So up, and off we go to Home Yoga in Queen Anne, just walkin’ distance from the YoYos Seattle flat.

Home Yoga

No fancy sign…no lights, camera or action, just beautiful plants, and big welcoming smiles greeted the YoYos.  Terri Dyer, owner of Home Yoga, is proud to be a vital member of this pulsating Queen Anne neighborhood and has created a strong community by offering students generous discounts for bringing donations to the neighborhood’s suffering food banks, posting flyers from students to encourage yogis helping yogis, offering her comfortable space and level head to students forming various groups; she even gives mid-day yoga classes at nearby corporations to get people off the computer and on the mat.  Terri, a super-smart yogi who “pulled the plug” on her corporate life; found peace, love and happiness by meditating and teaching yoga before opening this neighborhood favorite 6 years ago…and the YoYos are soooo happy she did. 

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Lee Atwell & Brooke Zwerner

The daylight hours in Seattle this time of year are seemingly 20 hours long, but today is Summer Solstice – so we can bump that up a notch!  Celebratin’ the Sun, we are up at an even earlier crack to take “back to back” classes with Lee Atwell (yogini) and Brooke Zwerner (yogi), owners of The Yoga Studio in Magnolia. Hidden in a quaint village filled with happy people and even happier dogs, The Yoga Studio in Magnolia is in perfect harmony with the mellow feel of this drop-dead gorgeous neighborhood. Enter this serene space and any stress you thought you may have once had…is long-gone.

Lee & Brooke

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Excited to experience the much anticipated teaching excellence of Denise Benitez, co-chair of the world-wide Anusara certification committee, the YoYos got all dressed & ready in their cool new YoYoYogi T’s and raced across town to arrive 30 minutes early to Seattle Yoga Arts. Running up to the door of this understated studio, we found a sign stating, “Doors open 10 minutes before class”.   Having a tad bit excess energy from just downing a Gingerade Kombucha, we decided to take a lap before returning to what appeared to be a theatre cue of people waiting to enter this extremely popular, Capitol Hill class.

Denise Benitez

As the door opened, the energetic, smilin’ yogis entered the spacious one- room studio and quickly rolled out their mats …it appeared they too were excited to experience the next 1 ½ hours.  Mats nearly touching, we quickly got to know our neighboring yogis who seemed unusually full of joy as they gushed over Denise and told us this talented mentor was going to teach us ….A lot!

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Colorful Fremont

Peace and Love in Fremont

Tonight, we traveled over the Fremont Bridge trying to stay focused on the lights ahead and not the breath-takin’ scenery below.  Full sails billowing in the soft breeze as diamonds popped off the water of Lake Union….The road to this free-spirited town is just dazzlin’. As we entered Fremont, rememberin’ the last time we were here for the Solstice Parade with streets full of outrageous floats, great music and naked painted people riding bikes, we just smiled.  Tonight, all was back to normal (?). The fun and funky neighborhood was crowded with people just hangin’ at the bazillion outdoor cafes, natural food stores and coffee houses.  Stoppin’ at PCC, we grabbed yet another Kombucha and readied ourselves to take Kitty’s Wittkower’s class at the Yoga Tree- Seattle.

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Find the Yo Yo Yogini

Yogi Man on Giant Eyeball

Watchin’ the sun rise in the middle of the night, as it does here in Seattle this time of year, confuses the RU – the wise, kind, old, grandfather cocker spaniel – who’s always in search of a deep cultural experience.  Patiently, he waits for the YoYos to wake and take him to the Olympic Sculpture Park which sits on the edge of downtown, adjacent to the shimmerin’ waters of Puget Sound.  As we approach, our eyes pop open in delight to see metal statues of runnin’ people, giant erasers, “&” signs, giant eyeballs that you can sit in (or sit “on” if you are yogi man), and water shootin’ up from the ground. This park is crazy cool and Ru is happy. Isn’t that all that really matters? We got lost in time and statues, so we raced back to get across town to Greenwood to take our very first Viniyoga class at Whole Life Yoga from Tracy Weber.

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