In an effort to bring high-level teachers to Riverside, I went on a whim and invited Yoganand Michael Carroll (our 200 hour yoga program director and founder of Pranakriya Yoga) to come to our home studio in Riverside. Guess what? He said, "Yes!" He also said he'd love to come back again sometime! Our topic was Yoga from India to the West. We dove deeply into yoga history and philosophy in an effort to uncover how we arrived at our modern-day practices. Where did they come from? What did they used to look like? Of course, in true Yoganand fashion he told us some wonderful stories that kept us engaged and enthralled. Each day when the program was ending I couldn't believe time had flown so quickly! We were expertly-guided through pranayama techniques and meditations that were designed to make us feel more alive and energetic. It was a wonderful weekend and we can't wait to have more!
My thanks to Jacci Gruninger (past Executive Director of Pranakriya Yoga) for supporting this unfolding of events. Together, we were able to expand Pranakriya Programs to CA. Our intention was to have Jacci direct a Pranakriya 200-hour YTT and promote it by offering weekend immersions with Yoganand and Jacci. It was because of her that we were able to secure Yoganand as our program director and find a topic that suited our needs. She supported and assisted us in learning about contracts and marketing plans and was more than willing to speak with us over the phone and answer all of our questions along the way.
Jacci was slated to lead our 200-hour YTT beginning in March and an immersion in February which we have postponed. It is our hope that this will give us more time to share the program with interested students and build more interest in the Pranakriya practices that have brought Nathan and I to where we are today as yoga teachers and practitioners. Nathan and I will continue to offer our Pranakriya classes at F.U.N. Yoga. If you want to become a yoga teacher and deepen your personal practice please reach out to me and I can connect you to the next steps. In the meantime, you can follow our weekly musings in our new blog "Yoga Near Me".