If it seems like there is a new yoga studio opening up every day, that may not be far from the truth. Yoga is blossoming and thriving in the Lehigh Valley. So much so that a day-long festival will be taking place this month to unite the area's yoga community and foster a fuller understanding of this practice within the Valley.
Tired of driving down to Philadelphia for an annual yoga festival and longing for something in the Lehigh Valley, Jo-Ann Temple-Hindon of Northampton conducted a Web search for a local festival. Much to her dismay, her search produced zero results.
Partly on a whim and with friends' encouragement, last July she posted a question on Facebook: “Lehigh Valley Yoga Festival 2014; who's with me?” Much to her delight, the response was overwhelming. A few weeks later a crowd gathered at a local Wegmans to begin the planning of what will culminate in the first annual Lehigh Valley Yoga Festival on Saturday, July 26 in Easton.
Changing perceptions
The practice of yoga is experiencing significant growth across the country. Survey results from 2008 through 2012 showed the number of people practicing yoga has risen nearly 30 percent from 15.8 to 20.4 million Americans. The Lehigh Valley is no exception as the number of yoga studios has grown from a handful to well over 20 studios with much of that increase occurring in just the last five years. Alicia Rambo-Wozniak, co-owner of Easton Yoga, one of the vanguard studios in the Lehigh Valley expressed, “Fifteen years ago, I used to have to explain to people that it was not a cult, but a practice. The mind-body connection was not that well known, but now science continues to back up the health benefits of yoga and more and more people are experiencing it for themselves.”
Yet, with this incredible growth and countless local studios, there was still no real opportunity to come together. The newly formed Festival Board knew they were on the right track.
“Our goal is to celebrate and bring the yoga community together and expose everyone to a broader understanding of yoga and its benefits,” board chair Temple-Hindon says. “The support from yoga studios in the Valley has been fantastic as this is something that everyone can take part in supporting—a common goal without competition.”
The festival will take place at the beautiful environs of Easton's Nurture Nature Center with a full schedule of events from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and will feature an expansive variety of styles of yoga classes throughout the day.
From the novice who has never done yoga to the seasoned yogi, there will be ample opportunities for new exploration and experiences. The types of yoga practiced locally used to be very limited. Now you can find Ashtanga, Kundalini and hot yoga, just to name a few. “Many in the valley don't know or haven't experienced the incredible variety of styles available and we are excited to showcase local teachers,” Temple-Hindon says.
The festival is a prime opportunity to immerse oneself and experience other styles, as well as the other aspects of yoga including meditation, breath work and the philosophies of yoga.
For many, it will be a chance to discover new ways to deepen one's own practice.
“We want people to know that yoga is for everyone regardless of size, shape, condition or physical limitation and we want to make it accessible for all. Everyone needs yoga because our lives are so controlled by our gadgets, always rushing and never stopping to take a breath. It affects our body and mental and spiritual health. The focus of yoga is always being present, staying connected, the mind automatically calms down and comes into [the] present and that can be uplifting,” says board member Prabha Sinha of Allentown.
Specialty classes for those 55 and older, yoga for children, restorative yoga, curvy yoga for the fuller figures and Acro-Yoga are just a small sampling of the classes that will be occurring throughout the day. Understanding that a day-long festival may be too much for young children, families will be able to purchase children's tickets which will give them access to explore the vendor, family yoga and Kirtan areas.
In addition to yoga classes, relevant lectures from area practitioners on a variety of health and yoga related topics, will be offered. Discussions on the philosophies of yoga, meditation, breath work and other wellness issues will occur throughout the day. The main floor of the Nurture Nature Center will be filled with holistic health-related practitioners and vendors as well as an art show connected to spiritual awareness.
Music is also an important part of yoga and it would not be a celebration without it. Nationally recognized and Grammy-nominated musician Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus band, as well as local bands, will be performing Kirtan throughout the day. Kirtan is a music experience that involves call and response chanting or singing of mantras.
“Often people were afraid to even sing ‘ohm' at the end of a class, now more are understanding the joy and inspiration one can experience in a Kirtan,” says board member and Kirtan vocalist, Deva Vidya of Tatamy.
Kirtan may be a new experience for many and that is part of the excitement for Vidya. “It is a chance to broaden the understanding of yoga, experience new things and get a bigger picture all in one day.”
At the core
Creating a festival is no small undertaking. At the core is a dedicated volunteer board of four passionate women with a vision for uniting a growing community and sharing in a labor of love. They have been meeting every week since January. Undaunted by the scope of this event, they stay inspired by each other's passion for yoga and its philosophies.
Rambo-Wozniak's firsthand experience with yoga occurred many years ago while trying to heal a shoulder injury. Her massage therapist suggested she try yoga. A year later, she was learning to teach others yoga. Today, her joy comes from her students sharing how their practice has helped them through a difficult transition or helped them achieve new levels of confidence in their body.
“I was no longer [experiencing] low frequency self-pity. It changed my whole mindset.”
For Temple-Hindon, her first exposure was through a friend who was given a yoga video from her dance teacher. They laughed at first, but halfway through the video they realized they felt great. She went home and bought the video. That was 15 years ago and more recently she deepened her own practice by attending a teacher training program, enabling her to share her joy with others.
Vidya dabbled in yoga in the '80s, but it wasn't until 2001 that she found yoga as her lifeline. Working in an extremely stressful environment in Manhattan, she kept hearing a voice in the back of her head saying “go back to yoga.” When she finally listened and attended a class, she had a powerful healing experience, releasing stress and knots she had been carrying in her body. Soon after, she attended a Kirtan and immediately fell in love with the experience.
“It brings people together in song and spirit, and it helped me to raise my energy. I was no longer [experiencing] low frequency self-pity. It changed my whole mindset.” Vidya's experiences prompted her to become a yoga teacher and more recently form a Kirtan group, performing throughout the region, helping others heal on their path.
Though yoga was part of Sinha's heritage, while growing up in India she didn't live in an area where she saw the physical practice. After coming to the US in her 30s and engaging in the hectic American lifestyle, she embraced the fitness world to combat stress and weight gain, but still had not tried yoga.
“It wasn't until literally my head was split open to remove a brain tumor that I realized I needed to do something else,” Sinha says. That something else was a yoga practice. It was time to embrace the physical, and most importantly, the mindful aspects of yoga.
For Sinha, that mindfulness goes beyond her own practice. Sinha created the Pratyush Sinha Foundation, a non-profit organization that brings yoga to youth, especially those in inner cities or at high risk. Part of the proceeds from the festival will go toward supporting the efforts of the foundation.
“Through the yoga practice, teaching them mindfulness and meditation helps equip them with tools to deal with life, enabling them to better handle the environment around them and help them achieve their full potential,” Sinha adds.
For these four women, personal experiences of healing and growth are the impetus behind the festival and the source of energy to accomplish such a feat. And now that simple question on Facebook has created an inspiring and enlightening event for the community to share, experience and celebrate.
Future hopes for the festival are to expand it to a two-day event. With the passion and dedication of the board, the volunteers and tremendous support from the growing yoga community, there is little doubt this is an achievable goal.
For more information and a complete schedule of events visit, lvyogafest.com.
