2.5
December 8, 2011

Yoga, Human Potential, and Giving a Damn.

You can feel it. The world feels as though it is at a tipping point. 

Something big is happening. We are about to experience a new era and a new phase in the evolution of humanity.

What if the blend between ancient source teachings of yoga and the human potential teachings of the 21st Century could help us play our part more skillfully during this time of imminent transformation?

You see, the source teachings of yoga promise many things: Success, prosperity, peace, bliss, health as well as ninja life skills.

Yet, these days we are glued to email, mobile phones, iPhones, and wifi, forcing us to keep up a turbo pace. In the new movie Yoga Woman, one of the teachers recalled how we used to be able to stroll over to a friend’s house unannounced for tea, but now we need to make an appointment a week in advance!

How do we relate to teachings that were written or shared orally over 5,000 years ago? These teachings were not created for people addicted to iPhones and lap tops or those who are used to booking their calendars in 15 minute increments. Some children have busier calendars than their parents these days.

To integrate yogic source teachings today requires that we slow down and carve out time to unplug, in order to get perspective on just how we want to craft our lives. Yet, there are very few practical how-to’s for integrating yogic teachings while navigating this crazy pace.

That said, the human potential movement seems to be making headway in this arena. Self-help books and success seminars abound, life coaching is the norm, and workshops on building health, wealth, and happiness are taking place all over the world.

Many of these programs promote creating a better world, elevating environmental and human consciousness, facing fears and shedding limiting belief systems that hold us back from attaining our hearts desires.

Sound similar to some of the same things promoted in yoga class?

The difference is that one is ancestral, mystical and I dare say, “fringe”, the other is practical, current, and mainstream.

More and more these two worlds are merging.

Would you believe that there is actually a married couple literally embodying “ancient teachings meet human development”?

Yep. Meet husband and wife team Gerry and Nicole Wienholt.

The couple bought the Yoga Pod studio in Boulder, CO, almost 2 years ago, a dream they had when they married.

Gerry is a gifted speaker, motivational coach and human development leader. Nicole has a background in organizational leadership and business administration, but her primary passion is being a yogini, living yogic lifestyle and teaching yoga.

Combining Nicole’s passion for all things yoga and Gerry’s zest for motivational coaching, their synergistic vision for the community inspires students to grasp a higher purpose for their life, to meet challenges and reach their highest potential.

Sure enough, Gerry and Nicole’s upbeat fire life and modern, down-to-earth approach has attracted tremendous enthusiasm for the classes at The Yoga Pod. In fact, they recently expanded their studio, a vast three-room facility, with multiple styles of yoga offered at all times of the day.

The combination of the coaching background and verve for yoga definitely informs the energy among the teaching staff and the students, providing an atmosphere of hope, possibility, and the promise of greatness.

The studio expansion has been an unprecedented success, and students have been flocking in.

When asked how they see the future of yoga evolving in the years to come, they answered, “There will be even more of a shift from the physical exercise of yoga to an emotional and spiritual experience. More heart and mind with movement and breath. The teachers of the future will have to start incorporating relevant themes that touch people at the intersection of stress, anxiety and hope.”

Regarding yoga studios and the future, they had this to say, “Studios of the future are places for connection with community, in a non-judgmental, inclusive, diverse environment, that fills the void caused by isolation and individualism, so prevalent in today’s society.”

If you are like me and you believe that extraordinary leaps are taking place in human evolution, now is the time to step up. Now is the time to care.

Get with your yoga as it relates to the here and now. Live your life on fire.

Related articles: http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/09/boulder-event-yoga-pod-expansion-celebration/

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