the collective keeps on groovin'

some people collect the usual stuff -- coins, stamps, trading cards. others collect items that can be considered quite unusual -- bunnies, toasters, even airsickness bags (!?!). and then there's me; i collect things that clearly classify me as compulsive -- a marathon in every state, a class at every yoga studio in los angeles, attendance at every yoga groove collective event. hmmm...

in the past year or so, there have been six YGC evenings. of the six, i've shown up at five of them; the only one i missed was the one that was held in orange county. and it's only because i had a good reason for not making it there (although i can't seem to remember what that good reason was).

for those of you who are unfamiliar with the yoga groove collective, it's composed of four local yoga teachers (seane corn, hala khouri, ashley turner, and julian walker) and a musician (suzanne sterling). they continue to produce donation-only yoga/movement/music events at various yoga studios, with 100% of the proceeds going to a different charity each time.

here's a brief recap of the five YGC events that i managed to get to:

april 2006, sacred movement - introduced suzanne sterling to the community and supported the release of her new CD

may 2006, yogaworks montana - raised funds for seane corn's "off the mat, into the world" campaign benefitting youthAIDS

december 2006, yogaworks main street - with guest teacher ted mcdonald, whose favorite charity, the casa de milagros orphanage in peru, was the event's beneficiary

march 2007, yogaworks montana - with guest teacher david romanelli, with the proceeds going to heal the bay

and the latest addition to my collection:

may 2007, exhale santa monica - funded yoga ed.'s training programs for teaching yoga to at-risk youth

at that last event, before we started flowing with the yoga and the music, there was a spoken word performance by a product of the juvenile hall system, a 21-year-old who somehow turned his life around and now serves as an inspiration and role model to other inner city youth like himself.

there's nothing that encourages people to donate more than showing them a concrete example of their money being put to good use :)

after the class, there was a small reception in the patio with bottled water provided by liquid om and veggie wraps by leaf cuisine.

besides accepting donations from all the participants for the class itself, the YGC sold raffle tickets for prizes that were donated by local businesses: an exhale spa basket, a yogitoes tote bag filled with yoga accessories, a $100 gift certificate from natural high, a silver om bracelet from sasa jewelry, and a couple of organic food baskets from essential living foods. and i guess you could say that i got lucky that night; i ended up winning the silver bracelet plus a slew of items to satisfy my mid-day munchie attacks (dried fruits and berries, nuts, cacao nibs, agave syrup, maca powder, and a yummy olive tapenade)!

how do you top a wonderful evening of juicy yoga, stimulating music, yummy food, and fantastic prizes? by attending another one, perhaps?

i'll be watching my mail for future "collectible" collectives!