What did you get up to last weekend? Lateesha, a key leader from lululemon Soho, practiced with global yogis, declared new goals and got her dance on with a live DJ and drum circle. Read on for her other New York Yoga Journal conference highlights.

making new friends at the photo booth
I spent much of my weekend at our photo booth, where yogis looking for a place to relax would stop by, like the group looking seriously yoga-stoned after their all day intensive with Ana Forrest. Yogis from all over the world visited to have conversations, make new friends and strike a pose. The atmosphere was so fun which is probably the reason I pitched a tent and camped out here all weekend!

getting my dance on
Dancing at a yoga conference? This was no ordinary dance party. Part energetic yoga class, part free form body bumping dance party and a whole lotta fun. Elena Brower, Dana Flynn and Shiva Rea lead the evening and created a space that was both meditative and playful. How often do you get to meet up with hundreds of friends (both old and new) to shake your booty to a live DJ set and drum circle? Highlight of the evening: the entire class on their mat singing along to a soulful version of Empire State of Mind. A New York moment that can never be repeated!

creating a life i love
On Sunday, our eastern U.S training manager, Tricia Prange, shared tools to make powerful choices and build a future that inspires and moves us, at our Create a Life You Love workshop. If you missed it, check out our goalsetting page for some of the juicy info.

practicing with seane corn
My 10-year vision includes having Seane Corn on speed dial and the opportunity to practice with her was by far the highlight of my YJC experience! Each year Seane’s organization Off the Mat, Into The World sponsors an international service project called the Global Seva Challenge that challenges yogis to raise $20,000. I plan to raise the funds and join OTM next year in India to raise awareness for the issue of sex trafficking worldwide.

Sounds like fun, right? If you live on the West Coast, good news! The first-ever Yoga Journal Conference in San Diego is happening July 12-16. We’ll be there with bells bandhas on.

There are some things (like keeping up with latest and greatest everything) that New Yorkers just do best. Before we go barreling into the boroughs, we asked Soho Keyleader, Natalie, for her can’t miss picks for the upcoming New York Yoga Journal Conference. Now if only we can get her to hail us a cab…

top 5 must-dos at the new york yoga journal conference

5. the marketplace
The marketplace will be open and free to the public all weekend. There’s tons of amazing health, wellness and yoga brands setting up shop with the coolest stuff in the industry. Need a new photo for your Facebook timeline? Check out our complimentary photo booth where you can strike a pose with yogi and photographer, Andrew Dolgin.

4. get bendy with backbends
Channel your inner acrobat! Check out Effortless Backbends with Rodney Yee & Colleen Saidman Yee on Saturday at 8am. After nearly memorizing the Power Yoga DVD, I’m dying to hear Rodney ask me to, “stand in mountain pose”. This dynamic duo will not disappoint!

3. create a life you love
Nothing like a little goal setting to light the fire under your asana. Join us for our complimentary workshop, Create a Life You Love, on Sunday at 1:45pm. Create a vision, set some big hairy audacious goals and start living your best life.

2. i spy with my little (third) eye
Now that your vision has been set, put your practice into motion and learn to trust your inner knowing. Don’t miss Seane Corn in Yoga for Inner Visioning on Sunday at 3:30pm.

1. get your dance on
If you can only make it to one thing this conference, let it be this Friday night event! The amazing Elena Brower and Dana Flynn will co-lead a yoga class set to the beats of DJ Drez. As if yoga and sweet tunes aren’t enough to seal the deal, the class will turn into a yoga trance dance session led by Shiva Rea. (Editors note: We can’t say so for sure but if it’s anything like our own yoga rave it’s certainly an event not to be missed!)

the details

yoga journal conference new york
April 12 - 16, 2012
Hilton New York
New York, NY

Four days, 45 master teachers, over 100 classes and so much awesomeness. We’ll be live tweeting, instagramming and blogging from YJNYC all weekend. What are you most looking forward to at this year’s conference?

The population seems to have doubled overnight here in Lake Tahoe and the Wanderlust grounds are buzzing with happy, sweaty, yoga-fied people. The energy here is incredible and the conversations are flowing - from the yoga mat to the elevator.

600 yogis line up for Seane Corn's class

creating space

About 600 people were in my first class of the day, lead by Seane Corn. I knew it was going to be powerful a few minutes in when I noticed the two people in front of me had tears streaming down their cheeks. We honoured the amazing and powerful women in our life by dedicating our thoughts to them (I sent mine to my mom - hi mom! Did you get them?), and went deep into our hips where Seane says we "store every relationship we've ever had" to release the past and let go. One word: wow.

creating art

I had been looking forward to practicing with John Friend, the founder of Anusara yoga, for a long time. His class was just as I had imagined it would be -- 1.5 hours of play, accompanied by live musicians who were perfectly in sync with our movements: holding the song as we held poses, crescendoing as we expanded towards the sky. I think I detected a Simon + Garfunkel song at one point [side note - can anyone verify this? I really want to know!].

John Friend and the merry band

science-asana

About to get my neuroscience on

Next up: "The Secret" meets neuroscience. At least, this is what I thought when Dr. Van Houten began his lecture about happiness and meditation and asked us to create a vision of our future self. My nutshell edition of his wonderful 1.5 hour lecture: We can change the chemistry in our brains permanently, through 10-15 minutes of meditation a day. So if there's something in your life that you want, focus on it and your brain will figure it out. I'm now inspired to give my neurons a workout -- six-month meditation experiment, anyone?

hammock dreams

I had a short break between activities and checked my Twitter stream. Someone named @hammocker had said hi to me, and I decided to meet them in real life. I am so glad I did.

Rachel was at the Yellow Leaf Hammock booth and told me how her boyfriend Joe had gone to Thailand on vacation, discovered these handmade hammocks, and quit his corporate day job when he returned to found Yellow Leaf, which is committed to creating a sustainable social enterprise. They've only officially been open for a week. The hairs on my arm stood up when she told me their story.

visions and goals

I ended my day with a goal-setting workshop lead by Andrea from lululemon. Andrea brought tears to a few eyes with her personal story of goal-setting including the fact that she was achieving a goal by being here at Wanderlust leading the workshop. When I got home and checked the lululemon blog, I saw Allessia's post on visions and goals and it connected all the individual pieces of my day together.

If there's something in your life that you don't have, you can create it. Let go of situations / things that aren't serving you and create a life you love. If you're at Wanderlust, Andrea's holding another workshop Saturday at 5 pm. Be there or be square.

Until tomorrow,
Alana