Buster Williams with Cindy Blackman (Kundalini yogi) - Blues Alley

Buster Williams

Patrice Rusen

Steve Wilson

Cindy Blackman


An incendiary jazz set at Blues Alley Saturday night with the Buster Williams group, Something More (Patrice Rushen - piano, Steve Wilson - Sax, Cindy Blackman - Drums, Buster Williams -Bass). As I like to do, I look up the players afterwards and always find nuggets of information about them that I didn't know. In this case it was Cindy Blackman who was not only a drummer for Lenny Kravitz, is married to Carlos Santana but also a Kundalini yogi. How awesome is that?

From Wikipedia - Blackman cultivates spirituality in her musicianship. "I believe that music is so sacred that once you're playing music you are doing the work of prayer, whether you're conscious of it or not, because you have a focused intent," says Blackman. "You transcend, because you're crossing barriers that a lot of people and even us as musicians don't normally venture to, because we don't think about it. When you can learn to move those energies, even if they're sad, into something that is of benefit, like focusing on bringing light to people who are listening, or just to the universe in general, then you can do something good with it. I don't keep that in mind 100 per cent of the time – I'm human – but I try to." Blackman keeps herself in shape for the physical demands of playing the drums by practicing yoga and karate.

From SFGate - Blackman says she does Kundalini yoga to help keep her body and mind in shape. "The other yogas I find are great for muscle building and the flexibility of the limbs, but for me the Kundalini exercises really, really help the spine," she explains. "It's also very good for setting the stage for you to really key in on your spirituality because it's very calming and it helps you focus."

Alice Coltrane - Yoga Journal - 1982

Ran across this from a back issue of Yoga Journal. I tell you, the 60s were pretty interesting in that it sprouted all that Eastern spiritual sensitivities and explorations and I can't help but to think that what we have been seeing in the last 10 years with the yoga boom is the children of the spiritually sensitive parents rediscovering their parents roots and playing it forward but in an iSprituality mode.

Article from Yoga Journal here

Sarah Palin goes to India (no joke)

Well, this would normally warrant a satirical faux news piece on my part but I have already done it...After you checked out the comments on Gawker (which are always hilarious) regarding the real news story Palin goes to India, go have an additional laugh at the YogaDawg treatment...."Of course I know where India is; it's the capital of Indiana"!


Sarah Palin To Enter Yoga Ashram

Help Save Sarah's Knees

And the infamous YogaDawg's Advice to an Aspiring Satirist in response to a hate mail received from a Sarah supporter

Why your next yoga teacher might be a dog

With Doga becoming more popular, I wonder how long before yoga studios will start hiring dogs to detect bad asanas with "98 percent accuracy"...(hey, I know this is pushing the yoga angle but how could I let a great title like this go to waste)...inspired by the Newsweek article, Are Dogs Stealing Our Jobs

Yogi vs Yogi - I am sexy yogi

The YogaDawg Yoga Manifesto

Nuff said...

(Click on image for better resolution)

Oh Chippy, what have you wrought....

Go to the original site to see a great (but too subtle) use of image maps in a web graphic (oh the satirical possibilities). Mouse over sections of the poster for background information regarding sections of it and then go over to YogaDork to see the, ah um, spirited discussion going on...

I did wander into a Lulu store when I was looking for a pair of long yoga pants that didn't look like gym sweats and when I saw they were charging $100 for them, it was a "no way, no how" moment for me. Ended up buying a pair from Nike for $30 which fit the bill.

Yoga Stoned Magazine

Groovy!!

Read about the new YogaDawgs CD.

Yoga Studios Establish Yoga Threat System

In response to the many complaints and concerns that Yoga Alliance has received from practicing yoga students, the organization has decided to initiate an early warning 'threat' assessment requirement for yoga teachers. This volunteer system stems out of alleged abuses students have encountered from teachers while practising yoga in public studios. The complaints range from overcrowded classrooms to non-harmonious yoga music. Though it is believed that most yoga teachers oppose the enactment of a 'threat' system, students and a majority of studio owners support this as way to weed out rouge and out-of-control teachers "who insist on doing crazy ass stuff that stress out students."

Though the initial number of threat warnings will be somewhat limited, they are nonetheless the most egregious of complaints cited against teachers and some yoga studios. These include:

Crowded classrooms
Partner poses
Excessive chanting
Yoga teacher BS
Creepy yoga music

Other warnings likely to be added in the future are warnings for overpriced classes, teachers engaging in spiritual platitudes and/or labored metaphors and yoga classes that attract a high number of students who exhibit hideous yogatude tendencies.

The threat system will be voluntary for the time being but the initial guidelines have already been hammered out. Yoga studios will be required to post the level of threat that each yoga teacher poses on its website alongside the teacher's name. In addition, a yoga threat meter is to be placed on the reception desk at the beginning of each class and adjusted accordingly to the teacher that is instructing the class.

"We feel that we have now gone to the next logical step in rating teachers beyond their 200 and 500 hour certifications", explained Jenni-ji, spokesyogi for Yoga Alliance. "Without a reliable guide and tracking of a teacher's classroom behaviors, the student is at the mercy of a teachers’ idiosyncratic behavior. If we can warn yoga students about teacher’s unhealthy tendencies such as spouting unending philosophical hooey and that most feared of all yoga phrases, "Okay students, choose a partner for the next pose", we feel we have fulfilled our purpose as an oversight organization for yoga. Though we will most likely never be able to weed out all the problem teachers, we feel that students will now have a better chance of guarding themselves against yoga teachers that are simply crazy.”

All in all, yoga students seem to really like the new system. As Yogi Crocket explained, "In the past, there was no of telling what kind of crap a teacher was going to pull during class. Now at least, if the Yoga Class Advisor sign shows a high possiblity of partner poses, I can leave, then and there and go to another studio. This is brilliant! I'm a little surprised that YogaDawg didn't come up with this idea."

Yogi vs Yogi

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Find Your Yoga Soul Mate This Valentine's Day

Welcome to the YogaDawg Yoga Dating Service Questionaire. We understand how you have become cynical about other dating services that promised much but delivered little or nothing. We know how painful it was being rejected by Harmony.com because you indicated you were a yogi and how the other popular dating sites have matched you to the psycho fringe crowd. Well, here at last is a true dating site for the serious Yogi. This Valentine's Day, fill out this questionaire and find the yogi/yogini of your dreams.


What kind of yogi are you? (if unsure, take this quick yoga quiz)
_____ Yogi-Bobo
_____ YIP
_____ YOG
_____ Sadhu
_____ YogaDawg



Where do you live?
_____ California
_____ Mysore/Pune, India
_____ Yogaville
_____ Right Here
_____ Out There (zing, zing)
_____ Other



Do you live in a:
_____ House
_____ Apartment
_____ Yoga Studio
_____ Coffee Shop
_____ Bookstore
_____ Cubicle at work
_____ Cardboard box
_____ Cave
_____ Tee pee
_____ Have no need for shelter



How do you travel to your yoga class?
_____ A hydrocarbon spewing/environmental destroying/natural resource sucking/self-centered and selfish vehicle
_____ A hybrid
_____ A bus
_____ A bike
_____ Earth shoes
_____ Levitation
_____ Magic carpet
_____ Teleportation



_____ Are you a yoga teacher?
_____ If yes, what type are you? (If unsure, read the YogaDawg Guide to Yoga Teachers)
_____ Guru
_____ Exotic Dancing Shakti
_____ Facilitator
_____ Whatever
_____ High Touch
_____ High Tech
_____ Enlightened One
_____ Philosopher
_____ Mumbler
_____ Old Guard
_____ Clueless



_____ When doing yoga do you get in the ‘zone’?
_____ If yes, what zone?

_____ Are you zoned now?
_____ If yes, are you able to tune other Yogis in?
_____ Can you broadcast?
_____ If yes,what frequency are you on?
_____ Are you in the Twilight Zone?
_____ How about a Hot Zone?
_____ End Zone?



Your yoga practice helps you to:
_____ Be here now
_____ Be in your body (inner body experience)
_____ Be out of your body (out of body experience)
_____ Puts you out of this world
_____ Puts you on Cloud Nine
_____ Who am I, how did I get here, where am I going?

_____ Can other yogis join your there?



Do you have any of these special talents:
_____ Walk on water
_____ Raise the dead
_____ Practice tantric sex with select hotties in yoga class
_____ Charm cobras
_____ Walk through walls
_____ Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound
_____ Part major bodies of water
_____ Rride a magic carpet (or yoga mat)
_____ Sleep on a bed of nails

_____ Have you ever been institutionalized due to these talents?
_____ Do you have a job?



_____ Have you ever been on the cover of Yoga Journal?
_____ If yes, do you date old, short, bald yogis with beer bellies?
If yes, stop now and send email to yogadawg@hotmail.com for priority processing. Include year and month of issue.
If no, proceed to next question.



What level of yogi are you? (If unsure check the OSHA Guide to Yogis)
_____ Initiate
_____ Novice
_____ Ascetic
_____ Monk
_____ Sadhu
_____ Guru
_____ Boddhisattva
_____ Yoga Star



_____ Are you rich?
_____ Do you have a suger daddy/mama?
_____ Do you own a yoga studio?
_____ If yes, how many?
_____ Are you a leader of a cult?
_____ Are you a Yoga Star?



How many cats do you own?
_____ 1
_____ 2-5
_____ 6-12
_____ 12+
_____ I own a Bengal tiger

_____ Did you name any of your cats after any of the Chakras?
_____ Did you name them after any Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto gods?
_____ Have you ever been evicted because of all the cats you own?



What language do you speak:
_____ English
_____ Yoga BS
_____ Sanskrit
_____ In tongues
_____ Through telephethy
_____ I speak to the hand
_____ Have transcendented the need to speak
_____ Other



_____ Do you play a durm?
If yes, what kind:
_____ African drum
_____ Tabla
_____ Bongos
_____ Bass Drum in a marching band
_____ Are you in a drum circle?

_____ Are you a Wicca



On a date, have you ever:
_____ Practised a yoga pose while pondering a menu?
_____ Engaged in loud Ujayyi breathing?
_____ Explained Bramacharya to your date when they suggested having sex?
_____ Spontaneously entered a meditative state?
_____ Floated into space or melted into a waxy pool?
_____ Thought about opening a yoga studio?

_____ Has a date ever 'deep sixed' you because of the above?
_____ If yes, how long did it to take you to realize that you were 'deep sixed'?



_____ Have you ever done partner yoga?
_____ If yes, have you ever done partner yoga with more than one partner at a time?
_____ If yes, what were the most partners?
_____ Was it fun?
_____ Are you into naked partner yoga?
_____ If yes, can I join?

_____ How often do you engage in partner yoga?
_____ Do you practice safe mat hygiene?



_____ What brand mat do you use?
_____ Did you buy it or receive it as a gift?
_____ How many times a day do you use it?
_____ Does it smell (see mat hygiene question above?)



What is your age?
_____ Jail bait
_____ 18-28
_____ Old
_____ Prehistoric
_____ Ageless
_____ Ah, forget about it…..



In public do you wear:
_____ Chic Yoga clothes
_____ Non-leather Sandles and Malas
_____ Saffron Robes
_____ Face paint
_____ Nothing

_____ Do you carry a Trident or alms bucket?



At the end of a date, what do you do?
_____ Chaturanga
_____ Chant
_____ Whisper Om
_____ Breath of Fire
_____ Flee to a yoga studio
_____ Transcend the here and now



_____ Do you visit www.YogaDawg.com?
If so, do you think YogaDawg is:
_____ A Geek?
_____ Hot?

If you answered ‘hot’, stop now and send email to yogadawg@hotmail.com with a photo of yourself for priority processing, otherwise proceed to next question.



Write a haiku in the space provided below:




Draw a self portrait of yourself in a favorite yoga pose





Compose 8 bars of a yoga chant



For immediate processesing, send this questionaire in with a $379 International Money Order to:

YogaDawg Productions
Postal Drop 419
Ebola Okeidokei Street
Lagos, NIGERIA

Help YogaDawg become a Yoga Journal cover model

Go vote for YogaDawg. See my application and photo submitted below. I think I covered the guidelines:

Make sure we can see your whole body in the frame.

Show us your face, if possible.

Wear something form-fitting and bright, so that you stand out from the background.

Show off a pose you've mastered, rather than something more advanced that you can just barely do. (Great alignment impresses us more than difficulty.)

Office Yoga

Hippie Yoga Chicks on Acid

The reviews are in for the new CD from the YogaDawgs, An American Psychedelic Tantric Kirtan Band.

Just when things couldn't get more bleak for American kirtan music, along comes the YogaDawgs - Yoga Beat Magazine

A welcome change from the insipid and vapid music that is played in yoga studios across the nation. American Psychedelic Tantric Kirtan music is here to stay - Yoga Stoned Magazine

Yoga Music is Dead. YogaDawg is God. - Lady Gaga

Trudie and I get into it deeper and longer with the Hippie Yoga Chicks on Acid CD - Sting

OMG!! Am I still around? - Madonna

This CD makes me cry big time. God bless American Psychedelic Tantric Kirtan music - House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)


Song titles:

In-A-Gadda-Da-Shala
San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Your Lululemons)
Give Headstand A Chance
The Asanas They Are A-Changin'
Strange Pose
Electric Yogaland
Surrealistic Yoga Mat
I Feel Like I'm Fixin'To Bakasana
Yogamoxoa
12 Dreams of BKS
Dear Mr Asana Man
Steppendawg
Peppermint and Sanskrit
Are You Experienced (or do you just have a 200 hr teacher training certificate)?

Also enjoy these other awesome CDs from the YogaDawgs


Awesome review of the YogaDawgs first CD

Kama Sutra with Your Laptop

How to get intimate with your laptop....

Photography Master - Michael Wolfe

One of the nice results of taking on my art side again, reborn as Art Trip, has been the great artists I have become acquainted with in the last year, one of which is master photographer, Michael Wolfe. Enjoy Michael’s art below then go to his site for more of his work.

If you are in the KC area, drop by Sav-Art Gallery run by another great artist, Mike Savage, to purchase his work (you may even find an Art Trip or two there).