While BJ is busy nailing down the final details of our Spring 2014 Yoga & Wellness retreats in Bali, I want to introduce you to one of our esteemed yogi partners, Shiva Reinhardt.
I’ve known Shiva for 25 years (how can that be when I still feel 17 years old?). It’s sometimes startling to stop and look back at how amazing her path in life has been: from her first interest in massage and yoga at New College of Florida to now owning a highly respected yoga studio, Ayurvedic spa, and massage school in Ruidoso, NM. She made Hawaii her home (which turned out nicely for me, too!) in order to learn the art of presence-based massage from a renowned teacher and practitioner, Lee Joseph. Wanting to continue the tradition, she and her husband Ron moved to New Mexico and opened a massage school where you can learn not only the craft of massage, but how to cultivate true healing energy. I am lucky enough to teach the Oriental Medicine portion of the school’s curriculum, and I can tell you that these students are getting some of the best, most thorough and therapeutic training available today.
I would be lying if I said I practiced yoga regularly (it’s on my to do list, does that count?) However, that is an added bonus when I get to fly out to NM and visit with Shiva–I get to attend her yoga classes. I am always impressed, amazed, relaxed, and a little sore (I told you I don’t practice regularly!) after a class with Shiva. Her directions are clear, her playlists inspiring, her hands-on repositioning a godsend, and her savasana out of this world. She’ll often play an instrument, coming around to mats with fragrant essential oils (some brought back from India) for your third eye during this final, integrative pose.
I can’t tell you how excited I am for our Yoga & Wellness retreat with Shiva in May 2014. Yoga classes available multiple times a day in the most gorgeous settings, community acupuncture (for those interested!), casual informative lessons about clean eating and living, and all sorts of neat day adventures, depending on what sounds delicious to you that day! I know you’ll love spending time with Shiva; her approach is down-to-earth, accessible, and rooted in a compassion, sense of humor, and intellect that is rare these days. I look forward to knowing her for another 25 years (and hopefully another 25 after that!)
