SAT NAAM

YAY!

2008-12-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

Sat Naam/CSU Community Garden Dedication - November 15th

2008-12-09T20:14:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, November 15th, Sat Naam and CSU held a Dedication Ceremony for our Community Garden. The event was held on a VERY hot Saturday afternoon and despite the heat so many people ended up coming through and celebrating with us. We had some really delicious organic food a lot of which came from various urban farms CSU has set up around South LA. We shared, conversed, ate and had a wonderful time!

The Sat Naam Community Garden Workdays...

2008-12-09T20:01:00.000-08:00

We've come a long way since our first work day back in June. With lots of time and hard work we've been able to transform our space and spirits. It's been such a beautiful experience to work with the earth and connect with people through that. I feel so blessed!

an update on the garden...

2008-09-25T14:06:00.000-07:00

This is a recent photo of the Garden. Check out the tomato plants!!! Thank you to the CSU student interns who are helping maintain and take care of the garden:)

Sat Naam/CSU Open House - June 27th

2008-09-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 27th, 2008, Sat Naam and CSU celebrated the opening of their new space with an open house. The public was welcome and food was prepared using the produce from some of CSU's urban farms. Lots of new and old friends came through to check out the space and see our Community Garden. It was a long exciting day for all of us.

"Changing Lives One Yoga Pose at A Time"

2008-09-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

Sat Naam has been working with kids in schools in South Central Los Angeles for the last 3 years. Since then, we've been able to develop a close and meaningful relationship with not only the students we work with, but with their families and the faculty and staff of the schools they attend.
In April, we decided to take the cameras into the schools and document our Yoga In Schools Program that we've created. I think the end result is beautiful! To check it out go and to find more information about the program go to http://www.satnaam.org/yoga/. Thanks to all of the film friends who helped make this such a great movie!

Garden workday #1 - June 2nd 2008

2008-09-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

Sat Naam had it's first Community Garden workday Monday, June 2, 2008 from 4-8pm at our new location at MLK & Normandie. We had a humble turnout, but were able to begin planning out the structure of our new community garden and the overall beautification of the outside of the space. The two photos show what we're starting out with. I'm excited to see how things grow and change as we get further into the project! I'll be posting up photos to keep everyone up-to-date.

2007 – 2008 Community Beautification Grant Awardee Ceremony

2008-09-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

On Monday, March 10, 2008 in City Hall, the Board of Public Works recognized 88 grant awardees for their dedication in keeping Los Angeles beautiful - Sat Naam was one of them! The President of the Board of Public Works, Cynthia Ruiz, presented certificates to all awarded organizations. After the ceremony, food catered from Porto’s Bakery was served. This was a great opportunity to meet other recipients and exchange ideas.
Thanks to our good friends at Community Services Unlimited, Inc. Sat Naam has found a new home for our project. The Sat Naam Community Garden will be located at 1346 Martin Luther King Blvd. Weekly community Yoga classes will be held there as well! We're so happy and excited to be able to administer this project in a great new location! For more details on dates and times of Yoga classes and garden work days please go to http://www.satnaam.org/community/.

**that's me, mirabelle, and michael espinosa (the grant manger) in the photo**

Some sad news....

2008-09-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

After much deliberation we decided to close Sat Naam's doors February 29th, 2008. This was an extremely hard decision for us, but we do feel it is the best thing. On a positive note, we are still planning on continuing sharing Yoga with all of you and will be teaching community classes all of the area. Stay tuned for information on where we'll be having our classes and workshops!
Thank you to everyone who made it possible for us to be in Jefferson Park for 1 1/2 years - it was amazing.
2526 W. Jefferson Blvd. will forever be in our hearts.

WE GOT IT!!!

2008-09-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

Back in October, we put a grant proposal together to create a much needed Community Garden at our space in Jefferson Park. Well, this January we found out that we were awarded a Community Beautification Grant from the City of Los Angeles in the amount of $10,000!!! We are so excited to begin this project and to share a new beautiful space with our community. We will keep you all posted on future work days and events in conjunction to this.

Yoga at the 10th Annual California Hunger & Nutrition Polciy Conference

2008-09-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

Sat Naam's been very fortunate to be able to meet and work with some really amazing organizations - one of them being Mazon. "Mazon is a nonprofit organization that allocates donations from the Jewish community to prevent and alleviate hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds."
On January 14th & 15th,I was asked to lead a 45 minute chair Yoga class at Mazon's 10th Annual Hunger & Nutrition Policy Conference at Universal City. It was great to share Yoga and the mission of Sat Naam with the attendees of this event. I'm hoping to be apart of this organization's conference again in 2009!
Thanks Marla!:)

To find out more about Mazon go to www.mazon.org.

The Baldwin Village Health Fair - Sat. October 27th

2007-12-06T17:41:00.000-08:00

Exposure and Accessibility. These were the two words in mind when Sat Naam revealed itself to those in attendance at the Baldwin Village Health Fair on Saturday, October 27th from 1-3pm.

The BVHF, located at Jim Gilliam Recreation Center on 4000 S. La Brea Avenue, was alive with community consciousness. Acting as MC, Mr. Jones guided the course of the health and community events and entertainment, which included a well received on stage demonstration of Yoga by Mirabelle Ang and Lance Williams.

Many local vendors and area-based organizations were present with booths both informative and convenient. The BVHF went well, with great opportunities for community introduction, interaction and organization-to-organization networking.

Our Workshop in Wellness - November 11th

2007-12-06T17:35:00.000-08:00

The well trained and skillful healing talents of Mr. Masa Nakamura and Ms. Stacy Harris were put to use at Sat Naam's November 11th Wellness Workshop. An introduction to the healing arts of kinesiology and cranio sacral therapy were defined, explained, and demonstrated to a really wonderful turnout. Some Sat Naam regulars in addition to some completely new faces were in attendance at the first of many alternative health oriented practices to be made available at our fledgling healing and arts center. Who said that the road to seeking good health couldn’t also be fun and informative. This is definitely obvious from the photos luckily captured at our first wellness workshop.

A Community Garden "Update"

2007-12-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

Ever thankfully, Sat Naam has made headway regarding our much eagerly awaited community organic garden. With the idea of "one step at a time" in mind, the Sat Naam Creative and Healing Arts Center has made its commendable first steps toward the garden’s manifestation. Being new to creating new endeavors is joyously becoming old hat, And... we would like to tip our proverbial hat to all those involved behind the scenes. We are eagerly waiting for the time to come when we can share the first processes of the construction of The Sat Naam Community Organic Garden with everyone.

We've included a photo of where the Garden will be!! What a great transformation!:)

Exploring Wellness - November 11th!

2007-11-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

We thought it was just about time to have a well needed health oriented workshop. It's coming up on November and Sat Naam, as a platform for overall community enrichment, has decided to invite some of our good health guru friends to bring their new healing methods our space.

Masato Nakamura is certified and trained in many forms of healing such has Shiatsu Massage and a Japanese healing method called Sotai, and Stacy Harris is trained and certified in Polarity Healing Therapy and Deep Tissue massage. They both have jointly come to Sat Naam Creative and Healing Arts Center to host our first Wellness workshop this November 11th where they will talk about these natural healing methods as well as Cranio Sacral therapy and Kinesiology.

This workshop serves to demonstrate the availability of gentle and subtle forms of health and healing options which are now available in our part of town, in our community and right in our own space. Whether from the neighboring community or from far away please come in and join us in our first of many explorations in wellness.

This workshop is happening Sunday, November 11th, 2007 from 3-4:30pm at:

Sat Naam Creative and Healing Arts Center
2526 W. Jefferson Blvd. @ 6th Avenue
(between Arlington Ave. & Crenshaw Blvd.)
LA, CA 90018
(323) 401-3116

Volunteer Appreciation!

2007-09-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

Sat Naam would not be able to exist without it's volunteers - that's everyone from the teachers, to the web designer, to people that helped paint and remodel our space, and to those that help us organize the business part of us (yes, unfortunately there is that too;). So I decided to have a special tea party for those who have helped US be US. The spread was grand and it was great to hang out, talk, and eat - 3 of my favorite things!

Here's a photo of some (not all) of our lovely volunteers:)
from l-r: lance williams, loren hartman, seema kapur, dawn greenidge, shaun arora

Jefferson Park Block Party

2007-09-12T12:31:00.000-07:00

On August 4th the Jefferson Park Community, which is the community that Sat Naam is located in, held it's first annual Block Party. Sat Naam was very lucky to be part of this special event where local artists and community members came together to celebrate Jefferson Park with music, food, and other outdoor activities for the entire family. Even though it was extremely hot that day, we had a great time getting to know and sharing with everyone:)

Teaching Yoga to A Special Group

2007-09-12T12:17:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite projects this summer has been teaching a yoga class to adults with learning disabilities through an organization called CSU. To find out more about CSU got to www.csuinc.org - they're a great organization that works with creating urban farms in South Central LA, and they're helping us with our own community garden project.
It 's a pleasure to be able to work with these lovely people and I've learned so much from them, especially how to laugh and enjoy myself while doing yoga. Sometimes you forget to have fun doing what you're doing and this group reminds me that that's really what it's all about.

The Last Day of School

2007-07-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

I teach yoga at a local charter school on Jefferson Blvd., Celerity Nascent Charter School. The school is about 6 blocks from Sat Naam. I work with everyone in grades K-6. It's been really amazing to work with kids who's maybe only opportunity to learn yoga is at school with me:)
I decided to hand out awards the last week of school to 3 students in each class who showed exceptional excellence and respect in yoga class. This didn't mean that they were super flexible and could do every pose I showed them - it meant that they put effort in respecting themselves as well as their teacher (me) by trying, participating, and listening in class. The award was for 2 Free yoga classes at Sat Naam this summer. Here are two 1st graders that received the award, Branden and Laura. I'm hoping to see them at the studio this summer:)

Sat Naam in latest issue of LA YOGA Magazine

2007-06-14T23:23:00.000-07:00

¡Yoga en Español!

2007-06-14T23:18:00.000-07:00

The "Yoga en Español" workshop was held Saturday, June 23rd. The workshop was created to offer a yoga class to those who may be deterred from taking one because English may not be their first language. The workshop was 1 1/2 hours long and FREE. The lovely Lucia Cordeiro Drever taught the class in Spanish. Lucia has dedicated so much time and energy to helping Sat Naam grow. We appreciate her and know that we would not be able to offer this kind of a class to a largely Spanish-speaking community without her!

Upcoming Workshops!

2007-05-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

We're trying to make so many things happen this summer at Sat Naam. It's going to be a lot of work and we're so new at doing this, but I really think we can get it together. I just contacted a woman named Neelam who runs and designs community gardena and nutrition programs. She's going to come by the space next week and maybe take a yoga class:) I can't wait to meet her and exchange ideas about having our own community garden at Sat Naam.
We've also met a really nice woman, Lacey. She offered to work with us and have a sound healing workshop this summer. She works with sick people and tries to help them heal through sound. She told us how she got involved with sound through healing her own pain and how she wanted to share that with others and incorporate that with a yoga practice. I can't wait for her to bring her energy and her gift into our space. Hopefully, we'll also be having a yoga in spanish workshop in the summer too. I really want to move forward with this especially because a lot of the population that is in the community we are a part of are spanish speakers.
One last project I wanted to make note of was Haruko's community video project! We're going to have a great time and get to know the community better. Haruko is a great artist and I'm excited to have her be a part of Sat Naam!! To check out more of her work go to www.kissoftheworld.net.

Library Talk - May 1st

2007-05-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

On May 1st, I was invited to do a talk and introductory demo on yoga at the Jefferson Vassie D. Write Memorial Library. This is the local community library in Jefferson Park. I started the talk by asking the group what they thought yoga was and if they had ever done it. We also talked about the health benefits of yoga. Then I went into how breath is so important not only when doing yoga, but also in every day life especially when dealing with stress. We did a couple of easy breathing exercises together and a few very simple stretches. I just wanted the people to know that you don't have to be a pretzel to do yoga. It was definitely a good experience for me.

Field Trip

2007-05-03T15:02:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday Mrs.Cordero's 1st grade class from Celerity Nascent Charter School came to Sat Naam for a field trip. I must admit, Lance and I were a little nervous having 20 7-yr olds running around the space, but everything ended up going great!! We split the kids up in 2 groups of 10. Ten kids had an hour long yoga class with me where we talked about where yoga came from, how old the practice was, and where India was in relationship to California. Because Sat Naam's decor is very much influenced by India, where my family is from, we have some statues of Lord Ganesh and other figures dominant in Indian culture in the space. One kid asked what Ganesh was. I wasn't exactly sure of how to answer that question - sometimes people (usually adults) are reluctant to talk about cultures they're not familiar with, I mean I didn't want to offend anyone. I answered the question the best I could and talked to them about how Ganesh got an elephant head and what he represented to people that were Hindu and how they could relate it to what some of them may know about.
While I was teaching yoga, Lance took the kids into the back room to make Mandalas. He explained to them what a Mandala was and it's history and then gave them each a circle to color and make their own. After they were finished they had to tell the group what the drawings were and what it meant to them. When 1 hour has passed the groups switched - that way both groups had a chance to make a mandala and take a yoga class. We finished the field trip off by giving the kids a snack - BURFI and Indian sweet kind of like cheese-cake. We had carrot, pistachio, and plain. Some of the kids totally loved it and others were not into it at all. The next day I asked the kids what their favorite part of the field trip was most of them said Savasana - Rest Pose:)

Preliminary Creations - April 21st!

2007-05-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

We had our first Art event at Sat Naam on Saturday April 21st 2007. Lance Williams (who is 1/2 of making Sat Naam happen) exhibited a collection of his drawings, paintings, and sculptures at our Creative and Healing Arts Center. The opening reception was a great success for Lance and the space! People from all over LA came by to check the work out - I think this was a first event for something like this in the neighborhood to happen:) The energy was excellent and Lance got 2 more opportunities to show his work at other gallery spaces. I can't wait to have more events like this at the space, I'm hoping events like this will be happening on a monthly basis. My good friend, Mirabelle Ang, will be showing her documentary film "Match Made" in June. I'm also hoping that people within the Jefferson Park community will also come through and want to hold events at Sat Naam as well. The future holds so much;)