South Bay Yoga Conference

What a great, laid-​back event for the yoga-​inclined who can find the energy and time to spend the day or weekend doing yoga. Using the classroom and grounds of a local school near ample free street parking, the SBYC boasts a good list of yogis teaching classes all weekend in a variety of specialties. Try something out for your mind and soul or get a nice power yoga workout. Enjoy the peace of a quiet classroom or the tranquility of the grounds outside among a group of peaceful students or while taking in the lessons and samples and information of the participating vendors.
Bottom line: At $ 100/​day or $ 300/​weekend, this conference isn’t for the thinner wallet or student only desiring to take one class per day, but if you take enough classes and want to enjoy some of the harder-​to-​reach yogis out there, this conference is for you.

My after buzz from the South Bay Yoga Conference is still going strong
As an east coast Yapana yogini I was pretty honored to be invited as a presenter along with my California friends from Leeann Carey Yoga.
I was welcomed, not only by a wonderful team of fellow teachers, but also impressed by an extremely well run event, thanks to Jules Mitchell and her great staff. Josepf and I kicked off the weekend with Partner Yoga taught by Ansley Herndon which was the best choice for us! There was an array of free offerings: great music, free and purchasable eats (seriously yummy stuff) as well as a great marketplace where you could shop til you dropped. I did, but luckily there were body workers with affordable options for quick massage. The weather was lovely, the students were open, inquisitive, interested and interesting. Plenty to see and do in this scenic area too. I cannot wait to go back next year, not sure just yet what my workshops will be about, so keep in touch and hope to see you there in 2014.

I was more than impressed by the sheer variety of things offered, I spent the entire saturday there taking classes, enjoying some food, a little shopping, runnning into friends, it was great.

This was the first year for the SBYC and it ran amazingly well for a new event in an untested facility. Kudos to the instructors and organizers for a stellar performance. Also a nice shout out to the vendors in the marketplace. I was remembered from day to day, the booths seemed to represent the interests of those in attendance and I believe I made a few new friends in the process.

Thanks to Unilocal,I had the opportunity to check out some yoga classes and broaden my yoga knowledge. I’m no yoga expert, but it seemed like everyone at the conference had a lot more knowledge than I did.
I went to classes on Friday and Sunday. Sunday was a lot more crowded, which makes sense as it was the weekend.
On Friday I did YinYasa 4 Your Back with Aminda Courtwright (that’s the spelling on the schedule!!). It started great. She gave a run down about YinYasa and what we can expect, which was great since I’m not even familiar with the different breathing patterns and really only know Child’s pose and Downward dog. I felt great after this class, as it had a lot of focus on the back and even on stretching the hips. It didn’t have what I think are more intensive poses like the tree, warrior, etc.
Next I took Intro to Bikram with Tiffany Friedman. It was hot out and we left the door to the classroom open. If it was in her studio, it would have been hotter, but I worked up a sweat. I appreciated how her class was very instructional. It really helped me get the most of this class. Instead of just telling us to put our hands over our heads straight up, she told us to squeeze them against of head, behind out ears, fingers pointed… all that repetition made me extremely conscious of what I was doing with my body and I like to think that it made my yoga experience with her that much better.
On Sunday I did Yin Yoga for Athletes with Chrys Kub. This yoga class was a focus on stretching not the muscles but the connective tissue, which sounds great. The only problem is that I’m not an experienced yoga-​er so some of the positions weren’t too comfortable for me, and I’m also not very flexible. But a lot of people really enjoyed the 5 minutes stretches. Maybe yoga isn’t for me…
I had trouble deciding what class to attend next, so I walked around reading all the class descriptions and decided to do Karaōke yoga, which was fun! Suzy Nece had tattoos and glowsticks for us, and great tunes to sing to! The moves in this class were what I think are your typical moves: warrior, child pose, downward dog, the chair. I’m glad I ended up picking this class!
The school had its own lot, but by Sunday it was full. Luckily, there was plenty of street parking.
When greeted, they gave you a bag with lots of flyers (especially free passes to various yoga spots), and even some snacks! THANKS!
Zico was there giving away free coconut water, and there were lots of samples and booths.
I can see this event getting bigger and bigger in the future, and if you’re an avid yoga lover, this is a great way to check out different yoga types. Oh, and each class is 90min-​2hours so you can truly enjoy it! And everyone was really nice, instructors and students!

Pro-​Tip: Park on the street. The lot is usually full.
First time at the SBYC and it’s been great so far! The people are super nice and, surprisingly, they were able to transform classrooms into intimate yoga studios. I even saw my favorite yoga teacher, Greville Henwood, there!
I also met the nice people at Manduka and got a mat towel and a free coconut water from Zico. Manduka is having a special on their items and they take cash and card.
There was even a Unilocal booth there! It was staffed by one of my favorite Unilocalers, Nicole, and you could get swag for checking-​in or signing up for the Newsletter.
I look forward to the rest of the classes! :D
Update: Just went to Jennifer Elliott’s class and it was wonderful!