We must warm the heart, feel the glow of the inner light

"It is the experience of what resides deeply in your heart that gives rise to an illuminated mind, a mind filled with wisdom and knowledge, with understanding and compassion. You can think all you want, and get no where. It is the heart that illumines the mind, not the other way around.”

–- Chetananada

I have often said that our minds are too hot and our hearts too cold, and that we must warm the heart, feel the glow of the inner light as pure conscious awareness for the mind to be illuminated in a balanced state of yoga. 

With yoga, we are able to step out of the reactive habit of worry, doubt, and/or fear and take action from a decerning place of clarity that arises from a balanced state of mind, and arising from this state is an illuminated heart; the pure essence of one’s true nature or greater Self.

In these turbulent times of unrest and agitation of the small mind, we need the tools of yoga and the mindful focus meditation to be able to live in compassion and understanding that is not intellect but intelligence. This knowing arises when we are firmly established in our witness or in our source, our soul.

Yoga is a pathway into this higher consciousness and to be able to live in a balance state where we feel stable and confident to live to our highest potential. In our busy, crazy over-extended world, these ancient practices are needed more than ever.

I never wanted to be a yoga teacher when I embarked on my first yoga training in 1989. I just wanted to learn more about this ancient science that was offering me a gateway into my inner life. Today, I have surrendered into my passion of teaching and have found endless joy in sharing my heart with my students.

After many years of going deeper into the therapeutic yoga system, I have decided to offer a teacher’s training for those students that long to go into the philosophy and the physiology of yoga in a stuctured 200 hour teacher training program. Julie Pate and I are offering this course to bring our community together and nourish those that want and desire to understand these tools for enhancing the wellbeing of one’s life.

Yoga is a lifestyle of enhanced wellbeing that starts with learning the function of the asana and breath versus just the form. We'll go deeper into self study as it links to our inner desires to live authentically and in JOY.

Julie and I will be hosting a gathering this Saturday, October 14 from 3:30-4:30pm to further explain our program and answer questions that might be presented in thinking about going forward. You can also read more about the program here.

Furthermore, I am thrilled this month to host Shelly Craigo from the Himalayan Institute as we embark on a special practice of Rudra Yaga, turning darkness into light through our personal practice. Shelly is traveling to communities across the country to spread this message on how to participate on a personal and collective level, and we are fortunate to have her here at Yoga Among Friends to share this timeless practice with us.

Enjoy each day with love and light,

Laura Jane

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200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training
Information Meeting

SATURDAY OCTOBER 14, 3:30–4:30pm

Join Laura Jane Mellencamp-Murphy and Julie Pate to learn about a very unique program that will deepen your knowledge of yoga holistically and act as a gateway to open your heart to transformation. Perfect for everyone including nurses, psychologists, physical therapists, and others in health professions. 200 Hour Yoga teacher training starts January 2018 and will meet one weekend a month.

Interested, but can't make the meeting...  No worries! We'll be holding another meeting in November. Click the RSVP button below for details.

Early bird pricing ends soon for YAF's Cabo San Lucas Yoga Retreat

In the midst of all the chaos of mother nature’s erratic behavior of the elements: fires in the west, water in the south, and winds blasting their powerful energy throughout the land. Hurricanes and tornadoes are reminders that form is only impermanent.

I have long surrendered into the practice of letting go; and yet, I am firmly committed to making intention. Outcome is not mine, yet I am fully aware that I must honor a daily practice to bring me into a steady mindful state. In this state of yoga, I can move into a direction of my highest good. I do know that I must seek the light.

Every winter, for the last twenty years, I have created an opportunity to retreat to a deeper place of nourishment. To unplug and go into a quiet still place of mind so that I can listen to the wonders that life is always presenting in the direction of my heart.

I am inviting you join me this February in beautiful Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Yoga Among Friends' annual retreat is a time to share in the study of yoga. Whether you have never practiced yoga or you are a yoga teacher, I will meet you where you are; and together, we'll take the journey in the adventures of going into the authentic nature of the soul’s desire to live fully. 

Exhaustion, fear and uncertainty are by products of our busy world. To come on retreat is to spend time learning how to practice asana and pranayama so that the effects can bring about a joyous state of wellbeing.

Hosting these retreats, offer me a time and place to share the philosophies of the yoga sutras, to teach the many tools of meditation and to share our stories. We have ample private time to enjoy all that Cabo and the surrounding area has to offer; and yet, the greatest gift of these weeks has always been the lasting friendships that have formed and continue to grow. 

Community is key to the humanity of heart. This week is an opportunity to gather together and say hello to your true self and let the beauty of Prana Del Mar take away the stresses of daily living so you can return renewed, energized and open to living life in LOVE.

Enjoy each day with love and light,

Laura Jane

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2018 Yoga Retreat in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Saturday, February 17 – Saturday, February 24, 2018

Prana del Mar Retreat and Wellness Center

Be sure to register now and benefit from the $100 savings. Early bird pricing ends on October 1, so don’t miss out on the offer! We look forward to seeing you there.

Remembering to use Yoga to heal and feel connected in aftermath of Hurricane Harvey

Rebuilding the Kager house after Hurricane Katrina in the 9th Ward, New Orleans 2008

As I am writing this newsletter, I am being pulled into the horrific sadness that is unfolding with Hurricane Harvey. I am brought back ten years remembering all our heroic efforts to help with Katrina evacuees on that fateful Labor Day weekend. YAF created a non profit called Global Hope. Over the course of several years, we made numerous trips down to New Orleans to help rebuild the ninth ward.

Today, I know we are in for a long and stressful recovery and once again reminded that humanity goes beyond our front doorstep. We live in this world, and we are all in this together. I have a running image in my mind of all the homeLESS refugees of Syria and all the war weary lands of chaos and upheaval. I see the television cameras today showing all the cots waiting to be occupied as families are airlifted to some dryer land. My heart is breaking witnessing how delicate life is as the great Mother Nature starts to shake and vibrate with changes in our ecological systems and infrastructures.

Our human systems are struggling to find ways to balance all the daily shifts of living as we try and make sense of the constant chaotic political voices of hate. I have witnessed in the last year such a shift in our abilities to be present. Everyday another news flash inspiring only the fear, doubt and worry. To be able to live in what the yogi calls “Sukkha" or sweetness is getting more difficult to feel. We are forgetting that the heart must be nourished with the true gift of the intelligence—love.

When we are tired and the energy of life get too much, please know the healing of yoga allows us to come together and feel connected to something greater — a community that welcomes everyone. 

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Before all this past weeks' traumatic news, I returned to the daily reminder that as everything changes, nothing changes in the spirit of love. I came back to my home at YAF renewed and energized after having spent the summer chasing the sun and being embraced in AWE.

Machu Picchu

First, an incredible service trip to Machu Picchu where I was able to stand and absorb the profound beauty of the Sacred. Untouched by the world of progress is a reminder of how the mountains, rivers, trees, and the air is sustained and nourished by the True Mother. The journey was a blessing for my soul, and nothing is better than sharing the experience with a teenage daughter struggling to embrace these troubled times of discord and confusion of the heart.

Total Eclipse 2017

We were also able to participate in another true wonder a few weeks later when we shared the moment of totality! Yes, a ten hour car drive back home would not tarnish or destroy the magic of that experience together. Somehow, this sweet summer was all about the SUN! How delicate the earth we all share; how powerless we are to the extremes of the Great MAHA.

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Now as the season starts to change, I am filled with the passion of this aliveness and I am excited about sharing all the special events that are happening in these coming weeks. Please join me and the community as we celebrate the inner glow of shining one’s own light! At YAF, we are keeping the LIGHT on and the HEART open. 

Yoga Therapy Summit 

YAF is cohosting at the end of September, the first yoga therapy event ever in the Chicago area, the Yoga Therapy SummitI Yes, we're bringing together all my dear teachers who share in the lineage of Krisnamachurya.

I cannot express how this weekend will be such a learning opportunity for all students of yoga. From beginners to those that have years of teachings, this weekend will bring forth amazing yoga teachings for deeper mind and consciousness.

Yoga Therapy is finally getting its place in the holistic model of wellness! So please encourage your family and friends that are suffering from various degrees of anxiety or depression..or those in the healing professions to partake in the three day intensive opportunity! Please click for more information and to sign up for the weekend. 

Richard Miller is coming to YAF

On Thursday evening, September 28, the night before the Summit opens, Richard Miller, the founder of the Integrative Restorative Institute (IRI) and my teacher, will be sharing a evening of meditation. A benefit potluck dinner will follow when we will be able to ask questions and just share a community of friends!

Richard is the master of teaching yoga nidra which he has been able to bring into VA hospitals around the country to help with all forms of trauma after experiencing war. All donations will go to his various organizations which he helps through his non profit work.

Please try and make this special evening together as we launch the Summit. All are invited and look forward to being able to introduce you to these deeper practices—again, no prior knowledge of yoga is needed to be able to come and share!!  Learn more and kindly RSVP.

Yoga is for all who want to learn to help heal the old patterns that no longer serve.