Move Yourself, Move the World

Are you ready to be moved?

The time is now. The Inner IDEA Conference experience began Thursday at the La Quinta Resort & Club in Palm Springs with a definitive reflective quality. Attendees made the pilgrimage from various pockets of the world, all with a common mindset: consciousness and purpose.

The journey in store this weekend is about allowing yourself to be moved so that you in turn can move others. I've already met quite a few people during the preconference who no doubt are taking their personal journeys to new heights. It was during Sherri Baptiste's all-day session "Power of Yoga Intensive Training" that I first realized how pivotal this weekend was going to be for so many. Baptiste, who is a walking yoga bible, created a very sacred space for yogis and yoginis in what would otherwise be a regular old conference room (albeit a resort conference room). She beckoned everyone-about 60 people-into a circle and gave each one a piece of time to carve out communication.

I was impressed and awe-struck by the variety and depth represented in the room. Many people had retired from other jobs and decided to take the yoga teacher plunge. One woman was a former Air Force officer. Another woman had picked up yoga 10 years earlier-at the age of 62-and was now a yoga therapist. She was a walking testament to the age-defying benefits of practicing yoga. Another attendee made the trip from Japan. Yet another had decided to turn to yoga following years of dealing with chronic pain.

Baptiste listened intently to each individual. She gifted everyone with her attention, and in response people returned the gift to each other. You could see the web of community weaving its way around the room, connecting each individual to another and another and yet another, further defining the sacred space. "We're not doing yoga here today," Baptiste said. "We're learning how to be yoga. To be a yogi is to be on a path. To be on a path is to find a practice." And so it is.

I look forward to being moved and sharing with you highlights from this transformational experience called Inner IDEA.

Namasté.