Mrs. Chris Martin herself was the host of a big charity event in the West Village last night, where yogi celebs united to raise money for Bent On Learning, an NYC yoga organization. Talk about yoga in schools, Bent On Learning tends specifically to NY inner city public schools and youth centers, reaching out to kids who may not otherwise connect with yoga or meditation, let alone physical activity during the school day – many of the schools they work with do not have gym class – desks are pushed aside right in the classroom to make space. (we do have to note that they charge $75-100 per class).
While it wasn’t all celebs, naturally the only attendees who got the spotlight were Gwynnie, Christy Turlington, Russell Simmons and the mom from Gossip Girl (Kelly Rutherford). Oh and everyone’s favorite bald-headed electro-yogi Moby. Here’s hoping other loaded fans of yoga attended as well since tickets were $500 and tables could be snapped up at $25,000 $10,000 $5,000. Which was probably totally worth it as we heard there was a performance by the Slumdog Millionaire dancers! (see the clip of the magical end credits dance scene)
Intrepid reporters at Fox NY snagged some footage and snippet interviews from the event…don’t get too excited though, it’s what you’d expect from local newscasters:
Reporter: “Ommm. Are you guys Yogis?”
Anchorwoman: “Oh I do yoga”
Anchorman: “Yogi? heyyy Boo Boo…. blah blah yadda [trying to be funny but just being a dufus]”
Anyway, enjoy the clip of yoga celebrities spreading the good word… More importantly visit Bent on Yoga for more info on their honorable work.
“namaste!”
@ ebean haha, oh man, so glad you caught that part too. comedy!
love bol – i taught a 2nd grade class and a group of 7th grade girls. you really do just move the desks around – each class was always an adventure 🙂
@ the bendy yogi
that’s awesome, good for you! for the other yogadorks out there, how was the experience? where did you do your training?
loved the experience! so much fun and the little yogi/inis really brightened my days!
classes are typically 45 minutes long after you move all of the desks around and get the mats out.
i did my initial 200hrs with sadie nardini for core strength vinyasa yoga. then i did my own kind of home-study for helping to tweak my teachings for the different age groups with books and videos (i was on a budget): http://www.nextgenerationyoga.com (for the lil ones) & http://www.yogaminded.com (for teens). the ladies that run bol also gave me some pointers for working with kids and give you an outline for the curriculum to keep everyone on the same page. you also have to keep the religous aspect out of it – no ‘om’-ing and not ‘namaste’ just a lot of fun! for the lil ones we would go on adventures – like a day at the beach where we would go on a boat (navasana) and visiting the different animals in a jungle, from cats to cows to camel’s and lion’s breath.
The reporters are absolute goofballs. Kudos to bent on learning for all they do — some big money involved.
Teaching kids and teens yoga is lots of fun. Lots more laughter, partner poses and games. In schools moving the desks is often done as space is at a premium.
Visit my site yogainmyschool.com>/a> to get more information on yoga for kids and teens.