Loose Leaf Notes

Yes, this happens too. Yesterday I posted pictures from Friday’s Yoga Jam of friends, dancing and bands, but we also do this at Yoga Jam: Yoga!

MC Yogi is  a yoga rock star, whether he’s on the stage performing music or in a tent leading an overflow crowd of yogis in practice.

Meet the two women who Yoga Jam founder Shirleyann will be passing the torch onto for next year and beyond, Floyd’s own Elaine Braley and Katie Turman, daughter-in-law of Mike and Wanda Turman whose land and support have been instrumental in the festival’s success.

And here is our beloved leader Shirleyann taking a break from running the show to dance with our mutual friend Pat to the tunes of one of our favorite local bands C.C. Coates and company.

And yes, there was A LOT of free-style dancing, mainly by a Floyd contingency, but I’ll get more into that in a bit.

The main focus of the day for me and my friend Katherine was our poetry reading in the Tea Shanti tent, part of our Soulful Aging tour, where depth psychology meets death mythology with a sprinkling of humor.

There were initially 20+ attendees, almost half of which were Katherine’s family members who had never heard her poetry before. Her grandchildren and their friends had front row seats and made it through nearly half of the hour-long reading.

The youngest slept through most of it and I used him as a focal point as I read. It seemed appropriate to read poems of aging while looking at a beautiful new life just unfolding. When he woke up he was more interested in apples than poetry.

Here’s a short sampling.

My poem titled Surprise Endings was the closing poem of the hour.

We spoke with friends and signed books that were for sale.

Our friend Susanna held down the Merch Tent fort where we sat for more signing, met some wonderful people, drank some cacao and had some astounding conversations.

I call this shot of friends the Floyd Yoga Jam poster children.

Nature’s dance floor.

I tripped out on my friend Luke’s sunglasses for a while. This one is a self-portrait.

When I wasn’t being fed by the chefs at our friend Greg’s creekside campsite, these people fed me well.

Yes, you are.

Yes, you are. Everyone expresses their unique flair at Yoga Jam. Everyone comes back year after year.

HERE is a post from Friday’s Jam.

________Poets and Storytellers United