Celebrating 15yrs of Summer Solstice Practice @ Astwood Park
This year we celebrate the 15th Anniversary of our annual community event. We'd like to mark the occasion with the story of how it all began!
How the Summer Solstice Sunrise Yoga Practice came into being...
How the Summer Solstice Sunrise Yoga Practice came into being...
'The Bermuda Yoga Teachers Association was originated in 2000 by the late Mary Susan Smith, one of the most senior teachers of yoga on the island at that time. She invited Bermuda’s yoga teachers, then far fewer in number, to come together to provide a network of support and a feeling of community. We met regularly to share information about our traditions and to demonstrate things we had learned in our various trainings.
Mary Susan’s overriding goal was to bring Yoga, in its many forms, to the wider community. With this intention we explored ways to increase awareness of Yoga in Bermuda. We decided to organize a free community event and in 2003 BYTA offered the first Summer Solstice Yoga Practice. June 21 has been recognized across the world and through the ages as a spiritually significant day. The Egyptians, Mayans and Plains Indians, the Druids of Stonehenge, Romans, Celts and Vikings, the Incas of Peru all celebrated this the longest day. It seemed a fitting time to come together in nature and Astwood Park was chosen as the best location for our gathering, the grassy area above the ocean offers an excellent vantage point at sunrise.
The “patchwork” class format offered an opportunity for all of the teachers to present a short section of the class. The idea for this format came from Satchidananda Ashram. There, trainee teachers each teach a segment of a class to ease them into teaching to larger groups. Everyone is involved which builds camaraderie and support and helps dispel nerves. The participants at the Summer Solstice practice love to experience the variety of styles and teaching skills so we have kept this format through the years.
Mary Susan has left a wonderful legacy and would be so happy to see us coming together again as we plan our 15th Annual practice at Astwood Park. Everyone is invited and we hope to welcome more and more of you into our yoga community. Each year the number of yoga teachers and yoga practitioners increases across the world as it does here in Bermuda. May we continue to grow in the true spirit of yoga, in peace, harmony and in unity.'
Mary Susan’s overriding goal was to bring Yoga, in its many forms, to the wider community. With this intention we explored ways to increase awareness of Yoga in Bermuda. We decided to organize a free community event and in 2003 BYTA offered the first Summer Solstice Yoga Practice. June 21 has been recognized across the world and through the ages as a spiritually significant day. The Egyptians, Mayans and Plains Indians, the Druids of Stonehenge, Romans, Celts and Vikings, the Incas of Peru all celebrated this the longest day. It seemed a fitting time to come together in nature and Astwood Park was chosen as the best location for our gathering, the grassy area above the ocean offers an excellent vantage point at sunrise.
The “patchwork” class format offered an opportunity for all of the teachers to present a short section of the class. The idea for this format came from Satchidananda Ashram. There, trainee teachers each teach a segment of a class to ease them into teaching to larger groups. Everyone is involved which builds camaraderie and support and helps dispel nerves. The participants at the Summer Solstice practice love to experience the variety of styles and teaching skills so we have kept this format through the years.
Mary Susan has left a wonderful legacy and would be so happy to see us coming together again as we plan our 15th Annual practice at Astwood Park. Everyone is invited and we hope to welcome more and more of you into our yoga community. Each year the number of yoga teachers and yoga practitioners increases across the world as it does here in Bermuda. May we continue to grow in the true spirit of yoga, in peace, harmony and in unity.'
June 2018
