Center for Yoga Gathering for India

UNITY IN ACTION!

YGB Ambassadors and leaders at Center For Yoga unite in Los Angeles, where Yoga Gives Back was born eighteen years ago. This is the 3rd annual event for YGB's campaign "Global Gathering for India." Your participation will help more than 3,000 underserved women and children in India, while taking part in this very special afternoon with top teachers and artists!

Program:

• Mohaniyattam Dance by Deepa Chemery
• YGB Presentation by Kayoko Mitsumatsu
• Tag Team Class by Ashley Rideaux, Chrissy Gonzalez, Dearbhla Kelly, Ekaette Ekong, and Jeanne Heileman
• Live Music by Donna De Lory and Joss Jaffe

Refreshments and Incredible Silent Auction!

Our heartfelt thanks to these YGB Ambassadors leading this special program:

Ashley Rideaux - Los Angeles–based, 500 E-RYT teacher trainer, mentor, lover of life, and professional giggler who rocks big hair, a big smile, and an even bigger heart. In addition to the strong following she has built in LA, she also leads trainings, workshops, and retreats all over the world. Ashley's classes are challenging and playful, ranging from therapeutic work to advanced vinyasa flow. Outside of traditional studio spaces, she teaches yoga to women and adolescents in eating disorder treatment facilities, has experience working with seniors with neurological disorders, and was the featured yoga instructor for NBA player, Jordan Farmar's, Hoop Farm basketball camp for 4 years, where she worked with kids from ages 7-16. Ashley is passionate about making the practice of yoga accessible to all, and all of her classes are a balance of the physical and the philosophical, inviting the body and mind to unfold through her detail to alignment, breath, and subtle body.https://www.ashleyrideaux.com/

Chrissy Gonzalez - Los Angeles based yoga teacher, vegan foodie, writer, travel junkie and animal lover. The onset of her love affair with yoga over twenty years ago set in motion an active practice that has allowed her to guide others for over a decade. Chrissy provides a grounded and safe space for students to develop their practice through clear cuing and accessible modifications while also encouraging them to challenge themselves. Chrissy doesn't just love yoga, she lives yoga, and deeply cares about each and every one of her students. Chrissy's formal training began in 2002 with Yoga Works in Los Angeles. She has since completed over 1000 hours of Yoga Alliance Certified training under the guidance of her teachers Joan Hyman, Jeanne Heileman and others. She stays busy teaching alignment based classes and workshops flowing with harmonious movement, yoga philosophy and a positive outlook. She also leads yoga retreats all over the world. See more at chrissylovesyoga.com

DEARBHLA KELLY - Dublin native Dearbhla Kelly M.A. moved to the US in 2001 to pursue a PhD in analytic philosophy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has been teaching yoga since 2003 and believes that the practice is an invitation to self-enquiry and skill in action, but also a method of healing trauma and integrating psyche and soma. An advanced Ashtanga yoga practitioner, Dearbhla’s superpower is encouraging students to go deeper, to try new things and get comfortable with being uncomfortable. She invites her students to embrace challenges, to expand the edges of their capabilities and step into the unknown. The invitation comes from the experience of her own practice which has yielded gifts of empowerment and deeper self-trust. Dearbhla is able to support people of all experience and physical aptitudes. She has taught at festivals, conferences, retreats, teacher trainings and studios worldwide. The diverse populations she has taught yoga include prisoners, veterans with PTSD, Navy Seals, children with severe physical limitations and college students. She maintains a robust private clientele in Los Angeles. A warm and welcoming teacher, her lilting Irish accent and Dublin wit make her classes especially enjoyable. https://www.durgayoga.com/

DEEPA CHEMERY - Deepa is a trauma informed, holistic therapist specialized in various healing modalities like Yoga, somatic experiencing, mindfulness and DBT, Ayurveda nutrition, polyvagal theory and neuro feedback therapy. She is a software engineer turned therapist due to immense passion for healing sciences stemming from her personal life experiences and inspired by her personal yoga sadhana. Deepa brings over a decade of experience practicing and teaching Yoga, Workshops, and Trainings. Her deep love of Yoga Philosophy, Anatomy and Ayurveda inspires her work. She is a E- RYT 500 with Yoga Alliance and a continuing education provider for Yoga teachers. Her creative sequencing and passion to teach from her heart, motivates her students to expand their potential both physically and spiritually. Deepa is also a master dancer of Mohaniyattam tradition. https://www.pragathiwellness.com/

DONNA DE LORY - Donna De Lory is a singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist whose radiant voice and expansive musical vision encompass pop, world music, electronica and devotional mantras. In the pop realm, she’s perhaps best known for her work with Madonna as a backup singer and dancer, seen in the documentary film Truth or Dare and on Madonna’s Who’s That Girl, Blonde Ambition, Girlie Show, Drowned World, Reinvention and Confession tours. But De Lory’s own music has topped the Billboard Dance Chart several times, and her voice has been heard on landmark albums by artists such as Bette Midler, Leonard Cohen, Belinda Carlisle, Carly Simon and Selena. She has also sung on soundtracks for feature films like A League of Their Own, Smallfoot and The Switch.

At the same time, De Lory is one of the world’s foremost singers of devotional mantras and songs of spiritual inspiration. Throughout the 2000s, she released a string of evocative, eclectic, beautifully-produced albums that have captured the hearts of listeners in mindfulness, wellness meditation and yoga communities and beyond. Her music is heard by over 100,000 Spotify listeners a month and has garnered more than 10 million streams across several digital platforms. Her newest album, Sing to the Light has already garnered widespread social media acclaim, moving one to exclaim, “the more I listen, the more beautiful your music becomes!” https://www.donnadelory.com/welcome

EKAETTE EKONG - Ekaette is a writer, artist, yoga teacher and student. She has studied and is trained in Ayurveda, Tantra, pranayama, meditation and alignment. Ekaette has practiced yoga since 1999 and has taught classes, workshops, and yoga teacher training globally. Ekaette enjoys reading and collecting books, awful reality shows, playing guitar, a good coffee, and voraciously studies History and Pop Culture. Yoga is her compass back home to herself.

JEANNE HEILEMAN – MA, 500-ERYT, Founder of Tantra Flow Yoga®, Yoga International teacher, and senior guest teacher for many teacher trainings. Jeanne brings over 40 years of yoga practice to her 29 years of teaching of asana, Ayurveda, meditation, with the added focus of the energetics in the practice. A former classically trained actor, she uses humor and theatrics to keep the students interested. Trained in yoga therapeutics and many aspects of Tantra, she specializes in discovering the needs of individuals and gently guides each to their own grace and balance. www.jeanneheileman.com

JOSS JAFFE - Joss Jaffe and Jim "Kimo" West are celebrated musicians known for their innovative and diverse contributions to world, new age and Hawaiian music. Joss Jaffe is a vocalist, tabla player, and multi-instrumentalist blending modern pop, reggae, and world sounds with ambient and meditative music. His Billboard Top 10 New Age album Meditation Music and critically acclaimed works like Dub Mantra and Sun Mountain Sea highlight his unique artistry. A regular performer at transformational festivals and yoga conferences, Joss captivates global audiences with his cross-genre creativity. Jim "Kimo" West, a GRAMMY-winning slack-key guitarist, is one of the foremost practitioners of ki ho’alu, Hawaiian slack key guitar. With over 85 million streams, he has received numerous awards, including six Na Hoku Hanohano nominations. Kimo's work preserves Hawaiian traditions while engaging audiences at prestigious slack-key festivals worldwide. https://jossjaffe.bandcamp.com/