Last week I returned from an amazing week in Estes Park, Colorado. This was the site of the 2008 Yoga Journal Colorado Conference, Yoga Journal’s main and largest event. In fact, it was the largest Yoga-specific gathering in North America, with almost 2,000 attendees throughout the week.
The Grand Gathering
The first three days of the week were for the Anusara Grand Gathering. At the conclusion of which, the main Yoga Journal conference commenced featuring a variety of practices and lectures from numerous master teachers.
Prior to this event, I had only taken 2 Anusara classes before. I figured that if I was going to make the trek out to Colorado from Seattle for the Yoga Journal event, I might as well attend the Grand Gathering as well. I was also interested in taking Master Classes with John Friend and learning more about what is one of the fastest growing Yoga styles in the United States.
The Setting
The setting for the Gathering, Estes Park - Colorado, was absolutely spectacular. The entire event was held at the YMCA of the Rockies which is a huge sprawling campus at 8000 feet elevation nestled among the mountains.The facility as over a dozen rooms that were cleared for yoga practices (each complete with little altars to make them seem more welcoming!) and a few very large halls capable of holding super large classes.
Also, the wildlife were plentiful, especially the Elk! Here is a picture of some Elk hanging out in the woods literally 20 feet from my cabin! Not a day went by when I didn’t see several of these creatures.
The Routine
There were over 850 people in attendance for the Grand Gathering, and it began with an opening talk by John Friend on the first evening. John also led 3 hour master classes every morning!
The amazing thing about the master classes, were that all 850+ attendees practiced together at the same time in the same gigantic hall! It was spectacular. John taught us from a stage in the middle of the room (with a amazing yogini demo-ing all the poses on stage as well 
), and there were video screens placed strategically so you could always easily see what was going on. They also did a great job in assigning people to “groups” so that everyone had at least once chance to practice near the front and center of the room!
What really made the master classes extra special was that John had invited over a dozen of his senior teachers to participate in the event, and they were roaming about the room giving fabulous assists the entire time. It was all very well organized. Even the spacing between mats was just enough for people not to feel claustrophobic!
Outside of the daily master classes, there were also morning Meditations, led by scholars Doug Brooks, Sally Kempton and Bill Mahoney. They are very learned Sanskrit and Tantric Scholars who not only led meditations, but also gave talks and participated in panel discussions throughout the event.
Intensives
In the afternoons, we also had the chance to take intensives (2-3 hours) with senior Anusara teachers. Each day we would have several different classes to choose from. The first day I took class with Suzie Hurley, who taught a workshop on Anusara Basics. In her class I learned the basis for the practice and the system of alignment based on “loops” and “spirals.”
The second day, I took a fantastic handstand class with Betsey Downing. We did plenty of partner and wall-work to help us understand the subtle alignments that can help with handstands. The class was especially interesting because of Betsey’s focus on “progressive teaching.” That is to say, she teaches poses and exercises that successively build on each other so that by the end of the class, a movement up into handstand was not only doable, but actually felt natural!
Lastly, I took an invigorating inversions class with Desiree Rumbaugh. She is full of life and energy and really taught us some subtle movements to help us make inversions much more fun, healthy and approachable. She really lit up the room. I’ll definitely be taking another workshop with her again!
Entertainment
Of course, these events were not all about meditation and asana practice. In the evenings, there was also some form of entertainment each night. A crazy Kirtan/Dance Party was held the first night, a panel discussion with the aforementioned scholars the second night and a Talent Show as the finale! These events were super fun.
Also, I should add that there was a “house band” for the entire, Shantala. Shantala’s members are Anusara Yogis and they would practice with us in the morning, and also hop up on stage during our practices and play some amazing classical Indian music for us. This really added to the overall experience. Being with 850 people practicing yoga at the same time with live Indian music is something special!
The Food…mmmmm…the food!
Let’s not forget the food….all the meals were vegetarian, with plenty of vegan options (yeah!). The food was nutritious, plentiful and good quality…especially given the quantity of people coming through (the vegan apple crisp was ridiculously good). It was all served buffet style which means you could help yourself to as much as you like .
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At the end of the day, I truly enjoyed my experience at the Grand Gathering. Not only were the classes great, but the people who attended were so open and welcoming. Even though I didn’t know many people when I arrived, I quickly made literally dozens of friends. If there is another Grand Gathering sometime in the next few years, I would highly consider going just to be around such amazing people!
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Tantra workshops 10.09.08 at 4:34 pm
Gosh what a beautiful location to hold a workshop. We don’t have elk in my region, but the white tailed deer are quite active and the stags are in rut.