ProjectSPACE tour to bring yoga to 'unconventional' facilities

I've been hard at work finalizing all details for the ProjectSPACE tour and planning and promoting the classes. Here are a list of the facilities ProjectSPACE is set to work with on tour. Still need to finalize Raleigh, Augusta and Daytona Beach. Reach out if you have any suggestions/connections in these cities:
spiritanddustmusic@gmail.com

List of facilities:

March 14^th      Newtown, PA        
Today  INC. Rehabilitation Center    

March 17^th      Wilmington, DE       
Ferris Detention Center   
    

March 20^th      Baltimore, MD         
Robert W. Coleman Elementary School

March 22^nd     Washington, D.C.     
Sasha Bruce Youth Emergency Shelter

                        Washington, D.C.     
Yoga District

March 25^th      Fredericksburg, VA   
Empower House domestic violence center

                        Fredericksburg, VA    
Downtown Greens INC.

March 27^th      Richmond, VA         
Thomas Jefferson High School

                        Richmond, VA         
Project Yoga Richmond

April 1^st           Raleigh, NC               
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April 7^th           Columbia, SC          
Palmetto Place Shelter/St. Lawrence Shelter

April 10^th        Augusta, GA

April 16^th        Atlanta, GA               
Y.E.L.L.S. community action café

April 17^th        Atlanta, GA               
Sacred Thread Yoga / Operation P.E.A.C.E.

April 23^rd        Orange Park, FL       
Head Start School

April 26^th        Daytona Beach, FL

April 29^th        Orlando, FL             
John H. Jackson Community Center

May 2^nd          Vero Beach, FL      
Hibiscus Children’s Center

May 6^th           Miami, FL               
Urgent, INC.

We are strong enough to hurt ourselves

Last weekend I was reminded about how ignorant I can be. Hear me out, I'm not just being hard on myself; rather, I'm reflecting on the consequences that come from ignorance, hardening, and competing.

I spent last weekend developing a relationship with the ProjectSPACE bicycle and, incidentally, myself. I have been training by doing long distance rides to various places. Last Saturday, I rode all day through the rain, and I was reminded of a time I had gone hiking with my yoga instructors and fellow trainees in India. Our destination: a Shiva holy place called Mani Mahesh some 4500 meters high.

We hiked all day from a 120 degree sunny morning to an eventual crisp and dark snowy chill.

In the beginning of the hike, I did what I knew best: get tough, quick, and in my own head. I was strong. Strong enough to hurt myself. And that's nearly what I did.

I started off the hike too fast, too hard, and ahead of the group. I was heavy headed, and it was one wrong step that nearly cost me my life. Looking down on the road instead of ahead where I was walking, I stepped on a wet rock which took my feet from beneath me and left me hanging from the cliff. My hiking stick fell into rapid waters below. It was one of those "movie moments" where you look down, see the water destroy the tool you were just using as a walking guide, and you know that if you also fall, then you die. All because you were so strong. Strong enough to hurt yourself.

Luckily, my friend and my instructor ran up to pull me off the cliff and back onto the road. I don't know if they saved my life, but I'm glad I didn't have to hang off the cliff any longer to wait and find out.

My greatest challenge in training for the ProjectSPACE tour has not been the physical element, as you may imagine. Instead, the greatest challenge in training has been the mental element. The mind is a powerful thing and, when you are biking for 8 hours making the same motions over-and-over, it can be difficult to conserve your mental energy and to stay soft and smart.

Last weekend I was not riding very mindfully through the rain and my tire caught a patch of ice which took my bike from underneath me and left me flying into a puddle.

The handle bars were twisted sideways. I was laying in a puddle soaking wet.

And I laughed hysterically. I laughed because I was reminded of how ignorant I can be; how I am strong enough to hurt myself.

I am working on training the mind. I am developing a relationship with my bicycle and, incidentally, myself.

54 days until departure!

Long, endless ascends

Inviting woods

From my hike to Mani Mahesh in Himachal Pradesh, India

Podcast with Locally Brewed Yoga

Check out the podcast that Locally Brewed Yoga did about ProjectSPACE. We talk about the ProjectSPACE bike tour, the business-fied and commercialized aspects of yoga, yoga's influence on food and spiritualism, being 'agriculturally' aware, the Philadelphia Eagles, and more!

58 days until departure!

Http://www.locallybrewedyoga.com/2014/01/13/episode-012-Kristen-Sylvester/

Bike built!

This past weekend I spent some time building the bike for the ProjectSPACE bike tour to bring yoga to 'underserved' and 'unconventional' spaces.

Departure: March 15, 2014

Thank you all so much for all of your support thus far. The IndieGoGo campaign is ending in 4 days, so there is still time to take a stand and show your support!

Even though we've already 'reached our goal', any additional fundraising support will help for materials in the classroom, inevitable bike maintenance fees, etc. etc.

Let's bring yoga to our youth!

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/projectspace-bike-tour-to-bring-yoga-to-underserved-spaces

Check out PSPACE on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/transformingspace

UPDATES

Some updates...

1) The ProjectSPACE fundraiser has been going so well I was able to order the bike, and I will be building it this upcoming weekend! 

2) Aside from training and fundraising, I have been finalizing the stops on the tour and it is so inspiring to be connected with so many good humans who are doing great work with Yoga.

3) Here's the finalized list of cities Ill be teaching in:
-Newtown, PA
-Philadelphia, PA
-Wilmington, DE
-Baltimore, MD
-Washington, D.C.
-Fredericksburg, VA
-Richmond, VA
-Raleigh, NC
-Fayetteville, NC
-Columbia, SC
-Augusta, GA
-Atlanta, GA
-Jacksonville, FL
-Daytona Beach, FL
-Orlando, FL
-Fort Pierce, FL
-Miami, FL

4) Only $225 away from reaching the fundraising goal on IndieGoGo! All donations are being used for materials necessary to make the ProjectSPACE bike tour possible.

5) Thank you all so much for your endless support. It is your support which fuels my motivation to make such a journey possible

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/projectspace-bike-tour-to-bring-yoga-to-underserved-spaces/x/5676269

Bike training

Long bike training rides
Heavy weight on back-- ive brought too much baggage-- heavy mind
Roads ive never been before; new space explored
Being 'lost' on a map
Hills so steep i cant shift down any more
Pullover to quench my thirst with water but gunshots in the distance advise me to keep moving
Questioning myself and what im doing and where im heading with
Darkness so dark and silence so prominent all i can see in the woods is my own hands, all i can hear in the woods is my own breath
And im caked in mud, and when did it last rain anyway?
With no idea where i am, ive no idea when ill arrive
But then theres the sky which opens up always
And the moon which is just there always
And there is something reassuring in the wind's whisper to just 'trust yourself'
and i soften up and lean in and laugh aloud thinking of that passage in the Quran that says ''Verily, with every difficilty there is relief.''
@ProjectSPACE, #projectspaceyoga

Have you checked out the IndieGoGo campaign yet? Time is running out. Only $320 away from reaching the fundraising goal! So thankful!

indiegogo.com/projects/projectspace-bike-tour-to-bring-yoga-to-underserved-spaces