HilaryNicholsWrites

Oh, the lengths we will go to when relaxation is required. Three and a half hours from San Francisco, up I 80 toward Tahoe take a left at Truckee and drive for another 30 miles on a curvy mountain road until you finally pull into Sierraville Hot Springs Retreat Center with a sigh. This is a sister facility to the better-known Harbin Hot Springs near Calistoga. The two centers have similar offerings of a variety of healing waters, health services and assorted accommodations. But comparing the two doesn’t do either justice. Not a scene, no schmooze. There is nothing like the intimate woodsy warmth of Sierraville Hot Springs. You arrive at the main lodge with a sense of traveling back in time. The rustic building with two story columns greets you with its wide stairs to the grand deck entry, and once inside the lodge living room welcomes with couches and cozy corners to cuddle into. A full-service kitchen, TV room, yoga space and vegan restaurant share the space. You can book a...

OPEN HEART - OPEN HOME I heard about the Kia and her kids first from my new roommate Cristina, who had met Kia in Sedona Arizona through their mutual yoga teacher. Two of Kia’s 5 children live in Sedona. Cristina had visited the orphanage on her way back from a family reunion in Bolivia. I heard about Kia again when I ran into an old friend Rob Weber at the Mama Amachi ashram in the bay area. Rob and I had been co-creaters on early Mystic Family Circus efforts. He impressed my with his sweet spirit blended with true activation. He was a get-things-done kind of guy and took on lots of responsibility effortlessly. As he mentioned Peru and this orphanage, I was shocked. My new roommate had just talked about a woman in Peru with the same telling. “Is your new room mate Cristina?” So the world got smaller. They had met at Kia’s, before her path crossed mine. Rob had made a film of her project and was planning a fundraiser, was I interested in helping? When he mentioned that the expansion wa...

MAMA KIA's LONG STORY TOWARD LOVE Kia Ingenlath was born in 1949 to missionary parents. Her mother and father became engaged on the island Trinity, and continued to convert the indingenous carribeans while raising their children in the British West Indies. Little Kia was the preacher’s daughter with another side to the story. Devout by day, drunken by night, her father was a man who hid behind the cross and excused his abusive behaiviour in confession. They moved home to Florida when Kia was 10. Her brother died when she was 12 years old. Her father died soon after, of what was taken to be a broken heart, though actually a brain aneurism. We are all stricken differently. Her mother died that same year as breast cancer matastisized to her brain. So Kia was left orphaned and alone before she was a teen. She hid out with a friends family to avoid foster care. And at the age of 14 she crossed county lines into Georgia, to marry her 30 year old Sem...

Meshell Ndegeocello - Soul of a Singer for PLANET MAGAZINE Meshell Ndegeocello gave herself that name when she was a teenager, about the same time she taught herself how to play the bass guitar. Now she calls herself Bashir or ‘B’. But she's not attached to that name either. Taking a cue from the aboriginal children in the book, “Message Down Under”, “They are encouraged to give themselves what ever name they feel at the time," Meshell Ndegeocello will not be pinned down. When we were first learning of her, with the 1994 release of “Plantation Lullabies,” she was the black, gay activist with an attitude. Now she states that “Gay is dead.” And that “Race is performative.” With her latest release, "Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape," we see it is not only her name that changes. On it we are invited to know the many sides of Meshell. She is the angry, empowered revolutionary, the brash hip-hop boaster, and the sensual soul singer...

SING OUT FOR SEVA WAVY GRAVY MAKES WAVES - FOR YOGI TIMES - Wavy Gravy took to the stage in full clown face to offer his cheer and his gratitude to the enthusiastic audience at the SING OUT FOR SEVA benefit concert Friday May 18th at the Grand Ballroom in SF. The charitable organization is reliant on these gala events to support their international projects and Wavy Gravy has been calling on his influential friends to step up to this stage since 1979. This year big name bands Mickey Hart and Friends, Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, and Zero with Steve Kimock drew a nearly sell out crowd to enjoy their infectious grooves and to revel in the recognition of the force these loyal fans have to put “Compassion into Action.” SEVA, named for the Sanskrit word for service was formed in 1978 in the commitment to alleviate suffering caused by disease and poverty in the world. Their projects focus on preventing blindness and restoring sight in 7 countries...

ALL THAT'S GOOD IN THE WORLD HARMONY FESTIVAL - FOR YOGI TIMES MAGAZINE - The 29th annual Harmony Festival held June 8th-10th at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa was a gathering of all that’s good. This year’s theme Promoting Global Cooling was an apt description of the progressive environmental, political and green living presentations as well as the over all vibe of this ultra cool 3 day and night music and camping festival. Local acts, big name bands, circus performers, food and health exhibitors and more than 25 of the most ground breaking speakers shared 3 main and at least 11 side stages and exhibition halls to keep the scene non-stop sensational on all fronts. Stretched across the lawn the global bazaar with artful fashions, eco-friendly home and garden products, and conscious and delicious food offerings was a wonder to walk though. Leading to the main stage where headliners Erykah Badu, The Roots, and Brian Wilson wowed the...

DINA AMSTERDAM - DOES YOGA BEYOND YIN - FOR YOGI TIMES MAGAZINE- Dina Amsterdam guides her class into a simple child’s pose – knees wide, toes together, belly softening towards the floor, and then keeps us there breath after breath. Dina characterizes her teaching as a mix of yin yang yoga influenced by her studies in Buddhism, Iyengar, vinyasa and meditation. Her hatha flow classes begin in Yin style yoga, which can be described as “a sequence of long held poses to enhance the meridian and organ systems.” But as she has us sustain this seemingly restful pose well past comfortable she invites us to explore Yin Yoga beyond organs or asana, into pure philosophy. And this is no small gift. For 13 years Dina’s classes have filled with loyal students eager for another dose of what she offers, the experience of simply learning how to be present. Slowly and quietly Dina moves us through our ease into our discomfort and then beyond the ache to go deeper into t...

MICHAEL FRANTI's PEACE and POWER FOR YOGI TIMES - YOGA FLOW CASTRO was filled to overflowing when we arrived Saturday April 28th to join activist / musician MICHAEL FRANTI's 911 POWER TO THE PEACEFUL Fund Raiser. This is the 2nd year he's hosted this $40 three-hour yoga intensive dedicating 100% of the proceeds to keep his September 8th peace rally and summer festival POWER TO THE PEOPLE a free event. Michael invited LES LEVENTHAL to share his joyful and strenuous style of Ana Forrest informed vinyasa practice. LES had us all laughing and loving the intensity of his swift heart-opening flow. But it was Michael who first warmed up the room with his guitar in his lap and his bare feet on the floor. We sat mat to mat and sang along as he led us through his songs of action and passion. In this intimate setting we get to feel like we are all joining forces to add our breath our sweat and our conviction to the cause. With his series of gathe...