TICKET BOX: ZZ Top at Musikfest, The Monkees at Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Los Lobos at Musikfest Cafe among nearly 60 new shows

Story | Mar 20, 2014 | 4:22 AM

Welcome to Lehigh Valley Music's Ticket Box, listing new shows on sale. ZZ Top at Musikfest in Bethlehem, The Monkees at Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Los Lobos at Musikfest Cafe are among nearly 60 shows for which we have information....

Story | Feb 6, 2014 | 4:22 AM

Welcome to Lehigh Valley Music's Ticket Box, listing new shows on sale. Dave Matthews at Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, One Direction at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and Seether at Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg are among nearly 40 new...

Story | Sep 19, 2013 | 4:22 AM

Welcome to Lehigh Valley Music's Ticket Box, listing new shows on sale. Robin Thicke at Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J., Elton John at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and Jake Clemons of Bruce Springsteens E Street Band are among...

Story | Mar 21, 2013 | 4:26 AM

Welcome to Lehigh Valley Music's Ticket Box, listing new shows on sale. Alabama, Billy Idol, Los Lobos and Rock of Ages at Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Dave Davies and Keller Williams at Musikfest Caf in and Dave Matthews at Susquehanna...

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Lehigh Valley Yoga Festival Highlights

In yoga, a pose referred to by my teacher as "how wonderful" involves a lifting of the head and chest, and opening of the arms out to the side,with a bend in the elbows.

What if instead, we employ the open stance of "I don't know?"-words she demonstrated fit perfectly with the pose of "how wonderful."

In my behavioral pediatric practice, I find parents often driven by a need to know. "Is there something wrong with him?" they ask. There are tremendous pressures -from teachers, from family, from insurance companies, to name the problem. There is a kind of certainty in this approach, a kind of professional declaring of "I know whats wrong with you."

What if, rather than being guided by diagnostic instruments, that ask questions with the aim of getting an answer, we approach the situation with a stance of curiosity, of inquiry, of "not knowing."

I find if, in a way not dissimilar to the hour-long yoga class, I offer space and time to let the story unfold, we uncover complex meaning in "problem" behavior. There may be a number of relatives with similar traits, suggesting a genetic component. There may have been significant stresses in a family that, even with parents' best efforts to shield a child from the effects, have been noticed and absorbed. A child may have a range of sensory sensitivities that he can manage, but under the stress of separation, often at bedtime or in the process of getting out the door, these sensitivities are magnified. "Problem" behavior may be both cause of and result of family conflict between parents, among siblings, between generations.

There is courage in a stance of not knowing. In yoga, we trust our teacher to guide us in the backbends that evolve out of the "how wonderful/I don't know" pose. The work is hard. She challenges us while taking care to protect us from harm.

Perhaps professionals who care for children with "behavior problems" -pediatricians, psychiatrists, teachers- could learn a lesson from my yoga teacher (support from the health care system that decided what is and is not "covered" would be essential to this kind of approach.) Ratherthan being guided by aneed to make a "diagnosis," we would support parents in a safe, holding environment through a time of not knowing, on a journey to find the true meaning of behavior.

This kind of journey might not only serve to decrease the number of children receiving psychiatric diagnoses, but also help us to discover creative solutions.We would have the opportunity to uncover both weaknesses and strengths, and to support development of resilience.In the words of pediatrician turnedpsychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott, we would be promoting development of a child's "true self."

How wonderful.

Excerpt from:
How Yoga Informs Parenting: Value in Not Knowing

Susan Bailey balances on a slack line during a class at Highland Lake Yoga on Friday. The owner, Fred Brown, has decided to close his yoga studio after 14 years in business.

FLAT ROCK Friday was the last day of yoga and meditation classes at Highland Lake Yoga, as the studio has closed to benefit both the families of the building's owner and the yogis.

Highland Lake Yoga has operated for 14 years out of a cottage-style building on a plot of garden-covered land originally part of the Highland Lake community in historic Flat Rock. With chicken coops at either end of the building, flower boxes on the windows, tall pine trees and a white peacock that visited regularly, the studio offfered a secluded haven for meditation.

But it was also one room of the cottage housing the landowner's aging mother, who needs continuing care and a space for her resident caretakers to live.

Kerry Lindsey established the Highland Lake community in 1985, and a few years later brought his parents to the cottage, where his mother, Treska Lindsey, raised goats and chickens and planted bountiful gardens.

Jack and Linda Grup now own the 26 acres belonging to the Highland Lake Inn & Resort, while Treska Lindsey continues to reside on land owned by the Lindsey family.

Though Highland Lake Yoga isn't technically part of the resort, it has been open to the inn's visitors, as well as residents of the nearby Highland Lake neighborhoods and rental cottages.

Fred Brown, who has practiced yoga for 45 years and taught for the past 40, began Highland Lake Yoga at the studio in 2000 and introduced gravity-defying techniques to individuals as part of their yoga and stretching routines.

Brown said the inversion swing turns gravity around, allowing users to position their bodies in poses they wouldn't normally be able to sustain right side up. This helps them move all their bodies' joints in their maximum ranges of motion, which is one of the practices of yoga, he said.

A one-inch slack line stretched taught across the room was used for practicing one's balance with or without the help of handles hanging from the ceiling.

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Highland Lake Yoga closes; tradition continues

Yoga and music and wellness om my!

The inaugural Lehigh Valley Yoga Festival on July 26 presents a full day and evening of mindful experiences for the body and spirit at the Nurture Nature Center in Easton.

The festival represents a coming together of the Lehigh Valley's fast-growing yoga community and showcases the expertise of 40 presenters representing many different fields.

This synthesis sprang from a simple Facebook post by Jo-Ann Temple-Hindon, a yoga and meditation instructor. "I put up the simple status: 'Lehigh Valley Yoga Festival 2014. Anybody with me?' It turned out a lot of people were in favor of that. The response was overwhelming."

Temple-Hindon says the goal was to "keep everything as local as possible and spotlight all the different schools and teachers in the Valley and bring them all together for a celebration of yoga."

The festival is for newbies and experienced practicioners, adults and children. Attendees can sample different styles of yoga to find "what they're most comfortable with. Then they can seek that out after the festival," says Temple-Hindon. For example, beginners looking to address stress, anxiety or insomnia might target "Restorative Yoga," and thrill seekers can bring a partner to try the dynamic "Acro Yoga: Learning to Fly" class.

The event launches at 10 a.m. with an Opening Prayer of Harmony led by festival board members Hindon, Alicia Rambo Wozniak, Prahba Sinha and Deva Vidya. It concludes with a concert by Sean Johnson & the Wild Lotus Band, a world music trio based in New Orleans. The group merges ancient mantras with rock, funk, gospel and world grooves. Wozniak, owner of Easton Yoga, says that tickets to concerts by the group, which headlines regularly at nationwide and international music and yoga events, typically sell for as much as or more than the festival's general admission price of $50.

Between these events, there's a diverse array of workshops, lectures, musical performances and, of course, yoga classes in a variety of styles and difficulties. In "Quiet Heart Yoga: The Secret of Breath-Raja Yoga" you will explore the simple act of breathing. "Balance for 55 and Better" demonstrates that the flexibility of a Russian gymnast is not a requirement. Already a yoga enthusiast? Then rev things on the mat with an energizing "Firecracker Flow" class. A Kids Yoga Space delivers child-friendly presentations that include "Family Laughter Yoga" and "Teen Yoga."

In fact, getting kids involved in yoga is at the heart of the festival, which is presented under the auspices of the Pratyush Sinha Foundation. This nonprofit organization, founded by Sinha in 2012, brings the benefits of yoga to at-risk youth in the Allentown School District, Boys and Girls Clubs, The Caring Place and other area locations. Proceeds from the festival will help continue and expand these programs.

"The goal of yoga, whether for kids or adults, is the same: It brings balance to our inner minds. It's all about the mind. But, of course, we use physical postures to kind of get our mind into place. With kids, we need to engage them in a way that's interesting and makes the yoga postures seem like a game," Sinha says. "Even little kids feel a lot of stress, from family, from peer pressure. After a class I always ask what they get from doing yoga, and they say, 'I feel more relaxed, I feel calm.' The next time they're upset they can focus on their breath to calm their mind down." (For more info visit http://www.pratyushsinhafoundation.org.)

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Om Easton gets zen with yoga fest