(Victoria, BC- 29th October, 2010) Hemalayaa activates a unique philosophy in her yoga and Indian dance classes that she teaches in Santa Barbara, and her hometown of Ojai, California. Her classes are a celebration of women’s feminity, their bodies, and their spirit. “This message is so often lost in other fitness systems. So often it is just about slimming, trimming, toning- all external expressions of health.” Of her own approach, Hemalayaa’s message to her students is, “A healthy mind, a healthy body, a joyous life, flow from an open heart.” In addition to free-form movement inspired by classical Indian dance and Hatha yoga, Hemalayaa includes vocalization, meditation, and laughter. She encourages women to explore and express their sensuality.
Hemalayaa brings her unique approach to Victoria mid-November in two workshops hosted by the Base Lounge. Bollywood 101 is inspired by the exuberant dance moves popularized in Indian films, while incorporating elements of classical Indian dance, hip-hop, belly dance and yoga. “I felt so alive, and completely free in my body, like another being was taking over my sense of rhythm,” says Andrea Ting-Letts, a former workshop participant. On her first trip to Victoria last June to host similar workshops, Hemalayaa felt like she was “coming home to some very old friends who I reconnected with. The Base Lounge is full of wonderful passionate women in love with life and ready to embrace life fully in courageous ways…perfect candidates for this particular work.”
It was this connection to Victoria, and to the members of the Base Lounge, that inspired the second workshop, Bellyfit Sacred Flow™. This class is a marriage of Hemalayaa’s yoga and dance practice with local fitness sensation Alice Bracegirdle’s Bellyfit® teachings. Ms. Bracegirdle’s Bellyfit® can be described as an energetic fitness class which draws upon dance movement from disciplines such as Bollywood, bhangra, African, and belly dance, as well as yoga and pilates. In Bellyfit Sacred Flow™, Hemalayaa and Alice have joined forces to co-create a yoga-style class that merges their congruent philosophies. “By combining our expertise we are creating an experience that takes women to new depths of their being ... that will be homogeneous with not only yoga studios, but fitness clubs, gyms and community centres,” says Ms. Bracegirdle. Their goal is to spread Bellyfit Sacred Flow™ to a world-wide audience, leveraging both their international renown, and uniting their many followers.
Both workshops take place at the Base Lounge- recognized as one of Douglas Magazine’s “10 to Watch” businesses for 2010- 1303 Broad Street at Yates, November 12th and 13th, 2010. For registration and more information about the workshops, please contact the Base Lounge at (250) 590-1816 or info@baselounge.ca
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Hemalayaa is an internationally renowned teacher of Hatha yoga and Indian dance. In addition to the classes she teaches in Southern California, she also frequently hosts workshops and in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Los Angeles, and New York, and retreats in some of the world’s most exotic locations. She has released a series of videos from Acacia including The Bollywood Dance Workout, Beautiful Belly and Bollywood Booty. Hemalayaa’s work has appeared in LA Yoga Magazine, Yogi Times, Fit Yoga and The New York Times.
Hemalayaa has been seen shimmying with Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o99IxAjzm3U) or strutting with Kathie Lee & Hoda of the Today Show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9ZNMFwDfdM&p=B4FA97BCEDFFA42D&index=11&feature=BF). Hemalayaa was also featured on TV Guides “Countdown to the Oscars” with Adrianna Costa.( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iYEF4cDhKs&feature=player_embedded#!)
For more information about Hemalayaa, please visit www.hemalayaa.com
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For more information about Bellyfit® or the Base Lounge, please visit http://www.bellyfit.ca/baselounge/
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To arrange an interview with either Hemalayaa or Alice Bracegirdle, please contact:
Andrea Ting-Letts, Agent Noir Marketing Group
(C) 250.415.1025 andrea@agentnoir.ca
DVD’s of either Hemalayaa’s work or Bellyfit® can be provided by contacting Andrea Ting-Letts at the contact info above.