I've been at WineCamp here in Calaveras County, California, for the past two days. What's that, you ask? Well, the key ingredients have been geeks, camping, strategizing... and lots of wine. Believe it or not, we spent a full 36 hours without power, much less wifi – but we're back online now! Day one was for offline conversations, and today is for Building Stuff. It's been a lot of fun.

This morning I led a yoga session for 20 WineCampers. It was certainly the most beautiful Yoga for Geeks session to date – we were perched up on a bluff overlooking the most spectacular view in the western Sierras, surrounded by trees and bathed in dappled sunlight. And a good thing, too, since – surprise surprise – a lot of people had consumed a lot of wine the night before. I think the view distracted a few folks from their pounding heads.

Our class was peaceful and gentle (the perfect antidote to two nights spent sleeping on the ground), and there were 4 or 5 newbies in the crowd, which always makes me feel extra good. If I can offer a positive first-ever yoga experience to my fellow geeks, and leave them thinking that they'd like to do it again, then I've done my work in the geek world. :) 

There was a photographer for the San Francisco Chronicle on hand and I swear he took 200 pictures of us, so if you're in the Bay Area, keep your eyes open on the Tech Section.

Thanks to everyone who came out – it's an honour to get to teach at events like this. And special thanks to Patrick Dominguez for the photo above!

This past Saturday was Penguin Day in Seattle. I had the chance to lead a lunch-hour Yoga for Geeks session to a packed crowd of almost 25 people - way more than I had expected!

While the venue was less than ideal, because the lunch-eaters were above us in a raised balcony kind of thing, with no noise barrier, it was still pretty great. Thirty minutes passed all too quickly, but feedback was positive, and the highlight of the whole experience for me was the group-initiated opening "OM". That *must* be a first for a geek conference...!?!? 

Special thanks to Gunner and Gregory for making it happen... and to Kris for picking up the mats... and to Samadhi Yoga for lending us mats and blocks for the day! You all rock! (Only I expect to see you out on a mat next time, Gunner...)

Want to see pictures? Kris took some great ones. Start here and click through to view the 6 best ones... 

The next Yoga for Geeks conference session will take place at Penguin Day Seattle, on March 25th. From their site:

Penguin Day Seattle will bring together non-profit technology staff and open source software (OSS) developers for a day of learning and conversation. We'll demystify open source for nonprofits, frankly address the challenges of developing open source tools for non profits, and celebrate strengths and successes of open source in the nonprofit sector. Leading open source innovators, including ONE/Northwest (Seattle), FreeGeek (Portland) and CivicActions will share their stories and knowledge.

We agreed that I would run a short lunch-hour yoga for geeks session - long enough to stretch out and unwind, but short enough to allow time to grab some lunch afterwards. So if you're planning to be there, pack some comfy clothes!

Special thanks go to Gregory Heller for helping to set it up. :) I'm pretty stoked. I've wanted to attend a Penguin Day ever since I first heard about them at Web of Change in September 2004!

The long-awaited launch of YogaforGeeks.com! I'm pretty excited to be getting this off the ground.

This site will be both a gathering place for all things related to bringing awareness and peace into our lives as computer-bound geeks.

It's going to grow and change a lot over the coming weeks and months. I'm launching now without a fancy theme because I want to get it live. But if you know of anyone who would be willing to trade yoga classes (or anything else I might be able to offer, really) for some design/theming, please let me know!

Thanks for stopping in and please keep coming back. I'll be posting yoga resources and reflections, as well as all upcoming events.

Namaste,

Sarah

(For those who don't know, "Namaste" is a greeting used in India, and in the yoga world, that roughly translates to "the light that is within me honours and acknowledges the light that is within you". It's a word you'll hear often if you go to yoga classes...)