WakeUp! A 2021 Earth Day Experience
Join us for our 2nd Annual WakeUp! A 2021 Earth Day Experience
One of our duties as a SoulJour is to Protect Mother Earth and Earth Day is a time for all to join together to honor nature in all its forms. For 5 days we'll integrate the 5 elements – earth, air, fire, water and space – as they relate to the current environmental challenges we face. Through movement, meditation, education, action, reflection and journaling, we'll seamlessly weave together the connection of all and remember why the synergy of all matters!
Wednesday, April 21 - Sunday April, 25
3 Daily Sessions (PST time zone)
8-8:45am: Move & Meditate
12-12:15pm: Educate & Act
6pm: Reflect & Write
on Facebook (@SoulJour)
to benefit
TreeSisters
in collaboration with
EarthDayOR
OregonWild
Urban Balance
Featuring
Sarahjoy Marsh
Aline Fernandes
Andrea Boni
Diana Hulet
MC
Sweet
Lyf Gildersleeve
Tanja Mickwitz
Sandra Small
Makgathi Mokwena
Talaya Thomas
Ashley Melin
Jeff Fedrizzi
Together We Rock. Together We Rise. Together our collective intention will create a positive vibration around the globe.
The human race is currently facing a mass extinction. The signs have been there for a very long time and it's clear that we must change our ways in order to find balance and harmony between the animal kingdom, plants and trees, air, and soil. Everything is interconnected! The status quo is unsustainable and it’s crucial that we take action in order to create a new paradigm. Let's do our part and raise awareness both as individuals and as a collective for our children to thrive.
What we experience April 21- 25 will mark a new beginning.
We are currently being asked to change and embrace a a new Earth – to get creative and shift. WakeUp 2021: An Earth Day Experience gathers top masters in their fields to share their wisdom and expertise with our new global family. We'll nourish body, mind, and soul. We'll recreate the future state we want to live. We'll serve humanity and our planet. We'll educate ourselves, take action, and engage with others during these unprecedented times.
Like the Phoenix bird depicted in our graphics, we'll rise as a collective more radass, balanced and wise than ever!
This free event will be offered to all on Facebook (@SoulJour)
April 22 is the 51th Anniversary of Earth Day!
Born in the wake of elevated concern about environmental pollution, EPA was established on December 2, 1970 to consolidate in one agency a variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting, and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection. Since its inception, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people. Read more about the history of Earth Day
Why 5 Days?
Earth and April both have 5 letters. In Yoga, there are the 5 yamas, 5 niyamas, 5 kleshas, 5 koshas. There are 5 elements. 5 kingdoms of living things. 5 senses. 5 points to a star. 5 is the magic number for our event as it relates to so much!
Give Back
We’ve partnered with TreeSisters – an organization we believe is doing great things in the world! TreeSisters works to empower local communities in remote areas, by contributing to the reforestation of tropical areas decimated by fires and clearcutting.
TreeSisters exists to elicit collective responsibility for planetary restoration at the grass roots level with a focus on women and tropical reforestation. They channel 80% of member donations to exemplary existing reforestation organizations in the tropics with whom they partner to restore ecosystems. The remaining 20% funds our behavior change and consciousness shift work with women to reinstate feminine leadership, and normalize collective ownership of planetary restoration.
100% of all donations will go towards planting our SoulJour Forest!
Event Schedule
All times listed in Pacific Standard Time.
Not sure what time this takes place for you? Time Zone Converter
Each day features 3 sessions on our @SoulJour Facebook page related to the element of that day.
8:00am - 8:45am:
Move & Meditate
Enjoy a live holistic yoga practice to get your day started with intention and purpose.
12 - 12:15pm:Educate & Act
Hear from an environmental expert, watch a documentary, sign a petition, clean up trash, etc. This is where we learn and do.
6-6:20pm: Reflect & Write
A short meditation & journal writing activity will be given to reflect upon the day's learnings.
APRIL 21: AIR
8am: MC Sweet (USA)
12pm: Ashley Melin (USA)
6pm: Tanja Mickwitz (UK)
APRIL 22: EARTH
8am: Sarahjoy Marsh (USA)
12pm: Diana Hulet (USA)
6pm: Makgathi Mokwena (S. Africa)
APRIL 23: WATER
8am: Talaya Thomas (Costa Rica)
12pm: Lyf Gildersleeve (Oceans)
6pm: Diana Hulet (USA)
APRIL 24: FIRE
8am: Aline Fernandes (Brazil)
12pm: Jeff Fedrizzi (USA)
6pm: Ashley Melin (USA)
APRIL 25: SPACE
8am: Andrea Boni (Italy)
12pm: Diana Hulet (USA)
6pm: Sandra Small (USA)
About Our Presenters
Ashley Melin, Founder of SoulJour
Ashley has been a freelance graphic designer for nearly 20 years. Her current clients include Nike, Columbia, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Starbucks, and HEMA Amsterdam. Taking her first yoga class in 1992, she has been a daily practitioner of yoga/meditation ever since, having studied with the best teachers all over the world. She began taking groups to India in 2007, with the goal being to get people out of their comfort zone and to practice living life off the mat – an experience India does so brilliantly. As an avid mountain biker, skier, 10 time marathon runner, and big mountain climber (climbing over 25 peaks above 14,000 feet ), she has an intimate understanding of pushing limits – physical, emotional, mental – in order to create change. This concept became the most real when 5 years ago, Ashley experienced a radical shift and divorced the man she'd been with half her life. It was during this most challenging time of her life that the idea for SoulJour was born and she was able to turn her biggest challenge into her greatest gift.
Read more about Ashley
Sarahjoy Marsh | Master Yoga Teacher, Climate Awareness Activist | USA
Sarahjoy Marsh, MA, E-RYT 500, certified yoga teacher, yoga therapist, and author, is a vibrant, compassionate catalyst for transformation. Clear-hearted and sensitive toward our human condition, Sarahjoy ignites a person’s confidence in themselves as capable of traversing the challenges and joys of awakening from suffering. Through her decades of work with a wide variety of people, she has created an accessible library of tools that develop the life skills people need to re-create health (both physical and mental); to internalize their sense of worth, belonging, and capacity; and to thrive emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. While fundamentally informed by the teachings of yoga, Sarahjoy also masterfully integrates her training in Eastern and Western perspectives, Ayurveda, art therapy and mental health, interpersonal counseling, neurobiology, reciprocal muscle inhibition, and kinesiology. She has an unwavering belief in people’s innate goodness and their capacity to re-awaken to their potential. A sought after teacher of teachers, she leads multiple retreats, immersions, and trainings in the Pacific Northwest and internationally, and is a regular instructor at Kripalu Yoga Center and Breitenbush Hot Springs. Sarahjoy has been teaching retreats for 25 years. She also teaches 200-, 500-, and 800-hour yoga teacher and yoga therapy trainings in Portland, Oregon; as well as a 200-hour teacher training program in prisons for incarcerated adults to become yoga teachers on the inside. Her book Hunger, Hope & Healing: A Yoga Approach to Reclaiming Your Relationship with Your Body and Food outlines her unique approach to yoga for recovery; integrating powerful yoga and mindfulness tools with modern day psychological modalities for an effective and comprehensive approach to healing.
Committed to supporting marginalized populations and using yoga for social justice Sarahjoy founded Living Yoga and the DAYA Foundation.
Aline Fernandes | Yoga Teacher, Climate Awareness Activist | Brazil
Born on the southern coast of Brazil, Aline lived in NYC for over 15 years. It was there in the bustle of city life that she found her daily devotion to study and practice with Eddie Stern (Ashtanga Yoga New York). Over the years Aline’s deep reverence for yoga took her to India where she became an Ashtanga Yoga Instructor (Level 2 by KPJAYI) under the teachings of Sri K Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Jois. Through her commitment to the practice Aline eventually became an assistant teacher to Eddie Stern at AYNY (Ashtanga Yoga New York), taught at Tumblr and Nike NYC, and has led workshops and retreats in Brazil, Hawaii, Uruguay and Spain. Whether at home or on the road, Aline’s yoga practice is accompanied by her love of meditation. While in NYC she studied Transcendental Meditation at the David Lynch Foundation and Vedic Meditation with Thom Knoles. With a deep belief in vibrant health and overall wellness as a way of life, Aline’s yoga retreats and events have a sustainable approach, often supporting environmental organizations and social projects.Today Aline finds herself based back home in Brazil and is enjoying teaching yoga to her newest and most favorite student ~ her 18 month old son Noah.
Andrea Boni | Master Yoga & Meditation Teacher | Italy
Andrea Boni is a dedicated meditation practitioner of over forty years and a meditation teacher for over twenty. Through Teacher Trainings, yoga Immersions, and workshops, he teaches globally to students of all levels.
Through his intimate contact with the internal realm he engages with his students and the world powerfully, effectively and with great love. In 1989 he received his Master’s degree cum laude in Modern Literature and Performing Arts and his master thesis was published among the ten most interesting thesis of the year. He worked in the film and television industry in close collaboration with luminaries such as Michelangelo Antonioni, Wim Wenders and George Lucas. He himself has directed documentary films for RAI television and international NGOs.
Since 2010 he is an Anusara® Yoga Certified Teacher and currently a member of Yoga Alliance and Yani, Yoga Associazione Nazionale Insegnanti.
Diana Hulet | Yoga Teacher, Philosopher, Animal Rights Activist
Diana Hulet is a Pacific Northwest based yoga teacher and activist. She has been steeped in the yoga tradition for over three decades and has taught yoga and yoga philosophy since 2004. Her teaching style is an ongoing synthesis of hatha and vinyasa yoga, pranayama, and meditation. Diana’s instruction will often include teachings from yoga philosophy and other contemplative traditions. While she has been influenced by many luminaries across the tradition of yoga, Diana has always seen the unpredictable and beautiful circumstances of life as her greatest teacher.
Whether through the doorways of loss or illness, joy or celebration, her teaching and writing invite us into the conversation between our interior and exterior experiences. Most recently, Diana returned to college and completed her B.S. in Liberal Studies, with a focus on environmental ethics, religion, and philosophy. Her current teaching practice synthesizes a deep care and concern for the natural world with concepts from both yoga and Buddhism. Diana’s work as an activist and writer centers on animal rights and furthering the dialogue between the problematic ethical, environmental and human health concerns within factory farming.
Lyf Gildersleeve | Sustainable Fish Restaurant Owner, Finger Monger & Fish/Oceans Advocate
Lyf Gildersleeve is a second generation fish monger with significant aquaculture and aquaponics experience and education, and significant public speaking experience. He actively promotes and protects sustainable use of our seafood resources aligning with the most sustainable fishermen, foragers, and farmers in the Northwest. He owns Flying Fish Company, a retail fish market, meat market, and oyster bar in Portland, Oregon. From developing lasting relationships with eco-conscience producers to early adoption and operation of sustainable aquaculture and aquaponics practices, his relationships with ecological concerns, sustaining family businesses, educating the public, advocating for national fisheries policy, and building a successful retail business place him in the forefront of a new generation of highly motivated, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and forward looking entrepreneurs. Lyf has been featured in countless newspaper and magazine articles Flying Fish Company originally started in Lyf’s hometown of Sandpoint Idaho in 1979. He started Flying Fish Company in Portland in 2010 and currently lives in SE Portland with his wife and two kids.
Mary Clare "MC" Sweet
From a musical family (her uncle is Matthew Sweet), Mary Clare "MC" Sweet followed her passion for rhythm and dance to New York City, where she became a student of the venerable Sri Dharma Mittra, founder of the Dharma Yoga Center. From there, Sweet’s yoga career has taken off. At age 26, she opened her first vinyasa studio in Omaha, Nebraska: Lotus House of Yoga. Five years later, she is the owner of five Lotus House locations, a regular teacher at yoga festivals nationwide, and she runs several teacher training programs a year.
Sandra Small | Musician & Songwriter | USA
Sandra Small is a singer-songwriter & NYC native. Ever since her debut EP release “World Gone Crazy”, in 2006 & her 1st full album release in 2009 “Illusions”, Sandra Small has been writing about the troubles of the world and how to push through to realize one's dreams. In 2013 Sandra recorded her last record with The Smallworld Band. Shortly after that, the lead guitarist in her band passed away, along with 3 other people close to her. It was hard to finish anything at that time.
Moving forward, It seems that now Sandra has lots to share from that time period. Sandra’s music continues to keeps her on the path of discovery. With each new cycle of life, Sandra opens new doors, discovering the new territories that lie in the depths of her own mind and creativity. Sandra is currently on a solo mission, producing her own recordings and performing live shows with rhythms, and a blanket of sound enhanced with rhythmic melodies, lines, riffs with her loop pedal and heartfelt vocals.
Tanja Mickwitz | Soul Guide + Rasa Yoga Lead Teacher | UK
Known for her authentic voice and speaking from the heart Tanja holds a sacred container for growing more fully into ourselves. She weaves astrological guidance, shadow tracking and Tantric philosophy into embodiment through yogic practices, as well as JourneyDance.
Tanja’s yoga classes serve as an inspiration and support for life, with asana as the playground and metaphor. Tanja creates a nurturing space for exploration of the internal landscape and inner growth whilst challenging the physical edge with a safely led dynamic practice. Tanja is also an engaging storyteller using the wisdom of stories and symbolism to come into deeper understanding of ourselves and the universe.
Tanja is the first Rasa Yoga Teacher Trainer in Europe and continues to be guided and inspired by Sianna Sherman in her studies and teaching. Tanja has also studied with Para Yoga founder Yogarupa Rod Stryker since 2005 and is initiated into the SriVidya lineage by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait of the Himalayan Institute.
Currently you can find Tanja teaching for her online community The Sadhana Collective in addition to guest workshops and trainings. She is also available for personal guidance and mentoring sessions.
Tanja’s first book ‘Theming Skills for Yoga Teachers” is due to be published in October 2021 as part of the Yoga Teaching Guides series for Singing Dragon.
Dr. Makgathi Mokwena | Healer, Yoga Teacher, Leadership Coach | South Africa
Makgathi Mokwena s a rites of passage companion, holding ceremonial rituals and retreats to help individuals journey through various life passages such as marriage, the scattering of ashes, birthdays, first menstruation for girls, initiation into eldership and other rites which mark important transitions in a person’s life. She is also a registered Arts Therapist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa, working as a therapist and coach, as well as performer. She has delivered the opening addresses at various conferences including the International Goddess Conference in Glastonbury, and has designed and facilitated various leadership development programs. She holds two international yoga teacher training certifications from India, and is involved in a soon to be released document-series that charts her life path as a pilgrim seeking direct experience of Divinity. Her leadership development work largely (but not exclusively) centers on personal development, and references the self within the context of a larger team/community/system. The paradigm I hold is appreciative and strength-based – she believes that all human beings are oriented towards, and have the capacity to grow into, their essential Wholeness. She make use of rigorous self-inquiry and reflection as tools for understanding and appreciation oneself, in order to serve self, others and organizations.
Watch her All Women TV Show filmed in Cape Town
Talaya Thomas | Founder, The Moovment & Yoga Teacher | Costa Rica
Talaya Thomas is a lifelong student, teacher, mother, entrepreneur, world traveler, and inspirational speaker. She is a founder of the Steamboat Movement Fest, an intimate yoga and movement festival which took place for the last 6 years in Steamboat Springs, CO. This year, she has evolved her endeavor into The Moovment, a 501(c)(3), whose mission is to promote empathy, acceptance and equitable representation in the yoga and wellness industry through sharing and education rooted in movement, critical thinking, radical imagination, and open dialogue. When not in a pandemic, she spends half the year in Costa Rica and loves long runs barefoot in the jungle. Talaya is a dedicated student of Nevine Michaan and a thoughtful yoga teacher guiding her own students through a journey of joy, empowerment, healing (physical, mental and spiritual) and authenticity. Leading the way for black yogini women, she is a force of empowerment to all who come in contact with her.
Jeff Fedrizzi | Federal Wildlife Manager | USA
Jeff started his career in Colorado in 1986 with the US Forest Service and has lived in six different states working for different agencies to include the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Forest Service, and The Bureau of Land Management. During this time he completed his masters degree from the University of Idaho in wildlife management with an emphasis on fire management and fire ecology. Jeff has also worked at the top level as a Fire and Emergency Management Officer. In 2006, he lead a progressive program that received the prestigious Paul Gleason Lead by Example Award for motivation and vision. During his career he’s also completed the four-year US Fire Administration’s Executive Fire Officer Program, as well as Portland State Executive Leadership Program.