CYC is an international yoga conference that will be held in Montego Bay Jamaica from February 2 – 5, 2012.
Interview with Kim Moon creator of Caribbean Yoga Conference 2012
In February 2012 Jamaica will see a cadre of yoga practitioners coming to the island for the inaugural Caribbean Yoga Conference (CYC). Designed to be a celebration of the yoga consciousness emerging in the region, the event will last for four days starting on February 2, 2012 and will be hosted at the Hilton Rose Hall in Montego Bay. The CYC Team visited Jamaica this week (May 9 – 13, 2012) for an official launch of the event.
We caught up with Kim Moon, creator of the conference, just before one of her free yoga session at Shakti. She noted that their main reason for visiting Jamaica prior to the event is to forge partnerships with different communities and take yoga off the mat and into these communities to act as a tool for transformation. “That’s really why we are here in Jamaica now; to really lay the ground work for the different partnerships and particular project and to discover where the needs are” Moon explained “There really isn’t something that we can come in to do that has not already begun. What we really want to do is just create the space and the venue for these communities to collide”.
From her experiences travelling throughout the Caribbean and other countries across the globe, Moon decided that hosting a yoga conference in the Caribbean would be a tremendous opportunity to encourage the yoga consciousness that was happening in the region. Kim Moon explains that the idea for the conference was born out of her recognition of an increasing trend in the practice of yoga in the Caribbean. Additionally, her experience in social work and psychology fused with her yoga journey has allowed her to develop an awareness of the transformational potential of yoga, which also became a catalyst for putting on the conference.
Giving Back – CYC Community Outreach
During their visit here in Jamaica, the CYC went to a few inner-city communities, and children’s homes as a part of their community outreach and forging partnerships in these communities. One of the homes they visited was Mary’s Child, a centre for pregnant teens, where they conducted a yoga class with the teen mothers. Moon explained, “There are several different projects that we are beginning to look at in terms of where the need is in the community; working with orphanages and teen moms, various different schools that might need to start to bring in some yoga for emotional regulation in children.” They also hosted free yoga classes at Yoga angels, Shakti and Afya’s.
To foster and further their community outreach efforts, the Caribbean Yoga Conference has partnered with Jamaica’s own Shakti Mind Body Fitness to create the Shakti Love Scholarship. They intend to raise US$20,000 through this scholarship, which will give social workers, teachers and yoga instructors an opportunity to attend the conference. Moon noted “There is a strong need for self care and a lot of time these human service workers will burn out. One side of this conference will give them a space for R&R and to practice self care.” She went on to explain “we realized that there was a need and we started to formulate ideas about how this need could be met. So we are inviting teachers, social workers and even yoga teachers that work with special populations to come in, apply and join us.”
They have lined up several international yoga instructors to host different workshops at the event, including Sharon Feanny of Shakti Mind Body Fitness here in Jamaica. Moon admits “We can really only do so much for a weekend event but what we can do is create a platform where the yoga community that exist can collaborate, be empowered, be inspired and then spread their reach even further into the community.” She noted “This is just the beginning and I just want to stay open to allow this to evolve organically, in a way that is really authentic. We are just functionally working together as a team, bringing in community and just celebrating life.”
To learn more about the conference and registration for the event visit their website http://caribbeanyogaconference.com/
