(Picture of Chock Petchprom on left...Paramahansa Yogananda on right...two amazing teachers.)

Namaste~

A few awesome updates to share with you. First of all, the Thai Yoga Bodywork sessions with Chock and Rocie Petchprom were outstanding. They are such beautiful souls and it's amazing to experience the love and energy they bring to their work. It's incredible because I have been wishing for quite some time, several years in fact, to be able to travel to Thailand to expand my knowledge of Thai Massage. I have been practicing Thai Yoga Bodywork/Massage since 2002. I learned with a highly-skilled RMT here in Dallas, Raymond Core, who has spent a considerable amount of time learning Thai Massage in Thailand and practicing it here in Dallas. I am grateful to have had the experience to learn from him. I've also received some really wonderful and healing Thai Massage from Matt Chapman with Sacred Art Thai. He, too, is a devoted practitioner who travels to Thailand to continuously deepen his studies. I have been blessed to have met both of those individuals. But, my meeting with Chock Petchprom has been incredibly special and unique as it has been a true answer to my prayers. Not to mention, his spirit reminds me so much of my father. I've been praying to find a true teacher of the sacred art of Thai Massage. I thought my prayers would lead me to Thailand, but it turns out, my prayers have brought Thailand to me. What a blessing! I'm looking for a link where you can learn more about Chock because his accomplishments are incredible. When I find it, I will post it. At the age of 71, he has more energy than most 20 year olds. (he still runs 5 days a week!) Just being in his presence is soothing, energizing and healing. When I am around him, it's that feeling of knowing I am ok, that there is a Spirit that loves me and is guiding me through every moment of my life. It is the Spirit of my Father, who although is no longer with me in physical form, in his Heavenly form he is with me all the time and I know that now. I have witnessed many incredible moments since his passing last November. I know the people who have come into my life have been sent from the grace of His Spirit, that there are no coincidences and that I am blessed. Chock and Rocie will be returning on a monthly basis to Dallas, with their first return trip scheduled for 8/28-8/31. They will be available if you would like to schedule an individual session with them. I can hardly believe they were able to treat 15 people in the three days they were here last weekend. It's extraordinary to hear about his stories of healing with the many thousands of people he has worked with over time. He has helped people with diabetes, asthma, migraines, knee injuries, pms, carpel tunnel and many other conditions. Here are just a few lines from the article that was written about him in Oklahoma City, OK, entitled, The 'Miracle Man' In our Midst...

"The chances of meeting a person who served as a Thai Temple Boy in Wat Pho would be remarkable-especially to meet him in the United States. At the age of 10, Petchprom was selected by the Head Monk to live as a temple boy and learn the teachings of traditional Thai Massage, herbal remedies and meditation."

After graduating from high school, he went on to earn a bachelor's degree in science from Thammasat University in Thailand. He went to work for Scandinavian Airlines Systems and ended up in New York, and then later moved to Miami to study English.

"He then applied to the University of Dallas to pursue a double master's degree; one in Business Management, the other in Quality Control. Impressively, he was the first person to achieve a double master's degree from the University of Dallas, and the first in the nation to graduate from a Quality Control degree program. He took a position as a Process Control Engineer over the next six years with Texas Instruments in Plano, TX. He then continued his education a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Southwestern Louisiana. His resume is impressive by all standards, having worked in positions such as programmer, systems analyst, computer scientist, and database expert for companies like NASA, Oracle Corporation, Exxon Chemical Corp., and Kerr-McGee Corporation over the next 31 years.

In 2002, Chock retired and while at Barnes and Noble one day, he came across a Massage Therapy magazine on Thai Massage and Reflexology. "The information in it was information that I knew, and was trained in since my childhood in Thailand as a temple boy." He discussed the book with his wife, Rocie, who told him, "You have this knowledge and experience. Get certified to prove your training and help people who need this healing. To do this will be better than playing golf." With this mentality, and an enormous amount of self-motivation, he's traveled the globe seeking knowledge related to his youth as a Thai Temple Boy, and about how to heal others through massage."

There's so much more to Chock's story...this is just a glimpse. Needless to say, his knowledge and expertise on the healing techniques of Thai Massage is vast. He will also be offering a 30 hour Thai Yoga Bodywork Level 1 class while he is here that weekend on that Saturday and Sunday and the following Saturday and Sunday, as well. I will be taking part in this training to deepen my knowledge and experience. If you are interested in participating or learning more, please feel free to e-mail me at info@trueyogainc.com. I'm looking forward to this incredible experience to learn from one of the best practitioners of Thai Yoga Bodywork in the world.

So, what else? Well, I will be offering a new Prana Flow Yoga Class at Karmany Yoga Studio beginning 8/15. The Yoga class will be every Saturday from 9-1015 am. This will be an awesome opportunity to deepen your Yoga practice, not only through the Asanas, but through the practice of Pranayama and Meditation. We will also be learning some really incredible chants. After class is a great time to connect with our incredible community of Yogis, and I look forward to Saturday morning brunches, lunches, tea, or whatever the Spirit moves us to do...who knows! Maybe some Saturdays a drive out to the country or hiking with one another...the possibilites are endless! This is a description of the class:

Prana Flow Yoga with Leanne is an uplifting, inspiring and energizing Yoga practice designed to strengthen and heal the body, mind and spirit. Through the postures and the powerful alignment with breath, you will realize the potential to free your body of tension and to open and strengthen yourself in amazing ways. Classes are designed to therapeutically align you into the poses, so you can access places of peak awakening physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, honoring your body through the movements. We also will explore the Yoga practices of pranayama and meditation to positively grow into new places in your practice and Self. Letting the Eternal Teacher in the heart be the guide, we surrender our efforts to align our hearts with the highest Good with each breath we breathe. Om Namah Shivaya Gurave~I honor the Goodness within the heart, the eternal teacher. I look forward to seeing you in class! Om shanti.

This Friday will be the grand opening of the new lululemon store at Northpark Mall in Dallas. As an Ambassador for lululemon, I will be doing a one hour Yoga demo from 5 - 6 pm. I would love to see you if you can make it out to watch. I'm looking forward to being a part of this celebration as our Yoga community continues to grow in so many ways!

Then, the next day I'll be heading out to sunny L.A. for the week-long SRF Convocation. I'm sure I will have much to share when I return, but this, too, is a dream come true. I can't imagine a better time to receive such incredible insight and inspiration from the blessed monks, brahmacharyas, and spiritual leaders of SRF. I highly encourage you to begin a home study of the SRF Meditation Lessons...I've been studying them for two years. As Yogananda would say...everything else can wait, but your search for God cannot wait. Jai Guru! Blessed teacher, blessed guru, Yogananda. Thank you...

I think that will wrap it up for now. I'd like to leave you with a Rumi poem. One that has been particularly powerful for me this week. I stumbled upon it on Monday.

Some people work and become wealthy.
Others do the same and remain poor.

Marriage fills one with energy.
Another it drains.

Don't trust ways. They change.
A mean flails about like a donkey's tail.

Always add the gratitude clause
to any sentence, if God wills,
then go.

You may be leading a donkey, no,
a goat, no, who can tell?

We sit in a dark pit and think we're home.
We pass around delicacies.
Poisoned bait.

You think this is preachy doubletalk?

Those who do not breathe the God willing phrase
live in a collective blindness.

Rubbing their eyes, they ask the dark,
"Who's there?"


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