Sharing a place

Thank you Lisa Meyer for sharing this photo from our pre-SDYC gathering

This past weekend, we hosted a pre-SDYC gathering at the Pathways Spiritual Sanctuary near Deadwood. The intention of this event was to connect and expand the experience before the conference. And it was lovely. We highly encourage you to make a visit to Pathways part of your SDYC journey this year. Come early, stay late. Many of those coming to SDYC this year already live in the Black Hills with access to this place all the time. Still most of our attendees travel from across the state and even across the country - from Minnesota to Texas, and coast to coast.

When we set out to find a place for the SD Yoga Conference, the planning team was drawn to The Lodge at Deadwood, which seems strange to some, under the same roof as a large casino with a lot of activity. However, set at the outskirts of Deadwood and with stellar conference facilities, this place spoke to us in so many ways with the beautiful location, energy, and acceptance. (For those of you not familiar with this place and SDYC, we have the entire convention center on the far side of the building, snuggled into the side of a mountain and nowhere near the casino action.) :)

Choosing this place, in the Black Hills, was not accidental and we are continually reminded that this place is greater than the walls that hold our gathering. For going on four years now, The Lodge has been a space for hundreds to convene, share, inspire, and grow in the spirit of yoga. But it’s not about the building or the business conducted there. It’s the land, the hills, the gathering.

We are honored to share this place with you and the journey you embark on when you arrive at SDYC 2019. 

Until then, we hope the words (borrowed from a plaque at Pathways) of American Author and Poet, Jane Yolen, inspire you to explore, find, honor, and embrace “your place.”

Hush,

This is a holy place,

A sacred place.

Where the visions dwell,

Where the dreaming of a race began.

Someone’s god has stepped here,

slept here,

 knelt here,

dwelt here,

spoken here of life,

of death,

of holy things.

When you come,

come softly,

walk softly,

talk softly.

Be mindful of the dreams.

This is a sacred place.

Hush.

~Jane Yolen