End of Year Message from Pranakriya Board President

This holiday period truly feels like a season of marvels. Let me just share with you a few of the sparkly details from the past year.

In 2022, Pranakriya came back to studios. That may not seem like a big deal, particularly if you look at the schedule and think, “well, PK only offered one in-studio 300-hour training in 2022.” But remember, Pranakriya actually includes 4 yoga schools. We ran three 200-hour programs in 3 states: Georgia, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. Each training includes 9 meetings. All aspects of travel have been challenging this year, so frequently the directors (Vladimir Tchakarov and Kimberly Murphy) and our Executive Director, Betsy Marzahn-Ramos, had to be very creative about how to get it all done. And they did. We will be welcoming some new PK teachers in the next couple of months.

Another Pranakriya school, PK Kids, had an exciting accomplishment: program directors Emily Gretz and Amy Necci created an outreach program for school teachers called SEEDS: Yoga for Growth, and they wrote and won a grant to offer in-service day programs and yoga classes for teachers in Anne Arundel County Public Schools (Annapolis Middle School). That cycle will begin January 3.

From the start of 2022, Pranakriya rolled out new programming. Yoganand had upgraded an immersion on the Katha Upanishad into a 20-hour program, which many of us had the pleasure of experiencing in January. Teams of program directors had created, in cooperation with Yoganand, some Theme Weaving courses. Vlad and Usha Lakshmi offered theirs for the first time in February. In August-September, program directors convened to offer Theme Weaving I again at Kripalu, and some of our program directors and Betsy were able to spend time there together with Yoganand, some meeting each other for the first time ever!

More new programs will be offered in 2023 and 2024, beginning with a revamped 16-hour in-person program The Science and Art of Assisting Artfully that Emily Gretz and Pam Blum will pilot in an abbreviated form in January, and begin offering at studios in March. This program comes into our catalog as a 300-hour elective.

Finally, our powerhouse Executive Director has accomplished amazing feats this year. Betsy worked with Yoganand and volunteers Chelsea Rausch and Calista Nelson to orchestrate a very successful summer auction using artwork donated by Yoganand, with some special packages of service and goods donated by Pranakriya Board members Linda Wellstein, Jason Ramsden, Shelbi Miles, and Kara Douglas. Just before the auction, working with only the support of Jason Ramsden, Betsy re-built our website. Then after the Labor Day meeting at Kripalu, she arranged a Pranakriya retreat in Panama for April 2023. And at the end of the year, she ordered and created a pile of gorgeous merchandise for the store, much of which has been sold by now. 

As I look back over all this activity, what warms my heart is not just that we have overcome challenges or even the triumph of cooperation, but that Pranakriya keeps finding new ways to be itself. I hope this holiday brings you peace and joy, and I hope Pranakriya can help you find new ways to be yourself.

Jai Bhagwan!
- Lee

Lee Furey
President, Board of Directors
Pranakriya School of Yoga Healing Arts