It was still dark in Panama when I unrolled my mat and set up my computer on Day 108 (April 18) to lead my first yoga practice on Facebook Live. It’s 2017 and the seventh anniversary of the beginning of my 108 Days of 108 Sun Salutations.
We did 108 sun salutations together online and by the time we finished, the sun was high in sky, Koji was miraculously still sleeping and over 500 people had tuned in!
If only this technology had been around in 2010, I might have been able to share my yoga marathon on via the Live platforms and maybe we would have raised more funds for the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Isn’t it crazy how fast things change? Who knows, maybe one day, after I’m gone, people will be able to practice yoga with my hologram!
Practice with me on April 17, 2020
Join me on April 17, 2020 from 9am – 11am EST via Zoom & live. Click here for registration
I love that we can still connect online and do yoga together even if we aren’t physically together. This year, we will do this again. We are practicing social distancing because of the COVID pandemic, but continue to we need community and each other.
Why 108
In various ancestral traditions, and particularly in the yoga tradition, 108 is a sacred number which represents union, spirituality and infinity. The 108th day of the year is the perfect occasion to celebrate this tradition together by joining in a practice of 108 sun salutations. This day is also the anniversary of my 108 days of 108 Sun Salutations. This epic adventure led to becoming the first woman to break the Guinness World Record in 2010 for the Longest Yoga Marathon (32 hours) and raising nearly $15,000 for charity.
(Side note: My Guinness World Record was broken in 2016 by an Indian woman who practiced for almost 60 hours and then again twice more. I’m actually pretty happy about this. It’s about time the record was broken. It’s an unbelievable experience and I am happy to share it. )
Timeline of Day 108 Celebrations
2010
Yasmin begins a 108 sun salutations for 108 continuous days with the intention to study the yoga practice in the microcosm of surya namaskar. This was life changing.
2011
Yasmin teaches a quiet candlelit practice at her former studio, Om West Holistic Centre in Pointe Claire along with 25 close students. This is also the last day of 54 days of 54 Moon Salutations, her second long practice.
2012
It’s a Leap Year, so Day 108 is on April 17 this year. Yasmin co-leads a smallish but powerful group practice at Lululemon Athletica on St Denis along with several other yoga teachers from around Montreal.
2013
Yasmin organizes a big multi-studio 108 practice connected by video conference. Yasmin is at Studio Wanderlust in Plateau Montreal and there are five other locations around Montreal (Le Studio Wanderlust, Naada Yoga, HappyTree Yoga, Viveka Yoga & H~OM) hosting simultaneous community practices of 108 Sun Salutations.
Yoga teacher David Good also organized a practice in Toronto. Over 30 yoga teachers led sets of Surya Namaskar and we there are nearly 200 participants. There are also several online participants tuning in some as far away as Europe and Vancouver!
2014
H’OM Yoga Centre and Moksha Yoga NDG join Yasmin and offer yoga mala practices. More than 100 people participate. Gigi Cohen formerly of Café Juicy Lotus caters a delicious dinner for after the yoga practice.
2015
There is a full house at Loft108 for a yoga mala practice led by various Montreal Yoga Teachers, but Yasmin is in Las Vegas for a conference and practices in the dessert with four friends. She sends a greeting video and more than $600 of donations are collected for la Fondation du Dr. Julien, a Montreal-based organism which ensures the development of Social Paediatrics in Community for the benefit of as many children as possible.
2016
Yasmin is pregnant with Koji. She offers a guided Day 108 free Yoga Mala download and encourages students to ‘pay it forward’ by donating to their favourite charity or doing some other random act of kindness.
2017
Yasmin is in Panama and sees an opportunity to connect to her community anyway by offering the yoga practice on Facebook Live. The feed reaches close to 3,000 people and more than 500 tune in. Modo Yoga NDG in Montreal do their own Day 108 practice. Out in Victoria, BC, Carlo Kuhlenschimdt, Yasmin’s senior student and sometimes teaching assistant, organizes 108 sun salutations for charity.
2018
Community yoga mala practice at Loft108 to raise money for the West Island Women’s Shelter. More than $500 is raised and material donations are also collected for the shelte. It’s a beautiful event led by teachers from around Montreal: Nina Konjinius, Sonya Beaudoin, Andrea Rubin, Alexandre Pelland, Erica Arsenault, Sylvana Lorentzatos, Jennifer Kay, Yasmin and her mom Marta Fudakowska!
2019
Yasmin and Groove instructor Stephanie Narin host their Into the Light Yoga Groove fundraiser to celebrate Day 108. It’s a great success. The event and silent auction raise over $1500 for Dans la Rue, an incredible non-profit organization that supports homeless youth in Montreal.
2020
It’s a huge year! Not only is it the 10th anniversary of Yasmin’s 108 Days of 108 Sun Salutations, it’s Leap Year so April 17 is Day 108 and it’s year of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The world is practicing social-distancing, so we are meeting once again online via Zoom and facebook live. The practice of 108 is a prayer in motion. We need community and global healing perhaps now more than ever.