The stories behind the formation of the practice, people, and business of YogaSlackers are humorous and full of lots of serendipity. It seems we were often just in the right place at the right time. Perhaps this first story illustrates it best.
In their work and play at the Northern Heights Rock Gym in North Dakota, Sam and Jason became quite close. In the summer of 2004, Sam was visiting Anna in Missoula, MT. He was car-less, and searching for a ride home. Luckily, Sean O’Connor happened to be looking for a climbing partner to travel east. Sam hopped in and at the first rest stop Sean set up a slackline using a simple two-carabiner tensioning system. After Sam went flinging off the line for the 10th time, Sean jumped up and busted out a few moves. One of them was Hand-to-big-toe-pose, or Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana. He stepped down uttering the magic words, “I want to produce a photo book called Yoga for Slackers.” Sam took Sean’s words to heart.
Over the next six months (Sam in New Zealand, Jason in San Diego), they each learned how to walk on a slackline. Shortly after Sam returned to the states, the pair found themselves working at the Yoga Journal conference in Estes Park, CO. The esteemed B.K.S. Iyengar was teaching 6-8 hours of regimented asana each day, and the duo struggled a bit with the rigidity and detail of the Iyengar method. During breaks, they’d set up a line, and after a few days they were attempting simple poses on it. Near the close of the conference, a media intern snapped a picture of what was perhaps the first conscious display of yoga on a slackline: Warrior I (virabhadrasana 1), Tree (vrksasana), and Hand-to-big-toe (utthita hasta padangusthasana). The intern ran one of the photos on their blog, and a month later it appeared in Yoga Journal.
Within weeks, Yoga Journal had received several emails asking where we taught this unique practice, and wondering if DVDs and slackline kits were available. There we were, with people asking for instruction, media, and merchandise before we even understood what we’d stumbled across.
The rest of the story involves too many episodes to tell here. There were run-ins with the law, frantic 2:00 AM anchor building sessions, illegal high-lines, barbed wire, many nights in the dirt, accidents, and discoveries. We had sold out workshops, and many more where Tommy Caldwell could have counted the participants on one hand. But we loved every minute of it. In 2005 we enlisted Tad, a long time friend from NHRG and a recent film school graduate, who we convinced to buy a $5000 camera and fly from Orlando to LA to help with the creation of a slackline DVD. As fate would have it, our car (and everything we owned) was stolen the day before we were to start filming our DVD. This time we called on 17-year old Paul Cassedy for help. We took him out of school (with his parents permission) for two weeks, lived on a boat, and fumbled through the process of making a movie. With the movie complete, things shifted. Holding the first completed DVD in our hands and reading the title, “YogaSlackers: Slackasana – the art of slackline yoga,” the whole endeavor became more real (and surreal). We were professional slackers!
August 2004: Sean shows Sam simple slackline set up
September 2004: Jason and Sam meet DK and Beaver (prAna)
Spring 2005: Jason’s HS students “tag” his car with PEACE, LOVE and BE HAPPY creating the iconic “PLC” (The Peace Love Car)
May 2005: Dan Norgard takes over NHRG (Northern Heights Rock Gym) from Jason and Sam
Sept 2005: Sam and Jason do first poses on a slackline at YJ conference in Estes Park.
September 2006: First slackasana class at a national level yoga gathering – Yoga Journal Estes Park
October 2006: Slackasana DVD released
January 2007: YogaSlackers launch “To Cross the Moon” (2XtM) expedition promoting wind energy in North Dakota.
July 2007: YogaSlackers appear in Climbing Magazine
September 2007: YogaSlackers appear in feature article in Yoga Journal
Fall 2007: Adi Carter and Paige Wyatt are invited to join the YogaSlackers
January 2008: YogaSlackers starts to sell custom polyester lines
Early 2008: The adventure racing team is renamed YogaSlackers
April 2008: YogaSlackers featured in Wall Street Journal. Jason receives a call inviting him on Good Morning America. Instead, he goes on a climbing trip and forgets to return the call for nearly three weeks.
June 2008: YogaSlacker’s 2XtM.com expedition featured in Outside Magazine and on MS-NBC
September 2008: Harry met Sally (Jason meets Chelsey)
November 2008: First climbing/yoga retreat at Joshua Tree
Summer 2009: Y.E.S. Tour teaches donation based slackline classes all over Colorado.
August 2009: YogaSlackers teach first “Summer Camp for Adults” at Kripalu, marking the first time the Slackers lead a 5 day intensive including asana, acroyoga, climbing, slacklining and adventure sports.
Late 2009: “Redefining Balance” workshops are developed, combining asana, acro, and slackasana in a three hour period.
March 2010: YogaSlackers partner with Trango to create the “eLine”
August 2010: VIBE (Vinyasa Inspired By Experience) – Yoga for Acrobats DVD released.
September 2010: YogaSlackers and Slackline Yoga included in Yoga Journal’s timeline of yoga.
2010 – present: YogaSlackers teach on all seven continents - North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica
May 2011: YogaSlackers hold their first teacher training, welcoming over 20 new teachers into the group!