PROJECTS & SPECIAL INTERESTS

Charles played a key role in organizing and bringing together the Austin Yoga Association and continues to work towards building community among yoga teachers in Austin. In 1999 he was instrumental in conceiving and organizing the first annual "Free Day of Yoga". Twelve studios around Austin opened their doors to the public for free yoga classes. Over 40 teachers participated in this highly successful event, and many classes were overwhelmed by the response with as many as 120 people showing up for some of the classes.

The second year Austin saw 1400 students take advantage of this day of yoga in 2000, and over 2000 students in 2001.

Charles is co-founder of Texas Yoga which organizes the Texas Yoga Retreat - a statewide event featuring 35 teachers from across the state and 250 students, and also offers yoga teacher training.

Since 1990 Charles has offered free yoga classes to the public. These outdoor classes are held once a month, on the Full Moon, on top of Mt. Bonnell, overlooking downtown Austin and the Colorado River.

Over the last 12 years attendance at these gatherings has steadily grown and now often exceeds 100 students. These gatherings are very informal and participants often bring friends, colleagues, spouses, children, babies, and even pets.

Charles regularly take the philsophies of Raja Yoga into the business world, offering workshops on "Peak Performance", "Team Building", "Stress Management", and more to corporations, government agencies, schools, colleges and hospitals. These programs are availabe as Key Notes, workshops, and seminars. For more information visit Charles' business web-site at ExpandingParadigms.com.

He was recently a panelist at the Southwest Yoga Conference answering questions on this program as well as his work with at-risk-kids. Charles was on the board of advisors for the 3rd Annual Southwest Yoga Conference, in addition to being accepted as a presenter, speaking on Devotion in the Workplace.

In addition to offering open yoga and meditation classes for the public, Charles has been active for many years reaching out to groups with special needs, including pregnant women, blind children, people with building sickness, heart disease, AIDS, MS, and Parkinson's. Charles has also worked for two years with Seton Hospital Cardiac Rehabilitation Patients, meeting twice a week with a group of 8-10 students to practice yoga and meditation. Later he worked for two years with the Hearts & Minds cardiac rehabilitation program at the Austin Heart Hospital.