Media Kit Bija Bennett Chicago, Illinois United States of America info@bijab.com www.bijab.com
Bija Bennett Bija Bennett is a poet, performer, philosopher, teacher, and athlete of the inner self and an extraordinary communicator who is able to convey the tenets of mind-body health in remarkably accessible and engaging ways. She has spent more than thirty years fusing together the worlds of wellness, business, spirituality, and art in her myriad roles as author, entrepreneur, speaker, and creator of innovative wellness programs for individuals and businesses worldwide. Bija founded the international lifestyle brand YogaAway in the early 2000s, bringing the authentic yoga tradition to the attention of millions of travelers worldwide. She has collaborated extensively with Deepak Chopra M.D., co-teaching his seminars throughout the world, and has worked with clients ranging from George Harrison, Martina Navratilova, Stan Getz, and Elizabeth Taylor, to people from all walks of life who struggle with the challenges of pain, aging, and stress. A trendsetter and thought-leader in wellness, yoga, and mind-body health, Bija is the author of three critically-acclaimed books and the producer of numerous films that combine the healing and performing arts. She draws upon the latest research and incorporates this with an up-to-theminute synthesis of ancient wisdom and modern science, showing the way to healing and self-awareness and helping us to thrive in this fast-paced, and often disruptive world. Bija is very simply put a powerful, dynamic teacher. Wayne Dyer www.bijab.com 2
YogaAway: A Global Campaign In the early 2000 s, yoga was permeating the mainstream consciousness of the United States and Bija Bennett was one of the first to introduce its teachings to the corporate world. She founded YogaAway LLC in 2005, a global initiative that provided programs, products, and services for the hospitality and spa industries. It was a visionary program, cobranded with Global Hyatt Corporation, and designed for an especially highlystressed segment of the population travelers. Under Bija s leadership, a team of internationally-renowned collaborators came together, including Australian designer Ken Cato, composer Martin Case, and yoga teacher and founder of the American Viniyoga Institute, Gary Kraftsow. The outcome was a state-ofthe-art series of in-room videos, hotel spa classes, yoga products and services for millions of people that needed to recover from the stress of being on the road. The ground-breaking YogaAway videos continue to be one of the most portable, powerful, and time-flexible antidotes to the challenges of modern life. YogaAway was one of the first global campaigns of its kind and brought the YogaAway offers a true, holistic approach to healing the entire human system. Gary Kraftsow conversations about yoga not only into hotel rooms and spas globally, but also into living rooms throughout the United States, with coverage on The Today Show and the New York Times. YogaAway became the exclusive provider of yoga programs for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts across all brands, and an integral part of the Hyatt Pure and Stay Fit at Hyatt programs. Bija became a contributing member of the International Spa Association, and has spoken at events such as the Global Wellness Summit and The Turning Point Conferences in Asia. She has created media programs, developed and launched products, and advised companies on wellness strategies with collaborators including Marriott, Starwood, Fairmont, The Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, and Hyatt. www.bijab.com 3
Pioneering Work: From Dance to Yoga to Wellness Bija Bennett s roots lie in Chicago where she was born and raised and in the performing arts where she excelled. After earning a Master s Degree in Dance from UCLA, she returned to the city to work with the Ravinia Festival and the Chicago City Ballet before traveling to India to study Indian music and dance. It was through the medium of dance in the late 1970 s that Bija first encountered the deeper teachings of yoga; she went on to study Viniyoga with the legendary teacher T.K.V. Desikachar, son of T. Krishnamacharya who was one of the greatest yogis and Vedic Scholars of the 20th Century. This laid the foundation for her work. An early pioneer of yoga for wellness, Bija helped to create one of the first medical-spas in the country, the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center for Behavioral Medicine and Stress Management outside Boston in the late 1980 s. She worked closely with both medical doctors and Ayurvedic physicians, treating thousands of people from top CEOs and celebrities, to the chronically ill and physically challenged, to seniors and professional athletes. By observing the body in all kinds of conditions, Bija saw how yoga could be adapted to these conditions; and to produce influence and change, not only in the physical body, but in all levels of the human experience. Bija s ongoing work as a yoga therapist includes her close professional relationship with Deepak Chopra M.D. for more than twenty years. She co-led Chopra s seminars in over fifty cities in the United States and Europe, as well as speaking at industry conferences across Asia. A charismatic teacher and public speaker, Bija offers far more than just facts at her talks: she gives a palpable experience in consciousness and a deep perspective on the way our mind and body works. I have seen how transformative Bija s teachings can be. She has a profound gift for making the spirit of yoga accessible. Deepak Chopra, M.D. www.bijab.com 4
Genre-Smasher: Author, Filmmaker & Motivational Speaker At the heart of Bija s success is her commitment to connecting ancient healing modalities with modern lifestyle choices, to create lasting and powerful changes in health and to bring these changes to various audiences. She has the approach of an artist, continually shifting disciplines and switching media, from producing films on health, yoga, lifestyle and culture, to writing three critically acclaimed books. In her first book, Breathing into Life: Recovering Wholeness Through Body, Mind & Breath (HarperCollins, 1993 and republished with Balboa Press in 2016), Bija teaches you how to open your awareness, heal your emotions, and get in touch with the rhythms of your breath. It s a fascinating blend of Western artistry and Eastern science. Bija s groundbreaking book, Emotional Yoga: How the Body Can Heal the Mind (Simon and Schuster, 2002), offers a deep exploration of the mind-body connection. Based on the principles of Viniyoga, Emotional Yoga adapts the ancient tools of yoga to the needs of the individual, and integrates a variety of practices for self-discovery and personal transformation. Since its publication, Emotional Yoga has been translated and published in more than a dozen countries. Wayne Dyer described it as a brilliant design for emotional and spiritual stability. This was followed by The Breathing Breakthrough: Everything you need to know to Sharpen your Focus, Worry Less, and Live Longer (Balboa Press, 2016), which offers compelling facts, practical examples, and science based on ancient insights, revealing how the power of your breath can change how you think and feel. All of Bija s writing projects create space in the minds of her audience, allowing them to engage, focus, and build selfawareness transforming their thinking, their workplaces, and their lives. Bija brings these qualities into her work as a motivational speaker and teacher. She has an uncanny ability to reach diverse audiences, particularly those in the corporate world evoking rave reviews for the warm, down-to-earth way she brings her cutting-edge insights to life. A gifted and charismatic speaker, she has appeared regularly at the national and international seminars of the Young Presidents Organization, a premier network of chief executives and business leaders whose members consistently rank her among the top presenters in the world. www.bijab.com 5
Coming Full Circle: The Dad Project In 2014, Bija paid homage to her roots in Chicago with The Dad Project, the first installment of an art and film series that features consecrated conversations between fathers and daughters. It has become part of Bija s new mission to question and disrupt our view of the aging process particularly as it concerns the Baby Boomer Generation. LIFESCAPE: A Video Portrait of Marshall Bennett is a generative video portrait about Bija s 95-year old father, the acclaimed real estate pioneer Marshall Bennett, who has been credited as being an inventor of the modern industrial park and is one of Chicago s most renowned residents. This video installation was made in collaboration with the celebrated video artist Lincoln Schatz with music recorded by Ken Olsen of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It debuted at Roosevelt University in 2014 and remains a permanent installation in the business school. In telling the story of a father s drive towards recognition, accomplishment and financial success, a daughter explores her own identity and uncovers the meaning of her father s legacy in her own life. www.bijab.com 6
Taking Healing to New Perspectives Today, Bija Bennett is bringing conversations about wellness and healing to a variety of both actual and virtual platforms. She is the creator of bijab.com, a multimedia site that offers articles, a blog, music, and videos about solutions for health, productivity, and personal growth. The site includes a rich archive of video and written teachings about energy management, stress reduction, breathing, and emotional focus. Traveling, studying, and teaching around the world has allowed Bija to work with people who stand up and lead campaigns that heal our world and profiles of these people populate the site. Bija is also actively involved in initiating programs about health and wellness into the corporate sphere as a speaker, advisor, and producer for global corporations, spas and wellness providers. Her philosophy is that business is a tool to build a network of deep and powerful relationships and when you work passionately with others to create programs that bring peace, stability, and happiness to others, it helps those in need and this serves the greater community of mankind. Bija s writing flows. With poetry and prose, her pragmatic offerings are nothing short of tools to remind and awaken. Rudy Miick www.bijab.com 7
Contact Media Inquiries and Speaking Opportunities: Clare Tyrrell-Morin, Eucalypt clare@eucalyptmedia.com bijab@bijab.com www.bijab.com www.facebook.com/bija.bennett @bijabennett Photo Credits: Page 2: Liz Scheiner, 2016 Page 3: YogaAway Videos, 2005 Page 4, 8: Lois Greenfield, 2001 Page 5, 7: Todd Rosenberg, 2014 Page 6: Lincoln Schatz, 2013 www.bijab.com 8