Prana West Opens Its Doors to Our MSIA Family

Click here to view the photo slideshow from the Prana West Open House

It was 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 2nd, and docents began to assemble at Prana West in anticipation of opening the property to our MSIA family visiting from around the world for MSIA’s Conference of the Rest of Your Life. The restoration was nearly complete: beautiful, carefully selected rugs adorned the floors and stairs, artfully chosen draperies and curtains hung on all the windows, and the exotic woods in the main rooms shown with a soft sheen, all except the dining room, which was finished in the French high polish style. There are many more extraordinary architectural features designed into the architecture of the house–too numerous to mention here, including major pieces of furniture restored to their original finish.

The architects had been busy for weeks preparing presentation boards of the various stages of restoration, which we then displayed around the house. Chef Victoria Ross made lots and lots of delicious cookies while guest pastry chef, Elaine Kitchell made her signature gluten-free biscotti. New Prana Team member, Mandy Weis, concocted the best lemonade and iced tea. All were available out on the breezy (and shady) logia, a wonderful space just outside the main stair hall on the first floor. Colorful begonias were placed around the main rooms along with some green plants, and vintage as well as modern photographs of the building were on display. Back in Prana’s foyer, Cary Cooper and Marina Van Wormer greeted folks and directed them to not only visit Prana West, but if they’d not been to Prana’s meditation garden yet, to visit that as well.

The lights went up and we were ready for our loved ones to walk in the door. And that they did. Laura O’Brien, Kevin McMillan, Angel Gibson, Marc Rosenbaum, Kim Guisinger, Ezra Mack, Yvonne Mochel and Tatiana Jimenez greeted folks from their various stations on each floor, talked about the historic and restoration points of interest and answered questions.

Mark and Julie Lurie, Prana West’s administrators, also led tours around the house, and with Mark’s first-hand accounts of some of the major challenges in restoring the property and adapting it to our use as PTS’s headquarters, a cadre of intent listeners followed him around and grew in numbers with each story.

Our Beloveds, John Morton and Leigh Taylor-Young, were among the visitors. I also greeted people from: Boston, New York, Miami, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Seattle, San Francisco, New Mexico, Texas, Australia, Colombia, London and oh so many more places. My heart opened with each person that entered the door. Prana West, just like Prana, is a physical manifestation of the Traveler’s teachings — that which can be brought down from Spirit and manifest in this world. And as residents, staff, volunteers, and students do more of the spiritual work on this property, the energy will become even more refined. Prana West shines as a beacon of Light in the West Adams District and indeed Los Angeles and the world.

But as the old adage says, a picture is worth a 1000 words, so please take a look at the beautiful photos, taken by photographer and my sweet husband, Ken Jones.

Read more articles from MSIA’s Conference of the Rest of Your Life, 2008