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COMMUNITY WEEKEND
FRIDAY, 12/6 - SUNDAY, 12/8
Our sixth group of 200-hr Yoga Teacher Trainees (YTTs), affectionately known as "ZETA" are graduating! These past nine months have been nothing short of amazing so we're inviting you in on the celebration :) As part of their final practicum, YTTs are to: 1) lead a 60-minute community yoga class; and 2) create and facilitate a Sankofa Seva, a service project applying yoga's ethical principles to address social justice issues. Read below about their amazing work and join their community classes this weekend. Classes are FREE and held IN-STUDIO only! Pre-registration required, no late entry.
Friday (YOGA)
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1:30 pm: Pure Essence: Gentle Vinyasa w/ Nicole
Saturday (YOGA)
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10:30 am: Alchemy Flow w/ Mia ^
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12:00 pm: Focus Flow w/ Taylor ^
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1:00 pm: Yoga Stretch & Flow w/ Lakeesha
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1:30 pm: Slow Flow for Letting Go w/ Tiffany-Ann ^
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2:00 pm: Joyful Vibration Flow w/ Ashley ^
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3:00 pm: Restorative Reiki Flow w/ Lex
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3:30 pm: Slow & Sensual Restorative Flow w/ Candice ^
Sunday (MEDITATION)
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9:00 am: A Grateful Pause: A Path to Inner Peace w/ Jai ^
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9:30 am: A Meditation to Be Where You Are w/ Genice ^
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10:00 am: Radiant Self: Honoring Every Part of You w/ Shoa ^
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10:30 am: Breathe It In, Let it Out w/ Natasha ^
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11:00 am: Taking Up Space: Releasing Imposter Syndrome w/ Amani ^
About
NICOLE SUMMERS
Community Yoga Class
Pure Essence: A Gentle Vinyasa for Purity
Friday, 12/6
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Downstairs
Join me for "Pure Essence: A Gentle Vinyasa Flow," where we’ll explore the theme of “saucha” purity through mindful movement and breath. In this serene class, you'll flow through gentle vinyasa sequences designed to cleanse the mind and body, cultivating a sense of clarity and lightness. Each pose will encourage self-reflection and openness, allowing you to connect with your inner essence. Suitable for all levels, this class invites you to honor your unique journey while fostering a peaceful and nurturing environment. Come find your flow and embrace the purity within!
Seva Project
Breathe Through the Tears: Gentle Yoga for a Deep Release
Description: Offering yoga sessions designed to address the emotional aspects of grief, allowing participants to express and process their feelings in a non-judgmental environment.
Mission: This project aims to create a nurturing environment that supports individuals through their grief journey while promoting emotional resilience, movement, and community connection.
Goal: Inspire participants to develop self-care routines and mindfulness practices that support long-term emotional and physical health.
Date(s): 11/30/24
Location: New York, NY
About
MIA MACKEY
Community Yoga Class
Alchemy Flow
Saturday, 12/7
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Upstairs
Experience the alchemy of movement as we turn mindful slow and purposeful poses into a source of inquiry about our daily lives. We will use strength, balance and breath to build energy from within, transforming our body, mind and spirit. This practice will lead you to explore your own inner power and vitality, leaving you grounded, renewed and radiant. All yoga experience welcomed.
Seva Project
Grounded Growth and Pure Beginnings
Description: In the hustle of daily life, parents often put their own needs aside to prioritize their families, sometimes at the expense of their own well-being. This yoga and meditation project is created to support parents, providing them with a space to reconnect with themselves, recharge, and develop tools for inner strength that positively impact their families. Guided by the principles of Svadhyaya (self-reflection) in meditation and Saucha (purity) in yoga, this program offers beginner-friendly yoga and meditation classes tailored specifically for parents.
Mission: To support the mental, emotional and physical well being of families with young children
Goal:Through mindful movement and meditation practices, parents will cultivate a deeper awareness of their needs and strengths, gaining practical strategies to integrate calm, balance, and resilience into their daily lives. By investing in their own well-being, parents will foster a renewed inner strength, setting a powerful example of self-care and mindfulness for their children.
Date(s): 11/15/24; 11/22/24
Location: Baltimore, MD
About
TAYLOR ROAR
Community Yoga Class
Focus Flow
Saturday, 12/7
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Upstairs
An upbeat, vinyasa flow, designed to energize the body, still the mind, and promote maximum mental focus for navigating our fast-paced, digital world.
Seva Project
Breathe: Healing Communities Through Creativity
Description: Creativity is the conduit through which all humans can express those feelings that are too complex to share through conversation alone. Taylor's SEVA project explores how creative spaces can be used to honor asteya, the yogic principal of non-stealing, by nurturing environments in which the arts are an honored outlet of collective therapy and community engagement. To do so, she hosted a community sound bath in collaboration with a local music nonprofit, Uptempo.
Mission: To advance the mental wellness of underserved communities by sharing how performing-arts-related third spaces can soothe the mind, body, and spirit.
Goal: Bring awareness to Uptempo, a local nonprofit that offers music education to underserved communities.
Date(s): 11/30/24
Location: Vault Studio Hyattsville, MD
About
LAKEESHA BLACKSHIRE
Community Yoga Class
Yoga Stretch & Flow
Saturday, 12/7
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Downstairs
This class is an experience in foundational yoga for beginners and a refresher for others. The focus is on asana alignment, breathing techniques, and mind connection that channel vital energy sources (building heat). The practice also involves light meditation while listening to soulful vibes. You’ll leave feeling lighter, accomplished, and happy that you set aside time to love on you🧘🏽♀️
Seva Project
The Joy of Movement, Mindfulness, and Poetry and Song
Description: In the spirit of Santosha, we want to strive for contentment in all things and the strength to overcome stumbling blocks. The residents of Sarah’s house, a long-term living shelter, expressed a need to obtain inner peace and learn intentional movement options that relieves physical tension. This was accomplished through chair yoga, poetry, music and fellowship.
Mission: To equip participants with breath work techniques, asanas and personal practice options that can be done on and off that mat that assist with anxiety, body tightness, and stress. Most importantly to give smiles!!!
Goal: To bring yoga and the arts into a space that has little experience with it, build relationships and provide a joyous evening of movement, encouragement, beautiful sounds, followed by fellowship around dessert.
Date(s): 09/13/24
Location: Sarah's House Fort George Meade
About
TIFFANY-ANN OSONG
Community Yoga Class
Slow Flow for Letting GoSlow Flow for Letting Go
Saturday, 12/7
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Upstairs
Our minds and bodies can hold on to so much. Sometimes the things we are holding on to are no longer serving us. This can leave us feeling physically, mentally, and/or spiritually depleted. Join me in this slow-moving flow for intentional release & renewal. Together we will create more room for ourselves to enjoy the present moment.
Seva Project
Planting Seeds
Description: Food is essential to sustaining our existence in many ways. According to research published by the Maryland Food Bank, 1 in 3 Marylanders are facing food insecurity. Food insecurity is defined as the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, often due to socioeconomic conditions. Through the lens of Ahimsa, this Seva project aims to plant seeds of compassion, kindness, and hope for those experiencing food insecurity.
Mission: To support people distributing and accessing free foods through affirmations, supportive conversations, and resources.
Goal: To uplift organizers and participants at a local free food giveaway event with positive affirmations, brief mental health interventions and resources. Provide interested participants with materials to plant and nurture seeds that can grow into edible produce over time.
Date(s): 11/30/24
Location: Silver Spring, MD
About
ASHLEY MARSH
Community Yoga Class
Joyful Vibration Flow
Saturday, 12/7
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Upstairs
Join me for an energizing vinyasa flow connecting the breath, movement and joyful sounds to vibrate your soul. This class will bring you the best of both worlds finding strength through powerful poses but also focusing on the power of sounds to calm the mind, body, and soul. Not only will you work up a sweat during this class, but you will also have the space to relax your soul through meditative mindful breathing. You will leave this class with a renewed sense of energized inner strength.
Seva Project
Refresh Your Soul: Where Mental Health & Yoga Meet
Description: Refresh Your Soul community day event is broken down into two parts with the intention to bring the appropriate resources to meet the needs of a wide audience. The first session served as a free form discussion led by a mental health professional. This discussion is meant to give a safe space to inform others on what anxiety and seasonal depression is and how we find ways to cope with it. During the discussion individuals were also given the opportunity to make their own affirmation card booklet. Following the discussion for the last session individuals were led through a grounding flow to “Refresh Your Soul.”
Mission: To bring awareness to the community on the topics of seasonal depression and anxiety. Refresh your Soul brings a safe space for individuals to learn about mental health and ways to cope with these issues through discussion and asanas.
Goal: To create a safe space for individuals to learn and hold discussions on seasonal depression and anxiety through open group discussions with an emphasis on ways to cope and manage during the changing seasons. Pairing discussions with movement to connect with the mind and body.
Date(s): 11/16/24
Location: Roger Carter Center, 3000 Milltowne Dr. Ellicott City MD 21043
About
LEX OSONG
Community Yoga Class
Restorative Reiki Flow
Saturday, 12/7
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Downstairs
The intention of this practice is to nurture your mind, body, and spirit, providing whatever is being called for in the present moment. Whether that is rest, release, recharge, self love, or just being present, this restorative slow flow infused with the ancient Japanese healing art of reiki will intuitively provide you with exactly what you need on a Saturday afternoon.
Seva Project
Holding Space for Seniors
Description: We have a large population of seniors (ages 65+) within our community who lack the means to live a comfortable retired life. They are struggling to make ends meet, but may not have the strength or mobility to work like they used to. Many members of this demographic face these challenges all by themselves, without a steady support system to lean on. Through collaboration with a Montgomery County food distributer, we will be handing out free groceries to any seniors in need. Anyone who attends will also be offered loving conversation and a discussion on how yogic philosophy and practices can be implemented and made more accessible to them in their daily lives.
Mission: Holding space for seniors through distributing food, listening to their needs, sharing kind affirming words, and providing accessible daily yogic practices.
Goal: To remind our elders that they are seen, heard, valued, and supported in our communities. To embody the principle of Ahimsa (non-violence) through love and compassion. The goal is that they leave with new insight on ways they can care for their mind, body and spirit.
Date(s): 11/27/24
Location: Silver Spring, MD
About
CANDICE DICKENS
Community Yoga Class
Slow & Sensual Restorative Yoga Flow
Saturday, 12/7
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Upstairs
Allow your body to release energy related to fertility, sexuality, anger, & relationship issues.
Seva Project
Night of Peace Homeless Shelter Gentle Restorative Yoga
Description: The Seva project will focus on the Yama Ahimsa to help survivors of DV heal from abuse. There will be a heavy focus on also ending the cycle of internal abuse through self criticism and body disconnection..
Mission: The participants are all victims of domestic violence and are in the family homeless shelter because they need a safe haven from their abusers.
Goal: To teach the attendees to feel grounded, strong, and safe through the use of yoga and breathwork.
Date(s): 11/20/24
Location: Night of Peace Family Shelter Windsormill, MD
Click here to learn more about Sunday's community meditation with our graduates of the Meditation Teacher Program!