Encouraging Connection
This one is for the guys. Ready to give yoga a try? Or perhaps you want to keep moving forward in this practice of moving on a mat. Dude Yoga is a 4-week series for men who want to explore what yoga has to offer: strength and flexibility, challenge and contentment.
But first, you have to show up.
Waiting for the new year to arrive and the holiday season to wrap up to return to your practice? Some of you have stepped away, even from before the pandemic – and it doesn’t matter. When you’re ready, we’re here.
If you’re looking for an incentive, here are a few specials running beginning December 27 and running into the first few weeks of January.
Our best sale on Barre classes for the year! Save $15 overall when you buy 5 Barre classes for $45 with a 45 day expiration. If you use all those classes within 15 days, get your first month of an Unlimited Membership at half price!
Our standard 2 week UNLIMITED Yoga + Barre package ($29) is the perfect way to try out our many classes, styles, teachers and times. If you hit 5+ classes in that 2 week time, you’ll get your first month of UNLIMITED membership at half price!
So many yogis are looking for their one class a week to begin. That’s perfect. (You don’t have to do it all to do something well!). From December 27 – January 10, start on our Weekly Membership package (4 classes each month, unused classes roll over to the next month for the life of the membership, and extra drop-in classes only $10) for half price. YES. Your first month is half price.
Looking to put some power into your practice through a quicker pace and repetitive flows? Our Power Basics is your intro to power yoga. Join as we flow through seated, standing, and balancing postures. This class is welcoming to those who have an established yoga or other movement practice and who can move from floor to standing with ease.
Some new friends and I celebrated a birthday this past weekend in Lexington, with easy access to bourbon country. The company and the lack of concrete schedule was the primary highlight; however, I can’t resist sharing a bit about the distillary tours.
I know, I know. What in the world would a simple yoga instructor have to say about bourbon? (Or, what does bourbon have to say about my Downward Dog pose?) Ah, my friends: this is why you love me or leave me. Herego!
In once sense, if you’ve been on a distillery tour, you’ve been on them all. We learn about the mash bill with over 51% corn, that’s been around since the company started – just after the prohibition, of course (unless you’re Buffalo Trace). You see the barrels with the level 3 char. The rick houses, the handwritten labels, and you learn to sniff the bourbon with your mouth open.
Bourbon is aged (minimum of 3 years, of course) in charred oak barrels because it flavors and colors the clear liquid that goes into the barrel. Here’s where I go Yoga Nerd on it all: it’s the process of expansion and contraction that allows the alcohol to become a part of the barrel, and then it returns. Changed.
Bourbon takes its flavor from its container, it’s home.
And it does it through changing temperature, humidity, and wind conditions. In essence, through all these uncontrollable variables of living on earth.
The practice of yoga is about bringing connection – often we reference body, mind, spirit, soul, breath as these parts and pieces that can feel like they’re operating in isolation. But it’s not like a lego kit, where you stack a red brick with a yellow brick and a white brick and then, presto, you’ve built a wall.
We’re much more like an aging bourbon. Our properties are being absorbed and distributed based upon their interactions with one another and the environment in which we live. Much like bourbon, we take on the flavor of our surroundings as we navigate living in a world filled with change.
The way we think impacts our mental and physical health. And when we’re hurt, our emotions shift. When our spirit is inspired and revived, our energy lifts and we find new capacity for moving, eating well, and partaking in spiritual practices.
If you’re going to take on the flavor of your surroundings, let’s be intentional about it.
It’s no secret that I receive wisdom from many sources. As one of my guides says, everyone is your teacher. It’s my habit to be reading fictional novels alongside poetry, to have a woo-woo book on astrology sitting beside takes from physicists and biologists. I listen to mathematicians, dead philosophers, social workers, and energy healers. Poets and prophets are ancient cousins. I use my herbal tinctures and essential oils everyday, and I got my vaccine.
I’m not saying everything is true. (There’s a lot of misinformation out there; use your inner wisdom!) I am saying that solid wisdom is repeated throughout the universe in various forms. What you find in nature, you’ll notice in the body. What you experience in math is embodied in music. Sometimes, it’s a matter of translation.
I’ve been itching to offer a series that focuses the connection between what we find when we move on a mat to what we experience in our relationships and the way we move about the world. One of the most assessable models is the Chakra model: centers of the body empower particular strengths. We’ll explore this concept using a spectrum of guides, both ancient and modern.
Each class in the series will use both teaching and discussion to explore topics related to an energetic principle. Then our tools of breath, movement, meditation and mantra will give us the opportunity to practice allowing the energy of belonging to flow through us with freedom and stability.
These 7 classes will be offered as a series package, but you can register for individual classes if that’s what your schedule permits. We’ll meet on Sundays for an hour and a half, every other week, beginning September 12. Each session will come with an online forum of follow up practices, discussion space, and reflection materials. This series is just full of my favorite things!
Be: The energy of belonging. It begins with roots. Our family story, our connection to place, and the way find solidity in the events of the world. From here, the way the energy of belonging plays into our life will shape our connections to our people, our work, and our propensity to feel safe or threatened.
Flow: The energy of creation. What do you want? And how do you know you want it? Who is telling you what to want? At the root of desire is a generative nature that comes from experiencing emotions.
Center: The energy of worthiness. Power and will are strong words, and much of the time women are hesitant to connect with them. But our sense of power helps us form the healthy boundaries that shape our relationships to all things: people, work, communities, and the world.
Open: The energy of love. Explore the space in between yourself and others. When this space gets crowded or distant, our love shifts, grows, or becomes stifled. Learn how to open your arms to the world in the midst of imperfection.
Speak: The energy of truth. Moving from a place of belonging, structure, and love, we co-create a world, beginning with our words.
See: The energy of imagination. Our bodies are wired to notice potential dangers. What possibilities arise when that bias is suspended and you see the world is full of goodness?
Know: The energy of connection. There’s a knowing beyond intellect and it’s woven into the fabric of our being.
It’s my goal to give you more of me than you expect in a typical All-Levels class. The resource material will be rich, and I hope the discussion even deeper. The per-session cost is $25; the series pass is $150 (the equivalent of one session free). If you purchase the series pass you will still want to sign up for the individual classes and use the pass for your payment option.
Our one-hour Slow Flow for Newbies class is a 4-week series. You’ll be introduced to the basic poses of yoga and join with other beginners in establishing a movement practice on a mat in a studio. The goal of this series is to help you feel comfortable enough to join in other All-Levels classes.
To register, sign up using the fitDegree app/website link. Please bring your yoga mat to class. It’s best to practice barefoot in clothes that allow for easy movement (but fancy yoga pants aren’t necessary.)
$45 includes all 4 weeks.
We’ve made some adjustments to the schedule as we move into our new space! Here are the highlights:
Our Yin Yoga class, taught by Traci each month, is a chance to move inward and slow down. You can pay attention to the subtleties of poses, but more so, the way your mind, breath and energy interact with a pose, over time. Yin Yoga isn’t a practice of push, it’s a practice of receiving.
As you turn your sights on a better 2021, now is the time to commit to your practice! From now until January 15, 2021 the Unlimited Membership has special introductory pricing: 21% off!
Enjoy this all-access membership for just $67 for the first 3 months, automatically billed each month with autopay. This membership will continue at standard Unlimited pricing after the first 3 months.
Your Unlimited access to Woven Yoga includes virtual (Zoom) live classes AND access to the On Demand Library.
Our Chair Yoga classes use chairs, the walls, and other props throughout the whole class so you feel supported. Toni designs these classes with a sense of gentleness towards the wrist, shoulder, hip, knee and ankle joints: working toward flexibility and a greater range of motion mindfully and with purpose.
The class also uses chair work while gaining strength and improving balance. We use the support of the chair and the wall to find a sense of centeredness while keeping safe. With precise cuing, you’ll learn to utilize sleepy muscles to find ways of moving that feel spacious and strong.
Our standard All-Levels Flow class connects the body and the breath using a series of poses that moves from the ground to standing throughout the class. This works great for many people, but some individuals prefer to stay seated or move to the floor only once through a practice. Chair Yoga and Gentle Yoga begin seated, moves to standing, and ends with a seated, comfortable and relaxed rest pose.
Just because you’re not running marathons anymore – or even though a flight of stairs might leave you out of breath – doesn’t mean you’re sentenced to a life of immobility. Science confirms the benefits of a regular yoga practice for the whole body: better sleep, lower hypertension, fewer injuries related to falling, not to mention the mental and emotional benefits related to stress, anxiety, depression and other invisible illnesses.
