Category Archives: reminders

Benefit Yoga Class Opportunity

Yoga for Life
April 29, 7:00 – 8:30pm
No Limits Studio
(Please follow the link for more info on this great organization.)

Yoga for Life is an easy-going all-levels donation-based class. We will engage in a mindful exploration of breathing and moving that will not only benefit our bodies, minds, and spirits, but will also benefit the members of our broader community through our donations. Take your yoga practice off the mat and join in the giving!

Keep in mind, you do not need to donate to attend the class (come for free!), nor do you need to attend the class in order to donate (just send me an email or search the specific organization on the web).

Please feel free to email questions by visiting the contact page.

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Beneficiaries

Here’s a list of charities and non-profits we support. Please follow the links to learn more about each organization and get involved. If you have suggestions for future Yoga for Life Benefit Classes, please share your ideas here.

Supporting Our Local Community

Catholic Charities of Mansfield, Ohio

The New Store ~ Richland County Children’s Auxiliary, Mansfield, Ohio

Harmony House Homeless Services, Inc., Mansfield, Ohio

Area Nursing Homes via Resurrection Parish Caring Ministries ~ Lexington, Ohio

Snack Sack Ministry via United Methodist Church of the Cross, Lexington, Ohio

Richland Pregnancy Services of Mansfield, Ohio

The Domestic Violence Shelter of Mansfield, Ohio

Hospice of North Central Ohio via What Goes ‘Round Thrift Shoppe, Mansfield, Ohio

Mid-Ohio Guardianship Services, Inc., Mansfield Ohio

Landree Rennpage 03 Memorial Scholarship Fund via Mansfield’s St. Peter Parish and the Msgr. Dunn Foundation

People Helping People of North Central Ohio

Supporting Our Global Community

Carry the Future ~ A Me2You grassroots organization directly impacting the lives of refugees worldwide.

SNAP Network ~ Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. SNAP, a worldwide organization, works tirelessly to achieve two goals: to heal the wounded and to protect the vulnerable.

Kind of a Big Yoga Update (for Autumn 2018)

Hello, Yoga Friends,

The summer yoga session has drawn to a close and we are all settling into a new routine. The Autumn session begins Monday, Sept. 10.  Keep reading to find reminders, important encouragements, and very important acknowledgments.

May you be filled with loving kindness, sweet yogis!

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Reminders

Autumn Schedule 2018 holds new classes, as well as returning classes with new days and times.  Click or tap the links to see what works for you:

Encouragements

You might have noticed some posts titled What Makes a Yogi?  Click, tap, or search the site to check out previous posts and then write your own.  Decide what being a yogi means to you,  post it on your wall, your mirror, your bedside table, your everywhere, and then live it.

Acknowledgements

I’d like to acknowledge some longtime yogis out there who have been practicing with me since the beginning.  You know who you are, as we have been practicing together for well over a decade.  And I do mean together, as we are all each other’s teacher.  I wouldn’t be who I am without you, you’ve been an inspiration, and I appreciate your dedication, your self-study, and your practice more than you know.   I’d also like to acknowledge the not-so-long-time yogis who keep coming to class, session after session, with passion, curiosity, and authenticity.  You bring your whole selves to practice, and I am bolstered by your honesty, humility, and humanity.

Finally, I feel it is my duty to acknowledge the revelations of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church, as I am the self-identified “Catholic Yogi.”  I wanted to write to you all and post immediately, but there is simply too much to address, to discuss, to care for, all at once.  The subject is deep, detailed, and layered, and human.  Because of this, I plan to write extensively on the subject in a future series titled Identity:  Living as the Catholic Yogi.

What I do want to express here and now is this:

I am struggling.

My heart is broken and torn.

I feel shattered.

I have yet to weep.

Please know that I keep praying: for myself, my children, my family, my neighbors, my community, my church, my Church, all the little children of the world and those yet to be born, the adults who have survived, the current clergy, the predators.

I feel many things:  anger, embarrassment, shame, despair, foolishness, confusion, loss, and grief.  It is unfortunate that I do not feel shock.

Thank you so much for your continued interest in yoga and being a part our little yoga family.

God is big.   God is big.  God is big.

May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be well.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
May you be happy.

Keep Practicing,

The Catholic Yogi

 

 

 

Summer Yoga Encouragements and Reminders

Hey there, Yoga Friends!

I hope you’ve all found a sweet summer groove.  20180629_153217

The Full Summer Schedule can be accessed here, but I’ve got some reminders and encouragements for you below:

  • Yoga classes are on a two week break and will return July 16 with our second 4-week session for Power Yoga and Yoga for Kids.  Yoga on the Lawn will return in August.

 

  • A sweet Intro to Yoga workshop is scheduled for July 21 and 22nd.  Click or tap Yoga Fundamentals for description and important info.

 

  • If you’re wondering what in the world you’re going to do during our hiatus, I have a challenge for you:  practice listening.

 

Yep, I said it.  Become a good listener.  This isn’t easy, but we really do get better at it with practice, and yep, that’s the rub:  in order to get better, we’ve gotta practice.

The act of listening is a humbling endeavor, because to do it well means we admit we don’t know everything.  To listen well means we believe we can learn something if we remain quiet and attentive, open and aware.  Keep in mind, I’m not even talking about listening to other people (yet); I’m talking about listening to ourselves.  And, no, not to the voice(s?) in our head but to the voice in our body.

The body speaks to us through the language of sensation.  So tune in to what you feel physically throughout your entire body, and you’ll know exactly what kind of yoga practice you need any given day, any given moment.  Try creating a yoga sequence that’s unique to you, not the you from yesterday or the imagined you of tomorrow, but the you that’s living right now.  And forget the pencil and paper; instead, just use your breath.  Get on your yoga mat and breathe, deeply, and listen well.  Do not fear, for your breath will never mislead you.

Once you’ve practiced listening to yourself for a couple of weeks,  you might realize the sweetness that comes from being heard.  That kind of sweetness cries out to be shared, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself listening to others more selflessly, more sincerely than you ever have before.

Happy Practicing!

The Catholic Yogi

Please click or tap here for the full summer schedule with all the details, and feel free to share this with anyone you think might be interested.