Do you remember your first Sirsasana? I don’t, but I’ll never forget the first headstand for one of my students last month. “I did it!” she crooned ecstatically, “That was my goal and I did it!” Rising from her counter, Child’s pose, she was still thrilled and glowing.
You won’t typically find headstand in many Anahata Grace classes; if we do any inversion, it would be the safest and most accessible, Viparitakarani (“Legs Up the Wall”). At first, in my class, there wasn’t even a wall, since we were practicing in the middle of a living room. The small group of teenage moms would gather at the house where some of them were living, and while child care went on below, we would push away the furniture and roll out the yoga mats. Occasionally, Savasana (“Corpse Pose”) would end, not with the gentle awakening of fingers and toes, but the gleeful squeals of the children racing up the stairs to jump on their moms.
Continue reading 'A Community Class with Heart'»
Teacher Guest Blog
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anahata grace, Borromeo Housing, C, Child’s pose, Community center, Layne Morrison, Savasana, Sirsasana, Thai Yoga Massage, Viparitakarani, yoga
The blog post below was written by an incredible yogi, writer and survivor (+ friend of Anahata), Maragret Westley, who’s story of healing through the arts is inspiring to say the least. If you’d like to learn more about Margaret, you can follow her blog here.
I recently came across a box of photographs in my lawyer’s office. For months, he had been nagging me to stop by the firm, and had even threatened to throw my belongings in the trash. When I read his e-mail, I smiled to myself and immediately replied. I wrote he was too much of a softy to do such a thing and that I would take the trip down town as soon as I could. A few days earlier, the blizzard of 2011 hit. While outside, I was very cautious and did not want to venture far from my apartment in Brooklyn. I knew if Frank were alive, he would tell me to stay inside fearing I may slip on a patch of ice and hurt myself, especially since I only had one “real leg,” and the other was a prosthetic.
Continue reading 'Margaret’s Story'»
Dear Volunteer,
“At this time of the turning point between the dark and light, what is churnning, shedding and breaking through for you?” - Shiva Rea’s Meditation on the Spring Equinox.
Join Anahata for the month of April as we come out of winter caves and face into the blossoming energy of Spring.
- Saturday, April 2nd is our monthly volunteer potluck. In light of the tragedy that occurred at the Lululemon in Bethesda a few weeks ago, we will be joining Faith Hunter’s class on the mall to honor Jayna T. Murray at 10:30 to 11:30am @ the Sylvan Theater (15th and Constitution – details here). Post-class we will all meet at noon @ Penn Quarter Teaism (map) to discuss Anahata and join Dr. Lauren Rubenstein, a clinical psychologist and yoga teacher, as she discusses her new Anahata trauma resource and answers questions you have regarding this topic. Please join and bring friends.
Do you have a topic that you’d like more info on regarding wellness therapeutic services? Please post suggested topics on our facebook page or send us an email.
Continue reading 'April Volunteer Newsletter'»
Are you interested in becoming a part of Team Grace? Below is the text from this month’s volunteer newsletter which you can receive by signing up here.
“Everything that we see is a shadow cast by what we don’t see.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Join Anahata for the month of February and beyond as we examine what we don’t see through somatic connections.
- Saturday, February 5th is our monthly volunteer potluck! The topic for this month is Trauma and Yoga. With this nip in the air, we have found a winter home for our meetings (1113 Rhode Island Ave NW 20005). The yoga class (11am to noon) is open to anyone who would like to start their day with some flowing yoga, then stay for an Anahata meeting (noon to 1pm). This month, join Dr. Lauren Rubenstein, a clinical psychologist and yoga teacher, as she discusses her new Anahata trauma resource and answers questions you have regarding this topic. Please join and bring friends – more details can be found here.
Do you have a topic that you’d like more info on regarding wellness therapeutic services? Please post suggested topics on our facebook page or send us an email at findinggraceyoga@gmail.com.
Continue reading 'Feb Volunteer Newsletter'»
It finally feels like winter and along with that comes the Anahata December volunteer opportunities and events. Grab some tea, and take a look at what’s happening in our world and let us know if you can join.
Continue reading 'Dec Volunteer Opportunities'»
Thanks to all of you who donated to Anahata’s troop retreat for veterans returning home, we have been able to put together an incredible retreat which is happening this weekend.
The warriors will spend the weekend nestled in a rustic retreat in the rolling hills of western Virginia surrounded by farmland and forest. They will have opportunities for hiking, mountain biking, camping and free massage therapy. Yoga and meditation classes will be provided daily and organic nutritious meals will be a time for coming together and sharing. *Soldiers who attend the retreat will be warriors who have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other war-related injuries.
This retreat will include trauma-sensitive yoga and yoga nidra which are two yoga-based methods currently being used by clinicians and the U.S. military to facilitate healing from war related illnesses. The practices will be lead by founder of There and Back Again, Sue Lynch, navy psychiatrist, Frances Stewart, yoga therapist Angela Cerkevich and marine fitness instructor Andrea Lucie, who specializes in integrating mindfulness practices into the Army and Navy/Marine Corps mental health community.
A big thanks to the incredible Anahata community that has made this possible.
warm oms, Team Grace
This week, Anahata Grace would like to honor our Outreach Associate Sarah Walter. Here, she talks a bit about her experience volunteering with our organization.
When I moved to Washington DC in January this year I decided to take the career jump – transitioning from my background in social work, nonprofit management and adult education to putting my yoga teacher training to use full time. After teaching in the studio scene for a few months I began looking for other ways to combine my other aforementioned backgrounds with my passion for teaching yoga. Enter…Anahata Grace. In addition to working with Anahata as an Outreach Associate, I am also volunteering to teach a group of elementary school-aged young people through a KidPower summer enrichment program at Amidon Elementary school.
Three classes in, this has proved to be a great learning experience for me as a yoga teacher. The elementary school age is very interesting – they at the point of beginning to develop their full-blown adult egos but also able to slip into present consciousness very easily and able to focus on exactly what they are doing (as long as we don’t do it for too long!). For example, can you imagine in an average studio based adult yoga class, having each one of the students come up and teach the rest of the class a pose? This kept the students entertained for at least a solid 30 minutes last week with the excitement over which yoga pose they got to choose and coming up to the teacher’s mat to guide the class.
Continue reading 'Finding Grace with a Different Type of Audience'»
General
| Amidon Elementary, anahata grace, Elementary School, Feel Good Yogini, KidPower, lil omm, OM, Outreach Associate, Rajas, Sarah Walter, Sattvic, Tamas, Washington DC, www.feelgoodyogini.com, yoga
What a difference a yoga practice makes.
As part of the yoga community, Anahata Grace is fortunate enough to be surrounded by those who desire social change and hold themselves personally accountable to make an impact. Leading by example is the District’s city-wide Citizen Effect 30 Day Yoga Challenge. Spear-headed by Michael Hall of Mid City Yoga, funds raised through the 30 Day Yoga Challenge will support the construction of an orphanage in Cloetesville, South Africa.
Continue reading 'July is DC Yoga Challenge Month'»
DC Local Projects, Events, Fundraising & Outreach
| 30 Day Yoga Challenge, across the globe, anahata grace, Anahata International, around the world, Citizen Effect, Cloetesville, compassion, core values, Karma, Michael Hall, Mid City Yoga, South Africa, vulnerable communities
There are oh so many ways to celebrate the 4th – dancing, laughing, drinking, eating – all of which entail sharing pure joy with those around you. Those of us at Anahata Grace would love for you to share in the festivities we have planned to heighten awareness of the complete gratitude we all share for this day of independence:
So come on out and celebrate the liberty this life has brought us.
Events, General
| anahata grace, caitlin uzzell, Community Class, donation class, Flow Donation Class, Fourth of July, Fuel Pilates, Independence Day, Independence Day Workshop, Karen Chan, Leslie Brenowitz, Liberty, Life, megan davis, Meridian Hill Park, Noelle Laing, Quiet Mind Studio, Stroga, Volunteer Potluck
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