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
Valentine’s day sent some love to the women of DASH, the District Alliance for Safe Housing, Inc., in the opening of the Cornerstone Wellness Room. Brought to you by Anahata Grace and funded by Verizon, services offered in this room will include acupuncture, acupressure, Thai massage, yoga therapy, cooking classes, and other wellness programs for women who have been victims of domestic violence. There to partake in the ribbon cutting ceremony was acupuncturist Nicole Mires, who shares with us a bit from her first day offering what wellness her hands are able to provide.
I had a great time yesterday. Anticipation on my way to the house… worrying if the women would like me, if they’d like the treatments, and if we could really make a difference here. I worked as a behavioral health counselor while I was in grad school, but that experience was years ago and miles away, and not a very positive one. I wondered if the women would look at me as a privileged middle class white girl with no experience of need or pain. I wondered if they would accept their treatments without me telling them “you can trust me, because I’ve seen the bottom”. I shuffled through these thoughts and insecurities and then I realized with a pang that my ego was running away with me. This isn’t about me. This isn’t about me being able to tell my friends and family, with my chin held high, that I was doing something selfless for someone else. This isn’t about my experience or my ego or my expensive shoes. I’m a conduit. The treatment works. The healing is in them, as they have probably already figured out. I’m just a conduit, and whatever I think I might be able to add to their healing is stubble and hay, burned away by their own curative fire.
Continue reading 'Room to Heal'»
DC Local Projects, Teacher Guest Blog
| acupressure, Acupuncture, anahata grace, cooking classes, Cornerstone Wellness Room, District Alliance for Safe Housing, Domestic Violence, Inc. (DASH), Nicole Mires, reiki, Ribbon cutting ceremony, Thai massage, Valentine's day, Verizon, yoga therapy
The inmates of William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility breathe life into the mission of Anahta Grace by demonstrating, yet again, the impact mindfulness makes on the soul.
Vipassana meditation is an offering made to those inhabiting this end of the line prison as an alternative to the daily grind of a life sentence. Vipassana simply means “seeing things as they are,” an offer that some would rather forget. This particular correctional facility, named after an officer killed at the prison, is reserved for the worst of the worst who have committed the ultimate egregious crimes. Some have chosen to try and regain some sort of balance back in their lives as an attempt to reconcile the horrible things they have done.
Continue reading 'Seeing Things As They Are, At The-End-Of-The-Line Prison'»
General
| An Unlikely Escape, anahata grace, At End-Of-The Line Prison, Balance, Correctional facility, Crime, Inmates, Meditation, Mindfulness, Mission, NPR, Officer, Peace, Prison, Silent meditation, Soul, Vipassana, William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility
Sick of the same old new year’s scene and the feeling you wake up with the morning after? Connect with the intention of new beginnings and community in this sacred and celebratory evening.
Purify through a vigorous asana practice, release through deep yoga nidra, and reconnect with your spirit through sacred silence – come ring in the New Year with Jivamutki.
Celebrate and Elevate
New Year’s Eve 2010 with Agi Glowacki and Justin Blazejewski
Date: Fri 12/31/2010
Time: 9:00 PM – Midnight
Flow Yoga Center, Washington DC
Purify through a vigorous asana practice, release through deep yoga nidra, and reconnect with your spirit through sacred silence.
9-10:30pm – Special Jivamukti class with Agi Glowacki
10:30-11:30pm – Yoga Nidra practice with Justin Blazejewski
11:30-midnight – Mauna (sacred silence), with traditional Puja ceremony and meditation
Midnight – Sparkling cider toast!
REGISTER HERE.
Proceeds from this event will benefit the important work that Anahata Grace is doing in bring healing to soldiers. Specifically the money will go towards the next “Troop Retreat” for veterans where, at no cost to the veterans, a team of trauma therapists spend 3 days helping them heal from the trauma experienced in war.
DC Local Projects, Events, Fundraising & Outreach
| Agi Glowacki, anahata grace, Asana Practice, Celebrate, Community, flow yoga center, Jivamukti NYE, Justin Blazejewski, Mauna, Meditation, Puja, Sacred Silence, Troop Retreat, Washington DC, Yoga Nidra
Please join Anahata Grace guest teacher Sierra Weaver for this Saturday’s Flow Yoga Center community meditation class. Let this Fall begin with restoration and self-nurturing through a mindful connection with our bodies – it all starts November 13th at 9:30 am.
Already thinking about Thanksgiving? We are too, as it’s just around the corner.
Yoga teaches us to be grateful for the present moment and unveils the primary principle of the universe, sri (abundance). So what better way to practice gratitude than for a Thanksgiving day workshop? Please join Megan Davis just for 2 hours this Thanksgiving day. The experience will entail 60 minutes of vinyasa and pranayama and 30 minutes of restorative poses followed by a 30 minute yoga nidra practice. All proceeds will go toward our mission here at Anahata Grace.
And don’t foget this Saturday’s community meditation/Anahata Grace donation class. This week Manisha Tare will honor us with her guidance through this practice at Flow Yoga Center at 9:30 am.
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
As September 26th approaches, Anahata Grace just wanted to remind folks about the purpose of the
Global Mala. All across the globe people unite, joining yoga communities from every continent, school and approach to form a “mala around the earth” through collective practices based upon the
sacred cycle of 108. Along with yoga practitioners in more than 50 countries around the world, DC will once again come together for a day of dharma speakers, meditation, music, and a dedicated practice of 108
surya namaskar. This year, Anahata Grace is honored to be the DC Global Mala’s chosen non-profit recipient of proceeds earned and to be considered a valued organization committed to healing the planet and its inhabitants.
Please continue to check our
DC Global Mala page for up-to-date information and details as the come to fruition. We look forward to once again creating a worldwide garland of the human heart and affirm the power of unifying consciousness through sacred movement, breath, and intention.
Warm oms,
Team Grace
This week, Anahta Grace volunteer and psychotherapist Michell Stanley announces the creation of our very first wellness center, to provide healing for those inhabiting the District Alliance for Safe Housing, Inc. (DASH).
The mission of the District Alliance for Safe Housing, Inc. (DASH) is to ensure access to safe and sustainable refuge for victims of domestic violence through the development and management of safe housing and related services, while increasing the capacity of other community-based organizations to expand housing for victims throughout the District of Columbia. As part of fulfilling this mission, DASH has honored Anahata Grace with the responsibility of facilitating wellness programming for the organization’s newest program, Cornerstone, which is scheduled to open this fall. The Wellness room will offer a full schedule of yoga classes including acupuncture, reiki, yoga therapy, and meditation, all geared towards providing residents with wellness services from a holistic perspective.
Continue reading 'DASH Wellness Center'»
DC Local Projects, General, Teacher Guest Blog
| anahata grace, at-risk populations, community-based, Cornerstone, District Alliance for Safe Housing, Domestic Violence, holistic, Inc. (DASH), Meditation, Michell Stanley, promote health, reiki, Social Change, Wellness, Wellness Committee, yoga therapy
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
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