December and 2025 Update - Free Thanksgiving Yoga + much more….

Greetings one and all,

A brief update on this wonderful time of the year, and a time that is challenging for many of us post election, with the geo-political angst and with the climate and weather extremes in many parts of the world and at home. I too, am bumbling along, both at times avoiding media and also finding moments where some welcome explanations are there, wanting to hibernate and also wanting to be in good, wise company. One thing I can say with clarity is that It’s a charged and interesting time for practice no matter what - Practice is non negotiable right now! See below for further suggestions and inspirations and for those open to some political ponderings, see an article I wrote about my conversations on the doorsteps in NV and AZ

11/28 9-10am PST FREE Thanksgiving Yoga - Join us for a tradition that goes way back and begin your day with some simple fun yoga to open the belly - whether you are fasting or feasting and to appreciate body, breath and community. Essential to pre-register for this class. Register here. More info here.

12/1 - 12/31 December Online Yoga - Theme: Hibernating but Not Hiding! Last month of weekly classes before I take a 7 month sabbatical but don’t worry! we have you covered to keep your practice going with GIT….

12/21 12-4pm Boonville Winter Solstice Celebration In Person workshop to honor this moving into deep winter.

1/31 - 7/31, 2025 GIT - Get It Together in 2025! a 6 month online Yoga Program with 2 live classes monthly + 3 selected recordings connected to monthly theme, and options to chat with the rest of the community.

2/2 - 7/31, 2025 Yoga Salon - Verdancy - Plant as Guru a 6 month program for teachers and yoga nutz on first Sundays (exc 6/8) Reserve space with deposit now.

GIVING TUESDAY, 12/3/24 - 2 suggestions for giving this year! One was sent to me by a local friend, Noor, who has met these wonderful people. They keeping yoga going for a group of kids in difficult rural circumstances - Sending them some solidarity would be such a gift. See below.
The second is to support Yoga Va by sending medical supplies, yoga clothes, solar chargers even phones to me before I leave for Habana early January. Money donations to support the 3 day retreat I will be teaching for Cubans would also be appreciated - this will help to cover their accommodation, food and transport costs These donations are not tax deductible.
And I am sure your generous hearts have many more places that call to be supported by you this year!

RETREAT UPDATES 2025
1/10-13 Yoga and Meditation Retreat for Yoga Va! Cubans - Confirmed
1/13-19 International Yoga Va Trip to Habana is in the balance - Contact Mary asap if interested

4/9-13 Knowing Our True Nature – An earth-based outdoor meditation yoga retreat with Kirsten Rudestam and MP at Pomo Tierra, CA Registration opens 12/1 - Email me if interested as group size limited.

6/20-22 Summer Solstice Retreat - Currently we have 2 spaces either camping or dorm available and possible one partial work trade position. Final payments due 1/1 - 1/31.

Not sure about Spain this year - let me know if you are seriously interested in our lovely Spa event in Sept.

So this isn/t going to happen, right?……

Conversations on the road campaigning - at this link

O well, What next? More significantly is “What Now?!” Here is a quote I have been churning around in my head from Ta-Nehisi Coates:
”I did not tell you that it would be okay, because I have never believed it would be okay. What I told you is what your grandparents tried to tell me: that this is your country, that this is your world, that this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it.”

How do we live with all this? I appreciate some of the suggestions that have come from my friends and colleagues. Michelle Marlahan, our wonderful Tuesday online teacher and great yogini, shared a link with her communities recently that I found particularly touching, an invitation to mourn, to truly identify the sadness and possibly create a ritual that allows some kind of passage, letting go, deeper opening. Mourning is a Tool of Resistance.

This time of year, there is a folding in, a natural inclination to be warm, to drop into quiet, let go of whatever one possibly can, and to allow the feelings that many of us are still not able to let pierce a certain numbness needed just to cope. This shift into welcoming longer nights, wood stoves, hibernation of tree and animal life also helps create space to nurture deeper wisdoms, voices images wise words from our artists, our writers, our poets, opening to bigger pictures in the scheme of things. Fellow yogi and climate activist, Cathy Monroe shared a book that I am entranced with right now called “Orbital” by Samantha Harvey, astronauts and cosmonauts peering down on earth below. I am also re-reading Robin Kimmerrer’s books and have just finished her endearing little book “The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World” as I prepare for our 2025 Salon, inspired by the plant gurus. If you haven’t listened to a recent City Arts and Lectures conversation with Richard Powers, do at least listen to the last few minutes of the recording for his response to a climate activist, seeking some sense of support, solace and inspiration to keep going.

Time in nature, respecting the cycles and rituals of Thanksgiving and Solstice soothe the weary, exhausted heart. I would love to be able to share political and ecological commentary but am not quite ready yet and still feel we are in the process of digesting. If something comes up that moves beyond the blame game and rant, I will pass it on in a blog. I very much appreciate the wiser reflections others have sent me - keep them coming! - and I hope to pass on these and future inspirations when we move into GIT 2025 It will indubitably be a challenging year and also one that brings some unusual gifts.

I will leave you with 4 things that have touched my heart and eased my soul.

• Writing - documenting the intensity of this time and also what the natural world inspires. It’s always intriguing tracking how we move through these critical threshold times.
  Writing this little article about my conversations with folks in NV and AZ while campaigning helped me appreciate that time even if the outcome was not exactly what we were working towards. For those more politically inclined it might be of interest and if you were involved in some way in this type of work, do share your musings.

• Drawing - a persimon over and over again as it gradually deteriorates! just drawing… and using the mandala practice to explore images that I didn’t realize were swimming underneath the surface

• Listening to my grandkids. Max, aged 5, was staying with me this last weekend and we had a work party in our collective area to prepare for visitors this week. He was surprisingly helpful for a 5 year old, stacking wood with the best of us. Afterwards he said: “I like being nice. Being nice makes me happy. And being nice makes other people happy.”

• Poetry - Rosemerry Wahtola is always a powerful source, her recent Emerging Form newsletter includes a poem about the delight of reading poetry together on zoom! And let’s leave you with a poem from our yogi friend, artist, poet and fellow teacher Dennise Gackstedder. We shared this poem in the online classes this month and it was included in this short meditation on bones, silk and moons. Enjoy!
  
  See you at Thanksgiving Yoga on Thursday if you can come. Note this class is not recorded.

  In deep appreciation for you all and your practice. May we all move forward into this winter time with deep respect for all beings, all life including our dear selves.

  M
  

  Resiliency
  by Dennise Gackstedder

  Tonight

  wherever you fins yourself,

  step outside, lift your gaze,

  and let the moon’s light

  shine upon your face.

  If it is cloudy or overcast,

  go out anyway and look to the east.

  Know that out beyond

  what you can see,

  out beyond the veils of obscurity,

  the moon is rising,

  There is ease

  in trusting this knowing,

  to trust in the wisdom

  of resilient light,

  to accept the natural ebb

  and flow of it,

  how it always waxes to
  fullness and then
  wanes back into darkness
  Every minute of each day
  of every month
  the moon gathers light
  growing into its brightest being,
  When it is full to brimming
  it turns anew, and moment
  by moment let’s it all go again>
  This knowing can carry you
  through the difficult days,
  nudging you to notice
  shimmering glimmers
  of kindness, of joy, of love,
  Each ius an ember
  that when recognized,
  encourages the light.
  Each shining spark,
  each glittering flicker
  nourishes your inner light
  until your are radiant and round
  and full as the moon.
  So when the time to turn
  arrives you too must give
  it back to the world
  an offering to others
  who need the fuel.