Live long and prosper, email marketer.

Months go by: I’m not inspired to write a blog post.

Then I spend most of two days trying to prepare and send out a brand new email newsletter using Mailchimp – the free version, naturally – and I AM BAILING ON IT. Because this is not useful feedback:

I’m going to use a blog post to send out the news:

You’ve now got 3 opportunities each week

That’s THREE. I teach three public classes now. Is this news big enough to launch a newsletter? Or is it my desire to see you in class, driving me to reach out to you today?

And now, a newsletter

Oops, scratch that. Stay tuned.

Anyway, where and when are the classes?

Mondays, 7:30-8:45pm at Saint Paul Yoga Center: Slow Flow Vinyasa, $17
Thursdays, 5:30-6:45pm at Saint Paul Yoga Center: Vinyasa Flow, $17
Sundays, 8:30-9:30am at River Garden Yoga Center: Vinyasa Flow, $10

Vinyasa vinyasa vinyasa!

What is vinyasa flow? Semantically, “vinyasa” refers to the special care I’ve put into arranging the sequence of poses you’ll move through, in my classes. In this way, any enjoyable and safe yoga class is vinyasa. However, when compared to the other types of yoga classes that you may see advertised around town, such as Hatha, Iyengar, Hot, Restorative, or Yin, vinyasa (most often labeled “vinyasa flow”) means:

• Some music will be played, typically recorded but sometimes live.
• Your mat will stay in one place throughout the class…
• …and you’ll move around on it almost constantly until the last 5 or 10 minutes of the class.
• Thus: you’re likely to perspire
• Downward-facing dog pose is not mandatory, but it’s very likely to happen, and more than once
• Typically there won’t be chanting, although now and then there is opportunity to OM
• For the most part, you can expect a different combination of poses, from class to class. As mentioned above, the teacher has put careful thought into the selection and order of poses, and any breath cue he or she provides. Because..
• There is a reason for everything.

Kofushiwaki Tsukasa’s “Fallen Moon 1”

And now for something completely different

Because art is life and I love sharing things: A few weeks ago I checked out the “Hard Bodies: Contemporary Japanese Lacquer Sculpture” and “Boundless Peaks: Ink Paintings by Minol Araki” exhibits at Mia (the Minneapolis Institute of Art). It’s huge: in scale and in impact. It was an immersive hour. While it was not a particularly colorful hour (lacquer and ink tend to be black), it was very enveloping hour. As the viewer, I felt like I was an important component of almost every piece. Both shows are up until June 24, 2018.

Together, we can seva the world

Head to River Garden Yoga Center for its first in a series of “Do Good, Do Yoga” donation yoga classes, on Friday, December 1 from 6-7pm. While I won’t be the instructor for the event this month, I plan to, in the near future: it’s a great opportunity to practice seva, or selfless service.

River Garden Yoga Center’s mission is to be of service to the community, and this month, the studio is proud to partner with Keystone Community Services in offering this donation based yoga class led by Bianca Matter. All donated proceeds (up to $500) will be matched by River Garden Yoga Center and will go directly to Keystone to help support their programs.

Keystone is a community leader in supporting our youth, adults and senior populations. From the W. 7th Community Center to funding food shelves to Meals on Wheels to working with kids on reading and apprenticeship programs, over 8,000 people participate in Keystone programs every month.

Come as you are! This will be a fun yoga class accessible to all with light refreshments served post-class. If you are unable to attend, please feel free to drop off a donation of any amount at the studio. Info on the studio and a map are available here.

Visit keystoneservices.org for more info about Keystone.