Winter Newsletter

By Valerie Morris | December 28, 2021

Dear Yoga friends,

Your presence in our community is the best present we could ask for! Thank you for trusting us to share heartfelt opportunities for you to become more familiar with your mind+body structure and function as understood in both Western and Eastern cultures. We love helping you refine and supplement your mental tool kit with breath and movement practices and meditations to help you deal with stress, sleep better, get stronger, develop confidence, and become more deeply intimate with your Self.

We hope you have a peaceful holiday season practicing the rituals and traditions that bring you joy, and we look forward to celebrating presence with you in class soon!

With love and gratitude ~ Valerie, Roxanne, Amalia, Ahni, Anne-Marie, Arielle, Brie, Carolyn, Donna, Erin, Jean, Jennifer, Laura, Lisa, Meg and Shanti

We have some very special practices to share with you this winter…

Experience the benefits of multi-dimensional sound therapy for body, mind and spirit. Each session allows participants the opportunity to relax while various instruments are played for their rejuvenating and balancing properties. Amy facilitates a nurturing, held space to explore, heal and transform. Come ready to receive, and leave with a deep sense of peace and tranquility.

Register for 12.14 1.11 1.25 2.08 2.22 3.08 3.29

A Note from Donna

What are you celebrating this month? I think we’re all celebrating something. Perhaps it’s a religious observance, like Hanukkah or Christmas. Maybe it’s the ritual of acknowledging the passing of a year, and the cycle of the sun, with the Winter Solstice. Maybe it’s getting to be with family or loved ones again.

I noticed even last winter, when we were so cloistered and not able to have large gatherings and concerts, it wasn’t so terribly bad. Though we longed for the company of family and friends, maybe the quiet pandemic way was an even more effective way to celebrate the Long Night, a reflective way…. like the many quiet twinkling lights that are coming out all over town….more than I remembered in the past. We found ways to celebrate, even then.

Pets were adopted, more than ever before… a good thing for those poor homeless animals. And good for us, too; a companion to share the long dark nights with us, celebrating in each other’s warmth and touch. Celebrating just being quietly at home together.

I enjoy buying a Christmas tree and together with my husband, Jon, finding that particular radio station that plays all the classic Christmas pop songs, and singing them together on the way to Crumley’s Christmas Tree lot. Right now, I’m looking into the colored lights and balls on the little tree we bought, while I relax in “my chair,” legs up, with GingerBear warm by my side. Beyond the tree, out the picture window, birds are coming in for their late afternoon feeding. Though just 3 pm, it will be dark soon enough!

I think we can agree with the ancient yogis that this time of year is a quieter time. In Ayurvedic yogic practice, winter is seen as a time for warming spices and going inward. In the West, we try to dispel the darkness with all our holiday cheer and lights on the outside of our homes. I do appreciate them as I drive home from the store on an early dark evening! But the real blessing is to take some extra time for yourself, and find that light on the inside.

The primary colors that I like to see on my holiday tree are also the colors used to represent the levels of consciousness we carry with these bodies. The chakras of the spine have attributions of color to each, and each chakra, or energy center in the spine is said to help us move our consciousness upward to our highest Self. The brightest light at the 7th chakra, like that star at the top of the tree, represents unified consciousness.

In my upcoming restorative workshop, Lighting the Chakras, we’ll get into that cozy space either at the studio or in our homes, and in ourselves, where we can enjoy the quiet within, and the lights of our inner wisdom. The workshop will be held from 3:00 to 6:00 on Sunday December 19 close to the Winter Solstice. But if that time isn’t just perfect for you, as long as you sign up for it in advance, you will have the recording sent to you, to practice whenever you want in the next few days. If you are practicing at home, set aside a quiet place, and please check the list on the website of props that you will want to have ready.

Let’s take this time to celebrate the Light within, and rest into these Sacred days with a time of deep quiet and the breath. Like the natural world does, we can stop for awhile….. readying ourselves to begin anew as the days grow longer and our Light glows stronger.

Greetings of Peace to you,

Donna

In this 3 hour workshop, you’ll be invited to find stillness in restorative yoga poses and tune into your internal light. Come relax, restore, and radiate from the inside!

Each year, the Winter Solstice invites us to embrace new beginnings and perspectives while releasing energy and emotions that no longer serve us. Though we can practice Sun Salutations at any time of year, practicing 108 Sun Salutations is traditionally reserved for the transition between seasons. The number 108 also shows up in sacred and ancient yogic texts in many contexts, and the distance between the Sun and Earth is roughly 108 times the Sun’s diameter.

Join Erin at Eugene Yoga’s Downtown studio to heat and detoxify the body through this practice. She’ll break down the basics of a Sun Salute, and then you’ll flow together on the breath. Not sure if a 108 practice is for you? Come as you are and find rest when you need!

This is an all levels flow offered Downtown in-person and virtual. Come celebrate the Solstice holidays with an Astrology-infused class!
Cash donations only for in-person attendance.
CC donation options for virtual attendance.

This is an all level hatha yoga class by donation. We will focus on a sustainable, nurturing practice, with a long supported Savasana (rest) at the end of class. Everybody is invited! Happy New Year! Offered South in-person and virtual.
Cash donations only for in-person attendance.
CC donation options for virtual attendance.

Ease into the New Year with a restorative practice in community. Offered Downtown in-person & virtual.
Cash donations only for in-person attendance.
CC donation options for virtual attendance.

Learn safe and fun ways to use a stability ball (gymnastic ball) for gaining freedom and strength in the body. A great way to keep your home practice fresh and fun, as you build core awareness and ease. Strengthen core, back arms, balance and have fun doing it! Basic moves, poses, and safety will be taught and reviewed, with modifications given for additional challenge.

8-wk INTRO to iREST meditation Series for Stress, Trauma, Insomnia and Chronic Pain iRest guided meditation is a 10-step protocol researched and designed by Richard Miller, PhD to specifically reduce anxiety, stress, depression, insomnia, chronic pain and symptoms PTSD. Compared to Yoga Nidra, iRest is a deeper dive into self-inquiry that further re-wires the brain, changing neuro-connections to help you shift from unhelpful reactive patterns, to kinder and gentler responses from your inner wisdom and wholeness, the ever-present stillness within — the backdrop of life’s experiences untouched by life’s events or circumstances. The daily practice of iRest meditation helps you experience a greater sense of wholeness, health, resiliency and well-being.

Mark your calendars for even more upcoming Winter events!

Partner Yoga with Laura, Sunday Feb 14
Yoga Nidra Workshop with Lisa Namyet, Sunday Feb 20
Learn to Instruct Yoga Nidra with Lisa Namyet, Sunday Feb 20
Spring Equinox classes: Flow with Erin Moberg and Restorative with Laura Black

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