For many, many years I have been visioning a place for inter-generational learning with an inter-disciplinary approach to lore. A School of Yoga. Since college I have been inspired by the work of Liz Lerman, particularly her leadership in bringing the elderly onstage with college students and creating unique choreography particularly designed for bodies of all abilities and ages.
This is Liz (middle) and her senior dancers.
In my experience and personal philosophy, cafés, yoga classrooms and dance spaces, especially street dance, are important nexuses that bring people of all ages together. Just last week I had a range of ages in my own yoga classroom from twelve to seventy-two. That kind of integrated space asks something of each participant, including myself as the teacher. That kind of coming together and learning is not the norm in the dominant culture of North America where people of specific ages primarily live, work and play separately.
Perhaps being around individuals who require deep listening skills or more care in attention puts us on our best behavior. Perhaps it requires something deeper of each person in the room and something in us actually likes that. Maybe it’s a sort of awakening. I don’t know. What I do know is that, “Yoga meets you where you’re at,” as my teacher, Bhavani Maki often says. Each person came to yoga for a different reason that day and yet each person benefited from the same (or similar) set of instructions. I’ve learned to work with different bodies and different personalities with a unique set of tools and techniques. This takes a highly skilled teacher to accomplish. Not every day do I get to put these principles into practice. The class that day was viscerally unique and I sensed every student appreciated what was in the room.
The commons is missing in America. Public gathering spaces in general are lacking. In my recent travels to both France and Greece, people convened in cafés, in public parks, on street corners. Lingering is a “thing” in these European countries, (as well as many more countries I’m sure), an acceptable and sought after thing. In both France and Greece, two hours is not too much time for a coffee, four hours is not too much time for dinner. In the town where I live now, however, thirty-minutes for lunch and the hostess is pressuring me to pay the check, “Because there’s a reservation,” she says. WTF? (Why This Fast?)
Imagine a space for gathering…
For years I have been holding this vision close: the vision of a yoga school, a center for higher learning. I imagine a space that will invite people of all ages to learn together, a space that asks something of each person who enters, that draws the best out of each of us.
A space where our bare feet touch the floor, where the floor is our first teacher. A space for high caliber yoga teachers to teach their craft. A space in which there is tea before and after class for those who like to visit. A space to attract trainings and workshops taught by master teachers. A space to put up a rope wall. Like this:
And this…
I vision a space where there will be classes in Spanish, writing workshops, classes on meditation, sacred song, and dharma art. A space for the teachings of Vedic astrology and astronomy. I vision a space for all ages to learn and train in the Yogic Arts and Sciences. This will be an education for life, training the whole human being.
Stephen Jenkinson refers to the time in which we are living a “me first era,” devoid of true hospitality and etiquette. In general Americans are far too casual in dress, manor of speaking, and our ability to hold space for each other. We are not taught how to listen well, how to trust our own wisdom, one another or Great Nature. These are revolutionary gestures that rotate ones reference point from “me first” to include “the other” which also comprises the natural world. Remember Earth is our Great Mother and without her we wouldn’t be here.
Other radical acts I have practiced include leaving five dollars for the next person in line at a coffee shop, picking up trash in my neighborhood, holding the door open for a stranger, giving up my window seat on the airplane so a mother and child could sit together. Revolutions are small, subtle acts of rotated consciousness. To draw all our limbs in, lie down, and do nothing is a radical act. To move more slowly, drive with care, speak with intentionality, these are all tiny revolutions of attitude and adjustments to our beingness. To turn off the radio, television, and even get off the internet might start a revolution. I don’t know.
What I do know is that creating a center for higher learning is a radical act, a revolutionary one. A community hub where people gather and get to know each other through the years and over decades, where people of varying ages, physical ability can assemble, learn, and dive deeply into the inner work of the yogic arts and sciences—this will be more than “just me,” I can not do this alone.
I vision a space dedicated to learning for the next 15, 35, 50 years… A space that will last long after you and I are no longer in the body.
I consider teaching yoga (in person) a radical act of generosity. I have taught yoga classes online (you can find some of them available here for paid subscribers) and I may record a few more, however, I feel that true transmission comes through when we are physically in the same space together. When our breath mingles, when my hands can contact your skin and when you get the opportunity to ask me questions in real time, as they arise for you, this is real magic. In a “me first” culture, your attention, (time+energy) is the most precious resource. One of the few true choices you have in this human form is where to place your attention. An education is how one keeps their body-gut-brain complex agile and free from tyranny.
Two reasons being in person with others is so necessary is 1. Our hearts starts to beat in synchronicity with the other people we are around, it’s called co-regulation (here are two interesting articles on Heart Connections and the Epidemic of Loneliness). And 2. When we’re together we pull things out of one another. We forge not only a biological rhythm, but also a psychological one; we begin to inform one another of our thoughts, dreams, visions, worries, prayers even when no words are exchanged. This in an on-going conversation. This is the beauty of community: sacred reciprocity.
SCHOOL OF YOGA
Revolution: revolve, restore wisdom, to be peeled back
Involution
with flexible wings
to roam
creating community
Inter-generational
Teaching house
Deep living
Transforming relationships
Center for higher learning
Restore Wisdom
Village minded
Culture-making
Gathering
Working for a time we won’t live to see
What else would you add to the list?
APRIL 2024 Yoga Classes in Prescott, Arizona:
>> First Sunday of the Month Yoga Class at ART HIVE: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM. This class provides a deep dive into the tradition of yoga and personal transformation. Come ready to learn and enjoy the power of coming together in Sangha with the intention to expand your capacity for capacity through the wisdom of Yoga. This class is designed for students with some experience, and Shinay will teach to the room. All bodies and abilities are encouraged to participate. Three Tiers Honor Based Tuition: 3-hour class: $32, $40, or $48/class.
>> There’s a new episode each month of Yogi’s Roadmap Podcast. These are conversations from the heart that I have with my yoga teacher and mentor, Bhavani Maki.
>> Weekly Yoga Classes through April at ART HIVE: Thursdays 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM. You are learning tools for a lifetime. Each class is creatively taught with the aim of integrating what you learn into your body-mind-heart and life. Come explore the body of shape shifting to change your state of mind. For this is the essence of Yoga. Three Tiers Honor Based Tuition: 90-minute classes: $16, $20, or $24/class.
May your vision unfold with effortless grace, at the speed of a French cafe or Grecian meal. It's the vision of a lifetime perhaps.