newsletter archive: march 2021

Love yourself. Then forget it. Then, love the world. — Mary Oliver

 

Dear Shala Community,
We’re moving into March like a lion with some schedule tweaks and exciting new offerings! 

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december 2020/january 2021 newsletter, letter to community

Dear Shala Community,
After 20 years of owning and operating our beautiful studio in Union Square, we have decided to close our doors at 816 Broadway. After several attempts to negotiate with our landlord, in the end we couldn’t agree on an affordable way to keep the space while there is still so much uncertainty for brick-and-mortar yoga studios. 

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supplemental reading for the shala book club: on immunity / may 2020

This Saturday we’ll meet live and online via Zoom to discuss On Immunity by Eula Biss, a succinct nonfiction exploration of issues related to health, illness, medicine, care of the self, and care for one another. If you’d like to join, please sign up in advance on MindBody! These gatherings are free and open to all. 

Here is some supplemental reading that may inform our conversation. 

Get Ready for a Vaccine Information War— The New York Times

“The Coronation” — Charles Eisenstein

A short piece by Eula Biss in the New York Review of Books “Pandemic Journal”

Please reach out with any questions! Hope to see you “there.”

 

 

newsletter archive: march 2020

Dear all,
This month we’ll focus on jnana and twists. As we approach the spring equinox, we are reminded of the ubiquity and constancy of change, and the role of jnana (wisdom or knowledge) in the process of navigating the many twists and turns of life. Wisdom guides us into questions like, who am I? What am I doing in this life? Where am I caught in delusion, and what is the true reality?

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newsletter archive: december 2019

Dear all,
We’d like to acknowledge our deepest gratitude to Sharon Gannon, David Life, Jivamukti Yoga, and all of its teachers and locations. Jivamukti was the birthplace of many of the first and most authentic yoga teachers in the West. Sadly, it will close its physical location in Manhattan this month.

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newsletter archive: november 2019

Dear all,

Last month we learned so much from Kate Johnson’s workshops on cultivating a more diverse yoga community. Our aim as a studio is to make the Shala a welcoming and inclusive space for anyone and everyone interested in the practice of yoga.

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Introducing Rocket Yoga

To the Shala, with love from Megna Paula:

It is both a joy and an honor to introduce Rocket Yoga to the Shala! We have a 14 year long history of being the yoga home for both traditional Mysore teachings of Ashtanga, as well as space for Vinyasa classes that honor the foundations of traditional lineages. A few yogis of our community have experienced the Rocket in San Francisco, where it was created in the spirit of the rebellious 60s and 70s. Rocket classes still carry that laid back West Coast creative vibe, in a way that translates as bright NYC energy.

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book club: supplemental reading + listening: the new yorker + the ny times on miriam toews’s “women talking”

read here and here for more on miriam toews, the author of our book club selection women talking. these articles provide useful, detailed context for the novel, and were cited during our discussion on saturday, october 19, at the fort greene studio. you can also listen to this very thorough interview with miriam toews on the “between the covers” podcast. 

newsletter archive: october 2019

every month we issue a newsletter chock full of information about what’s happening at the shala. we know it’s easy for these missives to get lost in the inbox shuffle, so we’re building an archive of our letters to the shala community here. here’s the latest.

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Jocelyne Stern teaching Mysore at the Shala

The Shala is excited and honored to welcome Jocelyne Stern to the Mysore Ashtanga program. She will be teaching Monday through Wednesday 6:15 to 8:15am in Union Square. A wealth of knowledge, wisdom and experience, Jocelyne has been practicing and teaching Ashtanga Yoga for over 30 years.

BIO

Jocelyne Stern is an Ashtanga Yoga and meditation teacher. She made her first trip to India in 1986, where she learned yoga from Rudra Gowda in Rishikesh and Swami Gitananda in Pondicherri. She was first introduced to Ashtanga Yoga by Derek Ireland and Radha, and worked with them for several years at the Practice Place, a yoga retreat center in Crete. In 1991, she made the first of many trips to Mysore to study with Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Jois. She has been teaching since 1995, when she co-founded the Patanjali Yoga Shala with her husband, Eddie. After the birth of their daughter, their yoga shala moved to Broome Street and became Ashtanga Yoga New York, and Jocelyne taught there periodically over the following 15 years. In 2015, Ashtanga Yoga New York moved to Brooklyn, where Jocelyne continued to teach and also co-created Sadhu Elixir, a healing oil. She practices Vipassana meditation and has attended many Vipassana retreats. She was given Kamala Masters's blessing to teach Metta meditation in 2015. Jocelyne teaches meditation and yoga alongside Eddie at international retreats, and works with homeless men and other at-risk communities.

newsletter archive: september 2019: practices for whatever life brings

Dear all,
We hope your summer travels have brought you joy and restoration. While we’ve relished the sweetness of the season, we’re looking forward to an autumn full of learning and inquiry. 
Our focuses for this month are yoga and the nervous system, and Tree pose (Vrksasana).

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newsletter archive: august 2019

Dear Shala family,
We hope you are slowing down and enjoying the long summer days. Our posture focus for the month of August is backbends. We love their energizing effect, and how they represent and bolster attitudes of fearlessness, radical openness, and compassion.
Please keep an eye on our schedule for class cancellations and teacher substitutions on Labor Day weekend, August 30-September 2. We wish you all a safe and joyous holiday!
Love,
Barbara + Kristin

newsletter archive: july 2019: steady breath, steady mind

Happy July!
True summer seems to have arrived promptly with the solstice. We hope you’re enjoying the sun, the park, the sea, and every opportunity to be with friends, family, and neighbors.
To those on vacation, we’ll miss you! To those around town, we look forward to seeing you in class—we’re focusing on forward bends (to balance out all the outward-moving, expansive, solar energy of the season), and adding in more pranayama practices.
Please check the website for additional schedule changes, sub notices, and class cancellations.
Love,
Kristin + Barbara