Yoga Outside
Updates and offerings for the upcoming season.
Spring is Coming!
It is cold and damp now, but in just over a month we’ll be out by the pond at Andrew’s Greenhouse for another season (our 8th) of Yoga Outside.
Huge gratitude to Jacqui and Andy Cowles for making it possible for us to offer free, donation-based yoga every day, rain or shine, 8-9AM June through October for eight consecutive summers!! I feel so lucky to have been at the right place at the right time.
Thank you, Sue Crutch, for texting me the summer after I retired from teaching: “Jacqui is thinking of offering outdoor yoga at the greenhouse. Do you know anyone who might want to teach?”
I love being a part of this amazing community. Every class I attend or teach deepens my appreciation for this practice. I am grateful every day. Thank you, Jacqui and Andy!
Click below for schedule and instructor bios.
We’ve had a good indoor season. The Venture Way room is beautiful, but looking out through the windows we long to have our feet in the grass, our hair in the wind, and the mountains at our fingertips.
Soon! Very, very soon!
Schedule at Venture Way Collaborative
Mondays with Chris Paradis 8:00-9:00 AM
Tuesdays with Erin Schifferli 7:30-8:30 AM
Fridays with Erin Schifferli 7:30-8:30 AM
Meet one of our new teachers, Sebastian, subbing tomorrow (May 5th)
Saturdays with Kim 8:00-9:00 AM (Linda is subbing Saturday, May 6th)
Join by Zoom
Thursdays with Jen Vanderleeden 8:00-9:00 AM
Sundays with Linda Castronovo 8:00-9:00 AM
Click the link to join class…
Other Classes and Workshops
Our teachers are offering more classes and workshops. Read on!
Jen Vanderleeden’s Indoor Class
Join Jen for a flow class at the Munson Library.
Thursdays at 4:30 PM
Join Erin Schifferli for Breathing, Meditation, and Mindfulness
Hadley Senior Center
Mondays May 8-22
9:45-10:45 AM
This a 3-week series. Learn how to cope with, and release stress as it arises. Discover how to be more present in the moment and apply those methods to daily life. This class will be practiced seated with some options to lay down if you wish. Chairs, mats, and props available. Feel free to bring a blanket with you. Email questions: info@erinschifferli.com
No experience necessary, non-Hadley residents also welcome to join. Please call the Senior Center to register for class: (413) 586-4023
Join Amy Sundari Finley for…
Low-Back Friendly Yoga
2-Chair Yoga Flow
Saturdays 10-11:15am starting May 13, 2023
Munson Memorial Library Hall, 1046 South East St., Amherst, MA
A Zoom-based class starts this Fall. Click here to be notified.
$15-25 drop-in sliding scale
$12/class with full-season purchase (through Sept. 16)
Please BRING A YOGA MAT, and 2 bath towels for padding and support.
Utilizing two chairs (provided) as tall and stable supports, students are led through a unique and approachable flow, moving with most breaths, while avoiding the hunching transitions and asanas that can perpetuate common low back pain. Cues are offered to throttle the difficulty range, and pranayama is included for stress reduction and to deepen the practice. Develop strength, low-back comfort, balance, and inner peace, through an introspective practice that gets better and better the more it's practiced!
Come to the first class, if you can, as classes will build on each other, steadily increasing understanding of healthy movement, pranayama, and the branches of yoga, as we move through the weeks.
Please share this brand new and helpful yoga class with South Amherst residents, low-back-suffering folks, and yoga aficionados in the area. Thank you!
Amy Sundari Finlay is a lifelong yogi (Satchidananda/Integral & Jois/Ashtanga lineages) with 200hr certification through Kripalu. After common low back pain threatened to end her beloved vinyasa practice, she developed a unique approach informed by the work of preeminent back health expert Stuart McGill. Her innovative 2-chair approach eliminates hunching transitions and other types of lumbar flexion known to perpetuate the most common type of low back discomfort. Her classes center introspective flow, protective core strength development, and deeply nourishing pranayama. For class updates and offerings, get on on Amy’s email list. Contact amy@amyfinlay.com with any questions.
Let’s Grow Our Community
Please forward this newsletter to friends and family. Invite others to join us.
Something else you might like…
Corie Feiner
Corie is a poet, performer, at-home yogi, and seeker of higher consciousness. She is the author of A Poem for Every Pose, the Poet Laureate Emeritus of Bucks County, and most importantly, a dedicated wife and mother to her two unruly boys. You can find her substack newsletter and some of her yoga-inspired poetry here.
Join the Yoga Outside Chat
I am happy to annouce our new Yoga Outside subscriber chat.
This is a conversation space in the Substack app for our community — kind of like a group chat. We’ll post short prompts, thoughts, and bits of inspiration and invite you to jump into the discussion.
Chats are sent via the app, not email so you’ll need to download the Substack app if you want to receive notification of new threads and posts, but you can always access the group chat at the Yoga Outside Newsletter website here (or by clicking below).
How to get started
Download the app by clicking this link or the button below.
Open the app and tap the Chat icon. It looks like two bubbles in the bottom bar, and you’ll find Yoga Outside on the left side.
That’s it! Jump in to say hi, and if you have any issues, check out Substack’s FAQ.
Thank you for sharing my poems with your community. 🙏