Past Events
Have a look at the great events we've hosted!
Special New Year's Class
Saturday, January 1, 2012
11:00am-1:00pm
Anusara Yoga with Sara Rose
Join Sara and Yoga Sanctuary and start the New Year with yoga! Come welcome in the New Year in the warmth of our kula (community of the heart)! While we are still cradled in the dark and cold of winter, the daylight now begins its' gentle ascent toward the summer solstice. This is the perfect time to begin anything new, which is why we have the tradition of New Year's Resolutions. In the dark of the womb, the most miraculous life begins. The dark of winter is the most fertile time to plant the seeds for a glorious new year to unfold! In this class we will honor the year gone by, and mark the turning of the year and all the possibilities that lie before us. By attuning to our breath and our own divine essence, we will listen to the dreams, hopes and intentions that have been brewing within us for the New Year. Through yoga's gateway we will access the creative power- the shakti- within us that will allow us to create a joyful and meaningful New Year. In the power of community we will celebrate our blessings, honor our challenges, and affirm our capacity to live from the heart. Make 2012 the most Shri-the most filled with luminosity and beauty- year ever! Come breathe, move, open and celebrate! This class is for all levels and will include ample relaxation, contemplation and meditation time in which to access your intentions for the New Year.
For the Care Center in Holyoke
Saturday, November 5 from 11:30 - 1:30pm
The Kula Project is a new organization that exists to expand the consciousness of the pioneer valley yoga community to include and address issues of social justice and to engage in activism. By collaborating with local organizations, we create opportunities for yoga practitioners to extend their practice off their mats and into the local communities.
For over 8 years, Yoga Sanctuary has been offering yoga classes for the Care Center, an alternative education program in Holyoke, MA for pregnant and parenting teens who have dropped out of high school. Unfortunately, the funding for this program was cut this year. However, Yoga Sanctuary and the Kula Project are committed to continuing to give these young women access to yoga. To do this, we need your help!
Come nourish yourself on November 5, with a Saturday yoga class (a gentle level 1 class -- all are welcome) and donate to the Kula Care Center Fund at the same time. Can't make the class? Donate online or in person at Yoga Sanctuary.
The class will be co-taught by Susan Elena Esquivel, Kendra Hodgson and Anna Neiman.
Suggested Donation: $10 (or more). If you can't make the class, but wish to donate, you can leave a donation for the Kula Project at the front desk or donate online.
The class will be followed by a discussion. Class: 11:30 - 1:00 PM (All Levels Welcome) Discussion: 1:00 - 1:30 PM
Make checks payable to Yoga Sanctuary. Write "Kula Care Center Fund" in the subject line.
For more information: http://www.carecenterholyoke.org/about/
Shantala Kirtan
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Special Yoga Class featuring Shantala with Sara Rose
5:30 - 7:00pm
Kirtan - 7:30pm - 9:15pm
Come rock out!! Join Sara Rose and Shantala for a magical yoga journey before Shantala's evening kirtan. This is an extraordinary opportunity to be transported by Shanatala's music and to penetrate new depths within through your yoga. Together we will celebrate the power of community and the ways in which together we can reflect each other's true beauty, and elevate ourselves and one another into the highest states of joy and bliss, beauty and connection. Mythic stories of Hanuman will guide us and remind us that yoga can be as playful as it is powerfully transformative. Mixed Levels.
"Benjy and Heather Wertheimer lead kirtan (sacred chanting) worldwide as the duo Shantala, with soul-stirring vocals, sacred lyrics and exotic instrumentation. The weaving of Benjy’s Indian classical singing and instrumentation with Heather’s soaring vocals is freshly original and profoundly moving. Together they create music with beauty, passion, and reverence. "
FEES: Yoga Class with Shantala and Sara Rose - $20; $15 for YS members Shantala Kirtan - $20; $18 in advance or for YS Members Kirtan and Class - $35; $32.50 in advance or for YS Members
Anusara Birthday Bash!
Sunday, August 14th
All Levels Welcome
Join the Yoga Sanctuary Community for a beautiful day of play and celebration on the auspicious 14th anniversary of Anusara Yoga.
Co-taught by Certified Anusara Yoga Teachers Sara Rose, Margaret Pitkin and Amy Reed.
11:30am-1:30pm Kula Power! with Sara Rose - Celebrate the steady Heart at the core of community (Kula) with joyful standing poses and backbends.
3:30-5:30pm Turning Inward, Expanding Outward with Amy Reed & Margaret Pitkin - Seated in the Heart we expand our vision of love & service in the world with hip openers, twists, meditation & pranayama.
Fees: $35 single session; $30 early price by August 13th; Full Workshop - $65; $55 early price by August 13th. (YS Members receive 10% off all pricing)
Open House & Special HuDost Kirtan
12:00am-5:00pm Open House
Join Yoga Sanctuary for an afternoon of free yoga classes in the warmth of our kula (community of the heart)!
As a commanding Neo-Folk World Rock group, HuDost is best known for letting the music speak for itself. Their forthcoming release, entitled Waking the Skeleton Key, contains the first songs written by lead singer Moksha Sommer since she underwent brain surgery to have a tumor removed which impacted her language abilities. Music was her primary tool in fully regaining all that was lost and continuing to grow as a musician and a lyricist. Both her resilience and the fragility of life come through in these songs. The EP also contains remixes of tracks from their most recent album Trapeze, produced by Grammy Winner Malcolm Burn (Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Peter Gabriel), which left both critics and fans raving about its beauty, versatility, and musicianship. Waking the Skeleton Key is being mixed by Grammy Winner Oz Fritz (Tom Waits, John Zorn, Bill Laswell, Primus).
HuDost was initially formed as an acoustic duo between singer/songwriters Moksha Sommer from Montreal and Jemal Wade Hines from New York, but later developed into a full ensemble. Bringing to the group a strong musical training background, Sommer has traveled the globe, studying no less than 12 distinctive vocal styles from around the world. Her clear, soaring voice is matched by the grungy underbelly of Jemal’s guitar mastery and rhythmic propensity. Adding to the group’s musically eclectic and original feel is the unexpected edge the group contributes with its exotic instrumentation that includes harmonium, bouzouki, oud and bendir among others.
PRAISE FOR HuDost
"HuDost has a folk quality yet is quite post-modern; the band offers new takes on ancient words and melodies, cross-cultural hybrid transcendental chill-out music with an edge. (The album will even be agreeable to those whose spiritual music is punk.)… This is not fluffy new-age music—it's serious, complex fare with no aversion to addressing agony. Sommer's vocal execution is precisely orchestrated, her voice-opening, hollow-toned vortexes piercing through the tough spots. This album is a journey of music and spirit." -Chronogram Magazine
“HuDost's blend of exotic traditional Sufi chants, world folk music and powerful electric guitar licks makes a unique cultural bridge. We love HuDost.” -Alex and Allyson Grey
Shantala Kirtan
October 16, 2010
Benjy and Heather Wertheimer
lead kirtan (sacred chanting) worldwide as the duo Shantala, with soul-stirring vocals, sacred lyrics and exotic instrumentation. The weaving of Benjy’s Indian classical singing and instrumentation with Heather’s soaring vocals is freshly original and profoundly moving. Together they create music with beauty, passion, and reverence. Shantala has performed and recorded internationally with such sacred music luminaries as Krishna Das, Deva Premal & Miten, and Jai Uttal.
Wah! Workshop
Sunday November 7, 2010
Weekly Kirtan with David Russell
Kirtan is a very powerful group practice of singing call and response repetitions of simple Sanskrit mantras set to easy melodies. The chants roll and vibrate through our bodies, bringing physical and emotional healing, and a heightened awareness of our inner spiritual authority. With humor, Dave's approach is to encourage participants to open their hearts and enjoy themselves.
Dave discovered the joy of chanting while exploring Eastern spirituality with Swami Satchidananda and Ram Dass in the early 1970s. He led his first kirtans in 1972 and has chanted, with some detours, ever since. In addition to his Northampton kirtans, he leads kirtans on a regular basis at Kripalu Center for Yoga in Lenox, MA.
Dave leads a weekly kirtan at Yoga Sanctuary on Sundays from 7pm-8:45pm. Suggested donation of $10-$20, children welcome.
