Dear friend,

 

I’m back! 

 

I just finished leading my first in-person full weekend Skill in Action workshop at JP Yoga Centre in Boston, MA. One of the studio owners and I began planning this workshop two years ago and were unsure of whether or not it would happen until last month. As you know, the transition from online to in-person is slow and somewhat unpredictable. While I love leading online workshops and will continue to, so I can share space with people who want to study and learn alongside me from all over the world, there is nothing that compares to teaching in person. I didn’t realize how much I missed the chatter in the room, the spaciousness that happens when we are in person, the emergent connection that happens when we co-create a group and sit in a circle in the flesh together. This past weekend, the group who joined me was warm, open, receptive, curious, and everything I wanted in a community as I re-entered the world of in-person teaching. Thank you, JP Yoga Centre, for hosting me and being such a wonderful community doing such deep and profound work. I hope to come back to teach more and reconnect with you in the future. 

 

Thank you so much for supporting the birth of the 2nd edition of Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World. It has been so positively received, and I appreciate everyone who is interested in learning more about what it means to be skillful as we continue to respond to unprecedented times. If you read the 1st edition of Skill in Action, I would highly encourage you to check out the 2nd edition because it feels like a completely different book with more tools and a deeper analysis about systems of superiority and power and how it has negatively affected the yoga industry. Not only does it offer a deeper analysis but specific content about how to infuse your teaching and space holding with content focused on creating justice. You can still receive a 30% discount on Skill in Action if you order through Shambhala Publications and use the code action30 when you check out.

 

When I was a therapist, things would begin to feel more intense for my clients around this time of year. This time of year can feel busier because some of us are interacting with family, given or chosen, and this can bring up all the feelings. Because of this, and my deep commitment to holding space for that which dominant culture would rather us hide, things that get buried because of shame, grief that is part of life and can feel overwhelming, I am offering a Finding Refuge retreat in December in New Orleans, and a grief circle with my dear friend, Tema Okun, to close out 2021 with care and love. Read more about these offerings below. And don’t forget, Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief is in the world and ready to be a resource for you with the holidays coming up and many people feeling the grief associated with being with or being distant from family, along with all the challenges that arise when family, given or chosen, come together. Finding Refuge might be just the healing salve you need. You can also order it through Shambhala Publications or any place where books are sold. 

 

I look forward to seeing you in one of my upcoming offerings soon, and I hope you are taking good care of yourself and, of course, that we take good care of each other. 

 

Join Michelle C. Johnson on Thursday, November 25th from 10:30AM-12PM EST via Zoom for a Harvest Day yoga class focused on our relationship with the earth, all we are harvesting at this time, and what we have to be grateful for. This class will include meditation, asana, pranayama, and self-reflection. This will be an all-levels yoga class. I hope to see you there!

 

 

 

 

Many of us have been socialized to deny our grief or grieve in private. In so many ways, dominant culture pushes us to “be positive.” Dominant culture doesn’t want us to know how to feel; if we did, we would not accept the level of harm and dis-ease that our culture produces. As a result of this push to be positive, we bypass what needs our attention. This is a time of great grieving and some of us are carrying personal grief that needs expression and healing in community. Our ability to grieve is a testament to our capacity both individually and as a community.

 

Everything Belongs is a 90-minute online session focused on collectively learning to love our grief instead of having an adversarial relationship with it. During our session, we will explore what you are currently grieving, what we are collectively grieving, and move through practices meant to support us in honoring our grief.

 

This session will include meditation, ritual, reflection, and small and large group community building. Please bring a journal and anything else that would help you feel supported.