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November 2014
 
Easy view
Topic of the Month
Free offerings
Series Classes
Workshops and Events
India
Member and Community News
Contemplation
Integrated Movement Therapy
Featured Teacher
Community gatherings!

Mon. Nov. 24
 
    
Samarya means community and you have a voice here!
 
Please join us at one or all of these informal gatherings where we will share ideas, insights, and information, along with fellowship and food.
 
Save the dates, please bring simple food to share. Monday evenings, 7:30 - 9 pm.
 
You get a free pass just for coming to our community gathering!
 

Mon. Nov. 24

  

Mon. Dec. 1

  

please rsvp so we know to expect you.

Free offerings!


Besides our monthly community gatherings, we have lots of free offerings at The Samarya Center, come join us for one or all of them!

We have three free silent sits weekly: 

Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 9:45 -10:15 am. 

We have the above mentioned community gatherings (where you even receive a free pass to the studio for attending!) as well as monthly Ram Dass satsangs. 
Our next one is Sunday, November 16, 7:30 - 9 pm. Please bring simple food to share.

We will be launching a new FREE  tween and teen class on Sunday afternoons starting in December, taught by the mother/daughter team of two of our recent YTT grads. Adia Kirkham, at just 12 years old, is one of the youngest teachers ever to be certified by Yoga Alliance!

Our beloved teacher Sarah Brownell is leaving on a grand adventure of traveling the world. 

As a parting gift to the community, Sarah will offer 3 free "happy hour for caregivers" classes from 4:30-5:30pm on Fridays: November 21, 28, and December 5th.

 

These workshop style classes will offer small practices, fellowship, movement, and meditation and are open to anyone, whether you consider yourself a caregiver or just know a caregiver! "

 

Please stay in touch through our facebook pages, The Samarya Center and Molly Lannon Kenny for the best updates on all of our free offerings!
Quick Links...




 
Shaucha~
on being clean
 

 

This month's topic, of course, following down the line of yama and niyama, is shaucha, cleanliness, orderliness, purity. 


 

We pause here for late breaking news...... This just in...
As I was getting ready to finally hit send on this email, I was asked - in fear and frustration - a question about an up-coming payment due. 

 

This is my job. This is my life. 


 

I am sending you an email that is about our topic of the month, shaucha, and thinking about coming clean. I am still including what I originally wrote below, but am feeling strongly about "coming clean" with where I am today. 

 

But let me back up just a moment. When I was with Ram Dass, we were talking about practice, and I shared with him a most profound experience that I had recently had, during a very dark time, in chanting the Maha Mrytyunjaya mantra. The friend who was chanting with me, and who knew what a difficult time I had been having suggested I sing it louder and louder. Finally, as I went on chanting with tears rolling down my cheeks, she called out "Louder! Plead to God!"  I had nothing to lose, so I did. When the experience was over, I had a deep sense of peace and contentment. I lied down on the floor, and rested peacefully for the first time in weeks. 


 

When I was telling this to Ram Dass, I was saying how it was different for me, because I do very little "pleading" and especially to God. The whole idea of petitionary prayer seemed somehow like an immature way to interact with God, left over from my childhood. In fact, I realized that for me to "plead" for anything feels somehow manipulative, desperate, uncomfortable, and very, very exposed. 

 

And yet, when I finally did, I felt a sense of relief. It was as if I just needed God to know how desperate I really was feeling, and in that knowing, I was uplifted. While I felt a sense of protection and relief,  I didn't want the Universe, Mother Nature, God, or whatever the Divine is, to think that I didn't appreciate what was already happening. Just that in that moment, I needed more.


 

So here I am today. When I was asked about the payment, with the asker asking in a stressed and scared voice, in that moment, I felt completely overwhelmed. While I continued to type and let people know all of the wonderful things we do here at the center, I was simultaneously in that moment truly wondering why I was doing it. Was any of it worth it? Does this matter? Is this what the community wants? Does anybody really care? 

 

Now I know they do. I know you do. And I know there are so many people who give so much to the center. But the clean truth is we need more. We are so strapped financially that we literally lose sleep over how or whether we can keep this thing going. We don't have the money to hire people to do all of our front desk work, or to write this newsletter, or to keep up with all of the little tasks that need to happen, and we can't do them all on our own. It is true, just today someone offered of her own accord to clean our windows. And I do see that, and it does matter. But it isn't enough. We need you, we need every single person who cares about this place and its mission to help in any way they can. So, with tears once again rolling down my face, I am here, pleading. Please, please help us. Please donate.  Please buy raffle tickets, please show your support. Please volunteer around the center. Please let your voice be heard. Please be a part of what makes our mission happen. You are not only deeply appreciated, you are needed. 

 

Please help us. The world needs us, and we won't ever turn anyone away for therapy or for outreach programs, or for class, or for community. The world needs us! If you have ever thought about doing more, or giving more to the center but weren't sure when or how, now is the time and the ways are innumerable. Just come forward. We want you!


 

And, yes, you can contribute to our end of year fundraising goal of $50,000 by clicking here. The answer to someone's prayers, just a click away.

 

.....and back to our regularly scheduled programming........

 

Putting the term shaucha or saucha into a google search yields a lot of interesting and nuanced results. I always enjoy reading through SwamiJ's insight, I find it thorough and helpful. 

 

F0r me personally with regard to shaucha, right now I have been thinking about it in two specific ways. 

 

The first is about general tidiness - for this I become aware of my environment; how its order affects me, and how my contribution to that environment decreases, sustains or increases its sense of order and ease.


 

As both a teacher and as a student, as an individual in the whole, I am aware of our shared space whether its my home or the center. I am conscious of the props, the area surrounding my mat, the altar - and I wish to contribute to its sense of intentionality and orderliness because it helps me to feel intentional and focused. 


 

This month would be a great month to consider the value bringing of all the varied accoutrements into the studio. As a friendly and patient teacher, I am still aware of how many papers I have slipped on, water I have knocked over, dirty tissues I have stepped on, the one (and only one!) pair of glasses that I broke. It is a perfect time to consider how you are in any shared space and to ask yourself how you can greatly reduce your impact, as well as actively contributing to an overall sense of order and ease - the optimal environment for personal and collective transformation!

 

The second is about cleanliness and tidiness of the mind - and this too, in two ways. The first is simple (although not simple to practice) and this is dis-identification with the physical body.

 

My swami teacher always says that if we were just to drop our body consciousness we would already attain moksha. Wow, that something to grok on. When you read further about shaucha, you will certainly find that idea within the various interpretations and commentaries. 


 

The second part is in thinking about when my mind is "tidy" or pure - we might even say less agitated - I offer and receive communications in a completely different way. I am able to speak clearly and lovingly, and I am able to hear communications, even ones where I am not happy about what is being said, in a way that is spacious and easeful. 

 

Within the context of the center, I think of the simple example from both sides- A student asking the teacher or volunteer at the front desk to extend a pass, or something similar. If the student's mind is disturbed they might, for example, be demanding, aggressive or suspicious. However, at the same time, if the front desk person's mind is untidy, they might be impatient, defensive or unyielding. If both person's mind is undisturbed, the situation can be resolved with clarity and understanding. This energy multiplies and magnifies in both parties and spreads outward. The interaction, and the people having the interaction, are changed. It is these tiny steps that systematically recalibrate our collective consciousness.

 

Shaucha, then, becomes a practice, but also an agent of change. The tiny practice of washing your dish or folding your mat, relates to your bigger practice of clarity in thought, speech and action. This month, try practicing both sides and notice the change in your inner and outer environment.

 

With love and light, 

 

we are all in this together,

 

molly

Molly

Interested in this discussion? Join us at our next Ram Dass satsang, 
Sunday. Nov. 16, 7:30 - 9, for kirtan and satsang. RSVP
FREE!
Simple food to share always appreciated.

Stay connected to my Facebook page for the newest episode of the podcast! It's back! and it's FREE!
New series and featured drop-in classes

Well, first, YES! We will be having our annual Thanksgiving day class! The first one at the new space! Join us and help to celebrate love, life and community! Make sure to register on-line to reserve your space!


And in other exciting news....
Carol

New Monday evening Moderate class, 5:45 - 7:15 with Genevieve.

New Wednesday evening Moderate7:30 - 9 with Genevieve begins Wednesday, November 12.

 Yoga and Recovery from Childhood Sexual Trauma 4 week series begins Tuesday, November 18, 7:30 - 9 pm.

Yoga and Functional Anatomy workshops last Saturday of every month, starting soon.

FREE yoga for teens and tweens starting on Sunday afternoons beginning Sunday, November 22.

Six-week workshop Demystifying Mental Illness through Yoga coming in the winter! Stay tuned.

Please email us with any questions, or to register if you do not find the class you are looking for on-line. 

Check out our full schedule here.
 
Workshops and Events
   
You asked for it, and we are delivering! The Samarya Center for Humankind (ness) is now offering a 300 hour Advanced Teacher Training for those students who wish to get the Yoga Alliance 500 Advanced teaching certificate! Join us on our inaugural ten day intensive May 28 - June 6, 2015!



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It's already time to register for our Spring 2015 Yoga Teacher Training! Early registration deadline, as well as diversity scholarship deadline, is February 1. Register early to get the best rates and first choice of rooms!

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Save the weekend of January 16 - 18 for our first ever Samarya mini-conference! This super special event, limited to just 40 people, will be a weekend event of yoga, meditation, herbalism, aromatherapy, boxing, chanting, fellowship and food. Make sure to "like" us on facebook to stay connected for updates.
India pilgrimage 2015 - just three slots left!
 

Read here for complete information, and email us with any questions. 
Member and Community News









We are ready to launch our on-line end of the year fundraising campaign!
 
Yup, it's that time again, we need help from YOU
our community to keep The Samarya Center flowing! Please give big and pass it on to everyone you know. The Samarya Center matters.
 
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Please join us on Saturday, December 6, 7 - 10 pm for our annual holiday party and fundraiser! Purchase tickets and reserve your space here.

Here's another way you can support us - you can bring a bottle of wine or other fancy non-alcoholic beverage to The Samarya Center for our party, and you can donate an item to our raffle! No prize too big!
 
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Did you know we have a poster in the studio that is for our monthly seva needs? Well, we do, and we could use your help! Sign up today and commit even more deeply to the community you care about!



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Monthly contemplation of mindfulness
 
reclining buddha
Welcome to the newest block in our newsletter - an opportunity for mindfulness. Each month we will offer one idea for contemplation about how to increase a sense of mindfulness and intentionality in your studio!

This month's focus: shaucha!

This month let's focus on the whole idea of order and tidiness in all things. Please help by leaving your belongings outside of the studio, by folding your mat and blanket well, by waiting patiently in line for sign-in. Notice your own sense of ease and ownership when you take the time to care for the place you love.
Integrated Movement Therapy Trainings 

Are you interested in integrating your love for helping people with your love of yoga?  If yes, then Integrated Movement Therapy Training is for you!
 

IMT Child: Nov 21-23 
Active Street Yoga volunteers get $100 off this training! You can also apply for a scholarship. Share the love!


 

Check the unfold studios website for additional IMT workshops in Portland and here for a link to complete information about Integrated Movement Therapy and the training continuum. 

If you are interested in IMT and have any questions, please contact [email protected] and she will be happy to help answer your questions.  
Featured Teacher ~ 
Stephanie Sisson

 

Stephanie Sisson has been at The Samarya Center since the very beginning.  She has been practicing yoga for over twenty years and teaching it for seventeen, traversing many styles and practices along the way.  Stephanie has a particular interest in the sound of yoga and studies Sanskrit and chant.  She recently completed a two-year program in Vedic Chant, which she incorporates into her Wednesday evening drop-in class, Sound, Movement and Meditation

Stephanie is leading a weekend yoga retreat in March.  "Rest and Refuge" will include asana, meditation, chant and time to rest and takes place at a beautiful retreat center on the Hood Canal.  Find out more here.

Stephanie's full-time gig is working as a therapist in private practice, using Somatic Experiencing, a mindfulness-based, body-oriented therapy approach for working with trauma, anxiety and other issues. Check out her Seattle Somatic Therapy website.  When she isn't teaching, chanting or helping, she likes knitting, backpacking and listening to Radiolab. She is currently enjoying the Harry Potter books for the second time.

 
Class descriptions:
 
Wednesday 5:45 - 7:15 pm Sound, Movement and Meditation

Enjoy a slow-paced class focused on connecting to yourself through movement, breath, voice and meditation. Each class includes some combination of asana (postures), pranayama (breath practice), chant and meditation. We often use mantra or chant to add focus and power to the other practices. If you aren't sure you want to chant, don't let that stop you from coming, you are welcome to do mental recitation. This class will be both different from other classes you've taken and not so different--come check it out!

Join Stephanie on Friday, November 14 for an Hour of Om! 

 
Thank you for your support! The Samarya Center for Humankind (ness) is a 501 c 3 non-profit, one of the only of its kind in the Northwest. 

Won't you consider diving deeper into your commitment by donating today and helping us continue making a positive impact in our community and in the world?

all love,
molly