As we welcome August, we invite you to consider how a yoga studio can be a “third place” to support you, your health, and our community.

Third places, those spaces we occupy beyond home and work or school, play important roles both for individual people and larger communities, as recently discussed on an episode of the radio program On Point.  Those of us who spend time in downtown Bowling Green probably frequent some favorite third places there:  Spencer’s, Fountain Square Park, Meltdown, the Lisa Rice branch of the Warren County Public Library, and Circus Square Park.  We believe that yoga studios can also serve as third places, particularly when classes are followed by opportunities to socialize with fellow yogis!

In addition to our regular schedule of yoga classes for August, then, we invite you to join us for informal post-class gatherings—all are always welcome.  We also encourage you to check out one of our new yoga nidra classes, to pick up a copy of our fall book club book, and to help yourself to books and magazines!

Two standalone yoga nidra practices.  Thank you to everyone who has joined Shigeko or Angie for our Sunday classes in May, June, and July:  we have both enjoyed concluding those classes with an abbreviated yoga nidra practice!  We are excited to announce that we will now give yoga nidra its own, standalone, 45-minute class, and we have scheduled two of those classes in August:  one on Wed., Aug. 9, at 5:30 p.m., and one on Sun., Aug. 20, at 5:30 p.m.  

This change brings several benefits:  providing a richer yoga nidra experience, offering both a weeknight and a weekend chance to experience yoga nidra, and allowing additional teachers to rotate into teaching on Sundays.  There is no need to pre-register—just drop in.  Note:  although the yoga nidra class will begin with a few minutes of guided and gentle movement to help prepare folks to settle into a comfortable resting position, it will not provide formal instruction in yoga poses.  If you are looking for a physical practice, please join us for a yoga class instead.

If yoga nidra is something you’d like to learn more about, you might find this article from Yoga Journal helpful:  “How Yoga Nidra Benefits Mind and Body.”

Fall book club meeting.  Although it’s a couple of months away, please mark your calendars for our fall book club gathering:  Sun., Oct. 15, at 1 p.m. in the lounge at the studio.  We will discuss Daniel J. Levitin’s Successful Aging: A Neuroscientist Explores the Power and Potential of Our Lives.  The book club is always open to everyone, whether you are currently taking classes or not, and this book’s topic is certainly one that relates to all of us!  For more information, please see this post.  (For those who are historically curious, check out the list of books we’ve discussed during the last six years, with special thanks to our dedicated facilitators!) 

Free book (and magazine) exchange.  If you are on the lookout for new reading material beyond the book club selection, be sure to take a look at the studio bookshelf the next time you visit.  Many of its materials are yoga-related, but we welcome donations of all genres and topics, and you are always welcome to take anything that catches your attention.

Customized introduction (or re-introduction) to yoga.  Thinking of starting yoga or having been away from your practice for awhile?  Our private, customized, 60-minute class may provide a helpful next step!  For more information and to indicate your interest, please see this brief form.

We hope to see you visiting many of Bowling Green’s wonderful third places in August!