Friends & Yogis!
When Allegheny County went green on Friday, we held our first two classes & they were awesome! Thank you to everyone who helped to make it a success. If you haven't checked out our client commitment, please do! It details what we are doing for you & what we ask of you when you come to class!
Did you know that we now offer classes in THREE formats (well, really four, but Trifecta sounds more fun than quadfecta).
1: Live in studio (like the "old days")
2: On Zoom (you will be with the live studio class in most casses)
3: Out in the Parks!
(4): Recorded in our online video library
Life is totally different for many of us - working from home all of the time - and with kids - so understandably, the class times may or may not work for you. To that end, I'd really love to hear from you about usage & anticipated usage. Please take 3 minutes to share with me! Take our Member & Client Survey!
We are planning to proceed with our Teacher Training! Led by Monica, Me & Dezza, you'll get the best of all worlds & incredibly experienced teachers.
You totally deserve something awesome in your world. We start July 30th and get together over long weekends. Part of the training is several immersion days in Ecuador - We HOPE we can go, but we'll of course make the safe & right decision when the time comes.
AND - We're so psyched to welcome our community teachers back into the fold - look for their names - they are awesome! You'll see some of the Sunday's at 11 and Chelsea + Anna will be serving Wednesday's at 6:30 pm.
Finally, I personally am really excited to see so much sustained momentum around the Black Lives Matter movement. It's been a blessing to be able to support so many causes over the years through the Hive & with your support (Africa Yoga Project, New Voices Pittsburgh, East End Cooperative Ministry, the IRC & more). To that end, I'll be maintaining throughout the summer my Tuesday 6pm class - that's currently in Highland Park - as donation (or you can use your existing membership / class pass). The proceeds will be split between the ACLU & Blacklivesmatter.com. Please feel free to share around!
Big Love from ALL of us!xxKimberly
Hike + Yoga in Frick Park & Yoga in the Parks
Many things happening ALL over the city as we move to Green on Friday AND set our sights on supporting the movement that has arrived. Fiona, Matt & I walked to the vigil at East Liberty Presbyterian on Wednesday to take part. Most of my commentary on this resides on Social Media & is related to the work we do in yoga & my understanding of the yoga sutras. To keep it short and sweet, there's not really an authentic way to be into yoga and not be into social justice & human rights. If you just want the poses, you're not doing yoga.
Yoga reaches far beyond the poses and basically lays out the groundwork for us, starting with understanding ahimsa, which means nonviolence - and includes: verbal, physical, emotional, and psychological; & not just perpetrated by us, but also by bearing witness AND standing in support of those sustaining violence. Yoga also requires us to turn on our listening ears from the inside & out. When we can listen, we can receive and when that happens, we can learn. Our doors are open to all - always & forever - we are committed to learning & doing better always.
I've been cleaning & getting the studio all set to receive you. I installed the medical grade air purifier & it's been running. The windows are open & yoga mat spaces are marked 6 feet apart to give you room. We have enough bleach & hand sanitizer to last what seems like years.
We also totally get you might not be ready to come to an airy studio, however, and so each class that we have in the studio will ALSO be available on zoom so that you can join us from wherever!
Please carefully look at the schedule because it's going to look a little crazy with duplicate classes - one for the studio & one for zoom. BUT, we want to be able to offer you both, so sign up for what works. We'll also be continuing to offer our awesome line-up of classes in the park!
You will also note that our schedule is not exactly like it used to be - we are trying to anticipate what will work best for everyone working from home AND families who now have kids at home. If you have ideas, don't hesitate to reach out - I'd love your feedback and ideas for class times. Note, you can also now find Dezza on Friday at 9:30 am!
Josh is really excited to bring you a hike in Frick park & a yoga class - so you get the best of everything - nature, walking & yoga. Spots are limited so sign up! Details below!
FINALLY - WE LOVE Gia's somatic yoga class - she's coming on weekly Sunday's at 4 pm for Embodied Vinyasa. Stay tuned!
LISTEN UP! Teacher Training is ON THE HORIZON
You totally deserve something awesome in your world. We start July 30th and get together over long weekends. Part of the training is several immersion days in Ecuador - We HOPE we can go, but we'll of course make the safe & right decision when the time comes.
Big Love from ALL of us!xxKimberly
The (RE) opening Email
We’re so excited to be able to open our studio doors to you. Here are the details!
We're in the thick of it now
So really -- how are you?
I had been taking the quarantine in stride, getting the studio up and running online within 24 hours, organizing, coordinating, family life, nice weather & adrenaline kept me going for another few weeks, and just this week, I've arrived at that spot maybe you've been to already ... the "what now? What on earth is my purpose? Does anyone really care about yoga? Online yoga? Am I ever going to the beach again? Can I go visit my sister in the hospital when she delivers next month? Am I ever going to lead another yoga retreat?" You can fill in the blanks with your own musings.
On the one hand, i can easily dive into positivity and say "yea, sure! It'll all be back to normal in a few months." And then I read news articles about how life will never be the same and most of us small businesses just aren't going to make it and the money we all applied for isn't really there and I'm not sure what to do or think.
So I fall back to my old friend anicca, pronounced a-nee-cha. It's a Pāli word; Pāli is the sacred language of Theravāda Buddhism, and it means impermanence. Eleven years ago this week I was outside of Mexico City in San Bartolo Amanalco for a 10 day silent Vipassana retreat. No books - no writing - no screens or cell phones - no talking, no eye contact, no exercise or vigorous movement. We meditated for 10 hour per day with breaks of course, and it was transformational. An intense, positive, life changing experience - but also one of the most challenging things I've ever done.
The word that stuck with me the most from Goenka's chants during the meditations was the word anicca. The idea of impermanence has helped me to get my own "shit" out of the way so many times. In the end, it's all impermanent - each of us flying thru this tiny, short lifetime as our ever changing landscape evolves over centuries.
This week I'm going to do the best that I can as a mother, wife, yoga teacher & studio owner. And since those are all roles that I fulfill, I'm also going to just be. I'll meditate & practice yoga. I'll leave five star reviews on businesses that I love, so that if they go under, they know they are important and loved (BTW, this is one of the quarantine challenges & I hope you'll take a few moments to spread the love around). I'll make delicious food because I know I can have control over that! And then I'll reflect on impermanence.
I'd love to know what's carrying you through? Maybe work is really busy? Maybe you lost your job and don't know what is going to happen? Maybe you love being at home connecting with yourself, your family, your partner? Maybe you finally got to Marie Kondo your space or binge watch something?
In case you do need a boost - something to do, the Quarantine Challenge is free for you to access! And it's not too lated to join. Click here to download your playing card. You can do this from California, Alaska, Japan or really anywhere because it's ALL virtual.
The rules are simple:
You have the month of April to complete the board
Track your progress
You can't knock out two bingo dots with one class
Have fun
Hold yourself accountable!
Let me know if you have any questions
WINNERS::: The first THREE folks to send their winners card (with proof) in (and PS, you can't finish until April 30 because I have a small 30 day challenge for you), can take their pick between ANY item from our boutique - a new mat, mat towel, dharma wheel, sweatshirt, ETC or a FREE month of yoga. Let's be in this TOGETHER!
Big Love:: Kimberly, Dezza, Patrick, Michael, Dominique, Josh, Allison, Jordan, Ayça, Max, Rose + All of the community teachers (Mary Nell, Anna, Chelsea, Anna, Ashley & Susan)
Heavy Times, Light Measures
It's my birthday month and I'm turning 29. Just kidding! I left that behind more than 10 years ago.
Let's face it. These times can start to feel pretty heavy - scary - and it's ok not to feel ok. In fact, you'll notice one of the bingo items relates to Brene´Brown's podcast "Unlocking Us" and the Collective Weary episode.
While so much feels out of control and out of my hands, I want to try to do something that brings you all some sense of belonging & purpose & fun as we are all at home. I came up with the Quarantine Challenge - and it's free for you to access the card! Click here to download your playing card! You can do this from California, Alaska, Japan or really anywhere because it's ALL virtual. So grab a friend & get started!
The rules are simple:
You have the month of April to complete the board
Track your progress
You can't knock out two bingo dots with one class
Have fun
Hold yourself accountable!
Let me know if you have any questions
WINNERS::: The first THREE folks to send their winners card (with proof) in (and PS, you can't finish until April 30 because I have a small 30 day challenge for you), can take their pick between ANY item from our boutique - a new mat, mat towel, dharma wheel, sweatshirt, ETC or a FREE month of yoga. Let's be in this TOGETHER!
Remember: We want to hear from you! What's working? What class times do you need? Any special topics we should cover?
Big Love:: Kimberly, Dezza, Patrick, Michael, Dominique, Josh, Allison, Jordan, Ayça, Max, Rose + All of the community teachers (Mary Nell, Anna, Chelsea, Anna, Ashley & Susan)
PS - The meditation challenge is awesome & inspiring and if you still want to join in, you can! We have an INCREDIBLE group of people getting together each night.
Let's Stay Healthy
Are we overwhelmed yet? So much online content! I can't even get on instagram without being bombarded by 20+ live video announcements. Please connect with me on IG & Facebook if you are on there. I'd love to be able to chat there.
Don't despair!
We have our virtual schedule up on MindBody so you can join us! Your best friend in New Mexico can join you too. Same with your ex-partner in Japan! Sign up through MindBody like you normally do and the email you have on file will be added to the invite with the zoom links. SO MAKE SURE WE HAVE YOUR CORRECT EMAIL !
Keep Healthy & Keep Moving! AND - keep breathing! I have a short meditation on vimeo + we have three meditations on our website under Hive at Home
Here's some great research for you!>>Harvard How to Boost Immunity:
>>Effect of Exercise on Immune Function
Get Online with Us.
You can join us for just $10 a month to get all of our online classes & more on VIMEO. We'd LOVE your help sharing with your friends & family!
Give us your ideas! We want to hear from you on what you want to be seeing / doing! Remember that Yoga Asana (the poses) is only ONE of the 8 limbs of yoga! Maybe I'll do a live on that if you're interested!
Sending you love and we MISS YOU!
xx, Kimberly & the Hive Tribe
PS: Remember to check out my cold tonic recipe if you ARE feeling under the weather. It always makes me feel better.