All drop-in class payments for Friday evening classes at 8 Limbs Phinney Ridge and 8 Limbs West Seattle will be donated directly to Doctors without Borders to aid their relief efforts in Haiti.

Friday, January 22, 2010
8 Limbs Phinney Ridge
6:30 – 7:30pm All Levels Hatha Yoga with Megan Costello
8 Limbs West Seattle
5:45 – 7:00pm All Levels Flow with Amelia Gailey

Drop-ins are $16, please bring cash or checks made out directly to Doctors without Borders.
Please spread the word.

Posted by: 8 Limbs

We’ve been sleeping at the blog wheel for a few weeks while driving another car steadily towards the finish line. 8 Limbs Phinney Ridge is ALMOST complete, and will now open on Thanksgiving Day with a Benefit Class for Solid Ground with Chiara Guerrieri. For info on our Benefit Classes at all four 8 Limbs, click here. They are an 8 Limbs tradition all over Seattle and we are excited to open with this offering to the community. Bring a friend or your whole family!
Our Grand Opening is Friday, December 4th. Doors open at 4:00pm, we’ll play in a Parent/Child Yoga Class at 4:30pm, bless the space with the musical assistance of Gina Salá, and close with an All Levels Yoga class at 7:00pm. Bring the whole family! More info at the Phinney Ridge webpage.
We’ll bring the blog back to life very soon. See you soon!

Did you know that today is International Day of Peace? If you are looking for a way to celebrate through practice, join the Group Meditation today, Monday, September 21, 2009 at The Seattle Center. The event is sponsored by The Seattle Center and The Life Bliss Meditation Center of Seattle, as well as 8 Limbs and other local yoga studios.
4:30 – 6:00pm
International Fountain Lawn
Seattle Center
www.PeacePrevails2009.com
Come join hands with the local meditation community in a mandala group meditation for world peace, while millions around the world pause and do the same.

PEACE!

Posted by: 8 Limbs

Join 8 Limbs for a free outdoor yoga class:
Wednesday September 9, 2009, 10:00 – 11:15 a.m.
Gas Works Park, 2101 Northlake Way, Seattle
Gas Works Park will be a beautiful setting for yoga as artist and master kite flyer Seth Abramson launches 121 brilliant white kites into the air that will fly over the city all day long. Commissioned by the Credit Unions of Washington, the Kites Over Washington project is a moment of calm, created to give people a peaceful hiatus in the city. Join us to enjoy asanas in the park and experience this spectacular art project. The Kites Over Washington will also be the subject of an upcoming documentary art film. Please wear as much white as you can, 8 Limbs logos welcome but avoid other logos or patterns. You are giving filmmaker permission to use footage by participating in class.
Reservations are suggested but not required at annephyfe@8limbsyoga.com
Even if you can’t make it to the yoga class, look up in the sky over Gasworks on Wednesday, it should be an amazing sight!

Posted by: 8 Limbs

I’ve decided to take some time off teaching to focus on my family and practice. When I came to 8 Limbs at the opening of the West Seattle location in 2005, I was based in a strong, dedicated practice of Ashtanga. It was the only yoga I had been doing for 10 years and I benefited so much from this practice.

I stepped into the room to teach what I knew and what turned out 4 years later is that I am not the teacher, but the people and fellow teachers who have walked into my classes have been teaching me. My eyes were opened to all different types of practitioners, various styles of yoga and many levels of the practice. The kindness that generates from everyone’s hearts and minds has been so amazing to see and witness. I am truly honored and am leaving with knowing so much more about yoga not from a physical practice, but from an internal practice.

My last morning class is August 27, Thursday, at 6:30am. To celebrate the present moment and what lies ahead for all of us in the future, this will be a benefit yoga class. Chaz Hastings, tabla player, and Brandon McIntosh, sarodist player, will accompany me in a live performance to the last class. I am donating my pay to the cause of helping dogs on chains with the amazing group, Dogs Deserve Better. This group works tirelessly to free dogs off chains and locked in pens and they work very closely with the state and county legislators to pass better laws for the treatment of man’s best friends.

I am honored to have passed on what I know of this lovely practice and I am so truly blessed to have been given the gift of being a student through all of you these last years.

Please join us Thursday, August 27, 6:30am, West Seattle 8 Limbs.

Vande Gurunam caranaravinde.
I bow to the lotus feet of the Gurus.

Posted by: Kelly Page

This weekend shop guilt-free at 8 Limbs and other E. Pike St. businesses such as Babeland, Kaladi, Veridis, The Feed Bag, and City Home Store during the E. Pike St. Summer Sale. We are partnering with these and other E. Pike St. retailers to collect food for NW Harvest from July 17-19. All businesses have a special offer for customers who bring 5 cans of non-perishable food items to their locations. Bring yours to the 8 Limbs Boutique at 500 E. Pike St. and receive 20% off your purchase (non-sale items only)!
NW Harvest was founded in Seattle in 1967 and now helps collect food for people all across Washington State. Help us to support their efforts, which have become all the more essential since the shift in the economy.

Posted by: 8 Limbs

If you’ve ever happened to drop in on one of my yoga classes at 8Limbs you might notice that I like to end each and every practice with the salutation “Namaste.” There are many variations in translation of this traditional Sanskrit greeting; however, my favorite is “I honor that divinity within you that is also within me.”

When I take the opportunity to perceive the deeper meaning behind Namaste, its meaning extends far beyond a typical “hello” and “goodbye,” or a routine ending that we might give to our yoga practice.

It can instead be something that inspires our lives by inviting us to look further than external differences such as gender, sexual preference, race, age, and social class to seek the divine spark that is present in each and every one of us.

In the spirit of celebrating Namaste I am honored to be co-teaching an all levels 1 ½ hour Yoga class with Troy Lucero and Matt Meko to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Stonewall, the event that sparked the gay rights movement. This is anticipated to be the largest outdoor yoga event Seattle has ever seen. I truly hope you can be present and share your practice for positive social change. Register TODAY online or come early to register on Saturday. Don’t forget your yoga mat and your Namaste!!

EQUALITY YOGA
Saturday June 27th
Cal Anderson Park
Gates 9AM – Flow 10AM
$15.00 to benefit the Stonewall Organization
www.celebratestonewall.org/yoga

P.S. Steve and Anne-Emilie Gold, two of the musicians accompanying Equalityoga, will sing at the end of Anne Phyfe’s Thursday 10am class at 8 Limbs Capitol Hill.

Posted by: Maygen McGrew

WOW.
I am fresh off the high from spending Saturday afternoon and evening with Sean Johnson and the amazing musicians of The Wild Lotus Band. We spent the beautiful five o’clock hour in Sean’s “Soul Flow” to the live accompaniment of Alvin Young on fretless bass and Gwendolyn Colman on percussion. I have discovered a new love, and it is practicing yoga to fretless bass. WOW (again). Sean had us connecting to source and clearing away our demons in a sweaty, fun, and powerful practice.
Having a chance to snack and drink chai between the class and kirtan helped us to refuel and create more of an intimate gathering when we began to sing. Sean and the band blew me away with their new music. They have put together a tight and powerful kirtan style that is easy and fun to join along with, even with no chanting experience. They were also blown away by our community, and felt energized and connected to 8 Limbs. We look forward to having them back AND hosting other musicians in the near future.
In June we have a handful of classes that will be accompanied by live music:
June 6, 12:15 – 1:30pm with Kelly Page: Fundraiser for abused dog Missy, 8 Limbs West Seattle (live tabla and sator)
June 18 at 5:45pm and June 19 at 4pm with Paul Millage (live music by Christopher, 8 Limbs Capitol Hill.
June 22 at 7:15pm with Paul and June 25 at 10am with Anne Phyfe (live music during savasana with Steve and Anne-Emilie Gold).
There is no “extra” charge for this music in these classes. Come and enjoy!

Posted by: Anne Phyfe

I love the title of this new documentary. It is SOOO easy to take oneself too seriously. As I addressed in my last posting on FUN, having more of it has been my goal this month. Since then I have attended a Venus Party (I wore an orange wig and gave out Mardi Gras beads), put up the paddle for Arts Corp at their annual auction at The Triple Door, and had numerous playdates in the sun with my little ones.
This Thursday 8 Limbs is co-sponsoring a screening of a new documentary about yoga called “Enlighten Up!” on Thursday, May 14 at The Varsity Theater. Come and have fun with us as we learn about “A Skeptic’s Journey through the World of Yoga.” The evening will begin at 6:45pm with music by Steve Gold and friends, a meditation with Melina Meza, and introduction with the director of the film, Kate Churchill. Come early as seating is limited! Listen to KWJZ Radio, KKNW Radio or e-mail JWMovieClub@gmail.com with ‘enlightenup’ in the subject to find out how to get your complimentary pass to the screening. ENLIGHTEN UP! will open in Seattle on Friday, May 15th.
Now a question for all you fun lovers out there: what is your favorite “fun” activity here in Seattle? What about fun and FREE?

Posted by: Anne Phyfe

During a late-night talk with Melina during the Breitenbush Advanced Training Retreat, a question came up that always takes me by surprise: “What are you doing for fun?” I mean, I feel very satisfied with my life, enjoy what I do for work, have a great time with my husband and kids, and keep in touch with close friends, but when asked “what do you do for fun?” I always come up short.
I returned from our retreat curious about how I could make a change in the fun factor. The next day I read a parenting calendar that mentioned a family roller skating session and we headed to Skate King to boogie to The Village People and Journey with our 8 and 3-year-old. Ever since, when the opportunities have come up, I have said YES.
This month we have a few FUN opportunities to invite you to. 8 Limbs is a sponsor of the Seattle screening of Enlighten Up!, A Skeptic’s Journey into the World of Yoga on May 14th at the Varsity Theater. This film promises to be a humorous AND serious. Listen to KWJZ Radio, KKNW Radio or e-mail JWMovieClub@gmail.com with ‘enlightenup’ in the subject to find out how to get your complimentary pass to the screening. We are also thrilled to welcome Sean Johnson to 8 Limbs on May 30th to teach a Bhakti Flow Yoga Class and lead Kirtan (devotional singing). I am looking forward to this event to bring our community together for some FUN! Come for any part of this event and help me welcome Sean to the wonderful 8 Limbs community.
What do you do for fun? Write a comment so we can all increase our fun factor!

Posted by: Anne Phyfe