Our first event is this Saturday, October 29. The Halloween Bingo Challenge invites you to visit women-owned businesses that belong to CHEW to get a stamp. Get 8 stamps and you get into the famous Century Ballroom Halloween Bash (and 9pm Thriller dance class) for ½ price. Go to 15 businesses and you get in for free! All you have to do is walk in the door and ask for a stamp. You don’t have to make a purchase, but no one’s going to have a problem if you do!

Get your cards at 8 Limbs Capitol Hill and other participating businesses. Check out these wonderful businesses that make Capitol Hill unique and vibrant. We can’t do it without you.

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer

http://polls.seattleweekly.com/polls/sew/bestof2011/

Posted by: 8 Limbs

My serious cycling days began when I was about 13 and took long rides under the oak trees in (flat) New Orleans. I loved it for the exercise but hardly thought of it as a commuting option. When I went to college in the cold mountains of Vermont, I got my first mountain bike and went carless for my first three years of college (yes, in the cold…I mastered the use of two wool scarves over everything but my eyeballs). Once settled in Seattle in 1993 I managed to get around town on my bicycle more often than not.

In 2000, pregnancy and moving to Madison Valley put a bike wrench in my cycling habit. I just didn’t think the surrounding hills were surmountable, plus I was tired, and pregnant, and then had a baby to bring with me. The car became my main mode of transportation. This persisted for the most part until 2008, when my family moved out of our home to remodel. I lived in a home with an easier bike ride to work, and thus I shifted from driving everywhere to biking whenever possible. My Undorsement was to not drive 50% of the time. I have had weeks of 100%, but have held to at least 50% since then.

Check out the video a local documentary student at UW made for Undriver about my story back to the bike, even with kids, an uphill commute, and a busy life. We made it to inspire you to make the extra effort and UNDRIVE!

http://undriving.org/anne-phyfe-palmer

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer

http://talentsearch.yogajournal.com/view/1676

You have three more days to vote (and you can vote daily), the last day is Friday, April 15.

Melina has been with 8 Limbs from the day we opened in 1996a and has been an integral part of 8 Limbs ever since. She decided to take time off from teaching weekly classes in the fall and has been living in Austin, traveling to teach workshops and retreats, and playing music. We are excited that Melina will return to Seattle for the summer to teach classes at 8 Limbs Wedgwood. Come and practice with her when she’s back!

Thanks for voting!

Posted by: 8 Limbs

I have found that to be pulled down by tragedy is a response that is easy to move to but highly ineffectual. Like wallowing in S*(&$%, it serves no one. Instead, we can offer our deepest presence and a wish that those who are suffering become free and find joy again in their lives.

I learned the mantra Loka Samasta Sukhinoh Bhavantu from my first teacher Kathleen. The meaning I was taught and eventually passed on myself was “May all beings be happy and free.” This is so sweet and lovely that it can sometime feel to me a bit trite, as if “well duh” could be sarcastically added at the end.

I recently decided to dive a little deeper into this perfect package of a translation and learn the actual meaning of the words, thanks to Google and a Sanskrit dictionary.

Loka has many meanings, one of which is room, or place (location, anyone?). It also means humankind, folk, wide space, and earth. Samasta means combined, united, put (or thrown!) together. Sukha is joy, delight, comfort, or ease, and sukhinoh is one who is in that state. Bhavantu means they shall, and I believe relates to the word Bhavana, which I was taught is an attitude or an intention that you choose and direct one’s attention toward.

Ah, now the mantra has a little more traction for me, and I can offer it across the ocean with a deeper sincerity. YES, we all have the capacity for joy, for delight, for ease. YES, we are all united on this planet, for better or worse. YES, they shall become free and full of joy once again. YES, this is what I wish, what I hope for and I can offer my practice, my efforts, towards this wish.

Please join me for a special practice this Monday, March 21 at 7:15pm at 8 Limbs Capitol Hill. We will focus our practice twofold: sending both supportive energy and awareness to our neighbors in Japan and donations to Mercy Corps and their disaster relief efforts. No donations required to join us, just a willing and open heart. Should you choose, please bring cash or checks made out to Mercy Corps. 8 Limbs will donate all drop-in payments for class to Mercy Corps.

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer

There were plenty of regulars who attend the weekly lecture series, and I spoke with a few who enjoy moving their bodies before feeding their brains with new information. Two new participants made the experience three generational (and quite fun) for me: my daughter Lily and father Tom.

We dedicated our practice to the people of Japan, to support them with our efforts and our hearts. The $75 in class donations will go to disaster relief.

Mark your calendars if a nice short yoga practice is how you’d like to start your day in Volunteer Park this spring. Make sure to sign up for the lectures early as they often fill, but yoga class is drop-in, just bring your own mat and any cash donation you would to make to the teacher.

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer

Thanks to Jenny Hayo, Leisha Davis, Dawn Jansen, and Jen Yaros for teaching the classes!

If you couldn’t make it but want to support these great organizations, please send checks made out to the non-profit of your choice to us at 8 Limbs Capitol Hill and we’ll make sure it gets to them.
8 Limbs Capitol Hill
500 E. Pike St.
Seattle, WA 98122

Posted by: 8 Limbs Yoga Centers

What exactly does yoga help with?
Let’s return to the reason that you practice yoga. Chances are awfully good that at some point you’ve found relief from chronic aches, acute pain, illness or injury. But rarely is that the end of the story. I’d be willing to bet my kids’ allowance that you’ve experienced a positive impact on your mental and emotional state: relief from stress, anxiety or depression. I wouldn’t be surprised if you find it easier to relax, concentrate and sleep. You might feel a renewed sense of vitality, strength, flexibility, balance or openness.

But what is it that traumatized youth really need?
Clearly, many of us have found yoga to be a major support in our lives. But if you’ve experienced severe trauma – the stress, fear, groundlessness, pain, heartache, numbness, grief, anxiety, loss and disconnection – what do you really need? Nutritious meals? A roof over your head? Social services? Absolutely. Such fundamental needs must be met. But it appears that meeting basic survival needs isn’t enough for many of us. Even though we have a home, family, emotional support, reasonable safety and regular meals, many of us – with our good fortune of awareness and resources – still find yoga and mindfulness to be an invaluable support in our lives. And for these same reasons, I am enormously grateful that Street Yoga exists to provide such healing services to traumatized youth.

Life-building practices grounded in ancient healing principles
Street Yoga teaches yoga and mindfulness to a variety of “underserved” populations that are recovering from trauma, including youth and families struggling with homelessness, poverty, abuse and addiction. Street Yoga gives youth and their caregivers tools to overcome early life trauma, though the sharing of life-building mindfulness and wellness practices grounded in the ancient healing principles of yoga. The practices help clients create a sense of true home in their own bodies, minds and communities so that they can grow stronger, heal from past traumas, and lead lives that are inspired, safe, and joyful. Street Yoga inspires assertiveness, resilience and connection to community. Street Yoga classes take place in shelters, treatment facilities, residential programs and clinics.

My awe
I teach yoga and mindfulness practices to teens at a Street Yoga site in Seattle and I couldn’t be more deeply moved by the incredible potential of human beings and the power of yoga to heal. After a mere 35 minutes per week during the first quarter it was offered, the teens reported relief from backaches, shoulder pain, a bad knee, stress and anxiety. They reported being more awake in class after yoga (offered during the lunch hour) and more peaceful and relaxed. Counseling times were changed to occur just after yoga as the students were found to be more engaged and the counseling more effective when sessions occurred just after yoga class. The counselor reported one student doing better in school and at home. I saw her come to be more engaged and exhibit increased confidence and joy in her practice. Another student was reported to have made a tremendous turnaround in her psychological recovery. What I saw was a young woman who came to the first class with dark clothes, a fairly meek manner and downcast eyes. By the end of the quarter, she smiled and even giggled after class because she felt such a lovely sense of joy and relief. She seemed to “lighten” before my eyes: she smiled, met my eyes, tried out new clothing and hairstyles and reveled in her practice. She said she had begun to practice a few poses daily at home.

I’ve volunteered for over 20 years and been associated with many valuable efforts. This one resonates the deepest for me. Aside from birthing and parenting my own children, I’ve never been more honored to be engaged in such a worthwhile effort.

Posted by: Shelly Thorn

Want to serve? Join the Street Yoga Training, November 19-21, 2010. In the Street Yoga teacher training, you will receive practical, real world techniques for teaching yoga and mindfulness to youth and families struggling with homelessness, poverty, addiction, abuse and trauma. To learn more go to: http://www.streetyoga.org/education/street-yoga-teacher-training Questions? Please contact Jaime, Street Yoga Program Manager, at 503-232-0362 or Jaime@streetyoga.org.

I am celebrating my 14.5 years of being Type 1 Diabetic by running the ING New York Marathon this November!  This will be my second marathon and I am training to run under 4 hours. I’ve chosen to raise money on behalf of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

I was in the middle of my ski-racing season when I was diagnosed in January of 1996.  I had tremendous support from my family, friends, and teammates, which helped me return to training and racing two weeks after being fully immersed in what would be part of my routine for the foreseeable future. I qualified for Junior Olympics a month later and have continued to challenge myself athletically and intellectually since. Personally, I have felt that diabetes has enhanced my life and has provided a unique perspective on health and how the body performs, it has never held me back from accomplishing anything I desire. I am positively optimistic that a cure for diabetes is possible. Tthere have been incredible improvements and innovations to the way diabetes is managed on the individual level, which has been made possible from the fiscal support given to JDRF and the creative and brilliant minds of people in the scientific and medical fields.  For instance, I will be utilizing a new piece of technology when training and running the ING New York City Marathon this November, it is an insulin pump with a sensor that consistently reads the blood glucose levels and communicates it to the pump.  Absolutely incredible!

I first explored my commitment to a yoga practice while living in Venice, CA in 2002.  What I discovered through yoga was an opportunity to delve deeper into understanding myself and to become more in-tune with the needs of my overall system, which enabled me to be even more capable in supporting others. I appreciate and honor the inner-balance, grounding, and joy I experience through my yoga practice both on my mat and how it extends into the rest of my life.

In support of generating wellness for others, 8 Limbs is hosting a benefit class for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on Friday, October 8th at the Phinney Ridge studio. The class will be led by Megan Costello as an All Levels Flow from 6:15pm – 7:30pm; followed by a modest raffle and refreshments provided by Picnic. The class is by donation (sliding scale, suggested drop-in rate of $16) and all proceeds will go directly to JDRF.

Please join me in supporting JDRF and the possibility of a cure to diabetes!

With gratitude,
July Rogan

So when the opportunity to teach yoga outdoors at the Olympic Sculpture Park first presented itself, I jumped at the chance. As a yoga instructor, sculptural artist and lover of the outdoors, I was more then delighted to help bring these worlds together, but to be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect. Who would come? How many people would be there? Would they be able to see or hear? Would the practice be too hard? Too easy? Would they like me? Would the weather affect us?

Turns out the answers to all of these questions were easily defined within minutes of my first session. Who came? Everyone. We had families with children practicing on towels that had never done yoga before, older folks who felt some of the practice was clearly for the ‘younger people’, advanced practitioners who wanted full wheel every class, people from Seattle, Issaquah and even Maine and one or two people who just so happened to be walking in the park with no intention of stumbling into our yoga class that managed to do just that, anyway. Were they able to see or hear? Sometimes. Was the practice too hard or too easy? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Did the weather affect us? Certainly. Did they like me? I think so. Did any of it matter? Definitely. Regardless of who we were, where we came from and whether or not we intended to be there, regardless of whether we could see or hear, regardless of sun or cloud or rain, we were all there – I mean, really THERE. With the weather brushing against our skin, the smell of the ocean sailing through the air, the unevenness of the ground supporting our feet and with a peace and contentment that radiated beyond any confines of the moment, we practiced yoga.

Posted by: Jen Yaros

Jen also had the pleasure of talking with Akaash Saini from the Weekly Brew. Hear Jen speak more about her outdoor yoga experience and watch yoga in action at the Sculpture Park. To view the video, please follow this link: http://vimeo.com/14322339.

This Saturday, August 28th is the last Saturday to join us for Free Yoga at the Sculpture Park! Join us from 10:00am-11:00am (weather permitting).