Grace Cathedral

Grace Cathedral

Article | September 28, 2020

Om Shanti Om: Yoga at Grace Cathedral is Back

Blog|Alina Dennis

Before COVID-19 you could expect to see streams of yogis flocking towards Nob Hill and Grace Cathedral, gathering to sit and move together. With every inch of available space covered from the aisles to the pews, over 500 people would often gather in the cathedral to share space, community and spiritual energy. With the cathedral closed to in-person gatherings, Grace has been unable to offer new yoga classes to our beautiful community. Until now.

Yoga on the Labyrinth is pleased to announce new video yoga classes, beginning with a special class in partnership with Yoga Journal and Live Be Yoga. Join us online for a special benefit class for The Community Preschool on Tuesday, September 29th at 4 pm.

The Rev. Jude Harmon will greet the community, and instructor Darren Main will guide us through a gentle and restorative meditation and 30-minute asana practice from the labyrinth inside Grace. Egeman Sanli fills the experience with a magical soundscape of sitar and other mystical instruments. Om Shanti Om!

Looking ahead, Grace is busy planning our new online video series – inclusive experiences that allow our large community to participate when were not able to practice together inside the cathedral. Connect with us on our newsletter, and stay in touch on Instagram or Facebook as we develop safe and innovative ways to practice “on” the labyrinth.

We’re especially grateful for our collaboration with Monica Cadena and the Live Be Yoga Tour, and the talented folks at Grace and Yoga Journal in creative digital production as we wrap-up a very unique (and challenging!) National Yoga Month. ❤️

Yoga For All

Yoga is a practice and tradition that goes back over 5,000 years from South Asia. Since then it has diffused to be practiced all over the world with slight variations. Yoga is traditionally about spirituality and how it interacts with the body- you create harmony with your environment, mind and body which overall benefits your mental and physical health.

Yoga on the Labyrinth combines the traditional tenets of yoga in the beautiful environment that is the cathedral in order to bring you relaxation. Yoga and meditation instructor, Darren Main, takes you through gentle and restorative meditation and Asana practice.

The goal for Yoga on the Labyrinth is to be an inclusive and diverse space filled with individuals that come from all sorts of religious or spiritual practices. At Yoga on the Labyrinth, you experience yoga with an Episcopalian cathedral, that draws on the teachings and practices of Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism and caters to a community that varies from Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists and agnostics as well as people from almost every Christian denomination.

Building a Foundation

The Community Preschool is a fantastic program that seeks to create an environment that children will experience out in the real world inside of the classroom. The preschool intentionally enrolls children from families with varied socio-­economic backgrounds, ethnicities, religious traditions, gender identities and cultures.

The early childhood program creates an intentionally socio-economically diverse environment that encourages curiosity in order to view the world as scientists and explore their interests and the questions they may have about the world.

The program takes place 5 days a week for twelve months and serves children between the ages of three to five. The children are able to thrive in an environment that gives them individualized attention with a teaching ratio of one teacher for every 5 children. When you support the Community Preschool with a donation, you are supporting the strong foundation that allows these children to become positive forces in their communities and in the world.

Make a donation to The Community Preschool 

Join us For Yoga on the Labyrinth with Yoga Journal

Bringing yoga back into the cathedral and into your homes it exciting and truly joyous. We hope you will join us on September 29, at 4 p.m. PST on Yoga Journal’s Live Be Yoga site for yoga that will uplift your spirit and revitalize your energy.

Be sure to stay tuned for more details to come of our first livestream of yoga- socially distanced of course- in celebration of national coming out day!

 

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