I spent last weekend catching up with old friends, one who lives in Arkansas and one who lives in San Francisco. At one point, my friend from San Francisco shared that she couldn’t live in Arkansas because the people there were too closed-minded and likely all voted for Trump. My other friend noted that this is exactly why people of all types need to move to Arkansas. The world doesn’t progress if we all sit around preaching to our respective choirs.
One of our students recently read our studio blog and said, “You like to challenge people when you speak with them, huh?” Well, if I’m not challenging people – if I’m only saying things that everyone implicitly agrees with – then I’m really just putting more noise into the universe. The universe doesn’t need my noise.
When I’m talking with people who have never tried yoga, I may tell them how wonderful it is, how beneficial it has been in my life, how it can help their backs feel better. But, saying these same things to a seasoned yogi just adds noise to the noise and junk to the junk. In this crowd, my words are better used to question how we can do better.
I am genuinely interested in the question, “Are we serving our communities through yoga?” That is what I use my words for, and truly that is what we ask daily at The Yoga Harbor. We are not here to add another yoga studio to the map and repeat the same voices already prevalent in this conversation. Our classes, programming, blog, newsletter, even social media to the degree it is possible, all exist to add something new to the conversation. And when we’re saying something that isn’t new, then we hope to say it better than it’s been said before.
With this goal in mind, we are honored to invite guest teacher Wendy Garafalo to share her voice this Sunday in a donation-based workshop: Shift Your Perspective. Wendy has spent the last decade finding out what it is she has to add to the conversation on yoga. Her classes are alignment-based, healing, and inspired by the need to be truthful. When her son, Luca, was diagnosed with autism, it lit a spark for her. She adds her voice and platform as a teacher to, as she says, “Create a greater understanding and awareness of what (autism) means and how to interact with someone in your life who is on the spectrum.”
I hope you find The Yoga Harbor to be a place for lots of words but limited noise. Come join us this weekend to experience what it means to reach out beyond the choir, share something meaningful, and use yoga to shift a perspective.
Warmly,
Bethany
