We’re just a few days away from the opening of the studio, and I’m filled with gratitude for the overwhelming support I’ve received from so many of you - especially all of the amazing teachers who said “YES” when I asked them if they might want to teach for this crazy colorful new yoga studio I was wanting to open. I mean seriously, have you seen the people I’m lucky enough to teach with?

Gratitude sometimes goes awry in the month of November - often there are gratitude challenges that ask people to list one thing every day that they’re thankful for, and I think that misses the point when people start to be grateful for stuff like… swimming pools and fancy cars. Gratitude is a statement of intention - actively choosing to be aware and appreciative of the things that we might not notice, but that provide us with love, support, nourishment, delight, and more.

And that’s why gratitude is NOT this month’s theme at The Moving Galaxy - it’s Prayer.

Because prayer, at its core, is the ability perhaps to express gratitude, but more simply, it’s choosing to speak out loud, sing out loud, or intend silently what is in our hearts, to be in conversation with spirit, perhaps with what we envision as capital-G-God (or however we conceive of that notion).

At the end of her poem “Praying,” Mary Oliver says

“a few words together and don't try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.”

That, to me, is a perfect expression of what prayer can be - a doorway and an opportunity to listen.

Our teachers are asked to teach around our monthly theme in any way that resonates for them, so you might find a prayer or two make its way into the classes this month. I also envisioned these statements of intention - love, forgiveness, joy, happiness, safety, wellness and more, as filling up our new studio space, and creating the perfect container for our community to plant itself, and grow. Please come to the studio and help me set those intentions with your own prayers and - I can’t wait to welcome you into it, and I’ll see you very soon.

What I’m Reading this November

Who am I kidding? I read this book (and read it to all of you in class) constantly. It’s one of my favorite books of all time - I never knew I needed a blessing for Light, for Water, at the End of the Day, and more… but I’m so glad John O’Donohue wrote them.

What’s Happening At the Studio?

Opening Weekend Celebration

We’ve got an amazing opening weekend planned - look at all these amazing classes! Click the link and go right to the registration page for the class you’re interested in. All classes are sliding scale $10-$40, or purchase an All-Access weekend pass for $30 and go to as many classes as you like!

**Slow Flow and Basics with Anna**

Sun 11/20 | 4 pm | sliding scale $10-$30
Enjoy a 75-Minute practice with Anna where there will be time to break down the poses, and the pacing will be a little slower. Expect to use all the props! This class is appropriate and geared toward beginners, but practitioners of any level are welcome and will enjoy it.

register >

**Teacher’s Practice**

Sun 11/19 | 11 am | $15
We’re also planning a practice for teachers every month - yoga teachers from anywhere. If you’re curious, and want to know if this is the right class for you, email anna@movinggalaxy.com. Think of it as an industry gathering, part class, part meetup, lots that we’ll figure out once we get it going.

register >

Prayer from the Galaxy

This month, I’ll leave you with probably my favorite prayer of all time - the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. I love both the intention, and the structure. It has a rhythm that lends itself to memorization (which I highly recommend), and is a great reminder of how we might like to move through the world.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.