Yes, the rumors are true. I am moving with my family to Santa Cruz!
It is a really good thing for my family, but with change, comes, well... changes! And change is not always easy. While I am very excited for and proud of my husband in his new job, and am excited about being close to nature, and in a town that I love (it's where I went to college), I am also sad to be further from a lot of my family here in Los Angeles. And further from some of my closest friends. And further from my yoga home.
GODA has been a huge part of my life for almost 11 years, first as a student and then as a teacher. GODA has been a constant for me in a time in my life that I didn't feel anchored to much of anything. I found this incredibly grounding force through Cheryl's classes (as well as other teachers there) and through the GODA community. But the studio itself has been nothing short of sacred to me. Last year I emerged from a break from yoga teaching with the GODA Yoga Teacher Training and was so lucky to have spent that time with Cheryl, Kate Duyn Cariati, and the trainees in my group. My little Sangha. I will always cherish them. They have all been so supportive of me as a teacher, a mother, a friend, and colleague - it's rare to find a group that can see you as a whole person like that. And I really want to send a special thank you to Cheryl for nurturing that wholeness in me, for being so supportive of me, even when it meant I had to be there less for you. Your compassion and generosity has been such a gift to me. So thank you to the end of my days.
And thank you to Kate for your love and teachings, and to Jules Hogan Sahay for stepping up when I had to stand down, and for welcoming me back and working together to find a balance and share!
And I have to thank my students. I have been so honored to teach so many beautiful and amazing people at GODA and in Los Angeles. I have laughed with you, cried, moved, danced, and breathed through it all with you and feel so very blessed for these past 11 years here. I will take pieces of you with me into my life because being with you, having the honor of being your teacher, has changed me, profoundly, and hopefully I have left some of me with you as well.
I know that change is hard, but change is good too. It makes us grow, it challenges us to stretch and to get out of our habits and reawaken, to see the world anew. I can't wait to see what is in store for us all!
I know that you will be in good hands at GODA... Maire-Rose is taking over Tues and Thursday mornings, Raja is taking over Thursday evenings, and Cheryl is taking over my lovely Sundays. AND I know that I will be back frequently, and hopefully will get to teach a surprise workshop or two when I do (I'll post it on my blog so sign up, if you haven't already, to get updates!) So it is not goodbye, it is until we meet again.
In the meantime, come see me! Come to class, celebrate this lovely ride with me in my last classes Sunday the 31st of May, Tuesday June 2nd, and Thursday June 4th. In the meantime, I send you all love and light and look forward to our paths crossing as they may!
Peace,
April KirkHart
www.workofhearyoga.com
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Subs on Thurs, May 21st - come check them out!!!
Hello my beloved GODA yogis!
I know, it's been a while since I posted. Well, pretty soon I'll be posting more. But some of you were wondering about my subs this week, so I'll keep it short!
Tomorrow, Thursday May 21st, I will have a sub for my 9:30-11am flow class. I thought it was going to be Cheryl, but it's going to be Maire-Rose! She is a lovely teacher, with beautiful sequencing and I hear she has the voice of an angel. So please come take the class with her and tell me what I missed!
Thursday evening, my beginner class from 5:30-6:55pm will be subbed by Lucia Yamuy. She has long been a student of mine, and recently graduated from the GODA Yoga Teacher Training, which is no easy feat. She has warm, grounding energy and I am thrilled she is standing in for me. I invite you to enjoy her gentle spirit and tell me all about it when I get back.
MORE announcements to come in the future. But for now, I must go to bed!
Peace and see you soon!
April KirkHart
www.workofheartyoga.com
I know, it's been a while since I posted. Well, pretty soon I'll be posting more. But some of you were wondering about my subs this week, so I'll keep it short!
Tomorrow, Thursday May 21st, I will have a sub for my 9:30-11am flow class. I thought it was going to be Cheryl, but it's going to be Maire-Rose! She is a lovely teacher, with beautiful sequencing and I hear she has the voice of an angel. So please come take the class with her and tell me what I missed!
Thursday evening, my beginner class from 5:30-6:55pm will be subbed by Lucia Yamuy. She has long been a student of mine, and recently graduated from the GODA Yoga Teacher Training, which is no easy feat. She has warm, grounding energy and I am thrilled she is standing in for me. I invite you to enjoy her gentle spirit and tell me all about it when I get back.
MORE announcements to come in the future. But for now, I must go to bed!
Peace and see you soon!
April KirkHart
www.workofheartyoga.com
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Where to find peace in a world turned upside down?
My dear friends, the past few weeks, or months have been hard ones. The world is in upheaval. I have felt it listening to the news, I have seen the images splashed across the media, I have friends I fear for abroad. I have seen it on the streets where my children live and go to school, I have seen anger and violence in traffic patterns, criss-crossing my daily life. I have felt it in my heart for children everywhere. I fear sometimes for my own. And now I feel the sadness for a man lost in his own pain, sadness and anger, who was so widely known and yet felt so alone.
How do we go about our days? How do we do the things we normally do? How does the world not stop turning, how does life continue when there is so much heaviness?
I've been wrestling with these questions lately myself. As a mother, I often do not have the luxury of grieving or processing these things upon their arrival in my life. My children carry a momentum with them that usually sweeps me away with them. But the other night I sat up, way too late for my own good, reading this lovely book, "The Yamas and the Niyamas: Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practice," by Deborah Adele. And I came across a quote that I think has huge implications for us as individuals, but also for people, societies, our world at large. I wanted to share it with you all. I have never heard anything so challenging, so true, so inexplicably simple and yet complicated. It is the work we all need to do. I hope it will resonate with you.
The author, Adele, in her second chapter quotes a statement made by Etty Hillesum, a young holocaust victim:
"Ultimately we have just one moral duty:
to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves,
more and more peace,
and to reflect it towards others.
And the more peace there is in us,
the more peace there will also be
in our troubled world."
Sending out as much love as I can,
-April
How do we go about our days? How do we do the things we normally do? How does the world not stop turning, how does life continue when there is so much heaviness?
I've been wrestling with these questions lately myself. As a mother, I often do not have the luxury of grieving or processing these things upon their arrival in my life. My children carry a momentum with them that usually sweeps me away with them. But the other night I sat up, way too late for my own good, reading this lovely book, "The Yamas and the Niyamas: Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practice," by Deborah Adele. And I came across a quote that I think has huge implications for us as individuals, but also for people, societies, our world at large. I wanted to share it with you all. I have never heard anything so challenging, so true, so inexplicably simple and yet complicated. It is the work we all need to do. I hope it will resonate with you.
The author, Adele, in her second chapter quotes a statement made by Etty Hillesum, a young holocaust victim:
"Ultimately we have just one moral duty:
to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves,
more and more peace,
and to reflect it towards others.
And the more peace there is in us,
the more peace there will also be
in our troubled world."
Sending out as much love as I can,
-April
Monday, July 21, 2014
Back to teaching and loving it!
I can't tell you how good it feels to be teaching again!
I have missed being able to share what I love and live in yoga. And I forgot how much fun it is to teach, not just to practice. What makes it so fun? The students, of course!
For Jules' regular and very loyal students, it's fun to see them experience a new teacher and to adjust to a new situation. Think about how you feel when you go to a class that you love, only to find some stranger at the front about to teach. It's hard! Even for teachers! We try to practice Samtosha, acceptance, taking what is, whatever presents itself... but it's hard not to build expectations, especially for something that is generally consistent and to which you've grown accustomed. But as a teacher, it's so rich to watch a student go from maybe a little disappointment (or a lot!), and hesitation, to full blown letting-go-and-releasing-mode in a single class, and it is a pretty special thing.
I forgot how amazing it is to watch someone totally new to Yoga, experience the breath, the poses for the first time. I've watched people open up, both literally in their bodies, and I can read it on their faces. And maybe I've opened up too, after taking a break, and seeing my own practice from a different perspective, heck, teaching from a different perspective.
Change can be hard, but it can also be amazing, and wonderful. And that's just where I am right now. In a world that seems to be in major upheaval right now, I am really happy to be out there, trying to help people stay open, to find peace and calm, to try to generate a sense of unity and grounding. And I'm so grateful to Jules, her students, and to GODA Yoga for giving me the opportunity to do so.
So, if you haven't heard, or want to know when I'm teaching here's the schedule:
Tuesday and Thursdays, Beginner, 5:30pm -6:55pm
Fridays, Beginner, 6:30-8:00pm
Saturdays, Level One, 11:00am - 12:30pm
Sundays, Beginner, 11:00-12:30pm
GODA Yoga
9711 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
cross street/ Watseka and Culver Blvd.
(310) 287-1255
There's 2 hours free parking at the garage on Watseka!
Come get your yoga on with me!
Peace!
I have missed being able to share what I love and live in yoga. And I forgot how much fun it is to teach, not just to practice. What makes it so fun? The students, of course!
For Jules' regular and very loyal students, it's fun to see them experience a new teacher and to adjust to a new situation. Think about how you feel when you go to a class that you love, only to find some stranger at the front about to teach. It's hard! Even for teachers! We try to practice Samtosha, acceptance, taking what is, whatever presents itself... but it's hard not to build expectations, especially for something that is generally consistent and to which you've grown accustomed. But as a teacher, it's so rich to watch a student go from maybe a little disappointment (or a lot!), and hesitation, to full blown letting-go-and-releasing-mode in a single class, and it is a pretty special thing.
I forgot how amazing it is to watch someone totally new to Yoga, experience the breath, the poses for the first time. I've watched people open up, both literally in their bodies, and I can read it on their faces. And maybe I've opened up too, after taking a break, and seeing my own practice from a different perspective, heck, teaching from a different perspective.
Change can be hard, but it can also be amazing, and wonderful. And that's just where I am right now. In a world that seems to be in major upheaval right now, I am really happy to be out there, trying to help people stay open, to find peace and calm, to try to generate a sense of unity and grounding. And I'm so grateful to Jules, her students, and to GODA Yoga for giving me the opportunity to do so.
So, if you haven't heard, or want to know when I'm teaching here's the schedule:
Tuesday and Thursdays, Beginner, 5:30pm -6:55pm
Fridays, Beginner, 6:30-8:00pm
Saturdays, Level One, 11:00am - 12:30pm
Sundays, Beginner, 11:00-12:30pm
GODA Yoga
9711 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
cross street/ Watseka and Culver Blvd.
(310) 287-1255
There's 2 hours free parking at the garage on Watseka!
Come get your yoga on with me!
Peace!
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
My new, temporary, schedule at GODA Yoga!
Here it is! My new schedule at GODA Yoga in the heart of downtown Culver City, as I fill in for Jules Hogan-Sahay while she is on maternity leave. So hurry up and come do some yoga with me and spread the word!
Tuesday and Thursdays, Beginner, 5:30pm -6:55pm
Fridays, Beginner, 6:30-8:00pm
Saturdays, Level One, 11:00am - 12:30pm
Sundays, Beginner, 11:00-12:30pm
GODA Yoga
9711 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
cross street/ Watseka and Culver Blvd.
(310) 287-1255
And all the beginner classes can be prenatal appropriate. I have lots of experience and training in that department!
Peace, and hope to see you there!
-April
Tuesday and Thursdays, Beginner, 5:30pm -6:55pm
Fridays, Beginner, 6:30-8:00pm
Saturdays, Level One, 11:00am - 12:30pm
Sundays, Beginner, 11:00-12:30pm
GODA Yoga
9711 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
cross street/ Watseka and Culver Blvd.
(310) 287-1255
And all the beginner classes can be prenatal appropriate. I have lots of experience and training in that department!
Peace, and hope to see you there!
-April
Monday, July 7, 2014
I'm Teaching at GODA again starting Sun, July 13!
Hello? Is anyone still out there?
I know I've been out for a long while. Well, I had another baby, then I had to wait to have surgery (see previous posts), then I had surgery, then had to wait a year or so to heal... Since then, I re-immersed myself in the world of yoga at my favorite place, GODA! I took the 2014 teacher training to dust off the old yogic mind and create a little Satsang for myself, and boy did I ever.
My trainee buddies were amazing, uplifting, lovely people and I am so grateful to Cheryl Moss and Kate Duyn Cariati for giving me the opportunity to heal, re-strengthen, and most of all, to be a part of that wonderful group.
So, now that I'm all back together again, I have the privilege of repaying the favor that Jules Hogan-Sahay granted me by taking over my classes and keeping them while I was out... I am going to start teaching for many (not all) of her classes while she prepares to go on maternity leave, and only until she's ready to come back. I repeat, I will be taking over many of her classes TEMPORARILY while she is on maternity leave.
I will be starting this Sunday, July 13th, teaching her beginner class from 11:00am - 12:30, and will slowly start teaching more of her beginner and level one classes as she is ready for me to take them. I will keep you posted via my blog.
But prepare yourselves. Jules has an INCREDIBLE following, and space in her class is so very coveted, which is absolutely a tribute to what a gifted teacher she is. I will strive to serve well in her absence. In other words, if you want a spot in class get there early!
I can't wait to see you all and move and breathe together!
Jai!
I know I've been out for a long while. Well, I had another baby, then I had to wait to have surgery (see previous posts), then I had surgery, then had to wait a year or so to heal... Since then, I re-immersed myself in the world of yoga at my favorite place, GODA! I took the 2014 teacher training to dust off the old yogic mind and create a little Satsang for myself, and boy did I ever.
My trainee buddies were amazing, uplifting, lovely people and I am so grateful to Cheryl Moss and Kate Duyn Cariati for giving me the opportunity to heal, re-strengthen, and most of all, to be a part of that wonderful group.
So, now that I'm all back together again, I have the privilege of repaying the favor that Jules Hogan-Sahay granted me by taking over my classes and keeping them while I was out... I am going to start teaching for many (not all) of her classes while she prepares to go on maternity leave, and only until she's ready to come back. I repeat, I will be taking over many of her classes TEMPORARILY while she is on maternity leave.
I will be starting this Sunday, July 13th, teaching her beginner class from 11:00am - 12:30, and will slowly start teaching more of her beginner and level one classes as she is ready for me to take them. I will keep you posted via my blog.
But prepare yourselves. Jules has an INCREDIBLE following, and space in her class is so very coveted, which is absolutely a tribute to what a gifted teacher she is. I will strive to serve well in her absence. In other words, if you want a spot in class get there early!
I can't wait to see you all and move and breathe together!
Jai!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
April is back at GODA... for a little
Dear All, or should I say Anyone still checking?
I'm going to be teaching for Jules Hogan's Sunday beginner classes at GODA coming up, starting THIS SUNDAY July 1st!!!
I know, I know, it's been a while. For sure. I had another baby. She is rad, by the way. Her name is Alex Mae. Bright red hair, super cute, awesome sleeper, kinda chubby. But I've been pretty busy being a mom. Since I was brilliant enough to have my kids almost 2 whole years apart, I got to have a newborn and do potty training all at the same time. You get the picture.
In the meantime, my ab muscles separated so far apart during pregnancy this time that I still look like I am six months pregnant, and have had the joyous experience of having no core strength (which really comes in handy for, let's see... EVERYTHING.) No it is not because I had a home birth (which is so weird that someone even thought that had anything to do with it), and no I did not gain an unreasonable amount of weight, and no, my baby wasn't gigantic (she wasn't little either though!) I guess it was just what happened. My own little yogic curveball from the universe. I have to have surgery to fix it, but I am not quite ready for that. Long story...
So forgive me for being away so long, and forgive me even more for not blogging or talking much about it. It's been really hard for me personally, and as a yoga instructor. What are the odds, right?! Regardless, being a mom has been my first priority, which I (mostly) love, and I don't think I could have done it without taking some major time off.
I am truly grateful to Cheryl and Jules for taking over my classes and being so understanding, and to the whole GODA community for being so lovely about it all. What I am ready for, is to teach some yoga at GODA and repay the favor to Jules Hogan by subbing some of her Sunday classes in July and August. That's right, you heard me, I'm coming back to teach (a little), ab muscles be damned! Besides, I've missed you all a lot and I just can't stay away from GODA!
So listen up, this is the schedule. Feel free to spread the word.
Sunday, July 1, beginner class, 11-12:30
Sunday, July 22, beginner class, 11-12:30
Sunday, July 29, beginner class, 11-12:30
Sunday, August 5, beginner class, 11-12:30
I hope I see you guys there!!!
Peace,
April KirkHart
www.workofheartyoga.com
www.godayoga.com
I'm going to be teaching for Jules Hogan's Sunday beginner classes at GODA coming up, starting THIS SUNDAY July 1st!!!
I know, I know, it's been a while. For sure. I had another baby. She is rad, by the way. Her name is Alex Mae. Bright red hair, super cute, awesome sleeper, kinda chubby. But I've been pretty busy being a mom. Since I was brilliant enough to have my kids almost 2 whole years apart, I got to have a newborn and do potty training all at the same time. You get the picture.
In the meantime, my ab muscles separated so far apart during pregnancy this time that I still look like I am six months pregnant, and have had the joyous experience of having no core strength (which really comes in handy for, let's see... EVERYTHING.) No it is not because I had a home birth (which is so weird that someone even thought that had anything to do with it), and no I did not gain an unreasonable amount of weight, and no, my baby wasn't gigantic (she wasn't little either though!) I guess it was just what happened. My own little yogic curveball from the universe. I have to have surgery to fix it, but I am not quite ready for that. Long story...
So forgive me for being away so long, and forgive me even more for not blogging or talking much about it. It's been really hard for me personally, and as a yoga instructor. What are the odds, right?! Regardless, being a mom has been my first priority, which I (mostly) love, and I don't think I could have done it without taking some major time off.
I am truly grateful to Cheryl and Jules for taking over my classes and being so understanding, and to the whole GODA community for being so lovely about it all. What I am ready for, is to teach some yoga at GODA and repay the favor to Jules Hogan by subbing some of her Sunday classes in July and August. That's right, you heard me, I'm coming back to teach (a little), ab muscles be damned! Besides, I've missed you all a lot and I just can't stay away from GODA!
So listen up, this is the schedule. Feel free to spread the word.
Sunday, July 1, beginner class, 11-12:30
Sunday, July 22, beginner class, 11-12:30
Sunday, July 29, beginner class, 11-12:30
Sunday, August 5, beginner class, 11-12:30
I hope I see you guys there!!!
Peace,
April KirkHart
www.workofheartyoga.com
www.godayoga.com
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