Dive into mythology and share your thoughts in a circle of indie readers! In this monthly book gathering with the author, we will discuss Mestra the Shapeshifter: Ancient Heroine of the Sacred Grove, newly published in the UK and US by Moon Books. Come follow this wild shapeshifter through sacred groves and ancient seas, where lyrical voices evoke forgotten worlds of peril and beauty. She invites you on a journey to re-enchant the world, to discover unforeseen landscapes where primeval spirits, nymphs, and priestesses dance together. Goddesses shelter mysteries here, nurtured by prophetic trees, watered by wellsprings of the spirit. A luminous mystical maiden who is also a cunning trickster, escape artist, lover, and beast, Mestra is more than a figment of imagination. Exploring her ancient myth evokes the deep foreknowing of Earth, the dynamic energy of wild creatures, the pull of elemental forces, and the strength of immortal passions. Her transformations call us to seasonal cycles of change, and beckon us into the heart of nature's sacred powers. Mestra embodies the vibrant, evergreen potential that dwells in the female psyche, accessible to us all.
Led by Dianna Rhyan, who is a mythologist and therapist who studies nature goddesses, tree worship, forgotten voices, and the spirituality of sacred landscapes. As a child she created her first secret language on tablets of clay made from the creek beside her home. In time that language grew into a PhD in Ancient Greek and Latin, and thirty years of college teaching. She has been a visiting scholar on archaeological excavations in Greece and Cyprus. When not delving into archaic myth, she can be found exploring the Cuyahoga Valley trails of Northeast Ohio.
Saturday, June 7, 2025
11:00-12:30 at Yoga Central
This event is donation-based. All proceeds will be donated to CVNP Trails Forever Program.
Dive into mythology and share your thoughts in a circle of indie readers! In this monthly book gathering with the author, we will discuss Mestra the Shapeshifter: Ancient Heroine of the Sacred Grove, newly published in the UK and US by Moon Books. Come follow this wild shapeshifter through sacred groves and ancient seas, where lyrical voices evoke forgotten worlds of peril and beauty. She invites you on a journey to re-enchant the world, to discover unforeseen landscapes where primeval spirits, nymphs, and priestesses dance together. Goddesses shelter mysteries here, nurtured by prophetic trees, watered by wellsprings of the spirit. A luminous mystical maiden who is also a cunning trickster, escape artist, lover, and beast, Mestra is more than a figment of imagination. Exploring her ancient myth evokes the deep foreknowing of Earth, the dynamic energy of wild creatures, the pull of elemental forces, and the strength of immortal passions. Her transformations call us to seasonal cycles of change, and beckon us into the heart of nature's sacred powers. Mestra embodies the vibrant, evergreen potential that dwells in the female psyche, accessible to us all.
Led by Dianna Rhyan, who is a mythologist and therapist who studies nature goddesses, tree worship, forgotten voices, and the spirituality of sacred landscapes. As a child she created her first secret language on tablets of clay made from the creek beside her home. In time that language grew into a PhD in Ancient Greek and Latin, and thirty years of college teaching. She has been a visiting scholar on archaeological excavations in Greece and Cyprus. When not delving into archaic myth, she can be found exploring the Cuyahoga Valley trails of Northeast Ohio.
Saturday, June 7, 2025
11:00-12:30 at Yoga Central
This event is donation-based. All proceeds will be donated to CVNP Trails Forever Program.
FREE ADMISSION ~ NO SIGNUP NECESSARY
A day filled with healing, wellness, and wholeness.
Join us and sample the goods and services of local health & healing practitioners!
Learn how to manage your wellness holistically.
This event will be held on Sunday, October 29th from 11am - 5pm at Yoga Central.
This event is brought to you by Merging Hearts Spiritual Center: https://www.merginghearts.org/
FREE ADMISSION ~ NO SIGNUP NECESSARY
A day filled with healing, wellness, and wholeness.
Join us and sample the goods and services of local health & healing practitioners!
Learn how to manage your wellness holistically.
This event will be held on Sunday, October 29th from 11am - 5pm at Yoga Central.
This event is brought to you by Merging Hearts Spiritual Center: https://www.merginghearts.org/
Join Paisley Parvati Devi for this special class on select Fridays throughout the year!
We will focus on one Chakra per class and explore asanas (poses), pranayama (breathwork), meditation, mudras (hand gestures), and mantra (sound) to balance each energy center. Classes are from 4 - 5:30pm at The Yoga Place.
This class is a great way to learn more about each of your Seven Energy Centers:
March 14th - Root Chakra
April 11th - Sacral Chakra
June 13th - Solar Plexus Chakra
July 11th - Heart Chakra
August 15th - Throat Chakra
September 12th - Crown Chakra **Note: This session will exceptionally be held from 3-4:30pm at Yoga Central.**
October 10th - Third Eye Chakra
November 14th - All Seven Chakras
$11 per class, or attend all eight classes for $77.
Free for YTT students as an optional part of the YTT curriculum.
Join Paisley Parvati Devi for this special class on select Fridays throughout the year!
We will focus on one Chakra per class and explore asanas (poses), pranayama (breathwork), meditation, mudras (hand gestures), and mantra (sound) to balance each energy center. Classes are from 4 - 5:30pm at The Yoga Place.
This class is a great way to learn more about each of your Seven Energy Centers:
March 14th - Root Chakra
April 11th - Sacral Chakra
June 13th - Solar Plexus Chakra
July 11th - Heart Chakra
August 15th - Throat Chakra
September 12th - Crown Chakra **Note: This session will exceptionally be held from 3-4:30pm at Yoga Central.**
October 10th - Third Eye Chakra
November 14th - All Seven Chakras
$11 per class, or attend all eight classes for $77.
Free for YTT students as an optional part of the YTT curriculum.
Friday Evening: Simple Keys to the Shoulders
6-8pm
There are some secrets to knowing how to move the shoulders well for the sake of greater freedom — and it’s not just about stretching! We need to understand how the joints of our shoulder girdle work, and how lack of proper ‘joint play’ causes tightness as well as weakness and pain syndromes.
In this well-rounded session, Doug will explain the significance of ‘joint play’ and lay out a few fundamental principles for working with the shoulder joints safely and effectively. This will be an all-levels class that focuses upon some main points (that will be explored more deeply on Sunday) while giving you a nice Friday evening experience of yoga, ending with a deep relaxation.
Saturday Morning: The Feet are the Keys to the Hips and Knees
9am-12pm
Our nervous system regulates our flexibility according to the freedom it perceives in our joints. This ‘first principle’ for working with the body is called ‘Joint Play.’
We’ll begin by looking at this in the structure and function of the feet — and how the state of our feet profoundly influences the flexibility of our hamstrings, hips, and low back, as well as the healthy function of our knees and hips.
This session will start with simple movements and exercises for our feet that will be translated into principles for movement in asana — and will be essential to your working effectively with your hamstrings, as well as your knees and hips.
Sat. Afternoon: The Heart of Movement: the Sacrum and Spine
1:30-4:00pm
All movement in asana begins with the spine, and the natural undulation of the spine in movement is also the foundation for the health and steadiness of the mind. And the heart of the spine’s movement is at the sacrum, whose movement initiates the stimulation into action known in the wisdom tradition of yoga as ‘Prana Vayu,’ as well as the grounding, centering movements characterized as ‘Apana Vayu.’
This session will explore the movements of the sacrum and pelvic bones in forward bending, backbending, and twists, starting from standing poses, and the interwoven threads of muscles connected to these movements by which the integrated whole-body movements of these asanas takes place.
This session will be a very practical and accessible exploration of sacral and low-back health as well as the keys to healthy movement patterns in asana. It will include straightforward understanding of the actions of the ‘Core’ which supports these movements, which are traditionally known as the ‘bandhas.’
Your experience of forward bending, backbending, and twists — without going to extremes — will be transformed by this understanding, and your low back will thank you for it!
Sunday Morning: Essentials for Shoulder Freedom
9am-12pm
The shoulders are the most mobile joints in our body, and yet most of us get tight — causing pain in our neck and back, as well as suffering pain and limitation in the shoulders themselves. Even flexible people can have shoulder and neck pain!
There are secrets to knowing how to move the shoulders well, to achieve more freedom — and it’s not just about stretching! We need to understand how our shoulder joints work, and how lack of freedom in these joint causes tightness, as well as reducing the strength of our muscles. If we move the joints well, flexibility in our muscles will follow!
In this session, Doug will lay out fundamental principles for working with the shoulder joints safely and effectively in all of the different ways we move our shoulders in yoga.. The session on Friday gave an experiential taste of the essence of these principles. In this session we’ll be able to go into greater depth, and include work with the hands, wrists, and elbows, as well as getting into the relationship between the shoulders and neck freedom.
Yoga poses help us to explore shoulder freedom, and there are lots of variations and exercises that keep the practice interesting and accessible. With Doug’s guidance, you’ll understand the purpose of these actions, poses, and variations, and will easily remember them so you can incorporate them into your yoga practice, or just into your day!
Friday Evening: Simple Keys to the Shoulders
6-8pm
There are some secrets to knowing how to move the shoulders well for the sake of greater freedom — and it’s not just about stretching! We need to understand how the joints of our shoulder girdle work, and how lack of proper ‘joint play’ causes tightness as well as weakness and pain syndromes.
In this well-rounded session, Doug will explain the significance of ‘joint play’ and lay out a few fundamental principles for working with the shoulder joints safely and effectively. This will be an all-levels class that focuses upon some main points (that will be explored more deeply on Sunday) while giving you a nice Friday evening experience of yoga, ending with a deep relaxation.
Saturday Morning: The Feet are the Keys to the Hips and Knees
9am-12pm
Our nervous system regulates our flexibility according to the freedom it perceives in our joints. This ‘first principle’ for working with the body is called ‘Joint Play.’
We’ll begin by looking at this in the structure and function of the feet — and how the state of our feet profoundly influences the flexibility of our hamstrings, hips, and low back, as well as the healthy function of our knees and hips.
This session will start with simple movements and exercises for our feet that will be translated into principles for movement in asana — and will be essential to your working effectively with your hamstrings, as well as your knees and hips.
Sat. Afternoon: The Heart of Movement: the Sacrum and Spine
1:30-4:00pm
All movement in asana begins with the spine, and the natural undulation of the spine in movement is also the foundation for the health and steadiness of the mind. And the heart of the spine’s movement is at the sacrum, whose movement initiates the stimulation into action known in the wisdom tradition of yoga as ‘Prana Vayu,’ as well as the grounding, centering movements characterized as ‘Apana Vayu.’
This session will explore the movements of the sacrum and pelvic bones in forward bending, backbending, and twists, starting from standing poses, and the interwoven threads of muscles connected to these movements by which the integrated whole-body movements of these asanas takes place.
This session will be a very practical and accessible exploration of sacral and low-back health as well as the keys to healthy movement patterns in asana. It will include straightforward understanding of the actions of the ‘Core’ which supports these movements, which are traditionally known as the ‘bandhas.’
Your experience of forward bending, backbending, and twists — without going to extremes — will be transformed by this understanding, and your low back will thank you for it!
Sunday Morning: Essentials for Shoulder Freedom
9am-12pm
The shoulders are the most mobile joints in our body, and yet most of us get tight — causing pain in our neck and back, as well as suffering pain and limitation in the shoulders themselves. Even flexible people can have shoulder and neck pain!
There are secrets to knowing how to move the shoulders well, to achieve more freedom — and it’s not just about stretching! We need to understand how our shoulder joints work, and how lack of freedom in these joint causes tightness, as well as reducing the strength of our muscles. If we move the joints well, flexibility in our muscles will follow!
In this session, Doug will lay out fundamental principles for working with the shoulder joints safely and effectively in all of the different ways we move our shoulders in yoga.. The session on Friday gave an experiential taste of the essence of these principles. In this session we’ll be able to go into greater depth, and include work with the hands, wrists, and elbows, as well as getting into the relationship between the shoulders and neck freedom.
Yoga poses help us to explore shoulder freedom, and there are lots of variations and exercises that keep the practice interesting and accessible. With Doug’s guidance, you’ll understand the purpose of these actions, poses, and variations, and will easily remember them so you can incorporate them into your yoga practice, or just into your day!
You're probably stronger than you think! Arm Balance poses definitely involve the core and shoulders, but the key to most of them is actually balance - imagine that!
Come learn safe methods of entry and exit for a range of Yoga arm balances from beginning to advanced. It is best to stretch and warm up before this class, since we will only have an hour together. We will at least warm up the wrists and shoulders a bit before attempting more challenging poses. We will also learn some conditioning sequences to strengthen the muscles used for most arm balancing.
You will be invited to listen to your body and intuition during this class. If there is anything you are not comfortable trying, you are welcome to simply watch instead.
$25 per person. Free for YTT students.
You're probably stronger than you think! Arm Balance poses definitely involve the core and shoulders, but the key to most of them is actually balance - imagine that!
Come learn safe methods of entry and exit for a range of Yoga arm balances from beginning to advanced. It is best to stretch and warm up before this class, since we will only have an hour together. We will at least warm up the wrists and shoulders a bit before attempting more challenging poses. We will also learn some conditioning sequences to strengthen the muscles used for most arm balancing.
You will be invited to listen to your body and intuition during this class. If there is anything you are not comfortable trying, you are welcome to simply watch instead.
$25 per person. Free for YTT students.