What we’re about
# FOR OVER SEVEN YEARS, WE’VE OFFERED NO-COST YOGA IN COMMUNITY FOR EVERY BODY.
Community Yoga Initiative is a grassroots, volunteer-driven wellness movement dedicated to improving the physical, mental, and emotional health of human beings through the practice of yoga. In 2023, initiative volunteers offered over 500 free and inclusive opportunities to practice yoga in commUNITY.
All these yoga offerings are open to everyBODY - folks of all faiths, cultures, ages, genders, physical abilities, and financial resources. These free yoga offerings help a growing number of people access the therapeutic and self-revelatory benefits of yoga - allowing people to experience how yoga strengthens, stretches, and destresses the body; soothes, relaxes, and decompresses the mind; and opens the heart.
These yoga offerings also contribute to the creation of conscious community and recognition of the truth of interconnectedness. Initiative volunteers are known for nurturing inclusive community and co-creating space for connection and refuge by emphasizing collective collaboration, where everyone is an important part of the group yoga experience. The volunteers honor the infinite aspects of individuality and welcome all bodies, backgrounds, traditions, and situations. They adapt yoga practices to meet individual needs and encourage personal responsibility and intuitive direction.
All these yoga offerings are provided solely through voluntary giving - at no cost to participants. The giving of many is what allows the practice opportunities to be offered so freely. In giving, we loosen the grip of our greatest source of suffering - self-absorption. We expand our hearts in a way that recognizes we are not actually separate from others. Giving is a letting go of a sense of separateness that’s based in ignorance. When we practice giving, we feel into how we all depend on one another - how we are all part of the whole. In this way, giving is the natural response of the awakened heart.
# WE ARE COMMITTED TO EXPANDING YOGA ACCESS AND INCLUSIVITY, CHALLENGING DELUDED CONCEPTS ABOUT WHAT YOGA IS AND DOES, AND SHARING YOGA IN WAYS THAT HONOR THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF ALL.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Yin Yoga with Community YogisAll Saints Episcopal Church, Riverside, CA
YOU'RE INVITED TO JOIN US AT COMMUNITY YOGA CENTER FOR YIN YOGA WITH COMMUNITY YOGIS!
PAUSE, RELAX & OPEN
Yin yoga is a gentle, slow-paced postural yoga practice where poses are held for extended periods of time. Three-minute holds are not uncommon. Most yin yoga poses are seated or supine, and engage the lower half of the body, opening and releasing tension the lumber spine, pelvis, hips, hamstrings, and thighs. Postures engaging the upper body are less common, however shoulder openers can be adapted for yin asana practice.
The sustained traction of yin yoga reaches deep connective tissue, stretching and stimulating fascia, tendons, and ligaments – especially when muscles are not engaged. With muscles relaxed, the connective tissues around joints can be accessed without interference at a deeper level, allowing them to be remodeled and revitalized.
Because muscles are relaxed in yin yoga, it’s important to use supports like blocks, bolsters, blankets, and straps to protect joints, ligaments, and tendons from overstretching. The supports allow the body to surrender to gravity without causing any injury or pain.
We practice indoors, in a large room. We recommend wearing comfortable layered clothing to help regulate preferred body temperature. If you have postural practice supports like mats, blankets, bolsters, blocks, and straps, please bring them with you. We have community practice supports for you to use as well. Feel free to borrow any community practice support to facilitate and enhance your practice.
We also suggest bringing water to maintain hydration after practice.
No experience is necessary and there is never a cost. We welcome everyBODY. We so hope to practice with YOU in commUNITY!
WE ARE BUILT ON GIVING
Our practice opportunities are provided solely through voluntary giving. The giving of many is what allows the practice opportunities to be offered so freely. Anyone who’s experienced benefit from our offerings is invited to give for the benefit of others.
In giving, we loosen the grip of our greatest source of suffering - self-absorption. We expand our hearts in a way that recognizes we are not actually separate from others. Giving is a letting go of a sense of separateness that’s based in ignorance. When we practice giving, we feel into how we all depend on one another - how we are all part of the whole. In this way, giving is the natural response of the awakened heart. Every act of giving is an opportunity to feel into the lack of separation between the one who gives and the one who receives.
You’re invited to give according to your volition and means - in whatever ways resonate with you. You might like to make monetary donations, contribute to our collective resources, or dedicate your time and skill to assist the community.
You may use this link if you’d like to make a donation.
https://communityyogacenter.com/checkout/donate?donatePageId=64edff1e1d03bf14149cc0a7A NOTE ON THE GIFTS OF YIN YOGA
Injury, inactivity, and aging tends to bind connective tissue together, creating adhesions that restrict movement between the surfaces of muscles and bones. These adhesions block the flow of nutrients and energy through the body, causing pain and limiting mobility. Tenderly holding poses applies mild stress that breaks up adhesions. This can result in measurable increases in physical flexibility without compromising stability.
Long holds also increase circulation and lubrication at the joints. Deep connective tissue is softly squeezed, twisted, and compressed, becoming hydrated and more pliable. With age, the body becomes drier and less elastic. Stressing the connective tissues at the joints increases the production of hyaluronic acid and synovial fluid that nourishes the body.
Tenderly softening the body in yin yoga soothes the nervous system, especially when combined with slow, deep belly breathing.
Practicing presence and being with “what is” develops patience, clarity, and the capacity to be with a wide range of experience. All types of asana practice can heighten our moment-to-moment awareness. However, resolving to remain still in yin yoga practice provides an opportunity to stay with experience and surrender any need to manipulate and control. This can create conditions for clear perception, about ourselves and the nature of reality – yinsight! - New Skool Ashtanga with KristinCommunity Yoga Center, Riverside, CA
I'm so happy for the opportunity to share new skool ashtanga at Community Yoga Center on Sunday mornings and Thursday afternoons! This offering has been a couple years in the making and a result of me really letting go of resistance to sharing ashtanga outside of a "community led" paradigm.
I appreciate the encouragement I've received from the community to share ashtanga in this way and I'm grateful for Scott Miller and Marlene Schwartz who've taught me so much about the ashtanga practice and who I continue to learn from. THANK YOU!
New skool ashtanga is not your 90’s ashtanga. Poses are not “earned.” Practitioners are not “held back.” Obedience to an “ideal” is not rewarded. Perfectionism is recognized for what it is - a construct that kills creativity and love.
New skool ashtanga values the genius of primary series ashtanga poses, sequencing, and intentionality of breath - without the old school asana fundamentalism that fuels insidious competition around physical abilities and perpetuates shame when dictated expectations are not met. New skool ashtanga emphasizes the joy of practice - the creativity, love, and self-realization that’s cultivated in an atmosphere of infinite possibilities.
New skool ashtanga emphasizes subtle energy experiencing not only by linking ujjayi breath with a dynamic sequence of asanas, but also through pranayama interludes that punctuate parts of the practice. New skool ashtanga follows the same sequence of postures practiced in primary series ashtanga - about 75 incredible poses that are repeated during every practice session - with a few additions and modifications - including back-bending postures that balance the forward-folding bias of primary series ashtanga.
No experience is necessary and there is never a cost. EveryBODY is welcome.
Please consider practicing new skool ashtanga with me on Sunday mornings and Thursday afternoons. It's a great joy for me to share yoga in this way. -Kristin
WE ARE BUILT ON GIVING
Our practice opportunities are provided solely through voluntary giving. The giving of many is what allows the practice opportunities to be offered so freely. Anyone who’s experienced benefit from our offerings is invited to give for the benefit of others.
In giving, we loosen the grip of our greatest source of suffering - self-absorption. We expand our hearts in a way that recognizes we are not actually separate from others. Giving is a letting go of a sense of separateness that’s based in ignorance. When we practice giving, we feel into how we all depend on one another - how we are all part of the whole. In this way, giving is the natural response of the awakened heart.
You’re invited to give according to your volition and means - in whatever ways resonate with you. You might like to make monetary donations, contribute to our collective resources, or dedicate your time and skill to assist the community.
You may use this link if you’d like to make a donation.
https://communityyogacenter.com/checkout/donate?donatePageId=64edff1e1d03bf14149cc0a7
