Intro series

Learn more about yoga with other beginning students. This series is designed to safely and comfortably introduce you to the benefits of yoga. We begin with explanations and discussion then take time to introduce postures (asana), breathing (pranayama), and meditation techniques to help quiet and focus the mind. Once you finish a series, you may choose to attend another Intro series or move into an ongoing class.

Schedule: Wednesdays from 7:00-8:30pm
4 week series June 4th - 25th with Alison, Kim and Susan
4 week series July 9th - July 30th
4 week series Sept. 10th - Oct. 1st
4 week series Oct. 8th - Oct. 29th

Schedule: Mondays from 12:15-1:30pm with Sunita
4 week series July 7th - 28th
4 week series Aug. 4th - 25th

Cost: $60 for 4 weeks series. You can buy a pass for one or two students on-line. Call to pre-register. Classes can be made up at an ongoing class during the week or another class in the next Intro Series. No drop-in students please.

Yoga for Parents: Infant & Me

Learn soothing, energizing, bond-building moves you can do alone or with your baby. Includes strengthening the core and abdominal muscles, increasing energy, reducing stress, and relaxing neck and shoulders. Gain increased physical strength while enjoying the support of other new parents and their babies, newborn through "crawling". Pre-register. Minimum of 4 participants.

Schedule: Fridays, 10:30-12pm
4 week series June 6th - 27th
4 week series July 11th - Aug. 1st

Cost: $60 for 4 weeks series. Pre-register. Maximum 10 students per series.

Instructor: Melissa Valentine
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Yoga for teens

Yoga for Teens is designed to focus on yoga techniques that remove obstacles from ones growing mind and body. Simple breath and body connection postures (asana) can increase self awareness, flexibility, strength, balance and focus. Yoga keeps the mind awake and initiates self discipline, self motivation and most of all self control, essentials for growth. We invite all the teens to discover their better self by living in a state of higher awareness. All levels and ages 12- 18 years old welcome. Pre-register.

Schedule:Wednesdays, 11:00-12:15pm
4 week series July 9th - July 30th
4 week series August 6th - 27th

Cost: $40 for 4 weeks series. Drop-in is $13. Call to pre-register.

Instructor: Sunita Sethi
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Yoga 4 Kids!

Yoga 4 Kids! offers ages 6-12 years old an introduction to yoga ideas and benefits through traditional postures, fun and creative play. The postures mimic plants, animals and objects that the children have seen before.

The children experience short meditations and visualizations. Each class is different and builds on the children's abilities and interests. Through yoga, the children gain a better awareness of their body, mind, breath and spirit. Pre-register by calling 425-861-1318 or email.

Schedule: Thursdays, 4 - 5 PM
5 week series Oct. 2nd - 30th, 2008
5 week series Jan. 15th - Feb. 12th, 2009
Cost: $45 for series.
Instructor: Alison Eliason
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meditation series

"Meditation is the most valuable activity that you can do to change your health and well-being" - as documented research from the NIH affirms. It has been proven that meditation relieves pain and stress, lowers blood pressure, improves circulation, improves memory and brings a sense of inner peace and tranquility to the ups and downs of everyday life.

Meditation is one of the eight limbs of yoga. Whether you are new to yoga, or practicing for many years; join us in this ongoing 4 week experiential series. We will start with yoga poses and pranayama to warm up the body for a longer sitting meditation. Through discussion and practice of various techniques, you will gain understanding of the depth of this ancient practice. Join us and give yourself the gift of serenity!

Schedule: TBD

Cost: $60 for series of 4 week series of classes. Register with your payment. Minumum 6 students. Click here to buy the series pass on-line.

Instructor: Phyllis Moses
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Refresh your mind - meditation article

Yes, you know that meditation can reduce stress, which research shows can damage brain cells and your ability to retain information over time. But the ancient practice can do more than just soothe your soul: It may also sharpen your memory. According to a University of Kentucky study, subjects who took a late-afternoon test after meditating for 40 minutes had significantly better scores than those who napped for the same period.

Even more surprising, when the subjects were retested after being deprived of a full night's sleep, those who meditated still scored better than their study counterparts. How could that be? Meditation, like sleep, reduces sensory input, and this quiet state may provide a time for neurons to process and solidify new information and memories.

Brain scans have revealed that meditation produces a state somewhat similar to non-REM sleep (which many specialists believe is the more mentally restorative sleep phase), in that many neurons of the cortex fire in sync, says Bruce O'Hara, PhD, a coauthor of the study. "However, unlike when you sleep, consciousness is fully maintained in meditation, so there is no grogginess upon 'awakening.'"

For regular, highly experienced meditators, the benefits to memory can be substantial. A 2004 University of Wisconsin-Madison study discovered that the brains of long-term Buddhist practitioners who have meditated every day for many years generated the highest levels of gamma waves a pattern of brain activity that's associated with attention, working memory, and learning ever reported in other studies.