Inhale love. Exhale Gratitude.
This is what I like to say at the beginning of my yoga classes, along with a visual of a beach when I teach ujjayi breathing. Inhale, a wave of love as abundant as the ocean. Exhale, send forth gratitude back into the world. By simply closing your eyes, focusing on your breath and the mantra Inhale love – exhale gratitude, you can have a few moments of bliss anytime you want.
Let’s kick off the season of gratitude with some timely online freebies that you can enjoy from anywhere. After that, I share some featured events in the Bay Area. Refer back to this post, which I will update because I often hear about more wellness to share. Are you ready? Let’s do this!
Deepak’s free 21-Day Meditation Experience:
Energize Your Life: Secrets for a Youthful Spirit
This free online program will help you discover the ever-present, boundless source of energy and lightness inside of you. 
TIMELY TIP: It actually began on Oct. 29th but you have 5 days to enjoy each session, so Day 1 will be available until November 2nd. Sign up now! If you miss some sessions, you can join remaining sessions at any time. Just know that there’s a 5 day grace period before each session disappears from the app or website.
In the 21-Day Meditation Experience, Deepak guides you on a free online journey to enjoy the life-changing benefits of meditation in an easy and inspiring way. Each 21-Day Meditation Experience focuses on a unique theme, offering deep wisdom, practical tools, and refreshing insights to help you grow and evolve – in just 20 minutes a day. Inspired by the notion that it takes 21 days to create a habit, this three-week experience allows you to enjoy the life-changing benefits of meditation in an easy and inspiring way, including:
- reduced stress and anxiety
- improved immune function and decreased inflammation
- better sleep and increased energy
- deep states of peace and wellbeing
Faith, Hope & Healing Free 7-Day Online Summit
November 1 – 7, 2018
Faith, Hope & Healing is a collection of 21 inspiring interviews about the effect of our beliefs on our healing. Everything you need to know delivered over a seven day period. LIVE NOW until November 7th, 2018.
How it works: Sign up at: https://faithhopeandhealingevent.com/
Each day they’ll broadcast 3 video interviews with expert presenters. Each interview will be 30-45 minutes long, and will be conducted by our Director, Michael Beattie. The interviews will be online from 8am Pacific time (that’s 11am EST, 4pm UK). You can watch live on your computer, tablet, or smart phone, using a link they’ll send you before the summit starts. Each interview will also be on replay for 24 hours, so you have a whole day to catch up.
November Happiness Calendar
Let these science-backed tips and tools be your guide this month. You’ll want to bookmark this calendar and refer to it often because there are links to articles and resources embedded in the PDF. Download happiness calendar for November.
Courtesy of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center.
Featured Bay Area Events
Yoga and Heartfulness Meditation for UC Berkeley
Friday, November 2nd @ 12 – 1 pm
I will lead a 20-minute standing yoga practice to prepare us for the seated meditation guided by a Heartfulness Meditation Trainer. No mat required. Meditation cushions available on a first come first served basis. Details and RSVP
Active @ Work: Yoga for UC Berkeley Staff
Friday, November 9, 12 – 1 pm
This is the final yoga class I’m teaching at UC Berkeley’s Hearst Gym for the fall semester. These classes are free, but you must be UC Berkeley staff or faculty. Register by clicking here: November 9 and logging in with your CalNet ID. For those participating in the challenge, bring your Yoga Passports for the last stamp to enter to win $75 in yoga gear!
Practicing yoga can release tension in your joints, give you a greater range of movement, soothe your back, and grant you increased comfort in all aspects of your life. Learn how Pranayama breathing can enhance your practice and help liberate your mind in surprising ways. Bring your own yoga mat. Comfortable clothing and bare feet recommended. Instructor bio.
I am also leading bonus yoga/meditation sessions with friends from Heartfulness Organization on November 2nd (see above). There will be a raffle prize drawing for Heartfulness swag for those who arrive by 12:10 PM!
Yoga for Change at Grace Cathedral
Saturday, November 10, @ 1 – 3 PM
Yoga for Change is an annual event held at Grace Cathedral to benefit The Community Preschool, our intentionally socio-economically diverse preschool for students from the Tenderloin and other at-risk San Francisco neighborhoods.
Join us on the afternoon of Saturday, November 10 for an inspiring yoga class taught by renowned Bay Area instructors Darren Main and Peter Walters. Enjoy live music by Nat Kendall, energizing yoga and healthy snacks amidst the soaring columns and stained glass windows of Grace Cathedral. All ages welcome.
As an added bonus, the first 500 attendees will receive free one year month subscriptions to the Calm app, the #1 app for sleep, meditation and relaxation.
Pre-Holiday Restorative Workshop with Hot Stones
Register online
The Sound Healing Symphony at Grace Cathedral—
Gratitude
Monday, November 19, 2018, 8 – 9:30 PM
Sound Meditation (often known as ‘sound healing’) is the practice of listening to soothing sounds to reach profound states of clarity and relaxation. It opens up deep meditative states that are usually unreachable without considerable effort.
During the event, participants lie down and are bathed head to toe in sound— it’s a very hypnotic, ethereal experience.
You will come away with a clear mind, and a deeper appreciation for the wonder of sound. We strongly recommend this event for people who have trouble meditating, or feel like they just “can’t get there.” Give this a try :).
Sound Meditation Presents promotes the ancient healing practice of sound work as a way to affect physical health and conscious awareness.
Crystal Bowl Sound Bath with Rebecca Thieneman
Thursday, November 29, 7 – 9 PM
Downtown Berkeley
LOCATION:
Lumbini Buddhist Art Gallery
2177 Bancroft Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
View Map
SAVE THE DATES!
Fire Benefit Sound Meditation
St. Mary’s Cathedral in SF
Monday, December 3rd (8pm)
100% of net proceeds going to Direct Relief.
Details and tickets will be posted Mon. 11/19 at https://www.eventbrite.com/o/sound-meditation-san-francisco-9015288340
Winter Retreat – Finding the Light in the Darkness
December 14-16, 2018
West Sonoma County, CA
Two of my favorite yoga teachers from the Namaste studios, Baxter Bell and Melina Meza, are holding a retreat at their favorite Northern California retreat center. This retreat will be a wonderful way to pause and immerse yourself in the practice of yoga and mindfulness during the busy holiday season. Melina will share winter Seasonal Vinyasa Yoga classes, introduce Ayurvedic practices for self-care, and teach Yin Yoga to prepare your body and mind for meditation. Baxter will be offering tools to help you turn inward and replenish your energy during this slow, quiet time of the year.
Melina and Baxter recently led a yoga retreat in Portugal and walked for a day on the coastal Camino Portugues! The retreat will sell out fast, so register soon.
More info and registration here
Winter Solstice Circle
Sunday, December 16, 2018 at 2 – 4 PM
Addison Yoga Loft, Berkeley, CA
The Winter Solstice marks the longest night of the year and sees us transition from Autumn to Winter. On the year’s darkest day, we call on the divine light from within and honor the pause before we are called to expand again.
The moon at the time will be waxing in Aries building energy to the Full Moon in Cancer on the 22nd, the day after Solstice. We’ll harness the energy of seasons and the moon to fully align with ourselves and what we need to build and move forward in the Gregorian New Year on Jan 1 and Capricorn Season! Welcome 2019 more in tune and in vibrant health.
We will open with a grounding meditation followed by a talk about the significance of these major astrological events and how to make the most of the energy. We’ll replenish body, heart and brain with an alchemized yoga flow and purposeful pranayama (breathing techniques), leaving you feeling clear and inspired. We’ll conclude with a guided Yoga Nidra, or enlightened sleep, a transformative practice designed to heal and restore you on all levels.
Donation based – reservations required. Register online.
That’s a wrap for November but check back to this post for new additions.
Remember to breathe, my friends.
Laurie
PS- Can you guess the November event that this beautiful photo is featured in?
Enter your guess in the comments below.
Laurie Ferris Yoga & Wellness 
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