Form & Flow is our most taught class at Sanctuary, and yet you might be wondering what exactly you are getting into when you take this style of class! The name hearkens back to the days when Sanctuary (then called Yoga Sanctuary) was an Anusara yoga studio. Anusara was founded in 1997 by John Friend; his style integrated physical principles of alignment often found in Iyengar classes with yoga therapeutics and Tantric spiritual teachings.

Embodyoga with Corinne, Yin Yoga with Luke, Queer & Trans Yoga with Fran, and Prenatal Yoga with Sebastian…introducing the classes and teachers that make our fall schedule so special!

My hope is that my clients feel lighter, gain a renewed sense of health and clarity, and learn that they have the ability to heal themselves. My desire is to guide my clients to an embodied sense of their purpose and mission in this life and the gifts that they have been given to fulfill that mission. True embodiment brings the empowerment to fully step into the life of their dreams.

My work informs everything about how I interact with the world. I see firsthand, on a personal and interpersonal basis, how systems of oppression impact every single one of us, albeit in very different ways. Because I have been entrusted with so many people’s personal stories, when I’m out and about in the world, I think I’m usually hyper-aware that everyone I encounter is carrying stories I know nothing about, and that those stories are impacting how they behave and perceive the world around them. It makes me take things a lot less personally. I hope it causes me to behave with a combination of deep empathy and strong, healthy boundaries.

Valley Free Radio seeks to educate, inspire, and entertain through programming that reflects the diversity of the local community. We seek to provide a space for media access and education, placing equipment, skills, and critical tools in the hands of the community. We aim to serve with particular regard for those overlooked or under-represented by other media and to provide for the exchange of cultural and intellectual ideas and music.

Sanctuary hosted our First Annual Community Spotlight Retreat Day earlier this month. In collaboration with a group of our Collective members we organized a full day of Sanctuary-inspired activities, exclusively for the staff and board members of the organizations that have participated in our Community Spotlight Series. The sampling of services included yoga classes, bodywork sessions, meditation, somatics, and more.

My approach to ancestral lineage healing is informed by earth and body-based ritual arts, somatic and spiritual healing, and a lifelong commitment to nurturing collective liberation. When we reconnect with our well ancestors, we deconstruct the isolation of individualism and root into the vast and nourishing mycelial network of ancestral blessings, medicine, and magic. For many people, cultural practices of ancestral reverence have been lost through centuries of colonialism, migration, and assimilation.  Thankfully, each of us has wise, well, loving, earth-honoring ancestors lovingly waiting for us to turn toward them.

I’ve learned the value of slowing down and of simplifying inner life—and also, the value of allowing the storms to happen when they’re happening. As I’ve traversed through my own internal world, I’ve found it easier to relate to others’ challenges. I’ve found that at the core, many of our challenges have similar voices with different themes. This has really brought me deeper into empathy and a knowing that we are all one.

Cancer Connection’s mission is to provide a haven where people with cancer and their loved ones can learn how to navigate the complicated cancer journey through one-to-one guidance, education, peer support, integrative therapies, and creative programs to strengthen body and spirit.

As a Yoga Teacher, I get to hold space for community, help people build confidence, and hopefully make the practice of yoga enjoyable and accessible on and off the mat. Outside of yoga teaching, I’ve always worked in human services and the arts. I’ve dedicated my life to be in service of others and am committed to uplifting unheard voices. I think teaching yoga continues to fulfill those ethical principles.

The Care Center helps women who have been systematically disadvantaged navigate the path to financial stability. We pair rigorous academics with supportive services including childcare, transportation, meals, healthcare, counseling, and housing resources. With all this in place, women earn college degrees and change the trajectory for their families.

As an educator and yoga instrutor, I see my classes as a means of creating more space. Space to question, space to think critically, space to stumble, and as a result, to inevitably find more compassion and nuance for the world.

When Sanctuary set out on a mission to support individuals who are bravely committed to improving the health of our community and region, we understood that it would require dreaming big and approaching things differently. We envisioned a community of activists who show up for their community by showing up for themselves. Yet when we thought more about what to do with all of that creative and impassioned energy, it became clear that we needed to go outside our four walls and build connections with like-minded organizations. The Community Spotlight Series came into fruition, and was officially launched in March 2024. 

I often say that Contact Improv checks all the boxes. It meets my need for physical activity. It’s rigorous and there is a lot of lifting (taking other people’s weight) which builds strength. It’s social, playful, and fun. I have so many friends who I’ve met through the form. Above all else, it meets me where I am. If I’m feeling tired I can have a slow dance low to the ground. If I’m feeling energized, I might have a dance that goes in and out of the ground, falling through space, and engaging a wider dynamic range. It’s a pleasurable way of building a smarter body.

Meet our January 2025 Community Spotlight organization. Empty Arms Bereavement Support serves individuals and families in Massachusetts and nationwide whose babies have died through miscarriage, stillbirth, early infant death, or termination for medical reasons.

I am deeply committed to helping our world and all its beings heal from trauma. There are so many systems that actively harm and traumatize on a regular basis. I’m engaged in visualizing and creating communities and systems that value balance, belonging, and healing. I am a queer, non-binary trauma survivor, and finding places where I can be my full self and feel comfortable can be difficult. I believe that creating safe spaces and moments of peace can make a huge impact. The more I work to heal from traumatic experiences that happened to me, the more I notice how much healing is needed by others. And I feel deeply honored that I can help facilitate wellness through sound healing work.

Since we have taken over the studio, we have been trying to balance the high value of what we offer, the everyday costs of running a studio, and financial accessibility for anyone who wishes to practice. We have noticed that in our culture caretaking professions are financially undervalued, and this includes yoga teachers, bodyworkers, and healers. Our hope is not to dissuade anyone from practicing, but to name the true price of our yoga class offerings, outside of a sliding scale model.

Meet our December 2024 Community Spotlight organization, Resilient Community Arts. Their mission is to sustain efforts for social progress and equity through affordable arts programming.

I started breathwork as a way to ease anxiety and eliminate panic attacks. After 20 years of self practice in breathwork and meditation I became a Somatic Breathwork Guide and joined the faculty at Kripalu Center. This came about as I saw the world shifting dramatically around 2020 and I wanted to share what I had learned and experienced in my practice over the years to help heal and bring people together.

My work is an expression of my dreaming toward collective liberation. People deserve access to choice, and to be in their bodies in ways that work for them (including not being in their bodies). Simultaneously, complex trauma is an expression of larger systems of power and harm, like white supremacy, ableism, capitalism, colonialism, and their powerful sibling and offspring systems; I practice believing that processes intended to heal that trauma are/should be inextricably bound up in the parallel process of dismantling those traumatizing systems. Additionally, as individual bodies surviving and taking action against systems of harm, I also believe that our efforts are more sustainable if we can be on the same team as our bodies–speaking a shared language, making informed choices, and connecting with other bodies in aligned ways.