With my unexpected move I thought you might want to learn more about my journey south to live in Eugene.  And with a few photos!  The primary encouragement was to continue to support my brother, Kim, since his devastating illness during December of 2021.   We haven’t been close at all for five decades though with his collapse it was my place to help him through.  No-one remains in our immediate family but him and me.

Fading nearly to pass away after some weeks in the hospital near Eugene and beginning a Hospice process Kim had a NDE and began to recover rapidly in the weeks after Christmas.

Nearly two months later he was healing slow and steady; capable of entering a skilled nursing facility. He did so in the Eugene area.  Continuing to recover there with lots of medical treatment and therapy he improved slowly.  All the while more thankful for being alive and for the care he was given.  A joyful sense even after losing his very active and physical life.

After half a year in skilled nursing he was able to transfer to an assisted living facility near Eugene where he continues to live comfortably though with mobility limits.  Still with a profound sense of the appreciation for life and often reflecting on his NDE as the major turning point in his life to an ongoing sense of gratitude and to joy of living each day even with these limitations.

Beyond this I will be supporting my dear cousin Eric who has been so supportive of Kim and me during the past year.  I will be helping him build a new, unique dwelling with the folks at Cedar Stone  and refurbish an older house on the same property in south Eugene near Amazon Park for at least a year.  Perhaps I will settle there or come back ‘home’ to Hillsboro near so many I love!

This whole adventure is hand-in-hand with practice in the way I, we, have shared for nearly twenty years here.  Let’s continue to practice.

Much Love  —  Brant

 

Dear Folks;  The fall MBSR course begins in on September 29th at 6pm and continues for 8 weeks.

You are welcome to book the free Orientation Thursday, the 22nd at 6pm to learn more and meet some of the nice folks in this fall’s course.

 MBSR is an extremely effective way of learning to care for ourselves by moderating the those sharp edges of stress. It has a large library of research proving its effectiveness.  This online version  preserves that effectiveness using todays tools appropriately.  Review the details of the course here:  Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) page.  There will be a link to the online MBSR Application on that page.

Set aside concerns about tuition if you have been laid off, impacted by illness, or having trouble with funding. Just reach out to me and we’ll make this work for you; scholarships, payments over time, discounts.

With your registration you’ll be included in my other online classes and workshops if you wish with no additional tuition: See the Schedule.  This is a good way to engage frequent practice during the course.

Reach out if I can answer questions.

Kind Regards  —  Brant

This is Part One of a series to help us meet that part of life we often ignore or place at the bottom of our priorities.  This is a part of life that is immeasurably rich with opportunities to learn, encourage, and serve ourselves and our loved ones.

Learn to navigate life with a compassionate consideration of your inward life as you consider the practical challenges and possibilities you and your loved ones will meet when it is time to leave.  Let’s reflect together with the guidance of your learning materials.

A series that will unfold further through the fall with more sessions to keep us engaged and moving forward along this full-hearted path.

Learning materials provided.

Book Here when posted.

Dear Folks;  Become familiar with and be invited to consider simple, effective ways of enhancing the quality of you life along your path; Online Thursday, July  28 & Aug 4th at 6pm. The word cloud above is a compilation of expressions many dozens of folks offered in a survey to describe their experience of some of these ways of learning and practicing with life as learned here; movement, contemplation, nourishment, self-care, relationships, and more. We will review the often overlooked straight-forward practices and modes of living that have substantial recent research and eons of tradition acknowledging their to offer a path of joy, presence, vitality, and longevity. Definitive research, readings, stories, and some relevant poetry will be shared. Rich learning materials will be provided. Your Zoom link will bet sent to you shortly before class. Book your place in this series starting this Thursday, July 28th at 6pm

Reach out if you have questions. I hope to share these evenings with you! Kind Regards — Brant

Dear Folks;  So many of you requested this series in our survey of possible summer courses this spring.

The series will be an invitation to bring  presence to your way of self-care and compassion for you upper back, neck and shoulder so often highjacked by discomfort and tension in a busy life.   Learning materials will be included.

I look forward to working with you!  —  Brant

Book you place here

Noting the words offered by students above in a simple survey asking what they experience in courses here let’s find a contemplative path forward in knowing joy, as a practice; Online; Thurs June 30, July 7 & 14 at 6pm.

This will be a new theme for mindfulness and contemplative practice here. Outlining a framework for the reasons and benefits of practice, a practical way forward, an acknowledgement of the difficulties and deep benefits of practice.

Especially in this era of so many unknowns while finding our way back from a pandemic there are still the challenges of daily life.  We can work with anything that arises.  Let’s explore this path in this series.

There will be learning materials and references for you in this unique series.  Modes of helpful home practice will be offered each week.  Class time will be practice, reflection, and encouragement.

I look forward to working with you  —  Brant

Book Here

MINDFULNESS-BASED OPEN-DOOR TRAINING (MB-ODT) is a Comprehensive and unique offering for our times.  It will be an invitation for you to lean into a practice with personal guidance and  a breadth of learning modes.  It will be based on many years of teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) here, the elements of contemplative practices of many traditions, and straightforward guidance for personal practice.  MB-ODT will include MBSR and other learning materials developed here.   This has been developed for our post-acute COVID times of online/personal learning as well as the challenges we face individually, in families, in our professions, in society at large.. It will include a free Orientation session on Thursday, June 23rd at 6pm (Book your place here), a  personal clarity orientation (Contact Brant soon to schedule your session), an ‘open door to all of my courses workshops listed here, and a private mindfulness-based life coaching session with me.   Begins anytime you wish this summer so you attend courses with an ‘open door’ all term (Contact Brant to register).

Dear Folks; How would it be to begin 2022 shared; loving presence, nourishing movement, moments of kind stillness, and an invitation to the rich experience of life’s joy? All this in the atmosphere of the experiences you all shared last year about practicing together in our courses as described the word cloud and photos above.

Here is the link to register for the retreat at Kove Yoga on New Year’s morning OR just show up before 9am and pay cash or check as you wish

For this Annual Retreat we’ll invite our unique and personal way forward into 2022 through direct personal experiences of being grounded in the present, embodied with mindful compassionate movement, and encouraging the elements of life’s joy often overlooked in the pace of daily life.

There will be gentle mindful movement practice, simple meditative practice, progressive relaxation practice, kind reflection, periods of contemplation, poetry, and more.

Tuition is $30 though, as usual, if money is tight just show up and we’ll find a way to support you; scholarship, payment plan, or otherwise.  The most important thing is for you to be supported and to support the others that show up.

Questions about registration and showing up for this? Reach Out to Me!

Kindest Regards – –  Brant

 

Dear Folks; Many of you asked for in-person classes and now they are here! It will be a joy to share this time with you in Kove Yoga’s open and beautiful space.

These will be in addition to all of our ongoing online classes!

Let’s share all the experiences you sent to me earlier this year and now in-person for a few classes.

Here is a short video with Tara, the owner of Kove Yoga, and me sharing some thoughts about teaching. I am so glad to know her and that we teach in the same open-hearted, attentive spirit.

Here is how in-person will work
(masks and vaccinations of course)

1. My in-person classes will be at Kove Yoga  in downtown Hillsboro a 30 second walk from my old classroom!
2. You will need to register and book with Kove Yoga directly with them to take my classes there.  Just go to their calendar  and click on a class you’d like to take and you’ll be prompted to register with Kove Yoga if you haven’t already, and then book your class.
3. There is a FREE PASS available when you register.  Here is the free pass code: FREECLASSBRANT. Just use it after you register and then book your free class. Any class there with any teacher!!
4. During Holiday Term I will teach these at Kove Yoga: 10:30am Gentle Mindfulness-Base Yoga on Mondays starting November 29th, and 6pm Beginning Mindfulness-Base Yoga on Thursdays, starting December .
2nd. In 2022 I will offer The New Year’s Half-Day Morning Retreat as we do each year,  and then MBSR in January.** Both in-person at Kove Yoga. Book Here ).
6. **I will of course continue all of my online courses with an All-Online-Class Holiday Pass** starting the week after Thanksgiving! As long as you show up I will be here for you one place or another!!!

Much Love. —  Brant

By-the-way, I taught a fall MBSR Silent Retreat a Kove Yoga and folks really enjoyed the beautiful classroom space.  Here it is with folks in progressive relaxation!

Dear Folks;Have I told you recently how much I appreciate you all? I do. Every moment of every day. — Brant

Many dozens of you provided generous and thoughtful answers and comments to this simple survey. I am confident we are moving in a direction that is helpful as we enter 2022.

Let’s continue to find ways to meet life’s joys and challenges together during this era of monumental change; social, personal, family, local community.

The main results of the survey seem to be:

1. The large majority folks are very happy with online courses and willing to attend in-person when this pandemic has settled down in 2022.
2. Some folks haven’t or don’t attend online and will come back to classes once classes are in-person.
3. When folks noted which classes they would attend, online or in-person, the majority noted that either one would be fine though most preferred online classes.
4. Many folks noted that in-person once-in-a-while would be very welcomed such as periodic in-person themed workshops or gatherings.

Below is a graphic of the first question you answered:

Below is a graphic of the second question you answered:

Some of your comments and some of my thoughts about this survey:

One student noted, “I would love a retreat.”  I am hoping to offer a New Year’s Day Retreat as we have done for many years and in-person this coming January 1st. I will keep you posted.  I have been thinking about doing a multi-day retreat also.  Let’s see what we can do!  There were a number of folks who mentioned the desire to be in periodic theme-driven workshops and gatherings, even if in-person so let’s lean in that direction, “I would attend an in-person class from time to time if offered.”

There were a few folks who really long for in-person or avoid online classes with these comments, “In-person yoga a must,”  “Looking forward to in-person!!  “Especially weekends and 5:30 weekday classes!”  For those folks who really prefer or only want in-person classes I am going to provide them some recommendations for good teachers who teach in person.  Here to support you even to refer you to someone to support your practice.

Many folks still have concerns about COVID and/or prefer online and made these comments, “Can’t attend in-person classes because I’m out of state,”I may attend in person in 2022 if Covid cases are way down,” “I would feel comfortable if all would show proof of vaccination,” I’ll consider in-person once my son (11) is fully vaccinate,”  ” I do also really like the flexibility of not having to drive since I am in SW Portland so getting to Hillsboro means an hour of driving.”  “. . . my lung disease makes me highly vulnerable to any type of lung infection. And I don’t think I’d enjoy doing yoga while wearing a mask.”  Be assured online classes will continue as long as folks continue to show up!

There were many encouraging and heart-felt comments that help me continue to see value in sharing these practices!  Like these,  “So thankful for all that you do!”  “I appreciate your careful and thoughtful approach to meeting our needs.”Thank you for continuing to find creative ways to serve your devoted clientele.”  

I will continue to keep you informed and ask your opinion as we move forward. This is a challenging time for all of us so let’s find ways to meet life full-on and work with what we encounter with strength, compassion and worthy action.

Much Love —  Brant