Dear Students, Friends & Colleagues;  Since moving to Eugene a few months ago to support family I have been promising an update for you with some anecdotes and images to give you a sense of the journey here so far.  Here we go!

You may know that my brother, Kim, became deathly ill late in 2022 and I was commuting often to Eugene to help him sort out life and hopefully survive his ordeal.  He has survived, recovered mostly, and now in assisted living here.  During early 2023 my dear cousin Eric asked if I could come and live in Eugene to help him with construction and rebuilding projects near his home here in Eugene.  I did so in June to help him out and be near Kim to support his recovery.

Kim had a near-death experience and good medical and nursing care. He began slow recovery early in 2023 that continues, Now he often says, “I love life now even though to learn that  I had to get very sick.”  He has always loved art and been unable to spend time with it until now.  He now does his art daily and teaches three art classes a week in his assisted living place and the nursing home nearby.

 

Now further from my children and granddaughters in Washington, they were
delighted to take the train down for a visit here.  They stayed in my Grandpa B&B and took over the house I am helping refurbish during their stay; swimming at Amazon Pool nearby, a visit to the river, strolling the neighborhood, and more.

The small 1947 brick house I inhabit is being refurbished from head to toe; roof, kitchen, bathroom, electric, Lunos air quality system, plumbing, wood floors refinished, new windows, cork siding for insulation, and much more.  It is in a lovely, down-to-earth neighborhood with many dear folks nearby.

We are building an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on the back of the lot of this
small house by Adrienne and Cueyo of CedarStone Design.   It is a lovely dwelling that is very unique in its first use of cross laminated timber (CLT) here in the area.  Very carbon neutral and environmentally sensitive.  It will have a large array of solar panels to power both houses (see the picture here).   A landmark project for the region.  I am honored to be part of the team; electricians, plumbers, carpenters, architect, builder, my cousin, excavators, and many other.  Grand and lovely chaos!

The new dwellings will leave me to create the landscape.  One dear student, Melanie, has sent along seeds for the garden next year from her garden in Hillsboro.  Sunflowers were my first addition to the landscape this year!

I am now an employee of the local YMCA and the City of Eugene’s Parks & Recreation Department to teach yoga and mindfulness practice periodically very near my home.  I will need to hone my dancing and singing skills to keep up with colleagues at the YMCA  and encourage my acting skills to keep up with my colleagues at Parks and Recreation (see these video links ).

I continue to have ’Eugene Moments’ encountering unique and fascinating local personalities.  One early morning as I sipped coffee on the bench outside my neighborhood grocer, Sundance Grocery, and a man pulled up, parked, jumped out and walked over to me and said, “The guy walked up to the taco stand and asked, ‘Make me one with everything!” The taco maker handed it to him and he paid.  The man asked for his change and the taco maker said, “Change comes from within.”  With that the fellow who told me that story said nothing else and went back to his car and drove away.  A ’Eugene Moment’ and there have been many!

I will be traveling up to HIllsboro on the weekend of October 14th and 15th and
hope to gather with you somehow.  Let’s be in touch with perhaps an outdoor yoga class.visit if the weather is at least a little delightful!  

You remain in my heart.  Always nearby in online classes, cards, calls, texts and periodic visits!  Reach out to keep in touch and if you are near Eugene give me a shout!

Much Love  —  Brant

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!