 Dear ones, You may have heard something about a bunch of women gathering in DC & around the globe recently. Well, it wasn't just women and more than simply a few American ladies showed up. I was one of the over 1/2 a million strong in Washington along with my husband, many from our EmbodyGR tribe, and the greater GR area. Truly it was one of the most powerful experiences of my life. I don't typically dig large crowds and this was massive. Yet I didn't feel claustrophobic, unsafe, or worried. What I experienced was similar to when I practice yoga with deep intention- I was part of something larger than myself. Yoga in its essence means oneness, union. In DC that is what we manifested; we came together as one body, one voice. Not simply as a "party," we were a people united for the greater good. We stood, marched, & danced for over 8 hours in a sea of signs, pink hats, and chants. The power of the collective was undeniable. Let me take this moment to be clear. Each individual present had their own personal reason(s) for marching. Many important issues were represented such as immigrant rights, LGBTQ, Black Lives Matter, water, environment, education, gun control and so on. It was less about protesting one person or one political party and more about human values & justice for all people. My personal sign said, "My daughters deserve better." I have 3 daughters and feel women's right have been and continue to be under threat. I stand for a nation that supports women as equal to men and will continue to work for our rights in health care, economic security, representation and safety. What most people don't know about me is that I have Native American heritage. My maternal blood line has Sioux Chippewa flowing through our veins. By DNA I have been wired to champion water, the land, and hold our earth as sacred. Since I was a little girl I burned with that fire. So I also stand for our environment, our great Mother Earth who supports and nourishes us all. These are important times. We cannot ostrich ourselves with our heads in the sand. Our nation is asking us to speak our voice. I understand this can be exhausting, overwhelming inconvenient, messy and ultimately uncomfortable. And yet we must act. Using the wisdom of Marianne Williamson who answered the question at a gathering the night before the march: "How do I find my voice? You USE it!"  This week at Embody, I will call each of us to the challenge of "living" our mantra, not simply holding it as an ideal in our hearts or a sticker on our car. We shall explore the similarity between yoga & the Women's March on DC. We shall ask who/what is important to YOU? For who/what are you willing to take a stand? Won't you please join us to discern what matters to you, take a stand, find your voice & speak into the world a truth you are willing to work toward? This is not politics, this is about human rights. We are the ones. The time is now. We need to hold each other close. See you on the mat. Yours in oneness, dana
Upcoming EventsFebruary
February 1, 2017 **We have child care! Sign up on-line. Who: YOU and friends What: Yoga, meditation & service Where: Fountain Street Church Social Hall When: Wed. Feb 1, 2017- 6:30-8:00pm Why: To empower you to act! February 25- Women Stand - Service and Self Care Event - Women & Environment When: Saturday, February 25 from 10am - 12 pm Where: The Pyramid Scheme March 25- EmbodyGR & GR Drive- yoga & hoops When: March 25th @ 4-4:45pm yoga, hoops @ 7:00 Where: Delta Plex (tickets $12- if you need help it's available) *proceeds graciously donated to EmbodyGR
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Tribe of love!
Huge announcement! Our longtime friend Jeremy Arndt will be our special musical guest this week! He will accompany as I lead our yoga flow with his sacred sound guaranteed to open your heart & transform your soul! Jeremy Arndt is a world-traveling musician from Michigan. For the last 7 years, he has traveled the world studying different musical traditions and sharing his own music. He has shared his music in 23 different countries, on 5 continents. He shares the stories of his journey through the music of the Handpan (aka Hang Drum) and didgeridoo. To discover Jeremy's music, visit www.JeremyArndt.com and you can listen to him play in this video as well:
This is a not to be missed event! Bring friends, neighbors, colleagues, all you know who would love to feel better through the power of yoga, meditation, & music. And I guarantee each person will desire to do more good in the world as a result of having shown up & practiced! Please, please, please share this rare & special gift! And bring a little $ if you want to take Jeremy's music home with you. See you on the mat!
love, dana Upcoming Events
January 25, 2017
**We have child care! Sign up on-line. Who: YOU and friends What: Yoga flow w/ special musical guest Jeremy Arndt Where: Fountain Street Church Social Hall When: Wed. Jan 25, 2017- 6:30-8:00pm Why: To open your heart! January Series @ Calvin- Jan 23, 12:30-1:30 Jeremy Courtney, The World is a Scary Place, Love Anyway "Music can change the world because it can change people." Bono  Must you drink water to live? Are you made mainly of water? Do you enjoy our Great Lakes? If you answered yes to one or more of those questions... For the love of our Great Lakes H20, please learn more about what is happening. Act if you are inspired. Simple concrete steps are listed below. A unified, well organized voice needs to be heard- are you willing to speak? Please join me & many others who care about the future of our world's most precious resource. So much gratitude to Peri Jill Phillips for spearheading this important issue along w/ hubby Travis! How to Take ActionNestle Groundwater pumping increase The state will be taking comment until March 3rd. Letters can be sent to DEQ-EH@michigan.gov There will be a public hearing on the proposed increased large quantity water withdrawal. The date and location is not announced yet. For more information: Carrie Monosmith, (517) 290-2601 monosmithc@michigan.gov looneyc@michigan.gov This letter is meant to serve as a tool to aid in writing a letter to the state and letting your voice be heard. You can copy this word for word if you wish, or it can be completely different. Please let the state know your thoughts on the matter at hand. Dear MDEQ, Since Nestle has come to our state they have withdrawn billions of gallons of water to be bottled and sold abroad. This is water that will never return to the aquifer it is was withdrawn from. Even in the Great Lake State water is a finite resource, and should not be given away for free so international companies like Nestle can make large profits. Privatizing something so essential to life as water, needs to be done very carefully and cautiously. As the world grows thirstier and big business looks to make a profit extra precautions need to be taken by our state to protect our most precious resource for future generations. Allowing Nestle to increase pumping from 150-400 gpm is not in Michigan’s best interest. This was shown by the computer model the MDEQ created. It received a failing grade which means the aquifer and surface waters in the area will be negatively affected by this increase. The fact that the MDEQ chose to override the computer model saying it was overly conservative is not a sustainable decision. The state should be overly conservative so our state can continue to be the amazing state that it is. Michigan has very little to gain from this and a lot to lose. I would like to ask that you not allow this increase to happen and outline further protections to make sure that our ground and surface water is protected from the privatization of the resource that makes our state so great. Concerned Citizen, Your name here :) Thank You!Together we can make our voices heard on this important issue! Thank you for being a water defender and part of a community to protect our resources!
 What a week we had kicking off 2017! So many bright lights ready & willing to do the challenging work to live a life we LOVE. This week we'll continue on this journey of authoring lives we desire; from the inside out. And as usual we will buck convention & flip it on its head. Instead of looking outside ourselves for what we don't yet have, we'll turn inside to seek answers of being. We'll do 3 things: 1.Get clear on how we want to feel, who we are "here to be." 2. Make a plan for concrete actions steps to take which will manifest that new state of being. 3. Open to the limitless possibilities of authoring what we want to have our lives look like. BE. DO. HAVE. Let's plan to bring our journals each & every Wendesday this year. If you don't have one, simply ask & we can get you a notebook ;) It's important to write things down because they become visible, tangible, and progress can be tracked, even measured! You can celebrate success & pivot when necessary. One can't know the right direction to go if you don't know where you are headed. And if you know where you're headed & don't feel confident and supported you are less likely to arrive at your destination. When I doubt myself I remember the genius words of Adlai E. Stevenson- "It's hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse." Makes me get over my small self right quick! Why don't y'all wrestle with that quote until we gather Wednesday and then we shall work it through our bodies, in our yoga practice! ;) Join us Wednesday to continue creating our best year yet! You deserve the most amazing life you can imagine. EmbodyGR can help! And what better way than in community; together is better! Ride on! dana Upcoming EventsJanuary 18, 2017 **We have child care! Sign up on-line. Who: YOU and friends What: Yoga, meditation, journaling, & giddy-upping on your horse & riding! Where: Fountain Street Church Social Hall When: Wed. Jan 18, 2017- 6:30-8:00pm Why: Take your life in the direction YOU choose! Events: January Series @ Calvin- 1/18/17 12:30-1:30 Overrated: Are We More in Love with the Idea of Changing the World than Actually Changing the World- Eugene Cho January Series @ Calvin- 1/20/17 12:30-1:30- How to Find and Live Your Calling: Lessons from the Psychology of Vocation January 25- BIG NEWS! Jeremy Arndt is our special guest musician @ EmbodyGR weekly gathering! 6:30-8:00pm - not to be missed event! And for free... you gotta be there! EmbodyGR & GR Drive- yoga & hoops- March 25- 4-4:45pm Delta Plex w/ hoops 7:00 (tickets $12- if you need help it's available) *proceeds graciously donated to EmbodyGR  Quote for Meditation“When writing the story of your life, don’t let anyone else hold the pen.” ~Unknown
Happy 2017! The calendar has officially flipped, the page is blank, the etch-a-sketch has been shaken. This leaves a clean space, a clearing for possibility! Anything... really. What are you ready to create? What lights you up? What is beyond your wildest dreams? As the author of your own life, you choose! But, how, you may think. Well, come to EmbodyGR this week to find out! We will explore why most goals and resolutions tend not to be long lasting. We will distinguish the difference between change and transformation. We will shift a paradigm of thinking from external change to internal transformation. We will set the tone & platform for your year. All in community because together is better! Bring a journal (we will have paper available too). Bring a friend who may feel a little stuck, a little lonely, in need of a boost. EmbodyGR's circle of care always extends a hand outward. Bring yourself; our circle is not complete without YOU! See you soon! With creative magic, dana  January 11, 2017 **We have child care! Sign up on-line. Who: YOU and friends What: Yoga, meditation, journaling, dreaming BIG! Where: Fountain Street Church Social Hall When: Wed. Jan 11, 2017- 6:30-8:00pm Why: Transform your life!
Upcoming EventsJanuary
January Series at Calvin College- FREE talks each day of the week in Jan on important topics in today's world. All held at Covenant Fine Arts Center Auditorium on Calvin College Campus. Listen. Learn. Discern. This week: Wednesday, January 11 @ 12:30 - 1:30PM Until All Are Free: A Look at Slavery Today- Gary Haugen Thursday, January 12, 12:30 - 1:30PM I'll Push You: A story of radical friendship, overcoming challenges and the power of community- Justin Skeesuck & Patrick Gray January 9th: Start Garden Film Series: Poverty, Inc. - When: Monday January 9- 6-8:00 pm Where: Start Garden 40 Pearl St NW Ste 200, GR 49506 https://www.facebook.com/events/1869631736588979/ January 16th: 31st Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Program- When: Monday January 16th @6:30-8:00 Where: Fountain Street Church https://www.facebook.com/events/2186590754898792/ January 20-21- Women's March On Washington- cost $150 chartered bus through FSC March DC: https://fountain-street-church.networkforgood.com/events/1260-fountain-street-church-to-women-s-march-on-dc January 21st: Women's March on Washington at Fountain Street When: Saturday, January 21- 10-5:00pm FREE Where: at Fountain Street Church- Check out the facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1806392699650406/ |
“The EmbodyGR community embraces and supports, says ‘yes you can’ when the noisy inner voice says, ‘no you can’t’ – Kari Wilson, Community Member Archives
September 2021
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Our MissionEmbody is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to positively impacting global health and well-being for all people. We provide access to physical and mental wellness education for all regardless of race, identity, orientation, creed, abledness, or ability to pay. Using the healing tools of yoga and mindfulness, and through providing meaningful volunteer and service opportunities, we help people regain agency over their own well-being. Our FREE weekly programs and events empower individuals to become healthier, happier, and make the world better in their own way. We are dedicated to improving the quality of people’s daily lives so they can “Feel Better Do Good.
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