(before the great speed-up!) we hope you are enjoying fall in the Northwest. This month we bring you a wealth of great opportunities to huddle close and celebrate your yoga!!

Saturday, November 1st from 7:30-10pm, join our own beloved Lolo Woods and Cameron Flint for an All-Soul’s kirtan, a night of sweet stories and soaring song to lift your hearts and spirits. We are grateful to welcome back T.H. Subash Chandran to sing and play with Lolo also—a true living treasure of Indian Classical music, right in our own neighborhood. Please join us!

Feeling stressed, tired, anxious, and over-stimulated? Us too! Join Lisa Mae and Nancy Schneider for Balancing Your Vata: An Ayurveda and Yoga Workshop. Friday, November 7th from 7-9pm, we will gather to learn about Vata season and how it affects us all energetically (ever wonder why the holidays feel SO overwhelming?) and what we can do about it, and to practice some specific asana and pranayama to help ground, nourish and balance us through this season. We promise you will leave feeling calmer and more centered… Please email us to pre-register for this workshop.

A brand new rookie series starts on Saturday November 1st. Let Heather guide you or someone you know that is in need of some yoga love through the very basics of beginning a yoga practice. Open, easy, and not the least bit intimidating, this is the lily pad for leaping into the yoga world. Sign up now!

Our monthly family Kirtan is Sunday, November 9th from 6-8pm. This month we serve Street Yoga, one of our favorite organizations to give money and love. Please join us in family style celebration and chanting mantra, and of course yummy treats. All warmly welcomed!

Did you know that you can now use your credit or debit card at the front desk? We thought that might be good news for you. Sorry we took so long to modernize…

Ecstatic Pathways In: A Hip and Heart Opening Workshop with Lisa Mae. Well the name says it all! Friday, November 21st from 7-930pm, we will peel open those parts that can get rusted closed sometimes, and discover the intimate connection between them as we move through some deep asana, specific chanting and mantra, and guided meditation to focus our energy on that of spreading love and generosity. Thank GOD for yoga! Please pre-register, this workshop is already half-full and will sell out.

Thanksgiving Yoga Feast(s) with Diana and Lisa Mae!! On Thursday, November 27th, we gratefully offer you the chance to get your yoga on before you get involved with whatever family or football business you attend to on Thanksgiving Day. This is a long tradition and we are so excited to offer you 2 opportunities to celebrate with gratitude this year— 9am with Lisa Mae and 11am with Diana. Both classes are all-levels, and by cash donation to Sisters of The Road Café, so bring a donation with you on the day of class. Both of these classes will fill quickly, so please pre-register so you don’t end up doing yoga on the sidewalk in the cold… All other classes are cancelled on this holiday, so you’d better get in here!

Both Breitenbush in January and Costa Rica in February are filling up, family, so if you are putting off your registration, don’t!! Email us here for details on either retreat, great outdoor adventures and deep yoga dives in 2 totally different climates. Nice.

Lovely new fall t-shirts are here for you, as well as a few new bits to help you celebrate your yoga at home, like little altar items and such. Take a look… Also we have gift certificates in any amount you can dream up for your special pal, so consider that… A gift with a very high cost-to-value ratio in these uncertain times!

We love you, family, and thank you for your continued love and support of this vibrant vision. It wouldn’t be the same without you.

Snuggly fall kisses,
Lisa Mae, Diana, and the Bhaktishop Ku

(before the great speed-up!) we hope you are enjoying fall in the Northwest. This month we bring you a wealth of great opportunities to huddle close and celebrate your yoga!!

Saturday, November 1st from 7:30-10pm, join our own beloved Lolo Woods and Cameron Flint for an All-Soul’s kirtan, a night of sweet stories and soaring song to lift your hearts and spirits. We are grateful to welcome back T.H. Subash Chandran to sing and play with Lolo also—a true living treasure of Indian Classical music, right in our own neighborhood. Please join us!

Feeling stressed, tired, anxious, and over-stimulated? Us too! Join Lisa Mae and Nancy Schneider for Balancing Your Vata: An Ayurveda and Yoga Workshop. Friday, November 7th from 7-9pm, we will gather to learn about Vata season and how it affects us all energetically (ever wonder why the holidays feel SO overwhelming?) and what we can do about it, and to practice some specific asana and pranayama to help ground, nourish and balance us through this season. We promise you will leave feeling calmer and more centered… Please email us to pre-register for this workshop.

A brand new rookie series starts on Saturday November 1st. Let Heather guide you or someone you know that is in need of some yoga love through the very basics of beginning a yoga practice. Open, easy, and not the least bit intimidating, this is the lily pad for leaping into the yoga world. Sign up now!

Our monthly family Kirtan is Sunday, November 9th from 6-8pm. This month we serve Street Yoga, one of our favorite organizations to give money and love. Please join us in family style celebration and chanting mantra, and of course yummy treats. All warmly welcomed!

Did you know that you can now use your credit or debit card at the front desk? We thought that might be good news for you. Sorry we took so long to modernize…

Ecstatic Pathways In: A Hip and Heart Opening Workshop with Lisa Mae. Well the name says it all! Friday, November 21st from 7-930pm, we will peel open those parts that can get rusted closed sometimes, and discover the intimate connection between them as we move through some deep asana, specific chanting and mantra, and guided meditation to focus our energy on that of spreading love and generosity. Thank GOD for yoga! Please pre-register, this workshop is already half-full and will sell out.

Thanksgiving Yoga Feast(s) with Diana and Lisa Mae!! On Thursday, November 27th, we gratefully offer you the chance to get your yoga on before you get involved with whatever family or football business you attend to on Thanksgiving Day. This is a long tradition and we are so excited to offer you 2 opportunities to celebrate with gratitude this year— 9am with Lisa Mae and 11am with Diana. Both classes are all-levels, and by cash donation to Sisters of The Road Café, so bring a donation with you on the day of class. Both of these classes will fill quickly, so please pre-register so you don’t end up doing yoga on the sidewalk in the cold… All other classes are cancelled on this holiday, so you’d better get in here!

Both Breitenbush in January and Costa Rica in February are filling up, family, so if you are putting off your registration, don’t!! Email us here for details on either retreat, great outdoor adventures and deep yoga dives in 2 totally different climates. Nice.

Lovely new fall t-shirts are here for you, as well as a few new bits to help you celebrate your yoga at home, like little altar items and such. Take a look… Also we have gift certificates in any amount you can dream up for your special pal, so consider that… A gift with a very high cost-to-value ratio in these uncertain times!

We love you, family, and thank you for your continued love and support of this vibrant vision. It wouldn’t be the same without you.

Snuggly fall kisses,
Lisa Mae, Diana, and the Bhaktishop Kula

...in our country that only Obama can deliver and carry through. The national collective field has shifted and will continue to shift ensuring Obama’s success at the polls for a successful electoral college outcome. It is so strong that any voting or oppositional improprieties are easily overcome. It will happen, is happening, has happened.”

If you share this intention and want to help bring it into reality, please join us on Saturday, October 25th from 4-7pm—there is much to clear from our own bodies and souls around the traumas that have occurred in our country and political system over the past 8 years.  Many of us are afraid to even believe that a new future is possible. Come and make room for this new reality by using more than just hope!

Register and vote, friends. The deadline is October 14th.  This election is very important, and there are candidates that want to fight and ignore, and candidates that want to unite and heal. And YOU are free to decide. So please, exercise your freedom of choice and vote this November. The future of your country depends on it! Read this terrific article by Anne Lamott in Salon.com, on faith and staying present in the political and economic storm we find ourselves in.

Happy Birthday to us, we are a year old, officially! Yummy family, thank you all for your presence at our lovely new home this year. So of course we are throwing a party, and you KNOW we know how. Join us Saturday, October 4th from 7-10pm for another ruckus night of dancing with DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid! For eight thin dollars you can get your funky groove on at Bhakti Bhangra, our no-shoes, no-booze dance party that rocks the People’s Republic of Southeast Portland!!! Bring your partner, bring your kids, eat some birthday cupcakes, and celebrate with us!

Let Heidi give you or someone you know a sweet and thorough introduction to yoga in our October Rookie Series! Beginning Saturday the 4th for 4 weeks, from 1-2:30pm, learn the basics of yoga from soup to nuts, so you can take all the freak-out out of coming to yoga classes. Please pre-register via email or phone so we know you are coming. A perfect time to get your yoga practice started, or to push on that pal of yours that REALLY needs to unwind…

Kirtan is October 12th with your happy kirtan family, The Om Girls. This month we have our friend Steve Grant joining us all the way from Seattle, and man, you gotta hear him sing Jai Ma…We love this monthly chant-fest with all of you, and this month will be supporting the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, a real beacon of change and hope in this sometimes insane political climate.  Read more at Barackobama.com.  All love, all the time at The Bhaktishop!

Tasha is sharing Yoga For Cyclists on Saturday, October 18th from 3-5pm. For all you avid bike riders out there (and I know you are out there, I have seen our jammed-up bike racks!) come and learn some specially tailored yoga tricks to keep you moving on your chosen form of alternative transport. All levels, all good.

Please join us in warmly welcoming a very special guest, Swami Tripurari, on Friday October 24th from 7-9pm. Swami is Heidi Jo’s beloved teacher, and this is an amazing opportunity to sit near a very celebrated and deeply knowledgeable yogi, and share his talk on Poetry and The Nature of Enlightenment. A true master! There will be a sweet kirtan also with the wonderful Agni Dev, so please do join us in good company, for an $8 donation…

All-Souls kirtan with Lolo Woods and Cameron Flint! Welcome back our own sweet Lolo for another solo night of divine singing on Saturday, November 1st from 7:30-10pm. Open your heart and voice through her beautiful resonant sounds and fun stories for an enchanting evening for all soul seekers.

Listen up!! We have two upcoming Bhaktishop-style retreats in 2009 to share with you: A winter wonderland at Breitenbush Hot Springs from January 9-11 (imagine 30 Bhaktis in bathrobes swarming the wilds of the woods…), and the enchanted life in Costa Rica on Feb 11-19 (um, 18 of your yogi pals getting awesome and deep on the pristine beaches and jungles). Both of these magical trips are hosted by Lisa Mae and Diana. If you have yet to treat yourself to the glorious wonder of time away in yoga-land, do it now! Both are deep dives in opposite climates to your inner greatness, and Costa Rica is filling up FAST, there are only 6 more spots left… Email us at weloveyou@thebhaktishop.com to get more info on these journeys…

We will be officially taking credit cards at The Bhaktishop by mid-October!! So if you want to pay for your class(es), buy a t-shirt, go on a retreat, whatever, you can officially do it from our front desk with your credit card by mid-month. Whew! Finally!

We are so happy to get to share yoga with you all. We are so lucky!!

All love all the time,
Lisa Mae, Diana, and The Bhaktishop love-crew

Well you may not remember it, but this time last year we were hatching our yoga studio dream—a warm, vibrant environment to celebrate all the colors and mysteries of yoga with a like-minded family. In September of 2007 The Bhaktishop was born!! Come celebrate our mini-birthday in the month of September (cause you know the real party will come in April, when we finally arrived home on Division…) We are honored, blessed, and humbled by every single one of you showing up to practice.

Okay so we are closed on Labor Day (which I guess is a lame way to celebrate your birthday, but…), but Matt is teaching the one and only class on Monday, September 1st at 10am! All levels, all lovers, all love to celebrate your (and our!) hard year of labor. Before you BBQ, get in here and throw down some yoga, Bhaktishop-style!

Last chance for a coastal retreat with Heidi—one and only ONE spot left in the delicious coastal getaway September 5-7 for a mere $170.  Lodging in Manzanita, sunset yoga on the deck, surfing or lounging, access to pure bliss. What else do you need? Email heidijoma@thebhaktishop.com and grab that spot…

Speaking of Heidi, she and Marianne, the amazing 7am Soul Flow 2 power duo, are offering you a killer birthday month deal for September. Buy one get one free! That means that when you drop-in for your first 7am class with either one of them, the second class you come back to at 7am is FREE!! If you have a class card, we will just tack on another class to it, good for any 7am class, Free. We LOVE free. So if you have yet to feel the yum of a 7am practice with these two, now is the time. Be free!

What is dharma, anyway? We are thrilled to welcome Dennis Flaherty, world-renowned Vedic astrologer, to The Bhaktishop for a weekend of dharmic direction based on our own astrological charts. Friday, September 19th at 7:30pm Dennis gives a talk on yoga, dharma, and our perception of time. And Saturday the 20th from 1-5pm, in a more in-depth workshop, we really zero in on our life purpose and the planetary rulings that affect it, based on our own charts. Please email us at weloveyou@thebhaktishop.com to pre-register for this one-of-a-kind event, and give us your birth date, time, and location to receive your own chart. Totally cosmic!!

By the way, tell us that it’s your birthday and your class is FREE that day. Happy birthday to you, too!

The Autumn Equinox Revival with Lisa Mae is on Monday, September 22nd at 12 noon! We will gather in The Bhaktishop revival tent and celebrate renewal and rebirth to some righteous gospel tunes. Play hooky from work, and get in here! A family favorite for sure…

Calling all of you fine people that are interested in The Bhaktishop Yoga School! We are having an info meeting on Friday September 26th at 7pm to share some details about the Winter 2009 Yoga School, meet the teachers and some of the 2008 grads, ask questions, and eat cake.

Did we mention that we love you?

Happy birthday to us—one last birthday bang! Join us for another amazing night of Indian dance music with DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid on Saturday October 4th from 7-10pm for only $8! It’s Bhakti Bhangra part 2! Come one and all to the no-booze, no-shoes dance party of the season with the best DJ’s in town. We will provide birthday cake and thirst-quenching, but you have to bring the funk…

Costa Rica 2009 is ON! Check out www.encantalavida.com (that means charmed life, my friends!) to see where we are taking the monkey train this February 11-19, 2009!!! Details on the retreats page of the website…

And so, dear family, we extend deep, heartfelt gratitude to every one of you for your presence and support, and for making this hatchling year a warm, fuzzy success. You all make The Bhaktishop a reality, and a daily pleasure.

Monkey love,
Lisa Mae, Diana, and the whole sweating lot of us at The Bhaktishop

Hot and steamy is how we like it for our Portland summers. Come down and see us in class to rub sweaty elbows with your fun-loving community on the mat.

Pick up a new schedule, as we celebrate August with the arrival of two of our favorite teachers into the Bhaktishop teaching family! Please help us give a warm and fuzzy welcome to Maggie (you recognize her from up front at the desk) teaching two new classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4pm, and delightful Marianne, heading up the new Friday 7am class. All are Soul Flow 2 classes, and trust us—these gals are funny, fresh, and sweet as pie. Just like you have come to expect from The Bhaktishop gang. More love for YOU! Oh and may we point out that by family concensus, all 10am and 12noon classes have returned to 1 1/2 hours…

Attention all you intermediate and more advanced yogis, teachers, and the wildly curious! By your requests, we have added a new class to the menu called Bhakti Flow 4, on Wednesdays from 12-1:45pm with Lisa Mae. This class is geared towards the more adventurous and steady practitioner, teachers, blossoming teachers, and others with a little bit of a wild side. Be prepared for anything!

We have shuffled around the Seva (read:cheap) classes on the schedule to make other classes accessible to you at other times of the day too. We will do this periodically throughout the year so all our teachers and students get a chance to share in the good  karma of cheap yoga…

Kirtan is Sunday, August 10th from 6-8pm. Singing, swaying (sometimes dancing), all for the love of the divine. Please come join us for some serious love-filled chanting, and maybe some secret special guests… By donation to our Soul Project, this month benefiting Karl Hugo, our neighbor that was involved in a cycling accident on Monday the 13th. Share your love and support with the community!

Welcome kirtan artist Wynne Paris to The Bhaktishop! Friday August 29th from 7:30-10pm. We will be moved by the exotic and ecstatic beats of this amazing kirtan-wallah and his band of God-loving gypsies like never before. Don’t miss this! And for the (nearly) same price as a drop-in class, because Bhakti is simply another form of yoga…

Congratulations to the graduating class of the Bhaktishop School of Yoga! These awesome folks helped us shape the future of this program, and we are grateful to know them all. For those of you interested in deepening your practices or learning the mystery of teaching yoga, we will have an info meeting and casual hang on Friday September 26th at 7pm. Come ask your questions, meet some of our super-awesome grads, chat it up with the teachers, eat cake… But mostly get excited about the January 2009 Yoga School!

Join Matt for a special Labor Day Yoga Party! Monday September 1st at 10am, Matt will throw open the otherwise closed doors of The Bhaktishop to celebrate with you all your hard work. Before you go and BBQ or watch sports or whatever, do this!!!

And so you can plan ahead, we are inviting back to the Shop our beloved DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid for another full-on righteous night of dancing and hanging out with the gang. Saturday night, October 4th, we welcome them back for Bhakti Bhangra! For a thin $8, get out your bindis, leave your shoes and booze at the door and bring your funky self to The Bhaktishop…

We are grateful to all of you who show up day after day and make this house a home. We all know that humans are heat-seeking creatures, and that we like to go where it’s warm. Thank you for making this a warm and amazing community for all to grow and share. We love you!!

Peace and hot summer lovin’,
Lisa Mae, Diana, and Co.

Thank GOD the sun is finally here, we almost threw a tantrum…We are so happy to be embarking on our first toasty warm summer in our new home with you all, get in here and get down with us on your mat!! Remember we are closed for a July 4th vacation, but will see you back on the mat on the 5th.

This month we are delighted to share in a fundraiser for the amazing local Living Yoga (www.living-yoga.org), a fabulous non-profit that brings yoga to prisons and treatment facilities and introduces large new populations of the world to the depths of diving inside the mystery of yoga. Visit their site, buy a voucher for $10, and visit any of their participating studios (including, ahem, us!). The money you use to purchase your voucher goes straight toward bringing more Living Yoga to the underserved. Compassion in action, friends…

New Rookie Series begins Saturday July 5th at 1pm with Diana. 4 weeks of intro fun for the yoga newbie for a slim 40 bucks. Nice! Sign up in advance so we know you are coming.

Sing your hearts out with us at kirtan on Sunday,  July 13th from 6-8pm. This month we are continuing to raise money for our bike corral (which we really need out front, have you seen the bike pileup?) It’s fictitiously expensive to get one of these, so we are hosting fundraisers all summer long to see if we can use good ole’ cash-money to push the city in our extra-green (and very bikey) direction. Some come over and help us out, and open your voice and heart!

Our annual celebration of the full moon in July, called Guru Purnima, is Friday July 18th from 4-6am. That’s right, people, we start at 4am watching the full moon hang in the sky as the sun comes up over our beautiful lives and celebrate all teachers, gurus, and gifts everywhere. Held open-practice style, you can come in anytime from 4-6am, and bring something to signify the teacher or guru you are honoring for the altar. We will move, chant and sit in meditation together.

We have 6 spaces left in Heidi’s retreat to Manzanita in early September, so if you have missed out on the retreats this summer, there is still a little teeny chance you can get on the bus. Email us soon at weloveyou@thebhaktishop.com

This month we co-host Street Yoga founder and hometown hero Mark Lilly in a workshop entitled “Moving Through Trauma with Love and Stillness—How Yoga Can Help You Release Past Hurts (and Get On with Living Fully Right Now).” Co-taught by Mark Lilly, Lisa Mae and Diana, this workshop is for adults who are enduring any of the effects of any form of trauma, whether recent or old, psychic or physical, spiritual or emotional. Maybe it manifests as body pain, chronic low-energy or some other unhealthy fallout from past severe experiences; this workshop can help. By cultivating a loving stillness, we can learn to listen to our body, and find the places where we hold the pain and loss of trauma. Using yoga, guided meditation, and chanting, we will learn more about the patterns of old traumas still affecting us, and the ways in which we hold on to pain. Join us Sunday July 20th from 3-5:30pm as we shake ourselves loose from the tyranny of old pains and step with love into our beautiful lives! Click here for more details.

Finally, congratulations to the first graduating class of The Bhaktishop School of Yoga, set free into the wild on July 18th!!!

Happy, glorious summer to you all,

Dearest Bhaktishop family,

Kirtan with Lolo Woods on Saturday May 31st from 8-10! We are so excited to bring you this amazing woman…

Whew, now that we have gotten that out, we wanted to say this: thank you for making our first month open so sweet and full of beauty, we are so grateful for your presence and practices, every day!

A last word for May—We raised almost $1000 for Street Yoga with your donations at our grand opening party this month, and we wanted to say thank you! And our dance party with DJ Anjali and The Kid was so successful, you can look for another one just like it on Saturday night, October 4th. We can’t wait to get down with you all over again, barefoot in the yoga studio!

Please look for a new schedule with a few updates and additions, out this week. New classes added to the menu to look out for- a new Opening Flow1 class on Mondays at 8:30am with Carlye, and a new Soul Flow 2 class with Monicka on Wednesdays at 7pm!

We can’t wait to blurt this one out again—KIRTAN WITH LOLO WOODS!!! Saturday May 31st from 8-10pm, come sing your heart out with our favorite vocal presence. $10, and children are FREE!

The rookie series begins all over again on Saturday May 31st at 1pm, and will be brought to you by Diana. Sign up in advance either at the Shop or via email, weloveyou@thebhaktishop.com. It will run for 4 weeks, skipping Saturday June 14th. A great way to kick off a new yoga practice!!

Join Lolo once again on Sunday June 8th from 3-5pm for a Sound and Nada Yoga Workshop to free your voices and open your hearts. She will lead us through vocal exercises, and introduction to Raga and Sargam scales, and in general help us all to get over it when it comes to opening our mouths to sing and make sound. It promises to be a very free afternoon…

Second Sunday kirtans continue, Sunday June 8th from 6-8pm with your delighted Om Girls and Lolo, singing to and celebrating all the greatness in each of us. Come sing with us, join in the good company, and raise some money for our NEW Bike Corral! By donation, and as always, treats and friends surrounding you.

Please note that there are no 1pm classes on Saturday June 14th and Sunday June 15th to make way for the amazing Dana and Jasmine from Laughing Lotus in NYC/SF. Jai Ma!!

The great 108 is coming on the summer solstice, Saturday June 21st from 9-11am. In this age-old tradition, we celebrate the sun and the light within all beings together with 108 surya namaskars (or not…) in the broad, bright light of summer. This year, we will take it outdoors into Piccolo Park, right behind the Bhaktishop on SE 27th Ave, and it’s completely by donation to our bike corral fund!! Stay awhile for snacks and lemonade after, and please note that there is no 11am class on the Solstice. Bring a mat!

Celebrate-Your-Yoga Bike Ride! Join us in celebrating Portland’s own Pedalpalooza, a cycling event that celebrates all things bikey for all of June. The Bhaktishop will host our first yoga bike ride, led by Tasha, on Wednesday June 25th at 5:15pm at the top of Mt. Tabor, by the statue of the man.  Check the website for more details of fun in the sun!

And finally, a yummy treat for music lovers—The Harmonium, de-mystified, with Lolo Woods on Sunday June 29th.  Ever wanted to learn to play an instrument? Curious about that box we squeeze when we sing in class and kirtan? Own a Harmonium but have no idea how to make friends with it? This workshop is for you!!! The delightful Lolo Woods will lead us through some Harmonium basics, from how to open one, how to buy one, and how to play one, to basics of how to sing with one to accompany yourself or others. We will provide seven instruments for participants to play with…

Heidi wants to take you away to the Oregon Coast at Manzanita on retreat this September 5-7th!  Now that all the other summer retreats have sold out and you are sorry, we wanted to add one more for the beach and surf loving yogis out there. This is an intimate chance to practice with Heidi and your yoga family on Oregon’s delicious coast, and get your asana out of town!!!  Early birds get the worm… Check the retreats page for details, or email heidijoma@thebhaktishop.com for more!

Once again let us pour out our gratitude to all of you for your love and support and for helping us make our dream come true—to create a loving and warm home for all of us to celebrate life together. Your company mixed with the beauty of the studio and the grace of all your practices make this truly a home sweet home for all of us.

In joy and giggly summer delight,
Lisa Mae and Diana and the Bhaktishop gang

Spring joy to you all, dear Bhaktishop family!

We are honored and blessed to be able to share this beautiful new space with you all! We opened with a rousing family kirtan on the 20th and blessed the heck out of our bright new home thanks to all of you who attended and offered your prayers and voices. We can’t say enough to thank you for all your support—know that every time you step into the Shop, you are standing on floors laid by folks you practice next to, and walls painted and put up by them too! This family is the greatest gift we could ever receive, and it is dedicated to all of you.

Please come celebrate our Grand Opening Party on Saturday, May 3rd from 8-11pm. Its going to be a big, funky, free benefit for Portland’s very own Street Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to the underserved corners of our fine city. The party will feature Indian food from our favorite neighborhood restaurant, Vindalho, as well as the infamous WhirlyGirlz with an insane light-up hoop show you won’t forget. Starring DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid spinning funky Bollywood and Indian beats, it will be a dance party filled with love and gratitude!!! We will be selling raffle tickets for $2 each, which gets you the chance to win great stuff like free yoga retreats, massages, dinners, landscape design, free yoga, art, a cashmere bikini, and much more! Support Street Yoga, get your groove on, and celebrate this fun and exciting time with us.

The Total Rookie Series begins this Saturday, May 3rd at 1pm. Please email us here at weloveyou@thebhaktishop.com for information on how to sign up for this fun and totally non-intimidating introduction to yoga, brought to you this month by Diana. Get your partner, neighbor or best friend onto the mat next to you!!

Now THIS is what we call fun: Acro Yoga on Sunday May 11th from 2:45-5:00pm with Tyler and Donna from San Francisco’s own Acro Yoga family! We are excited to offer this wild and uplifting experience of partner yoga, and hope to see you all there! Please email us or come into the Shop to sign up.

Special Mother’s Day kirtan with the family on Sunday May 11th from 6-8pm. Honor all mothers everywhere along with the Divine Mother in a yummy kirtan to raise money for our Soul Project. Sing you hearts out in our new home, bring a picture of your mom for the altar, or just bring your actual mom… Jai ma!

We are thrilled to announce an Intro to Sanskrit workshop on Friday May 23rd and Saturday May 24th with the magical Manorama from New York’s School of Sanskrit Studies. She is amazing and if you ever wondered what it all means or how to pronounce it right, this is the workshop to take! We will learn the alphabet, the proper pronunciations, and chant lots of mantra in this illuminating weekend. All students of yoga welcome, no experience needed. You must sign up ahead of time, however, if you are planning on taking this one. Please click here for details on the workshop and a bio of Manorama, and email or call us to register.

The first solo kirtan with the delightful Lolo Woods is coming to you on Saturday night, May 31st, from 8-10pm. We are honored and blessed to host our dear, angel-throated friend as she helps to sing us all awake through her enchanting presence and beautiful voice. Please join us!

There is still time to get in on Sarah’s retreat to Opal Creek on May 30-June 2. If you got aced out of both Breitenbush and the August Opal Creek, you can still make this one! Email them at registrar@opalcreek.org to jump on the yoga bus…

Our opening month special monthly unlimited class card for $108 is available until May 21st. After that, you have missed it. Get in on this deal while you can!

Thanks for excusing us while we sneak the finishing touches on the new Shop, secretly at night while you’re all sleeping… We think we might be done in another few weeks, so surprises will be in store for you every time you walk in the door.  Nice.

Thank you for your patience, for supporting us, and most of all, for adding your special light to this beautiful community of seekers. We are so grateful.

Bowing,
Lisa Mae, Diana, and the Bhakti love crew

This is how we feel right about now—the spring is springing inside us all and we are RIPE for change! Yes, it’s finally coming. We are hoping to move to the new joint Monday April 21st, come hell or high water, and even if you have to wander around the chain link fence to get to us. Okay really, this is the plan, but it could change, so stay close. If that is on target, we will close the doors to Om Tradition Arts with a deep bow of gratitude on Sunday April 20th after Heidi’s 11am class, and open the doors to 2500 SE 26th Ave. on Monday morning, April 21st, with very little fanfare. They say when one door closes…

AND! Some special sneak previews are coming up too… Listen up! The first official event of the new space will be our amazingly gratitude-filled kirtan on Sunday night the 20th of April from 6-8pm with your amazed Om Girls. We are postponing our usual 2nd Sunday kirtan in April to the 3rd Sunday, to make room for the move and transition. Come and help us christen our new space by filling the joint with your love that first night, a celebration of Hanuman’s birthday—all the devotion and love we can muster!! As always by donation to the Soul Project. All are welcome!

Special opening month pricing for classes! A ridiculously cheap monthly unlimited card is available for your yoga pleasure for $108. Drop-in prices will be $13 per class, 10-class cards remain $100, but look on the menu for a Seva (service) class, marked with a little heart, available every single day, at the low price of $8. Nice!! We will also offer a new student intro package that gives you an unlimited week of yoga for $20, as well as 2 classes that are offered either free or by donation every week. So many possibilities…

Opal Creek in August is sold out! So… we are bringing you another opportunity to explore the wilds of Opal Creek with lovely Sarah, May 30-June 1st. If you got aced out of the August trip, please email Opal Creek to register for this one at registrar@opalcreek.org soon, because this one will sell out too.

There are 2 spaces left for the September 14-16th yummy Breitenbush love-fest with Lisa Mae and Diana. So if you are waiting, don’t. Email us at weloveyou@thebhaktishop.com to get on the list.

And apparently we were well-behaved enough in Costa Rica to be invited back for the third year in a row… SO! Those of you that said “next year!” can start stashing your nickels in that sock under your bed for February 25- March 4, 2009. Join us to get wild, happy and free in the deluxe lushness of your beautiful life in divine Costa Rica. Jai jai jai!!! Check the site soon for this years’ photos. Oh my.

Workshop city coming straight to you this Spring and Summer:

• Wild and Free Acro Partner Yoga- May 11th
• Intro to Sanskrit with Manorama- May 23/24th
• Special Solo Kirtan with Lolo Woods and guest- May 31st 
• Nada Yoga and Freeing your Voice with Lolo Woods- June 8th
• Lisa Mae’s teachers Dana and Jasmine, of Laughing Lotus NY/SF- June 14/15th
• The Great 108 Summer Solstice with Lisa Mae- June 21st
• Celebrate-Your-Yoga Bike Ride for Pedalpalooza with Tasha- June 28th
• Guru Purnima Celebration with Lisa Mae- July 18th
• Vedic Astrology talk/workshop with Dennis Flaherty- September 19/20th

Whew! Click here for full details on these teachers and workshop descriptions…

We are working on an amazing Grand Opening party on Saturday May 3rd, definitely including food and drink from the awesome neighborhood restaurants, and for sure some hoop-jam from the Whirly Girlz, coming off of creative sabbatical just for us, as well as maybe one of the greatest DJ teams in Portland, DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid, for your Indian booty-shaking pleasure. Stay tuned!!

Please tell us all about it, we want to make this place a home for every one of you that will encourage us all, on the path together, to open into LOVE!!

Weeping happy with gratitude,
Lisa Mae, Diana, and the whole dang Bhaktishop family

The caravan of love is officially moving on or about April 1st! We know that you have all waited so patiently for this to happen, and we are really excited to move into our sweet new eco-friendly home on SE 26th and Division. Please stay close and check in often, for one day soon we will close the doors to Om Tradition Arts with gratitude for the last time, and throw open the doors of the beautiful Bhaktishop for one and all to CELEBRATE LOVE AND LIFE through yoga!

Stay tuned for a sneak-preview free class at the new space, pre-opening day, with Lisa Mae AND Diana (double the love is always better!) We will also host a fun opening party, an art show of delightful mail art from over 12 countries, special opening month class prices, a showering of giveaways for awesome stuff from the Clinton/Division neighborhood businesses, the return of the beloved month-long bring-a-friend-for-free yoga party, and most of all, an amazingly big and bright and beautiful home to call your own in the heart of Southeast. Man we have been waiting a long time for this moment, and we can’t wait for you to join us in blessing the new digs. Did we also mention that Little Tim’s American Bakery is going in right next door? We love ourselves a pastry…

We will be adding at least 12 new classes to the menu, from more of the Soul and Ecstatic Flow classes that you love, to a total Rookie series for beginners on Saturdays. More Opening Flow beginner classes will appear, plus a modern take on dance and yoga flow, a brand-new “Harmony” flow  on Sundays combining restorative and yin with yummy flowing vinyasa, a yoga flow for kids ages 5 and up on Friday afternoons, and more. We will add a FREE Saturday morning meditation, the Karma Flow class will remain awesomely free, and we can finally welcome Heather, Monicka, Carlye, Tasha, and Sarah fully to the schedule… This is a dream of a class schedule for us—yoga at all times of the day and night, yoga for all levels and types, all yoga all the time, all for YOU!!!

Our festive family kirtan this month is on a Saturday again- you really busted the seams of the place last Saturday! March 8th from 6-8pm, we welcome you to come and raise your voices together with us in joy and song, all for community spirit and charity. By donation to the Soul Project, and there are always goodies to share afterwards. Little muffinheads welcome… April 13th, at the new location, we will resume our second Sundays again. So sorry to disrupt your schedules like this, but… Can’t wait to shout out the love with you all on Saturday, March 8th.

The Radical Spring Equinox Yoga Festival with Diana is on Thursday March 20th at 12 noon. What a great reason to play hooky (or take that extra loooong lunch break) and celebrate the coming of spring with us at The Bhaktishop. Sign up early, because you know what happens. Let’s get that sap rising and celebrate the end of all this grayness…

Our delicious Opal Creek retreat is almost full already. There are 5 spots left, if you have somehow missed out in the past or are simply stalling, DO IT NOW! Email them at registrar@opalcreek.org to grab those last few spaces. It’s only $220 for 2 nights of fun, frolic, yoga, food, and ancient tree wisdom with your friends August 1-3. We want to hear you yell “Om Namah Shivaya!” as you leap from the rock into Opal Pool….

Since Opal Creek is (as promised) almost full already (you guys LOVE summer!) we thought we had better organize something else for you. SO… we thought long and hard and decided that a retreat to Breitenbush Hot Springs in the late summer was just the thing to go out with a roar. Yeah! Join Lisa Mae and Diana (double the love) in the deluxe River Yurt for an intimate retreat to the land of yummy magic this September 14-16. Sunday night thru Tuesday afternoon, soak away into the late-lighted nights, hike the gorge(eous) hills and woods, swim in the river, and yoga your brains out with us! There is some camping available for $266-$290 but hurry, only a few spots available… Other lodging options are available in cabins from $290-$368 depending on availability. We can only take 16 of you. We’re not kidding. Early birds get the worm. Please email us at weloveyou@thebhaktishop.com if you are interested in joining us for the last of the late summer bliss…

Thank you for all your offers to help us paint, build stuff, cook, move big things, lay tile, arrange flowers, make us curtains, throw a party etc. All your generosity is so appreciated while we gear up for this move. If we think of anything we need help with (besides leaving cookies on our porch) we will surely shout it out. This family is beautiful, and we are graced to be a part of such a fine community of soul-seekers. Thank you!!

With deep love and unbridled anticipation,
Lisa Mae, Diana, and the Shop family

Dearest Bhaktishop Kula,

Doesn’t a tropical vacation to Costa Rica sound pretty awesome right about now? Well there is still time, a few spaces are left on the monkey train south of the border. Last chance!! We would love to initiate you into the cult of Tierra de Milagros on the Osa Peninsula. Congratulations to our own dear Kristien Forness, the winner of Lululemon’s Retreat Yourself contest—she is headed south with us on the trip of her dreams.  Thanks to all of you who entered the contest with your inspired writings about yoga and your lives. Lululemon said the challenge to choose was almost overwhelming! And if you didn’t win, why not go anyway? Don’t just stay here and freeze, email Tasha at flyingmonkeytrain@gmail.com and get your plane tickets…

In the meantime, the annual retreat to Opal Creek is coming up August 1-3.  Love hiking, trees, wild places, and yoga? This is the place for you. A 3-mile hike into Jawbone Flats gets us to camp, where we share Opal Creek’s amazing, lovely cabins drenched with history and natural ancient forest beauty.  Ample time for hiking, yoga, relaxing, and jumping off huge rocks shouting “Geronimo!” into Opal Pool is on the menu again this year, as we bring you delicious doses of great food, summer in Oregon, and Bhaktishop love in the wild, wild, wilderness. This is our idea of spiritual devotion, for sure. There are 25 spaces available, and the price is a ridiculously low $220. Total. That’s food, lodging, yoga, and bliss. Check out last year’s photos on the home page of the website, in the photo album section. And then email us at weloveyou@thebhaktishop.com because you know you want to go. This one filled up so fast last year we had to just laugh.

Remember, fellow lovers of light and song, that our family kirtan is Saturday night the 9th of February this month. From 6-8pm, as always, just a day early. We are excited to see you there, and raise even more money for our Soul Project, the community giving project that we contribute to each month with your donations. Karma yoga in action…

The first Bhaktishop retreat to Breitenbush was a dreamy success. We swarmed, we soaked, we sang, we relaxed, and apparently behaved ourselves enough to be invited back not only once, but twice in the coming year! Nice job, yogis! We will be announcing the details of a late-summer camping trip and yoga retreat to Breitenbush soon, this time with both Lisa Mae and Diana as your humble servants. Double the love is always better!!! You can also pencil in next January, friends. We are hoping for a 3 nighter. Cross your fingers! And look for some photos on the home page of the website in the photo album section soon. Don’t worry, nothing incriminating…

When are we moving back to Division? Well, the moving target is getting more and more still. Sometime in early April, we hope. And we will wave the keys overhead in front of class while jumping up and down and screaming as soon as we have them I hand. Man, we are so excited.

Thanks for bringing your friends for free all month long. That was so much fun, we ought to do it again sometime. And I’m sure we will.

The Bhaktishop School of Yoga begins on March 9th! Yeah! If you are interested but have yet to fill out an application or talk to us about it, please send us an email at weloveyou@thebhaktishop.com. You can download an application from the website. We are so excited to share what we love with YOU!

Look for us in the Portland Mercury this week-- A sweet review of our little love-caravan graces the pages of the Merc on Thursday, January 31st. Pick one up!

Keep on sending us your mail art—we are gathering quite a fun art show for the opening of the new space in April. Anything you can stamp and send in the mail is welcome in the show, especially on the theme of LOVE (what else!) Mail is pouring in from Japan, Germany, Turkey, everywhere but Portland. Get on it, friends! Send us some LOVE in the mail! 5721 SE 41st Ave. Portland OR 97202.

Please come to class with us on St. Valentine's Day, family, so we can love on you all day long. 4 classes-- 10am with Tasha, 12 noon with Diana, 5:30 with Diana, and 7pm with Sarah, to get your love on. This is what we live for!

Thank you all for your continued love, support, and beautiful, expressive practices. You inspire us everyday. And we love every inch of you.

Full of love in all we do,
Lisa Mae, Diana, and the Shop family

Festive and bright New Years’ wishes, family!

It’s 01/08! A most auspicious number to start to our new year, we must say, and the same as our phone number…
Thank you all for your kindness, generosity, and overall sweetness this past year as we made our first transition—we couldn’t have done it without you.  And we remember that fact every single day that we all come to class, our hearts overflowing with gratitude.  This family community ROCKS!!! To continue to share that love, we offer you this: Bring a friend to yoga in the month of January for FREE! That’s right. Got a friend you’ve been nagging to come to yoga? Your spouse or pal need some downward dog? Bring a friend to class with you free during the month of January. Why? Because we really love you. Need we say more?

Don’t forget Diana’s yummy New Year’s Day yoga class. We are running a normal schedule except for Tuesday the 1st, on which there will be one, that’s right, one and only one class at 12 noon with lovely Diana. All levels, all souls, al for one and one for all!

Costa Rica is in 2 months. If you are really still on the fence—good God people—just leap already. This magical and enchanted 10 days will alter your consciousness permanently, friends.  It’s a journey into wonderland, for real.  We are also now taking credit cards on Paypal via the website.  So no more excuses! And if you think you know someone that deserves to go on this trip (including yourself) then listen up. Lululemon Athletica is offering one lucky yogi the chance to take a free ride on the Costa Rica Cadillac. That’s right loves, FREE. Want details? Email us at weloveyou@thebhaktishop.com and we will give you all the deets…

Our festive and delightful family Kirtan is Sunday January 13th from 6-8pm. And hey— please mark on your calendars that as of February, our kirtan nights will change from the second Sunday to the second Saturday of each month.  That’s February 9th and March 8th, please! It’s a long story, but we do want you all to be there so write it down and come sing with us. By donation as always to our Soul Project. Show some love!

New space update—As you probably already know, anything worth having is worth waiting for. And so we wait.  We hesitate to give you a date yet, but boy are we hoping for April! Life, rain, permits, contractors, aliens with big feet—you name it, it is holding them up.  But progress is happening and it will be all the sweeter once we get in there. So stay tuned and stay close.  We will all bloom into the springtime together.

On that same note, all you feisty yogis that want to attend the College of Yoga, listen up! We want to start the program the MINUTE we move into our new space.  However, if it gets to be too late in the spring, we will likely push it back to begin in September. We don’t want to be in school all summer, either. So keep us informed that you are still interested via email at weloveyou@thebhaktishop.com. We can’t wait to get started with this program, removing the mystery of teaching yoga without losing the magic.

Be a part of the first Bhaktishop Love=Art Exhibition in April of 2008! We are calling for all the mail-art you can dream up on the subject of LOVE. (What else?) Please express your love in any way you see fit (humans, dogs, God, etc!) in any art form, medium, or format, as long as you can stamp it and send it in the mail.

Send it to us at:

The Bhaktishop
Art=Love Exhibition
5721 SE 41st Ave.
Portland, OR 97202

We will hang all your righteous submissions at our Grand Opening celebration at the beautiful new space in April.

That’s the news for January, dear ones. We love you and can’t wait to leap into 2008 with you. May it be all we can dream up, wild and free.

Sliding into ’08 with big love,
Lisa Mae, Diana, and the whole Bhaktishop crew