Hello, friends!

Starting at noon next Saturday, August 9, at Fat Yoga in Portland, the Roll Call Community Meditation Group begins!

What is the Roll Call?

Well it could be a call for big, round bellies and small, flat bellies, and all the bellies in between. ALL the bellies with ALL their rolls!

Or is could be an invitation to declare yourself present in the moment, answering the Roll Call of life with your own mindfulness and care.

Or it could be both! Or it could be a bunch more!

The most important thing about Roll Call is that it is yet another invitation by Fat Yoga for us to access radical acceptance, compassion, and love for ourselves and others.

One of the great benefits of yoga is the ability to be more present and mindful in every moment, adding to our toolbox every time we breathe in, every time we breathe out, every time we lean into a pose, every time we surrender into srvasana…Presence is one of the most enduring, helpful, and spiritually deepening gifts yoga can give us.

In this practice of becoming more present, yoga ideally allows us to reach into love and care for our bodies, minds, and spirits.

Roll Call is a complement to the practice of our asana-focused (pose or movement-focused) yoga. Roll Call is another way to care for and offer love to our often wounded hearts and minds, as well as to our bodies. Roll Call is a place where nothing is asked of us but to do our best to be present.

But what is it? What will I do if I answer the call to Roll Call?

I will lead our 90-minute sessions including guided meditation, reflection, and discussion. No one is required to speak or participate in any way other than simply being as wholly and peacefully present to the experience as possible. While there will be discussion and the opportunity to check in before we begin, the Roll Call Community Meditation Group is a place of safety and care for one another, whether we choose to share our ideas and personal experiences or not.

The Roll Call Community Meditation Group is not about a particular spiritual or religious path. It is not required that one be an experienced meditator to participate. It is not required that you bring anything but your own fine self to our practice together. The meditation space itself is fully disability accessible, but our bathroom is not wheelchair- or scooter-accessible. We are working on getting this issue addressed — check this space for more information on what fat yogis are up to to fix this problem.

Sometime in the next couple of days (probably by Monday, August 4), registration will be available via the registration website.

https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/home.asp?studioid=38088

We’ll be meeting for three Saturdays in August:  9, 16, and 23. We’ll take the Labor Day weekend off and hope to be back on track in September!

I have more questions!

Please email me through the contact page. We’ll work it all out!

I’m so looking forward to seeing you there!

Blessings on you and your house–

Catharine