Please join us for a special bhakti yoga gathering to celebrate the season and ease holiday stress.

Kirtan is a call-and-response style of singing a mantra invoking one of the Hindu gods with roots in the Vedic tradition. The repetitive chanting of the same sounds has a hypnotic effect on the mind, thus releasing it from stress, transferring it into a state of higher consciousness and concentration and out of negativity. The musical vibrations lead you to a place of well-being as we create a unique experience together.

We'll start gathering at 1:30. Our kirtan will run from 2 to 3:30 with a break midway.

There will be time before and after the kirtan to connect with others and do some holiday shopping at YTA member Universal Healing Arts' Metaphysical & Crystal Shop.

You don't need to know how to sing or read music. If you are unsure or nervous about participating, you are welcome to simply observe and enjoy! Chairs/cushions will be provided. Tea and water will be available.

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As a special education teacher, Jane Slotnick found herself exhausted by the end of the day. Wanting to give her students her best, she embarked on a spiritual journey to find inner peace. She found the world of meditation, and her spiritual journey began. One day after mediation class she was invited to a kirtan. Curious yet nervous since she couldn't even read music, she set off on a new journey. Expecting to be an observer, she walked into the yoga center and quickly found a seat way in the back. As the music played and others began to sing, she found herself quietly starting to sing along. The magic of the melodies carried her away to a place of peace. She was hooked after the first night. After attending many kirtans, she decided to treat herself to a harmonium and signed up for classes. She then ventured out to yoga studios, wellness centers, and retreat centers to share her passion and love for this sacred healing modality.

Beatrice B. Mattaway, E-RYT 500, YACEP, is the founder and owner of Willow Tree Yoga. She received her 200- and 500- hour Yoga Alliance certification through Yoga Mountain in New City. Beatrice took her first yoga class and  began meditating when she was 6 years old, living in Japan. In her early 30s, she spent two years living in  an ashram in India, where she practiced yoga, meditation, and chanting daily. Beatrice encourages her  students to deeply experience the poses by taking time to see how the mind and the body responds to the work done in class. Not one to take herself too seriously, Beatrice’s classes are very relaxed, sprinkled with silliness and humor, allowing her students, from advanced to absolute beginners, to feel totally welcomed and safe to explore yoga in a very personal way. Class intensity varies depending on the  experience and  ability level of students in any given class.

Kristine Weber, MA, C-IAYT, eRYT500, is a leading world authority on the neuroscientific benefits of slow mindful yoga and an advocate for the use of these practices as an integral part of the solution to the healthcare crisis. She is leading the charge to get slow, mindful practices to people who desperately need them through her Subtle® Yoga Revolution series of online courses and trainings for yoga teachers–which have been praised by thousands all over the world. She is the director of the Subtle® Yoga Teacher Training for Behavioral Health Professionals program at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Health Sciences at MAHEC and the Yoga Therapy representative on the Integrative Health Policy Consortium in Washington, D.C., where she advocates for the integration of yoga into the healthcare system. Kristine has been an avid student of yoga since 1989, teaching yoga since 1995, and training teachers since 2003. She presents workshops and trainings internationally and is frequently invited to speak about yoga at healthcare conferences and on podcasts. She is the author of Healing Self Massage and has published numerous articles. Her work has been featured in Yoga Therapy Today, YogaU, Redbook, BodySense, Women's World, Natural Health, and Lifetime TV. She is currently conducting research on Subtle® Yoga for addiction recovery. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her New Zealander husband Brett, son Bhaerava, and neuroprotective cat, Jerry. Find out more at www.subtleyoga.com.