Holiday Events Sign-Up

And, another addition of "What I'm Loving Right Now!" My monthly list of high quality recommendations on books, music, beauty products and nourishing rituals.

Hi Everyone,

First of all, I want to thank everyone for your overwhelming support for this writing project. Sigh. It feels incredibly satisfying to have a container for my creative and internal processes. The witch post felt really vulnerable to write. It feels a little different than some of the older posts that tell stories from long ago. It’s more immediate, and tender.

In Adrienne Marie Brown’s interview with Starhawk on the “How to Survive the End of the World” podcast , Starhawk said that because many of us come from lineages that persecuted our own healers, we must tend to the psychic chasm that shows up when we engage with our own magical potential. In other words activating our own, completely natural, self-healing system reveals the chasm filled with doubt, mistrust, and 100’s of years of gaslighting and persecution. Trusting our own healing, in and of itself, can bring up the gunk, and when the gunk is brought up, we get to work with it, set it free, set us and each other free.

It’s interesting to note Adrienne’s definition of witch as well (go ahead and raise your hand high!): “People who work with the elements of the natural world, including our human nature, to generate more possibility.” All of that to say, my self-doubt showed up when I sent out that post, AND I feel really held by this community. It touched more folks than any other post I have published. Thank you. Vulnerability = reaching more people. Lesson learned.

And here we begin the HUGE list of events and team announcements for the next couple of months. Let me know if you have questions. I’m here to support you.

• Thanksgiving Day Vinyasa Class with Audra at The People’s Yoga NE at 10:45am. Please sign up ahead of time as this will most likely sell out. Here is the link to do so: https://thepeoplesyoga.org/classes/

• The Annual Winter Solstice Gathering is Thursday December 21st at 6pm PST. This is an online/virtual event that I offer freely each year, meaning there is no cost to you. Please click HERE to sign up.

  • The birth of anything begins in the darkness. The seed underground. A child in the darkness of their mother's womb. A new life birthed from the ashes of the old. The darkness is feminine in energy, full of hidden potential. It’s potent and sometimes even a little chaotic. The darkness symbolizes the unknown, a place of not being sure, and feeling tender. In the spiritual tradition of my youth, the darkness meant waiting, like a little bulb under the earth, in need of darkness, as much as it's in need of light. There is mystery here. There is magic. There is beauty in witnessing the stars on a pitch black night, or recovering from an illness you never thought would end, or leaving that thing you thought you couldn't leave. What does it mean to struggle underground, to wait, to squint to see the stars, to light a candle in the dark? We will spend an evening in practice meditating, writing, conversing, and sharing. We will plant our seeds for the coming year, in the darkness, together. Bring a journal. Bring a friend. This class has been a catalyst for a lot of change in my life, and I know for many others as well. I’ve been looking forward to being together since June.

    Please note. This class will not be recorded or reposted, so if you plan on attending, it is a live experience only so that we can maintain the sacred container.

• Speaking of traditions, the New Year’s Day Class sign up is open!! January 1st 11am-1pm @ The Peoples Yoga NE. Learn more and sign up HERE

  • “Ceremony can bring the quiescent back to life; it can open your mind and heart to what you once knew but have forgotten.” -Robin Wall Kimmerer

    This January 1st, we will gather together and create a container for our personal and collective aspirations. We will use the elements, community, our breath and our bodies as vehicles for this ceremony. Inherent to the creation of any ritual, or ceremony, is repetition. Within the repetition, we create something new. It’s a beautiful paradox–do the same thing so that you can change. Yoga is a brilliant example of the power of this rhythm. The breath too, reminds us, every moment, of how repetition is alchemy, transforming and thus sustaining life. Bring your journals, and expect a vinyasa flow, a ritual of release, meditation, pranayama. some journaling prompts, and, of course, some silly jokes and a lot of laughter.

• And, if you have ever wanted to take a deep dive with me, the 300 Hour Foundational Yoga Teacher Training begins in January 2024. It’s two weekends per month and includes a free membership to The People’s Yoga for 6 months, as well as a 5 day retreat that culminates the program. Amazing, right? Half of the slots have been reserved, so if you want to learn my secrets and spend time with an amazing community, apply HERE and claim your spot.

  • This little fledgling of a training is almost ready to fly. I have been working hard to sort out the guest faculty and finish the curriculum, and I am SO proud of what I have created. Literally, I would like to take my own training, ya’ll.

    • First, it is a completely unique training, unlike any you will receive in Portland, Oregon at the moment. Second, it focuses on vinyasa sequencing. I am inspired by flow, and the curriculum reflects this. I will teach you exactly how to sequence a class like I do.

    • Second, I am bringing in teachers from all over the country to support your learning. We will learn Sanskrit from Manorama out of NYC, Breathwork with Chauna Bryant out of D.C., sequencing with the Chakras from Nancy at Mother Yoga in Seattle, the history of yoga from Meghan Maris, a modern take on the Bhagavad Gita, and of course a visit from the epic Christina Sell out of Bellingham.

    • And lastly, this training will be informed by my education both as a clinician in the field of psychology, and as a certified meditation and mindfulness instructor in the Insight tradition. We will learn about the nervous system, trauma, the vagus nerve, breath, and how to deepen our meditation practice, as well as activate our own internal self-healing processes.

    • And, as always I am devoted to working in a collaborative and non hierarchical manner with all of my students as a way of directly disrupting the white supremacist patriarchy. I acknowledge that the field of yoga and wellness has a history of misogyny, racism, and anti-queer/trans stances, and feel strongly that as a yoga instructor it is my responsibility to be a part of a new, liberated, and more inclusive vision of the future that perpetuates freedom, connection, healing, and growth for all. Decolonizing yoga and my own body/mind is at the center of my learning right now, so it will be centered in our program.

• As many of you know, I am soon to be an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, and am operating as a mindfulness coach while I wait for the go ahead from the State of Oregon Mental Health Authority. It’s slow going over there, so in the meantime I am taking on new couples and individual clients for coaching at the moment, and can be reached at this email info@audracarmine.com to schedule a free 15 minute consultation to see if it is a good fit.

  • A little bit about my process. . . I believes in a slow, deep, and holistic approach that considers all aspects of a person’s life, including their mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical wellbeing. My training is oriented toward working with clients through the lens of mindfulness, EFT, (attachment based work), somatic approaches, compassion, and parts work. I also draw on my 15 years of work as a yoga and meditation teacher, which has made me sensitive to the regulation processes of the body, breath, and nervous system. I am honored to guide my clients toward their own self-healing impulse by creating a loving, accepting space to be curious, receive support, and be witnessed with deep presence and attunement. My approach is relational and process oriented meaning that the space between us is a field where deep discovery and growth can occur.

  • I earned my Masters degree in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University, and am certified as a meditation and compassionate mindfulness teacher through Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield's two year, (very intense! holy, moly) program. In addition, I completed an 8 month DEIA training for meditation teachers as well as an 8 month training with Thomas Hubel on Ancestral Healing and Trauma. Most recently I finished a 16 week Breathwork course with Breathworker and author Jennifer Patterson. Next up, this coming weekend, I will be taking an Intro to Hakomi training, which I am very excited about.

Phew. Thanks for hanging in there.

And, as promised a list of things I am loving right now. (I am not sponsored by any of these things btw. Although, Lady Gaga, if you read this, send me product.)

• Meg Kissinger’s While You Were Out: An Intimate Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence. This book slayed me for four reasons: 1) it is such an accurate description of what it feels like to marry mental health struggles with secrecy. 2) The love she has for her family is palpable. Kissinger is generous and loving throughout without losing authenticity and landing in the trap of sappiness. 3) The way she conveys the fear of “being next” is spot on. As the sibling of someone who carries deep pain and illness, I have always wondered when it would be. Not if, but when. It’s real, and she meets that reality head on. So, if you, like me, have a family system that is wrought with the double edged sword of mental health stuff and secrecy, I think you will love this one.

• Bad Sisters on Apple TV. I LOVE this show. I am obsessed with all the actors, and the scenery is so gorgeous it makes me want to live in Ireland and take up sea swimming. The writing is as hilarious as it is heartbreaking, and, bonus, it’s Irish, so it portrays women in midlife with faces that are actually aging. Women, aging. In public. On TV. They are fucking resplendent. These women are glowing, and alive, not airbrushed from the inside by chemicals. It is actually making me tear up thinking about how little I am exposed to an aging feminine face these days, and the affect that is having on my psyche. I don’t think I have realized until this show. When I watch The Morning Show, which is also great, I spend half the time wondering why Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon don’t seem to be aging like I am, and yet they are older than me. They have no wrinkles, spots, or even interesting expressions on their face anymore. It’s not okay. It has an impact on how we think faces should look. Thank goodness for the actor who plays Laura Peterson, Julianna Margulies. She steals every single scene.

• Democracy Now: I have had to switch up where I get my news as I continue to ask the question ”Is everyone’s humanity being honored here?” and “Is there a chance for many perspectives and narratives to be told, not just one?”

• Lady Gaga’s face products. Holy glowing face. (Yes, I’m aging, and I love skin care. Two truths.) Have you tried these? The cover up does something magical to my skin where it acts not only as a little brightener, but when combined with just a touch of her foundation, I look downright glowy, but not in a fake way. It’s like she bottled my inner glow and then sold it back to me. My friend Paige walked up the other day and said, “You’re glowing!” and meant it. I don’t know how Gaga did it. Makes me love her even more. Also, a little goes a long, long way so it will last a long while.

• Sufjan Stevens new album and this playlist I made for yoga and listening in general. Ethereal goodness.

• Chelsea Bieker’s new substack Make Up Your Life where she writes the most heart stopping line I have ever read:

  “I thought I understood something of grief because I’d lived a grieving life since as far back as I can remember—grief over the living—which is the best way I can describe loving someone whose life is colored by addiction.”

  For anyone, like me, who loves someone lost in a substance, I love you. I feel you. You aren’t alone, and this feeling of not being alone is the deep and precious work of beautiful art like Chelsea’s makes possible.

• Meditation. Taking time to be still and listen is imperative for my nervous system right now. 5-20 minutes goes a long way for my own mental hygiene.

• Yoga. I have been loving my practice lately. Check it out. To be fully transparent, I don’t always love my offerings. They can feel stale and repetitive, which is a part of the practice too, AND, as of late, I have been loving the flows, and the movement sequences that have been unfolding. Also, I’m ditching the app to save money, so find all of your on-demand classes at the link above. There are 240 unique classes in the library as of today.

• Tarot. I have been working with tarot for a few months, trying to learn about the system and how to use it. I find it to be fun, joyful, and a really useful way to increase self-trust and amplify my relationship with my own intuition. Full disclosure I used to think taro wasn’t for me, until I had a teacher and guide challenge that belief. Most of all, I love that it feels connective and just really fucking fun.

• My new office!!! I love it. I am so grateful. Look at her! There’s even a couch now.

  

Okay. That’s all for now. Please leave a comment below with one thing you are loving, something that is lighting you up, so that we can all share resources. I’m just one small animal, as Piglet says.

What are you loving right now? I want to know. Seriously.

I love you tons.

A