The Essence of Yoga Center

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The Essence of Yoga Center

Modern yoga for the modern practitioner – offering continuing education, retreats and group classes.

11/29/2025

Praise Song

Praise the light of late November,
the thin sunlight that goes deep in the bones.
Praise the crows chattering in the oak trees;
though they are clothed in night, they do not
despair. Praise what little there’s left:
the small boats of milkweed pods, husks, hulls,
shells, the architecture of trees. Praise the meadow
of dried weeds: yarrow, goldenrod, chicory,
the remains of summer. Praise the blue sky
that hasn’t cracked yet. Praise the sun slipping down
behind the beechnuts, praise the quilt of leaves
that covers the grass: Scarlet Oak, Sweet Gum,
Sugar Maple. Though darkness gathers, praise our crazy
fallen world; it’s all we have, and it’s never enough.

- Barbara Crooker
📸 Pure Julia

11/22/2025

Let Evening Come

Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.

Let the cricket take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles
and her yarn. Let evening come.

Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in long grass. Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn.

Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down. Let the shed
go black inside. Let evening come.

To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to air in the lung
let evening come.

Let it come, as it will, and don’t
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.

- Jane Kenyon
📸 Gene Guy

11/18/2025

Feel like a good time to book a getaway in paradise? Consider joining The Essence of Yoga Center Mexico Retreat 2026 at the beginning of February. Daily yoga classes, delicious food, relaxing afternoons on the beach. All this and more awaits you. Reserve your spot today!

11/14/2025

After Samhain

Now, for a while, the dark
stays dark. The long nights
will be long no matter
how you pray for light.

This god will not be rushed.

But she will offer you
the thick black folds of her cloak,
where you're finally free
to lose everything
that can't be kept.

- James Pearson
📸 Martin Adams

11/09/2025

November Evening

And then there’s
the yellow trees dripping
with after-storm light.
And then the busy
people’s faces, each
with its effortless beauty.
And then the steely, spacious
twilight glow in the west,
and to the east the tall poplar
shining dimly against
dark gray distant clouds.
And then I’m walking in
a world once again enchanted,
once again seducing me
back into wonder. And then,
just for a moment,
I remember who I am.

- James Pearson
📸 Eduard Delputte

11/01/2025

Join us for a class in November! All group classes are suitable for all levels and are eligible for our "Pay from the Heart" option.

10/31/2025

The Way It Is

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.

- William Stafford
📸 Noel Kirkegaard

10/24/2025

Bioluminescence

Sometimes, when I fear
the small light I bring
isn’t big enough or bright
enough, I think of that night
on the beach years ago
when every step I took
in the cool wet sand turned
a glowing, iridescent blue—
and the waves themselves
were a flashing greenish hue—
imagine we could do
what 7.9 billion
one-celled can plankton do—
can shine when it’s dark,
can shine when agitated,
can shine with our own
inner light and trust when we all
bring the tiny light we have,
it’s enough to illumine
the long stretch of night.

- Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
📸 Ahmed Nishaath

10/17/2025

In Blackwater Woods

Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars

of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,

the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders

of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is

nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned

in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side

is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world

you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.

- Mary Oliver
📸 Aaron Burden

10/15/2025

Longing to get away? Join The Essence of Yoga Center Mexico Retreat 2026! Taking place February 1 through February 7, 2026, this week-long retreat features:
- Daily somatic yoga classes
- World-class accommodations just steps from the beach
- Gourmet vegetarian meals
- Optional excursions led by a knowledgeable local guide
- Access to gifted local body-workers offering massage, reiki, facials, shamanic healing and more!
Don't wait to reserve your space on this retreat! Scholarships are available. Contact us to learn more today!

10/11/2025

I’m Not Saying We Shouldn’t Be Angry

I’m not saying we shouldn’t be angry.
Anger seems reasonable. But perhaps
we will do what I’ve heard the Inuit do—
spend the emotion on walking, walk a line
until all the anger has left our bodies.

The moment the Inuit notice the anger is gone,
replaced, perhaps, by sadness or fear,
compassion or just a quietness,
they mark that spot with an object
to show the extent of their anger.

And perhaps, if we’re lucky, when we walk
this way, it will be a long enough walk
that we arrive at each other’s doors,
object in hand, and when the object
leaves our grip, we’ll be able to use our hands
to greet each other, touch each other’s faces,
point to the horizon to all the other places
we might choose to walk now together.

- Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
📸 Gary Yost

10/04/2025

Join us for a yoga class in October!

Address

154 Redwood Drive
Richmond, KY
40475

Telephone

+18594929973

Website

http://www.theessenceofyogacenter.com/

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