Aloha! Guess it’s been a while as the monthly update hasn’t been quite so monthly, and yet here we are and I’m very excited to share what’s been happening over the last few months in between work on the house and amazing visits from family and friends. But first, how are you? Would love to hear your latest, whether a brief “Hey!”, paragraphs telling of how life goes these days, or something in between. Don’t be shy! You can reach me at lawrencemunoz17@gmail.com.
Breathe Together Yoga
Sadly, teaching online classes for BTY came to a screeching halt earlier this month when after several months of trying to solve for a crazy Workers Comp insurance coverage puzzle, the business operations team could no longer keep me on payroll because of my new residence here in Hawai’i. This is a huge change as Jennifer Prugh and the BTY community have been family since the very beginning when its doors opened in 2010, as a student and also teaching there for the last 8 years. Families, just like everything else, go through changes, and that’s all this is as I continue as a BTY student online or in Sola/Luna when in the SFBA, to feel the love. I’ll also continue to share recorded classes through the BTY website. The fact that BTY has been around for twelve years, survived the last two (at times apocalyptic) years and has been honored year after year as Silicon Valley’s Best Yoga Studio pretty much says it all. ¡Viva La Familia!
Bringing Yoga to UFC Kailua
That’s right! About two months ago I started teaching vinyasa yoga for all the warriors at the United Fight Club Gym-Kailua, just a mile away from home. Those of you familiar with the club know it’s definitely more than a place for training to fight, bringing gym fitness and wellness to the entire family. Come practice with me Wednesday’s at 10am or Sunday’s at 8am HST. Here’s link for more: UFC Kailua.
Project Koa Yoga
During the interview process with UFC, I was encouraged to meet Laura Toyofuku-Aki, co-founder of Project Koa Yoga, as I expressed interest in working with groups making yoga accessible to everyone. I met Laura and other co-founder Victoria Roland within a week and the rest is history. I’ve now joined their team and mission to diversify the faces of yoga in Hawai’i while preserving the people, land and culture that are Hawai’i. More specifically, we work to make yoga more accessible, trauma-informed, and centering social justice issues facing the marginalized communities of Hawai’i. We operate with aloha pono (to live righteously) and with respect to the aina (the land we are teaching on). I’ve started meeting with Laura at a local non-profit specializing in working with at-risk youth and their families who have nowhere else to go, bringing breath, meditation and yoga postures in a safe space to a group of teenage boys. We all love “talking story” while practicing! We also offer weekly classes on Saturday morning’s creating spaces intentionally designed to be accessible for everyone with a focus on the BIPOC+ community. You can see more details on everything we’re up to by following this link: Project Koa Yoga.
Yoga For Everyone
One interesting lesson from the “Yoga For Men” offering was that women were also interested in what we were doing, not only with the tight shoulders, hips and tricky backs, but also with our connection to yoga philosophy from the Gita, the Sutras and Eight Limbs among other texts. I’m happy to report that beginning Thursday May 19th at 6pm PDT/ 3pm HST we open this weekly gathering to everyone through Lawrence Muñoz Yoga online! It will be donation-based on a sliding scale from $5 – $20, whatever you are comfortable with. And if that scale is still out of reach, please join us anyway! Follow this link to register: Yoga For Everyone.
Virtual Cycling
A small group of us have been meeting via zoom to ride each Tuesday afternoon/evening for the last few months, having so much fun that we decided to open it up to more folx! So get on your favorite stationary bike and join us as I bring the open road indoors with music and queues guaranteed to bring the most excellent endorphin high! This will also be donation-based with the same scale and intentions as above. Click here to sign up: Everyone rides!!!
I think that’s enough for now. Look forward to hearing from you (or actually seeing you when you look me up while here on island) and until next time, stay healthy and keep prayer and action going to support world peace. I leave you with pictures of love from family who’ve visited while here on Oahu.
With Aloha,
Lawrence
