5.15.26 I PEACE. PASS IT ON

The Portable Peace Project is an offering rooted in the practice of Karma Yoga - the yoga of selfless service. Created by the students of the 2026 Yoga Teacher Training cohort at Community Yoga Center, this project reflects a shared intention to live yoga beyond the mat through compassionate action.

In the yogic tradition, even the smallest acts, when offered with sincerity, awareness, and love, can become sacred expressions of connection. Through this service project, the students sought to embody these teachings not only through personal practice, but through offerings designed to nurture the well-being of those who continually care for others.

5.15.26 FACILITATOR SPOTLIGHT: KIMBERLY JONES

Kimberly Jones is committed to making yoga accessible to all bodies, levels, and lived experiences. With the belief that yoga is for everyBODY, she cultivates welcoming spaces where folks feel supported, empowered, and encouraged to practice yoga regardless of ability or body type. Her approach integrates movement, breath awareness, and mindfulness while offering adaptive poses and supportive practices that help make yoga accessible and meaningful for each individual.

Kim has shared yoga with folks in psychiatric hospitals and mental health treatment centers. Her offerings in these spaces center around reconnecting to the body, regulating the nervous system, and cultivating a sense of calm, agency, and self-compassion. She thoughtfully adapts each practice to meet people where they are, honoring diverse needs, experiences, and emotional states.

4.21.26 I FACILITATOR SPOTLIGHT: BLANCA WRIGHT

Blanca Wright is the founder of Embodied Breath Wellness, an organization devoted to creating sensitive, inclusive, and empowering spaces for healing through movement, breath, and meditation. With training in trauma-informed facilitation and a deep understanding of the nervous system, she guides individuals in gently reconnecting with their bodies, cultivating resilience, and deepening self-compassion.

Her approach to teaching is rooted in presence, choice, and agency. Through mindfulness and grounding practices, Blanca offers yoga as an invitation - one that honors each person’s unique experience and supports a sense of both autonomy and belonging.

4.17.26 I CHOOSE YOUR MOAI GROUPS TODAY!  

Wellness is more than fitness, nutrition, and a balanced lifestyle - it’s about connection, purpose, and living well together. That’s why we’re excited to lead moai groups for the Blue Zones Project Riverside, helping bring one of the world’s most powerful longevity practices right into our community.

The word moai (pronounced mo-eye) comes from Okinawa, Japan - one of the original Blue Zones, where people live some of the longest, healthiest lives on earth. A moai is a small, committed group of people who come together regularly to support one another in living healthier, happier lives. It’s a built-in circle of encouragement, where friendships deepen, accountability grows, and well-being becomes a shared journey rather than a solo one. Research from the Blue Zones Project shows that people who are part of a moai experience stronger social connections, reduced stress and loneliness, improved physical and mental health, and a greater sense of purpose.

3.28.26 I CELEBRATING 8 YEARS OF COMMUNITY YOGA INITIATIVE

For eight years, Community Yoga Initiative has served as a living expression of what it means to truly love yoga and share it freely. What began as a gesture of kindness among five friends has grown into a vibrant, community-centered wellness movement dedicated to making yoga accessible to all.

That spirit of generosity was beautifully reflected during the Community Yoga Initiative’s 8th Anniversary Celebration, held on Friday, March 27, at Community Yoga Center. Community members, facilitators, practitioners, and supporters gathered for an evening of reflection, gratitude, and connection in honor of the initiative’s journey and the people who have helped sustain it along the way.

3.21.26 I ENROLLMENT NOW OPEN FOR YOGA TEACHER TRAINING  

Yoga Teacher Training at Community Yoga Center is not simply about learning to share the most physical aspect of yoga. It is about remembering. Remembering the wisdom already living in your body. Remembering the steadiness beneath the noise. Remembering that yoga is not something we perform, but something we live.

Together, we will move beyond the surface of postural shapes and sequencing and enter the heart of the practice - where philosophy meets personal experience, where awareness is the center point around which everything else revolves, where movement and stillness become the heart of connectedness. Rooted in timeless teachings and shaped for the world we live in now, this journey invites you into a deeper relationship with your body and mind, what’s most meaningful to you, and your capacity to serve.

3.17.26 I FACILITATOR SPOTLIGHT: MELISSA SHAW

Melissa Shaw shares yoga from a place of compassion, presence, and deep care. With a grounded understanding of life’s interconnection and impermanence, she meets others with warmth and patience - supporting folks in creating meaningful connection both on and off the mat.

She is devoted to supporting women through the transformative journey of pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. Her specialized prenatal and postnatal knowledge helps create nurturing spaces where mothers can reconnect with their bodies, their breath, and their babies. Her approach weaves together gentle movement, mindful breathing, and deep womb awareness to support holistic well-being at every stage.

2.12.26 I FACILITATOR SPOTLIGHT: CATHERINE MURRAY

Catherine Murray facilitates individual and group yoga sessions offering vinyasa flow as an embodied art form - a practice that moves like a prayer: mindful, rhythmic, and physically invigorating. Her offerings blend creative sequencing with intentional challenge, inviting an exploration of strength, fluidity, and presence in equal measure.

Drawing on her background as a teacher of literature and written arts, Catherine approaches yoga as a form of storytelling. She weaves myth and metaphor into her classes, guiding movement with narrative and poetic resonance. Each practice unfolds like a story - inviting curiosity, imagination, and a deep connection to both body and breath.

2.9.26 I COMMUNITY YOGA CENTER PARTNERS WITH UC RIVERSIDE AS A GLUCK FELLOWS SITE

We’re happy to announce that Community Yoga Center is now a community site for the Gluck Fellows Program of the Arts in partnership with UC Riverside. Through this collaboration, we’re excited to offer free, high-quality arts programming at the yoga center, made accessible to all. The Gluck Fellows Program connects UC Riverside artists with community spaces to share the arts through performance, education, and creative engagement. We’re honored to be part of this vibrant network.

To kick off this partnership, we’re happy to announce a 5-week dance series, Social Dance and Movement Improvisation: Community, Creativity and Collective Care, facilitated by Cinthia Duran Larrea. This dance series invites participants of all levels of experience into a joyful, exploratory movement practice rooted in Latin social dance, group-building improvisation, and collective care.

2.2.26 I AUDACITY TO REST: CHERIE ROBINSON RECLAIMS REST AS A HEALTH INTERVENTION

In a culture that worships productivity and rewards exhaustion, choosing rest can feel like rebellion. Audacity to Rest, a course created by Cherie Robinson, names that rebellion and invites us to consider rest not as indulgence, but as a health intervention, a cultural reset, and the ground from which life grows.

Drawing from wellness science, collective care traditions, and lived experience, Cherie challenges grind culture’s most entrenched myths: that hustle is a virtue, rest must be earned, and exhaustion is the cost of belonging. Through guided practices, reflective prompts, and communal learning, Audacity to Rest reframes rest as both a personal and collective practice that actively resists conditioning built on depletion.

1.19.26 I FACILITATOR SPOTLIGHT: DANIELLE ADAMS

Danielle Adams’ sharing of yoga is deeply rooted in Karma Yoga - the path of service. She embodies humility, compassion, and commitment - offering many good works as acts of love, rather than seeking recognition and reward. Danielle’s sharing of yoga reminds us of our interconnectedness and the sacredness of everyday acts of care. 

Danielle is adept not only in the physical movement aspects of asana, but in the broader practice of yoga as well - the cultivation of radical presence, honesty, and love. Her heart-led sharing and steady leadership continue to enrich the community in meaningful ways.

1.14.26 I ALL-BODIES ASHTANGA: A RARE SPACE

This week on the mat was ashta-awesome! Bodies moving and breathing, hearts opening - together becoming a little more ashta-aware and ashta-alive. It was ashta-amazing!

What makes this practice so special is its accessibility.

Ashtanga yoga is known for being intense, advanced, or only for certain bodies. At Community Yoga Center, we practice something different. Here, ashtanga yoga is for everyone. Every body. Every background. Every level of experience. This is All-Abilities Ashtanga - and it’s rare. Very rare.

I am deeply grateful for Kimberly Jones, whose knowledge, skill, and unwavering commitment make this practice possible. Her guidance and dedication create a space where we can all move, breathe, and belong. This offering exists because of her love for yoga and willingness to share it generously, without gatekeeping.

1.7.26 I BEHIND THE SCENES WITH USA MEN’S WATER POLO: YOGA’S ROLE IN OLYMPIC SUCCESS

Dubbed one of the toughest sports on the planet, water polo combines the endurance of swimming, the physicality of wrestling, and the strategy of basketball - all while treading water. It’s brutal, relentless, and uncompromising.

That’s why the USA Men’s National Water Polo Team’s bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics was so historic. After years off the podium, this achievement marks a powerful return and signals growing momentum as the team sets it's sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Behind this success is more than countless hours in the pool. Yoga, often overlooked in high-performance athletics, has become a vital component of the team’s preparation. For the past seven years, I’ve had the privilege of working with these elite athletes, tailoring yoga practices to meet the specific demands of their sport. This month, Hannah Chu co-facilitated the yoga offerings for the team, further strengthening this integrative approach.

9.22.25 I A RARE GIFT IN MONITIZED CULTURE 

In a time when nearly everything has a price tag - wellness included - it’s extraordinary for yoga to be shared as freely and often as it is at Community Yoga Center. Over 20 free yoga classes are shared weekly. That’s over 80 free yoga classes every month! In our culture, health and well-being have become commodities, mindfulness is marketed, and yoga is now packaged as a lifestyle brand. Monthly memberships, premium subscriptions, and luxury retreats pervade yoga spaces - making the message clear: yoga is available, but only if you can afford it.