From 5–10pm, enjoy free drop-in classes, fitness demos, prizes and more.

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Dharma Yoga Center

Happy new year to us all! Dharma Mittra, the “Rock of Yoga”, is offering a ton of free classes at his studio this month.

Charmingly old-school, overflowing with love and devotion, Dharma Yoga Center draws some of the most advanced yoga practitioners in the city. Dharma is one of the most senior teachers in the city; you’ll recognize him from his poster of 908 poses.

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Brooklyn adventurers, have some fun tomorrow:

To share some holiday spirit, Resurgent Fitness offers a full day of excellent free classes, including abs at 11:15, capoeira at noon, Muay Thai at 1:15, bellydance at 2:30, Congolese dance at 4pm, yoga at 5:15, and Djimbe dance and drum at 6:30. Call for a full schedule.

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Tonight (December 11th) is the last of four free yoga classes offered by Steven Cheng at Earth Yoga.

In the spirit of giving back to the community for my good fortunes in teaching yoga, Earth Yoga and I would like to offer a series of FREE community classes.  This is my thanks to those of you who have been loyal students. 

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Sticking around the city this holiday? Here are some great Thanksgiving and day-after options.

THANKSGIVING DAY (11/26/09)

Om Factory — 108 Sun Salutations with Ashley Bouldin

8:30am – 10:30am
$17 drop-in (or use your class card)

108 Sun Salutations can be a celebration of gratitude for the health of your body. If you are thinking to yourself, 108 Updogs and Downdogs… are they crazy? It’s not whether you do 108, 8 or even 20… you do what you can and leave the rest behind. 108 Sun Salutations is a moving meditation that leaves you feeling amazing.

Golden Bridge — Attitude of Gratitude: A Thanksgiving Celebration with Guru Dharam Singh Khalsa

10:30am – 12:30pm, with meal to follow at 1:00pm
$25 advance, $35 day of

When we cultivate an attitude of gratitude it invokes a condition of unconditional prosperity. Deepen your understanding of gratefulness by exploring what the yogis mean by gratitude. This Thanksgiving Day, join Guru Dharam Singh in a special Kundalini Yoga and Meditation class followed with a community Thanksgiving Day Feast and Gathering. Friends and family are welcome. Pre-registration is encouraged!

BLACK FRIDAY (11/27/09)

Reflections Yoga — Twisted Turkey Day After Thanksgiving Workshop

12:00pm – 2:00pm
$30

Just in case you overindulged a bit, just in case your brother-in-law left your quiet mind in tatters, just in case you need to jump start your “I WILL NOT LET THIS HOLIDAY SEASON DRIVE ME CRAZY” resolution… Join Lip the day after Thanksgiving to detox your body, wash your mind, and ground your spirit. Pre-registration strongly recommended. Call 212.974.2288 or email brenna@reflectionsyoga.com to sign up!

Area Yoga — Post-Thanksgiving Detox Workshop

4:00pm – 6:00pm
$20 (or 2 classes on class card)

Join Erin for the perfect post-Thanksgiving dinner remedy: a workshop designed to make you move and sweat!  The workshop will incorporate a variety of sun salutations, deep twists, invigorating inversions and bandha/core work. Not suitable for brand new beginners.

Earth Yoga — Free Day-After-Thanksgiving Class

7:45pm – 9:00pm
free

In the spirit of giving back to the community for his good fortunes in teaching yoga, Steven Cheng will give free classes at Earth Yoga. This is a great way to start your friends on this enlightening, fun, and healthful yoga path.

Any others? Post them in the comments and we’ll add them in.

The Breathing Project is hosting David Sykes and his Harmonic Choir, “the world’s leading overtone choir,” this Friday, October 30 at 7:30pm. What is harmonic singing? From the website:

Harmonic Chant is part of a 14-billion year old tradition — the harmonic presence illuminating every nook and cranny of the cosmic space. Those subtle waves of photonal warmth, the cosmic background radiation, still radiate across the sky in every direction, in waves as wide as 2 full moons.

“David Hykes’s music is haunting and transporting. It takes you some place like the Sahara desert, somewhere completely otherworldly. It transports you to the Ancient Time.
While searching for music for my film ‘Travellers and Magicians,’ I listened to so much music. But I always came back to David’s. From the moment I heard it, there was no doubt.” — Revered incarnate Tibetan lama Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

It’s not quite chanting, not quite ambient techno. It’s sure to vibrate your brain in a million directions. If you’ve never heard this type of thing, it’s worth experiencing in person.

Preview the music on CD Baby

Watch a performance on YouTube

Tickets are $35. All proceeds go to benefit the Breathing Project’s teacher training scholarship fund. There’s also a workshop with David Sykes the next day (Halloween) from 6-9pm.

Dance Dance Party Party

Oooh! Dance New Amsterdam, one of the oldest studios in town, is having free classes all day tomorrow! It’s a celebration of their 25th anniversary.

From 10:00am – 7:00pm FREE classes in modern, ballet, contemporary, hip hop, jazz, pilates and yoga and more will be offered by DNA’s first-rate faculty: Gail Accardi, Georgina Aragon, Alexandra Beller, Julie Bour, Rebecca Burton, Martha Chapman, Janessa Clark, Sarah Clark, Jennie Cohen, Wendell Cooper, Amy Cushing, Laurie De Vito, Chris Heller, Nathalie Jonas, Katiti King, Anabella Lenzu, Nia Love, Diane McCarthy, Darcy Naganuma, Te Perez, TaraMarie Perri, Megan Philipp, Ambere Rogers, Benny Simon, Sasha Soreff, Oliver Steele, Teri Steele, Al Turner, Julie Turner, Sophia Fatouros, and Jayson Vasquez.

For more info, visit the event page: http://www.dnadance.org/site/about/our-25th-birthday/

Acupuncture Happy Hour

Two-for-one specials, happy hours… needles? Welcome to New York!

Fridays at the Breathing Project, Gotham Wellness is offering 30-minute group acupuncture treatments, held in a candlelit yoga room. (Although it is a group treatment, there is plenty of personal space and privacy, and all participants remain fully clothed.)

Founder Stefanie DiLibero has a Masters degree and several professional certificates in acupuncture, as well as a 500-hour yoga teaching certification. She has years of clinical experience in both acupuncture and Chinese medicine.

The cost is only $25. (I’ve seen other acupuncture sessions run $200 an hour.) Take a date to get pierced!

You can drop in anytime between 6:30 and 8:00, or reserve your spot online at www.gothamwellness.com/events.php

See you there?

NOTE: This post was updated to correct the price info.

Veg Fest in Tompkins Square Park and Yoga for Runners at Lululemon!

NYC Veg Fest

Sunday, October 11th
Tompkins Square Park

The 1st edition of NYC VegFest is an outdoor festival —come rain or shine from 11am to 6pm, we will celebrate Vegetarianism. It is free to the public.

Free yoga classes at 11am and 3:30pm.

Happy Hips & Hamstrings

Monday, October 12th, 7-8:15PM
Lululemon Brooklyn: 472 Bergen St.

Any runner knows that tight hamstrings and hips are one of the drawbacks of their favorite activity. In this 75 minute class, Julie Dohrman, a certified Anusara Yoga instructor and lululemon athletica Brooklyn Showroom Ambassador will teach you the quickest and easiest poses to keep your hips and hamstrings open. Aligning the legs offers not only increased flexibility for your hips, it also opens the spine and shoulders for greater freedom of movement, even in walking. All Runners and non-runners welcome! No prior yoga experience required.

Just found out about this great program: CityParks is offering six-week fitness classes to seniors, for free. The fall session started September 21. Yoga offerings are located at the following parks:

QUEENS

Roy Wilkins Park: Yoga W/F 11 AM, Tennis Courts Baisley Blvd & 177th St

Flushing Meadows Corona Park: Yoga M/W 9 AM, Park Tennis Courts Meridian Rd

BRONX

Van Cortlandt Park / Woodlawn: Yoga M/W 9 AM, Woodlawn Courts Jerome Ave & E 233 St

Pelham Bay Park: Yoga M/W 9 AM, Middleton Road & Stadium Ave

MANHATTAN

Inwood Hill Park: Yoga T/TH 9 AM, Tennis Courts W 207 St & Seaman Ave

BROOKLYN

Marine Park: Yoga M/W 9 AM, Nature Center Ave U & E 32 St

Red Hook Park: Yoga M/W 9 AM, Recreation Center 155 Bay St

STATEN ISLAND

Greenbelt Park: Yoga M/W 9 AM,  again at 10 AM, 501 Brielle Ave

Thanks to CharityFocus Blog for the tip. (Click the link to read about her experiences teaching the classes.)