With Elizabeth Gross

4 Saturdays November 30-December 21st, 2024 / 10-11am ET

Christ the King Episcopal Church / 3021 NY-213, Stone Ridge, NY 12484

By Donation

Space is limited, Pre-Registration Required

Step away from the busyness of the holiday season and make space for quiet and reflection.

Holy Dark is a 4 week series of in-person yoga and meditation practices, meeting weekly on Saturdays at 10am ET (60min) from November 30th to December 21st. This series is for you if you want to bring your body and heart in line with Advent by way of contemplative practice.

Advent is the liturgical season when we reflect on God as nestled in the holy dark womb of The Blessed Mother, awaiting birth at Christmas. It’s a time when we can sit in the dark womb of our own lives to connect with our hopes and dreams, longing to be revealed to ourselves and the world.

During this Advent lectio divina series, we will make space to connect to the healing and sacred nature of quiet and stillness during the darkest weeks of the year, leading up to The Winter Solstice and Christmastide. We will spend our time together for yoga asana, a practice of prayerful movement, and lectio divina, a practice of reading and reflecting on a contemplative text, before sitting quietly for breath-work, meditation and prayer.

Each class within this series will blend accessible yoga postures with lectio divina (contemplative prayer on a sacred text), breath connection and journaling, so you can experience a well rounded, reflective practice during our time together. My intention is that by the end of the 4 weeks, you'll have a deepened appreciation for Advent and feel both connected to your heart and body, wherein God resides.

Let us wait in quiet anticipation for what’s to come during this special time of year.

Who this class series is for:

This class series is for those who would like to:

• connect to the deeper significance of Advent

• explore core principles of contemplative spirituality

• learn contemplative practices such as letcio divina and yoga asana in an accessible way

• engage or re-connect with an authentic spiritual practice, but are not quite sure where to begin

• receive encouragement, support and care alongside others also fostering an embodied faith practice

What we will be doing during our time together:

This contemplative yoga class series is intended to help connect your life in a deep and meaningful way to the season of Advent through your body and heart, which can often lack attention in our busy, modern lives. This class is appropriate for both beginners to yoga and/or contemplative practices/a deeper exploration of faith. 

With a spacious time for practice, we will explore:

• the practice of lectio divina, a contemplative prayer practice 

• The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander as our guiding text

• meditation and breath connection to help digest our Advent experiences within stillness

• yoga asana which support the body’s natural processes associated with Advent and connection with our guiding text

• how to apply all that we explore in this course to our lives off the mat for a contemplatively rooted Advent season

• reflection time through journaling and the option to share insights with the community we form together 

The yoga practice we will engage with during the course of this series will be a slow paced sequence of accessible postures, suitable for beginners. If you are new to yoga or would like to ease back into your practice, Advent is a great time to start. We will explore foundational postures of yoga with a gentle approach. Variations will be offered for those who want either greater challenge or a lighter approach to the yoga practice.

If you can’t attend all of the classes:

Though you will get the most out of this series if you attend all of the classes, if you need to miss one or two:

• I’ll send along the reading for the week, which you can read in your own time to keep up with course material

• You are welcome to practice using the framework of the previous classes in your own time, and working with the yoga postures we’ve explored thus far as part of this series

How to Register for Holy Dark:

If you’d like to join this course, please do the following:

• Email Reverend Marcella Gillis at rector@ctkstoneridge.org to secure your spot for this course. 

• Add class dates to your calendar: 4 Saturdays: November 30th-December 21st, from 10-11am.

• Make sure you have access to the materials you’ll need for the course:

  • A new journal (or pull out one of your many previously purchased and unused journals!)

  • A copy of The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander

  • Optional: Your own yoga mat and additional suggested yoga props: a bolster, 2 yoga blocks, a yoga strap and blanket. Yoga mats and props will be provided if you do not have your own. 

Elizabeth Gross (BA, CATP, CYT) is a contemplative care practitioner based in Kingston, NY. Elizabeth helps individuals experiencing life and death transitions navigate grief and loss as journeys towards deeper self awareness and reverence for the mystery of life. Elizabeth weaves her training as an herbalist, yoga instructor, end of life doula, Thai Yoga bodyworker, and willow casket weaver into many of her offerings. Her Catholic upbringing and adult reclaimation of Christianity through its mystical and contemplative traditions greatly influences the way she approaches her work with her clients and students.

Have a question about this course?

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