[ Live Streamed & In Person] Practices of Gratitude at Yogabliss in Mercer Island

On Thanksgiving morning, please join us online or in-person for our annual “Practices of Gratitude”.

As a community, we will offer up our gratitude for the abundance in our lives and all the blessings we share. Our teachers have volunteered their time to offer practices that will ground our energy, open our hearts and prepare us for this day of celebration in a unique way this year – knowing that it will look, feel, and simply be different.

These are special community classes, established so that we can show our gratitude by offering our generosity

Virtual Vinyasa with Richard Guevara: Nov. 26th @8am – 9am

Fifty percent of the proceeds collected will be given to the Shanti Bhavan Children’s School, as we continue sponsorship of Sinchana, the sweet 8-yr old student studying in India. With your help, this will be our 3rd year sponsoring Sinchana covering her education expenses and supporting her young life. We hope to sustain this relationship, offering our supportive care to this delightful child who lives in need, half way around the world.

Minimum gift for joining class is $25 per student. Please do consider giving more and giving generously – this is a real opportunity to make a difference. Contributions will be received through Mindbody when you register for your class. If you would like to give a different amount than listed, please reach out to manager@yogabliss.org. We will be happy to hear from you!

Outdoor Strong & Slow Yoga with Elena Cheung: Nov. 26th @9am – 10am

Fifty percent of the collected proceeds will go to Shanti Bhavan Children’s School in India & the MIYFS Food Pantry.

This will be our third year sponsoring 8-yr old Sinchana attending Shanti Bhavan. Each year we cover the education & living expenses of the delightful young student as she attends school away from home. It is an honor and a pleasure for Yogabliss to support Sinchana, even though she lives half way around the world.

COVID-19 has prevented the MIYFS Food Pantry from collecting food donations, making this time, even more challenging for families experiencing food insecurity & job loss. Contributions will go directly to purchasing grocery store gift cards, so that this season, every child and family in our community can experience delight and a sense of normalcy in celebrating their holiday traditions.

Minimum gift for joining class is $25 per student. Please do consider giving more and giving generously – this is a real opportunity to make a difference. Contributions will be received through Mindbody when you register for your class. If you would like to give a different amount than listed, please reach out to manager@yogabliss.org. We will be happy to hear from you!

*Class will take place at the Mercer Island Community Center under the covered patio. Students will be physically distanced at least 6-ft apart and masks are required until the practice begins.

Virtual Gentle Yoga with Rai Lowe: Nov. 26th @9:30am – 10:30am

Fifty percent of the proceeds collected will be given to the Mercer Island Youth & Family Services Food Pantry.

COVID-19 has prevented the Food Pantry from collecting food donations, making this time an even more challenging for families experiencing food insecurity & job loss. Contributions will go directly to purchasing grocery store gift cards, so that this season every child and family in our community, can experience delight and a sense of normalcy in celebrating their holiday traditions.

Minimum gift for joining us in class is $25 per student. Please do consider giving more and giving generously – this is a real opportunity to make a difference. Contributions will be received through Mindbody when you register for your class. If you would like to give a different amount than listed, please reach out to manager@yogabliss.org. We will be happy to hear from you!

Outdoor Vinyasa with Lara Ederer: Nov. 26th @10:30am – 11:30am

Fifty percent of the collected proceeds will go to Shanti Bhavan Children’s School in India & the MIYFS Food Pantry.

This will be our third year sponsoring 8 yr old Sinchana attending Shanti Bhavan. Each year we cover the education & living expenses of this delightful young student as she attends school away from home. It is an honor and a pleasure for Yogabliss to support Sinchana, even though she lives half way around the world.

COVID-19 has prevented the MIYFS Food Pantry from collecting food donations, making this time, even more challenging for families experiencing food insecurity & job loss. Contributions will go directly to purchasing grocery store gift cards, so that this season, every child and family in our community can experience delight and a sense of normalcy in celebrating their holiday traditions.

Minimum gift for joining class is $25 per student. Please do consider giving more and giving generously – this is a real opportunity to make a difference. Contributions will be received through Mindbody when you register for your class. If you would like to give a different amount than listed, please reach out to manager@yogabliss.org. We will be happy to hear from you!

*Class will take place at the Mercer Island Community Center under the covered patio. Students will be physically distanced at least 6-ft apart and masks are required until the practice begins.

About the instructors: Richard Guevara, Elena Cheung, Rai Lowe, and Lara Ederer

Richard Guevara is certified to instruct and guide his students through alignment based vinyasa and restorative yoga. He completed two separate 200 RYT trainings, including Annie Carpenter’s SmartFlow training. He plans to complete his 500 hour certification within the year.
As a former athlete who suffered multiple injuries resulting in chronic pain, he found comfort and relief through his yoga practice. It became such a vital part of his life that he decided to enroll in teacher training; he has been an active instructor ever since. His style of yoga is smooth, alignment-based and favors breath over movement. He believes each movement is a pose in itself stemming from the core.  He avidly believes in yoga’s ability to restore and heal the body as well as the mind. Richard loves to challenge his students and show that regardless of fitness level, anything is possible with practice. He also aims to have his students leave his class energized with renewed or continued faith in their ability to find comfort and release in his sessions.
Richard is an avid Pacific North West overall outdoor enthusiast as well as a mountaineer, passionate climber, acroyogi, and cyclist. You can count on finding him outside rain or shine.

I completed my undergraduate studies with a double degree in Biology and Psychology, two fields that satisfied my scientific curiosity and drive to learn. Shortly after came yoga teacher training. I knew from day one that teaching would be inevitable: the desire to serve others is a cornerstone of my personality. My interest now lies in the fields of movement, anatomy, and mindfulness.
I strive to integrate healthy alignment and anatomical knowledge in my teaching to help provide a strong basis for students to take flight on their own. My goal in my teaching is to give you the tools to become your own greatest teacher – thyoge tools of mindful awareness, knowledge of your own body, and the acceptance and integration of your ego. I determine the needs of the students before me and am able to speak to each and every body, keeping in mind the uniqueness of every person on their mat.
My name is Elena Cheung, and I am a rock climber, yoga teacher, movement lover, and a big video game nerd. I’m based out of Seattle, WA.

Rae Lowe began practicing yoga while teaching fitness classes and found the balancing effects of yoga immediately. She has studied locally with Jenny Hayo, Anne Phyfe Palmer, Jo Leffingwell, Melina Meza, and nationally with Shiva Rae, Tias Little, Rod Stryker, Shari Friedrichsen, Sarah Powers, and JinSung. Rai has been teaching since 2001 and holds 500-RYT and RPYT certifications. Her 500 hour and Prenatal training were completed through 8 Limbs Yoga Centers and her 200 hour training was completed through Samadhi Yoga in Seattle, Washington. She has worked in several diverse settings – yoga studios, fitness clubs, elementary schools, corporate offices, and universities and colleges.  This has given her the opportunity to teach an array of classes –  Vinyasa, Yin, Gentle, Intro, Family and Kid Yoga, Prenatal/Postnatal, Partner Yoga, and Meditation. She leads the Bellevue College 200-hour RYS Teacher Training Program, teaches Prenatal Yoga for 200-hour Teacher Trainings, and leads Yoga Workshops and Retreats.

Rae encourages all levels of students to truly tune in and listen to their bodies, be curious and enjoy discovering varied options (by modifying or challenging) in their practices each day.  Showing up on our mat with whatever we are facing, allows us to take what we learn during our sadhana (practice) to other aspects of our lives. It is here that we can discover and create the many ways of letting balance unfold in our lives. Rai supports students in this unfolding by weaving in yoga philosophy with a focus on stability and fluidity within the physical body, breath and mind.

Lara is a 500 E-RYT, Yoga Medicine Registered Therapeutics Specialist in the Seattle area. Lara is currently in the YM 1000 hour YTT under her teacher Tiffany Cruickshank and is very active in the local yoga education community. She is the co-founder of Viveka Yoga School and has lead 5, 200 hour YTT programs and is currently co-facilitating a 500 hour one. Lara is an anatomy nerd and can often be found upside down when she isn’t busy with her family.