Hello Shine Friends. I hope this note finds you well! As I'm sure it's been for most of you, this year has been one of navigating hurdles and challenges. We've been very blessed here at Shine with so much community support and I feel very thankful that coming up on a year into the pandemic we are still able to find ways to be together. Thank you to everyone who made donations throughout the year and for those of you who have been able to support our community through your own on-going practice. We love and appreciate you.
For awhile now, I've been thinking of this sponsorship drive and felt like Valentine's day was the perfect time to present it to you. It's no secret that this is a very hard time for small businesses as well as many individuals who have lost work or are working in more limited ways. As a way to create opportunities for those who want to support our studio and our community members, I thought that we might try a "yoga sponsorship drive." The idea here is that if you are interested in helping Shine financially *and* to support someone else who may want to practice but is limited financially, you might purchase a sponsorship package. And on the other side of the coin, if you would like to be practicing but are limited financially, you can apply for one of the sponsorships. I'm not sure how long we'll keep the program going, but I thought it was worth a shot to see how it might go.
Sponsor Another Student's Practice
If you would like to sponsor another student, you can go to our "online store" at www.shineyoga.com where you will find four levels of sponsorship to cover the cost of everything from a single class to a multi-use package. The packages run from $12 - $75 and if you'd like to make a larger sponsorship, you can purchase multiples of the packages. We also still have our donation page active at www.shineyoga.com to help support the studio itself as we're still operating at a fairly low capacity each week. Find links below for the specific pages at www.shineyoga.com for the store and for our donation page.
Apply For A Sponsorship
If you wold like to apply for a sponsorship, please send us an email to info@shineyoga.com with your request. We'll want to know why you need the financial aid and what type of sponsorship you would like. Find sponsorship package options below. Sponsorships will be offered based on need, your past involvement as a shine student/patron, financial availability in the fund, as well as the order requests are sent. We'll drop you a line if you we are able to award your request and will give you details about the procedure from there. |
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Shine Yoga Sponsorship Packages
$12 Sangha Sponsorship level will cover one live-stream class or a two-day on-demand pass for another student.
The $20 Sangha Sponsorship will cover a single
in-person class for another student.
The $45 Sangha Sponsorship will cover one of the following for another student:
- one month of on-demand classes
- a 4 class live-stream package
- 2 in-person classes
The $75 Sangha Sponsorship will cover one of the following for another student:
- 5 class pass for in-person classes
- 2 - 4 class passes for live-streaming
- 2 - 1 month on-demand passes
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Don't forget to check the MindBody scheduler before you head out for class!
We hear big snow is on the way. For this reason as well as the potential need to cancel classes due to teacher illness, please always remember to check the MindBody scheduler to make sure your class is running as scheduled. Take care everyone!
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Hi friends. We've got a brand new series to introduce you too as well as a reminder of some of the new classes and series that have been added to our February schedule. |
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New Chakra Series with Annie Weisbrod
The Chakra Series meets during the Empowered & Embodied Yoga class every Sunday starting February 21 through April 11 @ 10:30 am – noon.
This 8-week course includes theory and practices with turning inward, meditation, and movements to study them. We’ll explore the 7 major chakras and 21 minor chakras within the ‘Human Energy Field’. Notably, we will not empathize beliefs about chakras but instead focus on our own experiences with these energy spirals and intersections. With our increased awareness of the locations, sounds, colors, motifs, sensations, interconnections, we may consider how our own physiology and psyche may be affected? The course is suitable for advanced beginner, intermediate, and advanced yoga students with good knowledge of common yoga poses and ability to do them safely.
The Chakra Series meets during the Empowered & Embodied Yoga class every Sunday starting February 21 through April 11 @ 10:30 am – noon. These In-Person and Live-Streaming classes uses regular class pricing, just use your same pass or Drop-in. If you attend all 8 classes in the series, you are awarded a free class or the equivalent amount off of your next pass purchase.
Scroll down for more info about all of our new classes & series for February!
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A quick note about Covid precautions at Shine.
Hi everyone. It's Kate here. I wanted to share my evolving thoughts about Covid as the studio director and teacher at Shine. We continue to follow local advice and mandates to limit the spread of Covid. Many of our community members are now in the vaccination process. While many people are sighing for relief, I want to encourage us all to remain cautious as we move through this next phase of the pandemic. While the vaccine is showing great efficacy in preventing severe illness and death, there are still concerns about asymptomatic people carrying and spreading the virus — even if you've been vaccinated. Let's continue to be as careful and respectful with each other as we can as we navigate regaining some of our freedom of movement.
The current mandate for masking in a fitness studio in Ohio is that masks should be worn in and out of the studio but may be removed during exercise. Some yoga and fitness studios have gone to requiring masks at all times in their facilities. While masks are not required at Shine during practice, I want to make sure people feel comfortable to wear them during practice if they wish — especially during this transitional time.
As always, I'm wishing you well! Kate
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February Schedule Changes
New Schedule begins Monday, Feb. 1
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Mondays - New Class! 9:30 - 10:20
Functional Flow (50 minute class)
with Liz Stern
Condensed for live stream & on-demand attention span. Get your week started on the right (and left) foot. "This class will encourage a connection to self, inspire presence of mind, and cultivate a knowledge of your body and how it moves to support healthy, long lasting movement practices. Class is designed for all bodies, all abilities, all people."
February Series for New Beginners & Beyond
Tuesdays 6:30 - 7:45 with Becky Jauch
We're offering this series to support new beginners AND anyone who would benefit from the support and consistency that a series provides. Students are welcome to drop-in at anytime throughout the series. Use regular class passes to pay for classes. Classes are offered in limited size for in-person and live-streaming.
New Early Saturday Morning (express) Class
Join Alodie for Mixed Level 8:30 - 9:30 am
In-Person, Live-Streaming, and On-Demand
PreNatal Returns!
Saturdays 12:30 - 1:30 with Kate/Alodie
We're giving this class another try! Join us in-person, live-streaming, or on-demand
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Click here to land on our Shine's MindBody class class scheduler page. Navigate to Saturday, January 9th and sign up for the classes you'd like to participate in. Once you sign up for a live-stream class, you will receive a link to the email address you used to register 30 minutes before each class. |
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New Class! Community Offering with Newest Teachers |
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Fridays 5-6 pm Live-Stream No Charge |
We're very excited to present our Advanced 330>500 Yoga Teacher Training Grads. The class of 2020 will be offering community classes via Live-Stream* on Friday evenings from 5-6 pm through March.
*Occasionally there may be a few open spots for in-person practice. Check and register for class on our regular MindBody scheduler linked below. Students will need to log in to register and may do so at no charge for this class.
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Have You Checked Out Our Classes On-Demand?
While we are not yet able to sell single on-demand classes, we have created a 2-day pass so you can watch a single video plus a bonus or two over a two-day period. The two day passes are $15.
We also offer a monthly on-demand pass for $45. We’re starting with a base of 70 videos and will be adding 10-15 new videos each week. Visit the “on-demand” tab on our ShineYoga.com website for all the details.
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With Covid cases on the rise, please remember to always check your MindBody reservation before coming into class. We need to be flexible so that our teachers can remain at home in the case of Covid exposure. We may also cancel classes that have no registrants. If you want to come to a class, we'd love it if you make your reservation the day before that class. While we are charging for "no-shows" at this time, you can cancel your reservation up to 2 hours before class with no charge. |
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*All classes now require pre-registration so it's important that you know how our class passes are working and that you can access your Shine MindBody account which allows you to schedule & pay. Scroll down for a refresher of how the system works if you need it.
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Old News
Technical & Procedural Info.....
Mindbody Live-stream Software Update - See new info in red.
New screen - don't panic!
New to Note Dec. 22, 2020
*Apple, Google, as well as, Facebook and Instagram have made some major updates this past weekend. Please note that the glitches you may experience over the next few days may need some attention. We'll keep you updated as we figure out how to work around any new kinks.
The software platform we use for studio management and live-streaming classes, MindBody Online, has updated their software once again. We're glad to see and utilize the new improvements but know that sometimes things feel a little messy before they get better. If you see this screen you can simply select the bottom option, "continue in Chrome," to access your livestream class as usual. This app is designed to help make the streaming smoother. While we haven't used it ourselves yet, we'd love your feedback if you decide to give it a go.
As more information is learned about the app, this information may change. We will of course keep you updated!
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Our Evolving Technology: Introducing MindBody.io |
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While it can be challenging at times, we are very grateful to the technology that has helped us stay connected! The technology has been evolving quickly which means both advances and glitches. Thank you for hanging in here with us as we all get more skilled at navigating what is possible in the digital world.
In this newsletter, we wanted to talk about one possible work around when the software technology for Virtual / Live-stream classes is behaving less than optimally.
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At Shine Yoga Center, we use MindBody Online, one of the yoga studios leading software providers, to manage many of our systems including the virtual / live-stream systems. It continues to make useful updates specifically for teaching virtual yoga classes. However, sometimes there are glitches. MindBody.io (as opposed to MindBody.com) is MindBody's consumer website that operates similarly to their phone app. Mindbody.io can be used as another way to access virtual / live-stream classes if the email link you receive from us is not working.
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First, you will need to make a separate account on the mindbody.io website even if you have an account with us on our individual MindBodyOnline site for Shine Yoga Center.
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Use the same email that you used for our individual MindBodyOnline.com page. (If you aren't sure what that email address is you can simply try logging in to your Shine MindBody account here. (Click on the Sign In button on the top right corner of the page. Alternatively - send us an email and Jo can check on it for you.
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The MindBody.io account will link to your account with us and any other organizations that use MindBody for their software.
As long as you are registered but don't receive, or can't find the email link, you can also log-in to www.mindbody.io. On the mindbody.io site, you can view your "schedule" from the drop-down menu on the top right and access the class from there.
The image below displays how your schedule will appear in MndBody.io. From here, just click on the Join Live Stream link when it is time to start class. We hope this helps you to access the virtual / livestream classes with fewer challenges!
On-Demand Class Library Access Coming Soon!
MindBody.io will also come into play as we are getting our new OnDemand Library up and running. Stay tuned - more exciting news coming soon!
Software Glitches & Updates
We also want to acknowledge that MindBody as well as other software developers are making frequent updates. Often when they update their systems, the other systems we are using on our individual computers and devices have conflicts and we all end up experiencing some glitches. Please keep us informed of the tech issues you may be experiencing by emailing us at info@shineyoga.com. We'll do our best to help you navigate them. You may also want to make sure that you are keeping up with software updates on your devices to help things run more smoothly.
And never doubt the sage advice, if all else fails.... un-plug and re-start.
Good advice for computers - and our minds too.
Here's a peek at what your MindBody.io access portal looks like...
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And.... In case you missed it.... here's a look back at some previous and still relevant news and updates. |
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New Class Level & Tone Guide |
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All of Shine's Classes are offered and designed to support each student as an individual in a group setting. Your health, well-being, and satisfaction are of utmost importance to us and we try to keep a schedule that feels like we truly offer something for everyone. In teaching this way -- where we try to offer modifications and adaptations to postures, vinyasas, and exercises within the framework of the class -- it can be hard to categorize our classes. We hope that most students feel welcome in most classes. We do know that students have different goals and reasons for taking part in yoga practice. It helps to know that your intentions and your teacher's intention for class will be close in alignment. For that reason we've updated our class categories to help you have a better feel for both the energetic tone of the class and the physical fitness challenge.
Tone of Practice
You will now found a "tone" label in many of our class descriptions. Because all of our classes are holistic in nature, you will likely always find a little of all three qualities in each class but this will let you know whether the teacher's main objective is to calm & relax you, to help you find balance between strength & surrender, or wants to help inspire & challenge you to increase your physical capacity in the realm of strength, flexibility, adaptability, etc.
Nurturing: These classes are primarily focused on helping you relax and/or to be in a meditative space. Depending on the physical challenge level (see below), you may be relaxing on the floor -- but you might also be moving through a gentle & trance-y flow, or working on more active constructive exercises that will help you move through the healing process from injury or discomfort. This description is about the feel of the class and in these classes, we hope you feel called to chill, relax, and/or heal.
Balancing: Balancing classes are just what they sound like. Holistic in nature, focus in these classes is on making sure that you feel like the energy is balanced around activity & relaxation. These classes will generally move at a moderate pace. Variations and modifications for postures & exercises are generally offered to help you find the balance between effort and ease / strength & flexibility / comfort & challenge that is just right for you.
Empowering: These classes are likely to have some focus on some type of physical gain. Students will be encouraged and challenged to to work on exploring & expanding their capacity in form, function, and perhaps their understanding & application of yoga philosophy in practice. These classes will likely best serve students who want a little bit of challenge in their asana practice.
**** Ideally all Shine classes have an aspect of all three of these qualities. We just want to be able to better help students find the classes and teachers that match their personal hopes & goals for practice.
Physical Challenge Levels:
0 - (Ground Level) Minimal Movement - very little or no movement, the focus is on relaxation, restoration, and/or meditation.
1 - Easy/Gentle Movement - focus in on Functional Restoration and Therapeutic type movement. Students should be able to stand for class and be able to get up and down off the ground several times throughout the class.
2 - Moderate Movement - Being functionally fit means that you are able to move through your day with a good amount of balance, ease, and comfort. These classes will take you through posture and movement flows that will help you progressively build basic core strength, balance, and joint mobility. You're likely to flow through a few mindful sun salutations, to work on postures that help you build core & upper body strength, and will move through postures that will help you improve balance and coordination.
3 - Somewhat Challenging/Fitness/Athletic Movement - These classes are designed to challenge you in a progressive way. Students who want to build the elements of physical fitness & athleticism are invited to these classes. Shine's classes are progressively sequenced which means that we start out fairly gently to help everyone find a healthy and comfortable baseline from which to progress --- and then when needed to keep the body healthy & happy -- invited to regress too. Variations and options are offered throughout our classes to help everyone take the absolute best care of their bodies, hearts, and minds throughout the class. Level 3 classes will help you build: focus, balance, strength, endurance, flexibility & adaptability in a mindful, supportive, and inspiring way.
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This section is full of Shine's procedural updates. It will give you information & links to find out how to register for classes, purchase passes, and to let you know what the protocol is for returning to practice at Shine.
IMPORTANT ~ Passes for In-Person and Live-Streaming Run Through Different Systems...
- This means if you had a class pass and were hoping to use it for live streaming, you will need a pass convert. Email us.
- If you would like to return to the studio, you can use your old pass, you'll just need to make sure you have emailed us for an extension if your class pass has expired.
- We are welcoming old class pass surrenders as donations to support us in this transitional time and are just as happy to extend or convert your pass in the way that will work best for you.
- We are in a trial period with our live-streaming host so we are hesitant to make long-term commitments around live-streaming as we may need to change our system in July. We recognize many of you want to stick with live-streaming so we will do our very best to make sure that's a viable option. We are scheduling Live-Streaming through June with our current provider and have several class pass purchase and transfer options available for you.
- Currently you can purchase single Live-Streaming class passes (you choose what feels fair & equitable $8 or $12) as well as 4-class virtual pass for $40.
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In-Person Class Information
It's been heart warming to be able to welcome students back into conscious in-person practices this week. Here's what you need to know and do if you would like to return to in-person classes.
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You MUST pre-register for classes. We are not accepting drop-ins to classes at this time. Class size is limited to no more than 8.
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Always check the schedule before you come to class. With a limited number of "first-wave" teachers and our strict guidelines for health & pre-registration, it is possible that we will need to cancel classes last minute. We are also "trying out" our schedule to find one that feels like a good fit for our current "normal." If you have requests for certain classes and times, please let us know!
- We have new waivers and registration forms that must be collected before you practice in person. You can click here, or on our shineyoga.com website, to download from home and then bring the completed waiver with you. We will also have them to fill it out at the studio. The new waiver releases us from liability from the potential to contract illness at the studio and releases your rights to recordings. Most of our classes will be live streamed at this time. For the most part, you will be positioned off camera unless you would like to be the live stream model of the day.
- Please do not come to the studio if there IS ANY CHANCE that you may have been infected or have been in proximity with anyone who has been sick.
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You will be asked to socially distance on the way in. Please savor the entrance and take your time;-) One person at a time can come in and place their shoes and other limited personal belongings in a single cubby stand. You each get your own. Once you've placed your belongings you can take a space in the room.
- For the time being, we are going prop-less in the studio. Please bring your own mat! You may also bring your own props. We do encourage you to bring a CLEAN large towel or small blanket for padding.
- Common touch surfaces have been eliminated including our water service. Please bring your own bottle of water to class.
- Use hand sanitizer as you enter Shine.
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Masks. The regulation is that participants are encouraged to wear masks upon entry and exit but are not required to wear them during exercise. We will follow this protocol. I want to add that while masks can keep your respiratory particles to your face, they do not filter the virus out. There is a risk to being in a closed space for an extended amount of time. It's important that you weigh the pros and cons for yourself. We have purchased and are using a new Hepa air purifier and got a new HVAC system over the break which feels like a blessing.
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Teachers and masks. Teachers will stand behind a barrier and/or wear a mask when welcoming students in to class. Most teachers will not be wearing masks during class as it will interfere with our ability to speak to the students in the room and on the live-stream.
- We will have alcohol spray and wipes to sanitize all surfaces at the end of class.
If you don't see your regular teacher on here, please don't worry. We are opening the studio back to a new normal in phases and these are the teachers who stepped up to be on the front line and work out the kinks in our new systems. Stay tuned! There will be lots of updates to come so we can all.... you know it.... shine on!
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More about your class passes....
- Class passes have had a 6-month expiration date since 2012. It's likely that if it hasn't already, your old class pass will expire soon.
- Your previous class pass only works for in-person classes so if you would like to take a live-stream class, you'll need to pay separately.
- We are running a limited schedule with limited class sizes the week of June 1st so if you are planning to come back in for in-person classes you can still use the same pass - though you may need an extension before signing up. All classes now require pre-registration. Info below if you have not pre-registered below.
You have several solutions for your old class passes.
As you can imagine, being closed for several months and now needing to operate in a very different model with new expenses and less income, this has been a very hard time financially. We know that we are not alone in this challenge and want to do our very best to keep yoga accessible and to keep our space open & our community connected. So we have several solutions.
- We would graciously accept the gift of your old pass as a donation to help support Shine at this time.
- We are also just as graciously willing to give you an extension on your old pass.
- If you would like to transfer your old in-person class pass to pay for Virtual classes, (once we get that system set and in progress now), we'll be happy to do that for you too.
About class passes going forward.
While we used to run the show quite loosely, new parameters require us to be more concise about expectations and policies.
- As I mentioned, we're taking small steps here in our closure recovery and don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. We've limited the number of classes that you can buy at one time and have increased the prices slightly for in-person classes. (If you have financial difficulty, please let us know. We don't want money to be the only reason you can't practice at Shine.)
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You will need a separate class pass for in-person classes and virtual classes. We're still working out the exact details. This week all of our live-stream classes are free or for use with a pay pal donation on our virtual studio page.
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NEW INFORMATION: Please be aware of new class pass expiration dates. As of now: in-person class packages are good for 3 months, a virtual 4-class pass is now available and is good for 30 days, and our virtual single class passes are good for 14 days
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Because we now have a very limited class size - you MUST PRE-REGISTER through our Shine MindBody portal. (See below in our Virtual offerings section. The directions to register for Virtual and In-Person classes is similar.)
- We are no longer excusing "no shows." You can early cancel any class up to two hours before a class. If you cancel within 4 hours from class start time, you will be charged due to our new limited class sizes.
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Our Virtual Offerings are Expanding
Live streaming seems to be going well for many of you with some small kinks still to work out for others. Don't forget that in addition to our new live-streaming classes you may still access our reciprocity videos on YouTube. Take what you need / give what you can. Classes are still free on YouTube and we continue to accept donations. Click here for more info about our pre-corded classes & donation portals. Visit our "Shine Yoga Collective" YouTube to access pre-recorded classes.
Here's how to join us for Live-Streaming:
- Make sure that you can sign in to your MindBody account or create a new account which can be merged later. You'll want to have the email you use to register for class and your Shine MindBody password handy when you sign-in for your live stream.
- From Shine's MindBody portal, go to "classes" and click the "sign-up" link next to the classes you want to take.
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You will receive an email from "MindBody" with a link to take you to the class 30 minutes before the class. You'll need to be on the look out for the email as it may end up in your junk mail.
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As long as you are registered but don't receive, or can't find the email link, you can also log-in to www.mindbody.io. (You may need to update your password to gain access to this site.) On the mind body.io site, you can view your "schedule" from the drop-down menu on the top right and access the class from there.
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The Live Streaming system works better on some systems and not at all on others. Click this link for more info about having success on the Live Streaming portal. I've also included an image at the bottom that gives a quick overview of what browsers and systems work best together. In general, Chrome seems to work best from desktop computers and "Safari" tends to work best on mac mobile devices.
- If you need help with anything, please email us. We want to support you and know that tech can be quite intimidating. Maybe we can all use this time to get more fluent in the digital world with hopes of opportunities for human connection soon returning.
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More Help, Info & Trouble Shooting For Live-Streaming
Pop on over to ShineYoga.com for more info about accessing and improving your live-stream experience.
The system we are using works pretty well with the right combo of device and internet browser. So far people are having the best luck with Google Chrome on a a desktop and on iPhone, Safari seems to work well. This chart may help you figure out the best configuration for your device and your web browser.
For those, like me, who are a little bit technically challenged, you can use your current browser to download a new browser. Say you are searching the web on Safari... in your search bar, you can type... "google chrome." It will take you to the Google Chrome page where you should find a "download Chrome" icon. Follow the prompts to install the new browser and then use that browser to access us. Click here to access Google Chrome.
Hopefully, you won't have any problems but with tech you never know. We hope we can figure this out together! We are here for you! and May the force be with you! Please stay in touch! We hope to connect soon.
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The "Shine Yoga Collective" YouTube channel is now live for your home practice!
Our YouTube channel: Shine Yoga Collective is filling up. We are creating classes with our wide range of students in mind. From nurturing to athletic, from short to long form practices, we've got something posted for you and plan to keep the content rolling out!
We are currently offering the classes for free but have created channels for donations to help our studio weather this cultural health storm. All the details can be found on the new "Virtual Studio" page at www.shineyoga.com. Click here for details. |
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May we hold soul space for each other whether we are near or far. May we stay open to life with compassion, care, and courage. May we each be a light in a world that can turn towards darkness so easily.
Thank you for your continued care and support. You mean the world to us here at Shine. Thank you, Kate & The Shine Collective
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Shine Yoga
www.shineyoga.com
3330 Erie Ave. #15, Cincinnati, OH 45208
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