Event Calendar
Upcoming Events from Bloom Local’s Partner Network
Queer & Trans Yoga: Focus on the Chakras (4-Week Series)
This 4-week series is designed especially for members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are looking to connect with their bodies and their breath in a supportive, community-oriented environment. This space aims to create a container where queer and trans folks can cultivate joy, a deeper relationship with their bodies, and a sense of connectedness to their yoga practice. All bodies, sizes, and abilities are welcome and celebrated.
DIY Marketing Basics for QT Artists with Luc Abbott (Copy)
Join Luc Abbott (they/them) for an enriching "Marketing Basics" workshop designed for QT musical artists! We'll dive into creative, innovative, and practical strategies to boost your visibility, and cover accessibility guidelines to ensure your outreach is inclusive and impactful.
Queer & Trans Yoga: Focus on the Chakras (4-Week Series)
This 4-week series is designed especially for members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are looking to connect with their bodies and their breath in a supportive, community-oriented environment. This space aims to create a container where queer and trans folks can cultivate joy, a deeper relationship with their bodies, and a sense of connectedness to their yoga practice. All bodies, sizes, and abilities are welcome and celebrated.
Kids Makers Market
Little Roots, Bombyx, Art Always, & High Five Books are excited to present a Winter Kids' Makers Market featuring kids as the makers, ranging from 6-18 years old!
Come purchase gifts for yourself, your friends, or family - for the holidays, birthdays, fun surprises, or just because. You'll find jewelry, soaps, note cards, art, candles, food and more.
Participants will be able to engage in arts and crafts by Art Always, with music by Little Roots students and teachers, and books by High Five Books. Spread the word! Hope to see you there! Interested in having your child participate?
Register at: bit.ly/kidsmakersmarket2024
Registration
This is a FREE event.
Click/tap button below for more information.
Yoga for Digestive Health
Sanctuary welcomes you to a discussion and physical movement workshop of yoga therapy practices aimed at supporting digestive health. The gut and brain are in constant communication and this relationship, with factors like stress, trauma, and our environment, plays a role in digestive health. In this workshop we will discuss this gut-brain axis that is central to yoga therapy practices for digestive health and bring this awareness into a gentle physical yoga practice.
You may opt to bring a notebook. The studio is wheelchair-accessible. Please note: This workshop will be presented in the context of the yoga therapy model, which is aimed at holistic treatment using yogic practices to treat body-mind system related concerns. Safara’s certification is in teaching Yoga for Digestive Health. She is not a licensed yoga therapist.
Registration
Click/tap the button below to learn more about this offering.
Pay-What-You-Can, by donation: $5-$40, Suggested Rate: $30
A note regarding accessibility to all Sanctuary offerings:
Sanctuary has a range of scholarship options available. If the cost of participating is prohibitive, please email them at studio@yoga-sanctuary.com to learn more.
New Years Eve Yoga
As we approach the new year, we will gather in the warmth of great company to honor what has been and turn our hearts toward new possibility. Re-align yourself with what matters most to you and receive the power of community to magnify our individual and collective intentions. This workshop will include joyful yoga, meditation, rest, and contemplation.
All experience levels welcome.
Registration
Click/tap the button below to learn more about this offering.
Sliding Scale Pricing: $30-$50
A note regarding accessibility to all Sanctuary offerings:
Sanctuary has a range of scholarship options available. If the cost of participating is prohibitive, please email them at studio@yoga-sanctuary.com to learn more.
Katie the Catsitter Party! with Graphic Novelist Colleen AF Venable
Cat’s out of the bag: This November, High Five Books is hosting graphic novelist Colleen AF Venable for a KATIE THE CATSITTER party!
In celebration of the release of book no. 4 in the series, THE PURRFECT PLAN (out Oct. 8!), we’ll gather at Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity here in Florence on Sunday, November 17, 3-4:30PM.
Colleen will discuss her creative process, demonstrate how to draw characters from her books, and answer questions about everyone’s favorite superhero sidekick series! There will be treats, of course.
Readers are welcome to bring their own book copies for signing, and we’ll have all her titles for purchase.
Registration
Tickets for this purr-fect afternoon are pay-what-you-will
Click/tap button below for more information and to get tickets to the event!
Yoga for Creativity: A Writing & Yoga Workshop
With Award-Winning Poet and Yoga Instructor, Sebastian Merrill, this writing and yoga workshop will include an asana practice designed to spark our creativity, followed by generative writing. We'll cultivate a sense of wonder, intuition, and magic with various tools including meditation, bibliomancy, and tarot.
The act of writing is an act of revelation: this workshop will provide you with techniques and skills to act as a medium for your writing, discovering new ideas, shapes, and forms through your own subconscious. This workshop is for anyone who wants tools and structure for supporting their own creative practice.
Registration
Click/tap the button below to learn more about this offering.
Sliding Scale Pricing: $30-$50
A note regarding accessibility to all Sanctuary offerings:
Sanctuary has a range of scholarship options available. If the cost of participating is prohibitive, please email them at studio@yoga-sanctuary.com to learn more.
Queer & Trans Yoga: Focus on the Chakras (4-Week Series)
This 4-week series is designed especially for members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are looking to connect with their bodies and their breath in a supportive, community-oriented environment. This space aims to create a container where queer and trans folks can cultivate joy, a deeper relationship with their bodies, and a sense of connectedness to their yoga practice. All bodies, sizes, and abilities are welcome and celebrated.
Lander-Grinspoon Academy Presents: BookFest 2024
Lander-Grinspoon Academy is proud to announce its inaugural festival celebrating children’s books, authors, and their readers!
They are delighted to host a stellar group of award-winning, renowned authors: Adam Gidwitz, Jeanne Birdsall, and Lesléa Newman. The event will take place on Sunday, November 10th at Lander-Grinspoon Academy in Northampton, MA, starting at 10am.
This event is geared towards readers ages 4-14 and open to all. Families are invited to bring their own copies of the authors' titles to be signed, and High Five Books will have them for sale, too.
Registration
Click/tap button below for more information and to get tickets to the event!
Documentary Screening: BANNED TOGETHER
Directed by local filmmaker and educator Kate Way, Banned Together follows the recent wave of book bans in the United States. The feature length documentary film follows the courageous efforts of three students from a small South Carolina community who take a stand when almost 100 books are abruptly removed from their school libraries. As the students rise to become national voices in the fight against censorship, the film captures the broader narrative of book banning and curriculum censorship across the United States.
Featuring interviews with best-selling authors whose works have been banned, including Juno Dawson, Jodi Picoult, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, Ellen Hopkins, and Erica L. Sánchez, the film also includes insights from Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin, constitutional scholars, educators, librarians, parents, and student activists from across the country.
The 90-min screening will be followed by a brief panel discussion. High Five Books will have banned books for sale.
Registration
Click/tap button below for more information and to get tickets to the event!
Bloom Local Info Booth Pop-Up at Mount Holyoke College
MHC Students & Community Members: Stop by the Bloom Local Information Booth inside the entrance area next to the Dining Center where we will be tabling & sharing information and resources connecting you with LGBTQIA+ and ally-owned and -operated small businesses and organizations in the Five College area.
Queer & Trans Yoga: Focus on the Chakras (4-Week Series)
This 4-week series is designed especially for members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are looking to connect with their bodies and their breath in a supportive, community-oriented environment. This space aims to create a container where queer and trans folks can cultivate joy, a deeper relationship with their bodies, and a sense of connectedness to their yoga practice. All bodies, sizes, and abilities are welcome and celebrated.
Trauma Sensitive Yoga (6-Week Series)
With LB Moore
Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) is an empirically-validated choice-based movement practice for survivors navigating the effects of complex trauma. The purpose of TCTSY is to provide opportunities for participants to explore agency and the possibility of having a body through making choices about movement and/or stillness. As a modality focused on your internal experience and choices, TCTSY isn’t about “correct” or “best” ways to move, and you’re not expected or required to have a particular emotional or physical experience. There’s not a right or wrong way to move or have a body.
While participant experiences are inherently personal and varied, TCTSY is generally associated with increases in interoception (internal awareness) and self-efficacy in making choices within and beyond the movement space. Positive changes in trauma-related experiences (e.g., mood concerns, vigilance, perspective of self, relationships, physiological arousal) are also commonly reported by participants of TCTSY.
If you’d like, you can learn more about the body of formal research about TCTSY at traumasensitiveyoga.com/research.
Any movement practice can bring up unexpected thoughts, feelings, or sensations; some participants find it useful to identify supportive people (such as a trusted friend, bodyworker, therapist, etc.) with whom they can verbally process their experiences outside of class if desired.
For this series, the same overall flow and series of shapes will be provided each session in service of predictability. Options for ways to move or explore stillness are offered as invitations, and you are welcome to make choices about how to practice. If you’d like to see a brief sample video of TCTSY facilitated by LB, you can find one on their website here. You are welcome to practice from a chair or mat as suits you; both will be available for each session.
This special series is intended for adults who are interested in trauma-sensitive movement. You’re welcome to learn more about TCTSY and LB at ampersandhealing.org/tctsy. As part of the registration process for this series, you will be asked to complete a participant enrollment form (Google form, only viewable by LB). You will not be asked to identify as a trauma survivor or describe experiences of trauma.
Registration
Click/tap the button below to learn more about this offering.
Sliding Scale Series Pricing: $120-$180
A note regarding accessibility to all Sanctuary offerings:
Sanctuary has a range of scholarship options available. If the cost of participating is prohibitive, please email them at studio@yoga-sanctuary.com to learn more.
Queer & Trans Prenatal Yoga
A space for queer and trans family builders of all types, this series is designed especially for members of the LGBTQIA+ community (as well as straight allies who want to be in a queer-positive space) who are looking to connect with their bodies, their breath, and their pregnancies in a supportive environment.
Each class will include time for community and connection and an exploration of the ways that yoga can support pregnancy and birth through movement, breath, and meditation. All bodies, sizes, and abilities are welcome and celebrated.
Sebastian Merrill has been teaching Queer & Trans Yoga with skill and care since 2018. He is passionate about creating supportive spaces for queer and trans pregnant people. His teaching is gender-affirming, body-positive, and trauma informed. He is a Certified Accessible Yoga Teacher as well as a Certified Prenatal Yoga Teacher.
Registration
Thursdays, 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM.
Sliding-scale series pricing: $80-130. Drop-in pass: $20-30.*
A note regarding accessibility to all Sanctuary offerings:
Sanctuary has a range of scholarship options available. If the cost of participating is prohibitive, please email them at studio@yoga-sanctuary.com to learn more.
Queer & Trans Yoga: Focus on the Chakras (4-Week Series)
This 4-week series is designed especially for members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are looking to connect with their bodies and their breath in a supportive, community-oriented environment. This space aims to create a container where queer and trans folks can cultivate joy, a deeper relationship with their bodies, and a sense of connectedness to their yoga practice. All bodies, sizes, and abilities are welcome and celebrated.
Queer & Trans Yoga: Focus on the Chakras (4-Week Series)
This 4-week series is designed especially for members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are looking to connect with their bodies and their breath in a supportive, community-oriented environment. This space aims to create a container where queer and trans folks can cultivate joy, a deeper relationship with their bodies, and a sense of connectedness to their yoga practice. All bodies, sizes, and abilities are welcome and celebrated.
Postpartum Yoga with Baby
This 6-week series is designed for those who have recently given birth and are looking to reconnect with their bodies and their breath in shared space with other new parents and babies.
The group will practice gentle and rejuvenating poses, work on regaining core and pelvic integration, and learn techniques for breathing and moving with your little ones. This is a welcoming space for queer and trans postpartum students; everyone is welcome in Postpartum Yoga.
Registration
Mondays, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM.
Sliding-scale series pricing: $100-160. Drop-in pass: $20-30.*
A note regarding accessibility to all Sanctuary offerings:
Sanctuary has a range of scholarship options available. If the cost of participating is prohibitive, please email them at studio@yoga-sanctuary.com to learn more.
Queer & Trans Yoga: Focus on the Chakras (4-Week Series)
This 4-week series is designed especially for members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are looking to connect with their bodies and their breath in a supportive, community-oriented environment. This space aims to create a container where queer and trans folks can cultivate joy, a deeper relationship with their bodies, and a sense of connectedness to their yoga practice. All bodies, sizes, and abilities are welcome and celebrated.
Bloom Local Info Booth Pop-Up at Mount Holyoke College
MHC Students & Community Members: Stop by the Bloom Local Information Booth inside the entrance area next to the Dining Center where we will be tabling & sharing information and resources connecting you with LGBTQIA+ and ally-owned and -operated small businesses and organizations in the Five College area.
Postpartum Yoga with Baby
This 6-week series is designed for those who have recently given birth and are looking to reconnect with their bodies and their breath in shared space with other new parents and babies.
The group will practice gentle and rejuvenating poses, work on regaining core and pelvic integration, and learn techniques for breathing and moving with your little ones. This is a welcoming space for queer and trans postpartum students; everyone is welcome in Postpartum Yoga.
Registration
Mondays, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM.
Sliding-scale series pricing: $100-160. Drop-in pass: $20-30.*
A note regarding accessibility to all Sanctuary offerings:
Sanctuary has a range of scholarship options available. If the cost of participating is prohibitive, please email them at studio@yoga-sanctuary.com to learn more.
Radical Rest: Queer & Trans Restorative Yoga
Relieve deep-set tension with yoga instructor Sebastian Merrill (he/him) and licensed massage therapist el nyberg (they/them). Sebastian will guide the class through a meditative sequence of gentle, floor-based, prop-supported restorative postures with long holds (5-12 minutes per shape).
While breathing and settling into rest, Sebastian and el will offer optional hands-on support and bodywork. This workshop is designed specifically for the LGBTQ+ community to provide a supportive space to slow down, receive healing touch, and practice self-care in service of our own well-being and the well-being of our relationships and communities.
This workshop is appropriate for many levels of experience and ability, including beginners and those who struggle to access stillness and relaxation. All bodies, sizes, and abilities are welcome and celebrated.
Please note: Masks are required for this workshop.
Registration
Saturday, October 5th, 12-2pm (in-studio only)
Sliding-scale workshop pricing: $30-50.
A note regarding accessibility to all Sanctuary offerings:
Sanctuary has a range of scholarship options available. If the cost of participating is prohibitive, please email them at studio@yoga-sanctuary.com to learn more.
Queer & Trans Yoga: Focus on the Chakras (4-Week Series)
This 4-week series is designed especially for members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are looking to connect with their bodies and their breath in a supportive, community-oriented environment. This space aims to create a container where queer and trans folks can cultivate joy, a deeper relationship with their bodies, and a sense of connectedness to their yoga practice. All bodies, sizes, and abilities are welcome and celebrated.
Postpartum Yoga with Baby
This 6-week series is designed for those who have recently given birth and are looking to reconnect with their bodies and their breath in shared space with other new parents and babies.
The group will practice gentle and rejuvenating poses, work on regaining core and pelvic integration, and learn techniques for breathing and moving with your little ones. This is a welcoming space for queer and trans postpartum students; everyone is welcome in Postpartum Yoga.
Registration
Mondays, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM.
Sliding-scale series pricing: $100-160. Drop-in pass: $20-30.*
A note regarding accessibility to all Sanctuary offerings:
Sanctuary has a range of scholarship options available. If the cost of participating is prohibitive, please email them at studio@yoga-sanctuary.com to learn more.
Postpartum Yoga with Baby
This 6-week series is designed for those who have recently given birth and are looking to reconnect with their bodies and their breath in shared space with other new parents and babies.
The group will practice gentle and rejuvenating poses, work on regaining core and pelvic integration, and learn techniques for breathing and moving with your little ones. This is a welcoming space for queer and trans postpartum students; everyone is welcome in Postpartum Yoga.
Registration
Mondays, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM.
Sliding-scale series pricing: $100-160. Drop-in pass: $20-30.*
A note regarding accessibility to all Sanctuary offerings:
Sanctuary has a range of scholarship options available. If the cost of participating is prohibitive, please email them at studio@yoga-sanctuary.com to learn more.
Bloom Local Info Booth Pop-Up at Mount Holyoke College
MHC Students & Community Members: Stop by the Bloom Local Information Booth inside the entrance area next to the Dining Center where we will be tabling & sharing information and resources connecting you with LGBTQIA+ and ally-owned and -operated small businesses and organizations in the Five College area.
Postpartum Yoga with Baby
This 6-week series is designed for those who have recently given birth and are looking to reconnect with their bodies and their breath in shared space with other new parents and babies.
The group will practice gentle and rejuvenating poses, work on regaining core and pelvic integration, and learn techniques for breathing and moving with your little ones. This is a welcoming space for queer and trans postpartum students; everyone is welcome in Postpartum Yoga.
Registration
Mondays, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM.
Sliding-scale series pricing: $100-160. Drop-in pass: $20-30.*
A note regarding accessibility to all Sanctuary offerings:
Sanctuary has a range of scholarship options available. If the cost of participating is prohibitive, please email them at studio@yoga-sanctuary.com to learn more.
Postpartum Yoga with Baby
This 6-week series is designed for those who have recently given birth and are looking to reconnect with their bodies and their breath in shared space with other new parents and babies.
The group will practice gentle and rejuvenating poses, work on regaining core and pelvic integration, and learn techniques for breathing and moving with your little ones. This is a welcoming space for queer and trans postpartum students; everyone is welcome in Postpartum Yoga.
Registration
Mondays, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM.
Sliding-scale series pricing: $100-160. Drop-in pass: $20-30.*
A note regarding accessibility to all Sanctuary offerings:
Sanctuary has a range of scholarship options available. If the cost of participating is prohibitive, please email them at studio@yoga-sanctuary.com to learn more.
Berkshire Families Gathering (In-Person)
Join Translate Gender for this offering that is designed to aid caregivers and youth in creating larger networks of support and sharing resources. This event is held on the 4th Sunday of each month.
These open-ended family groups include all members of trans families [caregivers/parents, trans/nonbinary youth between 3-18 & their siblings, family friends, and extended community].
This group relies on the support of donations from families and community support. If you’d like to help sustain this work, you’re encouraged to make a donation.
Registration
Location provided after RSVP (location to alternate to make these gatherings accessible to families in North and South Counties, as well as in Central Berkshire County).
To RSVP, please email groups@translategender.org and include names and pronouns of everyone attending AND ages of youth if they are attending in your RSVP.
Hampshire Families Gathering (In-Person)
Join Translate Gender for this offering that is designed to aid caregivers and youth in creating larger networks of support and sharing resources. This event is held on the 2nd Sunday of each month.
These open-ended family groups include all members of trans families [caregivers/parents, trans/nonbinary youth between 3-18, their siblings, grandparents, and extended community].
4 separate spaces for participants to connect:
Adult Caregivers/Family Members
Teens (13+)
Tweens (9-12)
Youth (3-9)
This group relies on the support of donations from families and community support. If you’d like to help sustain this work, you’re encouraged to make a donation.
Registration
Suggested donation is sliding scale: $25-$150/family. No one turned away.
Location provided after RSVP (in Northampton).
To RSVP for the Youth & Family Gathering, please email groups@translategender.org
Postpartum Yoga with Baby
This 6-week series is designed for those who have recently given birth and are looking to reconnect with their bodies and their breath in shared space with other new parents and babies.
The group will practice gentle and rejuvenating poses, work on regaining core and pelvic integration, and learn techniques for breathing and moving with your little ones. This is a welcoming space for queer and trans postpartum students; everyone is welcome in Postpartum Yoga.
Registration
Mondays, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM, July 1 - August 5.
Sliding-scale series pricing: $100-160. Drop-in pass: $20-30.*
A note regarding accessibility to all Sanctuary offerings:
Sanctuary has a range of scholarship options available. If the cost of participating is prohibitive, please email them at studio@yoga-sanctuary.com to learn more.
Berkshire Families Gathering (In-Person)
Join Translate Gender for this offering that is designed to aid caregivers and youth in creating larger networks of support and sharing resources. This event is held on the 4th Sunday of each month.
These open-ended family groups include all members of trans families [caregivers/parents, trans/nonbinary youth between 3-18 & their siblings, family friends, and extended community].
This group relies on the support of donations from families and community support. If you’d like to help sustain this work, you’re encouraged to make a donation.
Registration
Location provided after RSVP (location to alternate to make these gatherings accessible to families in North and South Counties, as well as in Central Berkshire County).
To RSVP, please email groups@translategender.org and include names and pronouns of everyone attending AND ages of youth if they are attending in your RSVP.
Nature Journaling at Child’s Park
Nature journaling is a means of connecting to where you are through art, writing, and observation. Nature journaling can include elements of drawing, writing, painting, collaging, and whatever else you may please! This event will include an overview of what nature journaling is/can be, observational skills, and the impact of what we choose to give our attention to.
Queer & Trans Yoga with Sebastian Merrill & Fran Astino
This 6-week series is designed especially for LGBTQIA+ identified students who are looking to connect with their bodies and their breath in a supportive, community oriented environment.
Postpartum Yoga with Baby
This 6-week series is designed for those who have recently given birth and are looking to reconnect with their bodies and their breath in shared space with other new parents and babies.
The group will practice gentle and rejuvenating poses, work on regaining core and pelvic integration, and learn techniques for breathing and moving with your little ones. This is a welcoming space for queer and trans postpartum students; everyone is welcome in Postpartum Yoga.
Registration
Mondays, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM, July 1 - August 5.
Sliding-scale series pricing: $100-160. Drop-in pass: $20-30.*
A note regarding accessibility to all Sanctuary offerings:
Sanctuary has a range of scholarship options available. If the cost of participating is prohibitive, please email them at studio@yoga-sanctuary.com to learn more.
Queer & Trans Yoga with Sebastian Merrill & Fran Astino
This 6-week series is designed especially for LGBTQIA+ identified students who are looking to connect with their bodies and their breath in a supportive, community oriented environment.