Mind, Body and Soul
Alton: So we are about to start with a few guidelines.
Tom: Rules?
Alton: Let’s honor other people comments, have fun and feel free to jump in anytime.
Tom: That’s easy enough.
Richard: OK
Alton: So everyone I would like to introduce Ruben who is working with me on the new Mind Body and Soul for this month. Ruben heads many great programs with Learning Curve at the Center.
Ruben: Hey guys, nice to be here.
Ruben: Thanks for inviting me Alton
Alton: No problem, so Learning Curve what do you guys do and how does it help the community?
Tom: Mind Body and Soul?
Ruben: Learning Curve is the Center’s adult education program.
Richard: Nice
Ruben: We offer all kinds of programs for all the local community.
Alton: Great what sort of classes?
Tom: Adult education sounds like fun.
Ruben: I think you guys recently heard a bit about our Kundalini Yoga classes.
Ruben: Alton has been taking this class and seems to be loving it.
Alton: How do you see these classes contributing to community?
Alton: Yes, Kundalini is really challenging I’ve been recommending it to some.
Ruben: I have to admit, sometimes I wonder… but then I get a call or run into someone who has taken a class and they tell me how much our classes have helped them.
Alton: I like that the Kundalini class works on meditation and energy manipulation.
Ruben: I’ve had people tell me that our classes have helped them get better jobs, build stronger relationships or even just helped them feel better about themselves.
Richard: I’ve had people tell me that our classes have helped them get better jobs about themselves.
Richard: I’ve heard about the class but haven’t taken the plunge yet what is it about?
Alton: Yah sure.
Alton: Kundalini is another form of Yoga like Hatha and Bikrim.
Alton: In this Yoga class the goal is to build energy in your root chakra which is synonymous with your sexual center.
Alton: This energy is built up through exercises that focus on breathing, movement, and focus.
Tom: Ok
Ruben: And the instructor’s totally adorable, too.
Richard: Root chakra?
Alton: One of the things that the instructor Eric likes to mention is that you are raising your energy up in a natural way that isn’t induced with drugs or alcohol.
Ruben: Everyone who takes the class comes out feeling like they are on a natural high.
Ruben: They tell me that they feel elated all weekend long.
Alton: If you were to picture your body having various energy balls aligned with your spine the root chakra would be near the base of your perineum
Tom: Sounds like fun.
Richard: What if you have never taken yoga before?
Alton: No problem we meet people at their level.
Ruben: Interestingly, most of the people in the class have never taken yoga before.
Ruben: Erik is great at tailoring the lesson to everyone’s experience level.
Richard: That is reassuring.
Ruben: Hey Alton, since you’ve taken the class, you wanna answer what the class is all about
Alton: Yah sure.
Alton: Kundalini is another form of Yoga like Hatha and Bikram.
Alton: In this Yoga class the goal is to build energy in your root chakra which is synonymous with your sexual center.
Alton: This energy is built up through exercises that focus on breathing, movement, and focus
Tom: Ok
Ruben: And the instructor’s totally adorable, too.
Richard: Root chakra?
Alton: One of the things that the instructor Eric likes to mention is that you are raising your energy up in a natural way that isn’t induced with drugs or alcohol.
Ruben: Kundalini yoga is unlike any other type of yoga because in addition to working on your body, it focuses a lot of time sending more blood to your mind.
Ruben: Everyone who takes the class comes out feeling like they are on a natural high.
Ruben: They tell me that they feel elated all weekend long.
Alton: If you were to picture your body having various energy balls aligned with your spine the root chakra would be near the base of your perineum.
Tom: Sounds like fun.
Richard: What if you have never taken yoga before?
Alton: No problem we meet people at their level.
Ruben: Interestingly, most of the people in the class have never taken yoga before.
Ruben: Erik is great at tailoring the lesson to everyone’s experience level.
Richard: That’s reassuring.
Alton: Kundalini is just one of the classes in our series. It’s on Friday night from 7:30-9:00pm
Tom: Do we have to bring our own mats?
Ruben: One of the best parts is at the very end when Erik breaks out the homemade tea for everyone.
Alton: Nope those are provided.
Richard: So how did you come up with this yoga class?
Ruben: It’s a great way to get to meet all the other people in the class and wind down after such an invigorating class.
Alton: Hey Ruben you wanna take this one?
Ruben: Sure
Tom: Other classes?
Ruben: Kundalini is an ancient form of Yoga, but it isn’t very common in the U.S. simply because we are all used to the typical Hatha form.
Alton: Yes there are other classes besides Kundalini Yoga.
Ruben: Yes there is a cuddling party class.
Richard: Really?
Ruben: It’s about evolving your levels of intimacy with other gay men.
Ruben: It’s saying we can be close and love each other without having to deal with sexual messages all the time.
Richard: So this touch exercise, what type of touch happens?
Ruben: At the end of the class, everyone cuddles up.
Tom: Ah nothing wrong with that.
Ruben: The last hour to hour and a half is spent with everyone cuddling and getting closer.
Ruben: Once you can do this with strangers, doing it with friends should be easy.
Ruben: It also helps you clarify your feelings and intention with lovers.
Alton: This is definitely a challenging exercise for some Richard.
Tom: How many guys show up to this?
Ruben: If you can communicate your wants and needs more clearly, your sexual interactions can be all the better.
Alton: It’s all about communication and building it right?
Ruben: The minimum of this type of class is 10 people, but due to the amount of space we’ve got, we can accommodate up to 40 men.
Richard: That’s a lot of guys
Tom: R they cute? J
Alton: So that is the cuddle party class, look for this in the coming month.
Alton: So let’s move to the other class with John Buse around relationships.
Ruben: Some of them, most are just normal guys. One of the exercises and the part that everyone is most surprised about is how it helps you forget the looks of the person you’re being close to, because what’s most important is the feel… how you feel and how they make you feel in return.
Ruben: Awe, John, he’s great.
Richard: I could see this as being necessary for a comfortable group.
Ruben: His class is called, Is it Possible to Find Love in LA?
Tom: Okay
Ruben: The point of the class is to get you to check in with yourself about what you are doing to find a man and how you can improve your approach so that you will be more successful.
Richard: Sounds like dating 101.
Tom: I know how to do that.
Alton: It’s usually more than dating.
Ruben: I wouldn’t call it Dating 101, as much as dating healthy.
Alton: Could you go into the specifics Ruben?
Ruben: John’s classes meet once a month, about every 3rd or 4th Saturday of each month.
Tom: Okay
Ruben: In June, John is going to be offering a new class based on building health sexual relationships.
Richard: have to look into this.
Alton: What’s this one going to look like?
Ruben: That class will be specifically for men who don’t necessarily want a relationship, but are more interested in opening up their sexual boundaries.
Alton: As you can tell guys we have a lot of classes which cover a lot of topics.
Tom: Sex love it.
Richard: I can see that.
Richard: What is this one about?
Ruben: All of these classes are aimed at helping men be pro-healthy, pro-communicative, and as sexually open as possible.
Alton: With these new classes we hope to promote these ideas by creating a space where guys can talk about these difficult issues in a safe space.
Richard: It sounds pretty intense.
Ruben: We all know that sex in West Hollywood isn’t as easy as it is in the promo’s we watch.
Ruben: Gay men are sexually more complicated than that.
Alton: Richard some of these classes do get intense but there is a lot of growth that happens as well.
Tom: we like to think so.
Tom: J
Ruben: These classes are for the real guys out there. Guys who need to communicate better, perform better and heal our wounds with compassion and acceptance.
Ruben: These are the parts of my job that I sometimes forget, but at the end of the week, I feel good about helping gay men tackle these big issues.
Tom: That’s nice.
Alton: So this is what we are bringing to the community in regard to Mind Body and Soul.
Alton: We are coming up on the end of this session in a few minutes.
Alton: If you guys would like more info contact acarswell@lagaycenter.org
Ruben: Or you can contact me at learningcurve@lagaycenter.org
Ruben: You can also see a complete list of current classes at www.lagaycenter.org/learningcurve
Tom: Okay.
Richard: This is really good stuff guys thanks.
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