Laura Rawson on Organizing Breema Workshops in Sonoma County

Last November, we launched a series of workshops and events in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco where I’d moved six months earlier.

I looked at a number of venues and found the Devi Yoga Center not only a roomy, bright, pleasant space but a practice which felt compatible with Breema, one whose student base might have a natural affinity with Breema.

We started with two workshops, 3 hours each, in November and December. These were very well received, so in January we held an open house in conjunction with the Breema Center’s week of free events, followed by monthly workshops over the next four months, and another open house in June, this one in Petaluma. Each event was attended by 14-20 students, some repeats and some new each time. The open house events—where we offered free mini-sessions and an hour-long introductory class— seemed very worthwhile; each time we picked up three or four new students for the upcoming workshops.

To put the word out, we created posters and cards which we mailed to our North Bay mailing list. Twice we purchased a mailing list from the ABMP for the area. We advertised in the local newspaper and on some online sites. We also posted the workshop on several other online calendars and on Devi Yoga’s website. Devi sent three emails to its students about each event.

For each event I invited two instructors to co-instruct, and we did some calling each month. For the workshops we focused on people who’d shown an active interest in Breema, having come to classes at the Breema Center or events like the Green Festival; for open houses we called more widely to people who’d been on the mailing list for more years or who’d had only brief exposure to Breema.

Who came to these events, and how did they hear about them?

Many had studied Breema before, at a variety of places and over many years, grateful for Breema being offered in their area. Others received the mailing to massage therapists, and were drawn to the notion of bodywork as a presence practice. Quite a few saw the flyers and felt drawn to the image and description. Several heard through word of mouth, from friends who were enthusiastic about Breema. And others were yoga students at Devi Yoga.

I’ve been fortunate to have the support of an enthusiastic student who’s lived in Sebastopol for decades and is an active member of the local community. She’s given me many suggestions of places to poster and drop card stacks, publications to advertise in, online sites and groups most likely to reach like-minded people. And she’s brought a number of friends to open houses and workshops.

We look forward to future events in Sonoma!