YOGA SONG WELLNESS

Vision Goals Experience

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Donna Hoffman

Hello. Thanks for visiting this new website in early development, Yoga Song Wellness.

I am Yoga Teacher Donna Hoffman.

I am a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT Yoga Alliance/Yoga Yoga, Hatha 200 & Kundalini 200) with a Certificate in Music Therapy from Texas State University. I teach yoga and music wellness for individuals, groups, and communities; and I am actively pursuing additional training as I become a Yoga Therapist.

VISION
The wellness classes, spiritual companionship, and guidance that I provide support my students in coping with life’s physical and emotional challenges so that they can enjoy life.

My students and I thrive through movement, laughter, song, joy, meditation, peace, and acceptance.

GOALS
I am actively…

…continuing and deepening my practice by teaching Individual and group Yoga and Music Wellness Classes and Workshops.

A combination of Hatha and Kundalini with an emphasis on breathing (pranayama), spine and joint flexibility, core strength, positive self-talk, movement, laughter, and meditation

Music Wellness encourages the expression of feelings that are present and invites joy through transformative sounding, singing, and moving energy through music

…pursuing a Master of Science MS in Yoga Therapy and an International Alliance for Yoga Therapy recognition as an ERYT 500 and a Certified Yoga Therapist C-IAYT 800 qualification.

Preparing myself to offer individual and group therapy and workshops in healing trauma through yoga, sound, and song.

Developing tools for offering my work via a Yoga Song Wellness website and social media (in the early phases of development).

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Wellness Instructor, City of Austin, Parks & Recreation Department, June 2023-Present

Gentle Morning Yoga Senior Wellness, Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center

Music for the Soul, Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center

Yoga for Children 5-12, Mexican American Cultural Center, June 2022-May 2023

Early Bird Yoga for the Environment, March 2020-present
Weekly private online group and individual Yoga for Seniors, via Zoom

Yoga Song Wellness Workshop, Third Eye Lounge, September 4, 2023
90-minute class taught as part of Austin’s annual Free Day of Yoga

Organic Gardening and Nature Wellness, Sustainable Food Center, 2018-2020

Movement for the Chakras, Sacred Journey School of Herbal Wisdom, Fall 2012-Spring 2013 7 classes, each focusing on movement and meanings for each of the body’s energy centers

Sunrise Yoga, Soma Vida Wellness, June 2007-May 2008
Twice-weekly studio class

EDUCATION
RYT Hatha 200-hour, Yoga Yoga, Austin, TX 2007

RYT Kundalini 200-hour, Yoga Yoga, Austin, TX 2008

Re-Evaluation Co-Counseling, 2000-2022

Sacred Journey School of Herbal Wisdom, October 2014-April 2015

Health & Harmony with Yoga & Ayurveda, June 2016
Teachers Genevieve Gilbreath, MSED, and Steven Ross, Co-Founder Eastside Yoga

Music Therapy Certificate, Texas State University, 2023

Teachers Angela DiNunzio, Terry Cortes & the Plum Blossom Sanghita, Brother Insight Thic Man Tue, Hugh Byrne, Kathleen Ellis, Ginger Webb, Beverly Bajema, Steven Ross, Mary Richardson, Mehtab Benton, Joy Nischala Devi, Srivatsa Ramiswami, Jogi Bhagat, Barbara Germershausen, Shannon Potts-Hickey

Bachelor of Science in Communications, Radio-TV-Film, University of Texas, Austin, TX

* * * * * *

BIO
After years of activism, organizing, and advocacy communications for social justice, human rights, and the environment, I am now in my third act, teaching Yoga and Music Wellness and becoming a Yoga Therapist.

Originally from the Gulf Coast of Texas, I began the practice of yoga in 1988 while living in Syracuse, New York. I’ll never forget the sparkling eyes of my first yoga teacher, a statuesque, quiet, and smiling woman in her 60s. She drove up from Ithaca to teach a small group of students at the Syracuse Community Center.

I had a love for yoga from earlier on. My mother’s party trick was to easily balance on her head. I saw how easy that was and I was easily able to balance on my head until I stopped doing that in my 40’s to protect my neck. Another childhood impression came from seeing yoga teacher Lilias Folan on her program Lilias, Yoga, and You on the local PBS Station in Corpus Christi.

After living in Syracuse, I lived in Dublin, Ireland where I practiced yoga in a Georgian house in the city center with Western Friends of the Buddha and returned to Austin where I practiced at Austin Yoga House across the street from the University of Texas Law School in a sweet old house with young mother yoga teachers Barb Germershausen and Shannon Potts Hickey.

In my forties with menopause in my foresight ten years ahead, I amplified the frequency of my practice and in 2007 and 2008, I trained in the ancient practices of the eight-limbed path of yoga with Mehtab, Guru Karam, Siri Bahadur and other Yoga trainers at Austin’s first big group of yoga studios, Yoga Yoga.

I fondly and appreciatively remember my experiences practicing and training at Yoga Yoga in the late 1990’s through its closing in 2019. Yoga Yoga brought many esteemed teachers to Austin for workshops that I benefitted from. Much of my instructional language and my humor around the practice comes directly from former Yoga Yoga teacher extraordinatire Angela DiNunzio and from Yoga Yoga co-founder Mehtab Benton. Thank you, both!

I completed my Hatha 200-hour and Kundalini 200-hour teacher training, registered as an RYT-200 with Yoga Alliance, received mentorship from Jogi Bhagat, Thank you, Jogi! and began teaching at Soma Vida Wellness in central East Austin.

I currently teach private classes online for groups and individuals and public classes at the City of Austin, Parks & Recreation Department’s Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center.

Because of my love of music and recognition of the power of the shabd sound current to connect people to each other and support wellness, I completed this year my Music Therapy certificate from Texas State University. I teach group Music wellness aka Karaoke at Conley-Guerrero.

I practice seated and walking meditation and dharma sharing regularly with Plum Blossom Sangha in the Order of Interbeing established by Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thic Nhat Hahn.

Now, I’m excited to prepare to become a Yoga Therapist.

MY TEACHERS
I want to express my deep gratitude to my teachers. I’ve been most strongly influenced in my study of yoga and meditation by yoga teachers Angela DiNunzio, Mehtab Benton, Joy Nischala Devi, Srivatsa Ramaswami, Jogi Bhagat, and Steven Ross, meditation and habit change teacher Hugh Byrne, Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hahn (Thay), and teachers of the international Order of Interbeing established by Thay in Austin — Dharmacharya Terry Cortes and the other teachers of Austin’s Plum Blossom Sanghita, and Qi Gong teacher Brother Insight of Deerpark Monastery part of the Order of Interbeing in California. I offer a deep bow of gratitude.

I also follow and offer a bow to the wisdom of the community of spiritual leaders at Hill Country Unitarian Universalist Church in Kerrville, Texas, to former Unitarian minister Kathleen Ellis, HeartBlessings spiritual companion, and to Jen Goodner our amazing choir director for Tapestry Singers: Austin Women’s Chorus. Her ministry of music heals.

It truly is rich to have a village of teachers, to teach, and to receive teachings.

From Buddha and Patanjali, through you, I teach. Thank you.

CONTACT
Contact me at donnaleehoffman@gmail.com to book a private yoga or music wellness session online or to schedule a class at your business, studio, school, or conference.

Or feel free to drop in and practice with my weekly Monday, 10 AM Gentle Morning Yoga Senior Wellness class or my Friday, 10 AM Music for the Soul class at Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center, 808 Nile St, in Austin, Texas 78702.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged inspiration, meditation, self-care, wellness, yoga | Leave a comment

Fairness Comes in on a Breeze

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Donna Hoffman

Sometimes fairness comes floating in like a cool breeze on an August morning in Austin.

Thank you, this morning to Bob at the Travis Central Appraisal District for lowering my property taxes by 26%.

I learned a lot from Bob during the hour of my informal hearing. My protest was based on holding the City true to its mission to provide affordable housing — I live in a house built by the Blackshear Neighborhood Development Corporation. Even if you don’t live in a house purchased from a nonprofit affordable housing provider, you might benefit from my experience. At the end of this post, I promise I’ll tell you the technical way that it happened.

At first, Bob and I talked about the fact that the State sets what property taxes can be based upon — he didn’t think there was anything he could do. I felt my hopes fade for just a moment. Then I decided to not let that dissuade me. I appealed to Bob’s true heart of civic duty and invoked the good faith of all the public servants at the city departments who administer the affordable housing programs for the City we want to live in. They want to be true to the mission. So does Bob.

Beside the Homestead Exemption, could the County provide an Affordable Housing Exemption? Not just for the development of it, but for the sustaining of it over time? To keep it as part of the affordable housing available in Austin.

We talked about the commercial real estate companies. As a professional Realtor himself, Bob knows that they don’t have to fully disclose the sales prices of commercial properties, so valuing them accurately is harder. Could they contribute more to Austin? A fairer share if they were assessed and taxed more accurately?

Could City of Austin ask the Endeavors and other large developers to pay more of their share to keep Austin an affordable place to live and to pay for more of the services they benefit from?

The City apparently is also the only one of the Travis Central Appraisal District taxing entities that doesn’t provide a discount on our taxes. At the same time that we ask City Council to hold the developers accountable, we can also ask for a tax discount.

Bob pointed out that there is no State Income Tax. Most people are scared of it. What if it were done in the same way its done in Denmark for example? So everyone would benefit? Would it then be more possible for everyone to live well? Bob knew about their example from his travel with the Navy during the Carter Administration.

I agreed with Bob that I would ask both City Council and the Texas Legislature to make some changes. That’s what Bob actually wants from us. As an employee of the Central Appraisal District, he can’t go there.

So here’s where he could go —

The proposed 2014 tax on my home of $5,170 — whoa! — was based on a property value of more than double what I paid for the house. I paid $127,000 for it in 2005. It was now being appraised at over $303,000. Bob took a closer look and was able to change the market value to a more accurate assessment.

Usually the Appraisal District looks at a mass comparison of housing all around your property. The houses in the comparison could be much larger and built more recently — in other words, apples to pomegranates. Bob did a more accurate comparison of houses in this area that are of more equal square footage to mine and that were sold within ~5 years of when I purchased my home. He found that those houses were actually valued at ~$215,000. This makes a lot more sense. It’s fair.

Thanks, Bob.

And thanks, Mark Rogers for the encouragement.

So remember — when you go to your informal hearing at the Travis Central Appraisal District, make sure to ask your representative to do a close comparison to homes in your grid that are close in size to your home and that were sold around the time that yours was. Ask her or him to change the value based on that comparison.

Thanks. Love and peace, Donna

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This Winter

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Donna Hoffman

It is wonderful to feel the community come together to practice sustainability with the students at Blackshear Elementary School and Huston-Tillotson University.

Check out the Blackshear Bridge website, and the children’s winter harvest!

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Lime Crop is In!

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Donna Hoffman

These limes wanted to be harvested when I was at the Climate Reality training last month. They are powerfully good medicine.

What I’ve been doing with them is throwing them whole in morning smoothies. They add a nice flavor kick and some powerful vitamins!

I’m thinking about slurrying them with filtered City of Austin water and freezing them in an ice cube tray for smoothies through the mostly mild winter.

Love and green peace, Donna

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Bling Saves!

Posted on September 15, 2013 by Donna Hoffman

Today I had my first ever cycling collision. I collided into the ‘Got Jesus?’ bumper sticker of a car parked near the cul de sac just outside my house. There’s a church nearby and there usually aren’t cars in that spot but this is Sunday.

So. I was listening to ’30’s Lament’ by Laura Freeman on my iTunes mix…about not wanting things, just to sit around and sing… when BAM! I hit the bumper hard and fell to the street. I hit my head on the back of the holy stealth sedan and the top of my arm on the asphalt. Amazingly there was no blood! Not even road rash. It doesn’t feel like a concussion. And there’s nary a bruise or the perversely wished-for black eye. I was lucky.

I must have been squinting in the Texas sun. I was definitely not looking in front of me.

Ouch. Not too clever.

Thankfully, I was wearing a bike helmet.

Now I feel even happier about having preached the lesson in this video I made last year for BikeTexas with John Clawson and the Rhymanese Twins — Noah Tabakin and Jon Steinmeier.

I got my bling on!

Bling saves!

Praise Safety Bling!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged active transportation, bicycle helmet safety, bicycle safety, biketexas, donna hoffman, helmets, john clawson, jon steinmeier, noah tabakin, safety bling, urban cycling, velo city | 1 Comment

Climate Reality: the Take-away

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Donna Hoffman

Texans Listening to Al Gore at the Climate Reality Project Chicago Leadership Corps Training, July 31, 2013

My friend Bruce with Sierra Club and This Land is Your Land asked me today… What’d you learn? What was the take-away? He was referring to my recent attendance at the Climate Reality Project Leadership Corps Training in Chicago.

High school student Alice and her father Jin from South Lake, Texas

High school student Alice Liu and her father Jin Liu from South Lake, Texas

Here’s what I understand and agree with:

Climate change is happening now — the violent weather events are indeed wrecking havoc.

It’s us causing it.

There is hope.

We have to adapt to things that are already happening. Nobody can solve this alone, but together we can take action to prevent additional problems.

Here are the top three actions you can take plus some other great ideas:

#1 ACTION. Tell Your Story. Here’s my friend Forrest Wilder telling our Texas story. Yikes.

People respond to stories. Hone your own personal climate change story and…Tell it! What’s your story?

The Texas Delegation — We’re already telling our stories.

Everyone at the Chicago Leadership Corps Training — 1,250 people from 70 countries, all continents, all 50 US states, 100 from Canada, many from Mexico, committed to taking 10 leadership actions in 2013-2014.

#2 ACTION. Put Heat on Denial — you can counter climate deniers in comments online, at dinner, on the bus. Want some help?

Ok. Here ya’ go. You can use these ‘Reality Drop’ statements to respond to friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, legislators, legislative aides — whoever you want to love up with a good healthy dose of reality. This groovy Reality Drop app that the Climate Reality Project’s media team put together makes it easy to paste and drop the statements in articles online. Find some hogwash? Wash it here —https://realitydrop.org/#

Al Gore spoke much of the day Thursday. What a great teacher! He said, “We can transcend our habits. “

#3 ACTION. Take it to the policy makers! You can write a handwritten letter, email, or phone, or best yet, visit your Legislators. Consider doing it at least four times this year. Once per season. Yeah!

Ask them to:

Eliminate all incentives for oil, gas, and carbon (Ok, that can be a tricky ask in Texas. But someones’s gotta do it. Right?) And finally, let them know they can butter the bread better –Implement energy efficiency and clean renewable power — in particular, rooftop solar.

Its my same ol’ golden oldie, the mantra that serves —

Solar power along the train route.

We can transition in a fair way now off of fossil fuels, by implementing clean energy solutions — energy efficiency measures across all sectors of our society and by installing and plugging in clean renewable power — particularly rooftop solar.

So. That was my take away, Bruce! ~ Donna

PS Save the DATE — Oct 23-24 24 Hours of Reality

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Gleaning Figs

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Donna Hoffman

Figs are coming ripe around Austin!

Julia and Claudette picking figs at Mueller.

Having trouble with your digestion? Apanasa, the wind eliminator pose in yoga, just isn’t working this time? Need some fiber? Fresh figs are definitely your friend.

Once that problem’s solved by picking, washing, and eating a few from the fig tree, then you might like to use the colander-full that’s left over to make a delicious figgy pecan tart.

Your body will thank you. Figs are considered one of the world’s healthiest foods. Check out this long list of health benefits.

Austin’s bird population knows the time is now for figs. I never feel like I’m denying them their fill — at 5’2″, I can only reach the lower limbs, leaving the fruit at the top half of the tree for my fine feathered friends.

City worker Davy Chapman checks on fig trees in Mueller Park.

If you don’t have your own fig tree, you might spot a neighborhood fig tree that isn’t being harvested. That’s where the fine art of gleaning comes in.

Gleaning is the practice of collecting leftover crops — or harvesting from entirely ignored crops. Beside figs, loquats are another great urban crop ignored all over Austin that are perfectly ready to be gleaned. They become ripe during the middle to end of winter, the opposite time of year from figs, so they don’t pose a time management complication for gleaners.

Gleaning requires attention to notice the crops that aren’t being used. On neighborhood walks, they practically cry out to you. If you don’t notice the beautiful invitation of their color, the squawking of happy, intelligent birds feasting to their delight could also serve as your signal to investigate further.

Next, gain permission. If the tree is overhanging a public sidewalk or passage, I would say, forego this step. I don’t want to get you in trouble though with the law or an angry neighbor. So, you should probably ask each time.

Figs I Gleaned in another central Austin neighborhood this week.

Most people who are ignoring their fruit happily allow you to glean from their trees.

If you are able and wish to, you could offer them a small cash Thank you.

If not, no worries. Glean away!

These are the figs I gleaned this past week. I’ve washed them thoroughly and today they become a figgy pecan tart.

Love and health to you and yours, my friends! Donna

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Living, learning, and teaching with exuberance!

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Donna Hoffman

The past few days, I’ve watched three great films. Recommended highly! —

Dave with actor Kevin Kline was assigned viewing for my Screenplay Workshop class. This fun movie has some important political messages — have fun and sing out loud without a care; believe in your own heart’s concerns and decide to try; act with the belief that you are powerful; demonstrate integrity; act on behalf of those less fortunate; full employment is a good thing for our communities.

Mary, Andrew, Jan, Don Felipe and I watched Part One of the Ken Burns’ PBS National Parks series. Part One covers the first National Park designation — Yellowstone; and the second, Yosemite. And it introduces us to the beautiful life and writing of John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club. Watch this on the largest screen possible. Its mighty scenery!

Finally, today, I took the third grade classes from Blackshear Elementary School to see Flight of the Butterflies in 3D at the Bullock IMAX. The kids agreed that it has the best 3D effect ever. And they loved the story of how scientist Fred Urquhart and his partner Nora Patterson discovered the amazing migration and destination of the monarch butterflies.

I’m inspired by it all to share this Muir quote and my recent photo of Texas’ Gorman Falls with you —

Everything is flowing — going somewhere, animals and so-called lifeless rocks as well as water. Thus the snow flows fast or slow in grand beauty-making glaciers and avalanches; the air in majestic floods carrying minerals, plant leaves, seeds, spores, with streams of music and fragrance; water streams carrying rocks… While the stars go streaming through space pulsed on and on forever like blood…in nature’s warm heart.

My First Summer in the Sierra (1911) chapter 10, John Muir

2013-04-07_Super_wetness

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Posted on January 17, 2013 by Donna Hoffman

“When we reflect deeply and honestly, when we subject our actions to thoughtful examination, when we act with purpose, not whim or thoughtlessness, we imbue our actions with meaning. I believe this balanced rhythm is the essence of a life lived with grace.”

~ Bernice McCarthy, Educator

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