From the Heart Yoga Center

Welcome — You Belong Here

Whether you’ve been practicing with us for years or you’re still thinking about walking through the door for the first time, this schedule is an open invitation. From the Heart Yoga & Tai Chi Center exists for exactly that — all of you, wherever you are on your path.

Behnje and Rick have been teaching and building this community together for decades, and that shared devotion is woven into every class on our calendar. Behnje brings a depth of study rooted in Hatha Yoga traditions — her teaching is soulful, precise, and always grounded in the heart. Rick offers the steady, meditative wisdom of Tai Chi and Kung Fu, creating space for stillness and inner balance in a way that meets students exactly where they are.

Together, they’ve created a studio where the experienced practitioner and the curious beginner sit side by side — and both feel at home.

📅 This Week’s Schedule

Wednesday, June 17
🧘 9:00–10:30 AM — Yoga All Levels | In Studio & Livestream | with Behnje
🥋 6:00–6:45 PM — Chi Kung for Health / Tai Chi Level 1 | with Richard
🥋 6:45–8:00 PM — Tai Chi Level 2 (Level 1 required) | with Richard

Thursday, June 18
🥋 7:00–8:15 AM — Tai Chi Praying Mantis Kung Fu | with Richard
🧘 9:00–10:30 AM — Yoga All Levels | In Studio & Livestream | with Behnje

Friday, June 19
🥋 7:00–9:00 AM — Tai Chi & Kung Fu Open Practice/Tutoring (Members Only) | with Richard

Saturday, June 20
10AM-12PM- Summer Solstice Immersion

9AM-10:30AM Tai Chi at YWCA
🥋 10:30 AM–12:00 PM — Kung Fu at YWCA |

The mat — and the floor — is ready when you are. 💛

From the Heart Yoga & Tai Chi Center — Grand Rapids, Michigan

Register Soon! Limited Space!

Pausing at the Peak
Summer Solstice Celebration
Saturday, June 20 · 10 AM–12 PM

”…This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight,
the year’s threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future; the place of caught breath, the door of a vanished house left ajar…” — Margaret Atwood

As we enter the doorway of the Summer Solstice, we are reminded of the power of pausing—of that sacred space between. In yogic tradition, this moment is known as Sandi: the seam between what was and what is yet to come. It is here, in this stillness, that possibility begins to stir. We will use this time to check in with our intentions and renew our commitment to them...or...to form new ones if they no longer serve. It is a great time for placing intentions in the space of possibility and letting the light and growth of Summer carry them forward.

Pausing at the Peak
Summer Solstice Celebration
Saturday, June 20 · 10 AM–12 PM
Cost $40

The longest day of the year is an invitation to pause, breathe, and contemplate… Join us for a special morning of practice, guided reflection, chanting, mudra, and ceremonial fire. We are thrilled to welcome musician and vocalist Eric O’Daly, who will lead us in chanting and bring his beautiful voice to the celebration.

Come set your intentions for the season and offer them up to the fire — heart open, surrounded by community, at the peak of the light.
All levels welcome. No experience necessary.

Wishing you a Solstice filled with light, insight, and the quiet power of transformation.

With heart and gratitude,
Behnje and Rick

Link in bio

Pausing at the Peak ☀️🔥
Summer Solstice Celebration
Saturday, June 20 · 10 AM–12 PM
Cost $40

The longest day of the year is an invitation to pause, breathe, and contemplate…

Join us for a special morning of practice, guided reflection, chanting, mudra, and ceremonial fire. We are thrilled to welcome musician and vocalist Eric O’Daly, who will lead us in chanting and bring his beautiful voice to the celebration.

Come set your intentions for the season and offer them up to the fire — heart open, surrounded by community, at the peak of the light.

All levels welcome. No experience necessary. ☀️🔥

[Registration link in bio]

Welcome — You Belong Here

Whether you’ve been practicing with us for years or you’re still thinking about walking through the door for the first time, this schedule is an open invitation. From the Heart Yoga & Tai Chi Center exists for exactly that — all of you, wherever you are on your path.

Behnje and Rick have been teaching and building this community together for decades, and that shared devotion is woven into every class on our calendar. Behnje brings a depth of study rooted in Hatha Yoga traditions — her teaching is soulful, precise, and always grounded in the heart. Rick offers the steady, meditative wisdom of Tai Chi and Kung Fu, creating space for stillness and inner balance in a way that meets students exactly where they are.

Together, they’ve created a studio where the experienced practitioner and the curious beginner sit side by side — and both feel at home.

📅 This Week’s Schedule

Wednesday, June 3
🧘 9:00–10:30 AM — Yoga All Levels | In Studio & Livestream | with Behnje
🥋 6:00–6:45 PM — Chi Kung for Health / Tai Chi Level 1 | with Richard
🥋 6:45–8:00 PM — Tai Chi Level 2 (Level 1 required) | with Richard

Thursday, June 4
🥋 7:00–8:15 AM — Tai Chi Praying Mantis Kung Fu | with Richard
🧘 9:00–10:30 AM — Yoga All Levels | In Studio & Livestream | with Behnje

Friday, June 5
🥋 7:00–9:00 AM — Tai Chi & Kung Fu Open Practice/Tutoring (Members Only) | with Richard

Saturday, June 6
🥋 9:00–10:30 AM — Tai Chi at YWCA | with Richard
🧘 9:00–10:15 AM — Yoga All Levels | In Studio & Livestream | with Behnje
🥋 10:30 AM–12:00 PM — Kung Fu at YWCA | with Richard

The mat — and the floor — is ready when you are. 💛

From the Heart Yoga & Tai Chi Center — Grand Rapids, Michigan

Congratulations to Tim Rickaby for taking 1st at the Phoenix Wushu Nationals with the Sword and Scabbard (Ching Fong Jen) from our school! ! I coached him for the past few months via zoom… Tim is such a great student and a pleasure to work with... He put in the all the hard work and did Sifu Lee’s School proud!

For those that don’t know Tim he was one of Sifu’s students in the 80’s and 90’s at the beginning. He has been working hard with Rick for the last couple years recovering what he learned via Zoom and then and adding some new forms to his base. Keep Practicing Tim!

CLOSED TODAY IN HONOR OF MEMORIAL DAY

I”In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
-John McCrae

Memorial Day Weekend Schedule

Sat 9am Yoga All Levels
Sat 9am Tai Chi All Levels (YWCA Downtown)
Sat 10:30am Tai Chi All Levels(YWCA Downtown)

CLOSED MONDAY FOR MEMORIAL DAY

I”In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
-John McCrae

Tomorrow Night! Limited Space!

We are so looking forward to sharing this special evening with you. After the last restorative immersion we had requests for another one this month so here it is!

On May 21st, join Behnje Masson for; Drink from the Source — A Crescent Moon Immersion — a 2-hour restorative yoga experience designed to replenish and revitalize you from the inside out.

Under the quiet light of the waxing crescent moon, we will use supported postures, healing breath, and deep stillness to help you release what has been draining you and reconnect with the nourishing energy that lives at your very core.
This is not a class. This is an immersion. Come exactly as you are. Leave filled.
All levels welcome.
May 21, 2026 — 6:00–8:00 PM
From the Heart Yoga — Grand Rapids, Michigan
With Love,
Behnje and Rick

*** Limited Props please bring the following if you have them:
1 Yoga Mat
2 blocks
2 blankets or a Bolster
1 Yoga strap

❤️ ❤️

We had the lucky for so many years with Douglas Brooks coming to visit on the regular. Thank you for sharing so much with us here over the years Ji! We do miss your company and hope to see you again. We will always have the gems you shared with each visit and hold, with gratitude, the subtle changes that occurred every time you did. Thanks for teaching us how to think… not what to think. A rarity in this world that has immense value in the pursuit of a life well lived.

Lucky students at Rochester… Please take the time to listen or read
With Love- Behnje and Rick

“You have cultivated the ability to change, to connect, and to create your own argument: whatever you think you have learned, you have also chosen to be educated, to make the gift of being human an odyssey of heart and mind that will remake the world. Become that company you wish to keep.”-Prof Douglas Brooks

Valediction to the Class of 2026 Delivered to the University of Rochester Department of Religion & Classics