12/23-12/27
“When you are trying to take care of yourself and the lady next to you is trying to figure out if you are a man or a woman, and she’s grunting and puffing because she’s uncomfortable, it really takes away from the calming benefits of practicing yoga.” So reads the brochure for Max Miller’s Butch-Trans-Genderqueer Yoga. Miller, a butch-trans teacher who was trained at Laughing Lotus Yoga School in New York City and is certified in Hatha yoga, knows how difficult it can feel to be “in your body” in a stressful, unsupportive environment, which is why he formed the classes, “to minimize fear, isolation, self-loathing, and mental and physical illness, and to build a strong and healthy community.” The idea is to have a safe place for health-conscious, gender-variant people to practice yoga. Miller’s East Bay classes meet Thursday and Monday evenings from 8 to 9 p.m. at Studio Naga, 5850 San Pablo Avenue at 59th Street in North Oakland (incidentally, Miller holds classes in SF on Saturday afternoons). They’re open to folks who identify as Butch-Trans-Genderqueer, and those who love and support them. The low cost is an added plus: $8-$12 per class, sliding scale. Can’t afford that? Come anyway. “You can always bring an apple.” For more info, go to UrbanForage.com or e-mail bt*****@***oo.com — Kelly Vance
Sun 12/26
East of Eden
Trek into Fruitvale
No, no, not the Transvaal. Fruitvale. You don’t have to get on a plane and visit costly foreign locales to go on a post-Christmas constitutional trek. You don’t even have to travel as far as the distant reaches of CoCo County. Just follow the Berkeley Hiking Club and head for the wilds of Oakland’s Fruitvale for an urban hike. This Boxing Day, Sunday, take BART to Fruitvale station. The club meets there at 10 a.m., then strolls through Fruitvale Transit Village, past community murals, a neighborhood panadería, and Peralta Park, stopping at a Buddhist temple and St. Elizabeth Church (got to cover all the bases) on the way to lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Call Lorene Lamb at 510-663-0263 to reserve. For more info, visit BerkeleyHikingClub.pair.com — Kelly Vance
