Living Letters Collective is a group of Hudson Valley based artists who work in various styles of graffiti writing as their form of expression and often work outside the realms of the public eye. Working alongside one another, in a shared location, they share their work, which is often unaccessible and/or uncelebrated.
Lovie Olivia is an American Artist born, living and making in Houston, TX who creates paintings, collages and sculptures that are an assembly of found and manipulated objects. Their work mines the scarce archives of Black, Queer and Womanist personifications and imagines meliorism through memory, gesture, and speculation. Inspired by the historical excavation work of writers like Christina Sharpe, Saadiya Hartman, Audre Lorde and Zora Neale Hurston. Olivia’s work hangs in numerous private and public collections including the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Institute, Intercontinental Airport Houston TX, University of Texas Austin, and Brooklyn Museum. She is a recipient of three Individual Artist Awards, which are funded by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance. She has exhibited at Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Frist Museum Nashville TN, The Phillips Collection, DC, Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn NY, 1969 Gallery Manhattan NY, Jam Gallery Brooklyn NY, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago IL, Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH), Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC), Houston TX, Art Pace, San Antonio TX The Station Museum, Houston TX, Project Row Houses, Houston TX, TSU University Museum, Houston TX, Arthello Beck Gallery in Dallas TX, and more.
Described as “thoughtful and eccentric” by All Music, Benedict Kupstas is a writer, artist, activist, and musician from the post-industrial wasteland of northeastern Pennsylvania, currently residing in Kingston, NY. He has written songs and played instruments in a number of bands over the last two decades, with deep roots in the DIY community and notable appearances including BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! and 24-Hour Drone at Basilica Hudson.
For several years he toured internationally with Young Jean Lee’s Theater Company in the critically acclaimed show We’re Gonna Die, including performances at Lincoln Center, the Melbourne Festival, Festival d’Automne à Paris, and the 2015 Meltdown Festival, at which he shared the stage with his hero, David Byrne. His own project, Field Guides, has released three full-length albums, most recently Ginkgo on Whatever’s Clever Records.
As a designer and visual artist, he has created album artwork, posters, and apparel for dozens of international clients, primarily musicians and record labels. His writing has been published by McGraw Hill, L Magazine, Rockpile, and in other outlets. Kuspas has co-run the label Whatever’s Clever since 2019, and works for the food sovereignty nonprofit Catskills Agrarian Alliance.
Ayurveda is the ancient healing science of India and sister science to yoga. Based on a five-elemental theory, Ayurveda works on creating balance through diet, lifestyle and herbs. It considers each person a unique combination of the five elements and gives lifestyle tools accordingly. Come learn about your dosha and Ayurvedic self-care techniques.
Ami Jayaprada Hirschstein, CAP, C-IAYT, is a Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner, Marma Therapist and Yoga Therapist. Ami has been practicing the healing arts and teaching since 1995. Her approach is holistic, combing the “Sister Sciences” of Ayurveda with Therapeutic Yoga. Ami works with clients to create balance and health through diet, lifestyle and herbs. The body, mind, senses and spirit all shape a person’s sense of well-being. Ami’s holistic approach works with all these aspects to guide her clients and students to make life changing shifts.
Ami did her Advanced Ayurvedic Practitioner Training with Dr. Anusha Sehgal. Ami is a Certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor with the Kripalu School of Ayurveda. She trained in Marma Therapy with Dr. Vasant Lad at The Ayurvedic Institute. Ami belongs to the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Ami founded and directed two Yoga studios from 1999-2017 and has received teaching certifications as an Anusara Yoga and Kripalu Yoga Teacher and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist. She has been leading Yoga Teacher Trainings since 2001.
BREATHWORK is an active breathing technique that is practiced while lying down. This powerful breathing pattern furthers the connection to the nervous system, washes toxins from the body, encourages emotional release and helps soothe old battle wounds. Breathwork has also been known to be a magical mood elevator.
THIS CLASS IS FOR ALL BODIES, GENDERS AND BACKGROUNDS.
Pepper (she / her) is a neighbor in your community who is able to provide support that elevates your experience of dignity when you engage in your health the moment you start a relationship with her. She stems from a position of gentle witnessing and genuine honoring of ourselves and each other as we brush up next to revelations trying to rise.
Pepper is a gardener and landscape designer by trade at her other love, Magic Hour Gardening and a giant cuddle bug with her bright-eyed child and spotted pup, Pearlie. Pepper and her family live in the Hudson Valley, NY
Are you tired of the relentless noise of daily battles over screen time, sibling conflicts, or the silent treatment from your teenager pushing you to the brink? This workshop is your lifeline if you’re longing to foster deeper connections, mutual respect, and trust with your children. Join me for an engaging and practical workshop where you’ll learn four transformative shifts that will revolutionize your approach to parenting. In this interactive session you’ll practice tools to build resilient parent-child relationships, dissolve power struggles, and emerge as the confident leader your family needs.
Whether you have toddlers, elementary-age kids or teens, this workshop is designed to empower parents at every stage of the journey, providing clarity and support amidst the noise of parenting.
I became a parenting coach because I want to help parents and caregivers transform their relationships with their kids – and with themselves.
As a parent of a child entering their teen years, I intimately know how beautiful, hard, emotional, inspiring, exhausting (and every other adjective!) parenting can be. It’s truly the hardest and most important job we have.
My approach as a coach is parent-centered, which means I work with parents to build strength, self-trust, connection and compassion (for themselves and their kids) so they’re able to lead their family with love and intention.
I coach parents and caregivers at all stages of parenthood who are ready to move beyond temporary fixes and parenting hacks to transform their relationship with their children and themselves. I guide my clients to break the generational patterns that are not serving them, and have a more connected and collaborative relationship with their children.
I’m committed to working with folks who are on the path of unlearning the deeply engrained teachings of white settler colonialism, patriarchy and late-stage capitalism that show up in our parenting.
As we transition into the darker half of the year, who are the plant allies and energy practices that we can turn to for support. We will talk about the Wheel of the Year, the upcoming Samhain holiday, and connecting to the rhythm of Nature. We will meet with mugwort and marigold and whoever else decides to show up! You will walk away with practices that will sustain you on the descent deeper into Autumn and Winter.
Jenny is a healer, a problem solver, an herbalist, flower practitioner, reiki master and energy worker, a writer, a recovering rule follower, and a curious student of spiritual teachings. She is delighted to make her home in Shokan, NY with her partner, Ariel, and their two rescue pups.
In this class you will be invited to diminish the velocity of your thoughts by practicing yin poses, breathing exercises and guided meditation (Yoga Nidra).
Juliana Machado
OWNER | HEAD INSTRUCTOR, YOGA
Yoga is my first language. Through its teachings I have learned to dive within and create a kind relationship with my own being. At Ascension, we are creating a yoga program where one can connect to the light within and allow the intelligence that is already there to lead the way. My son, Pedro, and I bring to our space the power of a dream coming through as we join ventures. We are sharing practices (BJJ & YOGA) that keep supporting our wellbeing and growth in all levels. The foundation of our school is: respect, discipline, alignment and the invite to “ascend”. For more about my experience as a yoga teacher please visit the ascensionyogany.com
Connect with your body and learn to release chronic tension in this Somatic Movement session. Somatics is a foundational movement practice that uses gentle yet powerful movements to raise awareness and let go of tension. This workshop will include discussion of how stresses-both physical and emotional–show up in posture, over time leading to stiffness, anxiety, and pain. The movements are primarily floor-based, but the session will include some explorations while standing and walking. You’ll leave this session feeling relaxed and grounded, and with tools to continue connecting, releasing tension, and feeling more freedom as you move through life.
Amy Wanner Jeansonne, MA, is a Registered Somatic Movement Educator who trained in the tradition of Hanna Somatics but is always learning more. She teaches and writes about somatics, body-mind education, and ecological connection as ways to connect with others and relieve chronic pain. You can find out more at www.GoSlowStudio.space.
This class will explore a variety of movement variations to develop greater mobility, stability, dynamic balance and strength. We will play with ground movements, get-ups, and dynamic transitions with conditioning challenges incorporated throughout. This practice will help identify individual postural habits, movement patterns and mobility limitations.
Sandi is a MovNat certified trainer, certified in Functional Movement Screen- a comprehensive movement assessment and corrective exercise program. She offers mobility classes at Ascension Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Yoga and is an assistant coach at Innate Movement Parkour in Kingston, NY.
