About the Studio
Located in a restored century-old barn on the Harpswell Neck peninsula, Fishmoon Yoga has been offering weekly classes and seasonal retreats, both on and off-site, since 2015. Classes and retreats can be custom-designed for individuals and small groups.
Kara Douglas has been practicing yoga since 1998 and teaching since 2001. Trained primarily in the Pranakriya, Kripalu and Yin Yoga traditions, with further background in other yoga methodology, she weaves a seasonal theme into her teaching. As a writer, former science teacher and naturalist, Kara steeps her teaching in a love of nature. She serves as Fishmoon Yoga’s primary teacher, gardener, groundskeeper and construction helper.
Craig Douglas is a Civil Engineer who tackles all things in need of building and repair, from designing drinking water systems to resurrecting an old barn. He serves as Fishmoon Yoga’s builder, fixer and general problem solver.
Weekly Class Descriptions
All Levels
Techniques are guided with several variations and attention to alignment, allowing the postures to feel accessible to practitioners from different backgrounds and experiences. Incorporates a variety of postures and breathing techniques, with an emphasis on the standing poses, hip openers, twists and forward bends.
Evening Practice
Wind down at the end of the day. Like the Morning Practice, class will be guided with attention to breath and alignment with a focus on fully inhabiting our bodies while observing thoughts and sensations. We’ll explore grounding postures, building up energy reserves for good sleep and turn our attention toward reflection and calming the mind. Includes active and Yin-style yoga postures. and meditation. Knowledge of basic yoga poses is helpful but not required.
Gentle Yoga
If you are new or returning to yoga after some time away, rehabilitating an injury or prefer a quiet and easeful practice pace, gentle yoga will serve you well. Postures are a blend of active and restorative and will be guided with particular attention to alignment and anatomy, keeping your body safe while your mind lets go. We’ll focus on building and maintaining balance, keeping the immune system strong and creating a foundation for further learning.
Seasonal Yoga Practice
As the seasons change, our bodies and minds benefit from adapting our practices. This class session will explore the unique benefits of complimenting active yoga styles focused on mental and physical rejuvenation with Yin Yoga postures to support the transition through each season. Practice will include breathing techniques and posture sequences to circulate prana, stimulate the body’s systems that enhance seasonal health and balance active engagement with nourishing rest. Yin Yoga postures will be utilized to stimulate the joints, emphasize the organs that can support health and provide inspiration for balancing outward extension with inner stillness.
Morning Practice
A fun, inquisitive way to wake up to sensation in the body and set a tone of mind for the day. Class will be guided with attention to breath and alignment with a focus on fully inhabiting our bodies while observing thoughts and sensations. We’ll encourage circulation and wakefulness, build warmth and play with balance and adaptability. Includes active and Yin-style yoga postures. Knowledge of basic yoga poses is helpful but not required.
Yoga for the Stiff & Reluctant
The most common reason people tell me that they don't practice yoga is because they're not flexible enough. You don't have to be bendy to begin, you just have to be human. If touching your toes is a distant memory, you're convinced that you are uniquely unsuited to yoga or your doctor said you'd better start stretching, this class is for you. We'll have fun and figure it out. No experience necessary, everyone is welcome.
Monthly Class Descriptions
Restorative Yoga
The insights of deep rest can align our bodies for healing and trend our minds toward simplicity. Well-supported postures that very gently traction the spine and encourage the body’s soft tissues to yield will release tension patterns and nourish the nervous system. As we move towards the colder and darker seasons of the year a restorative practice can be a rejuvenating way to nourish our minds & replenish our energy levels.
Yin Yoga & Meditation
Yin yoga is of particular benefit to the body’s joints and connective tissues. Because these structures don’t respond to repetitive movement the same way that muscles do, yin yoga practices utilize longer holds in postures that emphasize muscular relaxation, especially targeting the upper legs, hips and spine. Supportive relationships between Taoist martial arts practices, meridian theory and meditation enrich this slow, deep practice.
Yoga Nidra
Commonly referred to as “yogic sleep,” yoga nidra is a guided meditation practiced in gentle, restorative postures designed to more deeply integrate mind-body-emotional health. The nervous system is coaxed into a state of rest, from where subtler layers of self-understanding can emerge and tensions can be released. Appropriate for all practitioners.