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Hey Boston! It Just Snowed. Got Hygge?

July 30, 2020January 8, 2017 by Lisa Johnson 2 Comments

We just got our first substantial snow of the winter in the Boston area. While not a fan of snow, I’m all about the cozy. So I find ways to enjoy the season.

A favorite winter breakfast is oatmeal with maple syrup, walnuts, dried cranberries and vanilla soy milk. I’ve been baking recently — scones and banana bread. A snack for me and gifts for others.

With all that’s going on in this country at the moment, it’s important to take time for self-care. To gather inner strength. To steady ourselves. Without that we won’t be ready for whatever lies ahead as we enter a new American era.

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The United States is thousands of miles from Denmark. We have very different forms of government and culture. But we have cold weather and dark winters in common. So right now I’m taking something from Danish culture to see me through this time — hygge.

In case you’re not familiar with term, it’s pronounced “hooga” and is about the appreciation and art of coziness. I have seen many different definitions for it, but here is one from Denmark’s tourism website.

In essence, hygge means creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with good people. The warm glow of candlelight is hygge. Friends and family – that’s hygge too. There’s nothing more hygge than sitting round a table, discussing the big and small things in life.

A blog called Hygge House gives another perspective on the word.

Some refer to hygge as an “art of creating intimacy” (either with yourself, friends and your home). While there’s no one English word to describe hygge, several can be used interchangeably to describe the idea of hygge such as cosiness, charm, happiness, contentness, security, familiarity, comfort, reassurance, kinship, and simpleness.

Danes created hygge because they were trying to survive boredom, cold, dark and sameness and the undefinable feeling of Hygge was a way for them to find moments to celebrate or acknowledge and to break up the day, months or years. With so many cold, dark, days, the simple act of a candle glowing with a cup of coffee in the morning or a home cooked evening meal with friends can make a huge difference to one’s spirit.

We can all define what the word means to us as individuals. For me, right now, it’s about making my home a warm cozy place where I can retreat and gather my thoughts and my calm.

As an introvert, that’s vital. Home is where I recharge. But It’s also a place where I can invite friends and family.

What about you?

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Winter 2016 – 2017: Free Yoga Classes in Boston

July 30, 2020December 4, 2016 by Lisa Johnson

This list has been updated a number of times and is current for Spring.

Remember there are Meetups in the area to try out. Hands To Heart Center Yoga – Yoga for the People provides free yoga classes for people living with poverty and trauma in Boston. Check out their website and Twitter for class schedules.

There are also free yoga classes being offered by a new group called Breathe Boston. They offer individual or group yoga and meditation classes. You can sign up for classes at their location or have them come to you for a private class in your own home.

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The Free Yoga Boston Community on Facebook is updated several times a week and more than 1,300 have “Liked” the page. Thank you! Check for all sorts of yoga news!

Sign up for the Free Yoga Boston email list! When you are on the email list, you will be the first to know about changes and updates to this schedule.

Every once in a while, when I learn about one-off special yoga classes and/or related events that might interest you, I will send an email to keep you in the know!

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If you know of other free or donation based classes in the Boston area that are missing from this list or are on the list, but need correction, please let me know.

This “Big List” is always a work in progress. There will be updates, so if you have not signed up for the email list, keep checking back. Namaste!

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MONDAY

Gentle Yoga
ABCD (North End, Boston)
10am

As part of the Coca-Cola Troops for Fitness program, the Boston Parks and Recreation Department is offering a variety of free yoga classes on different days and locations year-round. Most classes last an hour and schedules change every couple of months. For updates and cancellations, check Twitter and Facebook.

TUESDAY

Laughter Yoga
West Bridgewater Library (80 Howard Street, West Bridgewater)
10:30am – 11am

This is a seated chair practice, free and open to all. Even if you don’t live in West Bridgewater. According to a Wicked Local article, the yoga part of the class is the breathing. The class started on September 13th and was scheduled to last for eight weeks. However, according to the website, classes appear to continue indefinitely.

Yoga Classes at Boston Medical Center
Moakley Building (830 Harrison Avenue, Boston)
6pm – 7:15pm

These yoga classes are not just during the summer and are open to community members in addition to BMC patients and staff. They are held indoors and part of the Program for Integrative Medicine & Health Care Disparities. Take the elevator or stairs down to the basement. The classes are free, but there is a suggested donation of $5.00. Currently there is a flyer online [click here], but it is old. If the online flyer is updated, I will link to it here.

Free Beginner Yoga
Sonas Wellness (200 Weymouth Street, Rockland)
6:30pm – 7:30pm

Join Courtney Bell for a beginner Vinyasa class, where she uses her training to help students discover a piece of themselves previously thought unattainable. She works to strengthen the core and finding balance to help navigate life. It looks like this may be a new studio and classes are free for their first three months. Check with them to confirm.

Teen Yoga
Boys & Girls Club (Dorchester, Marr Clubhouse)
6:45pm

WEDNESDAY

Prenatal Yoga
Whittier Wellness & Fitness Club (1290 Tremont Street, Roxbury)
9:30am – 10:30am

Connect with your unborn baby at these prenatal classes, which are open to the public. You don’t have to be a club member to attend. Classes are indoors and year-round.

Gentle Yoga
ABCD (North End, Boston)
10am

Yoga For Men
Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry (10 Putnam Street, Roxbury)
6pm – 7:30pm

Instructor Lucilda Dassardo-Cooper is a certified Iyengar beginning/intermediate teacher and a professional artist who has studied and taught yoga for more than 30 years. There is free parking and all levels are welcome. The class is donation based and free if you cannot pay. Questions: Lucildadcooper@gmail.com. 617-825-9760.

THURSDAY

Yoga Classes at Boston Medical Center
Moakley Building (830 Harrison Avenue, Boston)
4:30pm – 6pm

These yoga classes are not just during the summer and are open to community members in addition to BMC patients and staff. They are held indoors and part of the Program for Integrative Medicine & Health Care Disparities. Take the elevator or stairs down to the basement. The classes are free, but there is a suggested donation of $5.00. Currently there is a flyer online [click here], but it is old. The Thursday class starts at 4:30pm. If the online flyer is updated, I will link to it here.

Community Yoga
Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry (10 Putnam Street, Roxbury)
6pm – 7:30pm

FRIDAY

Gentle Yoga
ABCD (North End, Boston)
10am

Relax and Renew Yoga
Harvard Ed Portal (224 Western Ave, Allston)
6pm – 7pm

Part of an ongoing series of classes presented by the Harvard Ed Portal and the Center for Wellness. Each class incorporates flowing, intentional vinyasa-style movements, stretches, and breathing practices. Modifications are offered to ensure the maximum benefit and healthy alignment. Classes are scheduled to start Friday, March 3rd and last through Friday, April 7th. Walk-ins are allowed, but advance registration is encouraged.

Mike Massey Yoga
Sustainability Guild (260 Washington Street, Dorchester)
7:30pm – 9pm

After being severely injured playing semi-pro football, Mike Massey required surgery. Trauma from the surgery resulted in depression. In order to beat his depression, he tried yoga. Now he teaches all over the Boston area. An enthusiastic student recommended his classes, so I have pieced together the information here. Check his Instagram for class updates. Double check the address of the class location.

SATURDAY

Complimentary Saturday Yoga
The Liberty Hotel (Charles Street, Beacon Hill, Boston)
10am

Back in 2009, The Liberty was one of the first hotels in Boston, or anyplace in the area for that matter, to start offering free yoga classes in the summer. They set the trend and still offer free classes in collaboration with Equinox. Guests of the hotel and members of the community are welcome to take the class for free. Classes are year round. In the summer, classes are outside in the courtyard. In the cooler months, they are indoors. Check with the concierge to find the exact class location, since it appears to change.

Hands to Heart Center Yoga
CityPOP Egleston (3195 Washington Street, Jamaica Plain)
11am – 12pm

Beginner level yoga classes for ages 16 and up take place through March. Classes are inclusive, accessible and inspiring. Yoga mats are provided.

Mike Massey Yoga
Sustainability Guild (260 Washington Street, Dorchester)
2:30pm – 4pm

Yoga Meditation
Thomas Crane Public Library (40 Washington Street, Quincy)
3pm – 4pm

Sahaja Yoga is a meditative yoga technique to help reduce stress and bring balance and well being to your life. This type of yoga focuses on meditation and is not a physical class, so you will not need a yoga mat. The classes take place take place each week through May. Sahaja Yoga sponsors free stress reduction and meditation workshops around the country as well as in over 90 nations around the world.

SUNDAY

Brewery Yoga
Night Shift Brewing (87 Santilli Highway, Everett)
11am – 12pm

These yoga classes take place at the brewery every so often. Take a look at their event calendar for confirmation and sign up! Kat O’Leary from CorePower Yoga teaches the vinyasa classes.

Yoga For Athletes
Boston Marathon adidas Runbase (855 Boylston Street, Boston)
6:30pm

These free vinyasa yoga classes on select Sundays are customized to bring balance to overworked muscles used when running. All levels of yoga experience are welcome, but you may need to register each week.

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{You Pick Six} An Interview with Travel Writer & Essayist: Maria Olia

July 30, 2020October 24, 2016 by Lisa Johnson

This past spring, I attended an open house for Friends of the Thomas Crane Public Library. I love Quincy’s library system and think supporting the library is a great way to be a philanthropist — even if only on a small scale.

I’ve been a Friend of the library for years, but it was my first time attending this type of event. And I’m so glad I did. I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Maria Olia, who writes about travel in the Boston area and New England in general.

Maria’s current book, New England’s Colonial Inns & Taverns, is a great resource and timely too. For those of you who believe in ghosts and are looking forward to Halloween, she lists some haunted historic inns in her book.

But don’t be scared! We’re going to resume this ongoing series with the 14th interview of You Pick Six and learn some more about Maria.

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What brings you peace every day?
My long walks around Crystal Lake in Newton bring me peace every morning. I love walking outside every day, in all weather. Sometimes I walk with a friend, sometimes I listen to classical music. Walking helps set my mind for the rest of the day. And sometimes walking is the best part of my day!

What is a favorite quote?
One of my favorite quotes is from Mark Twain- ” In New York they ask, ‘How much money does he have?’ In Philadelphia they ask, ‘Who were his parents?’ In Boston, they ask, How much does he know.'” Of course, historically, Boston was the intellectual impetus for the American Revolution. And I think Twain’s quote is still apt- we are “smaat!”

What is a favorite childhood food memory?
I’m a child of the 70’s so one of my fondest food memories was having cheese fondue.The idea of sharing food from a communal pot was totally hippy. It was very exotic for the time- the little enamel pot filled with melted swiss cheese and the long forks with the color coded handles – I always picked red. In our house, my Mom, my Dad, my little brother and I would eat fondue sitting on the floor huddled around the coffee table in the family room which just added to its “specialness.”

What is the best meal you ever had and where was it?
I eat out constantly in Boston doing research for my travel books and I have had some amazing meals along the way. But my most memorable meal was 10 years ago in Tuscany. My husband and I, along with our three sons, our daughter and my parents toured the Castello di Brolio vineyard. Afterwards we had the tasting menu at the vineyard’s small restaurant. I don’t remember exactly what I had for each course, but it was an authentic Italian meal outside on a perfect summer day in a magnificent setting and with all the people I love.

How did food become an important part of your life?
Ever since I was a teenager, I was a foodie. One summer I made a project of cooking meals from around the world. I would do the research and make things like saurbraten with spaetzle, or Venezuelan beef tamales in banana leaves. One year, for my high school French class final report I made a croquembouche- a tower of cream- filled choux pastry balls decorated in caramel sugar. Naturally, dining is a huge part of my travel writing. You can plan entire days around the restautrants, bakeries and food markets that I write about in my guidebooks.

Tell me about your book.
My newest book is New England’s Colonial Inns & Taverns (Globe Pequot). It’s a travel book that profiles 29 historic New England inns and taverns that have a connection to the colonial era; places that date before the year 1800. Some of the places are well known, like the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge or the Union Oyster House in Boston. Others are less common, like Mount Hope Farm in Bristol, Rhode Island and Eben House in Provincetown.

What is unique about this book is that I delve deeply into the colonial history of each place; how and when they were established and the tavern or inn’s relationship to their community through the years. And for these places we are talking centuries! I have also written about what today’s traveler would expect; the types of rooms or amenities at the inns and the dining experiences found at the taverns. There really is something for every taste; romantic country inns of course, but also high-end boutique inns, elegant townhouse inns and rustic chic- inns. Some taverns are all about Yankee pot roast and chicken pot pie, but there are several that are fine dining destinations with excellent wine lists.

Finally, the book has nearly 100 color photographs throughout- what I like to refer to as “Instagram-worthy” photos. There is a two-page spread of cows in a misty meadow, a full page photograph of a bicycle with a wicker basket of hydrangeas propped against a country fence and a full page collage of seafood dishes from Maine’s York Harbor Inn that looks like it should be in a food magazine. The book is a large format paperback but it has the feel of a coffee table book. It’s visually very appealing. I think that we are very lucky to be living in this corner of the world!

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Thank you so much for participating Maria!

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Photos: Provided by Maria Olia.

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This Month So Far: October 2016

July 30, 2020October 15, 2016 by Lisa Johnson 2 Comments

Finding the time, energy and will to blog has not been easy lately. So I’ve been blogging much less. It’s now October.

Life has changed a lot since when I first started blogging ten years ago. Money and time available have decreased. Family responsibilities have increased. Free Yoga Boston and other social media platforms that I’m on now didn’t exist ten years ago.

Just like the seasons change, our lives change and we must adjust. Focusing on my well-being has made blogging fall away to a certain extent. But I miss it too.

Documenting my life and experiences is something that I had always loved about blogging. When others appreciated what I shared, it made it even sweeter.

To continue, blogging has to happen differently. For now, I hope you enjoy these images. These are bits and pieces of my October so far.

Have a great weekend!

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Now on Craving Boston: Sakonnet Farm in Tiverton Four Corners, Rhode Island

July 30, 2020July 19, 2016 by Lisa Johnson

Last week I mentioned that on the drive back from Connecticut, I visited Tiverton, Rhode Island for a Craving Boston article. Well, the article is up now!

I hope you’ll go take a look and read about Sakonnet Farm. I’m sure you’ll enjoy learning more.