Presence & Pleasure
a life-changing online group course that will teach you specific tools
to connect with your body, mind, and energy
& the spiritual ideas and philosophies behind the practices
in a butch space, from a queer perspective
There’s a surprising, simple idea that most queers haven’t been given the space to think about...
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… that your relationship to your spirituality can be as fluid as your relationship to your gender.
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From the time that you’re very young, you were probably told how you should perform your gender -
what kind of clothes you should wear, how you should have your haircut, what kinds of toys you should play with
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… and you were probably told by those same people how you should perform your spirituality -
which probably mostly involved sitting still and listening to someone else talk about it
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But imagine what it would feel like to connect with your spiritual side for yourself
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Maybe when you think of spirituality, you don’t feel like it’s for you
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If you were raised in a Christian church (like I was), there’s a good chance you feel
pretty fucking alienated from ideas about spirituality that were presented to you.
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The way it was presented to me was that there’s one God (He/Him),
and you’ve gotta do things His way, or else you’re fucked, you’re damned, you go to hell.
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While you know there’s so much more to spirituality than what going on in most churches,
it’s easy to feel disconnected when that’s the idea you’ve been presented with.
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And if you weren’t really raised so religiously, the idea of spirituality can seem more foreign,
or like it’s not really part of your life - and that’s okay! -
but spirituality can still become part of your life if you want it to.
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You can probably tell that yoga is so much more than just stretching,
it’s about learning to feel more connected to your body,
it’s about practicing ways to feel more at home in your mind,
it’s about liberation and freedom,
it’s about getting to know who you really are.
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The truth is that getting to know who you really are is at the core of spirituality.
Imagine for a moment what it would feel like…
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… to know how to feel connected to your whole body, to really get what it means to listen to your body, and to know how to help your body feel less tension and more relaxed
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… to feel like your mind can be your friend and not an enemy
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… to know your connection to the universe is real & you can fucking feel it
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How would it change how you feel about yourself and the world if you could feel more at home in your body and mind…
…and have tools to know exactly how to move, breathe, and focus your attention—without having to deal with the overwhelming femininity and cisheteronormativity of most modern yoga spaces?
Maybe you’ve tried yoga, but felt alienated in the classes you’ve been to,
like you don’t have a community you can relate to there, who really sees you.
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It can be hard enough to relax and let go in your body and mind,
but it can feel a hell of a lot harder to let yourself relax in a space where you’re getting misgendered
or feeling like you’re not really seen for who you are.
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And you could put on any random YouTube yoga video at home by yourself,
but you might wonder if it’s possible to go deeper.
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But how do you go deeper into spirituality without feeling like you’re signing over your soul to one system?
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And how do you learn about ideas and practices from different systems without appropriating?
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The answer is, queer your approach to spirituality.
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Your experience of your spirituality can become as fluid as your experience of your gender.
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Your experience of your spirituality can become a deeply meaningful part of your life.
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Presence & Pleasure is a 12-week group course from Butch Yoga,
to teach you how to work with your body, mind, and energy,
in a butch space where we’ll study spiritual philosophies behind the exercises
from a queer perspective.
"I have experienced a noticeable increase in emotional balance, patience, inner peace, and physical energy as a result of being in Presence & Pleasure. The fact that Presence & Pleasure offers butch community AND a mind-body practice is the icing on the cake."
@alexalexlopez
"It’s a lovely blend of accountability, pleasure, gentle movement, spiritual investigation & community.
In other words, highly recommend”
@mrsexsmith
You’re curious about yoga & meditation
but you’ve got some questions…
“WHAT IF I CAN’T SIT STILL?”
“DO I NEED TO BE FLEXIBLE?”
“WHAT DO YOGA AND MEDITATION HAVE TO DO WITH SPIRITUALITY?
“WHERE DO I EVEN START TO LEARN MORE??”
I know, there can be a lot of questions and confusion when you’re learning yoga and meditation.
If you don’t have a plan to follow, it can be easy to miss out on important ideas, to feel like random YouTube yoga videos aren’t enough, and to get discouraged because you feel alone.
Without guidance and support, it can be hard to notice the kinds of changes you hope for in yourself
—and it’s not about external changes—
it’s about feeling more love for yourself & others,
feeling more relaxed in your body & mind,
feeling more secure in yourself and your place in the universe.
PRESENCE & PLEASURE is a space for butches where we can learn together–
learn how to confidently work with your body, mind, and energy
to create noticeable changes in how you experience your life.
Want to get a whole lot more out of your yoga practice?
MAYBE YOU’VE EXPERIENCED THE FOLLOWING…
► You’ve been interested in yoga, you know it has lots of benefits, but you’ve never found a space to practice that feels truly affirming of your gender, that feels comfortable for you to express who you are
► You know meditating would help with your anxiety, and maybe you’ve tried it out, but the thought of sitting still and being alone with your thoughts feels like the last thing you want to do
► You get the sense there’s a lot more to this stuff—you already know it’s good for you, like really good, and you wish someone would guide you through the philosophy while giving you the tools to put the ideas to work in your life
If any of these statements feel true for you then keep reading… you’re in the right place.
What you get when you enroll in Presence & Pleasure
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This isn’t your average yoga class, more like a university course with labs where we practice what we learn.
We’ll have a main meeting each week on Saturdays for a talk and discussion,
and practice sessions to experience the ideas we’re talking about.
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It’s going to be a butch space to explore the spiritual philosophies behind the exercises—
we’ll be going into Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism to give you a foundation to have your own experiences of the ideas.
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The Specifics:
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Dates: August 20 - November 12
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Lesson & Group Discussion: Saturdays at 4pm PT / 9am AET
Practice Sessions: Tuesdays at 4pm PT / 9am AET & Thursdays at 4pm PT / 9am AET
(times listed in Pacific Time and Australian Eastern Time, check the time for your time zone!)
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Video & audio recordings of all meetings & practice sessions will be available & easy to access
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PDFs of the slides
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2 Calls with Joelle
1 call at the beginning of the 12 weeks to discuss your goals for the program & support you through this time to meet them
1 call at the end of the 12 weeks to make a plan to support you moving forward for your continuing practice & study
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Community Group Chat in WhatsApp for asking questions and sharing experiences
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BIPOC & Lower Income Scholarships are available! (scroll down for more info)
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The Topics:
Body
the different levels of the body
exercises to move blocked physical energy
practices to bring you more fully into your body
conscious ways to deal with dysphoria
complete physical relaxation
Mind
the meaning of liberation
how to direct your thoughts & what to direct them towards
tools to work with anxiety and feel calm
practices to focus your attention
becoming friends with yourself
Energy
what is energy?
energy and gender
how to feel your energy
using your energy for self-healing
sharing your energy with others
The Cost:
Cost per class:
12 lessons & group discussion sessions - $20 each = $240
24 practice sessions - $15 each = $360
2 calls with Joelle to check in - $45 each = $90
plus:
recordings of everything
slides + extra resources
community group chat to ask Qs & share
group connection opportunities
Total cost = $690 USD
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Payment Plan
3 monthly payments of $250 USD
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Scholarships
for BIPOC Butches & Studs
1 payment of $250 or 3 monthly payments of $85
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for Butches and Butch-adjacent friends with lower income
5 monthly payments of $100
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You do not have to apply for these scholarships, just select that option and you get the scholarship!
& there is no limit on these scholarships, please know that you receiving a scholarship does not exclude anyone else from getting a scholarship!
"The classes I’ve attended and the conversations I’ve had with Joelle have broadened my view of what my yoga practice can be. They’ve also broadened my view of who I am."
@oopsallsmol
"I have never felt so in love with myself and so connected to all the other butches all over the world."
@tuba.jesus_
Let me introduce myself
I’m Joelle, and I’m a non-binary butch lesbian, and I’m really into queering spirituality.
I started practicing meditation and yoga in 2007. Then in 2009, I completed an Master of Arts in Cognitive Studies with a focus on Philosophy, Psychology, Linguistics, and Neuroscience.
That’s part of my inspiration for creating this program—before I was on a yoga mat, I was in lecture halls learning about the mind, but they didn’t teach me how to work with it—and then I’ve found in most yoga classes they teach how to work with the mind and body, but don’t usually go in depth with the concepts!
and I’m flagging red on both sides—I’m into going deeper 😉
I’ve done soooo many workshops, classes, retreats and trainings on meditation, breathwork, movement practices, and other spiritual practices from different traditions.
I continue to take classes, because I know how important it is to have guidance and the support of a community along the way.
But it’s been rare for me to find queer yoga spaces, and even rarer to find other butches around—so I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity for us to study and practice together.
More about me:
I’m a white Latinx Jewish person
I’ve been living on Mayan land in Guatemala for 7 years
I have 3 cats 😻😻😻
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