Heartwood

Aikido
2026-10-01 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-10-08 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-10-15 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
Monday 7:15-8:15PM adults
Thursday 6-7pm Children & 7:15-8:15PM adults
The Lakeshore Aikido Club will start a new course dedicated to beginners, adult and young adult. Please join us and embrace this modern Japanese martial art in a friendly and welcoming community in the heart of Evanston!
Aikido is a modern Japanese martial art (DO) based on the idea of harmonizing (AIKI) with your opponent to peacefully resolve conflict. The goal is subduing not harming. The Aikido practitioner uses circular movements and joint locks to redirect an attacker’s force and neutralize them. Aikido training is physically demanding, but it doesn’t rely on strength. It emphasizes developing endurance, flexibility, stability, and situational awareness. Aikido is a non-competitive activity, and there are no tournaments. Instead, students work with partners to improve their techniques. These include throws, strikes, pins, and joint locks. The goal is to use the attacker’s momentum against them.
All beginners classes will be include the following aspects:
– Body conditioning and stretching
– Aikido safe falling and rolling (ukemi)
– Martial arts principles
– Understanding Aikido Self-defense
– Aikido etiquette and values
– “Silent meditation” (mokuso) and mindfulness
– Aikido movements and postures
– Aikido basic techniques (kihon waza)
Every enrolled student will receive complementary
– Aikido Student Manual
– Aikido LAC Student ID
– Aikido uniform

Yoga for Strength
2026-10-02 09:30 - 10:30, 2026-10-09 09:30 - 10:30, 2026-10-16 09:30 - 10:30 | Heartwood, 1818 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL, 60202, United States
Drop in or buy a package.
Learn more here: https://www.yogatherapywithsarah.com/book-online-1

The Stress-Less Mother Course - 8-Week Series
2026-10-02 10:00 - 11:30, 2026-10-09 10:00 - 11:30, 2026-10-16 10:00 - 11:30 | Heartwood, 1818 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL, 60202, United States
A powerful in-person experience for overwhelmed, busy mothers who want more calm, confidence, and connection — without guilt or burnout.
You love your children deeply — and yet you’re exhausted, overstimulated, and often questioning yourself. You’re doing everything, but it still feels like you’re falling short.
The Stress-Less Mother is an 8-week, in-person group designed to help busy parents slow down, support their nervous system, and parent from a place of calm confidence instead of constant reaction. This is not about becoming a “perfect” mother. It’s about becoming a grounded, present, regulated one — even on hard days.
In this 8-week experience, you will:

Break the cycle of overwhelm, guilt, and emotional burnout

Learn how to calm your nervous system so stress doesn’t run your day

Stop snapping, overreacting, or shutting down when things get intense

Respond to your children with clarity instead of reacting from exhaustion

Build confidence in your parenting choices without second-guessing yourself

Develop deep self-compassion and release the pressure to “do it all”

Understand your emotional triggers and learn how to work with them

Create a clear vision for the mother, and woman, you want to be

Strengthen trust, connection, and emotional safety in your family

What makes this different:
This is a live, in-person experience held in a beautiful shrine room, intentionally designed to help you slow down, feel supported, and truly connect — with yourself and with other mothers who get it.
Each session includes:

A grounding mindfulness or nervous-system regulation practice and methods to use at home

A teaching focused on real-life parenting stress

Reflective journaling prompts

Supportive, guided group discussion

What’s included:

8 in-person group sessions (90 minutes each)

Two private one-on-one sessions for personalized support

Special bonus handouts, worksheets, and reflection tools

Take-home practices you can use immediately in daily life

Private online group to connect, reflect, and receive support between sessions

By the end of this experience, you will leave feeling:
• More grounded and emotionally steady
• Clearer in your values and parenting choices
• Confident in how you respond,even during stressful moments
• More connected to your children and yourself
• Less reactive, less overwhelmed, and more at ease
This is support for the long term not quick fixes.
Program Details
Dates: Fridays, March 20th – May 8th
Time: Fridays, 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Location: In-person (Shrine Room) 1818 Dempster Street, Evanston, at the Heartwood Center
Investment: $697.00 or two payments at $350.00 each.
LEARN MORE.

Friday Meditation Class
2026-10-02 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-10-09 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-10-16 17:30 - 19:00 | Heartwood, 1818 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL, 60202, United States
Friday Meditation Class, led by Larry Akey and Nancy Floy

5:30pm – 7:00pm (via Zoom until early May 2026)
Our text is Flight of the Garuda by Lama Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol, a 19th century wandering yogi from Amdo in the eastern part of Tibet. This beautifully poetic text comprises twenty-three songs that aid our practice of trekchö, cutting through delusion to natural primordial awareness.
Email Larry (email address Lakey0752@gmail.com) or at (202)580-9313 for the key code to enter the building or further information.
Donations appreciated.

Sunday Sangha
2026-10-04 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-10-11 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-10-18 10:00 - 12:00 | Heartwood, 1818 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL, 60202, United States
Sunday Sangha led by Meditation Program Director, Nancy Floy
10:00am – 12:00pm (via Zoom until early May 2026)
Nancy will lead us in a few simple Buddhist chants and a guided meditation. Following meditation, we will return to our new text, Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism by Thich Nhat Hanh. “Socially-engaged Buddhism” has become something of a buzzword in among many sanghas, but what exactly does it mean? More importantly, how do we practice it? Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, created these practices to help people develop the insight of the interconnected nature of reality and the human experience, which could then lead to a collective awakening.
Contact Larry Akey, (Lakey0752@gmail.com) for key code to enter building or further information.

Therapeutic Group Class
2026-10-05 09:30 - 10:30, 2026-10-12 09:30 - 10:30, 2026-10-19 09:30 - 10:30 | Heartwood, 1818 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL, 60202, United States
Every Monday from 9:30am-10:30am
$35, sliding scale available
For more information and to register, click HERE.

Aikido
2026-10-05 19:15 - 20:15, 2026-10-12 19:15 - 20:15, 2026-10-19 19:15 - 20:15 | Heartwood, 1818 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL, 60202, United States

Tuesday Sangha: Why We Meditate
2026-10-06 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-10-13 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-10-20 17:30 - 19:00 | Heartwood, 1818 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL, 60202, United States
Tuesdays, 5:30pm to 7pm.

Heartwood’s sanghas are increasingly body-centered, deeply curious about delving into a variety of meditative approaches while still honoring Siddhartha Gautama’s radical notion of sitting quietly until he understood suffering — and how to break free from it. Each session will open with a guided meditation, progress to an exploration of new approaches and techniques, dive into group practice exploring those techniques, and end with discussion and Q&A.

We will spend the next several months studying the practices in Why We Meditate by Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Daniel Goleman. They offer a somewhat nontraditional, body-centered approach to calm abiding and insight meditation. Whether you’re new to meditation or a seasoned practitioner looking to freshen up your practice, we think you will find their approach helpful. You may find it useful to acquire a copy of their text for your own personal practice.

While drop-ins are always welcome, the Sangha encourages repeat visits and the keeping of a journal to track your meditation pathway. Heartwood Sangha’s Nancy Floy and Larry Akey will guide the class, with sangha members and guest practitioners encouraged to provide new perspectives and practices.
No charge; donations gratefully accepted. Please contact Larry for more information at (202)580-9313.

Gentle Yoga Class
2026-10-07 09:30 - 10:30, 2026-10-14 09:30 - 10:30 | Heartwood, 1818 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL, 60202, United States
Expect to learn fundamental yoga skills in a slower, gentler way (simpler poses, often with the support of props or the wall, with adaptations for those with chronic conditions or limited range of motion).
Students should be able to get up and down from the floor (able to use your own hands, feet, or a chair) and have their doctor’s permission to participate in yoga/exercise classes.

Practice fundamental movements (bending over, reaching arms overhead, twisting. etc.) with pr

Aikido for Seniors
2026-10-07 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-10-14 13:00 - 14:00 | Heartwood, 1818 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL, 60202, United States
Classes begin Wednesday January 7th 1:00-2:00PM.
Required registration deadline by and not later than Sunday December 14th. To register, please visit the Lakeshore Aikido Club website at www.lakeshoreaikidoclub.com and fill and submit the forms displayed. Additionally, Antonio Terrone sensei, chief instructor of Aikido and owner of the Lakeshore Aikido Club will be happy to answer any questions and offer a Aikido demonstration at the forthcoming celebration of “Local Small Businesses of the West Village Day” at the Heartwood Center on Saturday December 6th, 2:30-2:45pm. Come and have a chat. Don’t miss this opportunity!

Wednesday Evening Yoga
2026-10-07 17:30 - 18:30, 2026-10-14 17:30 - 18:30 | Heartwood, 1818 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL, 60202, United States
https://roots-centered-yoga.lovable.app/
