Finding Ground:
A Yoga & Meditation Series for Nervous System Healing in Community
Tuesdays, 5:30-7:00pm
July 7-28, 2026
***drop in or sign up for the series
Led by Laurie Brockhaus, LCSW, E-RYT500 C-IAYT (she/her)
Finding Ground is a 4-week yoga and meditation series to help you reconnect with yourself, calm your nervous system, and find steadiness—both within and around you—during uncertain and challenging times. If you're feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or in need of a gentle retreat, this series is here to support you—whether you’re new to yoga and meditation or already have a practice.
The practices and teachings of yoga offer a path of slowing down, tuning into the wisdom of the body, and releasing stuck energy and emotions. Practicing in a shared space adds to these already-powerful benefits by fostering community, connection, and support.
Each session will include an intentionally-sequenced practice of:
gentle yoga asana (movement/ physical shapes)
yin yoga (a slow, meditative practice that involves holding seated or reclining shapes for longer durations)
breath work, meditation, mudra (symbolic hand gestures)
opportunities for reflection (with optional sharing).
You'll also receive encouragement and guidance for building a simple home practice, including audio recordings to support you between sessions. Over our four weeks together, we’ll explore what it means to feel grounded—physically, emotionally, and in community.
This series is based on the teachings of The Trauma-Conscious Yoga Method. Laurie teaches in a trauma-informed way: offering choices throughout the practice, inviting each participant to move at a pace that feels physically and emotionally safe, and guiding with verbal cues and demonstration (no physical touch).
Note: This series is not a replacement for mental health therapy; it is intended as a supportive, educational, and experiential class that focuses on embodied practice rather than discussion.
Weekly themes:
July 7: Exploring our nervous system and the wisdom of the body
July 14: Creating a strong foundation and a sense of safety
July 21: Navigating strong emotions with kindness and compassion
July 28: Maintaining hope amidst challenge
REGISTRATION
To support connection and continuity, registration for the full 4-week series is highly recommended, as each class builds on the last, encouraging a gradual building of a stress management toolkit. You may also register for individual classes. Please register for the first class or the whole series by July 6.
Registration for each class includes a 90-minute in-person session and an audio meditation for home practice.
Fill out this form to register.
EQUITY PRICING:
At Empowered Spaces we value community care, we are committed to making our offerings accessible, and we believe in leveraging our privilege and resources when we can in order to support one another. This Equity Pricing Scale acknowledges that as a result of systemic injustice our ability to pay for services, and access those services, varies. Choosing a rate that is accessible and meaningful is a justice-oriented practice that honors our interconnectedness.
Registration for each class includes a 90-minute in-person session and an audio meditation for home practice.
Supporter - “I can help support my community.” - $200/series; $50/class
Sustainer - “I can pay my own way.” - $140/series; $35/class
Community - “I could use some support from my community..” - $80/series; $20/class
You may also choose to pay an amount between these three levels or request a scholarship. Pay what you can; everyone is welcome.
Full & Partial Scholarships:At Empowered Spaces, we believe healing spaces must be intentionally accessible—not just in theory, but in practice. Our Equity Scholarships prioritize access for Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BI&POC), as well as others who have faced systemic or financial barriers to participating in yoga and other healing modalities. This is part of our ongoing commitment to equity, collective care, and justice-rooted healing. To inquire about the Empowered Spaces Equity Scholarship, please contact Kelly at kkcaul@yahoo.com.
Questions: reach out to Laurie at lkbrockhaus@gmail.com
HEALTH AND SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
We value community care and showing up for one another. Currently: Masks are optional. Please stay home if you have symptoms, test positive, or were exposed to someone with COVID-19. We use a HEPA air purifier in the studio. If anyone would like to participate and would only feel comfortable if everyone is masked, please email Kelly kkcaul@yahoo.com.
ACCESSIBILITY
The Empowered Spaces studio is located on the ground floor. There is a 12-car parking lot adjacent to the studio & additional free parking on neighborhood streets. Restroom is wheelchair-accessible and ramp-accessible in the main building. Please reach out to Kelly kkcaul@yahoo.com if there is anything more we can do to make our offerings more accessible. Empowered Spaces is committed to accessibility, and strives to be accessible and inclusive of all abilities and all individuals.
Meet Laurie
Laurie Brockhaus, LCSW, E-RYT500 C-IAYT, brings together over two decades of experience in education, social work, mental health therapy, and yoga/mindfulness. She has taught yoga since 2004—in school, community, and studio settings—and served as a yoga teacher trainer for over a decade, focusing on trauma-informed and accessible teaching and teaching yoga and mindfulness toward social justice and as a resource for mental health and wellbeing. She is a compassionate and empowering yoga teacher who offers practical tools through a genuine approach.
As a licensed clinical social worker (since 2012) and a certified yoga therapist (since 2017), Laurie firmly believes in the mind-body connection and integrates somatic practices and talk therapy to help clients navigate strong emotions and the impact of mental health issues. She is skilled in supporting teens and adults through the experiences of anxiety, depression, and trauma, through an individualized approach using EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy, Trauma-Conscious Yoga Method (Level 2 Practitioner), ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), and CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). Laurie currently serves as Bachelor of Social Work Program Director at the School of Social Work of University of Missouri-St. Louis. She co-founded and is a board member of The Oxygen Project: Yoga for Youth, which empowers youth through the tools of yoga and mindfulness by offering low or no-cost programming at schools and youth agencies in underserved communities.