The following article from the August 27th, 2006 edition of the Tulsa World newspaper, has been reproduced for this online format.

STRETCH YOUR YOGA
Local author's yoga book to benefit grief-counseling

By Jason Ashley Wright

I want to start taking yoga. Mostly because Saks carries Juicy Couture for men now, but a little bit because it's healthy, blah, blah, blah.

Obviously, I need to be more enlightened before lumbering into a yoga class. Helping me on my way, perhaps, will be "Just Notice ... Just This -- The Body and Mind of the Yogas" ($13.95) by local yoga guru Richard Stathem, who's donating all proceeds to charity.

The book, which is intended to help students of yoga broaden their understanding and expand the applications of yoga's ages-old techinques, includes a 60-page section of hatha yoga excercises with a 70-page section of original writings on yoga philosophy.

Stathem began formal yoga studies, practice and teaching while working as a public school classroom teacher in Houston in the early 1970s. Eventually, he relocated to Tulsa in '81. His teaching settings have included The Praxis Project, Tulsa Community College, The Center for Personal Growth, Massage Therapy Institute of Oklahoma, St. John's Episcopal Church, and several Tulsa-area Y's.

Proceeds from the book will benefit The Tristesse Center, for which I have a very special place in my heart.

For those not in the know, Tristesse is a grief-counseling center where bereaved families know they aren't alone -- a place they can share feelings, celebrate the lives of their loved ones, cry and be comforted and create new lives nurtured and enriched by their memories.

This came about after Stathem first met Laura Gonsalves and her amazing daughter Tess, after whom the center is named. They began attending one of his yoga classes in 1999. One year later, Tess died from cancer at the age of 14.

The book is available for $15 at The Tristesse Center, 1709 S. Baltimore Ave. It's also available in Tulsa at Peace of Mind, 1401 E. 15th St. and Steve's Sundry Books & Magazines, 2612 S. Harvard Ave. Or you can purchase a copy online at www.buybooksontheweb.com for $13.95, plus shipping.

For more info, call the center at 587-1200.