ALAMOSA — Kathy Park and Henry Woolbert will host an open studio and book release celebration of Kathy’s new book, “Aikido Off the Mat” with book reading, Aikido demonstration, paintings, wood and stone sculptures, food and drink from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11, at 13201 Chamisa Trail near the KOA Campground east of Alamosa. Contact 719-480-9813 or [email protected]

Here’s the book info and a jpeg of the book cover.

“Aikido Off the Mat: One woman’s journey using Aikido principles to stay sane in body, mind, and spirit” was published by North Atlantic Books in partnership with Penguin Random House. It is a deeply personal and compelling memoir that illustrates how the basic principles of Aikido (the modern Japanese martial art of peaceful reconciliation) can help cope with the challenges of life outside the dojo.

Drawing from more than 40 years of experience as an Aikido practitioner and teacher, Kathy Park explains how principles such as embodiment, grounding, centering, extension, 360-degree awareness, blending, and alignment can be applied to everyday life. Candid stories from her own life show how the purpose of practicing Aikido on the mat is to take it off the mat and into the world.

Park and her husband Henry Woolbert have lived in the San Luis Valley over 20 years. Both are artists and teachers. Kathy is an adjunct English professor through Adams State, specializing in correspondence courses through the Prison College Program. She is the author of two other books--Seeing Into Stone: A Sculptor’s Memoir; and Coyote Points the Way: Borderland Stories and Plays. Both are available at the Narrow Gauge Book Cooperative.

Kathy and Henry offer Aikido classes twice a week (Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings) in their dojo/studio. For more info, please call 719 589-2897 or email [email protected]