Collecting Groups San Francisco

Hodl Up, the Bitcoin Mining Game

Let's have fun together while learning more about Bitcoin. Travel the time chain from the Genesis block in 2009 through 2140 when the last bitcoin - ever - is finally mined. Holdl Up is the most popular Bitcoin board game in the history of Bitcoin. Come & see why! We'll go over how to play but here's something to look at: https://www.freemarketkids.com/pages/hodl-up

Collective Medicine Circle | Mindfulness & Community

The Collective Medicine Circle is a monthly mindfulness circle rooted in nature, seasonal rhythms, and nervous system regulation, held in Orinda, CA. This in-person gathering offers a steady, supportive space to slow down, ground, and reconnect — with yourself, with others, and with the natural cycles that shape our lives. Guided by mindfulness practices and nature-based reflection, each circle is gently shaped by the season we are in. Together we explore grounding tools, nervous system regulation practices, and shared inquiry that support presence, resilience, and a sense of belonging. This is not a class to perform or perfect — it is a circle to arrive, exhale, and be human. The Collective Medicine Circle is ideal for those seeking stress relief, mindfulness in community, and a consistent monthly ritual for nervous system support. No prior experience with meditation or mindfulness is needed. All are welcome to come exactly as they are. This is a scent-free, trauma-informed space that honors accessibility, inclusivity, and the wisdom of moving at the pace of nature. Facilitated by Erica Skone-Rees Founder of Mind Body Sound Collective, Erica is a mindfulness teacher, nervous system regulation guide, and integrative health coach. Her work weaves mindfulness, nature-based wisdom, and trauma-informed practices to support grounding, resilience, and meaningful connection. Erica has been facilitating circles, retreats, and group experiences for over 15 years, creating spaces where people can slow down and reconnect at a human pace. Learn more: [https://www.mindbodysoundcollective.com]( https://www.mindbodysoundcollective.com Cancel) Alycia Tumlin Alycia is a women’s circle facilitator and nature-based guide who supports reconnection to inner wisdom through seasonal awareness, embodiment, and community. Her work is rooted in deep listening, presence, and honoring the rhythms of the natural world as a pathway to grounding and belonging.

The Weight We Carry: A Poetry Gathering on Memory, Inheritance, and What Remains

There are things we carry without remembering when we first picked them up. A phrase spoken by a parent. A song heard in childhood. A gesture repeated across generations. A silence no one in the family learned how to name. Some inheritances are visible: a photograph, a recipe, a piece of jewelry, a book with someone else’s handwriting in the margins. Others live quietly within us. A language we understand but no longer speak. A fear whose origin we cannot trace. A tenderness learned from someone who is no longer here. A way of surviving that once protected us, but no longer serves us. We carry histories in our bodies, voices, habits, and desires. Sometimes as shelter. Sometimes as weight. Often as both. Perhaps this is where poetry begins. Not only in what happened to us, but in what reached us from lives lived before our own. Not only in memory, but in inheritance. **The Weight We Carry** is a gathering devoted to memory, inheritance, and the invisible threads that connect one life to another. Together, we will explore the burdens and gifts passed between generations—family histories, ancestral voices, migration, belonging, language, love, grief, resilience, and the quiet ways the past continues to shape the present. Across traditions, poets have returned to these questions again and again. Seamus Heaney uncovered generations beneath the soil beneath his feet. Mahmoud Darwish carried homeland through language. Li-Young Lee found entire family histories inside ordinary gestures. Ocean Vuong writes about inheritance as both wound and gift. Jane Hirshfield reminds us that what endures is often what is passed silently from one heart to another This gathering asks: How do we carry the past without being carried entirely by it? How do we honor those who came before us without becoming imprisoned by their unfinished lives? What remains within us after names, places, languages, and people begin to disappear? And what might we pass onward — intentionally or unknowingly — to those who come after us? We will read poems about family histories, ancestral memory, inherited language, cultural belonging, migration, trauma, kindness, ritual, and the ordinary objects through which memory survives. You are welcome to bring: * A poem about family, ancestry, memory, language, or inheritance. * A piece connected to migration, homeland, cultural identity, or belonging. * A poem that reminds you of someone who shaped your life. * A family story, photograph, keepsake, recipe, song, or fragment of language that carries meaning for you. An original work about what you have inherited, what you are learning to release, or what you hope to pass forward We invite poetry from all languages and traditions. Together, we will read, translate, reflect, and listen — allowing different histories to meet without asking them to become the same. As always with Kaavya Connections, the gathering may wander beyond the theme. We follow where the poems, memories, and conversations lead. Join us for an afternoon where memory is given language, inheritance is held with tenderness, and the past is welcomed not as a fixed destiny, but as something we can examine, transform, and carry differently. Bring a friend, a poem, a memory—or simply come to listen. **Above all, bring what has shaped you.** Please find more about us here — Kaavya Connections Website: [https://www.kaavyaconnections.com/](https://www.kaavyaconnections.com/) Please also join the mailing list for upcoming gatherings and events: [https://www.kaavyaconnections.com/mailing-list/](https://www.kaavyaconnections.com/mailing-list/) If you would like to volunteer to help organize future gatherings and performances, please email: contact@kaavyaconnections.com **Kaavya Connections**

Sunday Yoga in the Park: Willard Park Yoga Collective

Join the Willard Park Yoga Collective every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday at Willard Park in Berkeley! Friday online! Integrated Hatha Flow classes are based on classical Hatha, mixed with the specializations of each teacher. We flow thoughtfully through poses taking time to notice the nuances, and match movement with breath. Chrissy, Carmen, and Jess integrate somatic modalities and the eight limbs into the yoga practice to increase body and breath awareness, and regulate the nervous system. Finding all of this in the present moment, we aim to foster agency, gratitude, peace, and joy. Teaching outside further deepens the practice by connecting to Nature and the elements. All levels are welcome and will be accommodated, judgement free. *"We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness"* **Thich Nhat Hanh** \*We work on a donation-basis, making yoga more accessible to all. Come as you are, pay what you can. Your teachers: Mondays 12:30pm Jess Tuesdays 12:30pm Carmen Wednesdays 12:30pm Chrissy Thursdays 12:30pm Carmen Fridays 5:30pm Chrissy (Online in the late fall-winter. Got to event for link) Sundays 10:00am Chrissy **Meet Chrissy:** Chrissy is a 500HR-RYT, Yoga Therapist, and Thai Yoga Massage Therapist. She came to teaching yoga with a 25+ year personal practice in vinyasa and kundalini, and training in modern dance, music, and theater. She also holds certification in ECE(12unit) and Social/Emotional Learning Facilitation. Her classes are integrated Hatha flow, influenced deeply by yoga philosophy and functional strength. With an emphasis on breath and accessing the present moment, she delights in walking the line between play and prayer. Chrissy strives to honor the origins of yoga while making it accessible to every body. She acknowledges her position as white, able-bodied, and cisgendered, aiming to be inclusive and trauma informed. Her classes are donation based with no one turned away for lack of funds. Private clients are sliding scale. In lieu of a studio, Chrissy teaches on line and outside in parks on the sovereign land of the Lisjan Ohlone. *Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu* May all beings be happy, healthy, and free. May we contribute to that. [https://chrissyyoga.com/](https://chrissyyoga.com/#home) **Meet Jess:** Jess is an artist and an athlete. At the beginning of her ceramics trajectory, working as a studio tech at a college clay studio, she realized she needed to be strong to load kilns and make large batches of clay. The physicality of her art became a driving reason to care for her body and its functional strength and mobility. Strength, agility, balance, flexibility and injury prevention (and recovery) were all things she found her personal yoga practice improved. In 2015 she became a certified 200 HR-RYT through Core Power and in 2021 she received a second 200 HR-RYT from Purusha Yoga. Jess guides a vinyasa flow based practice, with an emphasis on linking breath to movement and being in the present during practice. Jess teaches yoga in Willard Park and on the SF Bay on stand up paddle boards. She owns her own stand up paddleboard company, 510-Waterline, in Richmond, CA. [https://www.510waterline.com/](https://www.510waterline.com/). And she currently makes pots at her home studio in Berkeley, CA. teaches adult ceramic classes, workshops and has exhibited her work internationally. What she says in her artist statement about her pots also applies to her yoga practice “Strength lies in the fluidity of opposites – of line and mass, contraction and relaxation, tension and softness, push and pull. Ultimately, I want my pots to be graceful, elegant, and straightforward. It’s all about strength and beauty.”[ https://www.jesspots.com/](https://www.jesspots.com/) **Meet Carmen:** Carmen has long believed in the body's innate wisdom and capacity for resilience. In her work as a Yoga Teacher, Yoga Therapist, and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner she helps this wisdom to emerge and transform. She completed her 500 hour (RYT) Yoga Therapy training at Purusha Yoga in San Francisco, a three-year professional Somatic Experiencing® training at Somatic Experiencing International®, is a certified Veterans Yoga Project teacher, as well as a trained wellness coach with the Kresser Institute. Carmen is currently teaching group yoga classes and offering private integrative somatic therapy and somatic wellness coaching sessions. Her mission as a yoga teacher is to create a safe and supportive environment for her students to explore the eight limbs of Raja Yoga, while cultivating resiliency and a deeper connection to self. Carmen also co-facilitates wellness retreats, and works individually with clients offering integrated somatic therapy sessions. [https://carmencasado.com/](https://carmencasado.com/)

Make Your Own Free Framed Dried Flower Art @ Albany

Lunchtime Yoga in the Park: Willard Park Yoga Collective

Join the Willard Park Yoga Collective every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday at Willard Park in Berkeley! Friday online! Integrated Hatha Flow classes are based on classical Hatha, mixed with the specializations of each teacher. We flow thoughtfully through poses taking time to notice the nuances, and match movement with breath. Chrissy, Carmen, and Jess integrate somatic modalities and the eight limbs into the yoga practice to increase body and breath awareness, and regulate the nervous system. Finding all of this in the present moment, we aim to foster agency, gratitude, peace, and joy. Teaching outside further deepens the practice by connecting to Nature and the elements. All levels are welcome and will be accommodated, judgement free. *"We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness"* **Thich Nhat Hanh** \*We work on a donation-basis, making yoga more accessible to all. Come as you are, pay what you can. Your teachers: Mondays 12:30pm Jess Tuesdays 12:30pm Carmen Wednesdays 12:30pm Chrissy Thursdays 12:30pm Carmen Fridays 5:30pm Chrissy (Online in the late fall-winter. Got to event for link) Sundays 10:00am Chrissy **Meet Chrissy:** Chrissy is a 500HR-RYT, Yoga Therapist, and Thai Yoga Massage Therapist. She came to teaching yoga with a 25+ year personal practice in vinyasa and kundalini, and training in modern dance, music, and theater. She also holds certification in ECE(12unit) and Social/Emotional Learning Facilitation. Her classes are integrated Hatha flow, influenced deeply by yoga philosophy and functional strength. With an emphasis on breath and accessing the present moment, she delights in walking the line between play and prayer. Chrissy strives to honor the origins of yoga while making it accessible to every body. She acknowledges her position as white, able-bodied, and cisgendered, aiming to be inclusive and trauma informed. Her classes are donation based with no one turned away for lack of funds. Private clients are sliding scale. In lieu of a studio, Chrissy teaches on line and outside in parks on the sovereign land of the Lisjan Ohlone. *Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu* May all beings be happy, healthy, and free. May we contribute to that. [https://chrissyyoga.com/](https://chrissyyoga.com/#home) **Meet Jess:** Jess is an artist and an athlete. At the beginning of her ceramics trajectory, working as a studio tech at a college clay studio, she realized she needed to be strong to load kilns and make large batches of clay. The physicality of her art became a driving reason to care for her body and its functional strength and mobility. Strength, agility, balance, flexibility and injury prevention (and recovery) were all things she found her personal yoga practice improved. In 2015 she became a certified 200 HR-RYT through Core Power and in 2021 she received a second 200 HR-RYT from Purusha Yoga. Jess guides a vinyasa flow based practice, with an emphasis on linking breath to movement and being in the present during practice. Jess teaches yoga in Willard Park and on the SF Bay on stand up paddle boards. She owns her own stand up paddleboard company, 510-Waterline, in Richmond, CA. [https://www.510waterline.com/](https://www.510waterline.com/). And she currently makes pots at her home studio in Berkeley, CA. teaches adult ceramic classes, workshops and has exhibited her work internationally. What she says in her artist statement about her pots also applies to her yoga practice “Strength lies in the fluidity of opposites – of line and mass, contraction and relaxation, tension and softness, push and pull. Ultimately, I want my pots to be graceful, elegant, and straightforward. It’s all about strength and beauty.”[ https://www.jesspots.com/](https://www.jesspots.com/) **Meet Carmen:** Carmen has long believed in the body's innate wisdom and capacity for resilience. In her work as a Yoga Teacher, Yoga Therapist, and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner she helps this wisdom to emerge and transform. She completed her 500 hour (RYT) Yoga Therapy training at Purusha Yoga in San Francisco, a three-year professional Somatic Experiencing® training at Somatic Experiencing International®, is a certified Veterans Yoga Project teacher, as well as a trained wellness coach with the Kresser Institute. Carmen is currently teaching group yoga classes and offering private integrative somatic therapy and somatic wellness coaching sessions. Her mission as a yoga teacher is to create a safe and supportive environment for her students to explore the eight limbs of Raja Yoga, while cultivating resiliency and a deeper connection to self. Carmen also co-facilitates wellness retreats, and works individually with clients offering integrated somatic therapy sessions. [https://carmencasado.com/](https://carmencasado.com/)

When was the last time you played catch?

Toss a baseball, softball, football, volleyball around at Marina Green while meeting good people. No pressure. No teams. Just catch and conversation. Bring yourself and if you have a glove the more the merrier. **Play Catch. Catch Up.**

A Walk Through Oakland's Best Flower Gardens & Great Views Too!

THIS WALK USED TO BE A HARD ONE, BUT ON JUNE 20th I LED AN EASIER VERSION AND WAS SURPRISED WE HAD TIME NEAR THE WALK'S END AT LAKE MERRIT PARK WHICH COULD GIVE US TIME TO ENJOY THE 13 FREE FLOWER GARDENS THERE! IN THIS LATEST VERSION I CHANGED THE STARTING TIME SO WE CAN ENJOY THE 13 GARDENS FOR OVER AN HOUR. BELOW IS A LINK ABOUT THE 13 GARDENS; [https://gardensatlakemerritt.org/](https://gardensatlakemerritt.org/) TO SHOW HOW GREAT THIS WALK IS NOW HERE ARE LINKS TO THE PHOTOS TAKEN THE LAST 2 TIMES WE DID THIS WALK: OUR JUNE 20TH WALK HAS 60 PHOTOS: https://www.meetup.com/walking-in-sf/photos/36041892/534856033/ OUR JULY 11TH WALK HAS 43 PHOTOS: https://www.meetup.com/walking-in-sf/photos/36073605/535197837/ FREE WALK. Now open for RSVPs. All of the flower gardens are free too!. We will meet at 10:30 AM in front of a cafe called Tierra Mia Coffee, on the corner of Broadway & 20th Street, so people on BART should go to the 19th Street BART Station and then they should exit at the 20th Street exit and our starting point is right across the street. One may bring a sack lunch or buy one at Tierra Mia Coffee. We won't have time for the group to buy lunches after we have started walking. It would be good if our attendees buy drinks or something at our starting point (Tierra Mia Coffee) &/or give tips so they will like us. Attendance limit is 70. Below is a link about Tierra Mia Coffee: http://www.tierramiacoffee.com/ At 10:40 AM we begin a 20-minute walk to the local Whole Foods Market for a restroom break. We plan to eat lunch about Noon at Oakland's Morcom Rose Garden. I encourage all to take BART or other public transportation to be safer. I expect to come in a bus. Everyone should bring water, paper towels and a map. I love it when attendees bring cameras and upload their photos of the walk on our webpage. Dogs and other pets are not welcome. After Whole Foods Market we will walk to the Morcom Rose Garden to eat our sack lunches. This walk used to be a hard one and now it is easier and full of beautiful flowers in the Morcom Rose Garden and the Lake Merritt Gardens. We expect to end at our starting point, the 19th Street BART Station at 4:00 PM. Some legal disclaimers: By joining us for any event you hereby RELEASE and DISCHARGE it's organizers, hosts and participants from any and all liability, claims, demands or causes of action that you now have, or may have in the future, for injuries, damages, death and/or economic loss of any kind or nature, arising in whole or in part out of the activities, advice or information contained herein. You further agree that if you or someone under your supervision uses the information on this website you assume all risks of injury, damage, and economic loss, without limitation, and release providers from all liability therefore. It is advisable to consult a doctor before you begin any strenuous physical activity. The organizer is not trained for emergency medical procedures and no doctors, nurses or ambulances are provided on the walks.

Painted Ladies Clothing Swap & Picnic

**RSVP via:** https://app.gistirl.com/event-details/RcC7WRBDtzm7o4XikwWQ **Early Bird Discounts \| More $ Later** Hey vintage hunters, Grab that tote bag full of clothes you no longer wear and join me for a breezy afternoon under the shade of the park trees, sharing snacks and trading favorite threads. We'll start the day with about an hour of quick, app-guided chats to help everyone break the ice, and then we'll split into small picnic groups to actually swap and hang out. I love that the Gist IRL app takes the guesswork out of mingling by pairing us up for short one-on-one conversations, so you always know exactly who you're talking to next. It's the perfect way to warm up and chat about our best secondhand scores. Once the rounds are done, you get to choose the folks you vibed with the most, spread out a blanket on the grass, and settle into small picnic groups to swap clothes, share food, and lounge in the park. Whether these folks become your regular park lounge and clothing swap crew or you just walk away with a brilliant new vintage sweater and a great memory, it's going to be a beautiful day outside. The Plan: * 5:00PM: Check-In. Follow the link to set up your quick profile on your phone. * 5:05PM - 3:25PM: One-on-One Rounds. The app pairs you for focused chats. Find out who shares your passion for sustainable fashion, vintage gems, and conscious living. * 5:25PM+: Form Groups. Reconnect with your favorite matches, form groups of 4-5, and settle in on the grass together to swap clothes, play picnic games, and share food. I can't wait to see what treasures you bring and spend a tuesday afternoon hanging out with you all. A few favorite spots nearby: The Panhandle - This historic, tree-canopied corridor offers flat lawns and a lively neighborhood energy that are perfect for spreading out blankets and playing lawn games. Duboce Park - A sunny, dog-friendly community hub with wide, flat grassy spaces that are ideal for small groups to circle up and share a meal. Buena Vista Park - San Francisco's oldest park features a secluded grassy meadow at its peak, providing a quiet and scenic woodland escape to sort through clothes. Jefferson Square Park - A tranquil, uncrowded hilltop gem with plenty of shaded spots under historic eucalyptus trees to enjoy a peaceful afternoon picnic. Golden Gate Park - Just a short trek west, the expansive eastern meadows of this world-famous park provide endless open space to host any size social gathering. **RSVP via:** https://app.gistirl.com/event-details/RcC7WRBDtzm7o4XikwWQ **Early Bird Discounts \| More $ Later**

Roaming Precita and the Parks

I've always been fond of Precita Park, and now that it has a new bathroom, there is even more reason to spend time there. You may not be able to name the other four parks nearby that we can visit on a Friday roam, but we will go and investigate them, on either side of Precita Creek, which lies buried under what is currently Cesar Chavez Street. We will do a bit of climbing on this one, part way up the north side of Bernal, and we will spend some of it in earshot of the freeway, though other parts will be very peaceful. *Bringing water, snacks, and layers for all the microclimates is the way to go.* *These roams are offered by donation. They are one way I am able to pay my rent in San Francisco.* *Punctuality is always appreciated, for the sake of everybody's time. Please send a message on the app before the start if you are running late, and we will either wait (up to ten minutes) of I will direct you on how to catch up. Once we get underway I have to focus on those who are there, and most likely won't respond.* *Generally half the people who sign up don't actually show up on the day. I do track flakiness and remove people who have a poor attendance record. It is discourteous to those on the waitlist who would like to attend.* *Sending me a message explaining that you can't make it is always appreciated.*

Dahlia Time!

Among our annual routines is a mid-summer visit to the dahlias in Golden Gate Park. This year we will also return to Sisterhood Gardens in August, for the other spectacular collection in the city; I am hoping that the blooms will co-operate with my scheduling for this roam on the 25th. We will meet in front of the Conservatory of Flowers before lingering at the dahlia circle. After this we will head out to Lone Mountain and Laurel Heights, which we explored last year, before coming back to the flowers. There are some staircases and a bit of climbing on the way round, but not as much as many roams. *Bringing water, snacks, and layers for all the microclimates is the way to go.* *These roams are offered by donation. They are one way I am able to pay my rent in San Francisco.* *Punctuality is always appreciated. Please send a message on the app if you are running a little late - direct messages are best, rather than a comment on the event. I can usually respond to messages before we get underway, but then I put my phone away other than to take pictures.* *I know Meetup is notorious for no-shows and late changes of rsvp. I am not as strict as other organisers (we do talk to each other!), but since generally up to half the people who sign up don't show up, my tolerance for repeated flakiness is limited. It is especially unfair to people on the wait list who would like to attend.*

🗣 🎨  Tour of Recology SF (& Lunch Afterward)

🗣 🎨 **Tour of Recology SF (& Lunch Afterward)** 🔆 Join me for this fascinating 3-hour tour of Recology SF. ▪︎ **Meet at 9 am sharp for check-in** at the John A. Legnitto Environmental Learning Center (401 Tunnel Ave.) ▪︎ **Parking is plentiful. DO NOT PARK** in the employee lot. ▪︎ **After the tour,** we'll gather for lunch at Creative Ideas Colombian Café (58 Leland Ave, SF) ▪︎ **PLEASE don't be a no-show.** If your plans change, remember to update your RSVP prior to the event. ▪︎ **A last minute cancellation** (within **72 hrs** of the event) will count as a no-show. 🍒 **Tour Itinerary & Highlights** ▪︎ **Environmental Learning Center:** Begin with an introductory presentation and educational exhibits on San Francisco's three-bin system (blue, green, and black/landfill.) ▪︎ **Transfer Station:** You will see the tipping floor, where massive trucks dump hundreds of tons of waste material. ▪︎ **Recycle Central at Pier 96:** Walk through this 185,000-square-foot facility, with giant rotating screens, where optical light sensor sorters and robots separate blue-bin recyclables. ▪︎ **Artist-in-Residence (AIR) Studios:** Visit on-site art studios where artists-in-residence transform discarded materials into sculptures and other original works. 🔹️ **Did you know?** Recology employs falconers and trained raptor birds as a natural and eco-friendly way to scare away thousands of nuisance scavenger seagulls and pigeons, without harming them. 🍒 **Logistics & Requirements** ▪︎ All attendees must sign a liability waiver at check-in. ▪︎ Duration: Roughly 3 hours. ▪︎ Closed-toe shoes required. ▪︎ Physical Requirements: Involves long periods of walking, stairs, uneven terrain, loud noises, and strong smells. ▪︎ Safety Gear: Recology provides hard hats, vests, and safety glasses, which must be worn. ▪︎ Transportation between 401 Tunnel Ave and Pier 96 is provided during the tour.