If a quieter mind is one of your New Year’s resolutions, this is a great way to get started…

This Sunday, the Westside Art House is offering a free yoga, breathing and meditation workshop in conjunction with the Art of Living Foundation.

During the workshop, participants are led through gentle yoga stretches, simple and effective breathing techniques that calm the mind and bring greater clarity and a guided meditation.

The class takes place this Sunday from 10am until 12noon at the Westside Art House, located at 540 Balboa Street.

The workshop is offered free on the second Sunday of every month, so if you can’t make this one, mark your calendar for the next one!

Special thanks to blog reader and Richmond District resident Jiazhen Zhang for the tip. She is also a volunteer with the Art of Living Foundation and the teacher of the Sunday class.

Sarah B.

In early celebration of the Chinese New Year (year of the dragon!), both of our neighborhood libraries will host lion dancers this Saturday, along with martial arts demonstrations.

From 12:30pm until 1pm, the Richmond Branch Library located at 351 9th Avenue will hold their performance. The program will take place on the lawn on the 10th Avenue side of the building.

Then from 1:30 until 2pm, the dancers will make an appearance at the front steps of the Anza Branch Library, located at 550 37th Avenue near Geary.

The performers are from the San Francisco Jing Mo Athletic Association. Here’s a little history on the tradition from their website:

The first lion dance can be traced back to the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – 221 A.D.). The idea for calling the animal a“lion” probably originated from China’s commercial ties with Persia, which sent these animals as gifts to the emperor. It was said that the creature appeared at New Year and made a noise sounding like the Chinese word for“year.” The people made their own version of the animal to scare it away, and since that time, it has become the custom to send off the old year and welcome in the new year with the lion, accompanied by loud, percussive music. Today, the lion is used to scare evil spirits away and is now a quintessential part of a true Chinese celebration.

Read more about the traditional lion dance

Sarah B.

RichmondSFBlog reader Queenie sent in this foamy pic yesterday of the main fountain in Golden Gate Park’s Music Concourse. Looks like someone slipped it some soapy suds to ring in the New Year…

Sarah B.

Some Richmond District residents are signing an online petition to prevent the Geary Street Jack in the Box from reclaiming their after hours permit.

The fast food restaurant, located on the corner of Geary and 11th Avenue, has been a longtime sore spot for local residents and police. Until recently, the restaurant was open 24 hours a day and was a magnet for rowdy patrons leaving nearby bars at 2am.

In the early hours of Thanksgiving morning, a fight inside the Jack in the Box later led to a brutal hit and run accident on the corner of 9th and Geary. The victim, 29 year old Albert Bartal, remains hospitalized in serious condition. Police eventually arrested Eduardo Shaparo Esquivel, a 22-year old South San Francisco man who was identified from security footage from inside the Jack in the Box during the initial fight.

Since the incident, it was revealed that the Jack in the Box was staying open 24 hours a day, despite not having the required city permits to do so. As a result, they were forced to cut their hours and close at 2am every night.

But the restaurant is returning to the Entertainment Commission on January 10 to ask that their after hours permit be reinstated. A new permit would enable them to stay open between 2am and 6am every night.

That prompted action from David Lee, president of the Richmond District Police Advisory Board, who began circulating a petition late last week, asking that the Commission deny the restaurant’s permit. His goal is to obtain 1,000 signatures in time for the hearing.

As neighbors, we believe that the neighborhood would be much better off if Jack in the Box closed between the hours of 2am and 4am. Moreover, the repeated police calls at Jack in the Box drain precious police resources from the rest of the neighborhood in the late hours when they are most needed.

Earlier this year, the manager at the Jack in the Box worked with the Richmond Police Advisory Board to make security improvements to the property, including improved lighting, adding security guards on Thursday through Saturday nights, and trimming overgrown landscaping.

Nevertheless, the location remains a source of distress to nearby residents and police who respond to regular incident calls from the restaurant.

The Jack in the Box after-hours permit application will be on the agenda at the January 10, 2012 meeting of the Entertainment Commission, which takes place at 6:30pm in room 400 at City Hall. The online petition urging the Commission to deny the permit can be found here.

Sarah B.