Remember during the pandemic, when we all just sat around doing kind things for ourselves? Making sourdough, doing puzzles and watching Sir Patrick Stewart read sonnets? Aside from that whole being-locked-up-at-home thing, it was kind of nice! Let’s face it, in the current social and political climate, it’s fair to say we could all use a little more niceness right now.
The SFPL Is Trying to Prevent Your Mental Breakdown This Weekend
Feeling stressed? Start your Saturday with a mahjong session at the Sunset Library. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Apparently, the San Francisco Public Library got the memo, because this weekend, they’re holding a series of events that seem tailor-made to ease stress and help the city momentarily forget the problems of the world. (And these activities get us out of this awful weather! Double win!)
It all starts on Friday at the library’s main branch (100 Larkin St.) in the Steve Silver Music Center. There, the beautiful souls of the TendWell Collective will lead a gentle yoga session suitable for all ages and abilities. The session begins at 2 p.m. and participants are asked to bring a yoga mat if possible. If not, that’s fine too. Because guess what? Everything’s going to be fine! TendWell promises to “move mindfully and slowly, to soothe the nervous system, stretch the body, and build a little strength and stability along the way.” Lovely.
On Saturday morning, the cozy theme continues at the Sunset branch (1305 18th Ave.), which will hold a two-hour mahjong for beginners class at 10:15 a.m. Because nothing starts your day more gently than the clickety-clack of ornate tiles in the company of new friends.
Later that afternoon, the main branch holds a (how wonderful is this?) public collaging session. Truly, an opportunity to find out if your inner rage can be transformed into whimsical “constellations” à la Jess, or perhaps political ponderings similar to Winston Smith’s. The artistic gathering will happen at 1 p.m. at the Steve Silver Music Center, and all materials are provided. Has anyone without children even seen a glue stick since 2021? Not me. Let’s pick some back up and see if they guide us to sunnier places.
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If all that artistic expression doesn’t calm you down, head to the second floor at 3:30 p.m. for a “Mindful Moments” workshop. Host Erynne Elkins will lead a story time that incorporates themes of mindfulness. Elkins is a former nanny who’s also certified in breathwork, so you can expect to float out of the library quite thoroughly soothed once this session is over. And if you love it? She hosts another one on Dec. 20, same time, same place.
If it’s your kids that need calm, take them to Arabic Story Hour, hosted by Radwa Hussein. At the main library’s Children’s Creative Center at 2 p.m., Hussein will share stories and songs in both English and Arabic, and doing what she does best: fostering cultural connections with joy and love.
And there you have it. If the library keeps this kind of programming up for the rest of the year, we might just get to enter 2026 feeling emotionally stable and mentally rested. God bless the public library.
