Workshops

Yoga is There When You Need It: The Therapeutic Wisdom and Deeper Practices for the 21st Century
Full Workshop $295
https://square.link/u/6B0ItPae

Many modern yoga classes scratch only the surface of yoga practice. The deeper dimensions of yoga practice are rarely explored. The original inspiration of hatha yoga was to combine all of these elements into a practical system that stimulates our vitality throughout the lifelong process of aging. The asana aspect of the workshop will explore the ‘maps’ of our prana (myofascial) matrix in a way that makes our asana practice more purposeful, focused, and effective, with special attention to the anti-inflammatory/anti-aging properties of our work with our muscles and joints.

But these very real connections that run through our connective tissue penetrate even more deeply than muscles and joints: there is a subtle influence upon our breath and ability to focus as well, which the yogis explored through mudra — actions of the hands that stimulate the breath and balance the nervous system — and drishthi — the influence of the gaze of the eyes upon the breath and states of the mind.

Beyond asana, we will experience breath, mudra, and drishthi as connecting with our built-in circuitry that governs our physical, cognitive, and emotional health, and renews our ability to restore ourselves in the face of stress and age.

Friday Evening, 6:00 – 8:30 PM— Entering the Matrix: The Shoulders, and the Power of Mudra to Refine Our Breath
2½ hours — $60 https://square.link/u/GBDlKxb4

The Friday evening session will start with a well-rounded warm-up and asana practice for the shoulders, which will include useful tips for freeing the joints of the shoulders for greater freedom, flexibility and strength.

This will take us into some simple explorations of mudra, connected with breath practices. The secret of mudra is its connection to the breath. Each finger connects facially to an aspect of the breath — both the muscles that move the breath, and subtly to the lobes of the lungs themselves. Mudra has the power to alter the breath, and with it, alter our inner states.

This will lead us into deep relaxation practice, a welcome end to a Friday evening!

Saturday Morning, 9:00 am – Noon — Moving From a Steady Center: Foundations in the Feet
3 hours — $65 https://square.link/u/WQDX3Kej

In asana, the focus will be on the lower body, providing the myofascial map for joint health in the feet, knees, and hips, as well as a deep dive into how to work better with our muscles to achieve not only strength and flexibility, but derive the anti-inflammatory benefits that are key to healthyand successful aging (with a look into what that means).

Building on the idea of mudra introduced on Friday evening, we’ll explore how asana itself was considered to be mudra, beyond the gestures of the hands. This takes our experience of asana beyond the biomechanical and into the realm of empowerment through practice.

The theme of empowerment will be that described by the ‘Vayus’ or powers of Prana, which we’ll explore in the asana practice and the breathing practices that follow afterward:

Vyana – inhabiting our place through feeling and sensation;
Prana – being open to experience, enthusiasm, and hope;
Apana – being grounded and centered, not giving into fear or becoming unkind;
Samana – pausing in the inner space in which we are restored and renewed; and
Udana – being strong and clear in our wisdom and intention.

Saturday Afternoon, 3:00-5:30 — Self and Vitality — The Health of the Torso
2½ hours — $60 https://square.link/u/Z3wNgZqA

This session is devoted to the health of the torso, and to deepening the breath.

The asana portion of the practice is for the benefit of the torso — an exploration of healthy forward bending, backbending, and twists — with a focus on low back and sacral health, as well as freedom in the rib cage for healthy breath.

This brings us to the breath itself. A significant amount of breathing capacity is lost with age, along with the body’s natural production of nitric oxide, which is key to a whole host of benefits having to do with blood circulation and oxygenation of our body, as well as anti-inflammatory benefits, to increase vitality and reduce fatigue.

This doesn’t have to be so. Yoga practice not only increases our capacity for the breath, but simple breath practices augment our natural ability to produce nitric oxide to maintain our health and resilience. Our exploration of simple pranayamas that maximize these benefits will also take us into exploring the effects of the actions of the eyes upon the breath — or ‘drishthi,’ with some interesting results and insights!

Sunday Morning, 9:00am-12 — Freedom in the Upper Body and Neck: Refining Our Asana
3 hours — 9:00am-12 — $65 https://square.link/u/KLG4WVo5

In the asana portion we’ll revisit and reinforce the ideas about the shoulders that were introduced on Friday evening, and build upon them with greater variety in poses in a well-rounded practice, and add in deeper connections to the freedom of the neck.

The freedom of the neck as well as the space of the breath in the torso is intimately tied to the gaze of the eyes, or drishthi, which was introduced on Saturday afternoon. This will add some new dimensions to your experience of asana, which can also be incorporated into your daily life to reduce neck tension. These ideas will also be taken forward into the afternoon breath and relaxation session.

Sunday Afternoon, 3:00-5:30 —Focused Mind, Open Heart — and Relaxation
2½ hours — $60 https://square.link/u/LLFxyoLc

The afternoon will be devoted to practices of focus, breath, and relaxation. The highest ‘mudra’ in the yoga systems is not a position of the body, but a state of mind, which is subtly and progressively achieved through simple practices leading to deep relaxation or Yoga Nidra, the effects of which carry over into your normal waking state.

We’ll do several practices of focus and breath, supported by mudra and drishthi. And we’ll explore the power of nostril breathing without the use of the hands, making it a practice you can turn to in any setting for centering and focus – without people even noticing!

Along the way, we’ll come to a better appreciation of the idea of chakras as tools for focus, clearing, and centering as we move into practices of relaxation.