Series 2 - Class #05 with Lisa: Forward Bending with Grace and Gratitude

‘…with an eye made quiet by the power

Of harmony and the deep power of joy,

We see into the life of things.’

William Wordsworth

This class is an opportunity to explore how we move inwards before we can move outwards. We are born curled into flexion. It is the first movement motif that we experience outside the womb. Flexion is associated with the grace of bowing to the earth. It is the precursor of opening ourselves to the sky and the world. This class explores the moment-to-moment transitions into forward bends and how to find your right way.

You are invited to…

•Find your fluid centre and allow movement to emerge from there.

•Learn how to create a springy recoil that emerges from the ballast of your centre.

•Explore the feeling of being safe with yourself and what that means to you. •Experience the joy of having a moving, breathing body.

•Bow with grace and gratitude.

This is an opportunity to play with the boundaries between inner and outer resources. The class will include yoga, somatics, embodied anatomy, breathwork, movement inquiry, developmental movement, bio-tensegrity, and the childlike wonder of a somanaut. Suitable for students from all traditions of yoga.

Series 2 - Class #06 with Donna: Sequential Flow: Inner Currents

The ability to intelligently sequence force through the body is the foundation of what we call “alignment”; alignment of the structure of the body; alignment of the energetic pathways that support the movement of prana and breath and an ultimate alignment of ourselves in relationship to ground, gravity, and space.

Impulse not only relays through our bones and joints, impulse also travels through our internal organs in fluid waves. Learning to feel and utilize the support of the internal organs can create a sense of ease and remove unnecessary strain from our muscular body. In this way the contents of the inner body can shape and support the outer container of the body, creating the conditions for a sense of satisfaction and deep expressiveness in our practice.

In this class, we’ll focus on two key relay points in the body: the pelvic diaphragm and the thoracic diaphragm.

Series 2 - Class #07 with Neal: Softening, Resting, Being, Presence

This class is an invitation to release tension, to soften, to rest, to be and to come to a felt sense of our presence.

Using the tools of Restorative Yoga, Yoga Nidra, and meditation, this is an opportunity for deeply resting and in this rest, this pausing and being, a possibility of opening to a renewal of ease and vitality.

Easefulness, curiosity, kindness and presence–all qualities of our essential nature, given space to emerge. Please join me for the joy of resting.

Series 2 - Class #08 with Donna: Gentle Back Bends–Strong Spine

Being able to do deep backbends seems to be the ultimate status symbol in Yoga Land, but is deep extension really that great for the spine?  Are there safe and beneficial ways to maintain spinal integrity, strength, and graceful upright posture . . . especially as we age? In this class we’ll explore what makes for safe spinal extension and the incredible benefits we can gain from regular, gentle, and targeted back bending.

If you tend toward stiffness and immobility in extension, this class will be a delightful way to release and unwind spinal tension.  If you tend toward hypermobility, you’ll come away with new tools to stabilize the most vulnerable shear points in your back and restore the strength and stability of your vertebral column.

This class is an investment in lifelong upright posture and what this means for our ability to remain active and healthy into our twilight years.