Showing posts with label workshops. Show all posts
Showing posts with label workshops. Show all posts
DO you want to learn how to take care of your family naturally and with confidence and ease during cold/flu season?
Why Yin/Yang Yoga?
Cristina shares her personal yin/yang experience and inspiration for her upcoming workshop, Yin/Yang Yoga: A Complimentary Practice. 6/11 from 3:30 - 5pm. ($30 if you enroll by Saturday, June 4, $35 anytime after).
"The practice of yin/yang yoga helps us learn about stillness in movement and the flow in stillness." - Sarah Powers
I came to yoga as many people do, through an active vinyasa practice focusing on fitness. I found that as challenging asanas grew easier, the simpler ones were growing more difficult. Easy Seat was a pain in the lower back and hips. Seated Wide Legged Forward Fold? Forget about the folding bit; just wide legged was enough for me. In my effort to achieve balance, I had only become further out of balance as I strengthened muscles without giving attention to my joints. As the years passed, it only worsened. Then I discovered Yin Yoga. By taking my muscles out of the equation and focusing on the energy within my connective tissues and fascia, I discovered opening and flow within my joints I had never imagined. They became juicer and I could feel my Prana was better able to access and heal not only my joints, but also my other organs.
Inspired, I dug deeper and learned that Yin(passive) and Yang(active) practices complement each other. Energy, Prana, or Chi flows through channels throughout our body so we need to be juicy everywhere, hence the beauty of a Yin/Yang practice. Yin is practiced first to keep the muscles out of the equation. Yin takes you deeper into where you are, not only physically, but also mentally. Through longer holding of 3-5 minute floor postures, you learn what your edge is and how to be there without fighting it. When practiced following a Yin session, a Yang session requires less effort and the mind is at peace with wherever you are. You are able to safely express yourself energetically in your vinyasa practice as injuries are less likely; you find you don't push past your edge since you have already discovered it. Please join me on June 11 to explore this balance of surrender and effort and discover how it effects you and your practice!
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop at Lil Omm
Announcing the upcoming Pre-Ballet and Creative Movement Classes...
All class sessions run 8 weeks, 4/11 – 5/31
Teaching Artist: Heidi Hess Tuition: $140
- Pre-Ballet I: Mondays 5- 5:45 pm
- Pre-Ballet II: Mondays 6- 6:45 pm
- Movement & Music: Tuesdays 5:15- 6 pm
Class descriptions & registration visit: www.CHAW.org
or contact C.h.a.w at 202.547.6839
All classes are held at Lil Omm Yoga Studio:
4830 V St. NW, Washington DC 20007 www.LilOmm.com
Sign & Play Classes coming lil omm
Have you ever wondered what your baby is thinking? Or why your baby is crying? Check out the Baby Signs' Sign, Say, and Play class at lil omm where you will be able to learn to "talk" to your baby before they can talk!
Baby Signs, the ORIGINAL sign language program for hearing babies, has been bringing powerful, research-proven benefits to babies and their families around the world for over 25 years. The Baby Signs Program is the world's leading program for hearing infants and toddlers because it is the only baby sign language program that:
- was developed by child development experts specifically for hearing babies.
- has been scientifically tested and proven to provide positive benefits for babies and their families.
- is based on American Sign Language with added flexibility to meet the needs of all families.
Parents and babies will learn useful signs that are taught through fun songs, books, and activities. Parents with children 6 months to 18 months would benefit most from this class but anyone and everyone is welcome!
The Sign Say & Play class starts Sunday, February 20th.
This six week class meets Sundays from 2:30 - 3:15pm.
The registration fee is $130 and includes a Sign Say & Play kit. To register, please email the teacher Michelle directly at signwithmichelle@gmail.com
(Registration closes one week before the start of class.)
My Body Rocks!
What a creative, empowering way to share your birth story or meditate on the experience...My Body Rocks workshops start Tuesday 9/28.
All classes are taught by critically-acclaimed playwright, yoga nidra teacher and mother Karen Brody. http://www.mybodyrocksproject.com/page05.html
The My Body Rocks Project's Fall Workshops for moms and moms-to-be include:
My Body Rocks Pregnancy Circle
Mondays @ 6.30-7.30pm starting September 27
My Body Rocks Storytelling/Performance Workshop
on Cesareans and VBAC stories
Tuesday nights 5.30-7.30pm starting September 28
Private Guided Meditation Sessions for Moms
Bethesda and Chevy Chase, DC locations
For More Information: visit our website or call 646-460-9924.
My Journey into Kundalini Yoga
Thanks to Shoshana Rosenbaum for sharing this honest and personal perspective. A great reminder that trying new things can bring the best surprises! Join Shoshana this weekend to explore Kundalini and invigorate your practice.
Kundalini yoga found me right when I needed it, although I came to it somewhat late, in terms of my yoga life. I started doing yoga as a child with my mom, who caught the wave of yoga that came to the U.S. in the 1960s. She faithfully did her sun salutations every morning, and with the advent of VCRs, she and I wore out a 1980s Raquel Welch yoga video.
I tried various hatha yoga styles as I moved around in the years after college, checking out studios that taught iyengar, ashtanga, vinyasa, anusara, Bikram, hot yoga, power yoga, you name it, but no one style particularly stuck with me.
Early in my pregnancy with my first child, I felt awful. Starving but nauseous, exhausted, crampy. Yoga and physical activity of any kind fell by the wayside as I wallowed in how miserable I felt. I only cracked a smile when I came across a book called “Pregnancy Sucks.”
Then one day, a different book arrived in the mail. A friend who had recently had her first child sent me “Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful” by Gurmukh, a Kundalini yoga teacher. As soon as I read the first few pages my attitude began to transform.
I had never heard of Kundalini yoga and the book contained only a few postures and meditations, but I knew with all my heart that I need to find Gurmukh and study with her. My heart sank when I discovered she lived and taught in L.A. Perhaps I could find a teacher in D.C. who had studied with her, I reasoned. A little research led me to a prenatal Kundalini yoga class in Georgetown.
I didn’t love the physical part of Kundalini at first. Although some postures were familiar from hatha yoga, others seemed at first awkward and strange. Some didn’t necessarily feel good as I did them. It helped when my teacher reminded me to connect to my breathing and to a silent mantra. It also helped when she shared a quip from Yogi Bhajan, who brought the Kundalini tradition to the West: “The best part of Kundalini yoga is when it’s over.”
The “tuning-in” mantra that we did at the beginning of class seemed at first like a tongue-twister in an ancient language, but I liked that it meant “I honor the divine wisdom within me.” The idea that my body contained divine wisdom resonated with me, and I began to count on that divine wisdom to get me through childbirth.
In other yoga classes, my mind would often wander while my body ran through the poses. I would wonder about the other people in the room, or think about what I needed to buy at the store. In Kundalini class, because we kept our eyes closed and were continually reminded to reconnect to the breath and a mantra, I began to learn to stay internal and notice what my mind was doing.
Kundalini class always ended with a meditation, unlike other yoga classes I had attended. I had tried zen meditation years before, and while I liked the idea, I had trouble connecting to the practice. Kundalini meditation was different. There was more to do – a mudra (hand position), a drishti (eye focus), a breathing pattern, sometimes a mantra – which helped focus my mind. Some of the meditations were physically and mentally challenging, often because they involved holding my arms up for what seemed like endless minutes. I began to notice how I felt and what
thoughts ran through my mind when my body was uncomfortable. My teacher reminded me
that surrendering to uncomfortable physical sensations would be excellent practice for natural
childbirth.
She was right. I went into childbirth feeling relaxed and prepared for the unknown, confident that my body could open up to whatever experience lay ahead. While I liked the Bradley childbirth class my husband and I took, for me the best childbirth preparation was the mental training of Kundalini yoga. I took the advice in Gurmukh’s book to heart and trusted that I was more powerful than I might realize, and that staying present for this miracle I was lucky enough to experience would guide me through any difficulty. Gratitude was my touchstone whenever I lost
my way.
I credit that that first prenatal class with helping me have two natural births (the second at home.) In addition, a door opened for me into a new world of yoga. While I had always enjoyed and been attracted to the physical practice of hatha yoga, Kundalini yoga allowed me to experience my consciousness and my spirit in a way that I had never done before.
Almost four years after that first prenatal class, I entered a Kundalini teacher training program. The training helped me uncover levels of strength, self-discipline and peace of mind that I didn’t know were deep inside me. I use the tools I learned every day, not only in my yoga practice, but in my work and my home life. The training gave me the foundation to continue to study this rich and ancient tradition and to continue to develop myself as a yogi and a person. It also gave me the sincere desire to share Kundalini yoga with others, in the hopes that they will find it just as
valuable.
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