Knowing When Take Your Whole Self Out (Yoga for Sleep, Rest, Renewal, and Healing): Insomnia, nervous tension, too little time for sleep, and the expectation that we must do more often leave us at a loss as to how to come to rest. In this workshop we will practice self-care tools to recreate and cultivate sound sleep and deep rest whenever you need renewal and rejuvenation. We will start by arriving in time and space and reconnecting with our bodies. Then, we will practice simple and playful movements to discharge and rebalance the nervous system. Having clearly arrived, we will nurture ourselves with touch, sound, and movement, before finally sinking into the stillness of deep relaxation. Drawing from Polarity Therapy, Ayurveda, and the practice of Yoga Nidra (yogic sleep) we will leave this evening prepared to rest deeply and fully when we most need it. We will step out of the rush of the world so that we can bring our whole selves back out into the world.

Placing Your Whole Self In (Yoga for Awakening, Enlivening, and Engaging the Day): Enlightenment is only one possible side benefit to a practice to cultivate body and energy awareness, clarify daily intention and focus, and clear out the cobwebs of the night. In this morning workshop, we will take the renewal of deep rest and transform it into the passionate energy of living. Transitioning from stillness into breath and sound, we will build postures and moving meditation into skilful actions out in the world. Be prepared to have fun, reenergize, and discover what life is all about.

Embodying the Change You Wish to See in the World—Connecting to and Caring for the Body as a Vehicle for Change.
Gandhi’s oft quoted line, “Be the change you wish to see in the world” inspires activists, peace-makers, environmentalists, caregivers, and change makers of all kinds. As movers and shakers in the world, how often do we take the time to ground into the wisdom of the body as a place for renewal, inspiration, and change? Embodying the Change You Wish to See in the World is a chance to experience and become peace from the inside out. Drawing on body-mind-spirit practices like yoga, play, clowning, Brain-Gym, and more we explore simple tools to refresh and renew the whole being so that we can truly embody the change we wish to see in the world. First presented as a breakout session at the Building A Culture of Peace Conference (May, 2007) in Santa Fe, NM these tools are equally adaptive to short “coffee break” sessions, longer focus groups, or special longer classes to start, enliven, or end the day.

Workshops and Series in Development:

Bringing Forth New Life: Yoga for Being Born--As light waxes and wanes, we each begin dreaming with the seeds that become in us new life. The physical act of pregnancy is but one manifestation of the dance between will and surrender that is involved any time we are gestating a new idea or a new life. New parents, parents to be, and anyone carrying the baby of dreams and new life—be that body, mind, or spirit—will benefit from this series. We will find and deepen our own strength to move through and ground into the intensity of the birth process, and we will practice softening into the great mystery that is the life that carries us. Though appropriate for pregnant women, this is not specifically a prenatal class. Men, women, mothers, fathers, elders, and youth are all welcome.