Saturday Workshops

Session I:

Yoga Therapy: Focus on the Back with Marlysa Sullivan, Decatur Yoga and Pilates

Yoga therapy is the practice of integrating our western medical knowledge with postures, breathwork and meditation for health and balance. There are many common muscular imbalances that contribute to back pain. These muscular imbalances can be corrected with the correct sequence and application of yoga postures. Back pain also results in an altered function of the nervous system with activation of the "fight or flight" response leading to muscle tension, anxiety and depression. Through the correct practice of breathwork and meditation the nervous system can also be brought into balance. In this workshop, you will learn about muscular imbalances that occur with back pain as well as how the nervous system responds to pain. There will be an overview of the western model of pain and dysfunction and the yogic model of pain and dysfunction. We will then go through postures, breathwork and meditation techniques geared towards correcting these dysfunctions.

Hit Your Wall with Lara Falberg, Yoga Dose

Lara will lead a two-hour workshop exploring how to use the wall as a prop to assist you with alignment and support and examine your edge more closely. Other props such as a blanket and/or blocks will be used in conjunction with the wall. The workshop is designed to be accessible to the beginning practitioner as well as for advanced yogis who would like to explore posture options utilizing the wall.

We All Win: YogaKids Grounded Games with Cheryl Crawford and Amy Haysman, YogaKids

Learn how to incorporate games into your yoga classes or any environment you share with kids, teens and the young at heart. Games are an essential part of the YogaKids program; they reinforce the concepts of yoga in a fun and engaging way by recognizing each individual as an equal part of the whole. In this workshop, we will play a variety of games, from energizing to meditative, all of which promote cooperation and win-win thinking. Barking, laughing and a youthful twist on yoga poses are included.

Session II:

Prakrati and Vikruti: The Science of Ayurveda with Satish Nair, Gentle Awakening

The essence of this workshop will be to know who we are or to understand who we have become or, to bring about harmony with (in) and with (out). This workshop will be primarily lecture-based and will give you the understanding, knowledge and tools to know who you are (prakrati) and bring about balance. Life is the expression of cosmic consciousness as exemplified by the entire sphere of creation. The purpose of life is to know or realize the creator (cosmic consciousness) and to express this divinity in your daily life.

Backbends: Creating Space and Extension in the Spine with Kquiven DeWeese, Stillwater Yoga Studio

This workshop will focus on the proper alignment of the spine in a series of recharging backbending asanas. Correct alignment and proper functioning of the different parts of the spine bring space and joy!

Kick Your Feet Up: Arm Balancing and Inversions with Kathryn Budig, Yoga Works, Santa Monica, CA

Arm balances and inversions often induce fear when they can actually create an amazing blend of joy and strength. Learn how to practice these poses from a place of space, breath and playfulness! No need to cringe and muscle your way through, it's all about finding awareness and connection to yourself and the postures. Join Kathryn Budig for an extremely fun workshop revolved around learning a pathway to channel these amazing postures into your everyday practice with ease and excitement!

Session III:

The Yoga of Touch with Thai Massage with Bill Hufschmidt from Jai Shanti Yoga

Being touched by another human being can be most healing and soothing to our stressed and neglected bodies, hearts, and minds. Learning how to touch another human being with compassion and intention can provide a direct experience of yoga, union, and integration in this moment. Bill will lead you through a simple massage routine based on the techniques of Thai massage, a healing tradition that dates back at least 2500 years to the time of the Buddha. Through this experience, you will be able to witness yourself experience the dance of giving and receiving, the dance of duality. Experience not required. Please bring a yoga mat and two blankets. Bring a partner or meet your partner at the workshop.

Restorative Yoga with Ana Lisa Cesare, Decatur Yoga and Pilates

What happens when we begin to truly witness ourselves in great stillness within an asana? Where does the mind take us? It's not always easy watching the ebb and flow of body and mind. What is our internal dialogue during asanas? From what source do we find our strength; the breath, letting go of thoughts, or having a full experience of them? With Restorative Yoga we come to discover the hidden rivers of fluidity and peace, as well as the solid mountains and structures in the body. Some of these structures have served as protective barriers for so long that there is a subtle resistance to relaxing. What would happen if we allowed ourselves to let go?

This workshop explores meditative movement combined with deep stillness using supportive props. The teacher creates a mood to encourage complete surrender and relaxation into the path of least resistance, which allows the physical and mental layers to unfold. Each asana invites us to trace our steps back to our innocence and the divine instrument we use to experience this life. Whether the mind labels the experience as “easy” or “difficult,” we are encouraged to embrace the unknown - as it's all just perfect…just beautiful. We are reminded that Restoring through Yoga is a memory of wholeness.

Yoga Flight School with Todd Delaune, Jai Shanti Yoga

Cultivate trust, strength and flexibility while conquering gravity! A playful, safe and supportive environment will empower the whole room to go upside down! There are three main roles: the base, the flier, and the spotter. Instilling trust to the flier, the base creates a stable platform for the flier to explore inverted aerial postures. The trusting flier receives therapeutic spinal and muscular release and afterwards the base receives Thai Massage. The spotter maintains safety at all times assuring everyone's support and trust as a team. Move beyond the illusion of limitation and fear and into the reality of freedom and confidence!

Sunday Workshops

Session I:

Advanced Pranayama for Meditators and Yoga Practitioners with Yoganand Michael Carroll, Jai Shanti Yoga

Many ancient yoga texts give pranayama as the next level of practice after asana. In the Pranakriya tradition, pranayama is used as a powerful tool to deepen asana as well as meditation. Pranayama generates internal sensitivity on both the physical and mental levels. It also raises our overall energy (prana) level allowing an increase in alertness that can manifest as profound focus and insight. Join us for an introduction to this deep practice designed for students already strong in asana or meditation practice. Experience pranayama as a way to connect with energy and learn how to channel that energy into a deeper experience of whatever spiritual practices you do.

Fluidity and Aspiration - Clearing the hips and Igniting the Core with Gina Minyard, Atlanta Yoga

With open hips we are clear and grounded. A strong core stokes our confidence and poise. The balance of fluidity and aspiration leads us to flow gracefully with Life — sensitive to its currents and empowered to participate fully. Experience the elegance and grace of the Universal Principles of Alignment™ of Anusara yoga to unfold your embodied potential. This all-levels practice consists of standing and seated hip openers addressing the full range of motion of the hips, including therapeutic insight for those working with hip, knee and lower back issues.

Earth, Sky, and Half-Moon with Sean Tebor, Yogananta, Santa Fe, NM

Recover the deep magic of balancing yin and yang through the midline and side-bodies with a fun hip sequence incorporating variations on ardha chandrasana (half-moon pose). The moon will help us play the space between Heaven and Earth, integrating East and West along our journey deep into the intuitive core.

This sequence is excellent for strengthening the legs and pelvis while integrating our physical and energetic roots into the deep belly. The sacrum, pelvis, and low spine are orchestrated through the breath of life as the inner and outer hips are rebalanced. Borrowing from the Chinese meridians, we will use specific breath guidance to find the natural polarity of the body, moving energy on deeper levels and finding our natural grace.

Session II:

Mindfulness and Movement: Unpacking the Mindfulness Practice at the Heart of the Ashtanga Vinyasa Practice with Elizabeth Rogers, Atlanta Yoga

Join us for an exploration of the mindfulness practice at the heart of the Ashtanga Vinyasa Practice. We will work through primary and second series asana as we take an in-depth look at the three foundational movements of practice as well as explore the cultivation and function of the three focal points of breath, body-in-motion, and gaze as we work towards establishing a mindful, awake practice. This workshop is open to intermediate and advanced practitioners.

Kali Natha Yoga with Skanda Miraglia, Kashi Atlanta

Kali Natha Yoga is a puja (moving prayer) designed to invoke specific archetypes and internal qualities to better understand the complexity of who we are while living in the simplicity of love. It is drawn from the ancient mystical practices of classical yoga and Shakti worship. Students are initiated into specific flow series that awaken aspects of various deities from Eastern traditions. Each series includes asanas (postures); pranayama (breathing exercises); mudras (hand positions), mantras (sacred syllables), and meditation. Kali Natha Yoga infuses any yoga practice with an essence of truth, depth of devotion and passion of movement. In addition to expanding the capabilities of the body on the physical level, Kali Natha Yoga takes us beyond our emotional, mental and spiritual limits in every area of our lives.

The Winds of Yoga with Leigh Anne Neal, Nirvana Yoga

The vayus are energetic currents that flow throughout the body like rivers. They each possess their own intention and direction. Through asana and pranayama we will explore the different vayus, or winds, that interface with our being and how they affect our energy, digestion, posture and much more!

"While intelligence considers options, I am somewhere lost in the wind." Rumi