WORKSHOPS & SPECIAL EVENTS

SUMMER SEASONAL FLOW

With Debs Grossman

Saturday 4th July 2020 | 5pm – 7pm

We hope you can join us to celebrate and welcome the summer season. The summer season is all about warming up; the sun is the ultimate source of almost all light and warmth on Earth’s surface and Summer is when nature’s and our energy are at their peak. It’s about getting our heart beating, balancing calm with vibrancy and a time for enjoyment rather than striving – a time for living life
to the full!
Our seasonal practice encourages circulation, social as well as body, heat (tapas) and a sense of calm. It’s the season for laughter, contentment, meditation, exercise, compassion, letting go, balance and socialising.

Organs associated with this season are the heart and small intestine and our practice helps to open us up, encouraging flow of energy along the organs’ meridian lines. Challenging postures stimulate our heart and circulation, warmth, joy and personal expression; cooling postures balance and close the practice. Yoga nidra will complete our workshop, an opportunity for deep relaxation and restoration, balancing your energies for the seasons.

We look forward to welcoming you. This workshop will be held live through Zoom. Please ensure that you have a Zoom account (https://zoom.us/). You’ll be sent an email with a link to the Zoom meeting prior to your class. Please know that this will still be an interactive and shared group experience so please bring your questions as we always love to discuss this topic

£20

BATHING IN STILLNESS: YIN AND MEDITATION

With Freya Thomas

Sunday 12th July 2020 | 5.45pm – 7.15pm

A Live Stream workshop of our very popular Bathing in Stillness

A special Sunday evening workshop to indulge in the quiet and gentle practice of Yin Yoga and soak up the transformative power of Meditation.
Yin Yoga is a healing practice of long-held poses where muscles completely relax & surrender to allow us to access the deeper layers of the body. It works on releasing constrictions in the connective tissue, ligaments, and tendons that support the hips, pelvis and lower spine. It also stimulates & opens the energy meridians of the subtle body, often described as a “needleless acupuncture session” for the body!

This nurturing workshop will take you through a specific series of seated & supine poses. Aimed at improving joint mobility, cultivating flexibility and help you heal yourself by releasing deep seated tension, breaking up blockages and thus encouraging easier flow of energy around the body, moving you out of negative emotions. You’ll discover balance and find a deep peace in your body & mind.

After the physical part of the practice, Freya will lead you through a guided journaling-based meditation, to settle your awareness on the body and breath, whilst shifting the nervous system to a more restorative and healing mode. The practice of meditation brings an incredible sense of calmness, stillness, space, quietness, and clarity.

Based on a practice called ‘Recollective awareness’ the meditation becomes more open ended and inclusive of thoughts, feelings and experiences and we use a notebook and pen to recall what happened during the sitting.

Please have a notebook and pen with you

Lets connect together and enjoy this shared experience!

We look forward to welcoming you. This workshop will be held live through Zoom. Please ensure that you have a Zoom account (https://zoom.us/). You’ll be sent an email with a link to the Zoom meeting prior to your class. Please know that this will still be an interactive and shared group experience so please bring your questions as we always love to discuss this topic

£15

CHATURANGA-UP DOG-DOWN DOG: YOGA UNWRAPPED© WORKSHOP

With Heather Gregg

Saturday 18th July 2020 | 4pm – 6.15pm

A fun, thorough & informative 2hr15 workshop with Heather untangling Chaturanga and transitions between this, Upward Facing Dog and Downdog to help you work towards & deepen your practice of the most practiced poses within Vinyasa & Ashtanga Yoga.
How many times do you hear the teacher saying – “Chaturanga – Updog – Downdog”…? Yet these poses & transitions which form the backbone of dynamic yoga are for many yoga students the most commonly misunderstood & misaligned. Usually seen more as part of a flow from A – B rather than stand alone poses and rarely separated out from each other, especially Chaturanga (Four Limbed Staff Pose) & Urdhva Mukha Svanasana( Upward Facing Dog).

This Yoga Unwrapped© workshop from Heather Yoga will spend time looking & breaking down each pose & transitional movement individually to properly educate you and help define your practice of these. We’ll explore fundamentals & benefits, learn the key anatomical factors and different techniques to prepare the body including how to strengthen and maximise stability in the shoulders, demonstrate where common misalignments happen and how to prevent injuries, and play with variations & modifications that everyone can start to integrate in their own practice to work safely, slowly, efficiently & patiently.
Open to all except those completely new to yoga. Please let us know if you are working with shoulder injuries.

This workshop will be taught at a gradual pace. It includes a mixture of theory, prep, asana, and will allow for relaxation and a Q and A at the end.

We look forward to welcoming you. This workshop will be held live through Zoom. Please ensure that you have a Zoom account (https://zoom.us/). You’ll be sent an email with a link to the Zoom meeting prior to your class. Please know that this will still be an interactive and shared group experience so please bring your questions as we always love to discuss this topic.

Early Bird Offer £20 until 3rd July. Full Price is £25

YOGA AND QIGONG POP UP

With Debs Grossman

Sunday 19th July 2020 | 7.30pm – 8.30pm

Yoga & Qigong Flow – a steady paced flow of yoga asana fused with qigong practices encouraging fluid, intentional and mindful movement and breathing to stabilise and strengthen the body and calm the mind.
Qigong means cultivating life energy; qi – life energy, gong – to cultivate with time and effort.

Qigong is a blend of active and dynamic movements, breathing, visualisation and meditation techniques aimed at cultivating healthy qi flow through the body. It has its roots in Daoism and Buddhism and is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Active movements in qigong help to loosen joints, strengthen tendons and muscles, improve circulation, and relax the nervous system. These, along with the breathing and intentions of qigong practices work to create greater balance and harmony, and an overall sense of health, vitality and wellbeing.

By practicing postures, movement and meridian stretches, we can influence our vital energy or emotional state. We hold emotional stress within our bodies; yoga, qigong and meditation helps to release tensions enabling you to feel lighter, and calmer, to a place of stillness and quiet.

Deborah’s class is inspired by her training in Seasonal Yoga and with Mimi Kuo-Deemer, integrating qigong practice with yoga practice.

£5

FLOWING INTO STILLNESS: VINYASA YOGA AND YOGA NIDRA WORKSHOP

With Heather Gregg

Sunday 2nd August 2020 | 11am – 12.30pm

Join Heather for this special session to cultivate stillness through movement and deep rest with a joyful yoga flow and nourishing Yoga Nidra meditation. Heather will first guide you with a dynamic Vinyasa style practice uniting breath & movement to create heat, vibrancy and spaciousness in the body and a sense of mental lightness, ease and clarity. We then recline back and get super comfortable in a long Savasana to drop into deep rest and awareness through the art of Yoga Nidra meditation aka Yogic Sleep. Through this guided meditation we practice Pratyahara (withdrawal of senses) that allows you to scan the body and tap into a state of relaxed consciousness as the mind settles in a place between wakefulness and sleep, linking conscious thought with the subconscious mind. Sunday morning is a beautiful time to step onto your mat for this blend of powerful yoga practices which will encourage an experience of both harmony and peace in body and mind to take with you for the rest of your day.

Open to all levels.

£15

ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY + BIOMECHANICS APPLIED TO YOGA:
A 2-DAY TRAINING/IMMERSION

With Dr Yogi

Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th October 2020 | 10am – 6pm

“The most useful and informative two days that I have spend in years!” Jo W, Yoga Teacher

For yoga teachers, yoga teacher trainees or yoga practitioners with at least a one-year consistent practice

In this two-day immersion we will explore in detail the anatomy and physiology of our incredible human body applied to practising and teaching yoga. Each topic that we delve into will be related directly back to the asana practice. The sessions will be interactive and experiential and will vary between discussion, lecture, small group work, personal reflection and group asana practice. There will be a strong focus on using knowledge of anatomy to make asana practices as inclusive as possible. A detailed manual will be included.

The immersion is ideal for yoga practitioners with an established practice, who want to learn more about the human body, go deeper in their own yoga practice and develop a teaching style that is up to date, empowering and inclusive. We will explore anatomy to a depth that is appropriate for teaching yoga.

By the end of the weekend you will feel inspired and empowered to teach yoga to the best of your ability. You will have the confidence to breakdown any yoga asana with a clear understanding of the key actions and movements and know how to work with your own unique anatomy and that of your student.

An Introduction to Intelligent Movement Principals:
• An introduction to muscle looking at its structure and function and how we can apply the knowledge of stretch reflexes to deepen our practice
• The structure and function of bone and joints looking at both the importance and limitation of alignment and what limits our movement
• How a knowledge of fascia can impact our movement on and off the mat
• The Nocebo Effect and choosing empowering language
• What causes muscle tightness
• Flexibility vs mobility
• Anatomical language and how this can help us to remember the names of some of our muscles

A Detailed Exploration of the Lower Limbs:
• An exploration of our feet and ankles looking at their structure and function and how we can apply this knowledge on and off the mat
• Why our knee joints may be vulnerable to injury and how to support them
• A detailed look at the hip joints focusing on what makes each of us so unique
• Piriformis Syndrome

A Detailed Exploration of the Upper Limbs:
• The importance of shoulder joint and girdle mobility and stability in our yoga practice
• An evidence-based approach to Shoulder Impingement
• Hyperextension of the elbow joint
• Why wrist pain is so common in yoga

A Detailed Exploration of the Spine:
• An exploration of our pelvis and sacro-iliac joints and how to keep this area supported during our asana practice
• An evidence-based approach to back pain and prolapsed discs
• The anatomy of our core musculature
• Increasing thoracic spine mobility
• Supporting our cervical spine during inversions
• An evidence-based approach to releasing neck tension

The Science Behind Why Yoga Makes Us Feel So Good:
• How yoga impacts our nervous system and relieves stress
• Yoga as a breath-led practice and why breath is so important
• Yoga for cardiovascular and lymphatic health

This immersion counts towards CPD requirements for Yoga Alliance members (14 contact hours)

2 Day Immersion Price:
£200 Full Price.

Booking is essential to guarantee your place as places are limited.

About Andrew McGonigle aka Doctor Yogi:
After originally training to become a doctor, Andrew moved away from western medicine to pursue a career as a yoga teacher, massage therapist and anatomy teacher. Andrew has been practising yoga and meditation for over 13 years and teaching strong, grounding and inclusive classes since 2009. Andrew combines all of his skills to teach anatomy and physiology workshops across the globe. For more information visit: www.dr-yogi.com