Our physical bodies offer profound doorways to inner guidance and wisdom. And the gateway of the heart is one of the most powerful portals to our truest Self.
During these four weeks of heart-based inquiry, we will dive into teachings and practices to explore the layers of our hearts: Physical, Emotional, Spiritual, and Pure Essence. With curiosity and tenderness, we will tap into the innate resilience which lies at our very center.
Our journey will include breathing practices, meditation, somatic and yogic movement, guided visualization, deep listening, journaling, and yogic philosophy.
This is a stand-alone series. Attendance in the previous Resilient Heart series is NOT a prerequisite. If you did attend the first portion, this series will deepen and enrich your experience.
Everybody welcome. Please bring a journal.
Willows Rise Book Club: a gathering with a little reading, more discussion and a whole lot of social justice
Viva la Revolucion!
Join together in a social justice book club with action. Roughly monthly, we’ll share a virtual discussion designed to foster community, connection, and conversation about important topics in our world at the intersection of yoga and social justice. Each session will feature a shared reading connected to the crossroads of yoga and social justice, and a rotating discussion facilitator.
Each cycle will have 3 rounds to discuss the text: that is connected to the crossroads of yoga and social justice:
Round 1 – a book club conversation and work with WSY staff and teachers
Round 2 – a book club conversation and work with students and community members
These discussions often beg to go deeper, and we’re expecting that to be the case! Stay tuned to find out how to dive further into the topic in the weeks following the community discussion!
Our second text is My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem and will be hosted by Lori Wilen.
For the second cycle, teachers will meet on March 14, and the community discussion will be March 21. All sessions are 3–4:30p. Discussion sessions are free, but please register to receive the Zoom link!
A number of students who participated in our workshops on overcoming trauma and anxiety have said it would be helpful to continue to meet on an ongoing basis. We will start monthly Zoom sessions beginning Sunday, October 4 from 5–6p. WSY yoga teacher Cheryl Kravitz will facilitate the meet-up, which includes discussion, yoga and meditation centered around relieving anxiety.
Menstruating bodies deserve a little extra care, extra support. This workshop is designed to teach you about and to practice yoga poses that may help your body to ease through the stormy seas of your menstrual cycle. Gentle stretch and Restorative poses come together for your comfort. Every body and everybody that menstruates is welcome. This is an all levels practice.
You will need a few props:
- 2 yoga blocks or 2 large books
- 3 blankets or 3 full size towels or 3 toss pillows from your couch
- 1 bolster or 1 couch cushion or 2 bed pillows wrapped in a towel or throw blanket (to create firm support)
- 1 yoga strap or 1 belt or 1 long scarf or 1 necktie
This workshop will meet online; Zoom meeting links to the workshop will be sent out before the workshop begins. Please enroll at least 12 hours in advance.
With the disruption that
currently surrounds us, it’s easy to feel stressed and
overwhelmed. Yoga Nidra, a
guided meditative practice, can help you find a source of internal
stability and resilience. It can ease tension and fatigue, calm the
nervous system, and restore energy.
In
this workshop you’ll:
-
Learn centering and relaxation techniques
- Practice gentle asana stretches for joints
and muscles
-
Explore yoga breathing techniques
-
Be guided through a complete Yoga Nidra
practice.
Yoga Nidra is practiced in a
comfortable lying or seated position. No prior experience needed —
everyone welcome.
This workshop will meet online; Zoom meeting links to the workshop will be sent out before the workshop begins. Please enroll at least 12 hours in advance.
Restorative poses designed for your comfort, rest and stress relief. Every body and everybody is welcome. This is an all levels practice.
You will need a few props:
- 2 yoga blocks or 2 large books
- 3 blankets or 3 full size towels or 3 toss pillows from your couch
- 1 bolster or 1 couch cushion or 2 bed pillows wrapped in a towel or throw blanket (to create firm support)
- 1 yoga strap or 1 belt or 1 long scarf or 1 necktie
Please note: Zoom links will be emailed to registrants 24-hours before the workshop and again 1-hour before the workshop. If you register closer than 1-hour to the event start, you may not receive the link. If you have any trouble with access, please email yoga@willowstreetyoga.com.
“We are the authors of our lives. We write our own daring endings.”
Dr. Brené Brown, Manifesto of the Brave and Brokenhearted
We have all been there…. feeling overwhelmed, depressed and frightened. Months of isolation, distressing news cycles, personal grief, emotional triggers are all around us. This workshop will solidify the connection between mind and body. We are including poses for healing, readings and breath work. Please have a journal available. All levels of students are welcome to attend. Everything in the workshop is confidential. We are the authors of our own stories. We will work together and individually to empower ourselves and one another. You are not alone. Following the workshop participants are welcome to attend free confidential meet- ups the first Sunday of the month.
The Instructor: Cheryl Kravitz, APR, CFRE, RYT200, Cheryl Kravitz, APR, CFRE, RYT200plus learned early on that yoga is a universal language and has found the practice resonates with the diversity of students she teaches. A survivor of breast cancer and domestic violence, Cheryl understands the calming power of yoga and meditation, having experienced it in her own life.
She is a graduate of the Willow Street Yoga Teacher Training Program and received additional certification to teach yoga to survivors of trauma, restorative yoga and yoga for brain longevity. Away from the mat she is a certified diversity and inclusion trainer, a marketing and communication consultant and a freelance writer. She has written extensively locally and nationally about the positive impact of yoga on the individual and community.
Osteoporosis is a silent disease that weakens bones, often resulting in fractures. Recent studies indicate that Yoga, practiced the right way, can build bone mass and prevent fractures without undesirable side effects. You’ll learn a safe and enjoyable practice to improve bone and muscle strength, posture, and balance.
This workshop provides an overview of osteoporosis:
– Definition, prevalence, testing, risk factors, remediating
factors, physiology
– Consequences: fractures, falls, bone health
– How yoga can counteract weakening bones without undesirable side
effects.
– Do’s and Don’ts: movements which are safe and movements to be
avoid.
We guide you through carefully selected yoga poses to build muscle
and bone, improve posture, balance, and overall strength as
recommended by Dr. Lauren Fishman.
For men and women of all ages; appropriate for those who’ve never
done yoga, experienced students, and yoga teachers.
Suggested props: yoga mat, blocks, strap
(substitute: belt, necktie), folding or straight-back chair
This workshop will meet online via Zoom. Please enroll at least 24 hours in advance. The Zoom meeting link as well as handouts with PowerPoint slides and photos of the poses in the yoga practice will be sent to you prior to the workshop.
“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.” –B.K.S. Iyengar
Like yoga, compassion is a practice of awareness which helps us learn to be fully present and hold challenges with steadfast love. It is both an innate capacity and a skill we can train, and research shows that when we do, our body, heart, mind, and communities benefit in tangible ways.
Join Laura Banks, RYT 200 and Certified Compassion Cultivation© Training Instructor, for this online workshop which explores how the practices of yoga and compassion complement each other. Both help us live with steadiness, ease, and joy on our journey through life. A balance of evidence-based information, interactive exercises and discussion, meditation, and personal reflection will help participants bring increased compassion to their yoga practice and take the embodied wisdom of yoga off the mat and into life.
During the workshop, we will practice a compassionate body scan. If you would like to lie down for this guided practice, please have on hand what your body needs to feel comfortable and supported for up to 20 minutes.
Zoom meeting links to the workshop will be sent out before the workshop begins. Please enroll at least twelve hours in advance.
As we leave winter and prepare for spring, we are leaving a time of darkness and preparing for the return of light. This workshop is for people who are interested in the interplay of inner development, whether or not they consider themselves spiritual, and showing up in the larger world as a vibrant active contributor. We will turn within to access the voice of our knower – the inner voice that speaks with clarity – as a platform to discern our path outward. Together we will draw upon a few varied but connected sources of spiritual wisdom (e.g., Yoga philosophy, Sufi, Judaism, “secular”) to increase our understanding of how we each fit into the bigger picture of Life. We will seek to develop a tool kit to help us cope with the interplay of seemingly conflicting demands for attention to the inner self and to others we care about – be they humans, or our overall environment. These tools are embodied practice (yoga asana), and spiritual direction exercises that include meditation, contemplation with journaling, and deep listening. As a result of the workshop participants may learn to creatively assess what practices they are drawn to for inner exploration and how they may support themselves in the world of action. The workshop format provides a safe environment where participants can share their challenges and wisdom with each other. Asana practice will be led at a gentle/beginner level.
Fascia is connective tissue that surrounds your muscles, blood vessels, nerves, and organs. When it’s healthy, fascia allows your muscles to slide and glide as you move. But when your fascia gets tight and stuck, it can restrict your movement. In this monthly workshop, we will focus on a particular area of the body to help release layers of fascia using props, techniques, and yoga poses. The goal of this workshop is to help decrease tension, improve body awareness, and release fascial “stuckness” so that tissues slide and glide more easily. Everyone welcome.
Props:
Tennis ball
SOFT fascial massage peanut
Puffy ball
2 Yoga blocks OR 2 large books
One blanket
If you do not have a soft fascial massage peanut or puffy ball, you can use a sock peanut as an alternative. To make a sock peanut, take 3 knee socks or crew socks, ball up 2 of them and put them side by side inside the third sock, and tie the end.
As the days become warmer and brighter, nature rouses from her winter slumber and looks ahead to the new growth of Spring. This is the season to plant seeds for a future harvest and determine our direction and action for the coming expansive months. Focused intent enhances our ability to envision possibilities and weave our dreams.
These seasonal workshops offer an opportunity to harmonise your body/mind with the cyclic rhythm of the seasons. Spring is the most potent season for cleansing and detoxification and associated with the Wood Element in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). In this workshop we are to focus on rejuvenating and invigorating the Organs and Meridians (energy channels) of the Wood Element - the Liver and Gall Bladder - and the transformation of their negative emotional characteristics...Anger and Frustration to Acceptance and Kindness.
The Wood energy of Spring is an expression of life and growth at its strongest. To balance the Yin nature of the gentle cleansing stretches and breathwork, we will explore a variety of dynamic sequences - expansive and opening movements with a vigorous and stimulating approach; embodying a surge of rising energy like the dandelion whose growing edge can burst through concrete if it must.
This has been a hard year. But what if we could learn to transform our losses, grief, and challenges into healing, wholeness, and hope? As humans, we have done it before and we can do it again.
Recent discoveries in neuroscience confirm what wisdom traditions have taught for ages: compassion is a heartfelt awareness of suffering and a willingness to respond skillfully which can be deliberately learned, practiced, and strengthened. In fact, a growing body of research shows that training in compassion for self and others offers a wide range of benefits including improving relationships, supporting health and well-being, and reducing stress, depression, and anxiety. It also connects us to our common humanity and increases our capacity to live in a complicated world with integrity, respect, and concern for all of life – including those we don’t understand.
Join Laura Banks for Compassion Cultivation Training©, an eight-week program designed at Stanford University's Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, to explore the power of compassion and discover your fearless heart. Learning to face the universal challenges of life with compassion can greatly reduce suffering and transform the very things that we thought would break us into the most resilient and beautiful parts of who we are.
This online session of Compassion Cultivation Training© will take place in real time in a virtual classroom environment and includes:
- Weekly classes with guided meditations, science and poetry, large and small group discussions, and in-class exercises.
- Access to daily meditation practices to develop lovingkindness and compassion for self and others.
- Practical applications to explore and develop compassionate thoughts and actions in real life.
This class is interactive and happens live in a group learning environment. To participate, you will need a quiet location, a reliable internet connection, and a computer or tablet with a webcam and a microphone.
Compassion Cultivation Training© is designed to support anyone who wants to cultivate compassion for themselves and others. This includes parents, caregivers, educators, healthcare professionals, therapists, executives, public servants, and people in a wide range of professions and life contexts.
* While the fee for CCT is set by the Compassion Institute and helps cover the expense of offering it, no person who is committed to attending and being engaged will be turned away. Please contact Laura Banks if you would like to participate but the cost is prohibitive.
Learn more at:
A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives, Thupten Jinpa, Lead Author, Compassion Cultivation Training©
Curious about Compassion Cultivation Training© and wondering what it’s all about?
Try a free intro class. Join one of the upcoming online Introductions to Compassion Cultivation Training© (CCT) and bring your questions, meet Laura, and engage in a sample meditation and exercise from CCT. This 60-minute class is not required to register for CCT nor is there any obligation/expectation for participants to register for the full course after attending this introduction. It’s open to anyone who’s simply interested in learning more.
Click on the times below for more info and to register.
Saturday, February 13, 2021, 10-11am EST
Wednesday, March 10, 2021, 7:30-8:30pm ET
Tadasana is the foundation pose of most yoga practices. But how well do you see yourself in Tadasana?
How well do you see yourself as you go about your day?
This workshop will change the way you perceive and feel your body in space. Making simple changes to the way you stand in yoga and in life has a profound effect on your daily life, pain issues and athletic performance.
Saturday, April 17th, 1–4p: Yoga For Hips And Balance
Initiating movement from the core of the body is essential to moving well, healing successfully, and aging gracefully. To do that, we need good tone for all of the muscles in and around the pelvis for strength and balance and fluidity.
This workshop focuses on the pelvic muscles that facilitate balance and healthy movement patterns.
The psoas is the most important muscle in the body, acting as the main hip flexor and the engine of walking. A free and happy psoas allows the body to move with peak efficiency and little strain. Issues with the psoas can lead to any number of problems throughout your body—both physical and emotional. Lower back pain and other joint discomfort as well as disturbances to the nervous system can be linked to the psoas.
This is not a yoga class. You will spend the afternoon awakening, learning about, and releasing the psoas and understanding its core function within the body.
Sunday, April 18th, 1–4p: Yoga for Strength and Stability
Moving from the core requires balanced muscle tone and fluid joints, and in this class you will breathe, focus, move, stretch, and balance to create a more solid center. Core abdominal tone improves nearly every pose, allowing us to move with purpose and ease. Strength built on the mat informs your life when you step off of the mat, allowing you to live work and play to your fullest.
This workshop focuses on building a solid center from which healthy movement patterns originate.
Sunday, April 18th, 5–8p: What Is CoreWalking? (And Why Do I Need it?)
The CoreWalking Program provides pain relief, healing, and techniques for aging gracefully. Using simple adjustments to the way you walk, stand, sit, and exercise—CoreWalking can have life-changing results. It offers specific bodywork tools that you can easily integrate into your daily routine to reverse whatever has been holding you back from your fullest life.
With the disruption that
currently surrounds us, it’s easy to feel stressed and
overwhelmed. Yoga Nidra, a
guided meditative practice, can help you find a source of internal
stability and resilience. It can ease tension and fatigue, calm the
nervous system, and restore energy.
In
this workshop you’ll:
-
Learn centering and relaxation techniques
- Practice gentle asana stretches for joints
and muscles
-
Explore yoga breathing techniques
-
Be guided through a complete Yoga Nidra
practice.
Yoga Nidra is practiced in a
comfortable lying or seated position. No prior experience needed —
everyone welcome.
This workshop will meet online; Zoom meeting links to the workshop will be sent out before the workshop begins. Please enroll at least 12 hours in advance.
Join Johanna for a virtual session to learn the basics about how sound healing works. We’ll dive into the secrets of sound healing and how this powerful tool can help you bypass the analytical mind to experience deep relaxation. This 75 minute workshop will allow you to fully relax the body and mind with the healing tones of a sound bath. The beginning portion will focus on understanding the how of sound healing and the second portion will give you the experience of a sound bath to be fully immersed in a sound bath. This sound bath will give you the chance to release the physical body to increase the energetic flow. The sound bath will include soothing therapeutic tones from crystal singing bowls, Tibetan metal singing bowls, gong, chimes and more.
Please note: Zoom links will be emailed to registrants 24-hours before the workshop and again 1-hour before the workshop. If you register closer than 1-hour to the event start, you may not receive the link. If you have any trouble with access, please email yoga@willowstreetyoga.com.