This workshop is for anyone who would like to learn the basics of backbends and inversions. Join Melanie Buffett, RYT as she guides you through a sequence designed to help you become stronger and more flexible so you can practice these poses with confidence and enjoy a whole new perspective in your practice. Students should be prepared to go upside down and press up into a full backbend with help and support. Seasoned Beginner/Intermediate Level. Some Yoga Experience Required. 2 HOURS $20 pre-register. $25 day of. Workshops are non-refundable.
Partner Yoga Workshop
The Joy of Partner Yoga
This playful workshop explores yoga by utilizing a partner to share postures, increase stretches, add stability to poses, and improve balance. While making conscious contact through your breathing, touch, and awareness, your partner’s presence co-creates an alignment that not only supports the physical body, but also touches the emotions and embraces the soul. Sign up with a friend or pair up with a classmate. Basic knowledge of yoga and previous yoga experience is helpful but not required.
Teachers: Dana Blazich has been practicing yoga since 1999 and teaching at the YMCA since 2003 when she completed her FiTour Yoga Certification. She currently teaches at the Moorer YMCA and Hearin-Chandler YMCA in Mobile.
Amanda Brenner has been practicing yoga since 2005 and teaching since April 2009, and she also has her FiTour Yoga Certification. She currently teaches at the Hearin-Chandler YMCA in Mobile and also at Yoga Birds.
Amanda began practicing with Dana in 2006, and since then they have enjoyed sharing the journey of yoga together. Amanda developed the Partner Yoga Workshop with Dana after cultivating a curiosity by experimenting with partner yoga with her husband, Ben.
COST: Early Bird Registration (recommended) $30 per person.
Day of (space permitting) $35.
Workshops are non-refundable.
Mystical Sutras with Michelle Baker
MYSTICAL SUTRAS SOUTHERN YOGA TOUR with MICHELLE BAKER, E-R.Y.T. 500
In this workshop, we will thread precious chosen verses of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali into our asana practice and pay honor to one of the most mysterious and vital yoga texts still invoking wonder in us today. The workshop is accessible to all levels of yoga experience. The asana focus will be on the alignment of the hips with hip openers that lead to arm balances for those ready.
Potluck to Follow 4 – 5pm!
Kirtan with Karuna at 5pm. (Separate Registration)
ABOUT THE TEACHER: MICHELLE BAKER has been teaching yoga full-time in the Gulf Region since 1998 with over 7,000 hours of yoga teaching experience. She is the founder of Swan River Yoga and the Director of Swan River Yoga Teacher Training. Find out more about Michelle and her studio at www.swanriveryoga.com.
WORKSHOP COST: $40
Workshops are non-refundable.
Kirtan with Karuna
Following the Mysical Sutras Workshop (Separate Registration)
Kirtan is call and response bliss chanting. Enjoy live harmonium, guitar, drums, harp, and heavenly voices of the ecstatic chant band, Karuna, singing yoga mantras, Sanskrit chants, and Gospel with serious Soul.
KARUNA KIRTAN COST: $15
Workshops are non-refundable.
Global Mala Yoga for Peace Project
SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL YOGA MONTH
GLOBAL MALA YOGA FOR PEACE PROJECT UNITES YOGA COMMUNITY IN SUPPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE
Yogis Throughout the World Cross the Borders of their Mats to Raise Consciousness for Peace
On September 19, the Global Mala Yoga for Peace Project, whose purpose is to unite the global yoga community, will implement events throughout the world in honor of the United Nations International Day of Peace. A mala is a string of beads like a Rosary. Forming a “mala around the earth” through collective practices based upon the 108 bead mala , the mission of the Global Mala Project is to raise consciousness for some of the most pressing issues facing the world today. Global Mala Yoga for Peace is a featured event during National Yoga Month 09.2009.
Thousands of yogis will practice 108 sun salutations at hundreds of event across the nation. Taking its name from the sacred prayer beads called “mala” used in India and Tibet as meditation guides, the Global Mala Project will benefit the Yoga Health Foundation and numerous other charities and projects being supported by local community leaders. Composed of 108 beads, the mala is symbolic of the prayer for peace, hope and charity the Global Mala Project will be sending to the world.
“With the rising threat of Global Warming, the illusion of separateness is dissolving around the world,” said Shiva Rea, world renowned Yoga teacher and catalyst for the Global Mala Project. “Yoga is one of the few common denominators for millions of people around the world; together we are creating a circle around the earth and dedicating our energy to peace.”
Global Mala Yoga Project in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, San Francisco and many other cities worldwide will include 108 sun salutations, live music, and fellowship with like-minded yogis interested in creating the peace they wish to experience in the world.
Yoga Birds in Fairhope, Alabama will celebrate Global Mala and National Yoga Month with a free Global Mala Yoga For Peace event on September 19th from 1-4pm. Festivities will include a 108 minute on-going practice of Sun Salutations in the studio from 1pm – 2:48pm followed by a live music performance by Burke Ingraffia. Healthy refreshments will be served.
For more information, please visit www.globalmala.org or www.yogamonth.org.
Workshop with Anusara Certified Instructor Catherine McCarthy
In the Wake of Katrina: ANUSARA 101
To commemorate the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we have the chance to reflect on all that has transpired over the past 4 years. Anusara means to be “in the flow of grace,” like being drawn in the wake of any meaningful path. The key to staying resilient lies in the ability of remaining open and actively receptive, especially when one’s life is turned upside down. So when we align ourselves on that path, our intentions are carried along with the support of something bigger, co-creating our journey with more empowerment and freedom.
Anusara Yoga is a unique, therapeutic style of Hatha Yoga in which the artistic expression of the human heart blends harmoniously with the scientific principles of body biomechanics. Anusara is heart-oriented, inspiring and yet grounded in physical and energetic alignment, for both the inner and outer body. These weekend workshops include an in-depth exploration of the foundation of Anusara Yoga with the Universal Principles of Alignment and the triad of the heart, mind and body.
How we choose to participate in life all starts with our attitude. By looking for the good, we can alchemize any situation into something positive and beneficial. With an open mind and playful asana practice, the heart can unfurl and soften, leading us to the new and unexpected. Within the confines of optimal alignment, we will learn how to make every pose an authentic expression of ourselves, from the inside out. In the wake of Katrina, allow your radiant heart to lead the way.
- Fri 6-8pm: Eye of the Tigress (advanced level)- Challenge yourself while playing your edge safely and develop more strength, flexibility, and joy. $25 pre-register / $30 day of
- Sat 1-4pm: Heart-opening Backbends and Inversions (mixed level) $35 / $40
- Sun 1-4pm: Hip-openers and Arm Balances (mixed level) $35 / $40
- Mon 6-8pm: Monday Night Twister Playshop (mixed level)- Enjoy the cleansing aspects of twists in a plethora of poses. $25 / $30
About Cat
Catherine McCarthy is a Certified Anusara Yoga® Instructor who balances her time between her hometown of New Orleans and New York City. Her love of yoga and her playful approach makes learning accessible and fun for all. Through the transformative and therapeutic technology of Anusara Yoga, Catherine encourages students to radically affirm their vast potential with strong bodies, open hearts and curious minds. Inspired daily by her students and over the years by her teachers Anusara Yoga founder John Friend, Amy Ippoliti, Elena Brower, and Rajanaka philosophy scholar Dr. Douglas Brooks, Catherine is thrilled to share all that she has learned both on and off the mat.
Cat’s workshop series is available as a 4-class package for $120. Or purchase each class a la carte. There is limited space. Pre-registration is recommended.
REGISTER ONLINE FOR ALL FOUR DAYS
Special $108 Pricing if Your Register for All 4 Classes Before August 10, 2009.
REGISTER ONLINE For Individual Classes
Intro to Thai Yoga Bodywork
Thai Yoga also called ‘lazy man’s yoga’ is traditionally performed on a floor mat in comfortable clothes. Those who have experienced a session describe it as both relaxing and energizing. Join us for a fun introduction to this beautiful healing art. The workshop is open to anyone who wants to learn more about Thai Yoga Bodywork. Massage therapists, yoga students, and teachers will find it particularly beneficial for deepening their practice.
Teacher: Beckie Sathre of Abhaya Yoga in Pensacola has been teaching yoga for over 10 years and has been practicing Thai Yoga for 5 years. She is currently teaching Thai Yoga Bodywork for the Vedic Conservatory.
COST: $30 early bird, $35 day-of (space permitting)
REGISTER ONLINE
Workshops are non-exchangeable and non-refundable.
Yoga For Teens Summer Series
JULY 7 – JULY 30 (8 YOGA SESSIONS)
TUES & THURS 8:30-9:45 AM
$100
Learn and practice the Sun Salutation flowing sequence and classic yoga poses. Experience the benefits of yoga. Sign-up if you’re interested in ● Improving your posture ● Bringing balanced tone to your whole body ● Increasing core stability and awareness ● Experiencing deep states of relaxation ● Increasing focus and concentration ● Having fun with adventurous like-minded peers!
Open to teens 13 – 18. Melanie Buffett, RYT and Georgia Schrubbe, FiTour certified will team-teach each session. Yoga mats provided. For more information about Yoga Birds or to sign-up and pay online go to www.yogabirds.com. Or come by Yoga Birds during the boutique hours (12 – 6 Mon-Sat) to register. Space is limited.
Pre-registration is required.
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Therapeutic Yoga Workshop
Experience the healing power of Therapeutic Yoga in this special workshop led by Julie Wilkins, OTR and Melanie Buffett, RYT. Participants will learn:
- Common areas in the body susceptible to injury from overuse, poor body mechanics and age or disease related musculoskeletal changes
- How to use yoga to improve postural strength, endurance, flexibility and balance
- Using yoga to prevent injury or reinjury
- The use of breath work and simple meditation to accelerate healing and aid in recovery
This workshop will include gentle yoga sequences and breath awareness training and will conclude with a soothing and relaxing restorative yoga practice using props such as bolsters, blankets and straps for a sustained and supportive yoga practice. Appropriate for all levels.
Pre-Natal Yoga Workshop
A safe and effective pre-natal yoga practice can help women prepare for the demands of pregnancy, labor, birth, and motherhood. In this mini-workshop, we will move through poses (both active and restorative) with our breath to relieve the physical and mental demands of your body during this exciting phase of life. We will work to increase flexibility, strength, and energy, while also developing concentration and focus that is helpful during labor.
Meredith Montgomery (a Yoga Alliance Registered Teacher since 2004), who is expecting her first baby on August 1st, will teach this class. It is open to women in all stages of pregnancy, as well as to those that just want to learn more about pre-natal yoga!
$30 Pre-register on-line or at the studio. $35 day-of (space permitting).