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Old 08-12-21, 12:11 PM  
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Thumbs up Yoga Workshop Reporter - NEW for 2021!

Hi everyone!

The last Yoga Workshop Reporter thread (here) was started way back in 2004! The most recent post in that thread was in 2020 - from me.

Time for a new thread! I hope others will join me here. I'll start by posting about the workshop I went to last week. I know live yoga workshop are few and far between right now; I encourage people to post about any specialized trainings, including online ones, in the area of yoga, mindfulness, meditation, etc.
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Old 08-12-21, 12:12 PM  
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This is a copy of what I posted in the current (Summer 2021) sadhana thread, although I added a how-to video instead of a photo.

Intro to Acro Yoga, 8/5/21

There were probably about 15 people there, some who came with partners (like I did) and some who came alone. The main teacher was someone I've taken several classes with, including Intro to SUP Yoga 2 years ago - she talked me through that, so I knew she would be good for this, too. She was joined by several other teachers assisting. We did several intro things, including having everyone go around to introduce themselves, with each person during a warm-up stretch. We then did warm-ups across the grass (it was in her backyard, with the acro part practiced on gym mats) such as crawl forward/push-up/repeat and lizard lunge step/repeat.

The first part of the acro work was in partners; you are either a base (bottom) or flier (in air). As the base, you are getting used to taking on weight, keeping your legs at an L from your body, and keeping your arms straight. As the flier you need to practice releasing your weight into the base, keeping your core tight, and preventing your upper back from slumping. After this intro in pairs, we formed small groups of 3 so that one person could be a spotter (and usually there was a 4th person, a teacher, around too). Almost every position we did started with the base's feet at the flier's front hip points (ASIS).

The main pose we did was bird. We took turns being base/flier, and after we had the basic position (below), we experimented with letting go of one or both hands OR having the base remove a leg (the latter was definitely harder; communication is important!).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=779E...aWithSuperDave

After the first few, my friend preferred to be spotter only, as she felt that she wasn't strong enough (I think it takes more leverage than strength but didn't push her), so I practiced with the others. The toughest thing we did was throne (also called straddle throne), which was challenging as a base due to moving your feet and as a flier because of how you had to wrap your legs around the base's legs to get into it.) BUT, I was able to do it, both as a base and as a flier! I added some photos to my profile albums.

It was a fun experience and I definitely recommend trying it if you can!
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Old 08-12-21, 12:16 PM  
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This is a copy of my last post from the previous Yoga Workshop Reporter thread.

Mindful Yoga Workshop, 2/29/20

Last weekend I went to two workshops with Jennifer Kreatsoulus, a yoga teacher and therapist who specializes in yoga for eating disorders. I'm a yoga teacher and psychologist myself, so I went to both her morning workshop, which was on body mindful yoga, and the one in the afternoon, which was on cueing for teachers. Both workshops had about 11-12 participants (some overlap, some different).

In the morning workshop, Jennifer talked about "appreciation," asking us how we view appreciation and how we show it for others, ourselves, and for our bodies. There was a lot of discussion/sharing (all in the room identifying as women) plus a short yoga practice. At the end, we gave each other a "gift"--e.g., people chose gifts such as kindness, caring, acceptance, etc. (My gift was "see the good.")

A lot of what we did in the afternoon was familiar to me, is it centered largely around language, and I've done a lot of reading in this area as it relates to trauma-informed and accessible yoga. Jennifer built on some of the things introduced in her own book, Body Mindful Yoga, which I had already read. She introduced 4 concepts for cueing that are relevant for how I teach my yoga classes (and really, how I conduct much of therapy sessions as well): 1) curious inquiry, 2) neutral observation, 3) purposeful pauses/silences, and 4) permission for comfort. We also discussed being mindful of the effects of certain words on particular populations--for example, the use of "belly" with eating disordered folks.

Jennifer was very friendly, humorous, and down-to-earth. I would definitely recommend her!

Update August 2021: I've kept in touch with Jennifer via FB & IG; sadly she has been dealing with "long covid" symptoms since late last fall.
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Old 08-15-21, 02:14 PM  
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Thanks for this, Beth. I used to always read the yoga workshop reports even back before I did yoga. I really enjoyed them, though I doubt I'll ever go to a yoga workshop, especially not currently or in the near future. I expect there aren't as many available right now.
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Old 08-15-21, 04:31 PM  
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Karen Jo, thanks for your response! Yes, you are absolutely right that not many workshops are available right now, especially live. I'm glad I got to do the acro yoga and the precautions that were taken (it was outdoors, we wore masks, AND everyone was vaccinated).

I was supposed to do a series of workshops that I was really looking forward with Allison Jeraci, but it mid-March 2020, so we know what happened there. It did originally get rescheduled for June 2020, but that still didn't happen.

In October, I'm going to be doing a 30-hour "Yoga for Healthy Aging" training (online), so I'll try to remember to post here about that, too.
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Old 10-09-21, 07:17 PM  
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I'm back, this time to report about a training series, not a workshop; it's more like a series of workshops.

Some background - I finished my YTT (yoga teacher training) 6 years ago this month. I've tried to do continuing education trainings almost every year since then - in 2016 I did a restorative yoga certification, Summer 2018 I did a Yoga for All certification, and in 2019, I did a yin yoga anatomy training. This past summer, I was supposed to do 20-hour Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Essentials course; the course was supposed to start on a Saturday, and I got an email the Monday before saying that they had to cancel.

I could have taken the PRYT on alternate dates, but I decided to look for something else. I settled on a 30-hour Yoga for Healthy Aging Immersion. I had some familiarity with the instructors, Dr. Baxter Bell an Melina Meza. I also owned Yoga for Healthy Aging book, and I really love the Yoga for Healthy aging blog (now called Yoga for Times of Change). The other deciding factor was that at the end of this training, I will be certified in Yoga for Healthy Aging. I'm 53, so it's definitely in my own wheelhouse, but their approach also focuses on wellness across the lifespan, which I love.

The training is 5 hours/day for 6 days - Fri, Sat, Sun of both this weekend and next weekend. So, today was Day 2, and I am really enjoying it so far. We are pretty closely following the book, and at first I thought that maybe most of the material would be review for me, but I'm definitely learning new things and even more nuances to the things I already knew. Baxter and Melina have each been taking a half day to teach so far. They each have their own expertise; Baxter is a medical doctor who had a family practice for some time and who practices acupuncture, and Melina has expertise in Ayurveda (she mentioned this book she wrote that sounded really interesting).

Also, I have really enjoyed the asana practices we've been doing! Yesterday we had short (about 45 minutes) sessions both in the morning and the afternoon, one with Baxter and one with Melina. Today, Baxter taught 2 separate 30-minute focused sessions in the morning (one on strength, one on flexibility) and then we had about an hour of practice with Melina in the afternoon. They each have their own approaches to asana too. I love how they both are using props (I've learned some cool new things!); I also really like that Baxter includes mudras in each practice and Melina ends each practice with a restorative pose.

I definitely think I made the right decision to do this training! I'll try to remember to post again at the end if not before.
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Old 10-17-21, 08:44 AM  
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Hi all - today is the last day of my training. It's been a great experience, so I'm a bit sad.

Today's topic is philosophy. We talked on Friday about how the yamas apply to healthy aging, and I believe that we are likely to talk further about equanimity today, as this is one of the main tenets of the program. We then have a restorative yoga practice () followed by a closing circle. This afternoon, all of the teachers seeking certification (about 2/3 of our group of 18) will teach a class. We've each been assigned one pose; mine is powerful or chair pose. We can incorporate anything we have learned and/or add in our own stuff for our 5-minute chair segment.

Baxter teaches many things dynamically and has a lot of examples - what he calls "mini vinyasas" on his YouTube page. Here are a few ways that he teaches powerful pose:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hI4z3F9FIE&t=5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5rw4DZ-2oA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PznyHVoZ2Ww
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClpJVkf6wa4

And randomly, here's one thing we did in class yesterday that I liked a lot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TKS...BaxterBellYoga

I have much more to say and will be back!
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Old 10-17-21, 09:48 AM  
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His channel seems to have excellent instructions on yoga poses. Thanks for the link.

I’m glad you enjoyed your workshop. I’ve been reading your posts, and it’s really interesting.
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Old 10-17-21, 09:57 AM  
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Thanks Sherry! As I've been going through the workshop, I've though about things I want to post about; I'll have to try to remember everything.

Here's one thing, a sad fact:
for age 65+, there is a 1 in 4 chance of a fall in the next year, and it's 1 in 2 for 85+!
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Old 10-17-21, 11:04 AM  
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Yikes! That's definitely motivating me to do more yoga.
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