Yoga Workshops for Everyone

Wednesday, September 20, with Tama Soble, 7:00pm-8:30pm ET, PWYC
$10 minimum donation on Zoom

The Jewish High Holidays offer an annual opportunity for reflection on the themes of forgiveness, renewal, repentance and rebirth, ideas that have relevance to all individuals from any background.

Join us for an evening of gentle meditation and conversation. For anyone preparing for Yom Kippur or simply interested in these universal human issues.

E-transfers to info@estheryoga.com is the preferred method of payment as it is much more cost effective for our small business. We also accept PayPal, Visa and Mastercard.

Image: Knitted stained glass by Kirk Dun

Sunday, October 1, with Donna Oliver, 2:30pm-4:30pm, $40
at the Studio

Bagua is fun and allows us to work together with a partner in unison (optional). Gentle twisting of the spine allows Qi to flow to all the organs and develops the smaller core muscles. This is a very effective martial art after years of practice, but we will focus on the energetic aspect, form basics and breath work.

Donna Oliver placed third in an international Bagua competition in Virginia, 1995 under the tutelage of Master Andy James. She has studied Bagua from 1990 to the present.

Friday, October 13, with Tama Soble, 1:00pm-3:00pm, $40
at the Studio

The abdominal muscles support and stabilize the torso and protect the organs. They also interact with breathing and digestion. As with all muscles in the body, the abdominals are healthiest and serve us best when resilient. Let’s explore functional ways to strengthen, release and stretch the abdominal wall and learn more about the brilliance of our bodies. 

Sunday, October 22, with Tama Soble, 10:00am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-3:00pm, $100 full day, $60 half day
on Zoom

Learn how to adapt yoga poses to the precise needs of your body or those of your students by applying basic anatomical principles. Reconnect with body and breath using gentle practices that acknowledge the relationship between functional anatomy and the unique nature of each body. This workshop is open to students and teachers at all levels of experience.

Sunday, November 5, with Helen Kohl, 10:00am-12:00pm ET, $40
on Zoom

A chair yoga class can be a great alternative to a conventional class. This is a workshop for yoga teachers, for beginners with mobility issues, for those with a friend or family member craving movement and stimulation, and for anyone sedentary. But all instructors and students interested in broadening their approach to the asanas can benefit and draw inspiration on how to create a full yoga class or practice, from a chair. As with any FULL hatha yoga practice, you’ll enhance your flexibility, relieve your stress, build your strength, access your inner quiet and (yes, from your chair) improve your balance.

Friday, November 10, with Shirley Roll, 1:00pm-3:00pm ET, $40
on Zoom

Explore the intersection of various yogic practices with our 21^st century understanding of the nervous system.  We’ll work on strengthening our “vagal tone” to ensure that we can apply what our bodies already know through yoga to the challenges of our day to day lives. Based on the Polyvagal Theory described by Dr Stephen Porges.

Sunday, November 12, with Monica Voss, 2:30pm-4:30pm, $40
at the Studio

Returning to inverted postures after the pandemic requires time and patience and moral and physical support. It will be easier with a repertoire of preparatory stretches and active breathing techniques. But better still, if we practise in person together. 

Please join this session – even if inversions are beyond your grasp at the moment – to increase upper body fluidity and gain confidence weight bearing through your wrists, arms and shoulders. This workshop will include spinal release, breath practice and relaxation. All are welcome!

Image: David Ben-Gurion in headstand

Saturday, November 18, with John Campbell, 1:00pm-2:30pm, $30
at the Studio

Yoga Nidra is a meditation practice that dates back to the time of the Upanishads. Today, it is widely used both as meditation and as a therapeutic tool for PTSD, other psychological trauma and distress. Yoga Nidra is experiential and produces a state of deep relaxation, similar to sleep, in which we remain aware. From this place, we experience, notice and welcome the comings and goings of different aspects and layers of the self such as physical sensations, feelings, emotions, thoughts and beliefs. In Yoga Nidra, we are given the opportunity to feel past all these fluctuations and rest in the unchanging, peaceful, welcoming ground of our being.

John Campbell has been practising yoga at Esther Myers Yoga Studio for over 35 years and is a graduate of the EMYS Teacher Training Programme.

Sunday, November 19, with Monica Voss, 10:30am-3:00pm ET
on Zoom
$60 suggested donation/full day, $30/half day, included in your unlimited at the Studio
morning only, 10:30am-12:30pm ET; afternoon only, 1:30pm-3:00pm ET

All the leaves are brown (or down) and the sky is grey Let’s spend a day together soothing and cheering ourselves, practising in the most lighthearted, warmhearted way, dreaming of a deep restful winter and an early spring. Everyone welcome.

Sunday, December 3, with Monica Voss, 11:00am-1:30pm ET, $50
on Zoom

Practising yoga at home can be a refuge and a way of reconnecting to ourselves. In this workshop we will design themes for home practice, explore sequences of yoga postures, the rationale behind them and our personal responses to them. We will discuss the challenges and the joys of our time alone with yoga. Teachers and interested students of yoga are welcome to attend.

Friday, December 8, with Tama Soble, 1:00pm-3:00pm, $40
at the Studio

The psoas muscle is powerful and intelligent. It lies deep in the torso connecting spine, pelvis and legs. Understanding how to release, stretch and strengthen the psoas helps us integrate and stabilize the entire physical body and free up the respiratory system. We will explore postures and breathing practices to deepen our awareness and understanding of the role of the psoas in a balanced, resilient and steady and energized body and mind.

Sunday, January 14, with Monica Voss,
10:00am-12:30pm, 1:30pm-4:00pm ET, Full day/$90, Half day/$50
on Zoom

Spend a full day exploring all aspects of the spine – its anatomy, connection to the breath, energy, movement and texture and the imagery that has traditionally supported it. Each segment of the workshop will focus on two neurological movements of the spine and the yoga postures that pertain to and illustrate it, as follows:

Sunday am, Flexion and extension/Backbends and Forward bends
Sunday pm, Spinal rotation and lateral bending/Twists and Side stretching

Image: Plant detail by Sonya Noskowiak