Saturday

9:30-12:00

Making Ashtanga Primary Series Accessible for Everyone

Joan carefully introduces to you the fundamentals of the Ashtanga yoga system in a slow, safe, and supportive way. You will learn sun salutations along with the standing postures, breathing techniques, and how to work with your bandhas to make picking up and jumping through accessible for everyone! Open to all levels, it is a great way to understand how to begin a Mysore practice and not feel overwhelmed. Joan Hyman has been practicing Ashtanga yoga for two decades and believes this fiery & intense practice is the key for unraveling your true self. Everyone can practice ashtanga yoga and receive the transformational benefits if taught properly and to the individual's body type. Understand the sequence and how to access some of the roadblocks that are in the primary series and gain tools for a self practice at the same time! We will end this practice with pranayama.

Saturday

14:00-16:30

Inversions and Shoulder Stability

Healthy shoulders make for better inversions and add more longevity to your practice. With the multiple downward dogs and chatarungas of one's daily Ashtanga practice, your shoulders can be vulnerable to injury over time.

Learn how to use props and alignment cues to better understand how to stabilize your shoulders, helping you access other postures and prevent impingent. This workshop will start with a lecture pointing out the bones and muscles that make up the shoulder girdle and teach you how to move safely from your shoulder blades while protecting the vulnerable muscles like your rotator cuffs. We will then move into a shoulder-focused asana practice, which will include inversions and learn how to approach them safely by creating stability in the shoulder joint with the use of props and alignment cues. You'll learn ways to work with a strap that will help you understand how to externally rotate your shoulders, creating stability and reducing injury. Practice and learn at the same time while creating a sustainable safe yoga practice!

Sunday

9:30-12:00

Backbends including Dropping Back

Discover the freedom of back bending, unlock the secrets to these deep poses, and finish your practice feeling grounded and exhilarated. We will work on the components of backbends focusing on salabhasana and ustrasana, opening the quads, hip flexors, and spending time on the core and uddiyana bandha, which can help protect the low back. We will break postures down and assist each other to gain a deeper understanding of these transformational poses in a safe and playful way. This practice will be followed by a pranayama practice to end.

More from Joan on this posture:

Sunday

14:00-16:30

Injury Management

Injury Management

Understanding injuries is a crucial part of being a yoga teacher and practitioner these days. Most people that come to yoga usually have some type of injury they are working with. We will review common injuries and the anatomy involved with those injuries to help to build a healthy sequence strengthening the muscles around the surrounding area. Learn important questions and techniques to help approach injuries with more awareness and mindfulness. This will be a combination of a discussion and therapeutic practice.