Workshop Offerings

 

Introduction to Yoga: Geared to give new students an understanding of the basic movements and mechanics of yoga, this workshop also will work for new teachers who want to learn how to give effective yoga cues. All the fundamental poses will be reviewed along with how to use props. (4 hours)

Introduction to Yoga Anatomy: This workshop will provide an overview of the key aspects of anatomy for yoga teachers. We’ll review, anatomical position, key anatomical movements, key bones, muscles, joints, and apply this to several fundamental yoga poses. (6 hours)

Yoga Poses with Anatomy Breakdown: In this workshop we’ll review approximately 30 fundamental yoga poses and discuss the anatomical actions, key benefits, muscles in action, modifications and effective cues to provide. (6 hours)

Shoulder Anatomy Lab: This workshop will cover a breakdown of the movements of the shoulder joint and the scapula. We’ll examine the key muscles of the shoulder as well as the bones and examine poses that feature shoulder movements. We’ll discuss movements that put the shoulder at risk, cues that should be avoided and look at poses that both strengthen and lengthen the involved muscles. We’ll also examine movements of daily living that make yoga practice challenging when it comes to the anatomy of the shoulder and discuss modifications as cues that can help students tap into the strength of their shoulder. (6 hours)

Hip Anatomy Lab: This workshop will examine the hip joint, the anatomical movements of the hip and the key muscles involved. We’ll look at poses that involve the movements of the hip in all directions: flexion, extension, internal and external rotation. We’ll also look at movements commonly taken in yoga practice that can put the hip joint at risk, discuss cues and modifications to offer and discuss sequencing ideas for classes that feature a focus on hip movement. (6 hours)

Spine Lab: This workshop will examine the structure of the spine, detailing the sections (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacrum and coccyx), look further into the shape of each vertebrae and then discuss the features of the spinal discs. We’ll then look at movements of the spine in the frontal and transverse plane (flex/extend, rotation) and examine healthy movements of the spine. We dive into poses like twists and backbends as a way to understand muscles that support the spine and what they do in action. (6 hours)

Fascia and Myofascial Release Lab: This interactive workshop will involve using massage/myofascial release balls to allow participants to better understand the technique of myofascial release. We’ll first discuss the benefits of myofascial release as well as the structures of muscle and fascia. We’ll then review key muscles and and look at how myofascial release can be used to maintain healthy muscles, relieve pain and improve joint range of motion. (5 hours)

Practical Application of Anatomy to Yoga Teaching: This workshop is a great follow up to one of the more general workshops as it assumes a certain understanding of key muscles, bones and anatomical actions. However, it can work well as a stand alone training also. In this workshop, we’ll review several common actions we take in yoga, like moving from High to Low Push Up, and examine the anatomy, detrimental movements one might take, discuss helpful cues to provide and use practice teaching as a method to better learn the details. (6 hours)

Assisting in Yoga Keeping Anatomy in Mind: There is a great deal of conversation in the yoga industry about assisting: should you do it, how should you do it, should you ask permission and if you do assist, what kind of assist should you provide? Do you need an extensive understanding of anatomy to provide appropriate assists? In this workshop, we will dive into it all, along with a conversation about all these issues. We’ll look at the key action of many poses, approach each pose from an assisting point of view with a specific and repeatable template and then pair up and assist each other and provide feedback. (6 hours)

Building Yoga Sequences with an Anatomical Focus: This workshop works well as a follow up to earlier workshops that cover anatomical movements, poses and muscles in action in poses. However, it can work well as its own too. We will look at anatomical actions, what happens to the involved muscles in each action and then make a list of anatomical themes. From there, we will match up the poses to the themes and create sequences that highlight these anatomical themes. This workshop also works well for teachers with a few years of teaching experience who are looking to move into creative sequencing. (8 hours)

Effective Yoga Cues: The most common tool we have as teachers are the cues we give. If the cues we provide aren’t helpful and are not able to cut through the mental chatter our students have during class, we can’t provide an optimal scenario for the right actions to occur. This workshop will examine the important question of “What makes an effective cue?” along with what types of cues we can provide (anatomical, alignment, action oriented or feeling related). We’ll then look at key yoga poses, discuss the cues for each one and give teachers an opportunity to practice effective cues by teaching short sequences. (8 hours)

Full 20 hour anatomy training (as part of your studio’s 200 hour training): This offering is meant to support yoga studios who wish to outsource the anatomy portion of the 200 Hour training.