– WORKSHOPS –
Zoom links for online classes will be sent to you close to the Workshop date.
Deep Art Play - An Embodied Creative Experience
with Luisa Cheong
Saturday, May 31 | 1:00 - 4:00 pm
$60
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This workshop will invite you to feel inside yourself and enter into a space of known and unknown thoughts, feelings and imaginations. Using a variety of art supplies, a few artistic techniques and an attitude of play, you will learn how to express yourself through present moment interaction with what is emerging. The workshop will include short warm up skill building exercises, followed by a bigger project at the end. This workshop is focused on self expression, not perfection. Therefore it is suitable for total beginners and seasoned artists alike. Life is tough, let’s play!
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Luisa, also known as Gloria Cheong, is a self taught artist. Her passion in art is the ability to let go of mental planning and instead, tap into a creative process of surrender and self-expression, often revealing something inside of oneself that may not have been fully known.
INTERIM ADVANCED STUDIES CLASS
Anatomy II with Kinesiology
with Mary Ann Furda, D.C.
Mondays, June 2 to June 30 | 5:45 - 7:45 pm
$150 / (in-person and online)
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We will study the major muscles of the spine, shoulders arms and hands, pelvis, legs and feet.
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Mary Ann Furda, D.C. is honored to be on the faculty of The Yoga Room to teach Anatomy II. She traveled to Pune to study at the Iyengar Institute together with Gay White decades ago. She’s been teaching yoga ever since. Her knowledge of anatomy was initially gleaned from study at Palmer Chiropractic University, and subsequently teaching both clinical anatomy and in the cadaver lab there. Having been a massage therapist since the early ‘80’s, she’s taught anatomy for bodyworkers for over 30 years.
Asana, Mindfulness, and Meditation
with Christiane Parry
Saturday, June 14 | 2:00 - 4:00 pm
$45
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In this workshop we will explore yoga asanas as a moving meditation, as well as a practice that prepares the body and mind for seated meditation. With periods of asana practice, breath work, and guided meditation, we will cultivate breath and body awareness and learn to be present with our experience both on and off the cushion (or chair). The workshop will help people think about developing an asana practice to prepare for meditation. We'll work slowly and gently, no prior experience necessary, everyone is welcome.
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Christiane Parry discovered both yoga and Zen Buddhism in the 1990s and continues to be devoted to both practices. She is a graduate of the Yoga Room Advanced Studies Program, and received Zen lay ordination with Tenshin Reb Anderson in 2004.
Celebrating Summer Solstice in Yogic Practice
with Kalima Rose
Sunday, June 22 | 12:00 - 3:00 pm
$50 (in-person)
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Aligning yoga practice with the rhythms of the season can prepare us for the upcoming season, allow us to shed what no longer serves us, set intentions for the coming months, consciously center ourselves in our breath and asana practice and celebrate the beauty of earth and celestial movements. Summer solstice is a time of maximal light, tremendous solar energy, biological expansiveness and increased oxygen in the atmosphere. It marks the season of growth, fruition and abundance. This workshop will bring a ritual sense of focus on expansive breath, an asana practice built around salutations to the cresting daylight, and time for written reflection and intention setting.
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Kalima Rose, a student and teacher in the BKS Iyengar and The Yoga Room lineage, will lead the workshop–bringing an orientation to the rhythms of seasons, the beauty of nature and the wisdom of poetic expression.
Yoga Movement
with Gay White
Saturday, June 28 | 2:00 - 4:00 pm
$60 (in-person)
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This movement based workshop invites an experience of unbroken awareness for extended periods of time through focus and concentration. We will look at connections among the asanas as we sway and spin our way through extended movement phrases, mostly slow motion. It feels like yoga, massage and dance. Together they allow for easy modification for individual needs or expression.
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Gay White has worked with movement arts including modern dance, contact improvisation, tai chi, qigong, yoga and pranayama.
She loves teaching yoga to everyone and finds joy in beginners of all levels.
SPECIAL 4-WEEK SERIES
Yoga for Osteoporosis Series
with Betty Aten
Thursdays, July 10, 17, 24, 31 | 9:30 - 11:30 am
$88 for series of four classes / $25 for a single class
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This 4-week series will be a combination workshop and practice format. Each session will begin with a brief lecture/discussion to offer participants background information about how and why yoga is beneficial for those with osteoporosis or osteopenia, including how to practice safely. We will learn and practice the poses shown to improve bone density for most people, with a thread of how to improve balance woven throughout. Learn about the bigger picture of bone health beyond DEXA scores and bone density! It will be helpful, but not mandatory to attend all 4 sessions, as the information and experience is cumulative. This is appropriate for all levels.
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Betty Aten has been practicing yoga for 26 years, and teaching for 16. When she was diagnosed with osteoporosis, herself, in 2016, she became aware of a long-term study demonstrating that yoga can have a positive effect on bone health. It motivated her to become the first Certified Yoga for Osteoporosis teacher in Northern California so that she could share her knowledge with others. She offers on-going classes and workshops, as well as limited private sessions for those with osteoporosis/osteopenia. She teaches with precision, warmth and encouragement.
Yoga Nidra:
Guided Meditation for Rest and Healing
with Ed Davidson
Saturday, July 12 | 2:00 - 4:00 pm
$60
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Step into a space of deep rest and self-inquiry through the ancient meditative practice of Yoga Nidra. This guided meditation leads you on a gentle journey through the koshas, or layers of being, welcoming sensations, breath, emotions, and thoughts with openness and curiosity. As the layers unfold, you’re invited to reconnect with your essential nature as whole, healthy, and peaceful.
The workshop will begin with a brief Yoga Nidra meditation, an overview of some key ideas, followed by a light asana practice to relax the body. You’ll then settle into a comfortable, supported resting position for a full guided Yoga Nidra—a nourishing return to your natural state of simple awareness and well-being.
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Ed Davidson is a graduate of The Yoga Room’s Advanced Studies Program and is Level 2 iRest teacher. iRest® (Integrative Restoration) is a modern, accessible adaptation of Yoga Nidra developed by psychologist and yoga teacher Richard Miller. Ed currently teaches asana and iRest Yoga Nidra at the Sacramento Yoga Center.
Relieve Jaw Tension with Yoga & Mindfulness
with Cator Shachoy
Saturday, July 26 | 1:00 - 4:00 pm
$65 (in-person and online)
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Join us as we explore how to relieve jaw tension with yoga & mindfulness. Class time includes yoga asana, mindfulness practices and 4 core actions connecting your jaw, shoulders, hips, and feet as well as gentle facial self-massage. You will learn about the many causes and repercussions of jaw tension and how to support yourself. If you clench or grind, this workshop is for you!
**Jaw Tension can be a factor in many conditions including headaches, sinusitis, sciatica, digestive and hormonal disorders. Come and learn why this is so and how to bring relief.
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Cator Shachoy is the author of "The TMJ Handbook: A Therapeutic Guide to Relieving Jaw Tension and Pain with Yoga and Mindfulness", available from Shambhala publications. She has practiced yoga, meditation and craniosacral therapy since 1990. Cator has an inclusive private practice working with all ages and teaches workshops around the SF Bay and beyond. www.catorshachoy.com
– INTENSIVES –
Memorial Day Intensive
with Gay White
Saturday, May 24 and Sunday, May 25
mornings 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / afternoons 2:00 - 4:00 pm
$240 (in-person and on Zoom)
Join me for two days of practice as we move into the summer months. The more active morning sessions will open the body and establish a sense of stillness, balance and groundedness through standing poses, supported backbends and twisting postures. The quieter afternoon sessions will encourage turning inward with gentle inversions, reclining work, restorative poses and pranayama. Intensives allow us to go into a deeper kind of practice with four connected classes.
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Gay White, Director of The Yoga Room and Co-Director of The Yoga Room's Advanced Studies Program, has taught yoga in the Bay Area since 1991. Gay's classes and workshops are dedicated to alignment and awareness in a safe and joyful mixed-level learning community.
July Practice Intensive
with Mary Lou Weprin
Friday, Saturday, & Sunday, July 4 - 6
Friday and Saturday: 9:30 - 11:30 am and 2:00 - 4:00 pm
Sunday: 9:30 am - noon
$60 each class/$280 for the series; please register for 2 or more classes.
(in-person and on Zoom)
Contact Mary Lou to reserve a space in person at mweprin@comcast.net.
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Our 34th annual Yoga Room Practice Intensive will help you deepen your yoga practice, further your work on more challenging poses, and develop your skills. You are eligible for this Intensive if you: regularly attend a Level 2–4 or 3–5 class at The Yoga Room, are a graduate of or currently enrolled in the Advanced Studies Program, or by permission of the instructor.
You may register for 2 or more classes.
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Mary Lou Weprin has been teaching at The Yoga Room since 1980. As Co-Director with Gay White of The Yoga Room’s Advanced Studies Program, she continues the work she started with Donald Moyer in 1988 of training many of the Bay Area’s teachers. She also leads Intensives for out-of-town teachers to deepen their ability to observe and assist their students. She offers Practice Intensives and other workshops throughout the year, and leads workshops in the U.S. and Canada.
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August Intensive
with Gay White
Friday, Saturday, & Sunday, August 8-10
Friday and Saturday: 10:00 am - noon and 2:00 - 4:00 pm
Sunday: 9:30 am - noon
$60 each class/$280 for the series.
A weekend of practice for exploring both the energizing and calming aspects of yoga. We will build strength and vitality for the active standing asanas, chest openers and inversions. Then we'll balance that with a detailed approach to inwardly focused seated work and pranayama for a calm nervous system. During the 3 days we will approach each asana group for a sense of refreshment and relaxation.
This Intensive is open to those with a year of yoga experience.
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Gay White, Director of The Yoga Room and Co-Director of The Yoga Room's Advanced Studies Program, has taught yoga in the Bay Area since 1991. Gay's classes and workshops are dedicated to alignment and awareness in a safe and joyful mixed-level learning community.
