– WORKSHOPS –
Zoom links for online classes will be sent to you close to the Workshop date.
Gentle Approach to Deepening Asanas
with Luisa
Fridays, Feb. 6 - March 13 | 4:00 - 6:00 pm
$120 for all six classes / $22 for a single class
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This six weeks Yoga series is suitable for students who have a regular 2-4 Yoga practice, or have the equivalent body awareness and strength. In each class, the practice will focus on some challenging poses with a sequence that gradually approaches these asanas. The classes are intended to be gentle and intense. Please contact Luisa to register, via e-mail at gckcheong@gmail.com
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Luisa graduated from the Advanced Studies Program in 2019. She has been a dedicated student at The Yoga Room since 2016. Yoga and Art are two strong legs that have supported her to mindfully walk through life.
ADVANCED STUDIES PROGRAM 2026
Anatomy II with Kinesiology
with Sandy Zirulnik
Mondays, March 2 - May 4 | 5:45 - 7:15 pm
10 classes/ $340​
​Offered as a stand-alone module or as a part of the Advanced Studies Program
Prerequisite: Anatomy 1 or permission of instructor
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From the moment of birth, we are residents of our physical bodies. Yoga Functional Anatomy explores this reality in the context of breath, structure, and movement. I invite y ou to join me in a spirit of curiosity, exploration, and collaboration as we consider what we can feel and what we can see as it applies to human anatomy relative to yoga practice. We will take a deeper look at how muscles work, the relationship of the nervous system to movement, fascia, diverse bodies, and balance. This course presents engaging and appropriate learning, whether anatomy is part of your daily life or you haven’t taken a science course since middle school. We will learn elements to immediately deepen yoga practice. It’s been a while? A good opportunity to refresh your relationship to your body if you have previously studied Anatomy.
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The ten weekly sessions will include a combination of presentation, discussion, and anatomy topics coordinated with and preparatory to specific asana teachings related to future modules of The Yoga Room’s Advanced Studies Program. This includes physical landmarks, bones and joints/muscles/soft tissue, and movement practice relevant to families of asanas such as back bends, forward folds, and twists.
Original course material will be provided in a .pdf format, along with selected reading from Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews. You will have the opportunity to create individual and team presentations, gaining familiarity with concepts of anatomy.
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Sandy Zirulnik, E-RYT 500, YACEP, leads yoga classes that explore structure, movement, strength, and balance through the practice of asanas, breathing awareness, and the study of anatomy. Classes are enjoyable and appropriate for students of all ages and interests. Sandy worked in healthcare administration for nine years, during which time he designed several anatomy training programs for allied health workers. He also teaches anatomy and physiology courses for Yoga Advanced Studies programs. Sandy began studying Yoga in 1998 and graduated from The Yoga Room’s Advanced Studies Program.
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ADVANCED STUDIES PROGRAM 2026
Practice of Forward Bends
with Betsy Weiss
Tuesdays, March 10 - April 28 | 5:45 - 7:15 pm
8 classes / $256​
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This course will focus on sequencing and practicing seated forward bends. We will also learn how to modify poses to deal with limitations and injuries. Students will be asked to keep a journal of observations and insights.
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Betsy Weiss has been practicing yoga since 1988 and teaching since 1994. She graduated from the Berkeley Yoga Room's Advanced Studies Program in 1996. Her primary instructors have been Donald Moyer, Mary Lou Weprin, Gay White, and Judith Lasater. Betsy has run two yoga studios in Alameda where she is also an elementary school teacher. She believes that yoga is an antidote to our busy lives and finds great joy in assisting other people on their quest for self-awareness through teaching yoga.
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Asana, Mindfulness, and Meditation
with Christiane Parry
Saturday, March 14 | 2:00 - 4:00 pm
$60​
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In this workshop, we will explore yoga and meditation as mutually supportive and beneficial practices. The workshop will include asana practice combined with breath work and periods of seated and walking meditation. Together we will cultivate embodied awareness, learning to be present with our experience moment by moment. We will work slowly and gently, no prior experience is necessary, all are 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.
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Honoring Spring Equinox in Yogic Practice
with Kalima Rose
Sunday, March 15 | 12:30 - 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. Spring Equinox is a time of the promise of creation and abundance; the light of day comes generous, in balance again with the dark of night; the earth is redolent with birth, new growth, the flash of wildflowers, the sprouts and buds of summer bounty. This workshop will bring a ritual sense of focus on balanced and expanding breath; an asana practice built around gratitude, abundance and growing daylight; and offer time for written reflection and intention setting for the coming seasons of abundance.
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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.
Equinox Qigong and Toning Circle: Balancing Yin & Yang
with Nicole Stone
Sunday, March 22 | 1:30 - 3:30 pm
$40​
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You are warmly invited to experience the beautiful and graceful movements of Wild Goose Qigong. The workshop will include a full body warm-up, self-massage, and an exploration of some of the basic exercises of the Wild Goose Qigong system. After cultivating and circulating our Qi, we'll come to rest in a circle on the floor to engage in a healing sound exercise called Toning. Your subtle body will feel deeply nourished and enlivened from our dive together!
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Nicole Stone is a lover of movement and somatic spiritual practice. Her priority is helping her students find their pleasure and strength from the inside-out. For the last 13 years she has studied and taught Qigong throughout the Bay Area. She also teaches weekly yoga classes at The Yoga Room. See her website for more details: www.joyfulmovementqigongandyoga.com
Headstand and Shoulderstand Variations
with Mary Lou Weprin
Saturday, May 9 | 2:00 - 4:30 pm
$60​ (in person and on Zoom)
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Join us for a rounded practice which will focus on headstand and shoulderstand variations. We will practice various warm-ups and preparations for each inversion, and then take time to observe and practice variations. Participants will be encouraged to practice according to their needs, using props and the wall.
The class will include the following poses:
Salamba Sirsasana I (Headstand)
Eka Pada (One leg down)
Parsvaika Pada (One leg to the side)
Parsva Sirsasana (Twist with both legs together)
Parivrttaika Pada Sirsasana (Twist with one leg forward, one back)
Urdhva Padmasana in Sirsasana (Lotus in Headstand)
Salamba Sarvangasana I (Shoulderstand)
Eka Pada
Parsvaika Pada
Parsva Sarvangasana (one or two legged backbend pivot over 1 hand supporting the sacrum)
Baddha Konasana in Sarvangasana
Halasana
Parsva Halasana
Karnipidasana
This class is for ongoing Level 2–5 students at The Yoga Room, those in the Advanced Studies Program, or by permission from the instructor.
In person space is limited. Please contact Mary Lou at mweprin@comcast.net to reserve a space.
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Mary Lou Weprin has taught classes, workshops and intensives at The Yoga Room since 1980 and enjoys supporting the practice community in their endeavors.
– INTENSIVES –
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coming soon
