– WORKSHOPS –
Zoom links for online classes will be sent to you close to the Workshop date.
Yoga Functional Anatomy
with Sandy Zirulnik
10-WEEK SERIES
Mondays, Sept. 8 - Nov. 10 | 5:45 - 7:15 pm
$350 for series
I invite you 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.
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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.
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We will learn elements to immediately deepen yoga practice.
The 10 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.
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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.
Breathing Awareness
with Gay White
7-CLASS SERIES
Tuesdays, Sept. 9 - Oct. 28 | 5:45 - 7:15 pm
(no Class Oct. 14)
$245 for series / $37 for single class
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Would you like to take seven weeks to develop a personal breath work practice? Take a weekly class, and learn to practice on your own at home for at least 20 minutes, four times a week. With teacher and small group support, you will be introduced to ancient and more current wisdom for interacting with your inner self and energy through awareness. We will study integrating your understanding and discoveries into daily life by slowing down and building skills for relaxation. With gentle attention, we give ourselves time to follow the natural rhythm of our breathing. This class is a good introduction and preparation for Pranayama, Meditation and yoga asana.
There is credit for The Yoga Room’s Advanced Studies Program with the attendance & writing component, and the class is open to everyone, no experience necessary.
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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.
Downside Up: Inversions and Restorative Practice on the Yoga Rope Wall
with Sandy Zirulnik and Gay White
Saturday, Sept. 27 | 2:00 - 4:00 pm
$60​​
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Is every day a fight against gravity? With the help of the Yoga Rope Wall, you can turn the tables and enjoy the force of gravity to assist in inversions and for restorative poses. Join Gay and Sandy for this innovative take on down and up!
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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. Sandy began studying Yoga in 1998 and graduated from The Yoga Room’s Advanced Studies Program. On the rope wall, he explores pushing, pulling and weightlessness.
Gay White has taught yoga since 1995 and finds it gets more interesting each year. She was a longtime student of Donald Moyer and now is Director of The Yoga Room.
Finding Agency in Backbends
with Rinat Fried
Saturday, Oct. 4 | 2:00 - 4:00 pm
$65​​
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Backbends are exhilarating and refreshing -- and can feel intense and overwhelming. In this workshop, we'll tame these powerful poses by discovering actions that give you control and precision in backbends (hint: it's in the legs!). We'll sequence poses to prepare the body for pincha mayurasana (feathered peacock pose) and deeper backbends, and focus on cultivating empowerment and confidence in your backbending practice so backbends become something you actively do, rather than something that happens to you. k.
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Rinat Fried has studied Iyengar yoga in California since 1990. She is a 2011 graduate of the Yoga Room Advanced Studies Program. Her yoga mentors include Donald Moyer, Gay White and Mary Lou Weprin.
OCCASIONAL SATURDAY CLASS
Level 2-4
with Mary Lou Weprin
Saturdays, Oct. 11 and Nov. 8 | 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
$22 (in-person in Studio A)
payable to Mary Lou either in person or on Paypal or Zelle.
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We will have a rounded practice with various warm-ups and preparations, some Standing Poses, Headstand and Shoulderstand and a focus on either Backbends, Forward Bends or Twists.
Please wear a mask when walking around the Studio.
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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.
Yoga and the Vagus for Self-Regulation & Resilience
with Cator Shachoy
Sunday, Oct. 19 | 1:00 - 4:00 pm
$65​​
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The vagus nerve is essential in supporting relaxation and ease of being. This workshop will help you understand and regulate your nervous system. We’ll focus on how vagal tone affects overall well-being, stress resilience, and emotional regulation. Class time incorporates yoga postures, mindfulness and breathing practices to stimulate the vagus nerve, supporting you to transition between different nervous system states. Learn to identify Freeze (shutdown/trauma), Activation (fight/flight/play), and Relaxation (rest/digest). This workshop includes scientific insight and practical movement, making it valuable for anyone looking to enhance their mind-body connection and improve their quality of life.
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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.
Deep. Art. Play! An Embodied Creative Experience
with Luisa
Saturday, Oct. 25 | 1:00 - 5:00 pm
$60 (art supplies are included)​​
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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. The process 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 process artist, and an intuitive human. 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.
Sound Bath Meditation
with Carol Jean Patterson and Rachel Michaelsen
Saturday, Nov. 15 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm
$25​​
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Nurturing your heart is a vital act of self-care that has profound benefits for your well-being. Please join Carol and Rachel in nurturing your heart with a guided meditation and “bathing” in Carol’s vocal healing sounds and Rachel’s sound healing instruments. Proceeds from this event will be donated to the Alameda County Community Food Bank to nurture bodies throughout the County.
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Carol Jean Patterson is a certified Soul Voice Practitioner in the Soul Voice method developed by Karina Schelde (see www.SoulVoice.net). Carol is a 2011 graduate of the Yoga Room Teacher training and in a previous life was a yoga teacher, a metaphysical minister and a social worker.
Rachel Michaelsen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Diplomat in Comprehensive Energy Psychology. She uses energy and sound in her work healing emotional issues. She also provides a free, weekly, online Energy and Sound Healing Gatherings. For more information: www.rachelmichaelsen.com
Celebrating Winter Solstice in Yogic Practice
with Kalima Rose
Sunday, Dec. 21 | 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. The Winter Solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its lowest point in the sky, casting the longest shadows, marking the longest night of the year and heralding the return of the Sun. This workshop will bring a ritual sense of focus on quiet, restful breath; time for written reflection and intention setting; and a supportive asana practice built around folding inward to the shelter of long nights and the restorative darkness that prepares us for the hope, renewal, and promise of new beginnings.
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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.
– INTENSIVES –
THANKSGIVING INTENSIVE 2025
with Mary Lou Weprin
Friday, Nov. 28 — Sunday, Nov. 30
Friday: 10 am—noon and 2–4 pm
Saturday: 10 am—noon and 2–4 pm
Sunday: 9:30 am—noon
$180 for full series; $152 for 4 classes. $120 for 3 classes; $84 for 2 classes
(In-person and on Zoom.)
There are a limited number of in-person spots. Please contact Mary Lou at mweprin@comcast.net for space.
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Join us for a 3-day Thanksgiving Yoga Intensive. Mornings will be devoted to more dynamic asanas, such as Standing Poses and Backbends. Afternoon Practices will focus on Inversions, Forward Bends and Restoratives. This Intensive is for Level 2–4 and 3–5 students.
NOTE: Participants must register for 2 or more classes. Please indicate which classes you wish to attend on the
Registration form.
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Mary Lou Weprin has taught at The Yoga Room for over 40 years and enjoys supporting the practice community
In its endeavors.
