Yoga teacher training

I am SO very excited to announce this!!

Join me and Christine West at Yogaraj for our 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training this Spring!

Teacher training is a fantastic way to deepen your yoga practice, but more importantly it allows you the opportunity to better understand yourself. This well-rounded course will explore yoga from ancient texts to modern movement science covering the following topics: philosophy, physiology, breathing, anatomy, mindfulness, sequencing, developing your voice as a teacher, hands-on adjustments, inclusiveness, Ayurveda, prenatal yoga, ethics, and the business of yoga. Through experiential learning, group and personal practice, critical thinking, reading, and journaling, this 200-hour training will provide the foundation for someone to embody the practice of yoga and share it with others. If you’re interested in learning how to effectively lead a yoga class, investing in a transformational study of yourself and the practice, or creating community with likeminded people, this training is for you.

Please email me with any questions! Looking forward to this journey

Arm balancing

Arm balances can be really fun -unless you don't quite know how to actually do it, especially as a newer student in a yoga class. You may hear a yoga teacher casually offer an optional crow pose, or some other arm balance for students to do, without any demonstration. (myself included). In a typical yoga class there usually isnt enough time to truly break down the mechanics. Problem is, if you don't know how to do it, its hard to get the courage to get lift off. Fear and uncertainty can can take over. Even if you have been practicing for a while and you finally get lift off it can be so hard to actually stay up and maintain your breath in the pose when you are unaware of what bakasana actaully demands of you.

Just like looking at a long list of things to do, its easy to feel overwhelmed. However when you simply look at one task as a time, you slowly chip away and the next thing you know, you've completed the list. 

Looking at a complex yoga pose, like bakasana, is a lot like that. Once it is broken down into its most fundamental levels, piece by piece, it can be understood. We'll break down the following list with simple and engaging techniques 

• placement of hands

• mechanics arms

• protraction of shoulder blades

• engagement of core & hip flexors

• opening of hips

• squeezing in of knees

• engagement of hamstrings

When practiced with awareness, overtime, this stuff becomes second nature and will become the building blocks to other more challenging (read: fun) arm balances.  

I hope to see you Sunday, March 4th at Yogaraj from 2-3:30 so we can nerd out about this topic together! The workshop is only $20. 

Hugs & Namaste 

Yoga photoshoot with Erin

After an amazing class with Giselle Mari at Yogaglo,  Erin and I had a delightful yoga photo shoot together. Taking a class together before the shoot was perfect to get her muscles all warmed up for the shots she had in mind. She wanted an urban look to her shots, so we went adventuring around Venice Beach on the hunt for artful & colorful walls to procure some snapshots in front of. Gotta love the street art in Venice, there is certainly no lack of it. Here are  just a few photos we captured. I loved getting her spritely energy in front of my camera. I could have shot her all day.  Unfortunately, the sun was setting fast, so we had to call it a day. 

Erin is a wonderful teacher, I love the energy she brings to the class.  If you haven't checked out her classes yet, you should!