All posts in Past Workshops

Sep 27, 2014 – Feb 8, 2015 ~ Shakti Yoga Shala

with Samantha S. Brown, Kenny Graham, Siri Peterson, Alice Kennedy, Kelly Blaser and Dr. Mike Lane

September 27-28
October 25-26
November 15-16
December 6-7
January 10-11
February 7-8
10:00AM-6:00PM

This six weekend series is open to dedicated students and teachers of yoga and other mind/body healing arts. Continuing education credit through Yoga Alliance with be given to certified teachers. Credit hours will also be given towards the Shakti Yoga Shala 500 hour Teacher Training Program. Continuing Ed Credits available for most holistic health care practitioners. Everyone will learn vital skills to help themselves and others.

Deepen your understanding of the body’s master design for optimal health and regeneration. Pinpoint and address specific root imbalances. Through clarifying mind/body understanding, you will begin to read the body more precisely, and enable the potential of rapid recovery of old, unconscious patterns. Learn to help yourself and others to imprint healthy biomechanics patterns that will prevent future injuries.

Investment: 1,500 commitment by Aug 30th, 1,650 thereafter. Space is limited. Payment plans available. Individual sections of the training can be taken if space allows. To reserve space send check to Shakti Yoga Shala $400, 834 Memory Lane, Boulder Creek, CA 95006. PayPal is also available for credit cards with a 2% additional handling fee.

We will be using “Yoga as Therapy” Volume 1 and Volume two from Doug Keller as the manual. We will also be giving extensive hand outs. Cost of manual is $65 and can be purchased HERE.

Section 1: September 27-28 & October 25-26

Focus: Lower Body. Address injuries associated with the feet, ankles, knees, hips and low back as well as anxiety, poor digestion, irregular elimination and more will be discussed

Section 2: November 15-16 & December 6-7

Focus: Upper Body. Address injuries frequently found in hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, neck, jaw and head. Issues such as vertigo, sensitivity to light and migraine headaches will also be discussed.

Section 3: January 10-11 & February 7-8

Focus: Stress Reduction. Address the digestive system, the thighs, hips, upper back, neck and shoulders. Active and restorative poses will be covered as well as soothing breath work, meditation and deep relaxation (Yoga Nidra).

Yoga Workshop with Alice Kennedy

July 11-13, 2014

Graeagle, CA

There is no doubt that yoga is a complex and unique way of looking at our bodies and the world.  There are so many very valuable ways to understand yoga, learn yoga, embody yoga, and teach yoga.  What if we kept it simple, and gently asked the shapes and forms of the poses to whisper to us exactly what we need to know at that time.  What if a pose, however complex or simple, had in it a blueprint of understanding in an of itself?  This weekend we will work together to understand these poses and what they may teach us.  Be prepared to have fun!

Rest and Renew: Friday, July 11, 5-7 pm
A deep, slow, mostly restorative class that will focus on bringing peace and harmony to your weekend.  Come be nourished and embraced by the perfect, sublime nature of your own body and the nature around us.  Expect some mantra and setting of sacred space for the weekend. Suitable for all levels and all body types.

Upside Down &  All Around: Saturday, July 12, 9-11:30 am
How is it that going upside down brings insight into our strengths, our weaknesses, and sometimes our sense of play?  Come learn some practical tools to help build your confidence with inversions.  Who knows?  You might even have fun!  This will be an intermediate class.

Hips & Hamstrings: Saturday, July 12, 3-5:30 pm
Mellow down this afternoon with the power of hips, forward folds, and twists.  These poses often give us a profound perspective into the core of ourselves. Expect an Intermediate class.

Feel Good Backbends: Sunday, July 13, 9-11:30 am
This will be a progressive backbending class meant to help you understand your own body’s unique way of backbending. There will be variations given so you bend, don’t break!   Designed to be a more intermediate class.

BONUS! Afternoon Hike and Contemplation: Sunday, 1-3 pm *$15
Enjoy a group hike in the Lakes Basin where you will be led in a guided contemplation by Alice.

All levels of students are welcome.

Space is limited – Register in advance here.

All 4 sessions before 6/28 $120
All 4 sessions after 6/28 $140
Each session $35 early / $40 late

More details about housing, etc: Graeagle2014RegistrantLetter

Second Annual Yoga Benefit
for Second Harvest Food Bank

with Yoga teachers:
Kelly Blaser, Samantha S. Brown & Alice Kennedy

When: Sunday, November 24th 4:00-6:30 pm

Where: Yoga Center Santa Cruz  428 Front Street

Yoga creates within us an abundance of joy, love, and compassion.  It is a potent practice of the heart to share with others, and in the great spirit and beauty of the harvest we have the opportunity to give back.

Please join us for a special group practice as we raise funds for Second Harvest Food Bank in order to nourish the many Santa Cruz families that go hungry everyday.  The group donation will be matched with a private donation.

Please arrive early and reserve your spot  by emailing: alice@yogawithalice.com

$45 minimum donation, no one will be turned away for lack of funds
Tea and light snacks served following class.

Getting into the CORE

Saturday September 7th
2-4:45 pm

The dictionary says that the core is “the central or most important part of something.”  Often neglected in an asana practice, the body’s core is an essential part to awaken, strengthen and lengthen for the health of our spine and our entire body. We will be spending time doing all of these things and examining the essential part of the core in various foundational asanas (postures)

Backbends that feel GOOD!

Sunday September 8th
12-2:45 pm

So often, the gauge of a successful backbend is how deep the bend is and how it looks.  This workshop challenges that concept and will NOT be focused on the exterior form but how it feels from the inside out.  We will use what we learned on Saturday and add to our understating by breaking down some of the keys that make the backbends feel delicious at the moment AND the next day!

Both workshops are mixed levels,  but not appropriate for beginners who have had fewer than 8 classes or students who have any serious therapeutic needs and would be better served in a private session.

Where: Pacific Cultural Center

1307 Broadway Ave. (@ Seabright), Santa Cruz, CA

To register:

$40 per class before Aug 24th
$45  per class thereafter

$70 for both classes before Aug 24th
$80 for both classes thereafter

Students are encouraged to attend both sessions, as the second session builds on the first.  These workshops will sell out.  Please register early.

Laura Christensen is a passionate, inspiring, highly skilled national and international yoga teacher who has been a dedicated student of yoga since 1990 and has enjoyed 23 plus years of study under many senior teachers in many different yoga styles.  She is dedicated to uplifting and empowering her students and cultivating a safe place for deep and real connection within and without.  Expect to be profoundly transformed on and off the mat as she skillfully and supportively challenges you and evokes the best version of yourself.  Her powerful presence, authentic voice and focus on integrity motivate students to discover new depths within their hearts and new heights in their asana (posture) practices.  She is honored to be the November 2012 Yoga Journal cover model and featured teacher, and to be featured in several Yoga Journal issues and online videos over the last 10 years. Her focus includes great attention to the breath, core work, balanced energy, intelligent alignment and practical life-supporting inspiration.

To learn more about Laura please visit www.laurachristensen.com.

When:
August 16-18, 2013

Where:
Trails Within, Graeagle, CA

Friday, August 16th * 5:30-7:30pm * $30
Steadiness & Fire  (Hip Openers & Standing Poses)
Find the fire in your hips and steadiness in your feet as we open up and root down into where we are.  Expect a fun, mixed levels class to help you feel settled.

Saturday, August 17th * 9:00-11:30am * $35
Opening Joy (Backbends)
Widen your expanse of great happiness by opening the upper back and shoulders.  This will be an intermediate practice that will help blossom the potential at your heart.

Saturday, August 17th * 3:00-5:30pm * $35
Compassion (Twists and Forward Folds)
Revolving and evolving around the dance of compassion for yourself and others, we will explore the sweetness of twists and forward folds in an intermediate practice.

Sunday, August 18th * 9:00-11:30am * $35
Freedom to Fly (Arm Balances)
These challenging postures can build love of flying and freedom.  Expect an intermediate class that will help you get off the ground and be free!

BONUS! Afternoon Hike and Contemplation
Sunday * 1-3:00pm * $15
Enjoy a group hike in the Lakes Basin where you will be led in a guided contemplation by Alice. Space is limited!

Sign up for all four sessions for $110 before August 1st
($25 savings!)

To register:

email Info@TrailsWithin.com or call (530) 836-1500. Space is limited.

Trails Within is located in the charming town of Graeagle, CA. Graeagle is a gateway to the majestic Sierra Nevada mountains and a unique opportunity to step back into a simpler time and lifestyle. Experience endless hiking and biking trails, crystal clear alpine lakes and rivers, beautiful flora and abundant wildlife. A perfect retreat destination, where days and nights pass by with ease and peacefulness.

More info @ Trails Within’s website.

When:
Saturday, June 1st, 2013
2:30-5 PM

Where:
Pacific Cultural Center
1307 Seabright Ave  Santa Cruz, CA 95062

Intermediate/Advanced

Inversions are potent, powerful, and perspective changing poses. Some energize you and build power and vigor, while others calm the body and minimize anxiety. A healthy and well-rounded practice of both fiery and cooling inversions cultivates equipoise and clarity.  Join Sean and Alice on a journey that will nourish your body and mind, and help you learn to see the world from upside down and inside out.

Sean Haleen (ERYT) is a celebrated Hatha yoga teacher and practitioner from San Francisco. Having practiced yoga from a young age, his understanding runs deep both on the physical and philosophical levels.  After teaching thousands of hours of classes and workshops, yoga is his full time job and passion, and he regularly appears on the pages of Yoga Journal. He has taught yoga to a variety of people including high schoolers, homeless groups, recovering drug addicts, and queer youth.

Alice Kennedy is an alignment based Hatha yoga teacher.  Known for her light-hearted playful approach, Alice’s classes bring a sense of fun and community to the practice of yoga.  Alice studied Anusara yoga with Darren Rhodes, Christina Sell, Kenny Graham, and Samantha Shakti Brown from 2004-2012, and is deeply guided by that method.  She has also learned a unique blend of care and therapeutics to help heal the body and mend the heart.

$30 before May 26
$35 thereafter

To pay and register:

For more info: alice@yogawithalice.com
Scholarships and work trade available

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Sunrise Yoga:  8:30-9:30 am
(Cowell’s Beach at Main)
Breakfast:  9:30 am
Beach Cleanup:  9:00 am-Noon

Start your day by nourishing yourself with a yoga practice led by Anusara-Inspired Yoga Teacher Alice Kennedy and stay to help clean the beach. Please bring warm layers, a yoga mat and a reusable cup. Breakfast courtesy of Whole Foods Market.

WHAT IS COASTAL CLEANUP DAY? California Coastal Cleanup Day, an annual beach and inland waterway cleanup, is the state’s largest volunteer event. In 2010, over 82,500 volunteers removed more than 1.2 million pounds of trash and recyclables from our beaches, lakes, and waterways. When combined with the International Coastal Cleanup, organized by Ocean Conservancy and taking place on the same day, California Coastal Cleanup Day becomes part of one of the largest volunteer events in the world.

For more information visit CoastalCleanupDay.org or call 1-800-COAST-4U.