Metanoia : A Weekend of Yoga & Movement Exploration
'Meta' means to change or 'beyond'
'Noia' means 'thinking' or 'knowing'
Metanoia = to change how we think; to look beyond what we think we know
This weekend's offerings will be all about exploring new perspectives and new ways of approaching our yoga practice, and how we move through our lives, in general. When we step away from the familiar or the habitual ways of doing things, we are often able to unlock areas that have been underutilized, stuck, or overworked.
These offerings will not be about “right” or “wrong” ways of doing asana; rather, just the aim will be to create a space for you to make those discoveries on your own. All levels welcome. (Please tell Jyl about any chronic or recent injuries or concerns before the classes begin)
Friday June 21 6-8pm
Front & Back Body
Most of our life is spent moving forward through the world, but, embryologically, our back body could be said to have developed before our front body; it led the charge to our become fully embodied. How can we bring more awareness to those parts of our front or back that are less utilized? Be that physically or energetically.
In this class we'll use small, subtle, and semi-sneaky movement to target some of the “key players” in these areas: hamstrings and gluts, psoas, and hip flexors, scapula and sternum; but also explore sensitivity and motor control – where it comes easily...and where it doesn't...and how we can bring a greater sense of balance to not just our asana practice, but to all of our movement.
Saturday June 22
The term 'core' get thrown around so much these days, but what do we mean when we refer to 'our core'? In my personal experience, our core relates to everything...from how we move...to the core of our life... to that which drives us in our lives. Our core is that which helps us stand strong and steady in a world that often can sometimes feel like it's trying to knock us down. But this doesn't mean only turning inward to find that steadiness; it also means we extend ourselves outwards towards the support that is available from the openness of, and perhaps even beyond, our physical forms.
In these two classes, we'll use skillful physical movement to discover more about our own core supports us in our lives and how we can help to better support it.
12-2:30: Opening Outwards
In this class, we'll focus on using rotation movements and playful preparations for arm balancing to explore the relationship between the core of our body and our limbs.
4-6:30: Holding Your Center
In the second half of the day's offerings, we'll connect deeply with our midline awareness and how we can better support that both through our yoga practice and our lives.
Sunday 9-12 am: Low + Slow
Our joints are amazing and complex structures in our body and require a lot of our metabolic energy. If we don't use them (meaning if we aren't moving them), our bodies intelligence starts to send that energy to areas where it's going to be better utilized. This can lead to stiffness, achiness, and immobility in our joints. When we are able to move well through our lives, we not only age well, but we feel well!
This workshop is going to focus on creating more sense of fluidity and stability in our joints; all of them! As the name of the workshop implies, the majority of this class will be done low to the ground, keeping our center of gravity low to the Earth and using the support of gravity to assist us in this process. Most of this class is what I call “dynamic restorative” work, but there will be space at the end to drop into some of the more familiar supported, restorative postures.