workshops and special events
We offer a full array of workshops that range from informative to challenging to just plain fun. There's always something new, so check back often! We recommend reserving your place ahead of time since many of our workshops fill up quickly. Call or email to reserve your space!
yin yoga workshop series
part one: stimulating the chakras through yin yoga
with Katrin Elia
saturday, sept 11
2:30 - 4:30pm
$35 please call or email to register
The original idea of yoga as a way of strengthening the body for extended periods of seated meditation was brought back to life in the late 1980s in the form of Yin Yoga. It is used today to gain and maintain flexibility by relaxing muscles and opening joints, gently, over time. By combining this physical approach with a heightened sensitivity to the flow of energy within the body, in the form of chakras, or energetic crossroads, the practice becomes one of awakening: both physically and energetically.
The first workshop of this series focuses on the first and second chakras (Muladhara and Svadhisthana) and their role in centering and relaxing the body and mind. A sequence of selected Yin Yoga postures will target the two lowest Chakras, allowing you to experience the change in your own energy flow, first-hand.
The second workshop of this series will be held on November 13th and will concentrate on the third chakra (Manipura).
About the teacher: Katrin Elia is a certified Yin and Vinyasa Yoga Teacher. She loves to integrate Yin's passive approach in Yoga into her Vinyasa teachings. In 2009, she studied extensively with Erich Schiffmann in Los Angeles and worked recently with Pauli Zink, the father of Yin Yoga.
welcome back weekend at the yoga garden
our way of saying thanks for 15 years of community and 15 years of being voted best of the main line!
friday, saturday, & sunday, sept 24-26
Each day, NEW and RETURNING* students can come to any of our regularly scheduled classes absolutely FREE! If you love the classes, we'll give you a 15% discount on any class package you purchase during the weekend!
Existing students get $15 off the purchase of a 15-class package anytime during the weekend. (limit one package per client)
Great events planned for each day!
friday, sept 24
FREE classes for new and returning* students all day!
5:30 - 6:30pm Donations yoga class with Mark to benefit Living Beyond Breast Cancer. We all know someone fighting the fight. Now's your chance to make a difference. Refreshments will be served after class.
saturday, sept 25
FREE classes for new and returning* students all day!
2:00 - 3:00pm FREE BEGINNER'S YOGA CLASS with Mark. If you've always wanted to try yoga but didn't know where to start, now is your chance. We'll look at basic postures in the company of other brand new beginners. Come and join us! please call or email to sign up.
4:30 - 6:00pm FAMILY FUN YOGA DAY with Terryann. Come as a family for this lively, fun yoga class full of group activities, games and laughter for the whole family. ($40 for the first parent/child pair. $15 for each add'l family member) please call or email to register.
saturday, sept 25 7:00pm KIRTAN WITH SOUND OF SILENCE
Join us for an evening of ecstatic chanting and music. Voices, drums, harmonium and spirit merge to let your inner light shine. This band has an incredible way of drawing out the free spirit in all of us. Refreshments will be served during the evening. (Donations accepted.) please call or email to RSVP.
sunday, sept 26
FREE classes for new and returning* students all day!
sunday, sept 26 1:30 - 3:30pm RADIANT CONNECTION: A MIND-BODY WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN
With Marla Sussman and Dr. Debby Bierschwale. This unique workshop will awaken women to the connections between mind and body and will include a complete yoga practice and a women's discussion circle. Open to women of all ages and abilities. No previous yoga experience necessary. ($40) please call or email to register.
* Returning Students refers to people who have not attended classes at the Yoga Garden in the past six months or more.
autumn harvest weight loss and cleanse
a guided and supported rejuvenation journey for women
with Cheryl Berkowitz
4 wednesdays, sept 22, 29, oct 6, 13
11:30am - 1:00pm
$275 please register by sept 10 click here for details
restorative yoga workshop
opening your heart into the shifting of the seasons
with Laura Chalfant
saturday, oct 9
2:00 - 5:00pm
$50 please call or email to register
In this workshop you'll rest deeply into postures that open your heart, expand your breath, restore your energies and balance your nervous system.
Restorative Yoga is not about stretching. It is about trusting and feeling enough support so that you can truly let go into a state of Pratyahara, withdrawl of the sense organs and Ashunya, the non-empty state of self-awareness. This is what allows the nervous system to rest and heal. The restorative postures use props and bodily positions to manipulate the body and nervous system into a state of deep rest and relaxation.
You'll experience restorative yoga postures chosen specifically to enhance your relationship with the energies of autumn. These postures will be offered in a safe, gentle, supportive, quite environment that allows the greatest release into deep relaxation and meditation. We'll also learn breathing exercises (pranayama) that you can practice to enhance your experience in the postures.
Yoga blocks, blankets, mats and straps will be provided by the Yoga Garden. If you wish to purchase a restorative bolster, please let us know by Sept. 25 so we can be sure to have them here for you by the workshop date. The cost is $50.
Laura Chalfant is owner of Holistic Body Therapies where she practices Rolfing Structural Integration, and Restorative Movement. She's a certified Rolfer, Franklin Method instructor and a Pilates and Yoga instructor and teaches experiential anatomy. Laura also has a master's degree in Medical Anthropology where she did research in bereavement and body psychology. She did her basic and advanced levels of The Restorative Yoga teacher training with Judith Lasater, the founder of Yoga Journal and author of Rest and Renew. Laura is currently studying with Jean Houston in her Mystery school. To contact Laura call 610.520.0393 or email her at holisticbodytherapeis@gmail.com.
the philosophy of yoga
letting yoga's deeper meaning shine through in your life
with Sally Miller
sunday, oct 17
1:30 - 3:00pm
$40 $35 if you register by oct 9 please call or email to register
Join Sally for an exploration of the ancient roots and principals of Yoga, including Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita. Topics include:
This class is appropriate for all levels of experience. If you'd like, please read the following books before coming to class. This is not required, but may be helpful.
The Yoga Sutras, translated by Mukunda Styles
Bhagavad Gita, translated by Stephen Mitchell
The Upanishads, translated Juan Mascaro
About the teacher: Sally Miller is a full-time ayurvedic practioner and yoga teacher. She studied ayurveda with Dr. Vasant Lad in Albuquerque, NM, and interweaves yoga, herbs, nutrition, and ayurvedic treatments into her practice of supporting those interested in holistic healing. Sally lives in New Hope, PA and teaches throughout the Philadelphia and Bucks County area. Read more about her at www.yoginibloom.com.
yoga for people living with cancer
with Michelle Stortz
8 wednesdays, oct. 20 - dec. 15
7:30 - 9:00pm
$130 $110 if you register by oct. 10 click here for details
yoga for back care
re-aligning asymmetries through yoga
photo credit: Rachel Lynch-John
with Deborah Wolk
saturday, oct 23 2:00 - 5:00pm sunday, oct 24 12:00 - 3:00pm
$60 per day or $110 for the weekend
($55 per day or $100 for the weekend if you register by oct. 4)
please call or email to register
It has been said that most students embarking on a yoga
practice do so due to back pain or other back problems. Yet although yoga addresses many
aspects of the body and mind, not all styles address musculoskeletal issues in a
way that's helpful for those suffering from acute or chronic back pain or
those with misalignments In this two-day workshop, Deborah Wolk, Co-Director of Yoga
Union Center for Backcare and Scoliosis in New York City, will teach a direct
approach to relief from all types of chronic back pain and alignment issues
such as disc herniation, spondylolisthesis, scoliosis, swayback, whiplash and
kyphosis. Yoga, practiced with a
specific focus can be the key to alleviating pain and creating more balance in
the body. Saturday: The anatomy of the spine: understanding how it
supports us and where its Sunday: Defining asymmetries such as scoliosis, kyphosis,
lordosis and more localized About the teacher: Having
practiced yoga since 1994, in 1998 Deborah discovered that practicing
alignment-based yoga could control back pain and arrest the progression
of her scoliosis. That awareness inspired her to complete Alison West's Yoga Union Teacher Training in 2000. Deborah then studied Yoga and Scoliosis with Bobbie Fultz, completed Karin Stephan's Advanced Studies Program in Therapeutics and Healing in 2003 and was certified as a Yoga for Scoliosis trainer through Elise Browning Miller's teacher training in 2005. In December 2007, Deborah traveled to India to study at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Institute with the Iyengar family. In 2002, Ms. West invited Deborah to teach the scoliosis segment of the Yoga Union Teacher Training and since then she has taught Yoga & Scoliosis workshops in New York City, nationwide and in Europe. She continues her bi-annual teacher training Scoliosis and Backcare workshops for Yoga Union and for Karin Stephan's Advanced Studies Program. In 2003 she created the first weekly Yoga & Scoliosis class on the East Coast and began teaching a weekly Back Care Class at Yogasana Center in Brooklyn. Now, with Alison West, she Co-Directs the Yoga Union Center for Backcare and Scoliosis and teaches a wide variety of classes and workshops specifically for students with all types of back problems and scoliosis, including specialty classes for children and classes for students with Harrington Rods and other spinal fusions.
weaknesses are
Anatomy of disk diseases, sciatica, osteoporosis
and other ailments & injuries
Understanding chronic and acute pain: separating strong sensation from
pain
Modified Yoga poses and solutions to address
acute pain
Classical and modified Yoga poses to decrease or
relieve chronic pain
asymmetries such as spondylolysthesis, and
flattened cervical spine (whiplash)
Through lecture, demonstration and yoga practice,
understanding how we are all
affected by even minor asymmetry in the body and
learning to see and feel
these asymmetries
How injuries and asymmetries affect the
proprioceptive and nervous systems
Yogasana to align the spine and limbs to
decrease pain, balance the use muscles
and bones, and as a preventative against
future injuries and pain
Deborah's teaching style is exacting, direct, sensitive, and humorous. Her own experience with back pain allows students to identify with and be inspired by the work. For more information about Deborah click here.
Deborah will be available for private sessions on Friday, Oct. 22
$125 for a one-hour lesson. $150 for one and a half hours.
($110 or $130 if you are registered for both days of the workshop.)
For questions regarding the content of the workshop and to schedule private lessons, please contact Deborah at dwolkyoga@gmail.com.