Embodied Awakening: Yoga, healing, and the energetic body

Online Daylong
Wednesday, November 4
11am-4:45pm (Pacific)

I’m excited to be visiting Pete Guinosso’s advanced Yoga Teacher Training once again to teach on the intersections between energetic practices in Yoga, contemporary trauma theory, and somatic approaches to both healing and contemplative practice.

Topics: 

  • Bodily energy in early Haṭha Yoga
  • The nervous system and the subtle body
  • Basics of trauma sensitivity and resilience work

If you plan to join us, please view the preparatory materials listed below, ideally reading both articles, and/or watching both videos. Because it will be a small group, please join the class on time, and plan to be present for the full session.

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To offer gifts of support, use the link below. Thank you for your generosity.

Gift Economy

As with everything I offer, this daylong is sustained by the practice of Gift Economy. Your generosity allows me to offer classes and practice resources in this model, open to all, and is the basis of an inclusive and accessible practice community.

Preparatory Materials

Below are two articles that I would like you to look at before we meet. PDFs of both are attached, as well as videos, if watching is more your learning style than reading. Here’s a bit about them:

Yoga History, Dr. James Mallinson

The first is a brief overview of early Haṭha Yoga ideas and practices, written by British Sanskrit scholar (and member of the Nath sect of Hindu sadhus), James Mallinson, for the Brill Encyclopedia of Hinduism. It’s a little dense, but paints a clear picture of what the early layers (12th to 18th c.) of Haṭha Yoga were concerned with. This is the foundational Yoga history I’ll be building on with you.

Polyvagal Theory, Dr. Stephen Porges

The second is a transcript of a webinar with neuroscientist Stephen Porges, talking about his model of nervous system behavior, the Polyvagal Theory, to an organization of therapists. As you read it, translate from “therapist” to “teacher” and you’ll find some beautiful insights into how skillful Yoga teaching can support healing. We’ll engage with the basic Polyvagal model in our class, and I’ll suggest a parallel between the Autonomic Nervous System and the yogic subtle body using the framework Porges presents here.

We’ll be together on Wed, Nov 4, where of course the elephant (and donkey) in the room will be the election. Whatever the outcome, we’ll include in our day together some meditation and prayer orienting our hearts toward ease, presence, and compassion as we move together into the unknown future. If keeping going through all this has been rough for you, as for so many this year, here’s a “Keep Going” song that’s lighting up my heart this week.

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