Weekend Yoga Intensive with Mary Richards
August 3-5, 2018
Friday, August 3rd 5:30-8:30pm
Yoga for You: Asana and Yoga Nidra
Join Mary for a 90-minute active practice followed by a 75-minute yoga nidra. Each pose in the active series offers an opportunity to explore our relationship with gravity as well as our functional and energetic intention on and off the mat. Anatomy-based and prop-supported, Mary will work with you to express the asana with steadiness and ease. Then, we’ll settle into a “prop nest” and practice iREST, a form of yoga nidra developed by Richard Miller, Ph.D. The practice is intended to alleviate stress, improve sleep, and promote healing and inner peace. Informed by yogic philosophy, Western psychology and neuroscience, iREST offers each of us an opportunity to connect deeply to our bodily sensations as well as the turning of our mind and yearning of our heart.
Mary is a certified Level 1 iREST teacher-in-training as well Relax and Renew ® teacher trainer. Props such as blankets and bolsters will be available at the studio, to support your comfort during the practice. Please bring an eye cover and your favorite fuzzy socks.
Saturday: Exploring the Axial Body: Mapping the Vertebral Column
The vertebral column is the central organizing axis of the body. It’s safe to say the spine is immensely important to posture and movement. It’s also safe to say that the spine is in a direct relationship with every internal organ of the body. Learning more about your spine offers an opportunity to explore not only your low back health or upper back tension, but also to think about how you sit, stand, walk, rest, and digest.
Join Mary Richards, M.S., C-IAYT, ERYT500, YACEP, for an engaging day dedicated to the vertebral column in all its glory. This daylong immersion into the back body includes two class intensives. Take one or both!
Saturday, August 4th 9:00am-12:00pm
Coils of the Spring: The Structure of the Vertebral Column
The more we learn about our structure, the better able we are to preserve and improve our function, from movement to pain management. Join Mary for 3 hours dedicated to learning the anatomy of your spine! We will examine the bones, act like facet joints, and learn about the normal curves.
Saturday, August 4th 3:00-6:00pm
Get Into the Groove: The Kinesiology of the Vertebral Column
How does your spine move? Specifically, how does your spine move safely on the mat? Join Mary for a 3-hour class dedicated to gravity, how muscles move our joints, and how our spines handle compression and tension. We will take our vertebral columns through their full range of movement in asana using anatomical reality as our benchmark and props as our friends.
Sunday: Winds of Change: Pranayama as a Practice
In various yogic systems of thought, it is a commonly held belief that we humans are allotted 10,000 breaths per day for 100 years. Did you know that the average person breathes 20,000 times per day? The overwhelming majority of a typical person’s respiratory activity is short and shallow, which produces profound effects on numerous body functions. So, how do we create greater respiratory efficiency and improve actions like our digestion? In short, with Pranayama! The breathing exercises of yoga can help us engage the lungs more fully with less strain — and this is just the tip of iceberg.
Sunday, August 5th 9:00am – 12:00pm
Adjust the Sails and Ride the Wind: How Asana Empowers Pranayama
Join Mary for a science-based, yoga-informed discussion of the anatomy and physiology of the respiratory system. Then, get on the mat for an active practice, including inversions, to prepare the body and nervous system for yogic breathing exercises. After a 15-minute Savasana, we will then practice several pranayama techniques. Dress comfortably and bring water.
Sunday Hike & Meditation with Mary! 1-3pm in the beautiful Lakes Basin.
Space is limited ~ Please register in advance.
All sessions: before 7/21, $160 or $180 after 7/21
Each session: $45 early/ $50 regular
Sunday Hike $10
To register: emily@trailswithin.com or (530) 836-1500
Guided by 25 years of practice experience and clinical training in movement therapeutics, Join Mary Richards, M.S., eRYT500, CYT, and senior teaching assistant to Judith Hanson Lasater, for a weekend of yoga intensives. Learn more at: maryrichardsyoga.com