Workshops and Retreats
Current Workshop Offerings
The workshops listed below are available as stand-alone weekends, retreats, master classes, sections of Yoga Teacher Trainings, or as an ongoing, monthly series. They can be adapted for the needs of your studio, church, Y, or student population.
In addition, any of the Empower Practice Themes can be taught as Master Classes or stand alone workshops. Please contact me for details and arrangements.
Embody the Heart: Bringing the Beatitudes to Life
2 – 6 hours (offered in segments) or as a Full Retreat
The Beatitudes – or “attitudes of Being” – are at the core of the Christ teaching. By weaving the attitudinal stance offered in each Beatitude with specific alignment actions and yoga poses, the asana practice becomes a powerful way to embed these teachings into body, mind and heart.
This workshop series can be adapted and offered as an introduction for beginners, or as a deeper experience for advanced practioners.
Mandala, the Sacred Circle: Creating a Tool to Discover, Embrace and Share our Creative Ministries
Co-taught with Edna Marie Thomas (my mother!)
3 hours to a Full Weekend Retreat (best way to experience this!)
A Mandala is a sacred symbol of wholeness. Creating mandalas is a powerful and fun way to explore the depth of what you are experiencing, moving through or wanting to offer the world.
This workshop or retreat will offer an introduction to mandalas, their place in the Christian tradition and serve as a bridge to the practice of yoga both on and off the mat. Includes elements of lecture, hands on activity, and asana.
As with all of the workshops above, the asana can be adapted to serve the levels and interests of the group.
Get Vibrant
4 – 2.5 hour segments
“Yoga is the process of harmonious alignment with the vibrations of Life.” Yoga Sutra 1.2
With so many yoga poses, so many styles of practice and all those classroom instructions (or lack thereof) it is easy to feel like a perpetual novice. This workshop series focuses on a simple, effective and harmonious set of actions that work with the body’s optimal, natural design and that can be applied to any yoga pose or yoga style. Students will feel safe, confident and supported in their practice.
This workshop series focuses on physical alignment as a means to care for the body, mind and spirit.
Part I – Down Dog, Standing Poses and Baby Backbends
Part II – Hips, Hand balances and More Backbends
Part III – Forward Folds and Twists
Part IV – Backbends and Basic Inversions
Optional: Add Nourishing Rhythms – An Introduction to Ayurveda and Daily Wellbeing
Nourishing Rhythms: An Introduction to Ayurveda and Daily Wellbeing
3 – 6 hours (offered in 2 – 3 segments)
While Ayurveda is focused so sweetly on the body, at its core, this science of Life is about bringing the sacred into each moment.
Ayurveda – the ancient Indian medical system studying the science of Life – offers a rich way to engage with the elements of the natural world and care for the body on every level. This dynamic workshop will cover an introduction to the mahabhutas (5 great elements), an overview of doshic theory (personal constitutions: vata, pitta, kapha), daily practices for harmony and wellbeing, and asana to pull it all together.
“Your lecture was excellent and made it accessible to Ayurveda newbies.” ~ Astrid
The Koshas: Dialoguing with the Layers of the Self
2 – 4 hours
Like looking into a drawer full of clutter, we often experience life as jumbled. By organizing the drawer we can separate one object from another, making seeing things for what they are and finding what we need a simple task. Using the lens of the koshas – or sheaths that describe the layered aspects of body, breath, mind and heart – we can separate and organize our experiences, seeing each aspect of our lives for what it
actually is.
Through asana as a moving dialogue with the koshas we isolate aspects of the Self and allow for a more expansive perspective; to see the drawer of our Self and all it contains bringing a level of clarity and maturity that empowers choice.
The HouseHolder's Path 