Events
Chakra Workshop with Kari Harendorf
In this workshop we will work with the Chakras, or energy centers, through asana, sound and pranayama. The practice will open the Chakras and remove blockages.
Chakra Workshop
Sunday September 12th 2-4PM
$25 per person in advance; $30 day of
Each Chakra has its own characteristics. Not only are they responsible for receiving and expressing energy but they are also the storage centers for our life experience, which affect physically and mentally.
Yantra Painting Workshop
Select, draw and color your very own Sacred Yantra - a unique array of colored, geometric images. Each Yantra imparts its own wisdom which will awaken a creative aspect of yourself when you create it. Come and discover more. No artistic experience necessary.
Please bring a pencil, eraser, compass and ruler. To color your Yantra you may bring coloring pencils, gold and metallic pens, or a selection of paints and brushes. PAPER IS PROVIDED.
Yantra Painting Workshop
A Sunday Afternoon Workshop with Sarah Tomlinson
Sunday September 26th 2-6:30PM
$75 per person
Bio: Sarah Tomlinson teaches Yantra workshops and retreats worldwide. Having received the blessings from her teacher Harish Johari in India to share the tantric art of creating yantras. Sarah is a long time yogini and one of the original Jivamukti Yoga teachers. She currently works with Diane Long, studying yoga in the tradition of Vanda Scaravelli. Sarah teaches weekly classes and seasonal workshops here at East. Sarah has been featured in many of the leading holistic magazines and is a contributing writer for Yoga Journal and LA YOGA Magazine. Sarah Tomlinson recently completed her book Nine Designs For Inner Peace: The Ultimate Guide to Meditating with Color, Shape and Sound (Inner Traditions Publishing, 2008) http://www.yantratecture.com
Sign-up now, either on your next visit to the East Yoga studio or online at www.eastyoga.com (via the online scheduling system under the 'workshop' tab)
Yoga Fundamentals Workshop
A must take workshop for beginners!
The three class workshop breaks down the fundamentals of all the essential yoga poses (asanas). Every class we will work through a similar series of poses, but each time focus on a different element of these positions.
By the end of the workshop, you will know the benefits of each pose, the proper alignment of the body (no injuries!), and the sanskrit name for each position so that you won't have to be the one in class looking around to see what the teacher just asked you to do.
Yoga Fundamentals Workshop
Taught by Megan Murphy
Saturdays, September 18th, 25th and October 2nd
2-3:30pm
$75 for all 3 sessions*
Day 1 - (Saturday, September 18th, 2-3:30pm)
BREATH AWARENESS
As we move through class, we will view the body and poses from the perspective of the diaphragm and breath. Learn to support your diaphragm, to not only breathe more efficiently, but also to move through yoga postures with greater ease and efficiency. You'll feel renewed and energetic after class!
Day 2 - (Saturday, September 25th, 2-3:30pm)
THE SPINE
As we move through class, we will view the body from the spine. Learn how to move safely through twists, forward bends, backbends, and lateral stretches. Low back pain is an epidemic in this country...learn how to find support, stand tall, improve your posture and relieve back pain. You'll feel longer and stronger after class!
Day 3 - (Saturday, October 2nd, 2-3:30pm)
THE LIMBS
As we move through our final class, we will focus on the limbs. We will start at the base of support, the feet, working our way up to the pelvis and then the shoulder girdle. Learn how to protect the joints and the ways in which the limbs feed the spine. Discover how the breath moves the torso. This class will put it all together so that your body can move with steadiness and ease. You'll be ready to explore and delve deeper into your yoga practice!
Sign-up now, either on your next visit to the East Yoga studio or online at www.eastyoga.com (via the online scheduling system under the 'workshop' tab)
*Must sign-up for all 3 sessions. There will be no make-up dates for missed classes.
Tai Chi Workshop
Join Daniel Baum for a FREE Introduction to Tai Chi. This course will cover a practice of the 24 forms, stretching, warm-up exercises, and meditation. No prior experience is needed. The introductory class will be followed by a regularly scheduled weekly class.
Tai Chi Workshop
Saturday September 25th 5:30-6:30PM
FREE
Tai chi is a physical and mental art form that originated in China, with roots reaching back into antiquity. The practice of Tai Chi develops an open and aware mind, while the principles of naturalness, balance, and relaxation inform the training. The physical exercise centers around a set of postures that flow continuously from one to the next. Movement through the postures loosens and stretches the body’s ligaments, strengthens its muscles, enhances balance, increases circulation, massages the inner organs, and calms and centers the mind.
Daniel Baum began his studies of martial arts in 1992 and has trained in New York, Washington, DC and Japan. His current practice focuses on training the Chinese internal martial arts, such as tai chi.
Yoga Teacher Training
Are you looking to deepen your own practice? Whether you are interested in becoming a teacher yourself or just looking to build your personal practice, this two-week intensive training is an amazing opportunity.
Taught by current and former East Yoga teachers, Sarah Tomlinson, Cliff Schuman and Robert Fitzpatrick, this training will lay the foundation for your yoga teaching, allow your own practice to flourish and inform your life on and off the mat.
This intensive period of practice and study will prepare you for teaching vinyasa yoga classes. This format has been designed for you to give optimum focus to your practice in a retreat setting where personal and professional developments can blossom. Mystical teachings and meditation sessions will infuse the two-week period with a devotional and spacious quality to help you go deeper. Come and discover the essence of yoga and you.
Two Week Yoga Teacher Training
October 3rd-17th
Upstate New York
Tuition: $990 / Accommodation: $590 and up
Register soon as just 12 spaces available
Want more info: Email Sarah at sarahtomlinson3@gmail.com or 347.342.2898
Focus of the Month: Explore
Written by Katie Childers
My passport is one of my most prized possessions. I love that it looks well traveled. It’s beat up and has extra pages to accommodate all of my trips. The tattered edges and exotic stamps remind me of my adventures. There is my Australian visa for when I lived and worked in Sydney for 6 months, my stamp from the Jordanian/Israeli border that I asked to be voided because I didn’t want any hassle while traveling in Lebanon, my Vietnam visa I waited not-so-patiently for in Cambodia for five days. I love the possibilities my passport represents.
I have spent much of my life exploring other countries and cultures and I have enjoyed every minute of it. For me, adventure was jumping on an airplane without a plan and collecting new stamps in my beloved passport. However, I would come home from these journeys and fall back into my same old routine. I felt like I needed to be in some far off country where I didn’t speak the language to truly be exploring. I was open to new things abroad, but closed off at home. A few years ago I realized how much I could explore, learn and grow without going anywhere.
I was walking the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage across northern Spain. A week into the walk I developed terrible tendonitis in my ankle. I was stranded in a small town called Puente la Reina, while I recovered enough to continue the journey. At first I was miserable. I was angry and frustrated that my body had given out on me. But what at first looked like a setback turned into a blessing.
All of a sudden, I had time for things that I never do--reading books, spending time with new people, cooking, even going to church! I learned more about myself in those few days, sitting in the same dormitory room, in the same hostel, in the same town than I had in years. I was reminded of my own strength but also of my need for others. I was reminded of my happiness in simplicity and the incredible kindness of strangers. I felt so alive! I stopped exploring just my external world and started exploring myself. I realized that I didn’t need to journey far to find what I was looking for.
This experience opened me up to more self-discovery. I practiced yoga for the first time a month later. I felt so awkward, the same way many of you probably felt during your first few yoga classes. But I soon realized the power of the asana practice to calm my mind and make me feel grounded and happy. I studied meditation. I tried reiki and acupuncture. I chanted in Sanskrit.
Through this exploration, I realized that I had to try new activities to understand if and how they resonated with me. I was amazed at how different my preconceived notions were from the reality of my experience. Take chanting--I couldn’t stop giggling during my first Kirtan. All these people repeating words I didn’t understand, banging tambourines, swaying to the music and singing with their eyes closed. I thought they were all looney toons. But I went again, trying not to be so judgmental or self conscious. I quickly transitioned from being the uncomfortable participant sitting in the back of the room mumbling to herself to the passionate singer who showed up early to get an instrument, chanted at the top of her lungs, and yes, sung and swayed with her eyes closed. There is something in the vibrations of chanting and singing that makes me happy. It just works for me. I never would have believed it until I tried it.
This month at East we have an amazing line-up of workshops to help you explore yourself physically, spiritually, artistically, and musically. No passport or plane ticket required. I encourage you to try something new and keep an open mind.
For those who have never tried yoga or are relatively new to the practice, Megan is teaching her 3-week Yoga Fundamentals workshop. It is a fantastic introduction to the practice. Megan has been teaching beginners for years and knows how to make yoga accessible, unintimidating and fun. But maybe yoga is not your thing. We are also offering Tai Chi for the first time at East. I just took a class with Dan, who will be teaching the free workshop on this ancient art. Don’t be fooled by the slow, fluid movements. Tai Chi is hard work!
Kari is teaching a workshop on the chakras, or energy centers in your body. Many of you have probably heard the word chakra but don’t know what it means, where they are or if you even have them! Come to this workshop to learn not just what they are, but how to balance your energy and remove blockages.
We are also continuing our Sunday and Thursday evening meditations by donation. These guided meditations are a perfect path to self discovery.
Explore your creative side in a yantra painting workshop with Sarah. I am so excited for this workshop! I have painted one yantra with Sarah and can’t wait to paint another. No experience or skill is necessary. I am not the least bit artsy or creative, but I loved using that part of my brain for a day.
In early October we will be holding a Kirtan with Ambika Cooper. This is also by donation. As I said before, I know how awkward chanting can be initially. But come try it. You can sit in back and giggle like I used to do.
There are so many different things to choose from this month. Hopefully something peaks your interest. Please come explore!
Yogi of the month:
Rob Levites
Written by Megan Murphy
I met Rob almost a year ago in one of my beginner classes. I was making the rounds, introducing myself to new students, when his smiling face popped out of the crowd. Usually yoga virgins are very easy to spot. They either still have their socks on, are palpably nervous, or their yoga mats are so new that they don’t lay flat. Rob was totally comfortable, clearly in shape, and seemed to know his way around the studio. I would have never guessed that it was only his second yoga class.
Over the next several weeks, Rob was in most of my classes, eager to move his body, sit still and breathe, and learn anything and everything I threw at him. He soon began taking intermediate then open level classes. He took workshops, participated in our juice fast, and before I knew it, was practicing next to me in East’s most challenging classes. Yoga had become an integral part of Rob’s life.
Rob Levites is your typical New Yorker that works hard and plays hard. A self-proclaimed camel sleeper (he can go without sleep for great lengths), he manages to wake up by five, works on Wall Street until early evening, golfs on Saturdays, has regular nights out that usually involve a lot of wine or tequila, frequently travels to fantastic beachy places, goes to the gym, and takes at least three yoga classes a week! Not only does he fit all of this stuff into his life, he does it with complete enthusiasm.
Recently Rob got a much-needed new job. I watched him realize how unhappy he was at his previous job, begin to pursue other options, and then patiently wait for the right move to present itself. When I asked him how the new job was going, he said, ‘Great. I think I got the new job because of yoga.’ When I asked him what he meant, he explained that he believed in alignment and that opportunities had aligned themselves to him. I was in awe of the clarity his yoga practice had given him.
Rob jumped into yoga headfirst and didn’t look back. If we all could take just a little bit of his courage, enthusiasm, and persistence, and direct that toward our own yoga practice, we’re bound to learn something new, feel good, and gain a greater sense of clarity.
