Workshops & Class Series
Adjustments, Modifications, & Verbal Instructions with Deborah Wolk
Wednesdays, 2:15-4:15pm
2026 Dates: January 14, February 18, March 18, April 15, May 13, June 10, September 23, October 14, November 18, December 16
One class for: $40 teachers, $30 Samamkaya Teaching Assistants, $20 Students
Any 3 classes for Teachers/Assistants/Students: $105/80/54
Any 6 classes for Teachers/Assistants/Students $180/150/100
Any 10 classes for Teachers/Assistants/Students $250/230/140
This course is approved as an IAYT CE Course! Take any 6 classes (12 hours) + one 1 hour mentoring session for $240
Students with scoliosis have very specific needs with the nervous system, proprioceptive system and with pain patterns. One must avoid muddled information. Using prop set-ups, hand on adjustments and verbal instructions, Deborah Wolk will guide you in how to better teach your students with scoliosis.
This class is appropriate for all yoga teachers and for students with scoliosis. Teachers of other modalities (Pilates, personal training, etc.) may attend as teachers with Deborah’s permission. This class is not recommended for brand new beginners to yoga.
Spinal Fusion, Scoliosis, and Back Care Workshops with Jen Gorman
September 26th
Workshop 1 - 9:30AM-12:00PM | Workshop 2 - 2:00PM-4:30PM
Both Workshops: $115
One Workshop Only: $65
*Get 10% off by using the code EARLYBIRD by September 14th
The Warrior Poses & The Scoliosis Warrior - A Spinal Fusion & Scoliosis Workshop
Saturday September 26th 9:30am-12pm
In this workshop, Jen will explore what practicing the warrior poses (Virabhadrasana I, II, and III) in community can offer those of us with spinal fusions and scoliosis. People with spinal fusions and scoliosis oftentimes refer to themselves as a scoliosis warrior. During the workshop we will discuss if there’s an intersection between practicing the warrior poses and the scoliosis warrior.
During this workshop Jen will offer: preparatory poses for the Warrior, Virabhadrasana I, II, and III, modifications for spinal fusions and scoliosis, information about the benefits of the Warrior Poses as a sequence, and a forum for excellent conversation!
Please feel free to bring paper and a pencil/pen to take notes.
This workshop is intended for people (and their friends and family) with spinal fusions and scoliosis as well as wellness clinicians and practitioners who work with these clients. Prior experience with yoga is helpful but all levels may participate.
Please register in advance. Workshop size is limited to 12. Contact Jen Gorman with any questions or to schedule a private session while she is in NYC: jen@scoliosisandbackcare.com.
2 CEs with Yoga Alliance for Registered Yoga Teachers for a single workshop
5 CEs with Yoga Alliance for Registered Yoga Teachers for a both workshop
Calming the Curves - A Restorative Spinal Fusion, Scoliosis, and Back Care Workshop
Saturday September 26th 2pm-4:30pm
Living with a back care condition can cause stress, physiological changes, and trigger our sympathetic nervous system into a flight or fight response. This workshop will focus on rest and relaxation to create a sense of calm.
Jen will offer: spinal anatomy 101, contraindications and precautions for common back care conditions, supported, modified, restorative yoga poses, neural glides for the upper and lower extremities, various breathing and mindfulness techniques, and a Yoga Nidra guided meditation.
Please feel free to bring paper and pen/pencil to take notes.
This workshop is intended for people (and their friends/family) with back care conditions (herniations, sciatica, spondylolisthesis, stenosis hyperkyphosis, degenerative discs, etc), scoliosis, spinal fusions as well as clinicians and wellness practitioners who work with these clients. Prior experience with yoga is helpful but all levels may participate.
Please register in advance. Workshop size limited to 12. Contact Jen Gorman with any questions or to schedule a private session while she is in NYC: jen@scoliosisandbackcare.com.
2 CEs with Yoga Alliance for Registered Yoga Teachers for a single workshop
5 CEs with Yoga Alliance for Registered Yoga Teachers for a both workshop
Masterclasses with Sri H.S. Arun
September 30-October 1
Wednesday & Thursday 2-5pm
Both Workshops: $160*
One Workshop Only: $90*
*Get 10% off by using the code EARLYBIRD by September 14
Samamkaya is honored to welcome back Sri H.S. Arun for his 8th visit to our beautiful studio! For more than 50 years, Arunji has practiced and taught yoga in India. He has been touring the US annually since 2005.
Both a science and an art, Arunjiʼs teaching of Iyengar yoga is simple, direct and effective. His wit and humor lend a positive energy to his classes. Known as “The Chairmaster”, Arunji uses many props in his teaching to assist in working with the asana. Each class consists of an asana practice including standing poses, forward folds, twists, inversions and backward bends, followed by a discussion about the art and practice of yoga. Keeping in mind Samamkaya’s focus on back care and scoliosis, Arunji may cover topics like spinal asymmetry, back problems and other therapeutic issues.
This is a unique opportunity to study with a warm, devoted and knowledgeable master teacher!
One year of yoga practice is required. No acute injuries, please.
Yoga & Scoliosis for Midlife and Beyond: Addressing Perimenopause, Menopause and Postmenopause with Deborah Wolk
August 8-9
Saturday: 9:30am-12pm & 2:30-4:30pm
Sunday: 10am-12pm
Full weekend: $160
Saturday full day: $110
Saturday morning only: $65
Saturday afternoon only: $55
Sunday morning only: $55
*Get 10% off by using the code EARLYBIRD by Monday, July 27th
Those of us with female bodies will find that it is not only during adolescence that we have to monitor our scoliosis—midlife is a time when scoliosis may progress, suddenly “manifest” or change in some other way.
At midlife, new situations may present themselves: osteopenia and osteoporosis change one’s sense of self. Lifestyle and habitual behaviors, such as sleep and eating habits, may change or may need to change. During perimenopause and menopause, menstrual changes happen—draining one’s energy, and gynecological issues can become more intense and more problematic for those of us with scoliosis. Also at this time there may be a sense of collapse from bone degeneration, thinning discs, scoliotic progression, and a change in energy due to the attempt to hold oneself erect.
Yoga can address these issues. In this three-session workshop, we’ll look at the relationship between scoliosis and the hormonal shifts in our lives and how these shifts affect us on a skeletal, organic and emotional level. We’ll practice poses that help support our structure so we stand tall, move without fear and are able to carry on with our lives with optimism, energy and grace.
Fusions Support Group with Martha Carter
MONTHLY on Thursdays, 4:00-5:30 pm on ZOOM:
March 19
May 14
June 11
July 16
Free or by donation
Samamkaya Yoga is pleased to offer a support group for people with spinal fusions for scoliosis (or those considering a spinal fusion for their scoliosis). This group, led by Martha Carter, is designed to encourage participants to safely explore the emotional toll and experiences related to their fusion in an environment with other participants who share their experience. Whether you were a teen when your spinal was fused or an older adult or somewhere in between, discussions within this group will draw out personal reflections, identify successful ways to self-heal, and evolve to reflect the needs of the group.
Please join Martha as she seeks to encourage health and healing through group interaction—free of the shame and stigma associated with scoliosis and related surgeries.
Back Care Beginners Series with Ede Thurrell & Kuhu Joshi
Wednesdays, 10-11:30am
Series: June 3, 10, 17, July 1, 8
One Class: $32*
*Or drop in on your class card
This series will cover the basic skills you need to participate in the Back Care and Back Care Basics classes. With other new beginners to Back Care Classes at Samamkaya Yoga Back Care & Scoliosis Collective, instructor Ede Thurrell will teach you many of the basic actions, help you find your alignment and learn prop adjustments appropriate for your scoliosis, herniated disc(s), kyphosis, lordosis, spondylolisthesis, lumbar or neck pain… or any other back problem. Learning these skills through a series will help you make a commitment to your yoga practice and help you integrate smoothly into the Back Care classes.
Stability, Mobility, and the Language of the Limbs: Iyengar Yoga for a Healthy Spine With Stephanie Tencer
June 6-7
Saturday 9am-12pm & 2-4pm
Sunday 9am-12pm
Full Weekend: $190*
Saturday Only: $125*
Saturday or Sunday Morning Only: $80*
Saturday Afternoon Only: $55*
*Get 10% off by using the code EARLYBIRD by May 25th
B.K.S. Iyengar taught that the legs are the gateway to the lower spine and the arms are the gateway to the upper spine.
Taking this as a point of departure, Stephanie will guide an exploration of how the limbs — then Karmendriyas (organs of action) — can become powerful teachers along one’s yoga journey, even when navigating a wide range of spinal conditions.
Drawing from her personal experience with multiple herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, a surgical fusion at L5–S1, and ongoing neuropathic pain, Stephanie invites you to explore how attentive work with the limbs in asana can also support, protect, and bring ease to your spine.
In-Studio Only: The Power of Perception and The Asymmetric Body with Karin Stephan
May 16-17
Saturday & Sunday 9:30am-12pm & 2-4pm
Full Weekend: $210*
One Day Only: $115*
One Morning Session Only: $70*One Afternoon Session Only: $55*
*Get 10% off by using the code EARLYBIRD by May 4th
This workshop will focus on the methods and tools, developed over fifty years of teaching, that Karin makes use of to look at the body and its asymmetries, misalignments and scoliotic patterns. We will explore different types of perception, such as peripheral vision and “the eyes at the back of the mind,” while practicing the asanas, including some partner work. Concepts and imagery that can help guide our poses to greater visual harmony and balance will be discussed, and put into use, employing our own bodies as examples. These include: even and equal distribution of weight, and lengthening and broadening from the median plane.
Throughout the weekend, Karin will also draw on her Five Step Program of Observation and Analysis. We will practice seeing and interpreting asymmetric body patterns in the asanas, learning how to develop “the mind of an engineer and the eyes of an architect,” in other words, understanding how structural coherence in our poses becomes aligned with aesthetic beauty.