Workshops

Workshops

Perception and Proprioception: Influences on the Body and Mind with Kelly Moore

March 11-12
Saturday 2:30-5pm
Sunday 10am-12pm & 2-4pm
Full Weekend: $100*/$110 in advance
Saturday Only: $45*/$50 in advance/$55 day-of in-person link virtual link
Sunday All Day: $60*/$70 in advance
One Sunday Session: $35*/$40 in advance/$45 day-of in-person link virtual link
*Early Bird if registered by February 27

Perception in the injured or asymmetric body can be influenced by many things. Proprioception is a big influence: it is how we sense where our body is in space.

In this workshop we will explore how perception and knowledge influence asana practice. Kelly will present information about proprioceptors: what and where they are, their function, how they contribute to spatial and internal misperceptions and how they may create pernicious cycles in the nervous system.

This workshop will include asana and pranayama—using these practices to re-pattern proprioceptive dysfunction. Cultivating awareness of long-held patterns can lead to a sense of greater freedom and well-being in the body and mind.

Asanas will be modified for those with back issues and scoliosis. All levels are welcome!

Kelly Moore, and her husband Steven Norber, teach at their studio, Living Yoga in Denver, Colorado. Kelly integrates 30 years of working therapeutically with individuals drawing from an early background in social work, 25 years as a neuromuscular therapist and instructor, and many years practicing and teaching yoga. Kelly is a level 3 Certified Iyengar Yoga instructor, C-IAYT, and has studied yoga therapeutics/back care and scoliosis with Elise Miller, Bobbie Fultz, Stephanie Quirk, and Deborah Wolk. Kelly’s yoga journey includes studying with the Iyengar family in Pune, India, along with many senior Iyengar instructors.

Hybrid “Connecting Self to the Environment through the Embodiment to the Limbs” with Roxlyn Moret

March 25, Saturday 2:30–5:30pm $65
In-Person Registration link
Virtual Registration link

Using BMC methodology and her decades of experience with Yoga, Roxlyn Moret will integrate knowledge of embryology with asana, exploring both the process and practice of consciousness while moving through layers of tissue and experience to help all students reach their potential. 

The limb buds start to develop in the 5-week-old embryo. Living cells carry the imprint of this highly energetic potent part of their embryological development. The bones and joint space spiral out. Experiencing how the bones of our limbs articulate and integrate – from our fingers and toes to our Central Axis – can allow our joint spaces to be more fluid  and supportive.

Roxlyn Moret has been exploring, practicing, and teaching movement and the healing arts for 40 years. She is a Body Mind Centering ® teacher; a certified Laban /Bartenieff Movement Analyst; an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance; and a Registered Somatic Movement Educator with the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association. She teaches yoga, BMC℠ and Chi Gung.

Her background includes dance, studying Tai Chi Chuan with Maggie Newman; Shiatsu; Cranial Sacral therapy; and touch for healing. She co-coordinates the Embodied Developmental Movement and Yoga program by her longtime mentor Bonnie Cohen (founder of BMC℠). She teaches teachers, corporate groups, co-teaches annual workshops in the Swiss cities of Basel and Lucerne and has an active yoga practice in New York City.

Linking Our Roots to Our Wings: An Exploration of PSOAS with Julie Brandwein

Saturdays 10am–12pm
February 11, March 18, April 1, May 13
$150 4-part monthly series
$40/individual class (No class cards or unlimited cards for this series)

In this workshop series, Julie will help you explore the role the Psoas plays in connecting our roots to our wings. The psoas is located in the center of the body and plays a key role as a conductor between our upper and lower body.

In this 4 part monthly series, you’ll dive into your “roots” in the first two classes and connect to your “wings” in the last two classes:

2/11 & 3/18: Feet/Knees/Legs/Pelvis

4/1 & 5/13: Pelvis/Shoulders/Arms and Head

“A yogi’s brain extends from the bottom of the foot to the top of the head”

-BKS Iyengar

Julie Brandwein, MSPT, LMT, came to yoga seeking help from a back injury and found her way into her first Iyengar yoga class with Kevin Gardiner in 1992. In this technique she found the answer she was looking for to heal her body, and began a lifelong study and practice of Yoga.She has extensive training in Iyengar Yoga, in addition to studies in the Alexander Technique, Somatics and Pilates. She has taught yoga since 1997 both here and abroad.

She has earned her Masters in Physical Therapy from Columbia University, completed training at the Swedish Institute of Massage and has certification in a Pilates for Rehab Professionals training from Polestar Pilates, Inc. Licensed in both physical therapy and massage therapy, Julie has worked in a variety of clinical specialities, including pediatrics, orthopedics, sports injury and dance injury.Her massage training includes myofascial unwinding, integrative deep-tissue massage and neuromuscular repatterning. She has a private practice in Manhattan and Brooklyn offering services in therapeutic bodywork, stress-reduction massage, and  yoga privates.

In-Person Working with Anti-Gravity Muscles to Increase Postural Strength & Resilience with Laura Staton

April 16 & May 7
Sundays, 12:30–4pm
$155

Part One (April 16):

Part One will explore which 6 muscle groups comprise the antigravity muscles, their localized function, and what roles they play in maintaining posture and flexible, healthy alignment. This material will be learned verbally and non-verbally, with the class exploring how their own bodies respond to differing postural positions including standing, sitting, prone and supine. We will  work as partners and/or small groups to feel our own and others postural adaptations to gravity.

Part Two (May 7):

Part Two will explore the 6 antigravity muscle groups in the context of yoga practice. We will problem-solve which prone, standing and seated poses utilize anti-gravity muscle groups and how to specifically engage the antigravity muscles through traditional asana practice and during transitions in and out of poses. We will also problem-solve on different types of postural challenges such as kyphosis and lordosis and will continue this work in partners and/or small groups.

Laura Staton holds a master’s degree of science in occupational therapy from NYU and is a C-IAYT Yoga Therapist specializing in injury rehabilitation. She works as a yoga therapist and occupational therapist and her recent book bridging these two disciplines, Yoga Bones: A Comprehensive Guide to Managing Pain and Orthopedic Injuries Through Yoga, was published in 2021.

Laura is passionate about yoga’s powerful effect on physical and emotional well-being and how it interacts with daily life. She teaches continuing education and professional development courses for Yoga Alliance and IAYT in addition to teaching at Yogi’s and Yogini’s in Brooklyn and Adaptive Yoga at Samamkaya Yoga Back Care & Scoliosis Collective in Manhattan. For many years, Laura was a dancer and choreographer in NYC. She received her BFA from The Juilliard School and is the co-author of Baby Om -Yoga for Mothers & Babies.

WORKSHOP PRE-REGISTRATION & CANCELLATION POLICY

It is strongly recommended that you pre-register for workshops. If you pre-register for a workshop, you must cancel either 1 week or 48 hours in advance (depending on the workshop), in order to be refunded for that workshop less a 20% administrative fee. Cancellation deadlines can be found below the workshop descriptions above.

Please cancel via email (info@samamkayabackcare.com) or call 646.964.5772. Even if we receive the message later, we will go by the time stamp and refund your money if appropriate. If you are ill or there is an immediate family medical emergency, we will of course waive the fee. However, please email us as early as possible, and before the workshop begins, to waive the fee or arrange a credit.