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Yoga Tree Workshops and Retreats

VIEW FRIDAY NIGHT SPECIALTY CLASSES

Yoga for a Healthy Back ​
with Colleen Bell
September 14, 1:00-4:00pm
$45 preregistered/$50 at the door

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Roughly 8 out of 10 people will experience some form of back pain in their lives. How we sit, stand, walk, and move affects the health of our back (even our yoga practice can add to back strain or injury over time).
 
Our workshop will be a mix of discussion and experiential learning, with an asana practice at the end.
We’ll discuss how to prevent injury and work with existing injuries. We’ll look at the back in different posture groups (from forward folds, backbends, twists, and sidebends).
 
You’ll learn the key anatomy of your back, how to evaluate your posture and identify movement patterns and how to move safely in your asana practice (and life) to support your spine. We’ll focus on strengthening to support stretching, healthy mobility, and honoring your individual body.
 
Come ready to learn, let go of old beliefs, and experience common yoga asanas in a new way. Bring something to take notes with.

Hatha Fundamentals
with Susanne Hutchinson
Tuesdays, September 24-October 29, 4:00 pm-5:00 pm
$75 for the series/or drop-in for $15

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Hatha Fundamentals is a six-session series designed to give the beginner or returning student a solid foundation in basic poses, breathing techniques and philosophy.

This series is the perfect place to begin, or to reawaken and resume your practice. A series of slower-paced, informative classes will provide you with a strong foundation in the practice of Yoga, preparing you to proceed with confidence to other classes.

This course includes brief historical and philosophical background of Yoga, study and practice of the fundamental Yoga postures including correct body positioning and alignment for your body, understanding props and how to use them, and detailed instruction on how to combine breath and movement.

Class limited to 12 persons to enhance individualized instruction.

Intro to iRest® Yoga Nidra ​
with Jennifer Cabanero
September 28, 1:00-4:00pm
$45 preregistered/$50 at the door

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This class will introduce students to the core principles of iRest® Yoga Nidra meditation. Based on the ancient teachings of meditation, iRest is an evidence-based transformative practice that leads to psychological, physical, and spiritual healing and well-being.
iRest provides you with tools to help you relax deeply, release stress, increase resiliency, improve your inter-personal relationships and provide you with greater mastery and control in your life.
People who practice iRest report:

• Reduced depression, fear and anxiety
• Reduced insomnia and levels of stress
• Reduced chronic and acute pain
• Greater ability to relax and enjoy life
• Improved interpersonal relations
• Increased inner peace and well-being

There will be some lecture, several short meditations and a full 35-minute iRest practice that will be recorded. The recording will be available via e-mail to the participants.
​
Please bring comfortable clothes that will keep you warm and perhaps a pillow for extra coziness!

Exploring Somatic Movement ​
with Jill Aldridge, HSEC
Thursdays, October 3-24, 4:00-5:00pm
$60 for the series or drop-in for $18

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In this 4-week series you’ll learn core somatic movements to easily release physical tension and improve posture. By focusing awareness on the internal sensations of movement and how your body moves, you’ll be exercising your body and your brain for increased range of motion, ease, and balance. While traditional exercise can be vigorous and goal oriented, Somatics is about the process of movement and engaging the brain’s intelligence in sensing and controlling muscles. This greatly improves muscle function and releases the unnecessary holding that leads to tension, pain, and stiffness without stretching. At the end of each class you’ll feel more relaxed, supple, and flexible.
 
About Jill Aldridge, HSEC:
Jill is a Hanna Somatic Exercise Coach and Clinical Somatic practitioner with certifications in massage therapy, body-mind coaching, brain and sensory integration, and meditation. She teachers classes and offers hands-on sessions in the greater Seattle area.

Intro to Handstands and Forearm Balancing ​
with Kate Collins
October 5, 1:00-3:30pm
$40 preregistered/$45 at the door

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Taking on gravity in the practice of Handstand and Forearm Stand is an incredible way to shift your perspective, and build strength and confidence. Join Kate for an invigorating introductory workshop and break it all down into manageable preparatory poses and sequences.Learn how to use props and the wall to identify and encourage healthy alignment, and how to properly support weight and protect the shoulders.

Learn simple but dynamic core and upper body strengthening sequences, that when practiced regularly, will help you hold the poses longer…and eventually away from the wall.
Learn pranayama and meditation sequences to work from the inside out towards achieving the harmonious equilibrium of balance…even while upside down.

Walk away with the steps you need to safely advance into an inversion practice!
*not appropriate for students with shoulder, wrist or elbow injuries

Rest and Restore with Gong Sounds ​
with Amanda Mitchell
October 18, 6:30-8:30 pm
$25 preregistered/$30 at the door

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Gong Restorative is a deeply relaxing and nourishing class, combining the release available through a Restorative practice with the soothing vibrations of the gong. We'll start with a brief introduction to the history of the gong, the transformative properties of sound healing, and experience vibration in the form of chanting. From there, we'll transition to a light warmup, and relax into poses held for several minutes. Amanda will play the gong while you are supported on your mat, allowing you to fully experience the powerful effect of vibration.

Not only will your body and nervous system relax and replenish, but by adding the gong to this practice, your energy field and cells will also be affected. This is an excellent and welcoming introduction to the benefits of sound, with time for asking questions and sharing your experience (if you wish).


If you're worried about volume, bring earplugs along - it is the resonance, not the sound, which matters. Come bliss out, let go, and vibrate with the gong.

Slow Your Roll
Myofascial Release ​
with Colleen Bell
November 2, 1:00-3:30pm
$40 preregistered/$45 at the door

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Are you feeling burned out? Overwhelmed? Anxious? Over stressed?

This extended practice is for you! Balance out your daily activity overload by slowing down and unwinding tension, using Yoga Tuneup balls and restorative postures.

We’ll focus on unraveling excess stress and tension in the physical body. Give  yourself permission to unwind & let go, relaxing the mind and breath.

Self Myofascial Release works with the fascia (connective tissue). This self massage get us out of pain and helps us be more present in our bodies.

Post roll out, the body is ready to soften into some restorative postures, activating the parasympathetic nervous system (rest & digest) to bring balance.

Give yourself the gift of healing self care.

Yoga Tuneup balls will be provided for this workshop (and will be available for purchase after).

Regrowing Our Wings
Yoga for Healing Trauma ​
with Deborah King and Jennifer Kollasch
November 10, 1:00-3:00pm
$45 preregistered/$50 at the door

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with Deborah King, E-RYT 500
and Jennifer Kollasch, MA, LMHC, DDMHS
 
Trauma is an injury, in relation to an event or life situation, that overwhelms the nervous system, altering the way we relate to ourselves, and the world. It is not a story that simply happened in the past; it creates an imprint of fear held in the body, creating a chronic and ongoing set of adaptive responses that continue to tax our entire systems. This imprint can show up in many ways, and may appear to be only in the mind. However, research shows us that trauma is a physical experience and is held in the body, directly affecting a person’s thinking and how they show up in the world. For healing to occur, reconnecting to our bodies, their instincts, and their resources of feeling and wisdom can be crucial.

Yoga can be a wonderful tool in the healing process. The practice of yoga can allow us to create a safe space within ourselves to reconnect the parts of us that may feel severed or lost. As this reconnection occurs, yoga can teach us to calm our nervous systems with breath, physical poses, and meditation; and to gradually undo the chronic tension, pain, and emotional and physical responses resulting from the trauma’s imprint. Yoga also teaches us that we are already whole, and that our identity is not the experiences we go through, but the self that can touch on peace, self-understanding, and joy regardless of our circumstances.

In this workshop, Deborah King (E-RYT 200, RYT 500: Yoga Alliance; Advanced Teacher of Yoga Therapy: Kripalu School of Integrative Yoga Therapy) will lead a gentle practice created around tools for addressing triggers and symptoms of trauma and PTSD, while integrating information about the way the body and the nervous system hold and process trauma. No experience is necessary, and all are welcome.

About Jennifer Kollasch: Professionally, I graduated from Antioch University Seattle, a CACREP accredited university with my Masters in Mental Health Counseling. I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in Washington State and a Developmental Disabilities Mental Health Specialist (DDMHS). I am trained in Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Emotion Freedom Technique (EFT or tapping) and Reiki levels I and II. Aside from my private practice I co-lead a quarterly workshop, Re-Growing Our Wings: Yoga for Healing Trauma, with Deborah King, veteran yoga instructor and healer.

Mechanics of Twists:
Supporting a Supple Spine ​
with Amanda Mitchell
November 16, 1:00-4:00pm
$45 preregistered/$50 at the door

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For many of us, contorting into uncomfortable shapes in yoga class is not the goal – we don’t all want to be human pretzels. However, harnessing the spine’s mobility to twist offers numerous benefits for deep breathing, side bends, and better posture overall. Over-twisting or forcing the spinal joints, on the other hand, can lead to degeneration and instability.

​In this class, we’ll isolate our capacity for safe movement in the spine, learn to harness our shoulders in support of that goal, and refine both our basic twists and pretezly postures so they support a lifetime of practice.

iRest® Immersion ​
with Jennifer Cabanero
January 31-February 2
$295 Early Bird by December 31/$350 after January 1

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At SpiritView Retreat Center in Graham, WA
Details and schedule coming soon!
 
Come join us for this iRest® Yoga Nidra Immersion event where you will learn the principles and practice of iRest Yoga Nidra meditation and experience the variety of ways iRest can be used on and off the mat to foster a greater sense of freedom, synchronicity, authenticity, and creativity in your daily life.

About iRest Yoga Nidra
iRest Yoga Nidra is a research-based meditation, relaxation and healing protocol. The practice of iRest enables you to deeply calm your nervous system, integrate difficult thoughts & emotions, and offers a portal for awakening to your essential nature. iRest meditation is both an excellent personal practice as well as adjunctive practice for healthcare & healing professionals.
Developed over 48 years by Richard Miller, iRest promotes health, healing, and awakening by recovering and nourishing your innate ground of indestructible wholeness and well-being. iRest is endorsed by the US Army Surgeon General and Defense Centers of Excellence as a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

Through experiential practice and dynamic dialogue you will:

• Learn the 10-Step iRest Protocol to enhance your personal meditation practice
• Explore how to integrate the practices of iRest into daily life
• Foster well-being and resiliency from stress & anxiety
• Experience BodySensing in movement
• Practice BreathSensing for resiliency, increased energy and relaxation
• Learn to skilfully meet difficult emotions and beliefs in daily life
• Access an inner resource of well-being, ease, security and peace
• Awaken to your essential wholeness

This iRest immersion workshop is open to newcomers, experienced meditators, and iRest practitioners who wish to experience the fullness that iRest has to offer for health, healing, resiliency, well-being, awakening, and the wholeness of being.
This iRest Yoga Nidra Immersion fulfills the short retreat requirement of the iRest Certification Program.

Save the Date!
We are excited to welcome back Special Guest Teacher Ann Douglas for The Alchemy of Yoga
May 15-17
Registration info coming soon!

The Alchemy of Emotions 
​The Yogic Practice of “Rasa”

Emotions are your SUPERPOWER!  Learn how to harness the alchemical power of your emotions by mastering the subtle yet powerful energetics of the emotional body.  The ancient teachings of Yoga inform us of the 9 rasas, or essential emotional energies, that also correlate with the 5 elements and the 3 gunas that are the fundamental building blocks to creation.  

Modern neuroscience informs us that emotions are like "rocket fuel" for building new neural pathways in our brain for healthy behaviour.  Emotional energies can be positively influenced to establish radiant health and well being, in body, mind and spirit.  

During this workshop you will learn and experience:

• How to practice Yoga Asana with positive, health inducing emotions
• Pranayama designed to quickly release negative emotions
• iRest® Yoga Nidra for building new neural pathways in your brain that create the life of your dreams
• A profound yogic model for integrating emotions daily
• The bliss inducing yoga practice of Tandava

Anne Douglas is a master teacher, with 30 years of teaching yoga and meditation behind her.  She has been teaching yogic philosophy, teacher trainings, workshops and retreats since 1989, and is a certified IAYT yoga therapist.  She is the creator of the “iRest Daily” meditation program, has over 3 million listens to her meditations on the “Simple Habit” app and is the past Director of Trainers for the iRest Institute.  Anne’s boundless enthusiasm, depth of wisdom and gentle humour create fertile ground for inspired learning

VIEW FRIDAY NIGHT SPECIALTY CLASSES