image courtesy of Karen Fuchs

VCIH Workshop

Yoga for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Anxiety, and Depression with Amy Wheeler

Yoga & Healing for PTSD
January 4, 2013 from 5:30-8:30pm






Yoga & Healing for Anxiety and Depression
January 5-6, 2013 from 9:00am-4:30pm






www.VCIH.org







NYC WORKSHOP

A Pranayama Journey:
Settling into the depths of breath to 
ignite asana & meditation practices

Prana is our life force energy.  It is the nourishment our system receives from the breath.  The practice of pranayama is vital to a balanced system and must be incorporated into the yoga practice.  

In this workshop pranayama becomes the primary force, initiating asana and meditation.  Specific breathing techniques intertwined with movement and visualization will ignite the energy of your prana, keeping your yoga practice alive and well during these dark days surrounding the winter solstice. 

*Join Amanda Wentworth after the workshop for a short info session to learn more about Om Factory’s Teacher Training program.

Date: Saturday, December 15th, 2012 from 11:30-1:30pm
Cost: $35 pre-registered/ $45 drop-in
Registration: www.omfactorynyc.com
About the Presenter: Amanda Wentworth is the director and co-teacher of the Teacher Training program at Om Factory, a 200-hour Hatha Vinyasa registered school with Yoga Alliance. She actively teaches classes, workshops, and retreats to students of all levels around the globe. Recent personal training in therapeutic yoga applications supported by both Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine inform a practice that is both an efficient and mindful exploration of the present moment.

Ask a Yogi


Many students write me with questions about yoga.  Here's a forum where I can share my thoughts on anonymous personal issues, so that everyone can learn a little bit…


ACCEPTING PAIN

Recently I received the following response from a student during a private session, "Well, it's not intense pain"... this got me thinking on how subjective pain really is.

Shri K. Pattabhi Jois
Face it, we yogis can be masochists. 

How often is the image of a yogi, twisted, bound and contorted with a pleasant look of ease on the face what we see in reference to the yoga practice?  It is this sense of ease in relation to pain I’d like to further explore.  The scope of physical and emotional pain is vast, however here I will simply share my personal experience of pain and how my relationship to it has changed.

What is Pain?

The word itself comes from the Latin “poena,” meaning a fine, a penalty. Webster’s defines pain as localized physical suffering associated with bodily disorder (such as a disease or injury).  However, the widely accepted definition from the International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage." [1]

The Pain Scale

Each person has varied levels and thresholds for tolerating pain, which is commonly measured on a scale of 1 -10.  But when communicating with students in class, I’ll present … Read More 

Fall Schedule

My Squashes
I asked for it, and abundance is what I received this year in my first ever, real big vegetable garden. It took lots of love, numerous mosquito attacks and copious water during the June drought, but my home farm produced and produced! We got patty pans and regular squashes, as well as zucchinis, eggplants, cucumbers, and tomatoes of all shapes, sizes & colors, and beans, collard greens, arugula, mustard greens, broccoli, hot peppers, bell peppers, banana peppers and tons of herbs. And did I forget to mention the towering okra plants too. It has been amazing to make whole fresh salads directly from the back yard that are so incredibly pungent and delicious. We are still waiting on the asparagus, horseradish, cauliflower, leeks, and brussel sprouts. And carrots, kale, chard, & bok choy to be planted soon! There is also this curious vine that just made itself known in the way back of the garden. I am excited to see what it may produce!
More veggies around the house.
I like to leave them out like works of art.
It is a transformative experience to grow your own food. To receive after putting in so much hard work. It is so much work that you can't even begin to imagine why you would put so much time and sweat (and did I mention mosquito stings) into something, but then when you casually walk by your garden on your way down the street and you're picking so many beautiful vegetables that the edge of your T-shirt/basket overflows, it seems beyond worth it. The earth has given back even more than you could ever expect of it, and it keeps giving even when you forget to water it. The world truly returns all the good energy you put into it. I've always believed this, but experiencing it first hand as fulfillment of a primal need made it exceedingly tangible to my physical body and nourishing to my soul. I warn, gardening is not for the faint at heart (I may have had to say a few Om Shantis to the garden beatles I smushed along the way), but it's rewards super-saturate the system. A little hard work definitely goes a long way.
Join me in class this fall for a little hard work and lots of nourishment.
Vanderbilt Center for Integrative Health www.vcih.org
Mondays 9:30am Back Care-Foundation Level (1)
Wednesdays 10:00am Yoga for Stress Relief-Foundation Level (1) 
Thursdays 4:00pm Gentle Yoga-Foundation Level (1) 
Studio Dakini (12 South District) www.studiodakini.com
Tuesdays 12:00pm Fire-Keeper* Vinyasa-Open Level (2/3)
Thursdays 7:30pm Nectar Vinyasa-Open Level (2/3)  
Yoga Country (Brentwood) www.yogacountry.com 
Tuesdays 5:30pm Deep & Stretchy-Foundation Level (1) 
Wednesdays 11:30am Deep & Stretchy-Foundation Level (1) 
Kali Yuga (East Nashville) www.kaliyugayoga.com 
Fridays 2:30pm Kapha Restorative-Foundation Level (1)
The Pilates Place (Bellevue)  www.thepilatesplace.us
Wednesdays 4:30pm Align & Flow-Open Level (2)

Email me directly for private session bookings.
Level (1)= least aggressive, Level (2)=moderately aggressive, Level (3)=more aggressive
Foundation Level=beginner appropriate, Open Level=all welcome, modifications recommended
*NOT a hot yoga class

TEACHER TRAINING 2013

actually CLICK HERE for more info

It’s that time again…
Om Factory School of Yoga’s Mission is to offer a comprehensive yoga teacher training program that provides teachers the knowledge, guidance, and capacity to instruct with true wisdom and integrity. Our program is certified by the Yoga Alliance®.

Our teacher training program is co-facilitated by lead teachers Amanda Wentworth and Holly Coles. Our lead teachers instruct the core curriculum which accounts for approximately 75% of classroom hours in training. As a complement to the core curriculum, the program features guest teachers covering specialized topics in the field of yoga (see Faculty & Curriculum below). Our Mentorship Program gives students the opportunity to teach open public classes at the studio as part of practical training. Each student is assigned an Om Factory teacher who will provide support, guidance and feedback throughout the program. Upon successful completion of the program, students will be certified as 200-Hour Hatha Vinyasa Yoga Teachers and are eligible for personal Yoga Alliance registration at the 200 hour level.

SPRING 2013 PROGRAM DATES
Weekend Course, January 18 – April 7, 2013 (No Classes March 29-31)
Fridays 6-9pm, Saturdays 10-6pm, & Sundays 10-5pm 
To register, please complete and submit the ONLINE APPLICATION no later than January 11, 2013.

TUITION
A $500 Deposit is due with your application.
Early Bird Tuition: $2,750 paid in full by October 1, 2012
Pre-registration Tuition: $2,950 paid in full by December 1, 2012
Full Tuition: $3,150 paid in full by January 18, 2013
Installment Plan: $3,350 payable in installments (bi-monthly payments of $475 are due on: January 18, February 1 & 15, March 1, 15, 29).
*Tuition includes a 4-month Unlimited Membership for all Om Factory locations valid from January through April 2012.

Faculty & Curriculum
get your geek on!
Core Modules: Amanda Wentworth & Holly Coles
Sanskrit Studies: Lesley Freyberg 
Anatomy of Asana and Restorative Yoga: Chris Loebsack
Intelligent Sequencing: Mike McArdle
Composing a Class: Paul Gruen
Pre & Post-Natal Yoga: Latham Thomas
Community in Yoga: Adam Rinder
Business of Yoga: Emilia Conradson
Community Classes
Mentorship Program
Apprenticeship Program (Post-Graduation)

Free Class at VCIH

Simply print off this post & bring it with you to the Vanderbilt Center for Integrative Health for a free class in September.  See the full schedule of class at www.vcih.org


In NYC

I will be away from my Nashville classes September 12th - September 18th midday (teaching evening classes).  I'll be in New York City teaching at Om Factory and scheduling private sessions. Contact me to reserve your space.

Wish I could say I'm flying to the city via peacock pose, like the lovely yogi pictured in NYC, but for now my means of travel are still in human form.

Note to self: Must meditate more to achieve powers of levitation and astral travel.

NYC FALL WORKSHOP


Playing your Opposites: A Hatha Yoga Workshop
May the forces that bind you, set you free.

The world is filled with opposing energies.  As a young child we quickly learn the energy and power behind the oppositional response, No.  Moving about our daily lives through the cycles of sun and moon we constantly experience oppositions such as open/close, rise/fall, summer/winter, calm/agitation, give/receive, right/wrong, and past/future.  Hatha Yoga itself is defined as the combining of such oppositional energy, the sun energy “ha” and moon energy “tha”, to find true liberation beyond the confines of space and time.  As Krishna teaches in the Bhagavad Gita, true freedom comes from knowing that human suffering is rooted in the illusion of real verse unreal.

Hatha can also be translated as determined effort.  In this workshop we will work to fully know and inhabit the oppositions inherent to the asana and pranayama practices in order to unbind and release back to center, finding our own true nature.  Physically we will explore dynamic directions of energy that oppositely spiral, contract, and move in straight oppositional lines throughout the alignment of postures and the movement of breath.  Philosophically we will assist the practice with the Guna and Chakra theories of Hatha Yoga, as well as supporting theories in Buddhism and Taoism.  This workshop aims to bring acute awareness to the play of opposites in worldly existence, so that one can transcend the unreal and sit in the true center of the self in peace.

3-5pm Saturday, September 15th at Om Factory NYC.
For more information and to register for this workshop, click here.
*Stay around after the workshop for a short info session to learn more about Om Factory’s Teacher Training program with lead instructor Amanda Wentworth.

About the Instructor:
Amanda Wentworth is the director and co-teacher of the Teacher Training program at Om Factory, a 200-hour Hatha Vinyasa registered school with Yoga Alliance.  She actively teaches classes, workshops, and retreats to students of all levels around the globe.  Recent personal training in therapeutic yoga applications supported by both Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine inform a practice that is both an efficient and mindful exploration of the present moment.

Summer Schedule

So yours truly is now a lululemon ambassador! Look for a way too large photo of me coming to a local store soon. Seriously, the Nashville lulu girls are just about the sweetest people ever. And their clothes are truly awesome... a pleasure to be in all day long. In a getting to know you questionnaire, lulu wants one word to sum up who I am. Man, that is tricky. I can handle the questions like cake or cupcakes (I chose pie) and the music that moves your soul (anything international/ethnic), but one word for who I am? I have thus concluded for the time being that I am abundant. A giving earth mother, at least I hope to be so. Check out my newest lulu duds in our recent photo shoot in the Dragon Park with Ashley Hylbert. Here's to abundant play in the park this summer!

Studio Dakini (12 South District) www.studiodakini.com
Tuesdays 12:30pm
 Fire Keeper* Vinyasa-Open Level (2/3) 
Thursdays 7:30pm Fire Keeper* Vinyasa-Open Level (2/3) 
Steadfast & True (Edgehill) www.steadfastandtrueyoga.com
Tuesdays 9:45am
 Vinyasa, The Refinement-Open Level (2) 

Alternate Fridays 6:00pm Fusion Vinyasa-Open Level (2/3) once a month**
Yoga Country (Brentwood) www.yogacountry.com 
Tuesdays 5:30pm Deep & Stretchy-Foundation Level (1) 
Wednesdays 11:30am Deep & Stretchy-Foundation Level (1) 
Vanderbilt Center for Integrative Health www.vcih.org
Wednesdays 10:00am
 Yoga for Stress Relief-Foundation Level (1) 
Thursdays 4:00pm Gentle Yoga-Foundation Level (1) 
Kali Yuga (East Nashville) www.kaliyugayoga.com 
Fridays 2:30pm Kapha Restorative-Foundation Level (1)
The Pilates Place (Bellevue)  www.thepilatesplace.us
Wednesdays 4:30pm Align & Flow-Open Level (2)

Level (1)= least aggressive, Level (2)=moderately aggressive, Level (3)=more aggressive
Foundation Level=beginner appropriate, Open Level=all welcome, modifications recommended

*NOT a hot yoga class

**see studio website or facebook page for exact schedule

Free Class

Come take a free class with me next Tuesday thanks to lululemon


Away for a week

I'm away relaxing on the beach with family for the next week, May 27th - June 1st.
Happy Memorial Day!

Shoulder Workshop in NYC


CHATA-WHAT!?

Ever wonder if you are doing Chaturanga correctly? Have you done so many Chata-whatevers that you are not even sure what’s happening anymore?  Back by popular demand is the teacher’s view on all those chaturangas…

Shoulder alignment is key in many poses of the yoga practice, yet we often overburden the wrong parts of the shoulder girdle and put strain on inappropriate joints, muscles, and even the heart. By isolating the anatomy and movements of the shoulder joint with props and preparations, you will learn the most efficient way to move and support weight in the upper body.  Through additional awareness of the breath and energetic system of the thoracic area, the shoulder girdle will begin to move with steadiness and ease allowing the heart to open.  Partner work of hands on adjustments will further teach how to objectively observe patterns, openings, and obstructions in other students to inform your own practice.  From downward facing dog to arm balances and inversions, your new chaturanga will have you feeling strong and stable, yet light and free.  

Saturday, June 16th 2-4pm at Om Factory www.omfactorynyc.com
Stay around after the workshop for a short info session to learn more about Om Factory’s Teacher Training program with lead instructor Amanda Wentworth.

About the Instructor:
Amanda Wentworth is the director and co-teacher of the Teacher Training program at Om Factory, a 200-hour Hatha Vinyasa registered school with Yoga Alliance.  She actively teaches classes, workshops, and retreats to students of all levels around the globe.  Recent personal training in therapeutic yoga applications supported by both Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine inform a practice that is both an efficient and mindful exploration of the present moment.

Om Factory Blog Post:
Guess what… Chata-What?! is back, my workshop for optimal shoulder alignment.

One of my trustiest teaching tools for the shoulders in chaturanga happens to be a pair of blocks.  In the past I have nicknamed them training wheels – the rickety old things that buttress the back wheel of a grown-up bike.  Now that the workshop is two years older I have started to think of the whole chaturanga process more as the training bra for the bigger, fancier poses of the practice.


Our shoulders need training, and lots of it... Read More 

Nashville Spring Schedule Starting 3/1


So I promised I'd be back to Nashville by the time the buttercups were in bloom, but I didn't expect spring to be so fully here. It is lovely. The fresh air through the curtained windows, the warm sun and yes, little things popping out of the earth all over. It seems as though in early spring everything loosens a bit, not just the earth, but my mind and body. Like a neck tie that has been loosened. There is ease and delight in being present with this arrival of new energy into the atmosphere. Everything seems a-ok, well actually quite good. Thank you Mother Nature. I promise to use your energy wisely.

Tuesday
9:45am  Steadfast & True Hatha Deepening-Open Level (2)
12:30pm  Studio Dakini Fire Keeper Vinyasa*-Open Level (3)
5:30pm  Yoga Country Deep & Stretchy-Foundation Level (1)

Wednesday
9:30am  Yoga Country Foundations of Alignment-Open Level (2) 
11:30am  Yoga Country Deep & Stretchy-Foundation Level (1)
4:30pm  The Pilates Place Align & Flow-Open Level (2) 
6:30pm  Kali Yuga Yoga Vata Vinyasa-Open Level (3)

Thursday 
7:30pm  Studio Dakini Fire Keeper Vinyasa*-Open Level (3)

Friday
2:30pm  Kali Yuga Yoga Kapha Restorative-Foundation Level (1)
6:00pm  Steadfast & True Fusion Fridays-Open Level (3) once monthly**

*NOT a hot yoga class
**see studio website (listed below) or studio facebook page for exact schedule
Level (1)= least aggressive, Level (2)=moderately aggressive, Level (3)=more aggressive
Foundation Level=beginner appropriate, Open Level=all welcome, modifications recommended
Yoga Country (Brentwood) www.yogacountry.com 
Steadfast & True (Edgehill Village) www.steadfastandtrueyoga.com
Studio Dakini (12 South) www.studiodakini.com
Kali Yuga Yoga (East Nashville) www.kaliyugayoga.com 
The Pilates Place (Bellevue)  www.thepilatesplace.us