Yoga Sanctuary

See what's happening in August at Yoga Sanctuary

🏵️Fri 8/7 Holistic Kids Yoga Teacher Training w/Shelley, Julia, and Chelsea Shelley Rasmussen Pagitt Julia Britzius The Youth Yoga Collective
🏵️Fri 8/7 Restorative Yoga w/ Anaily Guerrero Annie 🌀
🏵️Sun 8/9 Yoga Para La Comunidad w/ Dina Lee Ramirez Latina wellness | dina
🏵️Sun 8/9 Forest Therapy w/ Mel Schneider Wild Wanders Forest Therapy
🏵️Tues 8/18 320-Hour Holistic Yoga Teacher Training Info Session w/Holistic Yoga Teacher Training and Tracy, Courtney, and Laura Tracy Vacura Courtney Lavery Dingman Laura
🏵️Fri 8/21 Sound Healing w/ Leni Sophocleus eleni sophocleus 200 RYT
🏵️Sun 8/24 Yoga Para La Comunidad w/ Lydia Bush Love Yoga Hub
🏵️Fri 8/28 Arm Balances w/ Julia Britzius Julia Britzius

Learn more and Register at YogaSanctuaryMpls.com

At the height of Summer things can feel intense. Are full schedules starting to drain your energy? Is the heat, humidity, or air quality starting to affect you more? Maybe your body is craving a bit of self-care and slowness?

Join Anaily at Yoga Sanctuary on August 7th for an evening of restorative yoga where you can unwind and ground into your body and the support of yoga props in restful postures that your nervous system will say THANK YOU for.

Learn more and register at YogaSanctuaryMpls.com/Workshops-class-series

Calling all Teachers, Yoga Practicioners, Parents, and Youth Program Leads. 📣✨🙌

We have a special upcoming training for you where we offer education, training, practical strategies, and resources that can support the unique Youth in your life.

We will cover:
📝yoga foundations
📝child development
📝stress/ trauma
📝creative sequencing
📝energy management

Leaning on ancient yoga wisdom and modern child psychology, you will gain a better understanding of group dynamics and how you can be more responsive to and skilled at supporting children in regulating their nervous systems through energizing, calming and stabilizing practices (brahmana, samana, and langhana.)

Whether you are a yoga teacher, educator, parent, family member or community leader, this training will offer you practical tools to bring to the children in your life. We will practice as a group and learn through role play, tuning into your inner child as you participate in a Kids Yoga class, creating your own kids yoga class including asana, and, you’ll walk away with activities and tools to start teaching Holistic Kids Yoga right away.

🧠🤝💡Learn the value of connection over correction to create a container that will see, support, and celebrate the unique children and youth in your life!

✨Register to save your spot at YogaSanctuaryMpls.com/Workshops-Class-Series
*8 CEU hours available for RYT

¡Únete a nosotros para una clase especial de yoga en español, accesible para todas las edades, tipos de cuerpo y niveles de experiencia!

This Sunday 1-2 pm Yoga Para La Comunidad with Sofia Padilla is joined by our new friend Claudia Santana who will be offering Sound Healing after movement and breath awareness with Sofia. The Perfect way to integrate and relax after asana!

These Yoga Para La Comunidad Classes are FREE for the Spanish-speaking community. You are welcome to join in person or online. No need to register or disclose your personal information.

Thank you Sofia, Dina, Lydia, and Claudia- our Yoga teachers for creating such a special space for community and connection.

Summer OUTDOOR Yoga for All is still ongoing! 🌹🌳🌼
Bask in the evening light at Lake Harriet Rose Garden with Krista every Tuesday 6-7pm.

Registration and more details can be found at YogaSanctuaryMpls.com/class-schedule

The value of yoga goes beyond the mat, and so yoga classes should go beyond the studio too!

This Summer we have had the honor of partnering with Missions Inc. who provides housing, emergency shelter and supportive services to domestic abuse survivors and those seeking recovery from substance use disorders.

We have been offering free community wellness sessions to a group of women with simultaneous kids' yoga, so the whole family can benefit and so childcare isn't a barrier to wellness.

This week, participants learned a bit about the nervous system and how extended exhales can help shift into a parasympathetic state of 'rest and digest'. One participant even reported that after learning to breathe in this way, it reduced her back pain. She had a relaxed smile on her face and was grateful to know her kids were in good hands so she could relax and receive the benefits of her wellness session.

Our kids' yoga session that day also focused on a similar breath practice in a developmentally appropriate way using imagination and play that empowered them through feeling it for themselves!

If you would like this transformative work, please consider donating at YogaSanctuaryMpls.com/Donate.

And you can learn more about Missions and their work at https://www.missionsinc.org/

Fish Pose (Matsyasana) with blocks (or a bolster) offers additional support in this more restorative variation that focuses on the chest, shoulder, jaw and neck, promoting nervous system regulation through passive stretching as the props hold the body in the shape with minimal effort required.

This stretch through the chest offers up more space for the diaphragm for fuller breaths, helping move the body-mind out of stagnancy. Energetically, Matsyasana stimulates the thyroid by way of stretching the neck and throat and activating the throat chakra.

How to practice:
1.) Place one block at its lowest height at the back of your mat horizontally (this will be where the back of the head will rest.) Place your second block at its lowest height to start in a vertical direction about six inches below the first block. (you may adjust this as you get settled in.)

2.) Start sitting, facing away from the blocks. You may have your knees bent with the soles of your feet on the ground.

3.) Looking towards your blocks, walk your hands back as you lower down to your blocks. Aim for the bottom of the second block to support your upper back just below the shoulder blades (or imaginary bra line) to avoid the blocks in the mid/low back. Rest your head on the top-most block.

4.) Your knees could stay bent with the soles of your feet on the ground and your inner knees gently touching to reduce effort through the hips and allow the nervous system to relax, or you could extend your legs long onto the ground.

5.) Notice your breath and slow it down, invite your body to soften, and find some moments here.

Tips: gently tuck your shoulder blades down and away from the ears for less restriction in the upper back and more openness to the front of the chest and neck. If you feel relaxed here and want more sensation, you could experiment with the block under your back to be at it's medium height as demonstrated by Leni here. OR if it's uncomfortable, a bolster or blanket variation is another option that offers more cushion for the body.

Have you tried this restorative fish pose? Join us in any of our gentle or restorative classes to beat the heat and find much-needed rest!

🩷✨Learn to TEACH Kids Yoga for All Ages!✨🩷
😀Day-Long Training: FRI AUG 7th 9:30-6:30😀

Learn how to teach Youth Yoga to all ages in a way that is Holistic - nurturing the body, mind, and spirit during this full day of training. In this hands-on workshop you’ll learn and experience the benefits of integrated, intentional play and how to offer it in a way that is developmentally appropriate for the children in your life. Based on Yoga Sanctuary’s Holistic Youth Yoga principles, this training blends play, mindfulness, movement and nervous system awareness.

We will cover yoga foundations, child development, stress/ trauma, creative sequencing and energy management. Leaning on ancient yoga wisdom and modern child psychology, you will gain a better understanding of group dynamics and how you can be more responsive to and skilled at supporting children in regulating their nervous systems through energizing, calming and stabilizing practices (brahmana, samana, and langhana.)

Whether you are a yoga teacher, educator, parent, family member or community leader, this training will offer you practical tools to bring to the children in your life. We will practice as a group and learn through role play, tuning into your inner child as you participate in a Kids Yoga class, creating your own kids yoga class including asana, and, you’ll walk away with activities and tools to start teaching Holistic Kids Yoga right away.

Lastly, because “settle bodies, settle bodies,” you will also be invited to participate in self care practices that inspire introspection (svadyaya) and compassionate self-awareness of your own biases, opinions, preferences, etc. through the lens of holistic yoga. When you nurture yourself, you can arrive more settled in spaces where children are seeking co-regulation.

Learn the value of connection over correction to create a container that will see, support, and celebrate the unique children and youth in your life!

Adverse experiences, trauma, and ongoing stress, often result in heightened sympathetic nervous system arousal which can feel like hypervigilance, restlessness, or racing thoughts, and over time can result in chronic tension, digestive issues, sleeplessness, or mental health challenges. A breathing practice that can help generate calm and reduce stress when practiced over time, is an extended exhale. Long slow exhales send a signal to the brain that we can begin to relax and that we are safe to ‘rest and digest.’

1.) Find a comfortable place to begin. Check in with how you are feeling in your body and mind. Notice your breath before you begin- are you breathing fast or slow? Is your inhale or exhale longer or shorter than the other?

2.) Breathe in slowly through your nose expanding through your belly. Breathe out slowly through pursed lips like you’re breathing out through a straw.

3.) Lengthen your exhales and try mentally counting your breathing. Inhale for a count of 4 and exhale for a count of 6. Repeat this for a couple of minutes.

4.) Check in with you are feeling afterwards in your body and in your mind.

Pursed lip - Pranayama Technique | 5 min | Shelley Pagitt Pursed Lip Breathing is a valuable tool for accessing awareness of...