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WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
All Levels Workshops
Inspire Your Soul Vinyasa
Spark your soul's awakening by igniting your inner spiritual fire during this uplifting vinyasa flow class. Vinyasa is the movement of the body and the breath linked together in order to balance the nervous system and bring about mental tranquility. The body-breath movement generates hear, which is then used to burn away impurities that hinder the movement of energy in and through the body. Once the nervous system is calm, the senses become calm and the mind follows. The senses should then merge inward focusing on the opening of energy. This is called pratyahara. The mind follows the senses inward and withdraws from objects of desire outside the body, which can cause suffering if we are too attached.
Real one-pointed concentration can then be achieved, which allows for meditation. Meditation cannot begin until the mid is tranquil. If the mind remains disturbed or distracted, seated meditation cannot begin.
This unbelievably fun class will leave you feeling open and alive!
Light heart-ed Yoga
Taking ourselves too seriously is something we do without even realizing it. It happens because we often see ourselves not as we truly are, as resplendent creations of life, but as we "think" we are, confining us to compare ourselves to everything and everyone around us.
Instead of getting wrapped up in the lower mind's mental fluctuations, let's energize the body for an enlivening experience of breath and movement. Let us lighten the load and drop some of the repeated patterns of thought that leave us feeling helpless and hopeless.
Recognize your true state of peace and tranquility cultivated by this rejuvenating Vinyasa class and shed the weight of conditioned thinking and experience something fresh and new, which is the essence of happiness...
Moon Yin
The Moon Yin sequence is offered as a fantastic balancing practice to the common Yang, or hot physical practices, or if you are just feeling more tired than normal. Because yoga is a practice of controlling the movement of energy, it is common for yogis to skip practice on full moons and new moons based on the ebb and flow of the energy in the body.
This workshop will use a fairly gentle flowing sequence filled with familiar postures, such as downward-dog, triangle, side-angle pose, crescent, gently warming the body, followed by a series of Yin poses, or deep stretches, which will be held anywhere from one to three minutes. Holding Yin postures helps to loosen connective tissue, open joints, and give the sense of over-all spaciousness within!
Come join John for this balanced and soothing workshop that will leave you feeling grounded and at peace.
Freedom in Back-bending
Discover real freedom, freedom that comes from feeling at ease in one’s own body. When you feel at ease, your mind is at ease. The body is balanced and the whole system is stronger, more stable, and less prone to "dis-ease." Backbends inject you with life. They purify the heart of negative wanting like the sunrise that washes away the darkness. The deep breathing necessary for back-bending brings a wide-awake aliveness and open quality through the chest and shoulders. A feeling of lightness and ease descends upon oneself through steady practice. But opening your low back and front body is not an easy feat. It takes understanding and skill to align the body, coupled with patience and discipline to do the work.
John will take you on a journey into your low back, helping to release the lumbar vertebrae and sacroiliac joint, bringing a suppleness to the spine and youthful elasticity. But, to get that deep, we must open and stretch what is on the outside. Namely the front body, upper-back, and hips, while strengthening the legs, arms, and wrists. A special sequence of back bends will gradually open you to new feelings of expansion. It is the feeling you’ve been searching for!
Learn to live from your heart again!
Intermediate Workshops
Detox Flow
Detox Flow is an invigorating experience full of dynamic Vinyasa sequences that will have you heavily glistening to the tunes of hip-hop, reggae and pop music!
Out-of-this-world beats mixed with John's easy-to-listen-to voice creates a sublime environment, as he lays out each pose in detail and specificity to make it easy for his students to grasp. John does not just teach and guide the class, but instead inspires with encouraging words of wisdom that his students can relate to and take from the yoga mat into the "real world."
This high energy experience will leave you detoxified, cleansed, and glowing!
Your students will not want to miss this one!!
Journey into LIGHT-ness
Uplift your yoga practice by working with John Salisbury, as we uncover the foundations necessary for inversion and arm-balance confidence. Most people have a narrow understanding of how the body works upside down and in arm-balancing postures. We will break down the essence of specific poses, such as rotations of the limbs, how flexibility plays into these postures, and the nature of the bandhas (inner muscle contractions that help to stabilize energy).
This class will use sun salutation variations and flow to heat the body and prepare it for inversion work, while offering instruction on how to ground your poses through flexion and uplift with breath. Your breath is the fuel for flying in arm-balances. We will workshop inversions and arm-balances for beginners, intermediate, and advanced practitioners from a technical standpoint and offer modified postures as building blocks.
One year of practice is helpful, but all are welcome!
Art of Adjustments & Alignment
Adjusting a yoga posture is an art form, much like pottery, that takes understanding and skill. If we wish to have a better understanding of our own yoga practice we must begin to recognize how the body works through line and form. In this workshop we will break down the energetic flow of the most popular standing postures, some floor postures, and also backbends. We will look at the breath and how it relates to the flow of energy in the body in order to heal and soothe tension. Then, to further our understanding, we will adjust each other in each posture giving ourselves a more organic and intuitive sense of what is happening. A partner is not necessary as we will team up and change partners in order to experience different bodies in different positions. Come join John and deepen your awareness of your own body through this amazing awakening of your yoga practice!
Ashtanga Workshops
Intro to Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga
This ancient Yoga method emphasizes synchronization of the breath with a logically progressive sequence of asanas (postures) offered in "series." We will focus on what is commonly known as the Primary Series or "First Series."
The flow between each posture is an integral part of the practice and part of the form. We are always focusing on synchronizing the breath with the movement of the body. Vinyasa means synchronized movement and breath. Breath is the heart of this discipline and links each asana into the next.
Techniques detailing the Ujjayi Pranayama (breath), Bandhas (energectic locks), and Drishti (gazing pionts) will be presented so students can tangibly grasp this structured practice. Each asana, or group of asanas, has a specific effect that is counter-balanced by the previous asana, or group of asana.
To accumulate the benefits, protect, and balance the body, it is essential to follow the sequence
Ashtanga "Mix"
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga has six series of poses, which are labeled "primary," "secondary," and "advanced." Many people never get a chance to enjoy some of the fabulous poses from the more challenging series because of the Ashtanga method, which is to only allow students to go so far based on their ability. But there are modifications so that everyone can have fun. The advanced backbends in Secondary are heart throbbing, the arm-balances and inversions in the third-series are exhilarating, but not taught or attempted too often because of the strictness of the Ashtanga Yoga system, as taught by Sri. K. Pattabhis Jois.
John has devised a simple intelligent flow of postures that incorporates first, second, and advanced postures in order to develop parts of the body that need a little extra help and attention. This class is available to even a newer practitioner because of the options John offers…..so that nobody feels left out of the mix!
This class is a joy, a challenge, and informative, as we blend the postures into balanced sequences that makes sense for everyone!
Ashtanga Primary Series
The Primary Ashtanga Vinyasa Series, also known as "First" Series, or Yoga Chikitsa, which translates in Sanskrit to mean yoga therapy, is the foundational sequence that heals and purifies the whole bodily system using tristhana. Tristhana are the three elements, which make up the practice. They are vinyasa; the movement of body and breath in unison, the bandhas; which are subtle internal energetic locks, and drishti; the mind-stilling gaze. These sadhanas, or practices, are therapeutic for the body, emotions, and mind.
John will lead you through the entire Primary Series, beginning with Sun Salutations, then take you into the Standing Sequence, followed by the Floor Sequence, all the while offering helpful hints and techniques that detail the inner-weavings of vinyasa yoga.
One year experience of Ashtanga Yoga is helpful. Come with an open heart and a smile!
Intermediate Ashtanga Series
The Intermediate Ashtanga Vinyasa sequence, also known as Second Series, is a dynamic and challenging practice from beginning to end. This sequence is mostly known for its back-bending, but also includes some of the first arm-balances and foot-behind-the-head postures. In Sanskrit this series is called Nadi Shodana, meaning "Nerve Cleansing," which relates to the purifying of the spine and the energy therein. In the Primary Series we cleanse and purify the body in order to get us ready to be able to do the Intermediate Series, which in turn is used to cleanse and purify the nervous system.
You do not have to be a master of the Primary Series in order to try the Intermediate Series. However, being proficient at First Series is extremely beneficial in understanding the flow of the postures. Just come with an open mind and be ready to work, smile, and play our way into a more energetic YOU!
Ashtanga "Led" Primary Series & Breakdowns
Have you been practicing Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and wish to refine your practice? Maybe you don't even know what it is, or perhaps you have never tried it because it's intimidating, but you think you are ready to make the leap to the next level of your yoga practice? This workshop is the perfect learning ground for all of the above. We will move with purpose, detailing the entire Primary Series from Ashtanga Yoga discussing the vinyasas, pranayama, and subtle energetic movements that illuminate the body's alignment issues.
Beginning with Sun Salutations to warm up the body, we will talk about the importance of Surya Namaskara A & B, as they lead us to standing poses. Followed by the floor sequence, known as Yoga Chikitsa, which means Yoga Therapy, and then ending with the finishing poses to restore balance. Taken bit by bit, there will arise the realization that Primary Series is the very foundation that leads you into an understanding of the body's energetic pathways and how one pose builds upon the next.
