Yoga
Healing Arts
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Below is a list of workshops Melissa has offered previously.
Workshops may be taught in a 3 - 6 hour intensive or a full weekend program.
Workshops can be applied toward continuing education with Yoga Alliance.
Shakti Power! Opening the Hips in Strength and Fluidity
According to the ancient seers of India, our creative potential, our shakti, rests in the seat of the pelvis. Due to the structure of our lives, sitting in chairs most of the time, our pelvis begins to become more bound to one direction of movement. This workshop intends to teach some fun and dynamic sequences, inspired by Shiva Rea, to liberate the pelvis by cultivating true strength in your foundation as well as setting free the fluid nature of the hips so that we can walk upon the earth with greater joy and vitality.
ScheduleMaha Bhutas - Flowing with the Elements
Practices of the ancient seers began with the worship of the five elements. Yoga practice in all of its forms has a rooted expression in the flow of the elements as they compose the body, as they do the Earth. This workshop will be a meditative flow exploring the qualities of the elements within the body, as expressed through asana. We begin with the earth element and travel through the body, experiencing the manifestation of fire, water, air and space. Each yoga flow will include asana, pranayama, yoga nidra and meditation.
ScheduleMoving with Heart - Opening the Backbody into Fearless Backbends
The back of our body holds so much of our fluid memory and experience. We live in a forward moving, forward thinking culture. The importance of living in the backbody is often forgotten. We will be exploring the fluid nature of the backbody, through moving meditations and asanas. As we soften into that place of surrender we will begin to explore opening the front body with the direct support of the back, led by the heart, into ecstatic backbends. May your spine be free of fear!
Exploring Prana - The Energetics of Yoga
PRANA is the Sanskrit word for breath, spirit, soul, energy, life force or guiding intelligence. Begin to explore the mysterious world of the energetic in your yoga practice and in the flow of life. In this workshop we will explore the energetics of HaTha yoga and Flow. We will be learning the directions of prana as explained in the Ayurvedic texts, as well as look at the 
Eastern systems of energetic anatomy. We will then be applying this knowledge within asana as moving meditations. This workshop holds the intention of inspiring a greater level of subtle awareness in your practice as well as ground within you the essential presence of our pranic nature.
Alignment in the Flow
Honoring our natural alignments within asana during a vinyasa flow yoga class can be challenging. Learn the fundamentals of alignment within the classical asanas as well as how to apply them seamlessly within your vinyasa flow yoga practice. If you have struggled with particular asanas this workshop may be appropriate for you to find your flow. Yoga Asana can be much more powerful and transformative when we apply the principles of alignment. Empower yourself. This workshop holds the intention to inspire yoga practitioners to honor their bodies in the moment of the flow so that they can practice for life.
Yoga from the Inner Body
Inspired by the innovatively wise teachings of Angela Farmer and Victor Van Kooten, Yoga from the Inner Body invites the art of moving and expressing from the depth of internal exploration rather than forcing the body into positions from the outer mind. 
This workshop will emphasize diving deeply into the inner landscapes, to witness and to express what is there by moving with the authentic rhythm of the breath. There are so many stories in the body that want to be heard and felt, instead of hidden and closed off from the wholeness of our Being. Yoga translates as Union. When we are not expressing from the depth of our inner experience with reverence for the beauty of our body, we are in separation and therefore great suffering. Yoga is the alleviation of suffering, by traveling to what once seemed impossible, and then discover through that journey, limitless possibility. May you discover what is continually creating and dissolving within You.
Yogini Embodied - Yoga Practice for Women's Health
The female body is as beautiful and complex as the Earth herself. In this workshop we will be exploring the sacred gifts of the feminine in yoga through poetry, sharing and learning about the path of the yogini. We will then practice yoga asana sequences that are incredibly helpful for women during all phases of her life. We will be specifically looking at the endocrine system, and its significance in finding balance in our being. This workshop holds the intention of inspiring women to practice yoga as an incredible support to her life, viewing it as a sacred journey, discovered new each day.
Transforming Conflict with HaTha Yoga
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali have explained the path to peace and forgiveness, simply, concisely 
and practically. The sutras are a guide to help us to resolve any conflict within ourselves. As we begin to resolve our own inner conflict those conflicts around us do not seem so different. We are all searching for peace. This is part of the reason we are drawn to the yogic path. Inspired by the wise teachings of Rama Vernon, this workshop will help you discover ways to incorporate greater levels of consciousness within your yoga practice, within your Life. We will be sharing in circle, exploring the yoga sutras with new light through direct experiences in partner practices, asana and guided meditations. Peace begins one breath, one body, one life at a time.
Love and Abundance: The Art of Ayurvedic Self-Care
Yoga can be defined as a path that alleviates suffering by the union of that which we perceived to be separate and is in truth, deeply connected. This journey to wholeness can only be undertaken with Love, or else the transformation will not occur. When we live with love on this infinite path of Life, we have true abundance. The ancient seers of India have outlined a beautiful and complete holistic understanding of self-care, to lead us to our natural state of wholeness. This workshop will help you to understand your ayurvedic constitution, daily shatkarmas, yogic foods & nutrition, the three gunas, the koshas, abyanga practice, and honoring nature's biorhythms. All of these practices are a way to guide us gently and lovingly back to our natural self, a state of abundant love.
