Please join us for this day of quiet reflection and profound rest.
Settling into ourselves within the container of community, we find safety and repose. Together we explore our unique abilities to rest, renew, and rediscover the simplicity, peace, and calm that lies within. Those qualities of mind, body, and spirit are often lost in the complexity and constant demands of our outer lives.
We offer these three powerful practices, restorative yoga, somatic movement, and meditation, woven together like a braided rope, inviting in the extra strength that this combination gives.
Give your body and mind an opportunity to reset, release tension, and emerge filled with your natural biological optimism, the perfect antidote to the overwhelm and exhaustion that many of us are experiencing.
RETREAT COMPONENTS
This retreat will combine various healing modalities with the express intention of helping you relax, rest, and find renewal within yourself.
Gentle and Restorative Yoga - Joanna Dunn will guide an easeful series of movements followed by deep and quiet rest in restoratives.
Somatic Movement - Debra Lerman will provide embodied, sensory experiences allowing you to feel in your cells what it is to move with ease and breath, and what is to cease movement and find stillness, how to do nothing and just be.
Meditation - Joanna Dunn will introduce and guide a powerful metta (loving-kindness) meditation to refill your inner reservoir of compassion for yourself and others. A wonderful practice for empathy fatigue, for caregivers and those caught in “the trance of unworthiness”.
Yoga Nidra (Meditation) - Heather Anastos will lead you to a state of deep rest and ignite the healing potential of your body and mind during this transformative practice.
Quiet Reflection - Time will be given for creative expression through free drawing and journaling as well as optional sharing with other retreat participants in a safe, caring environment.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
9:15-9:30 Arrival
9:30-10:15 Opening Circle (Introductions, Intention Setting)
10:15-11:00 Body Scan (Debra Lerman)
11:00-11:15 Journaling/Reflection and short break
11:15-12:30 Gentle and Restorative Yoga (Joanna Dunn)
12:30-1:30 Catered lunch and break - If weather allows, suggested walk to the river and back.
1:30-2:15 Metta Meditation (Joanna Dunn)
2:15-3:15 Feldenkrais Lesson (Debra Lerman)
3:15-3:30 Journaling/Reflection and short break
3:30-4:15 Yoga Nidra (Heather Anastos)
4:15-5:00 Closing Circle (Sharing and closing ritual)
PRICING
$125, before May 12; $150 after
MEET YOUR FACILITATORS/TEACHERS
Joanna Dunn, E-RYT 500
Since 2001, Joanna has brought her own unique approach to teaching yoga, combining an alignment-based approach with modalities such as somatic movement and mindfulness. At once very practical and playful, her sessions often will include out-of-the-box explorations. Known for her precise and accessible instruction, both beginners and experienced practitioners feel at ease in her sessions. Joanna is also a certified mindfulness meditation teacher. She leads retreats within the Pacific Northwest and abroad. Learn more at JoannaDunn.com
Debra Lerman, PT, Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, 1996
Originally a dancer and massage therapist, then a physical therapist, first licensed in 1986,
Debra has been teaching movement in some form since 1971. Debra has worked one-on-one and in groups with babies to octogenarians, with neurological and orthopedic difficulties, as well as world-class athletes. She has taught in colleges, and universities, provided training for physical and massage therapists, and co-taught retreats in Arizona, Washington State, Oregon, and Costa Rica with yoga instructors. For Debra, “It’s been a wild ride.” Currently, she finds unending fascination in coming upon movements that provide a physical metaphor and experience allowing each individual to answer for themselves “life’s persistent questions.”_ Guy Noir, a Prairie Home Companion
Learn more at debralerman.com
Heather Anastos, ERYT-500, 400hr Ayurvedic Practitioner, Jyotisha Ratna
Heather Anastos started her learning journey with yoga in 2002; however, she quickly discovered the traditional medicine of India (Ayurveda) which then opened the doors to Vedic Astrology (Jyotish) and other alternative healing modalities. Today, Heather weaves ancient Vedic wisdom into practical, modern approaches that help individuals take control of their physical, mental, and spiritual well-being through personalized readings, sessions, classes, workshops, and trainings. Learn more at HeatherAnastos.com
Register at https://www.theyogacommunity.com/series
Refund/Cancellation Policy
If the Yoga Community cancels the workshop for any reason, full refunds will be given. No refunds are available for cancellations less than 10 days before the retreat.
What to bring
Bring your yoga mat and an additional blanket. For somatic movement, some people appreciate additional padding - you can bring a heavier quilt or blanket large enough to fit your whole body. If you own an eye bag, please bring it.
A journal or sketchbook, pen/pencils (you’re encouraged to bring colored pens/pencils if you have them)
While lunch will be provided, you’re welcome to bring snacks. Please bring a travel mug that has a sealable lid for drinking in the studio.
Bring layers as everyone’s body temperature is different. If you intend to walk to the river and back at lunch, bring suitable shoes, hats, and layers for being outside.
Yoga props are available at Red Jasper Studios but you may bring your own if you prefer. You will need a mat, bolster, two blankets, two blocks, and an 8- or 10-foot strap.
Please leave at home or turn off for the day your mobile devices. If you wear a smartwatch, please take it off or plan to disconnect it from your phone for the day. Tell your friends and family that you will be out of touch for the day, if possible.