A 3 PART WORKSHOP

By recognizing the fundamental job of a yoga teacher is to help students re-inhabit their bodies, Leslie will teach and explain how a few key changes to our teaching language can transform our classes into far more empowering experiences. Specific classroom strategies for commonly-taught practices will be reimagined with the focus on promoting better body awareness. A discussion of long and short term skill-sequencing will also help prioritize teaching choices for students of every level of experience.

This session begins with a multimedia review of the history and evolving definition of alignment. Then, a practical exploration of the uniqueness of human structure will lead to clear, simple principles that govern musculoskeletal function, and fine health movement and alignment.
A simple, yet powerful practice of asana and vinyasa will follow, with a focus on establishing a strong foundation in the feet and lower limbs.
In this highly interactive session, Leslie will help put your asana practice on a solid foundation literally from the ground up. Topics include:
• Functional principles of alignment and healthy movement
• Breath-centered, anatomically-based cueing
• The relationship of breath and bandha to support and movement
• Why instructions like “tuck your tail,” “lengthen your spine,” “square your hips” may be doing more harm than good.
• The use of gazing (drishti) and imagery to foster increased neuromuscular integration
• Simple, applicable principles of adaptation and modification of asana

If you like a strong, flowing, breath-centered yoga practice, but have done a few too many down dogs, up dogs or chaturangas, then this is the practice for you. This workshop will lead you through a specially-designed vinyasa that strongly works the legs and moves the spine in all possible directions, all without putting any body weight on your hands.
The morning session will focus on the relationship of breath to movement, while introducing the basic movement principles of the sequence. Additionally, the use of breath cueing to achieve alignment and safety objectives will be covered through exploring individual adaptation and modification.
Building on the full sequence of poses in the Warrior Series, this session will emphasize the details of musculoskeletal alignment. In particular, we will experiment with how to adapt and individualize breath and asana cueing for groups of any size, as well as how to modify the practice for individual therapeutic objectives. The vinyasa sequence will be practiced twice, the first time flowing through non-stop, and the second time breaking down the myriad possibilities for individual adaptation.

Available In-Person

and Livestream