Inner IDEA® Conference 2008

Come and experience the peacefulness of passive poses to release deep tension and imbalances in your body and mind. Let go of unnecessary stress and allow the stillness of each asana to be absorbed into your entire being. Layers of lightness will unfold for you as you focus on your breath and gently and easily move into a meditative state of relaxation. Please bring extra blankets if you can.

This authentic time-tested classical style of raja yoga is inclusive of all yogas. Beyond the boundaries of many styles of yoga available today, this classic method will connect you to your underlying essence. It combines the flowing physical postures utilizing the breath, the yoga philosophy and the psychological aspects of each pose. For practicing yogis, this session will serve to deepen your practice. For new practitioners, it will provide you with a solid base and time-tested tradition from which to grow.

This intermediate-level yoga workshop focuses on arm balancing and inversions. It can be a mirror for personal transformation and may deepen your understanding of self. Turning upside down lifts your energy and creates a being of lightness. On the emotional and psychic level, inversions throw new light on old patterns of behavior.

The core is the root of our being, the center of our balance, and in a healthy body, the root of our movements. Many of us know how to train the outer core but are disconnected from our inner core. Discover strengths and weaknesses in the core and how they translate into compensations and movements throughout the body. Develop key methods for retraining these muscles and releasing the tonic muscles, allowing your body to move more freely and assisting in pain or stress reduction.

Founded in geriatric science, this evidence-based senior health enhancement exercise program is supported by measurable results. This mindful exercise program combines breathing techniques, meditation and specially-developed postures called Silver Age Yoga asanas, which help seniors to stretch and strengthen muscles and improve their balance, along with providing a long list of additional physiological and psychological benefits.

The ultimate fusion of power and grace, prana and chi, vinyasa and martial flow, moving from one seamless sequence to the next are what distinguish this session from the rest. Strength, flexibility, breath, balance and insight are only a few of the benefits of this delectable blend of martial and healing arts.

There are numerous hatha yoga styles and each has its own particular focus and flavor. No matter what style you practice or teach, it is important to remember that each is intended to increase one's mind and body awareness. Blending yoga styles can bring a new sense of opening and connection to one's practice. This sampler session will introduce popular hatha yoga styles along with methods to blend them into creative and fulfilling class sessions.

The athletic (yang) styles of yoga prevalent today are most effective when balanced by an inner approach to the yoga asanas (yin). Every posture in yoga brings out a different part of the mind. In this thought-provoking yoga workshop, we will explore the benefits of both yin and yang, and experience a yin yoga session in which the postures are held longer, with an emphasis on deep release and mental and emotional centering within the asana.

Stress and suffering is the result of losing connection with our higher self. The classic and ancient remedy is through Yoga Nidra, a practice of connecting with our supreme self by relaxing the physical and mental body for the enfoldment of our deep awareness. As you send a wave of relaxation throughout your body, you will also experience a deeper state of awareness throughout your being.

Explore how overdoing abdominal exercises can lead to a flattening of the lumbar curve, creating a weakened spinal structure. Using back arches, twists and forward bends, reclaim the power of space in the body.

Learn to weave together the many variables of life's experiences to the challenges of your yoga practice by integrating all aspects of the human experience: body, mind, spirit, emotion and intention. The weave of life's challenges within the yoga poses include courage, boldness, creativity, holding your ground, compassion, surrender and integrity. Understand how the yoga practice comes alive with the broader picture of your own life as you live it.

Over time our bodies can develop many different layers of compensations. By utilizing yoga therapy, you will learn how to identify, release and retrain the body to allow it to move with greater ease and functionality.

The dynamic flow of Power Yoga is based on the ashtanga style of hatha yoga, where each pose is linked together by the breath. The flow of the poses (vinyasa) easily leads to a very active practice. By making simple, creative modifications to traditional yoga poses, you can create classes that target both the arms and core musculature.

Come to this wonderful experiential session with Laughter Yoga International's worldwide operations director Sebastien Gendry. Learn a physically-oriented technique that uses a perfect blend of playful, empowering and tension-releasing laughter exercises. You do not need to have a sense of humor, be happy or have any reason to laugh. Do not miss this unique opportunity to find out why laughter is truly the BEST medicine!

Come to this wonderful experiential session with Laughter Yoga International's worldwide operations director Sebastien Gendry. Learn a physically-oriented technique that uses a perfect blend of playful, empowering and tension-releasing laughter exercises. You do not need to have a sense of humor, be happy or have any reason to laugh. Do not miss this unique opportunity to find out why laughter is truly the BEST medicine!

Experience a unique workshop that will introduce you to a most refreshing and innovative approach to stress management as well as physical and mental well-being. Get ready to exercise your laughter muscles and enjoy the liberating and empowering effect that proves laughter is the best medicine! This workshop is of special interest to you if you are stressed, depressed, have low self-confidence, little or no sense of humor, or experience physical challenges. Please bring a big smile!

The ultimate fusion of power and grace, prana and chi, vinyasa and martial flow, moving from one seamless sequence to the next are what distinguish this session from the rest. Strength, flexibility, breath, balance and insight are only a few of the benefits of this delectable blend of martial and healing arts.

Do you feel stiff and tight in the hips? Standing for extended periods drives stress up your legs and into the hips. If you sit for long periods of time, the tension builds in the back and travels down the sacrum where it is then stored in the hips. Tight hips also affect other parts of your body, including the health of your back, knees and feet. Explore yoga postures designed to target the hips, glutes and pelvis. Balance between strength and flexibility and learn how yoga is a practice of opposites.

When the spine is aligned in its mechanically best position, the attaching muscles operate optimally.The resulting core strength affects cardiovascular function, respiration, digestion and waste removal of the lymphatic system. In addition to learning the objective markers of alignment, you will also learn exercises from the restorative exercise program that are designed to mobilize the entire spine and increase overall motor skill.

The Anusara Yoga(R) universal principles of alignment is a powerful and therapeutic hatha yoga system that effectively provides tremendous therapeutic relief to a wide variety of biomechanical limitations and injuries. By incorporating the concept of the "three A's," attitude, alignment and action, we learn to holistically address physical injuries. This course is open to all and is especially suitable for body workers and yoga teachers who want to learn how to help themselves and others.

Essential to the practice of ashtanga yoga are two internal locks, or bandhas, which are distinct muscular contractions in the lower abdomen and pelvic floor. Sun salutations and asanas are carried out while maintaining these locks. Insightful cultivation and application of locks increases the intensity of the practice as well as its therapeutic and restorative aspects. Practicing with bandhas, we'll cultivate strength, lightness and clarity.

From ancient times to the present, the use of sound can be found in all wisdom traditions to balance and heal both the physical and energetic bodies. Learn to bring a variety of sounds and instruments to create entrainment and healing during your yoga practice using chanting, toning, chakra tones and instruments designed to enhance a meditative state.

In ashtanga yoga, the standing postures are the foundational asanas. Cultivating proper technique in these asanas strengthens the feet, ankles, knees, legs, abdomen, spine and neck. They correct our day-to-day posture and enhance overall stamina, balance and well-being. Stable standing asanas heal weakness in the ankles and knees and also increase hip flexibility. These asanas are appropriate for all students.

No one has actually ever seen a thought, a dream, a sensation, an emotion, a desire or an instinct. Nor have we ever seen our egos, love or consciousness itself. Yet all of these are central to our experience as human beings. You can feel these experiences within the body, and in particular within a yoga energy movement class, and feeling is as good as believing! Come learn how to move your body through a series of YES Energy Meridians yoga postures.

This is an experiential course using Anusara(R) yoga universal principles of alignment for performance enhancement. Participants will learn preconditioning and strength training exercises, and yoga asanas that enhance core conditioning and prevent injury. Strong muscles are flexible muscles. Learn how to condition the core in a powerful new way and expand the body's potential.