Ashtanga and Yin Yoga Weekend with Stephanie Nelson
11th - 13th October
Breath-work and Meditation, Led ½ Primary Series Ashtanga Yoga
In this workshop, we will begin with resonance breathing, progressing to single and alternate nostril breathing, and then short bandha and breath retention practices. These exercises will gradually build over the weekend prior to each Ashtanga class. The led ashtanga class will be technique driven, providing useful tips for working with sun salutations, standing and seated poses, and then finish with yin poses and deep relaxation to calm body and mind.
Breath-work and Meditation, Mysore-style Ashtanga Yoga
Self-directed yoga practice is one of the unique aspects of the Ashtanga method. Students move through the memorized sequence at their own pace. This session is suitable for those with previous Mysore-style experience.
Everyday Asana – Cultivate Inner Fire for Daily Practice
Practicing ashtanga yoga every day is demanding, and well, can be a bit boring if you are repeating the same thing over and over. In this session we will look at ways to enhance you practice attitude and energy by providing variations and modifications, research poses, and discussing ways to keep your practice moving in a direction of curiosity and inquiry with intelligence and care.
Breath-work and Meditation, Mysore-style Ashtanga Yoga
Self-directed yoga practice is one of the unique aspects of the Ashtanga method. Students move through the memorized sequence at their own pace. This session is suitable for those with previous Mysore-style experience.
Chant, Chat and Yin
Chanting is purifying and heart opening. We will work through some of the key sutras of Patanjali’s Yoga with chanting and discussion. Other topics can be raised – if burning questions exist. And then once the mind is quenched, we will delve into a yin practice to release any remaining tensions.
This weekend includes all 5 sessions $220
Early bird price $200
Single sessions $50 each
Date TBA - taking expressions of interest: [email protected]
A little bit about Stephanie Nelson:
Steph's first experience with yoga was in the West Village in Manhattan in 1996. At the time, she was taking a one-year break from her graduate studies at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She was fortunate to take a cashier position at the Integral Yoga Natural Foods Store and attend yoga classes there free of charge. After a few months, her main yoga teacher invited her to attend the Jivamukti Yoga School yoga teacher trainee graduation. This experience widened her eyes to other styles of yoga; from then on, she knew she was interested in a vinyasa-based asana practice. Her first ashtanga class was with Sharron Gannon, one of the Jivamukti founders.
She went on to complete my PhD in Immunology in 2001, and shortly after this her and her family relocated to Waiheke Island, New Zealand. She undertook a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre based at the University of Auckland Medical School over the next five years. A few evenings a week she attended ashtanga vinyasa yoga classes at the Yoga Academy, a yoga studio located between the medical school and the Waiheke Island ferry terminal. These classes provided a little bit of quiet refuge for her in the midst of raising small children and pursuing a career in academic research. When her tenure at the ACSRC was nearing completion, she decided to study yoga more intensely, and was accepted as an apprentice teacher under the guidance of Peter Nilsson at the Yoga Academy. She completed a 500-hour Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher training course over three years, including assisting in and eventually teaching at least two classes per week, ten hours a week of self-practice, and specific training modules and lectures.
In 2007, she established Waiheke Island Ashtanga Yoga - a small group of dedicated ashtanga practitioners. Steph has hosted renowned teachers Peter Sanson, Mark Robberds, and Kino MacGregor and Tim Feldmann on Waiheke Island. In addition, she has trained 19 yoga teachers using a mentorship-style approach and has been invited to guest teach in a variety of locales in New Zealand, and internationally in Byron Bay, Australia; Oakland, California, USA; Brattleboro, Massachusetts, USA, Shanghai, China; Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; Rarotonga, The Cook Islands; and Amman, Jordan. She has been a long-term student with senior teachers Peter Sanson and Dena Kingsberg, and has studied with the Jois family on several occasions in Mysore, India and at international conferences.
Steph is currently a PhD candidate in the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland in the Brain Dynamics Laboratory. Her thesis involves understanding the effects of yoga on brain dynamics and behaviour.
Finally, as a yoga teacher Steph is most interested in supporting students by inspiring daily yoga practice, meditation and breathwork in an accessible and sustainable way. These contemplative practices empower the individual in self-healing, a process that is an inevitable part of the human condition. As a yoga practitioner, she is seeking longevity and enjoyment of this miraculous life. Steph also have three amazing children, Huxley, Conrad, and Suri who make her smile every day. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook as Steph Waiheke.
In this workshop, we will begin with resonance breathing, progressing to single and alternate nostril breathing, and then short bandha and breath retention practices. These exercises will gradually build over the weekend prior to each Ashtanga class. The led ashtanga class will be technique driven, providing useful tips for working with sun salutations, standing and seated poses, and then finish with yin poses and deep relaxation to calm body and mind.
Breath-work and Meditation, Mysore-style Ashtanga Yoga
Self-directed yoga practice is one of the unique aspects of the Ashtanga method. Students move through the memorized sequence at their own pace. This session is suitable for those with previous Mysore-style experience.
Everyday Asana – Cultivate Inner Fire for Daily Practice
Practicing ashtanga yoga every day is demanding, and well, can be a bit boring if you are repeating the same thing over and over. In this session we will look at ways to enhance you practice attitude and energy by providing variations and modifications, research poses, and discussing ways to keep your practice moving in a direction of curiosity and inquiry with intelligence and care.
Breath-work and Meditation, Mysore-style Ashtanga Yoga
Self-directed yoga practice is one of the unique aspects of the Ashtanga method. Students move through the memorized sequence at their own pace. This session is suitable for those with previous Mysore-style experience.
Chant, Chat and Yin
Chanting is purifying and heart opening. We will work through some of the key sutras of Patanjali’s Yoga with chanting and discussion. Other topics can be raised – if burning questions exist. And then once the mind is quenched, we will delve into a yin practice to release any remaining tensions.
This weekend includes all 5 sessions $220
Early bird price $200
Single sessions $50 each
Date TBA - taking expressions of interest: [email protected]
A little bit about Stephanie Nelson:
Steph's first experience with yoga was in the West Village in Manhattan in 1996. At the time, she was taking a one-year break from her graduate studies at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She was fortunate to take a cashier position at the Integral Yoga Natural Foods Store and attend yoga classes there free of charge. After a few months, her main yoga teacher invited her to attend the Jivamukti Yoga School yoga teacher trainee graduation. This experience widened her eyes to other styles of yoga; from then on, she knew she was interested in a vinyasa-based asana practice. Her first ashtanga class was with Sharron Gannon, one of the Jivamukti founders.
She went on to complete my PhD in Immunology in 2001, and shortly after this her and her family relocated to Waiheke Island, New Zealand. She undertook a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre based at the University of Auckland Medical School over the next five years. A few evenings a week she attended ashtanga vinyasa yoga classes at the Yoga Academy, a yoga studio located between the medical school and the Waiheke Island ferry terminal. These classes provided a little bit of quiet refuge for her in the midst of raising small children and pursuing a career in academic research. When her tenure at the ACSRC was nearing completion, she decided to study yoga more intensely, and was accepted as an apprentice teacher under the guidance of Peter Nilsson at the Yoga Academy. She completed a 500-hour Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher training course over three years, including assisting in and eventually teaching at least two classes per week, ten hours a week of self-practice, and specific training modules and lectures.
In 2007, she established Waiheke Island Ashtanga Yoga - a small group of dedicated ashtanga practitioners. Steph has hosted renowned teachers Peter Sanson, Mark Robberds, and Kino MacGregor and Tim Feldmann on Waiheke Island. In addition, she has trained 19 yoga teachers using a mentorship-style approach and has been invited to guest teach in a variety of locales in New Zealand, and internationally in Byron Bay, Australia; Oakland, California, USA; Brattleboro, Massachusetts, USA, Shanghai, China; Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; Rarotonga, The Cook Islands; and Amman, Jordan. She has been a long-term student with senior teachers Peter Sanson and Dena Kingsberg, and has studied with the Jois family on several occasions in Mysore, India and at international conferences.
Steph is currently a PhD candidate in the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland in the Brain Dynamics Laboratory. Her thesis involves understanding the effects of yoga on brain dynamics and behaviour.
Finally, as a yoga teacher Steph is most interested in supporting students by inspiring daily yoga practice, meditation and breathwork in an accessible and sustainable way. These contemplative practices empower the individual in self-healing, a process that is an inevitable part of the human condition. As a yoga practitioner, she is seeking longevity and enjoyment of this miraculous life. Steph also have three amazing children, Huxley, Conrad, and Suri who make her smile every day. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook as Steph Waiheke.