Somatic Solutions for Scoliosis and Fusions with Martha Carter
Online Only

Sunday, November 9 from 12:30-3PM ET
$65* Get 10% off by using the code EARLYBIRD by October 27

Join Martha for an informative and embodied experience exploring your scoliosis and fusion through the lens of Hanna Somatics developed by philosopher and movement theorist, Thomas Hanna. Similar but different from yoga, the workshop will begin with sitting and moving in a chair with a focus on sensing and breathing into imbalances from the inside out.

The second part of the class will be laying on the floor to allow for new awareness of movement patterns to release tension, improve alignment, find strength and connection and in general, develop more ease in your mobility.  The workshop will start and end with a short Q&A. Somatics exercises are easy to enjoy for all levels and abilities.

Martha Carter: From Vancouver Island, Canada, Martha Carter is the Director of the Twisted Outreach Project (TOPS).  Certified in Yoga (YTT200), Yoga for Scoliosis (Elise Browning Miller) and Essential Somatics (ES),  she also holds a BA in Music, and an MFA in Dance. Combining these techniques with her own experience living with a fused spine, Martha offers a unique and creative way  to specifically address spinal fusion and how it affects the whole body, mind and soul.

Lower Back Therapeutics with Liz Owen
In-Studio and Online

November 22-23
Saturday 2:30-4:30pm
Sunday 2-4pm
Full Weekend: $95*
One Workshop: $55*
*Get 10% off by using the code EARLYBIRD by November 10

Click Here for the In-Studio Sessions
Click Here for Online Sessions

Saturday: LOWER BACK THERAPEUTICS – CARE FOR YOUR SACRUM 

This session will combine some of the work from our previous workshops while also exploring new therapeutic movements for your sacrum. Its aim is to provide you with a toolbox of techniques to relieve your lower back pain due to sacroiliac joint and sacral band issues. Students of any skill level – including beginners – will benefit, attendance in prior workshops is not required.

During our time together you will learn:

• Gentle, safe movements to soothe, balance and strengthen your sacroiliac joints and sacral band, while respecting your body’s particular conditions and limitations.
• How to explore the messages that your sacroiliac joints present to you, in order to gain understanding of how to create sacral spine health.
• Techniques to change your emotional responses to sacral pain.

Sunday: LOWER BACK THERAPEUTICS – CARE FOR YOUR LUMBAR SPINE

This session will combine some of the work from previous workshops while also exploring new therapeutic movements for your lumbar spine. Its aim is to provide you with a toolbox of techniques to relieve your lower back pain due to lumbar musculature issues, trauma, and vertebra and disk conditions.  Students of any skill level – including beginners – will benefit, attendance in prior workshops is not required.

During our time together you will learn:

• Gentle, safe movements to soothe, balance and strengthen your lumbar spine, while respecting your body’s particular conditions and limitations.
• How to explore the messages that your lumbar presents to you, in order to gain understanding of how to create lower back health.
• Techniques to change your emotional responses to lumbar pain.

Liz Owen learned lower back therapeutics over a 25-year period immersed in Iyengar yoga. During this time, she studied with senior Iyengar teachers in the U.S., and both B.K.S. and Geeta Iyengar. Her expertise of lower back health and yoga philosophy brings both Eastern and Western wisdom to bear on creating a healthy lower back and will bring mindfulness and depth to your journey of maintaining lower back health in daily life.

Liz Owen E-RYT500, C-IAYT is an inspiring and passionate yoga teacher and teacher trainer. She combines physical and energetic alignments with meditative action to create an innovative and transformative class experience. She has taught since 1990 and is known for her light-hearted teaching style as well as for the depth of her knowledge. Liz has studied Iyengar, vinyasa, classical hatha yoga and meditation for over 30 years, and has studied with masters of various traditions, including Thich Nhat Hanh, B.K.S. Iyengar, Patricia Walden, Dharma Mittra, Erich Schiffmann, Rod Stryker, T.K.V. Desikachar, and Vasant Lad.  Classes are dynamic and challenging, yet always respectful of students’ individual abilities and needs. Liz draws inspiration from the deep well of yogic philosophy and brings broadness into each class experience. Currently she teaches weekly classes in Arlington and Cambridge, Massachusetts and is on the faculty of Wellesley College. Liz teaches workshops nationally and leads retreats in the U.S. and Mexico. She has presented workshops at Sivananda Ashram Bahamas, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Wellness, Yoga Journal Boston Conferences, Yoga Alliance Leadership Conferences, and the Montreal International Symposium on Therapeutic Yoga 2015. She is co-author of two NIH-funded studies at Boston University School of Medicine studying yoga as a modality for improving depression and anxiety, and is co-author of Yoga for a Healthy Lower Back, Shambhala Publications. www.LizOwenYoga.com

Restorative and Pranayama Yoga for Scoliosis with Elise Browning Miller
In-Studio and Online

December 5-7
Friday 6-8pm
Saturday – 9am – 12:30pm, 2-4:30 pm
Sunday – 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Full Weekend: $260*
Friday Beginners Workshop – 6-8 pm $60*
Full Experienced Students Workshop: $225*
Saturday All Day: $165*
Saturday Morning Only: $105*
Saturday Afternoon Only: $75*
Sunday Morning Only: $90*
*Get 10% off by using the code EARLYBIRD by November 17

The body can go many weeks without food and many days without water or sleep, but life will cease in a matter of minutes without air! The primary element of life is derived from the air we breathe. 

In Yoga, this subtle element is known as prana or life-force. Prana is not the air itself, but the subtle life-giving element extracted from air. The more life-force you have in your body, the more “alive” you become. Life-force is present in all forms of nourishment, but it is accessible and most constant in air. 

Yoga Asana & Pranayama for Beginners

Friday – 6-8 pm $60*
*Get 10% off by using the code EARLYBIRD by November 17

Click Here to Sign Up for the In-Studio Workshop
Click Here to Sign Up for the Online Workshop

Elise guides you through a balanced class of lengthening the back and spine, postural awareness and strengthening the legs and back to give support for addressing the lateral and rotational aspects of scoliosis. The last part of the class will include supportive restorative poses with an introduction to basic pranayama (breathing) techniques.

Restorative and Pranayama for Yoga for Scoliosis for Experienced Practitioners

Saturday – 9am – 12:30pm, 2-4:30 pm
Sunday – 9:30 am – 12:30 pm

Full Workshop: $225*
Saturday All Day: $165*
Saturday Morning Only: $105*
Saturday Afternoon Only: $75*
Sunday Morning Only: $90*
*Get 10% off by using the code EARLYBIRD by November 17

Click Here to Sign Up for the In-Studio Workshop
Click Here to Sign Up for the Online Workshop

Elise will guide you in this workshop to bring breath consciousness with poses to lengthen the spine and to find strength in the limbs to free the spine to more symmetry. Emphasis then will be on finding symmetry and balance with inversions and supportive restorative and renewing poses followed by lying down and seated pranayama to bring more breath balance to your practice and in your life. This practice will promote well-being by lowering stress and quieting the nervous system, improving lung function and lowering heart rate.

For continuing students and teachers with a foundation of a yoga practice for scoliosis. A six-month yoga practice is recommended.

Elise Browning Miller, M.A. in Therapeutic Recreation from UNC-CH, is a Certified Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher who has been teaching yoga throughout the US and internationally for over 30 years. A founding director of California Yoga Center in Mountain View, CA, Elise has successfully used yoga to minimize the effects of her own scoliosis. She has published numerous articles on scoliosis and other yoga related subjects in Yoga Journal and other national magazines. Elise has studied on numerous occasions with the Iyengars in India and specializes in Scoliosis, lower/upper back problems and sports related injuries. She recently launched her new book “Yoga for Scoliosis – A Path for Students & Teachers”, and has produced her own DVD and booklets, “Yoga for Scoliosis”, “Yoga for Back Care” and her “Yoga: Anytime, Anywhere book”. Her joyous personality and ease of communication endear her to students with a teaching style that is down-to-earth, precise and nurturing.

WORKSHOP PRE-REGISTRATION & CANCELLATION POLICY

It is strongly recommended that you pre-register for workshops. If you pre-register for a workshop, you must cancel either 1 week in advance in order to be refunded for that workshop less a 20% administrative fee.

Please cancel via email (info@samamkayabackcare.com) or call 646.964.5772. Even if we receive the message later, we will go by the time stamp and refund your money if appropriate. If you are ill or there is an immediate family medical emergency, we will of course waive the fee. However, please email us as early as possible, and before the workshop begins, to waive the fee or arrange a credit.