Workshops with Jen Gorman
In-Studio Only
April 26-27
One Workshop: $60*/$65
Two Workshops: $110*/$120
All Three Workshops: $160*/$175
*Early Bird if Registered by April 14
Yoga for People with Spinal Fusions – Standing Poses!
Saturday April 26th 9:30am-12pm
Standing poses can offer pleasurable movement experiences that encourage confidence, agency, and empowerment. These poses also improve strength, mobility, balance, and posture while centering the mind. During this workshop, Jen will teach:
- How to choose the standing poses that best serve those of us with spinal fusions
- How to modify some of these poses with various props
- A framework for working with our fusions that can be applied to other yoga poses and movement modalities
Please feel free to bring paper and a pencil/pen to take notes.
This workshop is intended for people (and their friends/family) with spinal fusions as well as clinicians and wellness practitioners who work with these clients. Prior experience with yoga is helpful but all levels may participate.
Please register in advance. Workshop size limited to 12.
Calming the Curves SOLD OUT! CLICK TO JOIN WAITLIST
Saturday April 26th 2pm-4:30pm
Living with a back care condition like a spinal fusion or scoliosis can cause stress, physiological changes, and trigger our sympathetic nervous system into a flight or fight response. This workshop will focus on rest and relaxation to create a sense of calm. Jen will offer:
- Supported, modified, restorative yoga poses
- Neural glides for the upper and lower extremities
- Various breathing and mindfulness techniques
- A Yoga Nidra guided meditation
Please feel free to bring paper and pen/pencil to take notes.
This workshop is intended for people (and their friends/family) with spinal fusions and/or scoliosis as well as clinicians and wellness practitioners who work with these clients. Prior experience with yoga is helpful but all levels may participate.
Please register in advance. Workshop size limited to 12.
Deepening the Practice – An Intermediate Workshop for People with Spinal Fusions and Scoliosis
Sunday April 27th 9:30am-12pm
This workshop will offer an opportunity to use the rope wall to enhance axial elongation in various poses. Jen will teach a selection of more complex standing poses, introduce ways to conceptualize backbends (without actually bending the back), and then offer a few modified poses that are commonly considered backbends. The class will finish with inversions that tend to work well for people with spinal fusions and scoliosis.
Please feel free to bring paper and pen/pencil to take notes.
This intermediate workshop is for people (and their friends/family) with spinal fusions and/or scoliosis as well as clinicians and wellness practitioners who work with these clients. A mature yoga practice or prior study with Jen is needed. This workshop is not for people who are new to yoga. If you have questions about whether this workshop will work for you, please contact jen@scoliosisandbackcare.com.
Please register in advance. Workshop size limited to 12.
Single workshops – 2 CEs with Yoga Alliance for Registered Yoga Teachers
Two workshops – 5 CEs with Yoga Alliance for Registered Yoga Teachers
All three workshops – 7 CEs with Yoga Alliance for Registered Yoga Teachers
Jen Gorman is a scoliosis and spinal fusion patient, advocate, and practitioner. She
teaches yoga, Pilates, and strength training nationwide for people with spinal fusions, scoliosis, and other back care conditions. She is passionate about inspiring people to live healthier, happier lives.
At the age of eleven, Jen’s ballet teacher noticed an asymmetry in her shoulders. Soon after a doctor diagnosed her with scoliosis and within a year she had spinal fusion surgery. Bone from her right iliac crest fused the thoracic vertebrae (T3-T10) and was secured by a Harington rod. Jen danced, became a Certified Public Accountant, then returned to dancing professionally. She discovered that movement and breath could alleviate discomfort in her back.
Jen teaches yoga based on the principles of the Iyengar yoga system coupled with influence from the Schroth Method and Pilates. She offers props and modifications, paying special attention to each individual’s needs. Ultimately, she strives to create a consent forward space where there is no reward for saying yes and no punishment for saying no to what she is teaching. When working with people with spinal fusions and scoliosis she focuses on poses that stay neutral through the spine, stabilize the adjacent segments, and help the body support the fusion.
Jen has taught yoga for 20 years and is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher with
Yoga Alliance (ERYT-200). Some of her other certifications and trainings include:
- Yoga for Scoliosis Teacher Training Program with Elise Browning Miller
- Polestar Pilates graduate and National Certified Pilates Teacher
- Adaptations for People with Scoliosis Supporting the Schroth Method Teachings
with Hagit Berdishevsky and Lise Stoltz - Scoliosis and Spinal Fusions Master Course with Hagit Berdishevsky and Lise
Stolz - NASM Certified Personal Trainer
To learn more about Jen, see a schedule of classes, or make an appointment for a
private session, please visit www.scoliosisandbackcare.com.
The Asymmetric Body and the Internal Organs: Obstacles, Challenges, and Problem Solving with Karin Stephan
In-Studio Only
May 3-4
Saturday & Sunday 9am-12pm & 2-4pm
Full Workshop: $230
One Day Only: $125
Saturday Morning Only: $80
Saturday Afternoon Only: $55
Sunday Morning Only: $80
Sunday Afternoon Session Only: $55
Get 10% off by using the code EARLYBIRD by April 21
In this workshop, Karin will explore how Yoga asanas can be adapted to better support the internal organs by addressing the challenges of The Asymmetric Body. Each organ is associated with both a physical and mental component—strengthening the lungs, for example, supports immunity and respiratory health, while practices that nourish the intestines can lift the mood and restore energy. Drawing from the teachings of BKS Iyengar and principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Karin will guide students through sets of asanas and discuss their benefits for the internal organs while highlighting how asymmetries can limit their therapeutic qualities.
Throughout the workshop, Karin will tailor her content to address the specific challenges she observes in the bodies of each participant. She will select sets of asanas that illustrate particular asymmetries, then problem-solve using props, imagery, and concepts. Students will not only gain practical tools to maximize the therapeutic effects of their asana practice, but also by watching Karin’s problem-solving process in real time, they will develop a deeper understanding of how these solutions unfold.
This will be an active class that combines sustained asana practice with interactive exploration of concepts. Because of the complexity of the material, students are encouraged to attend a full day if possible.
Karin Stephan is a leading Iyengar Yoga teacher with a career that spans over five decades. In 1972, she began studying with B.K.S. Iyengar whose teachings profoundly shaped her understanding and appreciation of the human body. She holds a Level 3 Iyengar Yoga Teacher Certification, and Iyengar’s insights and acute sense of observation continue to be essential to her Yoga practice and her teaching. In 1985 she co-founded, alongside Patricia Walden, The BKS Iyengar Yoga Center of Cambridge, which was the first Iyengar Yoga center on the East Coast.
Karin has embraced Iyengar’s definition of Yoga as “precision in action,” as this complements her own interest in structure and aesthetics. In her Yoga classes she weaves these themes of precision, structure and aesthetics, bringing these concepts alive with instructive imagery and metaphors which guide her students towards the essence of each asana. She also brings a wry sense of humor and anecdotes from her 83 years of lived experience.
The Chakras with Neta Katz
In-Studio Only
Saturday, May 10 2-5pm
$80
10% off with code EARLYBIRD if registered by April 28
A study of the chakras can help us understand where we are on our path, and how to proceed on our journey towards freedom. In addition to this noble potential, the exploration of the chakras can offer a fascinating lens into our emotional/mental tendencies, as well as insight into various body conditions and imbalances.
In this workshop we will look at the various aspects of each Chakra. Including their location, elemental association, color, shape, sound, predominant sense, behavioral characteristics, and more.
We will examine how asana practice, with consideration of the chakras, can deepen our understanding of the asana, as well as deepen our understanding of ourselves, making more tangible yoga’s promise of transformation and growth.
This workshop will include both lecture and asana practice.
Neta Katz has been teaching Iyengar Yoga since 1998 (certified Junior 1). Her style of teaching is deeply rooted in her architecture background, and her love of anatomy. With thoughtful understanding of structure and space, Neta guides students towards a profound understanding of the body and its potential.
With over 25 years of teaching experience, Neta has worked with a wide range of students from beginners seeking an encouraging introduction, to longtime practitioners looking to deepen their practice and understanding.
Always fascinated in how balance is experienced differently in each and every body, Neta encourages students to go deep into their own particular set of body conditions, and find a center that is unique and individual. A place of balance, harmony, and equilibrium.
In addition to teaching asana, Neta was a faculty member at the School of Visual Art where she taught Yoga Philosophy. She now leads a yoga philosophy study group that meets monthly online.
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 or 48 hours in advance (depending on the workshop), in order to be refunded for that workshop less a 20% administrative fee. Cancellation deadlines can be found below the workshop descriptions above.
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.
