Curve Specific Scoliosis Program with Gabriella Barnstone
Wednesdays 10:00–11:30am
$95 4-part series + drop-ins allowed on class cards
In this class series we will hone in on your individual curve pattern and introduce a specially designed sequence for each curve type. Each month we will focus solely on one pattern:
Low back curves (ie: Left or Right Lumbar)*: October 4, 11, 18, 25
*Those with either an S curve or lumbar curve can attend
Upper back curves (ie: Right or Left thoracic)*: November 1, 8, 15, 22
*Those with either an S curve or upper back curve can attend
C Curve (Right or Left thoraco-lumbar): November 29, December 6, 13, 20
This is an opportunity for you to understand your specific pattern better and learn how to work unilaterally with your curve type. These sequences can help manage curve progression, provide pain relief, and build strength. All this will be done in a fun, friendly, supportive atmosphere.
Gabriella Barnstone is a certified yoga therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapists, and has been teaching yoga since 2008. She worked at Manhattan Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation from 2015 to 2020 where she specialized in treating patients with back pain using yoga as therapy. Gabriella has taught courses with Dr. Loren Fishman on Yoga for Back Pain, Yoga for Osteoporosis, and Yoga for Arthritis at Kripalu, Yogaville, and Omega Institute. She was on the faculty of Prema Yoga Institute from 2017 to 2020 where she developed her own course on functional anatomy. She was the resident Yoga Therapist at Healthquarters, which brings top medical providers together with clinically-backed wellness services to provide connected, seamless, and comprehensive health services. She is now practicing at SoulBeingWellness in Chelsea.
Intermediate Back Care Series with Jon Musgrave
Saturdays 10:30a–12p
October 7, 28, November 4, 11, December 2, 16
Full Series: $150
Single Class: $29
Or drop in with your class card!
For students with mature yoga practice or who have been taking the Yoga & Scoliosis or Back Care class on a regular basis for a minimum of 1 year. All poses will be modified with props and awareness techniques so each student can move along with their practice. There will also be some focus on inversions. This Intermediate series is not for new beginners.
Jon Musgrave, LMT, is a therapeutic yoga teacher and bodyworker. He is a founding member of Samamkaya Yoga, and has been on the teaching faculty since 2019. Jon has studied Iyengar yoga since 2011, and has found this approach to yoga to be an essential part of healing and managing his own scoliosis and back issues. He has studied and apprenticed extensively with Deborah Wolk since 2014, and is certified as a Yoga for Scoliosis Teacher Trainer by Elise Browning Miller. His other primary teachers are Genny Kapuler and Jaki Nett, and he has studied in workshops on various topics with many other senior Iyengar teachers and specialists in yoga therapeutics and anatomy. Jon has an active bodywork practice, specializing in helping clients manage issues around scoliosis, injuries, chronic pain, and trauma using deep massage, neurofascial techniques, and biodynamic craniosacral therapy. A former conductor and tuba player, Jon fell in love with anatomy while studying the Alexander Technique in college, and is particularly interested in helping students embody their own anatomy, and correct and clarify vague or incorrect ideas we have about our structure. Visit jmbodywork.com to find out more about his bodywork practice.
BACK CARE BEGINNERS SERIES
with Brooke Moyse
Sundays, 4:30-6:00pm
Series: October 22, 29, November 5, 12
$75 for New Students using the code BEGINNER
$95 for Returning*
Sign up today!
*Or drop in on your class card!
This series will cover the basic skills you need to participate in the Back Care and Back Care Basics classes. With other new beginners to Back Care Classes at Samamkaya Yoga Back Care & Scoliosis Collective, instructor Brooke Moyse will teach you many of the basic actions, find your alignment and learn prop adjustments appropriate for your scoliosis, herniated disk(s), kyphosis, lordosis, spondylolisthesis, lumbar or neck pain… or any other back problem. Learning these skills through a series will help you make a commitment to your yoga practice and help you integrate smoothly into the Back Care classes.
Brooke Moyse is a yoga teacher, visual artist, and art educator based in Brooklyn, NY. Brooke taught art to students with special needs in Brooklyn, NY where she integrated her yoga, meditation, and fine art training to give students a creative outlet and language for communicating their experiences. She brings this same commitment to individualized learning and agency to teaching yoga and strives to empower individuals to develop the tools to care for themselves with awareness and compassion.
Brooke received a 200 HR yoga certification from YogaWorks in 2016, and shortly after developed debilitating back pain which led to the realization that she had scoliosis. After her diagnosis she made her way to Iyengar Yoga to discover a more integrative and therapeutic approach to managing her condition. She has been assisting Deborah Wolk’s classes at Samamkaya Yoga since 2017 and has completed Samamkaya’s Advanced Studies Program focusing on teaching integrative and embodied yoga for back care techniques. Brooke has also studied extensively with Elise Browning-Miller, having completed her Yoga for Scoliosis Teacher Training and Practicum to become certified to teach Yoga for Scoliosis. More recently, Brooke has been fortunate to study regularly with Abhijata Iyengar, Raya U.D., and Hugh Millard, all of whom bring clarity and insight to yoga therapeutics and the mind/body connection. Brooke also has an ongoing interest in meditation and completed a 100 HR yoga and mindfulness training through the Nalanda Institute under Mary Reilly Nichols, with whom she continues to study.
Adjustments, Modifications and Verbal Instructions
with Deborah Wolk
In-Person & Online!
Wednesdays, 2:15-4:15pm
In-Person Dates: 1/4, 2/8, 3/15, 4/12, 5/17, 9/13, 10/11, 11/8, 12/6
Online Dates: 1/18, 2/15, 3/29, 4/26, 5/31, 9/27, 10/25, 11/15, 1/10/24
One class for: $40 teachers, $30 Samamkaya Teaching Assistants, $20 Students
Sign up for IN-PERSON CLASSES here
Sign up for ONLINE CLASSES here
Any 3 classes for Teachers/Assistants/Students: $105/80/54
Any 6 classes for Teachers/Assistants/Students $180/150/100
Any 12 classes for Teachers/Assistants/Students $300/275/170
This course is approved as an IAYT CE Course! Take any 6 classes (12 hours) + one 1 hour mentoring session for $240
Students with scoliosis have very specific needs with the nervous system, proprioceptive system and with pain patterns. One must avoid muddled information. Using prop set-ups, hand on adjustments and verbal instructions, Deborah Wolk will guide you in how to better teach your students with scoliosis.
This class is appropriate for all yoga teachers and for students with scoliosis. Teachers of other modalities (Pilates, personal training, etc.) may attend as teachers with Deborah’s permission. This class is not recommended for brand new beginners to yoga.
Fusions Support Group with Martha Carter
MONTHLY on Thursdays, 4:00-5:30 pm on ZOOM:
September 14
October 19
November 16
December 14
Free or by donation
Sign Up Here!
Samamkaya Yoga is pleased to offer a support group for people with spinal fusions for scoliosis (or those considering a spinal fusion for their scoliosis). This group, led by Martha Carter, is designed to encourage participants to safely explore the emotional toll and experiences related to their fusion in an environment with other participants who share their experience. Whether you were a teen when your spinal was fused or an older adult or somewhere in between, discussions within this group will draw out personal reflections, identify successful ways to self-heal, and evolve to reflect the needs of the group.
Please join Martha as she seeks to encourage health and healing through group interaction—free of the shame and stigma associated with scoliosis and related surgeries.
Martha Carter
As a therapeutic movement specialist for scoliosis and spinal fusions, Martha teaches Gentle Yoga and Scoliosis Wellness classes, workshops, and retreats for all ages and abilities in Canada, the US, and internationally. She is a certified teacher of Yoga for Scoliosis, based on the techniques developed by acclaimed Iyengar teacher, Elise Browning Miller. She has also studied (and continues to enjoy explorations in) Pilates for Scoliosis, Essential Somatics, Energy Medicine, and Trauma Release techniques, which she weaves into all her classes to help participants with pain relief while enhancing their movement potential. Martha is the founder and director of the Twisted Outreach Project for Back Care and Scoliosis (TOPS), a Canadian-based non-profit that provides a range of holistic and creative approaches to working with back care and scoliosis. (https://www.
CLASS SERIES PRE-REGISTRATION & CANCELLATION POLICY
It is strongly recommended that you pre-register for workshops and series. If you pre-register for a series, you must cancel 48 hours in advance in order to be refunded for that class series 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.
