The Long-Lasting Impacts of Repetitive Movements for the Female Body

What happens to the female body when you do sun salutations every day for ten years?  Twenty years? Thirty years? As a yogi or yoga teacher, you know how impactful the practice can be, but we often underestimate the demands on our tissues that come from linear, repetitive movement. In this workshop, we’ll get into why it’s important to understand the purpose of your practice, learn how certain movements could be negatively impacting your long term physical health (especially as a woman), and unpack many of the physiological inaccuracies that are perpetuated in our yoga culture.

The Classical Standing Posture Intensive 

Triangle pose, Warrior 1/2/3, Half Moon, and related shapes

These poses often form the foundation of a modern postural yoga class. Workshop-style, we will break down each of these poses, going through common cues, and adjusting them for the female physiology. We will look at these shapes in various relationships to gravity, with a focus on the actions within the poses, rather than the postures themselves. This will also be a time to troubleshoot common pains, concerns and challenges you or your students face in these postures. This will not be a flowing yoga class, but an in-depth study of female physiology within these shapes.

Navigating the Social Reality of Teaching to Women Specifically 

We'll be getting into promotion, studio owners, language, & talking to people who don’t agree with you.

In a world where the very word “woman” is contentious, I’ll share what I’ve learned in shifting my practice to be female-centered.

Physiology over Anatomy: Essential Actions for the Female Yoga Practice 

Physiology is how the body functions. Anatomy is how the body is dissected. Often in yoga practice, there is an emphasis on proper alignment, telling each body part what to do.  Instead of dissecting the body into separate parts and “aligning it properly”, what if we focused on the actions within the posture itself? In this workshop, we will look at what the body is doing as a whole, and clarify the actions that are supportive to our female bodies within the postures- because often “yoga alignment” is based on male bodies anyway. In this lecture, we will discuss male and female differences in pelvic alignment and shoulder anatomy, the respiratory diagram and the female pelvic floor, the myth of mula bandha in the female body, the concept of the “center of the perineum”, the effect of “zipping up the abdomen” on men and women, demystifying the overemphasis on core strength, and more. Let’s shift away from the ideas of “proper alignment”, and move into the idea of helpful action.

 The Gift of Internal Rotation: Twists & Forward Folds Intensive

Seated twists, Forward folds, “hip openers” and related shapes

Long hamstrings and excessive external rotation are ubiquitous aspects of the yoga practice that often lead to pelvic instability and pain in the female body. In this workshop, we will get to know our internal rotators and practice ways of stabilizing the pelvis to set the stage for functional thoracic rotation and activated posterior chains: some of the keys to long term pelvic health for women. In this class, we will workshop a variety of seated twists, forward folds, and side bends, prioritizing joint centrality and diaphragmatic mobility. This will not be a flowing yoga class, but an in-depth study of female physiology within these shapes.

Cueing Troubleshooting & Cueing Co-Ed Classes

What poses are hard for you to teach and why? What language would you use to teach to a co-ed group? Come with questions! This workshop will be entirely based on student participation.

 Beyond Prenatal & Postpartum: Yoga for All Stages for Womanhood

The female body is primarily designed to conceive, give birth, heal, and do it again. Whether or not that is your interest, honoring this reproductive reality of female physiology is a crucial aspect of maintaining pelvic health long term. Let’s move beyond the discussion of what poses are “good” and “not good” for pregnant and postpartum women, and instead, deepen our understanding of what is actually happening in the body, and how movement could truly be supportive of those processes. In this lecture, you’ll learn what actions are required for pregnancy and postpartum healing, and how they relate to women’s health in general. Let’s cut through the overwhelm and the complexity, and emerge with basic movement principles that are essential for all stages of womanhood.

 Mid-Range Movements: Props, Reining in the Postures, & the Myth of Regressions

Often, our yoga practices encourage us to “twist a little more”, “lift a little higher”, or “fold a little deeper”. Practicing in these end-ranges of movement can often minimize our strength and stability in our mid-range movements (which is where our poses relate to our actions of daily living).  We will use the wall, blocks, and chairs to explore strength within the mid-range. In this workshop, we will focus on maintaining certain actions through a small range of movement, and then see the impact of mid-range movement on our end range of motion. We will look at hinging, lunging, and standing twists. Understanding this principle and/or how to teach it is an essential aspect of utilizing the yoga practice effectively for pregnant and postpartum women.

Q&A Circle

This is a space for questions about anything we’ve discussed over the weekend, and opportunities for further learning. I’ll share who I am learning from and what interests me in this ever-evolving yoga culture. 

Bonus! 3 Sequence & Cueing Cheatsheets

Bonus! Yoga for the Female Body Masterclass

Bonus! The 4 Causes of Structural Pain Masterclass