Classes: 
Yin Yoga and Meditation, Live Online Friday, August 28, 9.30-10.30 pm EST
for information and registration, visit: https://youcallthisyoga.org/yogafestonline/

This hour-long practice, part of YogaFestOnline 3, a global festival of free, accessible yoga, begins with a brief sequence of gentle, restorative poses before moving into a yoga nidra for relaxation. It concludes with a 15 minute loving kindness meditation. Throughout, we will focus on cultivating ahimsa, seeking to move beyond non violence to access our profound love and respect for all beings.

Yoga Philosophy for Beginners, Live Online, September, 9.03.20 – 9.24.20, 7:00pm-8:00pm EST
Questions: contact me at mariaprama@gmail.com
Register here: https://noworriesjustbreathe.com/workshops/
 
You may know that yoga encompasses far more than the physical poses (asanas). This course offers an accessible exploration of the “whys” behind the 8 limbs of yoga: yama and niyama, asana, pranayama, and meditation (dharana, dhyana, and samadhi).
 
Join us for an in-depth look at the core principles that underlie the ancient tradition of yoga. This series of four one-hour classes will explore two key texts of Vedic philosophy: Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and The Bhagavad Gita.
 
The format will consist of one-hour live Zoom classes. Each session will include instructor presentation and will offer opportunities for full class and breakout discussion as well as time for Q&A. It is recommended that you attend all 4 sessions, but you will benefit from individual sessions as well.
 
Dates: 9.03.20, 9.10.20, 9.17.20, 9.24.20 (Thursdays)
Time: 7:00 pm-8:00 pm EST
Series: $50 (includes all 4 sessions)
Per class: $15
 
Please register at least 48 hours before each session.  Each session can used for Yoga Alliance continuing education credits (CEUs).
 
Register here: https://noworriesjustbreathe.com/workshops/
 
Instructor: Maria Pramaggiore (RYT-500, ERYT-200, YACEP) studied at the NC School of Yoga, the Yoga Garden of Apex and Samadhi Dublin.  She has taught yoga and meditation to students of all ages and abilities for more than 12 years in the US and Europe. She has trained in trauma-informed, senior, grief-sensitive, back care and prenatal yoga.
Email: mariaprama@gmail.com
 
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Yoga Retreat Centre

--Yoga and meditation retreat centre in the west of Ireland: Burren Yoga






In the World of Yoga:

--a  2019 discussion in the Journal of the British Association for the Study of Religion by academic Theodora Wildcroft of  her research into post-lineage yoga ("a re-evaluation of the authority to determine practice, and a privileging of peer networks over pedagogical hierarchies, or samghas (communities) over guru-sisya (teacher-adept) relationships), claims of cultural misappropriation in Western yoga,  and the author's experience with social media trolls.

--2017 research suggests that yoga can reverse the DNA level molecular actions that cause ill health and depression

-- Harvard researchers reveal the brain-changing power of meditation (2015)

--yoga appears to counteract the effects of chronic pain on the brain. Read more here.

--gentle yoga classes do not seem to affect hot flashes in menopausal women, but they do improve sleep. Read about it here.

--meditation seems to increase the size of the pre-frontal cortex and can potentially improve willpower.  You can read about that in a Yoga Journal article here and watch Dr. Kelly McGonigal's TED talk on this subject here. It is problematic to me that a scientist and yoga teacher whose work is described as the science of compassion cites research involving people shocking rats' brains with electrodes. Does animal research fall under ahimsa ? (October 2013).

--a California decision that teaching yoga in schools does not constitute teaching religion (July 2013).

--art exhibit, yoga the art of transformation at the Freer-Sackler/Smithsonian museum. (Fall 2013)

--a photo essay by Robert Sturman, an American artist who has documented the work of the Africa Yoga Project in Kenya. (May 2013)