Riding The Change – Navigation Tools For The Perimenopausal Years

Do you find yourself up at 3:00 in the morning unable to fall back to sleep? Are you sometimes erratically moody when everything is seemingly fine? Is your cycle changing in some way? You may be experiencing the hormonal shifts that are associated with the perimenopausal years.
Join us for a 3-week series to learn techniques necessary to assist you in the challenges of your 2nd puberty. In this insightful and honest class we will:
• Practice yoga postures, including restorative yoga poses, that help support the hormonal rollercoaster of “the change”.
• Experience mindfulness meditation and breath work as a way to connect to the present, keeping us grounded in what may feels like shaky times…not to mention using these techniques for the “3:00 a.m. Club.”
• Share “congenial commiseration” regarding our changing bods! Gone are community berry-picking days and quilting bees – we need a place to share our experiences of change and transformation – join in with the topic of the week or be a fly on the wall and observe the discussion with amusement.

Bring your energetic surfboard and Ride The Change as a way of staying sane as you enter into your “middle-ground” years with grace, strength and a good dose of humor.

P.S. You do not have to be perimenopausal to be experiencing high levels of stress and general discomfort about the fast lives we lead-any woman that feels the need to deeply nourish her body and create a mindful way to balance the hormones may join us.

Instructed by Jnana Gowan – night sweater and Certified Yoga Instructor, teaching since 1999.
Sundays – April 22, 29 and May 6 11:00-1:00
$75 for the full series
Partial Scholarships available.

Join us for a rejuvenating & restorative event to end your week and kick-start your weekend.

Jnana Gowan, Certified Yoga Instructor, and Sarah Greenwood, Aveda specialist, join their creative forces to create an experience to calm and restore the senses. We will integrate the healing powers of aromatherapy and hatha yoga to make you feel shiny from the
inside-out.

This is a free event, yet donations gladly accepted.
Who: You, your partner and friends
When: 6:00 – 7:30, Friday, November 11th
Where: 4th Street Yoga,
1809 4th St # C, Berkeley, 94710
RSVP – appreciated but not mandatory, drop-ins welcome
510-734-4122

Women in Transition – Climbing into your Authentic Self
Taught by Suze Allen & Jnana Gowan

Your house is on fire. Your boat is sinking. What do you want take with you? What are you willing to watch sink or go up in flames? Making these decisions can help you navigate change and rediscover your most authentic self.

Living in a culture of advanced technology, time-starvation, overwhelming career and family obligations along with economic and emotional uncertainty often prevents women from taking the time to address and acknowledge life’s vital transitions.

This workshop gives you the time, the space, and the tools to ride the wave of change. Turbulent times are a call to adventure. Embark on the mythic journey with a transformational blend of hatha yoga, purposeful writing, deep relaxation and guided meditation. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of your life in transition and find strategies and rituals for dealing with intense change and daily discomfort. And research shows that expressive writing, guided imagery and hatha yoga have a profound healing and transformational affect on people undergoing significant upheaval. Forward bends deepen your journey into your core; standing poses help you to climb into your power, and restorative poses help you to hear the still and quiet yearnings of your real self. Purposeful and expressive writing brings you clarity and wisdom. Music, movement, and ritual bring you catharsis and joy.

This Women in Transition workshop helps you to approach your life with acceptance, intention and integrity, so you can grow stronger and more authentic. In this space of creativity, bodywork and ritual, you can choose what you desire rather than what you think you’re supposed to do and break free from what others want from you.

To paraphrase Joseph Campbell, when you accept the adventure of change you ride on the back of everyone that’s gone before you. You are not alone. Take the ultimate of feminine journeys.

No experience necessary – both with the writing and the yoga. Open to seasoned practitioners/writers or the newest beginner. All welcome.

Women in Transition Mini Urban Retreats:
Vara Healing Arts
850 Talbot Ave.
Albany, CA 94706
www.varahealing.com
Saturdays – February 12th and April 30th 2011
1 – 5:30pm

Women in Transition Two-Day Retreat
Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California
June 17-19, 2011 www.esalen.org

call with any questions regarding the course – 510-734-4122

Your house is on fire. Your boat is sinking. What do you want take with you? What are you willing to watch sink or go up in flames? Making these decisions can help you navigate change and rediscover your most authentic self.
Living in a culture of advanced technology, time-starvation, overwhelming career and family obligations along with economic and emotional uncertainty often prevents women from taking the time to address and acknowledge life’s vital transitions.
This workshop gives you the time, space, and tools to ride the wave of change. Turbulent times are a call to adventure. Embark on the mythic journey with a transformational blend of hatha yoga, purposeful writing, deep relaxation and guided meditation. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of your life in transition and find strategies and rituals for dealing with intense change and daily discomfort. Research shows that expressive writing, guided imagery and hatha yoga have a profound healing and transformational affect on people undergoing significant upheaval. Forward bends deepen your journey into yourself; standing poses help you to climb into your power, and restorative poses help you to hear the still and quiet yearnings of your authentic self. Purposeful and expressive writing brings you clarity and wisdom. Music, movement, and ritual bring you catharsis and joy.
This Women in Transition workshop helps you to approach your life with acceptance, intention and integrity, so you can grow stronger and more authentic. In this space of creativity, bodywork and ritual, you can choose what you desire rather than what you think you’re supposed to do and break free from what others want from you.
To paraphrase Joseph Campbell, when you accept the adventure of change you ride on the back of everyone that’s gone before you. You are not alone. Take the ultimate of feminine journeys.
This workshop is for women of any age who feel like they’re in a transitional time – from motherhood to career or vice versa, at the end of a significant relationship, in the midst of a career change, a pregnancy, or menopause – and would like some tools to accept and create change.

Co-lead with Suze Allen Writer/Educator www.manuscriptmentor.com

Upcoming Women in Transition Workshops
A mini-urban retreat at Vara Healing Arts on Saturday October 16 from 1 pm – 5pm
$55-$75 sliding scale
Early Bird registration by October 9th $40
A two-day retreat at The Esalen Institute June 17-19
To register: www.esalen.org

There is nothing like real change to knock you off kilter; just ask a perimenopausal woman. For women experiencing “the change” walking the line of imbalance becomes the practice. Riding the Change invites perimenopausal, power-surging women to share the intensity of this life-changing time and celebrate the initiation into a deeper intuition and a more creative self. We’ll discuss midlife issues like: evolving body image, surrendering to physical/physiological changes and shifts in perspectives as aging women. By connecting with other women in this transition you may find a way to walk the often challenging road of perimenopause with the support of others who are walking right along with you. To do yoga is one of the greatest things a gal can do for herself in this time of immense hormonal, physical, and psychological fluxuation. We will do both rigorous and restorative yoga that’s designed to support and soothe as you ride the hormonal roller coaster of “the change”. Using mindfulness and breath work, we’ll connect to ourselves more deeply and begin putting together a toolbox that we can access as we lay awake at 3:00 a.m. while our brain re-wires itself!

All women go through this amazing time and every woman has her story. Join us and share your story as a way of staying sane and present as you enter into your seriously divine feminine. This class is for all levels of yoga – from basic beginner to the seasoned practitioner.

Selected “Best of the East Bay” by the East Bay Express for the “Best Yoga For Perimenopausal Women” give yourself a mini-urban retreat, treat.

Saturdays – Sept. 18 & Nov. 20 1:00 – 5:00 at 7th Heaven yoga in Berekeley ($40-$50)
Saturday November 13 at SF Zen Center, SF ($55-$75)
March 6 – 11 5-day retreat at Esalen Institute, Big Sur , CA

Is i true that the quiet of Wilbur allows you to hear your heart beating? It is.
Is it true that if you lay out by the taking tubs at night you are almost guaranteed to see a falling star? It is.
Is it true that the only phone you will hear is the front desk? It is.
It is true that there are bobcats, coyote, cougars, rabbits, bats and more, more, more wildlife that share the land and waters of Wilbur? It is.
Is it true that the savasana up on the yoga deck is one of the sweetest you could ever have? It is.

Find your way to Wilbur Hot Springs for a weekend of communing with nature and your self.

May 15th and 16th I’m teaching on the deck above the pools…….join me.

www.wilburhotsprings.com

When: Friday, May 28 – Sunday May 30, 2010
Where: Esalen Institute, Big Sur, California

Your house is on fire. Your boat is sinking. What do you want take with you? What are you happy to watch sink or go up in flames? Gain a deeper understanding of your life in transition and find out what’s standing in the way of your being your most authentic self. This workshop combines hatha yoga, purposeful writing, deep relaxation and guided meditation for dealing with change and discomfort.

Embrace the dark so you can move into the light. Through creative writing exercises, restorative and rigorous hatha yoga, relaxation and meditation you can wake up into present time. In this clear space you discover your power of choice and can choose what you desire rather than what you think you’re supposed to do or what others want from you. Ah, freedom.

In this weekend workshop we will interweave nature, ritual and a healthy dose of humor into the new fabric of who you are. Iyengar-influenced hatha yoga is appropriate for all levels.

Taught by author and educator Suze Allen and Jnana M. Gowan, Certified Yoga Instructor author and educator.

Riding the Change – an exploration of the peri-mental-pausal years with asana,
breath work/meditation and congenial commiseration.

In this workshop we will come together as a group of perimenopausal power-surging women to share the intensity of this life-changing time and celebrate the initiation into a deeper intuition and a more creative self. This workshop includes a check-in and menopause discussion and explores yoga postures (including restorative yoga poses) that help support the hormonal roller-coaster of “the change”. We will practice mindfulness and breath work as a way to connect to ourselves – and in turn, use this work to support us as we lay awake at 3:00 a.m. as our brain re-wires itself.
All women go through this amazing time and every woman has her own story. Join us and share your story as a way of staying sane and present as you enter into your seriously divine feminine. This class is for all levels from basic beginner to the seasoned practitioner.

New dates!! Ongoing class – meets every other month 7th Heaven Yoga
2820 7th Street Berkeley, CA:
Saturday March 27 1:00 – 5:00
Saturday May 22 1:00 – 5:00

$40 early registration
$50 the day of
to register:
www.7thHeavenYoga.com

Powerhouse Education presents -Bunny Head Yoga Summer Camp
July 12 – 16 (for boys and girls)
Aug 16 – 20 (GIRL POWER week – girls only)

Bunny Head Yoga encourages children to experience being in their bodies, joyfully with excitement and control. At the Bunny Head Yoga Summer camp, we will start the day with free play, and then come together to do yoga before we set out on our daily adventure. This brand of yoga class is designed for children and we have a lot of fun doing the poses – often imitating the weather or turning into animals. Yoga has been known to help develop focus & concentration; it encourages self-confidence as well as enhancing physical coordination.

At the Bunny Head Yoga Camp we want to cultivate a reverence for the natural world; a few ways we’ll do this is by the study of “power animals,” each child will choose their own (power animal) and we will do a craft to ritualize their chosen critter. We will spend one day at the Albany Bulb communing with nature; we will go on an art hike to see the various art structures and we’ll make biodegradable art pieces to decorate the “magic tree.” (located at the Bulb)

July 12-16 Camp Bunny Head Yoga Camp for Boys and Girls:
Other field trips include: a field trip to a local yoga studio (Vara Healing Arts), Memorial Park, and one day will be by the Bay and will include going to Adventure Playground.

August 16-20 Bunny Head Yoga GIRL Power week:
In addition to the week above we will create a doll during the week that will be infused with girl power! This doll can be worn and it will go everywhere we go and represent the positivity of being a girl in the world today. We will make a pilgrimage to Indian Rock, which will include an ice cream stop on the way home ☺
9:00- 3:30 (extended hours possible, inquire for more info)
$240. (some scholarship available)
Located: 676 Spokane Ave. Albany
This program is designed to have a small enrollment so we may all connect with one another. Lead teacher; Jnana Gowan, Director of Powerhouse Education and the Bunny Head Yoga Program for Children. (teaching the BHY program since 2004, teaching yoga since 2000) Jnana’s assistant, Chloe Helleher is a preschool teacher with a theater background and years of being with children in the most fantastic ways.

For more information call Jnana directly at 510-734-4122.