Welcome!
We are deeply grateful and excited to present this Yoga as Therapy convention for the first time ever in Europe! Making this happen has been a vision for us for a long time, waiting for the right time and place to let two traditions of medicine meet and greet and show how well they work together. At this convention, Western medicine will meet Eastern wisdom in healing surroundings, where the West has academic vastness, technology, clinical brilliance and research, and the East methods for healing humans, and techniques to get all aspects of an individual to find each other through awareness and body-mind synchronicity. During this week in May, you have the opportunity to deepen your knowledge in how yoga can be a superb healing tool for many illnesses and imbalances of health. Let the teachers inspire you!
All classes include both theory and practice. Please bring your own mat and a blanket, or contact us if you wish to rent equipment during the weekend.
Julie Gudmestad
09:00-12:00 - Kinesiology and Yoga: The Psoas versus the Hamstrings - #001
Imbalances between the back and the abdominal muscles can contribute to back pain and posture problems. We will focus on anatomy instruction and practice key poses to restore balance.
Katrina Repka
09:00-12:00 - Breathing Space - #002
It is no secret that the great yogis understood that skillful breathing holds the key to awakening and healing. Today's neuroscientists are catching on to the influence of the breath on our brain chemistry. Learn how to harness the simple power of the breath to cultivate inner calm and mental clarity within the context of a dynamic asana practice. We will investigate the breath's nuances and discover that mindful breathing is the key to creating the peaceful health and awareness that lies at the heart of yoga.
Julie Gudmestad
13:00-15:45 - Arthritis and Yoga for Teachers - #003
What is Arthritis, and how can yoga help? Which poses should we emphasize, modify, or avoid altogether? Using lecture, demonstration and poses, Julie addresses these and other questions with a focus on the neck, lower back and hips.
Katrina Repka
13:00-15:45 - The Health Benefits of Meditation - #004
What happens when you meditate? Why is it so important? What can it do for you? This lecture will discuss the concept of Raja Yoga, yoga of the mind, that describes the process of meditation. We will explore the science of the brain during meditation, its various health benefits, and the importance of developing a daily practice. This will be followed by a gentle pre-meditative yoga practice and guided meditation.
Julie Gudmestad
16:15-17:30 - Lecture - Yoga as a Healing Practice - #005
In order to heal, we need to feel. Learn how you can improve your health by making the mind, breath and body interacting more with one another. Julie emphasizes and teaches the importance of applicable anatomy in order to practice yoga safely without getting injured.
Julie Gudmestad
09:00-12:00 - Working with knee problems - #006
The knees are surprisingly vulnerable joints and can be injured or re-injured in any activity, including yoga. We'll cover the basic anatomy of the knee, examine common problems, and learn how to work with yoga poses to prevent knee strain and facilitate healing of previous injuries.
Katrina Repka
09:00-12:00 - Chakras and Emotions: The Spiritual Importance of Wellbeing - #007
This class will provide an overview of how the yogis view the human energy system through what's called the Chakras. See how you can individualize a yoga practice that balances and enhances strength, balance and circulation. Learn how each of the seven chakras governs a specific aspect of body and mind, and then experience an accessible balancing yoga practice followed by breath work and a seated meditation.
Timothy McCall
09:00-11:30 - The Yogic Approach to Psychosomatic Illness - #008
What yogis realized thousands of years ago, and what scientists are just now catching on to, is that changing dysfunctional habits is largely a matter of the mind. What yoga can do is to give you greater control of your mind and a greater understanding of the tricks it can play. This, perhaps more than anything, is what leads to life transformation. The methods of yoga can offer ways to implement the changes many people wish to make in their lives.
Julie Gudmestad
13:00-15:30 - Working with lower Back pain - #009
The pelvis is the foundation of the spine, and the lower back in the hinge between the upper and lower body. We'll cover the basic anatomy of the pelvis and lumbar spine, explore common problems in this area, and learn how to work with yoga poses and alignment to facilitate healing and prevent injury.
Timothy McCall
14:00-15:30 - Reconciling yoga and modern science - #010
Good yoga studies can help us understand what practices and which systems work well (or not at all) for particular disorders. While reductionist mechanisms in medicine will never capture all that yoga is, understanding the parts can provide insight into the whole. Listen to how the Western medicine can improve its results with synergy with Eastern medicine.
Ulrica Norberg
13:00-15:30 - Yoga for Bowel and stomach imbalances - #011
Learn how yoga, meditation and good nutrition can be a great help and healing methods when suffering from IBS and other bowel illnesses. Yoga therapist/teacher Ulrica shares her story about how she went from having chronic stomach pains to being free from pain, and having a balanced bowel health. The class includes physical practice and breath work.
Timothy McCall
17:30-18:45 - Lecture - Yoga as Medicine - #012
Join physician, author, and yogi Dr. Timothy McCall to discover -- or deepen your appreciation of -- the healing potential of yoga for everything from depression to infertility to heart disease. Beyond relieving symptoms or even curing disease, yoga as medicine is a path to high-level physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
Julie Gudmestad
09:00-12:00 - Working with shoulder problems in yoga - #013
Learn the basic anatomy of the shoulders and shoulder blades as you work on alignment, stability, and flexibility in a variety of poses. We'll examine the important muscles that support the shoulders and shoulder blades as well as discuss injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Katrina Repka
09:00-12:00 - Yoga for Addictions - with a practice of Deep Relaxation - #014
Many people find that yoga can be a helpful part of recovering from addiction. For Katrina, it helped to over come an eating disorder and re-calibrate her life. In this workshop she will discuss the Tantric view of the mind, and how yoga can play a positive role in helping us to overcome destructive tendencies and behaviors, and connect with our inner wisdom. This will be followed by a slow, long-holding asana practice and a guided relaxation.
Timothy McCall
09:00-11:30 - Yoga for Emotional Healing - #015
Yoga is a perfect complement to psychotherapy and other approaches to a variety of psychological conditions, including anxiety and depression. You may think of yoga therapy as useful primarily for physical problems, but a major subject area in yoga is the mind, making it particularly useful for treating mental illness. Learn how yoga can heal harming mind environments.
Julie Gudmestad
13:00-15:30 - Osteoporosis and postural changes: how yoga can help - #016
We will study some of the musculo-skeletal problems that may be a problem for women in midlife, including postural changes and osteoporosis. We will include a brief anatomical study of the bones and muscles of the spine, shoulders, and hips. Then move on to the practice of poses to help correct these problems.
Timothy McCall
13:00-15:00 - The link between the nervous system, breath and the mind - #017
If your mouth waters at the thought of a dish you love, you're experiencing the mind-body connection. If you've ever felt the butterflies in the pit of your stomach as you prepared to make a presentation, you've felt how your thoughts affect the functioning of your intestines. If you stop breathing when scared, you have experienced the link between the nervous system, breath and the mind. Hear how yogic techniques can improve healing in physical and psychological illness.
Felix Lancelot
13:00-15:00 - Slowemotion- How slow movements affect the body and mind connections
- #018
Slowemotion is a complete form of movement form that is holistic in nature, a synergy of movement and spiritual awareness with roots in the spheres of dance, meditation and sport. Practicing slowemotion heightens your physical and emotional awareness and your overall presence. Slowemotion nourishes your body, your emotions, your thoughts and your soul while it liberates your energy.
Timothy McCall
09:00-16:00 - 5 days Workshop "Yoga as Medicine" - #019
Yoga as Medicine - Workshop Description:
Join physician, author, and yogi Dr. Timothy McCall to discover, or deepen your appreciation of, the healing potential of yoga for everything from depression to infertility to heart disease. Explore yoga's vast toolbox, including postures, breathing techniques, relaxation, chanting, visualization, meditation, and philosophical ideas, and learn how these tools can be adapted to meet everyone's needs -- young or old, fit or unfit, healthy or seriously ill. Beyond relieving symptoms or even curing disease, yoga as medicine is a path to high-level physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Areas of focus will include:
• The ancient yogic formula for changing dysfunctional habits
• Anatomical principles that deepen yoga practice and make it safer
• The vital link between breath, nervous system, and mind
• Reconciling yoga and modern science
• Practicing yoga safely with various health challenges
• Ayurvedic insights that deepen yoga's therapeutic potential
This is a hands-on workshop with group yoga therapy exercises, with some participants serving as patients, and others acting together as yoga therapists, under the supervision of Timothy and his assistants. In addition to lecturing and leading participants through a variety of yoga practices, Dr. McCall will personally conduct a private yoga therapy session on one of the students from the workshop in front of the group for teaching purposes. This workshop is open to yoga students and yoga teachers of all levels, and health-care professionals.