Yoga Classes
Balance yourself with our New Yoga, Chi Kung (Qigong) and Exercise classes.
Come on and give it a try. Yoga has been around for over 5000 years and millions of people around the globe participate and can attest to the benefits of doing so. Yoga obviously improves your flexibility, but it also strengthens your core as well and that has many benefits from improving posture to helping with back pain. The breathing techniques you learn doing yoga bring relaxation and help reduce the effects of stress – and studies show this relaxation releases a host of biochemical responses that benefit the body.
Even more benefits include improving concentration, stabilizing moods, slowing down aging, lowering blood pressure, slowing heart rate and even reversing the effects of heart disease. Other conditions helped by yoga include insomnia, asthma, arthritis, and many others. Some say even relationships improve as a result of yoga. Well, only one way to know, you gotta try it for yourself. Find balance in your life, while you refresh and heal your body.
Pricing for our Yoga and all other classes:
- Drop in class $16
- 10 class pass $120
- Unlimited monthly classes $75
- Class membership $30/month + $5 per class
Call us today to reserve your spot in the class and ….Take care of you! (510)864-9339
YOGA CLASSES:
Sivananda Yoga
Sivananda condenses the essence of the yoga teachings into five principles for physical and mental health as well as spiritual growth. This intermediate level class will consist of initial relaxation, pranayama (meaning “extension of the breath”), surya namaskar (sun salutation), asanas (poses) and final relaxation. The purpose of the class is to regenerate the body and relax the mind, maintaining a meditative state throughout.
Yoga Flow
Join us for a gentle and energizing meditative Yoga practice that incorporates fluid body movement with Guided meditation and Sound healing. This meditative and playful yogic practice uplifts the spirit, quiets the mind and restores the body. Great for Beginners and everyone else. Come and join us on the mat.
HATHA Flow
This class combines movement and Yoga stretches for a mindful practice. Create more body awareness and theraputic release of tension through long-held yoga poses and movement. Focusing on the breath, through the poses, chanting, and meditation this class opens the lungs, heart and mind—energizing and calming simultaneously. Great for beginners to Intermediate levels.
HATHA Level 1-2
Yoga Level 1-2. A basic hatha asana practice. Warm up includes sun salutation flow and asana instruction designed to improve flexibility, balance, and strength. Each class aims to unwind habitual actions, provide comfortable rejuvenation, and teach the therapeutic value of different poses.
This class is designed for students who have a beginning knowledge of asana (postures) and sun salutations who want to expand their understanding of alignment and build strength and flexibility.
Preparatory poses for advanced poses such as handstand, headstand, and backbends will be explored. This class assumes general good health and range of motion. This class is not designed for students with active injuries.
Vinyasa Yoga
Set to music, this class builds heat, strength, flexibility and stamina through a vigorous sequence of poses. To understand the Universal Law of Impermanence on an experiential level, students flow mindfully and breath-fully through standing and seated poses, twists and backbends. Inversions will be introduced in select classes. A nourishing savasana and ending meditation and chanting complete the experience. Prior yoga experience recommended
Raja Yoga
Raja Yoga with focus on mindfulness, breathwork, and gentle movements to sync the body, breath, and mind in harmony. This class is energizing, allowing people to explore playful movements to tap into the spirit of their inner child. Play, breath and asana are woven together in an environment that encourages all to find the joy in movement and being together. It’s adaptable to all levels.
ViniYoga
This therapeutic-style class comes from the ViniYoga tradition and are safe for anyone to attend. The breath inspires the entire sequence through small vinyasas, fluid movements in and out of poses, pranayama, and some meditations. Each class offers a combination of these activities to hold space for each student to learn more about where their body wants to evolve into a different expression. The classes are carefully sequenced to help the students learn how to transform the neuro-muscular patterns in their body into a more relaxed state. The beauty of these classes is that any yogi can make the class as challenging or restorative as they like, since there are many ways to adapt each pose.
55 Golden Yoga
This is an easy and gentle yoga class designed for 55+, but no one will be turned away for being to young. Yoga can be done on a mat or chair, as needed. Heart-centered, gentle guided movements to music with tai chi and yoga influences. Excellent class for seniors and those with physical limitations of any age. Stay fit, stay connected and stay well with Lauren.
OTHER CLASSES WE OFFER:
Stretch & Strengthen
Join us for a class designed to focus on strength, flexibility and stability. Combining elements of Pilates, circuit training, boot camp and yoga, this intense but low-impact core strengthening class focuses on building functionality and lean muscle mass while burning fat, reducing stress and increasing flexibility. All fitness levels are welcome and every exercise we do is completely scalable to your own ability. You’ll be challenged but never pushed to do more than you’re capable of. Come prepared to move to upbeat music, laugh, and sweat a lot. Bring water! This is a supportive, non-judgmental environment for you to learn new skills, get a little one-on-one coaching, and make new friends!
Chi Kung (Qigong) – Tiger’s Breath
Chi Kung is a practice to nurture Chi, your life force. It cultivates harmony on all levels, physical, energetic, psychological, spiritual. It works simultaneously on all facets of your being, from the organs and their energetic meridians, to the lymphatic, respiratory, reproductive, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, digestive, nervous, and craniosacral systems. It helps you to release stress, boost your immune system, develop strength and flexibility, and enhance centeredness and groundedness. It shows you how to cultivate, conserve, circulate, and transmit Chi for helping to heal self and others. It draws on the power of forces from the cosmos and deep wisdom of your own inner being. Tiger’s Breath Chi Kung harvests Cosmic Chi (life force), deepens your inner wisdom, and promotes harmony on physical, energetic, psychological, and spiritual levels. It engages the body’s physiologic and organ-meridian systems, boosts the immune system, and promotes strength and flexibility. Its fluid rhythms cultivate, circulate, store, and transmit Chi to facilitate healing.
Meditation Guided Visualization
Lakenda, Reiki Master Teacher and Guided Visualization Specialist, will guide you through a morning meditation and Reiki healing that will cleanse your energy system and allow you to get focused and ready for your day. Guided visualization, breathing exercises and simple seated stretches are incorporated to bring body, mind and spirit in alignment. This class is designed to balance and calm—to set you up for a less stressed, productive day. This class is open to all. If you are attuned to Reiki, join us to discover some new and intriguing ways to play with the energy for self-healing.
Meet Our Yoga & Class Instructors:
Lauren Grace
Lauren Grace, originally from the south coast of England, found her hearts home in the Bay Area 12 years ago. That is also when she began to practice Yoga. Having a background in dance, Yoga has kept her in communication with her body and spirit. She first studied with Larry Schultz , the founder of “It’s Yoga” in SF. Most recently she completed the Prenatal Teacher training intensive with Jane Austin at Yoga Tree. Lauren Graduated from Psychic Horizons in 2002, and she has studied at the acupressure Institute in Berkeley. Lauren practices Yoga because life is a great deal more fun when she is dancing, singing and moving her body. Join her for a Gentle and energizing Yoga practice with Guided meditation and Sound healing. Great for Beginners and everyone else. Come and join us on the mat.
Sage McClive
Sage McClive began a passionate relationship with yoga many years ago when she was recovering from a severe lumbar and neck strain as a young person fresh out of college. Yoga was the catalyst for her full recovery from those injuries and is still the first remedy used in her life to maintain a radiant lifestyle. After many years of sampling different styles of yoga and healing modalities, she committed to becoming a teacher of a therapeutic-style yoga as a way to share her knowledge for the vast healing benefits of a yoga practice. She decided to train through the ViniYoga lineage where she could apply her knowledge of holistic healing to her yoga classes. She’s a firm believer that anyone can practice yoga safely and effectively – it’s all a matter of using the adaptations of poses and maintaining a creative mind as a teacher to offer new adaptations for specific situations.
Roen DeLeon
Roen DeLeon, has been practicing Yoga for the last 10 years and became a certified Iyenger Hatha Flow Yoga Teacher in 2005 after training with Darren Main at Yoga Tree, SF. He most recently Studied with Stacey Rosenberg in a six month Anusara intensive, and will be offering a Hatha/Anusara inspired practice with you at Body Techniques. Namaste.
Roen is also a CMT Massage Practitioner, graduating from San Francisco School of Massage in 2005 ( Shiatsu, Swedish and Thai ). He recently completed the first level of the Hendrickson Method, an advanced system of orthopedic therapy which combines massage, mobilization, and neuromuscular re-education with Eastern energy practices.
Mui
Five years ago, Mui turned to yoga to provide stress relief from her job managing two non-profit programs. She has since left the organization, but her yoga practice has flourished. Mui is grateful to have received her 200-hour Certified Raja Yoga Teacher training from Niroga Institute in Berkeley, a non-profit that offers classes in community settings including juvenile hall, cancer rehab, senior centers, and schools. Through the training, Mui was a participant in the Integral Health Fellowship program that supports people of color in their quest to become yoga teachers. To pay it forward, she teaches yoga in East Oakland and is thrilled to provide yoga to those with limited access to studios. Her classes give students the opportunity to challenge themselves in a safe, compassionate space and allow everyone to embrace the inner child and playfulness in us all. Mui is also a Certified Massage Therapist and is interested in all types of bodywork as well as staying active with yoga, biking, and running.
Maria Young
Maria was certified in Hatha Yoga at the 700-hour level at Piedmont Yoga Studio in Oakland. She studied under renown yogi, Rodney Yee and Yoga Journal editor, Richard Rosen. Maria also earned a black belt in a traditional Korean martial art, and teaches martial athletics to women and children at Alameda Martial Arts. Before becoming a fitness instructor, Maria received a graduate degree from UC Berkeley and loves to infuse her practice and teaching with anatomical and philosophical ideas. Maria is happy to join the team at BodyTechniques and is eager to share her love of yoga with new students.
Melanie Tormos
Melanie began practicing yoga in 2002. She was awakened to the importance of the mind-body connection, and whole-heartedly began to delve deeper into the study of Eastern philosophy, alternative healing modalities, metaphysics and various spiritual practices. She eventually earned her certificate in massage therapy. As she committed more fully to her yoga practice, she was presented with the opportunity to teach. She took her teacher training under Audrey Walzer and began teaching to teen girls in 2006. Since then she has taught public, prenatal, corporate and private classes to students of all ages and abilities. Melanie teaches Hatha yoga in a style that blends the Vinyasa, Viniyoga and Iyengar schools of yoga. She emphasizes the importance of alignment, breath, the bandhas and the flow of energy in the body as it moves in and out of postures. She promotes mindfulness and loving-kindness in her classes, asking her students to develop compassion for their bodies. She believes that yoga can benefit people of all body types and levels of athleticism, and can strengthen communication between the mind and the body’s own intelligence. Discover more about Melanie’s teachings at YogaAtTheEndOfTheWorld.com.
Lakenda Wallace
Lakenda Wallace is a Reiki Master Teacher, Conception & Stress Management Coach and Birth Doula . With more than 15 years experience researching and teaching alternative and complementary medicine, Lakenda has a deep commitment to helping others move past fear and pain. Through Reiki, stress management and an open heart, Lakenda helps others find their center and their own power to achieve their goals: healthy conception, emotionally & physically healthy self, well-loved and nourished healthy babies, and less stressed, healthy families.
Chelsea Tiernan
Chelsea Tiernan began her official journey into Xi Gong in 1997. Through her years of study she found she had worked with the energies in personal meditation since she was a child. As a dancer from the age of 3, Chelsea’s interest in movement was clear. She explored Tai Chi and yoga, but found a deep love for Xi Gong as a self-care practice that supports joint health, hormone and emotional balance. Chelsea is dedicated to working with the energies of Xi Gong as part of her mission to give others a vehicle that helps them attune to themselves—raising awareness and promoting true wellness.
