Modern Movement Science Series
Weekend Series 1: Regressing, Progressing, and Customizing Poses
Weekend Series 2: Connecting the Dots Between Motor Learning and Teaching Yoga
Weekend Series 1: Regressing, Progressing, and Customizing Poses
In this weekend of workshops, you will learn how to deconstruct common yoga poses for the purpose of customizing them to meet your or your students needs in group classes and privates.
This weekend of workshops is appropriate for both yoga teachers and students. Please note that because the workshops are designed as a comprehensive course where the material progressively builds on what was covered in the previous workshop, you must attend all four workshops.
Students will also receive a manual for this workshop weekend.
Workshop 1: The Building Blocks of Customizing Poses
This workshop will cover modern movement science theories that you need to know in order to regress and progress poses. It will also teach you how to customize poses for specific individuals who present with pathology and pain.
In this workshop, you will learn:
- How you can use movement-based solutions to help your students feel better while staying within your scope of practice as a yoga teacher
- A modern approach to teaching yoga that is based on preparing the body for movement and progressively increasing challenge instead of emphasizing aesthetic ideals and alignment rules.
- An updated approach to pain science and how to apply this knowledge to working with students who have pain or injuries.
This workshop will also go in depth on the principles of progression and regression, including orientation to gravity, active versus passive range of motion, single versus compound joint movements, lever length, and open versus closed kinetic chain.
Workshop 2: How to Customize Poses for Spinal Pathology and Pain
This workshop will teach you how to apply the material covered in the first workshop to poses involving movements of the spine, including spinal flexion, extension, and rotation.
In this workshop, you will:
- Learn how to apply the principles progression and regression to troubleshoot and problem solve poses, including Forward Folds, Twists, and Backbends.
- Experience an overview of the anatomy of the spine
- Gain a better understanding working with spinal pathologies, such as disc injuries, nerve pain, and unspecified pain
You will also have a chance to practice role playing conversations you might have with students who come to class with pathology or pain, so you are better prepared for this when it happens in real life.
Workshop 3: How to Customize Poses for the Hip, Knee, and Ankle
This workshop will teach you how to apply modern movement science and principles of progression and regression to work with students who have pain or pathology in the lower extremity.
In this workshop, you will:
- Learn how to apply the principles progression and regression to customize and problem solve hip openers and standing poses.
- Experience an overview of the anatomy of the foot, ankle, knee, and hip
- Gain a better understanding working with pathologies in the lower extremity, including sprains, plantar fasciitis, meniscal tears, osteoarthritis, and tendinosis
You will also have a chance to practice role playing conversations you might have with students who come to class with pathology or pain, so you are better prepared for this when it happens in real life.
Workshop 4: How to Customize Poses for the Wrist, Elbow, and Shoulder
This workshop will teach you how to apply principles modern movement science and pain science to better meet the needs of students with pain or pathology in the upper extremity.
In this workshop, you will:
- Learn how to apply the principles progression and regression to adapt and troubleshoot sun salutations, inversions, arm balances.
- Experience an overview of the anatomy of the wrist, elbow, and shoulder
- Gain a better understanding working with pathologies in the upper extremity, including muscle tears, bursitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome.
You will also have a chance to practice role playing conversations you might have with students who come to class with pathology or pain, so you are better prepared for this when it happens in real life.
Weekend Series 2: Connecting the Dots Between Motor Learning and Teaching Yoga
This workshop series will teach you an overview of the science of the nervous system, motor learning and how to apply it to teaching yoga. Over the course of the weekend you will learn how to become more effective at cuing, correcting, and adapting poses to better meet the needs of your students as well as how to integrate these science-based principles into your classes to help your students become more well-rounded movers.
This weekend of workshops is appropriate for both yoga teachers and students. Please note that because the workshops are designed as a comprehensive course where the material progressively builds on what was covered in the previous workshop, you must attend all four workshops.
Students will also receive a manual for this workshop weekend.
Workshop 1: An embodied approach to kinesiology and motor learning
Ever wonder how to apply the kinesiology and anatomy that you learned in your yoga teacher training to help your students improve their movement skills in the classroom? If so, then this workshop is for you!
In this workshop, you will:
- Gain an understanding of the basic concepts of motor learning and how they apply to teaching movement
- Learn + review key kinesiology and biomechanical concepts to help you teach classes that better prepare your student's bodies for challenging yoga poses and life.
- Experience a physical practice that illustrates what you have learned in an embodied way
Workshop 2: Observation Based Cueing: Translating what you see into what you teach
When observing how your students move, there's a lot to take in. This can make knowing what to cue or emphasize feel overwhelming and sometimes what you see is lost in translation when you try to depict it in words. In this workshop, you will refine your observation skills to help you teach more effectively.
This workshop will also include:
- Observation of your fellow classmates in movement sequences and guided posture labs to help you understand what you are seeing
- Best practices for giving feedback and deciding what to teach based on what you see
- Strategies for cueing in a way that is effective and empowering for your students
Workshop 3: Brain Based Cuing: An evidence based approach to verbal cues
Ever wonder what some of the verbal cues you use seem to help your students move more efficiently, while others result in confusion? Are you curious about whether it is better to cue muscular engagement, direction, or alignment?
In this workshop, you will learn:
- The difference between internal and external cues
- What the research says about how our brains translate verbal cues into movement
- How to choose the best cues to meet your student's needs and teach more effectively
- You will also be guided through a movement practice, so you can experience how your own body responds to different styles of cuing.
Workshop 4: The missing link between props and proprioception
We've all experienced how powerful the right prop can be for helping you feel something in your body. This workshop will explain why props and kinesthetic touch can often have a more profound effect when teaching yoga than words alone.
In this workshop, you will learn:
- The science behind why props so effective for enhancing proprioceptive awareness
- How you can use props in place of words or hands on adjustments to help your students intuitively understand the concepts that you are teaching
- How to find the right blend of tactile or props based and verbal cues to meet the needs of students with different learning styles
- You will also experience a movement practice that emphasizes props and tactile cueing to foster a greater understanding of your own proprioceptive experience in yoga.