Join Feldenkrais Practitioner, Katie Van Ness, and Yoga Teacher, Carrie Dennison, for an afternoon of gentle movements and restful shapes to improve your overall well-being. The goal of this workshop is to help you find ease and elegance by offering accessible movements so you can find joy to your own beautiful body.
When you slow down and connect with your breath and body, you will become more present and available for both thinking and movement. You will be able to release patterns in your body and in your mind that are not beneficial and create new patterns that foster harmony in all aspects of your life.
Katie and Carrie will open the practice with a blend of Feldenkrais and yoga asana to assist you in accessing poses with less effort. Katie will then guide a specific Feldenkrais lesson to liberate hips, spine, and neck. Finally, you will wind down into a one hour Restorative Yoga practice with Carrie to help integrate the new movement patterns into your brain and body.
You will leave with some tips and tricks to implement in your daily life.
What is Feldenkrais? Feldenkrais® classes are known as Awareness Through Movement® (ATM®) lessons: Similar to Tai Chi or gentle yoga, Awareness Through Movement classes use slow, mindful movements to achieve powerful effects in terms of strength, flexibility, and holistic integration of body and mind. Unique to the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education is that these lessons tie directly into functional movements of daily life, such as walking efficiently, safely lifting objects, and improving one’s posture in sitting or standing.
What is Restorative Yoga? Restorative Yoga is a practice that can facilitate deep healing by initiating one’s relaxation response, to become aware of where tension is held in the body, releasing that tension, and to restore the body to homeostasis. It is a practice of doing nothing that creates an experience of physical and emotional grounding by lying down in shapes supported by bolsters, blankets, and blocks.
Cost: $65
Carrie Dennison is a 200-hour RYT and teaching weekly classes at Roots & River Yoga. After discovering the importance of rest and stillness to complement a busy life and active yoga practice, she was drawn to incorporate Restorative Yoga into her practice and teaching. She studied Restorative Yoga under Tara Lemerise ('Rest for All' Teacher Training). Carrie earned her level 3 Reiki Master certification in 2019 and utilizes the therapeutic benefits of doTERRA essential oils in her classes. Carrie's goal is to assist others to learn about different tools to support healing and stress management and build integrated community.
Katie Van Ness has been teaching the Feldenkrais® Method for eight years and has been a Practitioner of the method for six years. She studied for four years at the Feldenkrais® Training Program of Baltimore and spent over three years in mentorship to continue to improve her skills. Katie also teaches medical Qi Gong and piano. She currently works out of many studios in the Frederick area as well as at her home studio in New Market. She has two young kids and finds that her skills are very helpful for parenting and holding space for the emotions of others. Katie hopes to continue to bring the Feldenkrais® method, Qi Gong and music to help more people heal and feel comfortable and confident within their bodies and abilities.