Laura Cornell
The Moon Salutation: Awakening the Healing Wisdom of the Feminine in Yoga
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The Moon Salutation is a yoga flow of 16 postures created to honor women’s bodies and rhythms while complementing the more familiar Sun Salutation. For some women during menstruation and menopause, the Sun Salutation exudes too much heat for the nervous system, and so it should be practiced gently or not at all. During pregnancy, several of its postures are contra-indicated, as they could injure either fetus or mother. In contrast, the Moon Salutation cools and calms the nervous system, and includes several of the most beneficial postures for menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause.
On a spiritual level, a yoga flow is a transformational tool for awakening consciousness. While the Sun Salutation was created to connect the practitioner with the enduring radiance and power of the sun, the Moon Salutation was created to connect her with the healing compassion and wisdom of the Moon. The Moon Salutation is grounding and calming. Its squats connect the body to the weight of gravity while the hip openers slow the body down, opening it to emotion and to the rhythms of the earth. The flow is empowering, centering, and healing.
This workshop will present both ancient and modern roots of the Sun and Moon Salutations. You will learn how the Moon Salutation specifically benefits a woman’s body during menstruation, menopause, and pregnancy. You will also learn the appropriate times for practicing Sun and Moon Salutations. As a group, you will practice a gentle variation of the Moon Salutation, engaging breathing practices and mantras to enter the practice on a spiritual level. There will also be time for a questions-and-answers session, as well as brief journaling and sharing.
You will experience the Moon Salutation as a means to awakening feminine wisdom, including intuition, playfulness, gentleness, intimacy, receptivity, beauty, spontaneity, inspiration, and wholeness. The healing power awakened in the practice will benefit both you and the world.
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Category: Yoga  Click here to enter the Virtual Classroom |
Green Yoga: Harnessing the Ancient Roots of Yoga to Address
Contemporary Eco-Crisis and Transition
As climate change activist Bill McKibben has said, last year was a hard year for the earth. A massive oil spill in the Gulf, record high temperatures in Asia, and record ice cap melting added to the long list of challenges already facing our planet. The urgency of today’s ecological crises require profound reflection, transformation, and action. Yoga helps us to respond to these crises with courage and love, rather than anger and fear.
In many ways, Yoga was the first eco-philosophy. Vedic teachings emphasized the interdependence of humans with the cosmos. They stressed the necessity of maintaining cosmic order (read “ecological balance”) through humility, restraint, and sacrifice. Tremendous reverence was given to rivers, trees, mountains, and to the body of the earth itself.
This workshop will discuss how to apply the ancient roots of Yoga to today’s ecological crises. You will learn Yogic wisdom for facing fears about the environment, acting from a place of love, and preventing burn-out. You will hear inspiring stories of Yoga practitioners and studios who are applying these principles in their own lives. Finally, an experiential portion of the session will guide you in exploring one ecological concern you have, gaining new peace, strength, and clarity.”
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Category: Yoga Click here to enter the Virtual Classroom |
Speaker Bio: Laura Cornell, PhD, is an experienced, empathic yoga scholar and workshop leader who empowers women to connect with their bodies and the wisdom of their hearts so they can heal themselves and the earth. She offers yoga with intelligence and compassion, bringing the power of the feminine to yoga. Read full bio »