Happenings

Take it on… 30 consecutive days of yoga!! Birchwood’s Yoga Challenge starts Wednesday, July 6th and ends Sunday, August 14th.

Jump start your practice! Take thirty consecutive days of yoga at Birchwood Center and win a 30 minute massage therapy session with one of our fabulous and talented massage therapists.

Are you up for the challenge? Sign up in the Birchwood office to begin your 30 day yoga immersion. For more information call or email: 845-358-6409, info@birchwoodcenter.com

Come salute the moon in an all levels open air yoga class, meditate on the sounds of wild life, reflect and refresh around the campfire …all on a secluded hilltop by the edge of Lake De Forest.

8-10:30pm on Friday, August 12th (rain date August 13th).    Fee: $35

Includes yoga class, refreshments around the fire, and the moon. Bring your own mat and any props you may need. Please register in advance. You will receive directions to the location when you register.

To register, click here or call 845.358.6409.

 All Day Yoga Immersion led by Jill Ganassi and Betsy Ceva has been cancelled

Sunday June 12th     9am-4pm     Fee: $125

Open to intermediate and advanced students, this daylong workshop begins with a three hour back bending class, followed by a light lunch (provided) with lighthearted dialogue on yoga philosophy. The afternoon session includes a series of slow, safe inversions, restorative yoga, pranayama and meditation. Come immerse yourself in a complete yoga experience and deepen your practice with two great teachers!

Registratioon in advance is required since space is limited.

To register, click here or call 845.358.6409.

Come Experience the Joy of Sharing Silence ~ Sunday May 22, 3-5:30

Hatha Yoga is like learning to play the instrument of the body, and meditation like learning to play the instrument of the mind; both practices bring us greater health and peace. For many of us, meditating with a group provides support and energy that can give a much deeper meditation experience. In this workshop, taught by Julie Lifton, we will explore several approaches to meditation such as mantra, breath, visualizations and Tonglin, both silent and guided, with stretching and movement in between.

Whether you want to establish a home practice of simply want to come for the afternoon experience, this workshop is appropriate for beginners ans well as those with an established practice of meditation.

Fee: $30
To register, click here or call 845.358.6409.

Join Jerry for his annual Yoga Hike in Harriman State Park under the light of the silvery moon!  Saturday evening, May 14th - Hike begins at 5:30

Take a moonlit hike to Lake Pond - stretch, meditate and enjoy the light of the moon.

The hike to Lake Pond is an easy walk through the woods on a wide grassy path. The evening will consist of meeting at 5:30 at the parking lot at Kanawake Lake where we will car pool to the trail head. After entering the trail we will do some breathing, centering and light stretching before walking into the woods. Once we reach Lake Pond we will do an easeful yoga practice and meditate on the night sky and the moon. We plan to return to our cars by 10pm.

Fee: $30 - Registration in advance is required. You will recieve directions to the starting point when you register.

To register, click here or call 845.358.6409.

Healing From the Inside Out ~ Two Workshops with Kamini Desai on April 2nd. Don’t miss this special day!

Workshop 1: Breaking the Patterns that Bind You - Understanding the Cycle of Karma   1:30-4pm

Do you find that your life often circles around the same issues in many different disguises? In this workshop we will understand what Karma is and how it can work against us. We will discover the basic principles that break limiting cycles and foster our ability to lead a full and happy life. We will experiment with several practical tools including Yoga Nidra to help break karmic in the midst of life.

Workshop 2: Mastering Your Emotions   5-7:30pm

What are emotions? How do they work? How can we have emotions without allowing them to get the best of us? What is the “yogic way” to deal with emotions? These are all questions we will answer during this workshop with a specific yoga-based practice you can use to resolve held emotions and work through reactions.

Everyone is welcome. Please wear comfortable clothes.

Kamini Desai, PhD developed the core program curriculum for the Amrit Yoga Institute and teaches across the country. Trained at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, with degrees from Smith College and La Salle University, Kamini is certified in contact partner yoga, yoga therapy, massage therapy, Danskinetics, and holistic health education. Kamini’s versatile body of teachings applies the principles of yoga to everyday life.

Pre-registration by March 26: $35 per workshop or $60 for both.  Registration after March 26: $40 per workshop or $70 for both. For further information call Birchwood Center or email info@birchwoodcenter.com.

To register, click here or call 845.358.6409.

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with your partner or bring a friend or family member for a fun and soothing experience!

Connect through breath, movement and touch, learning how to stretch together and give each other a really great foot, shoulder and neck massage. Birchwood founders Betsy Ceva and Charlene Bradin will join forces for this very special workshop. Materials are included.

Saturday, February 19th, 2-6pm   Fee: $150 per couple

 To register, click here or call 845.358.6409.

GoddessAsana with Michelle Dawson will incorporate asana, mudra, meditation, and Mendhi as a means to honor and invoke the inner Goddess.

Friday, February 18th, 6-8:30pm  Fee: $40 pre-registration, $45 at the door.

This workshop begins with an asana practice that will be a meditative, restorative, slow flow Vinyasa format. Michelle will pay special attention to certain mudras and postures that evoke specific deities and ideas symbolizing divine powers. The workshop also includes impromptu kirtan with invocations led by Jennifer Ananda. To conclude the workshop, all participants will take part in a traditional Mendhi ritual. The end result is a feeling of inner connectedness with the Divine Feminine and a gorgeous henna design that lasts for up to three weeks. GoddessAsana is open to all levels of experience; the only requisite is an open heart and creative spirit.

To register, click here or call 845.358.6409.

Go beyond the form, alignment and function of your poses and bring more healing and awareness to your yoga practice! Taught by Julie Lifton.

Sunday March 6th, 2-4:30pm

In this workshop we take the work we began in Phase I to a deeper level.  We all carry within us energetic traces of past events. Yoga has a way of unlocking stuck or dormant energy, which may be the result of injury, trauma, overuse, aging, and so on. We don’t need to know how or why we have locked our skeletons away iin those closets, but what a relief it could be to coax them out a bit with imagination, love, and patience. As in Phase I we will use meditation, writing, discussion and asana practice to find archetypal imagery that can facilitate the release of some of this stuck energy and bring healing in.

Fee: $35

Please note: If you took Yoga Archetypes in May 2010, you may pay a discounted rate for Phase II.

To register, click here or call 845.358.6409.

Please help our teachers-in-training complete their requirements for certification.

As part of their yoga teacher training experience participants in the Birchwood Center 200-hour Teacher Training program will hold practice classes on Saturdays, beginning January 22nd through March 12th. Everyone is invited free of charge to come and support the teachers-in-training. Students who attend these classes will be asked to offer friendly but honest and helpful critiques. Please call the studio to reserve your place - space is limited: 845-358-6409 or email info@birchwoodcenter.com.

Mar 5:  12-1 Addison Reese    2-3 Cristyn Girolami

Mar 12:  12-1 Kathleen Sabrizzi    2-3 Christine Girandola