Snowshoe Yoga Walking Meditation 3/16/19

Saturday, March 16 11am-3:30pm
at The Viaggio Spa and Wellness Center
in The Mountain Club on Loon
on Loon Mountain Resort

$60 for Drop-In (bring your own snowshoes)
$75 for Drop-In (with snowshoe rental)
$50 for Members (bring your own snowshoes)
$65 for Members (with snowshoe rental)

Welcome the spring with a snowshoe yoga practice and walking meditation through the forests along the Pemigewasset River surrounding Loon Mountain Resort in Lincoln, New Hampshire!

We will conclude with a cool down practice in the elegant yoga sanctuary at Viaggio Spa and Wellness Center in The Mountain Club on Loon on Loon Mountain Resort, unless we decide we prefer to stay outside for the duration of the workshop.

Bring your own snowshoes and poles or rent them from us for $15/set. Weather permitting we will experiment with special grabs and positions unique to yoga on snowshoes. If the trail is very icy we will adapt with micro-spikes, which we also have for rent for $10. If there is not enough snow cover we will hike in boots and if the weather is rainy we can increase our practice time inside. We will utilize poles for some postures so bring a pair or we have some you can borrow.

Bring water for yourself, a snack or light lunch and layers appropriate for the weather that day. Wear waterproof or resistant pants or bring a garbage bag or something waterproof to sit on for stillness meditation and potentially to have a snack, weather and interest permitting.

Included in the price of the workshop is a day pass to utilize the amenities at the Viaggio including indoor and outdoor hot tubs, an indoor pool, steam room, weight room and exercise machines. Contact the spa if you would like to add spa services to your stay.

If you have any questions make a post, leave a comment or send me a message, to register contact Viaggio Spa and Wellness Center by message, by phone at 800-229-7829 ext. 3 or through email at spa@mtnclub.com.

We are working on online registration but are not quite there yet!
♥

Online Interactive Yoga Classes 1/22/19 & 1/24/19

Online Interactive Yoga Classes
~ in the comfort of your own home ~

Tuesday, January 22
•2pm
•7pm
•9pm

Thursday, January 24
•10am
•2pm
If you have other suggestions for times let me know! I’m just experimenting to see what works.

Download the Zoom app onto your phone, tablet or computer and set yourself up so you can see the device and I can see you. There is a little bit of a learning curve with this platform yet it allows us to practice together anywhere we are.

Leave a comment or send me a message for more information. To register send me a message and a donation at the introductory rate of $5 or more to paypal.me/deniseporterkemp in the comments, or contact me for other arrangements.

February Workshops at The Mountain Club on Loon Mountain Resort

February Workshops
at The Viaggio Spa and Wellness Center
in The Mountain Club on Loon
on Loon Mountain Resort
with Denise Porter Kemp
~
Yoga Playshops for Kids
Sunday, February 17
•9:30am – 10:00am 7-11 years $10
•10:30am – 11:00am – 3-6 years, Mommy or Daddy & Me $10
•3:30pm – 4:15pm – 11-15 years $15

We will utilize yoga postures, movement, dance and storytelling to engage our minds and bodies through the art of conscious play. These age groups are guidelines not boundaries, inquire if you have questions. In all cases we will explore yoga teachings through postures and movement translated to the maturity level of the group.
~
Yoga Refresh Mini-Retreat
Wednesday, February 20
9:30am-12:30pm
$45, member price $35

A half day of retreat of flowing postural yoga, breathwork practices to relax and energize, seated meditation techniques and guided yoga nidra/conscious-rest meditation catered to the specifics of the group. Combine with a half day on the mountain, exploring the forests surrounding the resort or pampering yourself with the many amenities and services available at the Viaggio Spa for a full day retreat experience, just the way you like it.
~
Yoga and Snowshoe Meditation Hike
Saturday, February 23
9:30am-1:30pm
$60 bring your own snowshoes, $75 with snowshoe rental, member price $50 or $65 with snowshoes

Yoga inside the warm sanctuary of The Mountain Club before and after as well as outside during a snowshoe meditation hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
~
Ongoing:
•Mondays 5:30-7:00 Meditative Flow yoga class
•Private individual and group yoga and Thai yoga sessions available by request

For more information visit the event pages or message me. To register contact The Viaggio Spa at spa@mtnclub.com or 800-229-7829.

mural and photo credit ~ Christopher Oktavec of Okto Ink
with editing and support by Taniya Toomey

Eagle Progression Sequence to Release Shoulder Tension

Good morning!
Are your arms, shoulders, neck, back and hips a bit tired and sore from Autumn activities like raking leaves, chopping wood and harvesting the bounty from the garden? On this rainy morning when maybe you are finding a moment of respite I wanted to share a possible eagle posture progression sequence designed to release some of this accumulated tension, perhaps allowing you to harvest the energy that was stuck in the tension back into the body to rejuvenate where you are depleted and prepare you to keep going with more ease in whatever activities you engage in next.
I often teach this progression in a chair to make it more restorative and accessible to every body, although the full pose is done standing. While this video is primarily focused on the seated posture I briefly show the standing potential as well.
Once again I apologize for the technology, and the video is not perfect…
But it works for now and I hope comes to you at a time when it is useful.
Enjoy!

From the Inside, Looking Out: Simple Embodiment Guided Meditation

Overwhelmed? Maybe this will help. Not so much as an escape, for as tempting as that seems, hiding doesn’t make it all go away and can have a rebound effect. Yet as respite. A grounding in yourself. To calm the intensity and restore clear thinking. To help reorient in the face of the disorientation, whatever the specifics of that may be for you right now. A potential for self-support to keep going.
It is a simple guided meditation. Once you listen to it you can practice it yourself anytime. It is tactile, you can let go of the words and feel it. And bring yourself back. It can be done in any position, at anytime, even in the midst of action and intensity. No one will even know you are doing it.
You can take in this recipe and let it distill inside of you…this current speaking of it is a continuously evolving variation that has been inspired by many techniques and teachers and holds the quality of each as well as has become something personal inside of me.
It helps me come home to myself.
I share as maybe it will be useful for you too.

I tried to record a variation of this yesterday but there was a fly in the background…
So I opened the front door to try recording it outside and this photo is what I saw!
I sat down to record again today and this is the first track, unedited. I may record it over again, perhaps utilizing another method, but this works for now.

 

Practice video for Finding Your Own Practice Workshop 5/30/2015

A little inspiration 🙂 If you like, flow with this to start, holding any postures as long as you want and/or moving through each one breath. Inhale expand, exhale condense. Remember – backbends happen in the upper back and lengthen the lower back and forward bends hinge at the hip socket instead of rounding the back. Adapt to this. You can mute the music if you want silence or your own music – although this is one of my favorites. And don’t worry, Joe the cat doesn’t stay in the frame for long.
To find some desire to want to practice Hannah Tosi suggested coming into a posture that you know you enjoy and experiment in it to feel what you like about it. And then I suggest let it lead you into whatever comes next. If you like follow a skeleton practice that includes – vinyasa (maybe sun salutation flow of some kind), forward bend, lateral/side lengthening, balance, backbend, twist, hips and if you like inversions. As an exercise you could write a list of different postures that would fit into each of these categories. And here are the sample practices that I spoke of that you can follow and/or use as a jumping off point.
Your mental drishti/focus point on feeling yourself in your body and how the subtleties effect the posture and your experience.
If you’d like to share let me know how it goes.
Love.

The Sacred Geometry of Asana – Finding the Balance Point: Beginner/Intermediate Partner, Acro and Thai Yoga Workshop @At Om Yoga

The Sacred Geometry of Asana – Finding the Balance Point:
Beginner/Intermediate Partner, Acro and Thai Yoga Workshop
At Om Yoga
40 North Main Street, Concord NH
May 16, 2015 1~4pm

~ get tickets ~

In this workshop we will utilize asana/postural yoga to explore the balance point between opposing forces ~ right and left, front and back, leverage and lifting, expansion and compression, inhale and exhale, self and “other” ~ to find the place of suspension that holds both extremes, balanced at the center.

We will warm-up with individual postures and flowing vinyasa (movement linked to the rhythm of breath), bringing subtle awareness into the intersecting planes of the grid of our own body geometry and activating an intuitive alignment where the posture supports itself and active effort can relax. We will then expand into partner and group postures, respectfully articulating self-supporting, counterbalanced geometric shapes with each other. Each of us part of the whole, and whole and complete in ourselves.

Attuning to the balance point, the stillness in the movement, silence behind the sound, turiya ~ the underlying pure aware consciousness at peace in the midst of everything ~ cultivates our capacity to find this space, to remember this potential, anytime we want it, or need it. And pass it on.

Come with or without a partner. Nothing is required, and there are many very simple variations to suit everyone. Yoga is all inclusive.

Denise Porter Kemp has been teaching yoga since 2005 and as has studied with many teachers and students along the way, including receiving a 500 hour certification from At Om Yoga and Asa Dustin in 2007, a 200 hour certification with River Yoga and Parvati Nanda Nath Saraswati in 2010 and has completed level 1 Thai Yoga Therapy training with Still Light Yoga and Shai Plonski. She brings her traveling yoga school ~ Turiya Yoga ~ to private homes, ski mountains, music festivals and yoga studios along the east coast. Her strength is making the practice accessible to the uniqueness of every body while expressing the deeper teachings of yoga through the experiential practice of the physical form.

~ body geometry, pure aware consciousness ~

Snowsports Specific Yoga Retreats

Mindful dynamic vinyasa yoga and core awakening postures inside at The Mountain Club on Loon before a half day on the mountain at Loon Mountain Resort followed by indoor targeted stretching and decompression to reduce soreness and as a sort of savasana for the day. In the past we have incorporated partner, acro and Thai yoga into both sides of this, which we can do again as interest allows.
You are welcome to ride the mountain with me where we can utilize snowsports as a movement meditation in itself AND practice postures right in our boots or equipment that release tension, build strength and increase effortless balance, and/or take some time to ski or ride on your own as much as you like.
Everything is optional 🙂
I know its cold. Come play outside, it makes winter more fun ❤

Yoga and Snowsports as Movement Meditation Retreats

Balance upsidedown ~ Inversion Workshop

Balance upsidedown
March 3 The River School House Yarmouth, ME
April 1 Insight Therapeutic Massage Concord, NH
6-8:30pm
$30
Buy tickets for Maine
Buy tickets for New Hampshire

Don’t let the image intimidate you. It is meant to be visual art 🙂

The art of balance is something that can be learned, cultivated, honed ~ by becoming familiar with the subtlety of the balance point, the place where the pairs of opposites come into alignment and effort can relax as the posture supports itself. We do this effortlessly all the time standing on our feet, the trick is to be able to access that awareness and find the balance when things get turned upsidedown.

In this workshop we will warm-up with fluid vinyasa (flow yoga in rhythm with the breath), standing balance postures to access the balance point in stillness and movement and utilize various held postures to prepare the body for inversions and then experiment with:

~ standing forward bends as inversions (as well as access points to lift into inversions)
~ setting up a stable base for a shoulder stand (including the use of props and variations)
~ setting up the base for headstand along with many variations and methods for lifting into the full pose
~ forearm stands and variations
~ partner, group, wall and freestanding handstand warmups, practice and variations

You can try as much or as little as you like and there will be possibilities for everyone, beginner to advanced. Great for teachers too – learn new ways to teach these often challenging postures in a way that makes them more accessible as well as get to play with how you engage with balance in your own practice.

Denise Porter Kemp has been teaching yoga since 2005 and has studied with many teachers and students along the way. She brings her traveling yoga school ~ Turiya Yoga ~ to private homes, ski mountains, music festivals and yoga studios along the east coast. Her strength is making the practice accessible to the uniqueness of every body while expressing the deeper teachings of yoga through the experiential practice of the physical form.

~ body geometry, pure aware consciousness ~

The Sacred geometry of Asana: Finding the Balance Point

The Sacred geometry of Asana:
Finding the Balance Point
Beginner/Intermediate Partner, Acro and Thai Yoga Workshop
Feb. 3 River School House Yarmouth, ME
Feb. 11 Insight Therapeutic Massage Concord, NH
6-8:30pm
$30
Tickets for Maine
Tickets for New Hampshire

In this workshop we will utilize asana/postural yoga to explore the balance point between opposing forces ~ right and left, front and back, leverage and lifting, expansion and compression, inhale and exhale, self and “other” ~ to find the place of suspension that holds both extremes, balanced at the center.

We will warm-up with individual postures and flowing vinyasa (movement linked to the rhythm of breath), bringing subtle awareness into the intersecting planes of the grid of our own body geometry and activating an intuitive alignment where the posture supports itself and active effort can relax. We will then expand into partner and group postures, respectfully articulating self-supporting, counterbalanced geometric shapes with each other. Each of us part of the whole, and whole and complete in ourselves.

Attuning to the balance point, the stillness in the movement, silence behind the sound, turiya ~ the underlying pure aware consciousness at peace in the midst of everything ~ cultivates our capacity to find this space, to remember this potential, anytime we want it, or need it. And pass it on.

Come with or without a partner. Nothing is required, and there are many very simple variations to suit everyone. Yoga is all inclusive.