Stillness in Motion: Guided Freeform Dance Meditation

led by Denise Porter Kemp, accompanied with music and sound by Kalidasa Joseph Getter

This workshop utilizes guided mindfulness movement and spontaneous freeform dance meditation as experiential metaphor for resetting unconscious yet familiar patterns; in the way we approach our movement practice, in the way we move when we dance and in how we relate to the unique circumstances of our lives.

I will offer meditative orientations to both help us notice how the forces of momentum, conditioned habits, preconceptions, our own will, each other, the environment around us and even the music direct our movement and experiment with consciously unhooking ourselves from following this momentum.

In the space of the pause we can potentially tap into the experiencing witness state, pure awareness underlying all other states of consciousness – the silence ever-present behind the sound, the spaciousness inside our form and the stillness of each moment within the movement – and allow fresh insight and creative possibilities to arise.

Instead of repeating pattern or even identifying as the “dancer” and moving by our own will alone, the dance takes form through us. Informed yet not defined, limited or controlled by everything we have experienced so far in our lives.

All levels welcome, no prior experience necessary. I will offer variations to suit every body.

Denise Porter Kemp makes stillness, movement and yoga meditation practices accessible to the uniqueness of every body while expressing the underlying psychology and teachings through the experiential practice of the physical form.

Currently based in the forests of New Hampshire, she brings her traveling school to private homes, offices at lunchtime, ski mountains, addiction recovery centers, yoga studios and music festivals all along the east coast.

Certified at the 500 hour level in the Shakti Flow Vinyasa style of yoga by Asa Dustin of At OM Yoga, Level 1 in Thai Yoga by Shai Plonski of Still Light Center and initiated into the Kaula lineage of Kashmir Shaivism by Parvathi Nanda Nath Saraswati, Denise has studied with many teachers and learns from everyone who comes her way. She has been teaching yoga since 2005 and offering Thai Yoga since 2011.

~  body geometry, pure awareness  ~

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!
♥

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

Online Interactive Movement Meditation and Yoga Class on January 17th at 6 p.m.

Join me tomorrow, Thursday, January 17th, at 6 p.m. for an online interactive movement meditation and yoga class from the comfort of your own home. You will need to download the free Zoom app onto your phone, tablet or computer beforehand and set yourself up so that you can see the screen and I can see you.
I have been guiding online sessions for individuals for a while, the group class format is a new experiment that I am offering to make the practice more accessible to every body. I’m not sure the best time for these to be held, so I am just going to give some times a try. If you have any thoughts or feedback I am open to suggestion. The content of the class will depend on who is present but generally it will be a basic yoga class for about an hour.
Leave a comment or message me if you have any questions and if you’d like to attend send a donation at the introductory rate of $5 or more to my PayPal or contact me for other arrangements. I will send you a link that will give you access to the class.
I look forward to practicing with you.
❤

Just Enough and Not Too Much

I am generally not into slogans, although there is a Buddhist one I have heard that I think of a lot – just enough and not too much. It is kind of a Goldilocks approach to life 🙂
Practicing yoga helps me experiment with this balance on a physical, experiential level, balancing how much weight forward, how much back, where do I lift from, where do I contract, when I shift one aspect of the posture how does that affect the rest, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Some of it is mental, I remember the ways I have played with the posture before and cues other teachers and students have suggested to me, yet it is not only a mental thinking it out. It includes body memory and develops an awareness beyond just the thinking of the mind, beyond just the discursive thought or continuous defining of the mind, it becomes a direct felt experience of the balance that integrates and grows with me.
I am also finding this true with my experience of the continuous learning curve of skiing and snowboarding, dynamic practices of the subtleties of the shifts of weight and posture responding to the shape of the skis or board, the texture of the snow and the contours of the mountain. The practice of yoga does help support the sport in that it can be cross training to warm up and bring awareness into the body and center the mind before going on the mountain and decompressing to unwind tension, reduce soreness and recovery time and prepare the body for the next day. Yet there is also potential for utilizing yoga to refine sensitivity to the effects of stance and the subtle shift of weight in any posture and especially in ones that directly inform the body of movements used in skiing and riding, teaching our bodies how to efficiently perform these movements and giving ourself practice both on and off the hill. Perhaps beginning with mental inquiry and developing into experiential wisdom.
When I ski and ride it is very much a physical yoga practice in that I start with a variety of cues in myself that gradually build – just enough and not too much, a little bit of this and a little bit of that – until it all flows together and I am not thinking out the skiing, all my awarenesses are coming together and the skiing is happening right through me. It is kind of a sahaja approach to life, the sahaja the purely spontaneous being who has trained their body and mind to instead of compulsively react to phenomena, appropriately respond to the specifics of each situation. In the case of your sport or your art this plays out as learning and practicing the form first so then the creativity can unfold and grow through that structure. If you never learned some of the building blocks, through a teacher and/or your own mindful practice, in snowsports you’d likely just fall down the hill. Yet with practice and experiential awareness of your posture, how to read the terrain and the conditions and how subtle shifts of weight drive the edges of your equipment, the falling down the hill can become a graceful and efficient dance of balance. Just enough and not too much.
This is what I am currently into 🙂 If you’d like to play with me with it come to The Mountain Club on Loon at Loon Mountain Resort on Sunday March 13, 2016 for Yoga and Snowsports as Movement Meditation 3/13/16 or be in touch and we can do a private with snowsports or just physical yoga – and develop a practice to support whatever sport or art you are currently into.
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 ~

Finding Your Own Practice Workshop

Finding Your Own Practice
Saturday May 30, 2015
Insight Therapeutic Massage
Concord, NH
1 ~ 5pm
$50

Offering practical tools and support for developing and maintaining
a personal physical yoga and meditation practice.
~ practice and discussion ~

We will discuss and experience:
~ basic sequencing guidelines, transitions between postures and sun and moon salutation routines to utilize as starting points for coming up with your own intelligent flows
~ general alignment cues to help awaken and deepen a sense of intuitive alignment, both for the safety and effectiveness of your physical practice and as a focus point for mindfulness movement meditation
~ planned practices and spontaneous unwinding flows that adapt to fit the specifics of your ever-changing body, mind and situation
~ attitudes towards effort and ease/efficiency in posture and breath
~ breathing and meditation techniques and ways to vary and adapt them
~ techniques for staying focused in the practice itself, to cultivate the motivation to want to practice and if you set a resolve to do so, to maintain the discipline to practice regularly
~ how to make space/time to practice
~ ways of bringing both the practices themselves as well as the lessons they teach into everyday life

Come with questions, any areas you want to work on or feel unsure of and a new notebook/your computer to write down any ideas or insights you come up with during the practice and to continue to write in as you continue to develop your practice.

***I am considering offering a teacher training/deepening your practice extended study beginning later this year. This workshop is a good place to see what that may be like. Not only will you have a chance to experience my teaching and style in the area of developing a practice, part of the teacher training would include developing your own practice and keeping a journal of that experience***

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.