The Waking State

 Offered Virtually on Zoom

Saturdays April 16th - June 4th 2022

9:30-11AM ET

The Waking State is a course designed to bring your body and mind in line with the Spring season of growth.

During spring, we are invited by nature to bring the spark of aliveness and vitality back into the body after the winter season of rest and dormancy. As we emerge from our period of winter introspection, we are now called to lift our energy and step into time for growth. Spring is a wonderful time to come alive into our bodies again, and plan for potential ways we’d like to flourish come Summer. Having an experienced guide, a supportive community, and a devoted, consistent practice are all important aspects to letting your practice nourish you deeply in the Spring and allow for your awakened life to unfold.

I designed this series of classes with all of the above in mind. It will blend asana with meditation and journaling so you can experience a well rounded, introspective yoga practice during our time. My intention is that by the end of the 8 weeks, you'll have a deepened appreciation for the Spring season and feel both refreshed and renewed, so you may bring a sense of strength and aliveness back into the body/mind complex.

Who is it for?

This course was designed for students who have been practicing yoga for some time, and want to go deeper than a surface based practice, with an ample, focused period of time to explore core principles of awakened living. This will be a perfect class series for anyone who has felt rather disconnected from the strength of their body in the past while and wants support to get back into a stronger movement practice by taking gentle, easy steps forward.

Asanas will focus on gentle vinyasa yoga sequencing that will nourish the organ systems and natural elements associated with Spring, and bring us back into our active bodies in an approachable way. Variations will be offered for those who want either greater challenge or a lighter approach to the asana practice.

If you’re brand new to yoga and this would be your first time practicing asana, you may be better served in a different program. Please let me know if you need a referral, where you can lay a solid beginner’s foundation for yoga and be able to join future courses with me. If you have severe injuries or limiting health conditions and you’re concerned about whether or not you’ll be able to do this course fully, please reach out to me and let’s make sure it’s a good fit. Please note that I have had people go through my virtual yoga courses with a wide range of physical ability, and have received a lot of benefit from it.

What will we be doing during our class time?

This class series is intended to help connect your life in a deep and meaningful way to both the ancient techniques of yoga practice and the natural world surrounding you, absorbing the wisdom of both, which can often be underfelt in our busy, modern lives.

With a spacious time for practice, we will explore:

• grounding and centering our bodies to presence ourselves within the energy of Spring

• supporting the body’s natural cleansing processes associated with the Spring

• emphasizing the healthy function and de-stagnation of the lymph, blood and liver

• somatic exercises that help us connect to the wood element associated with Spring

• How to apply all that we experience in this course to life off the mat, so you can support the release of unhelpful patterns and stuck energy in your daily life

We will spend time each class in seated meditation, supporting our bodies to assimilate our movements within stillness. From the meditation will come time for journaling and sharing insights with our kula (yoga community).

What can I expect from the virtual class setup?

Zoom is different from meeting in person, and it’s a great way to connect. Many people appreciate being in the comfort of their own homes while practicing. It is still possible to have a deep and meaningful connection with others in class, which is part of why we will have set time for sharing at the end of each practice. 

All you need is to set up a yoga area in the comfort of your own home, ensuring you have whatever props you prefer to use during practice- at least a mat, a block, and a blanket. I will send you the login information you need in your welcome email, which will be the same for each week to keep your login process simple.

What if I can’t attend all of the classes live?

While I don’t recommend signing up for this course if you’ll need to miss more than half of the live classes, I understand that you may be traveling or unexpected things may come up. If you need to miss a live class, I will be sending out recordings of each class within 48 hours of our class time, which you can view afterward via the recording.

What’s included?

• 8 weekly virtual yoga classes, Saturdays from April 16th through June 4th, 930-11am ET

• Recordings of each class available for download for your lifelong access

• Weekly Spotify playlists for you to play during class if you prefer practicing to music

• Weekly emails detailing class topics, including suggested readings to prepare for class

• The option to have a virtual private yoga and meditation class with me during the course of the series for an additional, discounted price

How do I join?

Registration is closed for this series. If you’d like to drop in for a single yoga class this Spring, please visit this link to check out class descriptions and sign-up.

I’m looking forward to seeing you on the mat!

Elizabeth

PS: Here are a few quotes from students who took an 8 week virtual yoga series with me previously:

Elizabeth always teaches a beautiful class. Following a particular class a few weeks into the series, I had a very heart opening experience in connection with my pregnancy. For a little backstory, I have a really hard time "cracking my shell" emotionally and allowing myself to show love and receive love--blame a few abusive exes, an emotionally unavailable father, you know the deal...but it's something I've always tried to work on. When I found out I was pregnant, I was filled with a lot of positive emotions, but I was really stuck. For obvious reasons: the fear of losing the baby, the changes in my body, the total unknown of this big life journey beginning. Anyway I saw everyone around me crying with joy constantly and I just couldn't release. But finally after class, I did. It was really beautiful--I was listening to some music in headphones and realized my little baby would be listening too. And so I WEPT!!! It was incredible. I have Elizabeth to thank you for that class, the mudra we learned during it, and her safety and support which she always provides to all of us as students, to hold space for those moments "off the mat." 

- Anonymous

The meditational guidance Elizabeth offers has created an awareness and connection from my mind to body, leaving out the external narratives surrounding the world around us. This course has strengthened my physicality and identity as a person/body/soul alive in this world, working and functioning to live my best life, while supporting others who are in need as well. I am drawn to the flow of the threading patterns given in Elizabeth’s meditation guidance and then physically taking that as fuel to push my body into yoga poses wholeheartedly. I have practiced to each class recording twice. Repeating them like any good book deepens the effect. My goal is to wake up each day feeling safe and to do so, I need to take care of my whole self.  Strengthening my mind by creating an awareness of these interconnections, contributes to my whole self and my experience living in a world of chaos and beauty all at the very same time. Elizabeth is a powerful and true teacher.  Her guidance as a teacher keeps drawing me back, because I do feel safe and learning how to softly empower myself with her guidance.

- A.C., Educator

I love having the recorded classes; and plan to do them again when I have time (!).  I love being challenged ---along with restorative movement--and practice how to both laugh at myself and give myself permission to take the time to get there. The sessions were enlightening: how to feel and see lightness and fullness and to notice how much tension is carried in my muscles!  Whoa! 

- Anonymous

Elizabeth's winter offering of "The Restful State" was the medicinal movement my body and heart really needed to get through a time of year that is often bleak and stagnant. Each week presented itself as an opportunity to learn more about my body, adapt a helpful breathing technique, and was prompted with journal questions that I found helped strengthen my own intuitive narrative. Elizabeth's space is always inclusive and welcoming; as a nearly eight-months-pregnant person I found my body's needs as integrated as anyone else's in this course. Anyone at any age and stage in their life will benefit from Elizabeth's courses--I can't wait to do it again!

- L.T., Marketing Director