Take a deep dive into the chakras with your YTA community!

Using Anodea Judith's Eastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to Self (EBWM) and Wheels of Life: A User's Guide to the Chakras (WOL) as our source material, each of our monthly discussions will focus on a single chakra. We will discuss our own understanding of these energy centers and how we experience them on and off the mat. We will have group discussion as well as breakout sessions for more intimate connections in smaller groups that will remain the same throughout the series.

We will meet on the following Mondays at 6:30–8:00PM:

• January 27, Introductions
• February 24, Root Chakra (Muladhara), Earth 
• March 24, Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana), Water
• April 28, Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura), Fire
• June 2, Heart Chakra (Anahata), Love
• June 30, Throat Chakra (Visuddha), Sound
• July 28. Third Eye Chakra (Ajna), Light
• August 25, Crown Chakra (Sahasrara), Thought

To ensure confidentiality, sessions will not be recorded.

Please read each chakra's chapter in both books in advance of its meeting. If time is limited, EBWM has more background information and explains how each chakra is linked to a developmental stage and other Western social/psychological theories; WOL provides more detailed methods (yoga and otherwise) to balance each chakra.

About the books:

In Eastern Body, Western Mind, chakra authority Anodea Judith brought a fresh approach to the yoga-based Eastern chakra system, adapting it to the Western framework of Jungian psychology, somatic therapy, childhood developmental theory, and metaphysics and applying the chakra system to important modern social realities and issues such as addiction, codependence, family dynamics, sexuality, and personal empowerment.

Each chapter focuses on a single chakra, starting with a description of its characteristics and then exploring its particular childhood developmental patterns, traumas and abuses, and how to heal and maintain balance.

Anodea Judith's classic introduction to the chakra system, Wheels of Life takes you on a powerful journey through progressively transcendent levels of consciousness. View this ancient metaphysical system through the light of new metaphors, ranging from quantum physics to child development.

Learn how to explore and balance your own chakras using poetic meditations and simple yoga movements―along with gaining spiritual wisdom, you'll experience better health, more energy, enhanced creativity, and the ability to manifest your dreams.

You can purchase the books at Bookshop.org (choose an independent bookstore to benefit before purchasing) or ThriftBooks, or order directly from a local bookstore. 

Anodea Judith, Ph.D., has been called a prophet for our time. A globally recognized teacher, speaker, healer, and writer on the intersection of personal and collective awakening, her passion for the realization of our potential matches her concern for humanity’s impending crises—her fervent wish that we “wake up in time.”

Anodea holds master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology and health. She is a 500-hour E-RYT) and a therapist with lifelong studies in somatic psychology, mythology, history, sociology, systems theory, and mystic spirituality.

Anodea is best known for her groundbreaking work reviving the chakra system of ancient yoga, and its profound correlation to human psychology, cultural evolution, and the downward process of manifestation. Her award-winning and best-selling books have gained worldwide recognition with over a million books in print in 18 languages.

Learn more about Anodea Judith on her website.

Zenyasa® is a harmonious blend of East and West, integrating Zen meditation, slow-flow yoga, and functional exercise. Designed for yoga teachers from all traditions, the first half of this workshop will offer an overview of the Zenyasa® practice. We’ll discuss its foundational principles—mindfulness, skillfulness, and goodwill—and explore the five main class themes (Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire). These themes are alternated to create a balanced practice that strengthens and stretches every major muscle group in the body.

After a short break, we’ll dive into a Zenyasa® Earth Element practice, designed to strengthen and stretch the muscles of the lower body. This class will include squatting exercises, long holds in postures like Downward Facing Dog and Plank, and mindful movements that support the free flow of Qi through the Earth element meridians. Expect to connect with the grounding, stabilizing energy of the Earth element, building strength and resilience while cultivating a sense of stability and rootedness in your practice.

NOTE: Club Fit has limited props and no blankets, so please bring your own if you have them.

Please be aware that we cannot control the temperature of the studio at Club Fit, and it can run cold. So please dress appropriately in layers and bring a blanket, hat, socks, etc. if you are sensitive to the cold. Thank you for your understanding.

This workshop will be held in-person only; there will be no live Zoom feed or recording.

Jason Brown, MA, LMT, E-RYT 500, is the founder of Zenyasa®, a mindful, functional approach to yoga that blends Zen Buddhist principles with slow-flow yoga and functional exercise. With over 25 years of teaching experience, Jason is passionate about helping students and teachers cultivate mindful, efficient movement patterns through intelligent sequencing and breath-centered awareness. Certified through the Integral Yoga Institute in 1998, Jason has also studied with Cyndi Lee at OM Yoga and completed advanced intensives with Erich Schiffmann, Rodney Yee, and Lisa Walford. He has taught at major yoga studios and fitness centers in NYC, including Integral Yoga, Yoga Works, OM Yoga, Pure Yoga, and Equinox, and ran his own studio, Zenyasa Yoga & Wellness Studio, from 2010 to 2018. Now based in Riverdale, Jason leads workshops, teacher trainings, and offers private Zenyasa® instruction, therapeutic massage, and health coaching both online and in person.

Learn more at www.zenyasawellness.com.

In this workshop, I intend to share what my personal journey opened up for me—the deeper knowledge of yoga and the reinforcement that it is a never-ending source of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual information and insight as promised by the time-honored philosophies of the sages.

I will attempt to illuminate the paradigms of the past and present to guide and strengthen our journey toward the future. We can’t change anything from the past, but we can employ the rich insights from there if we have the courage to own them. Our asanas are designed to call to our attention, if we want to look and really see, the self-limiting and habitual behaviors that create the blocks, physically and emotionally, keeping us stuck. Courage and consciousness are required to open the way to the next stage, the here. As we work together, we will mark each step of our journey to create the intended asana and explore the physical, emotional, and spiritual truths or blocks that present themselves. This deep introspection also has the potential to make us aware of strengths and abilities we’ve overlooked. 

The journey to move forward, guided from where we are, begins to shape our future:

• Will we use the past to stay stuck there in our story?
• Will we undertake the task of strengthening the current here and now?
• Will we formulate where we want to be by building trust and self-empowerment to motivate and navigate this part of the journey into the unknown where next? 

Recommended props: Yoga mat, two blocks, and a blanket.

NOTE: Club Fit has limited props and no blankets, so please bring your own if you have them.

Please be aware that we cannot control the temperature of the studio at Club Fit, and it can run cold. So please dress appropriately in layers and bring a blanket, hat, socks, etc. if you are sensitive to the cold. Thank you for your understanding.

This workshop will be held in-person only; there will be no live Zoom feed or recording.

Paula Heitzner, ERYT500, is a master yoga teacher. She has taught yoga for over 50 years and has trained many others in the time-honored principles, practices, and philosophy of yoga. The “teacher of teachers,” as she is called by her students, can be found at her studio, the Nyack Yoga Center, at the American Legion Hall. 

Learn more at nyackyogacenter.com.