Tag Archives: Backbends

Embracing the Flow of Backbends

Blog, NewsBy Yoga Union August 29, 2010

Amy’s Backbend Workshop!

Where in the world is Shiva? Annie and Todd are

Where in the world is Shiva?

Annie and Todd are honoring all his tragic and beautiful destruction from the alter of their mountain home in north Idaho. Blessings go out to you through him.

May the grief and the losses we each sustain, help invoke a tenderness, allowing us the opportunity to praise, love, and care for one another with deeper understanding, purpose, and meaning. 🙏

May every crack make us stronger and more sensitive to life. ❤️

May Shiva show us the way to repair through precise, surgeon-like elimination of the extraneous. Nothing more. Nothing less. Only what truly has to go. So that, in the wake of our existence, we’ve left a flourishing light, shining on a path forward, in the direction of authentic growth and development. So that, rather than a trail of death and destruction, our way is one that illuminates, tried and true, a good way to go, for those who will come after we are gone. 🙏🙏🙏

Welcome Sasha Lang back to the schedule! Join Sash

Welcome Sasha Lang back to the schedule! Join Sasha for Unity Flow Thursdays, 5:30 - 6:30pm.

Sasha has recently moved to Portland from Bali, Indonesia where she has been living for the past seven years, leading holistic retreats, teaching yoga, and mothering. Sasha has spent the majority of the last 16 years practicing yoga, traveling and directing spa's from Exhale Spa and Equilibrium in Boston, to world renowned Spa Montage in Laguna Beach, CA. Sasha is a native of Boston, MA and a graduate of Boston University where she played NCAA Division 1 Women's Lacrosse.

Sasha has a sincere curiosity about the wisdom of the human body. At the heart of Sasha's work is a deep desire to help people learn about themselves through movement, to enliven the body, illuminate the mind, open the heart, and shift the ever expanding perceptual awareness of the human mind and life itself.

Described as "more than just an asana teacher" - Intuitive, attentive, mystical, graceful and compassionate are just a few of the adjectives her students have tossed around to describe Sasha.

Sasha immerses herself in the practice of yoga, healing methodologies and cultural wisdom, and has studied with master practitioners from Southeast Asia to North America. She has had the privilege of teaching students from all over the world in both classes and transformative immersions. Certified in Classical Hatha and Hatha Flow method; Sasha's teachings offer a heart-opening, creative, and experiential practice grounded with yogic philosophy, inquiry and pranayama, with a focus on both physical and energetic alignment. Sasha brings a playful approach to her teaching, while emphasizing a plea for village mindedness as the key ingredient to understanding and healing the modern day human condition.

Her work is deeply influenced by Mark Whitwell, Denise Payne, Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, Gary Kraftsow, Todd Jackson, Eoin Finn, Anodea Judith, Bex Tyrer, Amy Matthews, ,Charles Eisenstein, and Stephen Jenkinson.

@sashalalang

The weekend starts early... When you join @sacre

The weekend starts early...

When you join @sacredmover for Friday morning Vinyasa at 9am.

This is one great way to start a Friday. In fact, it may even be the best way. Do you know of a better way? If we don’t hear from you, we’ll assume there is no better way and so we’ll keep starting our Friday this way.

📷 @nataliegildersleeve

We are stronger together, both within our communit

We are stronger together, both within our communities and within ourselves.

Are you experiencing forces working to distract and separate you? If so, where can you find strength and renewed commitment to focus and connection?

#connection #focus #togetherness #union #unite

Vinyasa with Rolf Gates this evening at 5:30. This

Vinyasa with Rolf Gates this evening at 5:30. This special class is free for members and subscribers. Not a subscriber? Sign up online. $25 per month. No commitment. Cancel any time. Link in bio.

#rolfgates #vinyasa #onlineyoga #yoga #prayer #anjalimudra

Online yoga all day, every day. Live classes and o

Online yoga all day, every day. Live classes and on-demand classes. $25 per month. No commitment. Sign up online. Link in bio.

#onlineyoga #yogaonline #virtualyoga #yogainthehouse #yogaathome #homeyoga #homegrownyoga

New Class! Sacred Hour, yoga & meditation with Hea

New Class! Sacred Hour, yoga & meditation with Heather Shaw begins this Wednesday at 7am. Live online. Link in bio.

#yogainpdx #pdxyoga #pdxyogascene

Only months ago, the world seemed to be rememberin

Only months ago, the world seemed to be remembering “we’re all in this together.” Today, it’s a rare trope.
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Choose unity 🙏
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Life is composed of relationships. Relationships die without healthy communication. Therefor, life as we know it, requires us to speak and be heard. But, what is healthy communication?
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It’s showing up for ourselves and each other. It’s owning our thoughts, feelings, actions, and words. It’s commitment to truth. It’s healing together through conversation. It’s sharing what’s real to us and allowing others to do the same. It’s revealing our true nature and witnessing the true nature of one another. It’s recognizing the beauty of life together. It’s experiencing our humanness. It’s honoring one another’s struggles. It’s supporting one another in times of need. It’s acknowledging and connecting with the sacred within each other... what is healthy communication to you?
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#unity #yogainpdx #yogaunion #honor #support #connect #togetherness #cometohether #allinthistogether

Caption this photo. #community #murtis #murrimob

Caption this photo.

#community #murtis #murrimob #theymeanbusiness

The sanctuary is drawing closer in. Bring it all t

The sanctuary is drawing closer in. Bring it all the way home. We’ll meet you there, where we’d be honored to guide your practice. Online yoga, in the sanctuary of your own home. It’s happening now. Find us and find yourself there. Just go to our website (link in bio) and register.
#yoga #yogaonline #yogastudio #yogapdx #yogainpdx

Happy solstice family! May you feed the flame of

Happy solstice family!

May you feed the flame of your inner fire. May the deepest passion in your heart blaze bright and warm us all.
#solstice2020 #blessing #community #yogacommunity

Our hearts are breaking as we witness the sufferin

Our hearts are breaking as we witness the suffering of so many people - particularly our brothers and sisters of color, whose cries have been kept quiet for far too long. We are listening, and we wish to offer our support in whatever ways we can.
We are in a challenging time for our company and our community. We are grieving and we are trying to move forward. We find it a difficult dance to do both at once. Yet, we wish to be of service to those in need.
At this time, we can offer a virtual space for centering through the practices of yoga, breath, movement, mindfulness, and togetherness. If ANY of you could benefit from these services, please contact us! You will have our support. We would be honored to serve you - free of charge. Blessings to you all.

It’s been more than two months since we had to c

It’s been more than two months since we had to close our doors and yet, thanks to your presence, we have stayed solidly connected online. #thanks. We hope this message finds you safe and healthy.

Like so many of you, togetherness has been the medicine that's gotten us though life's most difficult challenges. It will continue to be so. Yet, at this time, we want to acknowledge the struggle to move forward without the kind of intimacy and support we can only receive by being together, in the flesh - of which there is no true supplement.
In response to rapid changes, existential uncertainty, and circumstances beyond individual control, every person is being asked to make choices that bring them into higher alignment with their personal values and most sacred integrity. That said, three of our teachers have chosen to move away from the Yoga Union online platform and are instead leading classes on their own various individual websites and media pages. Those teachers are: Winter, Chris, and Natalia. We wish each of them blessings on their endeavors. May they, along with each of us, discover our truest sovereignty and most beloved community as we continue down the interesting, tragic, and beautiful path of life. Oh what a wild ride it is!

Please keep an eye out for the wonderful new and returning teachers joining us online. We look forward to sharing practice with you soon.

Sincerely,
Annie, Todd, and the Yoga Union team

We are honored and thrilled to welcome D’ana Bap

We are honored and thrilled to welcome D’ana Baptiste to our schedule of online classes. Join her this Friday at 4:00. Link in bio.

A yoga teacher from Oakland, CA, D’ana’s ultimate "message" is to find one's own way in the big "mind-body” world. D'ana has trained or influenced nearly every teacher in Utah's Mountain West, and continues to be a pioneer in the yoga community and the fitness/wellness movement. She has over 30 years experience in and influence over the yoga industry, and has built a community of dedicated yoga practitioners who love her philosophy of embracing ALL that life has to offer, using ALL the senses to do so. D'ana manages and organizes workshops and retreats around the country and in Mexico. She has written three books about the Yoga Sutras and about how yogic principles support real life. She learns much about life from hanging out with her three boys and her granddaughter, who help her keep it real.

Big shoutout to all the pets out there, holding it

Big shoutout to all the pets out there, holding it down by giving and receiving love so free. And to all beings everywhere, for that matter, who still feel safe enough to snuggle. You are medicine! Thank you! ❤️❤️❤️

“Every victorious warrior draws his strength fro

“Every victorious warrior draws his strength from the highest source; his love.” - Tapan Ghosh

There is a warrior within each of us. Adversity is what calls that warrior forward. When the warrior hears the call, often love seems absurd and impossible to access. Nevertheless, the warrior must fight. Thus, they go to battle with their cold heart hidden under armor of anger and frustration. The warrior attempts to hide their heart - to fight without it. But that kind of fighting, one disconnected from love and forgetful of purpose, generates suffering, along with more destructive weapons, and thicker armor.
The thickness of one’s armor determines their degree of resistance to the transformational power of love. It limits their efforts to take on adversity, which always lies ahead. The strategy of the heartless warrior is mostly unconscious. But it is completely exhaustive. It leads to the tragic death of the warrior and indeed, the world.
To be a great warrior requires training in fighting AND loving. It requires fighting while remaining open to the generative power of love which always wants in to do its work. Unless the warrior learns to fight with love, they are destined to become nothing more than a weapon themself.
In what ways is the universe training your warrior to fight well now? In that adversity, how can you draw on your highest source ( #love ) and deliver that to the world? ❤️ 🌍 ❤️ #warrior #love #openheart #strategy #yoga #yogawarrior #spiritualwarrior #poweroflove #stayopen #staykind #stayloving #adversity #challenge #struggle #warriorwisdom

Join Annie Adamson for Virtual Vinyasa Sunday morn

Join Annie Adamson for Virtual Vinyasa Sunday mornings at 9am. Access link in bio.

Annie Adamson is co-owner of Yoga Union Community Wellness Center and founder of Primal Vinyasa. She brings over a decade of experience practicing and teaching Yoga, Workshops, and Trainings. Annie’s deep love of mythology, natural movement, and the study of Earth Medicine traditions inspire her work. She is certified in Anusara, Power Vinyasa and Hatha Yoga.

In 2006 Annie met her beloved teacher Sianna Sherman, and instantly connected to her poetically inspiring, heart-centered teaching. Annie has since been studying with Doug Keller for Yoga Therapeutics and Tami Kent founder of holistic pelvic care for woman. Annie has also taken many courses in KMI and Anatomy Trains. Annie has helped hundreds of clients find greater freedom in their bodies and specializes in one-on-one Yoga Therapeutics for injury rehabilitation. She also finds great joy in training students to become teachers and has run successful Teacher Trainings at her studio for the last 9 years. Annie is inspired by the great mystery of life, nature, community and family.

When we're going seamlessly down our path and we’re confronted with an obstacle, we often feel angry, annoyed, frustrated...😡. These are normal human responses to having selected a destination and getting forced to realize we can’t get there as planned. The important thing to keep in mind is that, regardless of how we feel about it, that obstacle is an important part of current reality - of the nature of things. If it’s not going away any time soon, it’ll need to be reconciled and navigated, regardless of how we feel about it. We can burn a lot of energy and time kicking and cursing, or we can accept it as a challenge - an opportunity to strengthen our character. 💪
Yes, this new unexpected challenge, placed before us by circumstances beyond our control, can be viewed as an opportunity when we remember that, what’s in our control is less the circumstances of our life and more our responses to those circumstances. 💡
Keeping this in mind helps keep our energy and attention on that which we can control, which helps us avoid expending excessive energy and attention on the things that are outside our sphere of influence. Too much focus on things outside the realm of our control unnecessarily exhausts us and ultimately robs from our ability to improve the actual nature of current existence.
We’re saying this because we’re practicing keeping it in mind ourselves and we figure, it may be helpful for you as well. 🤗
We’re grateful to still be in this path with you, despite the obstacles. We look forward to seeing what’s to come of it. It is our prayer that what’s to come is greater unity of all earth’s creatures. Greater love and connection. We’ve seen a great deal of this already and we feel hopeful for its continuance.
Many blessings 🙏

Rolf Gates is teaching live on our new virtual pla

Rolf Gates is teaching live on our new virtual platform this Friday, April 10 at 4pm.

Rolf Gates, author of Daily Reflections on Addiction, Yoga, and Getting Well - as well as the best-selling Meditations from the Mat: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga and Meditations on Intention and Being: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga, Mindfulness, and Compassion - is a leading voice in contemporary yoga, and his work is used as a resource for yoga students and teachers worldwide. He conducts vinyasa intensives and 200- and 300-hour teacher trainings internationally. A former US Army Ranger and social worker specializing in addiction, Rolf brings his eclectic background to his teaching and life. His work has been featured on television and in print, including Yoga Journal, People magazine, and Travel and Leisure. His first children's book, Yoga Friend: A Pose by Pose Partner Yoga Adventure, was published in 2018. Rolf is a graduate of the Kripalu School of Yoga.

Join "The Flow of Being" - a special Vinyasa session with Rolf Gates. This will be a dynamic class including Vinyasa, meditation, and connection. The yoga will be a synergy of the freedom of a powerful Vinyasa class and the structural integrity of yoga's therapeutic alignment principles. The class is open to all. The only 'requirement' is that you show up, do your best, and let your best be good enough.
Register on our Live Stream page. Link in Bio.

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