Upcoming
Live Events with Kristin Leal
Four Desires
Save the dates!
The Four Desires
DESIRE gets a bad reputation especially in our Yoga communities
We get the message that as Yogis we should somehow be above all desire
What if we shifted our relationship with this word?
What would blossom in our life (and our communities) if we focused on:
What gives our life a shine?
How can we support ourselves and gather the means so that we can thrive?
How can we celebrate our senses, our sensuality and create beauty in our world?
What unburdens our soul?
Join us as together we explore the Four Desires or Purusarthas:
Dharma- Purpose/Law/Order- What are you here for?
Artha- Means/Support- How can I support my health/wealth?
Kama- Pleasure/Sensuality/Lust- How can I bring more pleasure and beauty into my life?
Moksha- Liberation/ Connection to the Divine- What unburdens the soul?
Through a series of practices we will look at each of the Four Desires using different ways to unwrap its meaning in our lives.
MetaAnatomy Of The Nervous System
Yoga Dojo Richmond Virginia
MetaAnatomy of the Nervous System
Friday 5-9pm
Saturday 12-7pm
Sunday 12-5pm
Anatomy of Stress
Anatomy of Stress
We have all experienced stress. Whether it is a feeling of being overworked at your job or the pressure cooker of a tumultuous relationship with a family member or partner... We know stress. Or do we?
Stress actually has a physiological response in your body. When this stress response is turned on through chemical stimulation, we can turn into superheroes with super human strength and reflexes to fight or flee from a dangerous situation. The problem is that we learn to nudge and annoy this system even when there is no immediate threat to be found. This literally wears down the tissues of the body.
Through lecture, we’ll talk about the chemical response of stress and why it might not be a good idea to marinate in them. From there, we’ll learn how to turn off the stress response and turn on the relaxation response- where all of the body and minds housekeeping activities can be performed....ahhhhhh
ISHTA Yoga
Spinal Reset
The number one reason people come to Yoga (Āsana) is to relieve back pain. While Āsana can be very therapeutic for our spines it unfortunately can also be aggravating. Housing both the superhighway of nerves as well the energetic body’s Sushumna Nadi, balancing the graceful architecture of the vertebral column has wide ranging structural and spiritual benefits.
Join us as we examine technologies that I have seen to be immediately beneficial to my own body and numerous students over the years. Come empower yourself and your students to stop pulling ourselves apart and start reuniting our body, heart and mind.
Review major muscles and joint structures of the lower spine
Discover why no two students will ever experience the same yoga posture in the same way
Refine your language and verbal cues to be a more thoughtful, accessible and skillful teacher
Expand your view of the form by learning the energetic correlations of each structure
Enjoy a full asana, pranayama and meditation practice that weaves together what you've learned
ESSENTIALS 5-Day Training in Perth!
Are you ready to dive deep into the ESSENTIALS that every Yoga Teacher should know?
This training is NOT about memorizing facts and figures but rather learning an embodied and holistic approach to the magnificent body that will have an immediate effect on you and your students!
Each day we will immerse ourselves learning major muscles and joint structures and energetic maps of the body vital to any Yoga Teacher and practitioner
Knees
Sacrum
Low Back
Shoulder
Reading the Energy Body
Things you can expect in this training
You’ll develop X-ray vision! Looking inside the body we will explore immediately accessible techniques to discover what is bony compression (that ain't moving) or muscular tension (eventually might be moveable)
Learn why no two students will ever experience the same yoga posture in the same way
Refine your language and verbal cues to be a more thoughtful, accessible and skillful teacher
Review common injuries and ways to work with all students in a meaningful and safe way.
5 therapeutic asana classes that weave together the physical structures and their poetic energetic correlation using intelligent movement, breath and meditation
Discover different techniques to view students from an energetic perspective
Explore the Five Prana Vayus and experience a meditation dedicated to each Vayu to bring balance to your inner flow
I’ll share with you the Asana practice that completely changed my life and teaching (true story)
Yoga Alliance CEU’s available upon completion of course (20 Hour)
Let's Get Weird
Let’s Get Weird Together!
I don’t know what your practice looks like these days but mine are getting weird
I thought yours might be too
Let’s get weird together in this weekly LIVE virtual class
We will take our inspiration from Yoga, dance, somatic practices, Tantric philosophy, biomechanics, poetic anatomical musings and cats.
Come as you are- my fellow weirdos
All are welcome here
Register to join us LIVE or grab the recording instead
Igniting Your Inner Fire
Igniting Your Inner Fire
There are three principle stages of Hatha Yoga as outlined in the ancient teachings:
The Lunar/moon stage -we steady the mind
Solar/sun practice -we manage Prana
Fire practice - we transform
This approach is seen as a systematic progression from which you can unfold yoga’s greatest promise.
In this workshop we will start with a brief introduction to the concept of Fire as a transformational practice and tool to help digest, assimilate and burn away what is no longer useful. Using asana, pranayama, mantra and meditation we will explore how and when to apply these practices to help reveal the radiant power of the soul.
The Four Desires
The Four Desires
DESIRE gets a bad reputation especially in our Yoga communities
We get the message that as Yogis we should somehow be above all desire
What if we shifted our relationship with this word?
What would blossom in our life (and our communities) if we focused on:
What gives our life a shine?
How can we support ourselves and gather the means so that we can thrive?
How can we celebrate our senses, our sensuality and create beauty in our world?
What unburdens our soul?
Join us as together we explore the Four Desires or Purusarthas:
Dharma- Purpose/Law/Order- What are you here for?
Artha- Means/Support- How can I support my health/wealth?
Kama- Pleasure/Sensuality/Lust- How can I bring more pleasure and beauty into my life?
Moksha- Liberation/ Connection to the Divine- What unburdens the soul?
Through a series of practices we will look at each of the Four Desires using different ways to unwrap its meaning in our lives.
Breaking Patterns with Yoga Nidra
Breaking Patterns with Yoga Nidra
Have you noticed certain patterns in your relationships or life that seem to be stuck on repeat? Of course! You're human! One of the beautiful benefits of a yoga practice is that we strengthen the ability to be self-reflective and notice these grooves that form in our minds....but then what? How do we break free of the patterns that no longer serve us?
In this workshop we will share a lecture about the nature of the mind from a Yoga perspective and why resolutions usually don't take hold.
Then through a guided journaling exercise we will get down to the nitty gritty of a pattern that we would like to break.
Next we put it all together in a personalized Yoga Nidra practice that you can return to anytime.
Psoas I was Saying
PSOAS I Was Saying…
The most powerful, transformative workshop you'll take this year!! Ok, maybe that's a bit of an oversell but this is one wildly connected muscle! From Chinese medicine to Ayurveda, Biomechanics to Yoga Therapy this powerhouse of a muscle is the seat of much promise and poetry. Known as the tenderloin (filet mignon if you're fancy) amongst the butcher-set it literally forms the connection between our front and back and our top and bottom. In this workshop we will explore it's beauty and troublemaking potential and through practical techniques learn how to free the hidden power that's held within.
MetaAnatomy of the Nervous System in Australia!
Join me LIVE in Perth Australia for
MetaAnatomy of the Nervous System a 25- Hour Course
Whether you are a teacher, a teacher-in-training or just have a Nervous System that you would like to get to know a little better this is for you!
This is for you if you are looking for:
A nuanced approach that works with all levels of self
A practice that respects individual anatomies and experiences
Serious scientific study without taking ourselves too seriously
A practice that honors the richness of the Yoga practices and your inherent wholeness and holiness
An approach that blends and respects both science and spirituality
Profound yet accessible techniques that will have an immediate effect on your practice and on your students
Join us for the whole 25- hour comprehensive (and fun!) course or drop in for an individual day pass or master class
Each day we will explore together an aspect of our Nervous System and its energetic anatomy counterpart using lecture, breath work, journaling, experiential exercises, Q and A as well as a full and fulfilling 2 hr practice embodying the concepts discussed.
We look at not just the physical components of the Nervous System but also the energetic resonance and Yoga techniques to become both a better listener to your needs and more masterful of your responses.
Some of the concepts that we will explore:
An accessible breakdown of the Nervous System in all of her glory
Fetal development of the Nervous System and the poetic correlation to the major 3 Nadis in the Energetic Body
How sympathetic activation is not the devil it’s made out to be and why it is EXACTLY what we need right now!
Immediately useful Yogic technologies to elicit both the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic response
Why Autonomic flexibility is more important than “Rest and Digest”
A fun trip to Vagus!
How to utilize Brahmana, Langhana and Sushumna practices to have a transformational effect on both your physical and energetic physiology
lectures, asana, meditation and a powerful practice to change our disruptive patterns and a very special Personalised Yoga Nidra Practice
Day 1
How To Find Your Center
An Exploration of Your Central NS and Sushumna Nadi
Day 2
How to Elegantly Engage
An Exploration of the Sympathetic Nervous System, Pingala Nadi and the Brahmana practices
Day 3
How to Soften
An Exploration of the Parasympathetic Nervous System, Ida Nadi and the Langhana Practices
Day 4
How to become more masterful
Autonomic Flexibility and the Vagus Nerve
Day 5
How to meet your deeper levels of Self
The Brain and and Breaking Free of Patterns with Yoga Nidra
Join us for the whole 25- hour comprehensive (and fun!) course or drop in for an individual day pass or master class
Online options available
Registration Now Open!
Let's Go To Vagus!
In a perfect world we would peacefully and easily move back and forth from engagement (thanks to the sympathetic nervous system) to restfulness (thanks to the parasympathetic nervous system). Well…it ain’t a perfect world and often we can get stuck, hyper-aroused or stalled out which can begin to wear down both the body and spirit.
Enter in the majestic Vagus Nerves!
Coming from the same root word as vagabond, these wandering Vagus Nerves are a pair of nerves that have a complex and fascinating participation in modulating your Nervous System.
Just like our practice can make us more flexible in our soft tissues it can help us become more autonomically flexible in our Nervous System.
Through lecture, breathwork, sound and movement we will take a tour of the Vagus nerves helping to unlock its powerful reserve of restfulness, ease and relaxation to help us drop back into our inherent state of Love.
All levels of experience welcome!
Join us LIVE (Virtual) on April 22 5pm GMT/12pm EST for a 90 min workshop and/or receive the recording (yours to keep forever)
Included in your purchase you will have immediate access to bonus video content:
Pranayama for Autonomic Flexibility
Gratitude Yoga Nidra
AUM Meditation
Four Desires (Virtual Event)
DESIRE gets a bad reputation
especially in our Yoga communities
We somehow get the message that as Yogis we should somehow be above all desire
In our bodies lives desire
Inherent in our cellular existence is the desire to live
the desire to survive and thrive
the desire to move and express
In Indian literature the desires of the soul are expressed as the 4 Purusharthas.
What if we shifted our relationship with this word?
What would blossom in our life (and our communities) if we focused on
What gives our life a shine?
How can we support ourselves and gather the means so that we can thrive?
How can we celebrate our senses, our sensuality and create beauty in our world?
What unburdens our soul?
What if we meditated, breathed and celebrated these inherent desires in our lives?
Join us for a 4 week exploration of the 4 Purusharthas (4 Desires)
Each class will include a small lecture, breathwork, meditation or Yoga Nidra, journalling exercise and thoughtful suggestions on how we can create a more meaningful relationship to these inherent Desires in our life.
Sounds True One
Join us LIVE for my new show on Sounds True One
Befriending Your Nervous System
Thursdays at 4pm GMT
Planting seeds in fertile soil- Sankalpa Yoga Nidra - LIVE at The Yoga Sanctuary in Punta Gorda, FL
The Yoga tradition offers us a refreshing alternative to the New Year’s resolution- the practice of Sankalpa or a vow to our highest self.
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Let’s go to Vagus! - LIVE at The Yoga Sanctuary in Punta Gorda, FL
Through lecture, breathwork, sound and movement we will take a tour of the Vagus nerves helping to unlock its powerful reserve of restfulness, ease and relaxation to help us drop back into our inherent state of Love.
View Event
Anatomy of Stress - LIVE at The Yoga Dojo Richmond VA
Learn how to turn off the stress response and turn on the relaxation response- where all of the body and minds housekeeping activities can be performed….ahhhhhh.
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Anatomy & Poetry of the Breath - LIVE at Willow Street Yoga in MD
In this workshop we will begin to explore the breath first from an anatomical view but also see how this begins to weave an energetic poetry through the tapestry of our asana and life.
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Anatomy of Stress - LIVE at Refresh Yoga Center - Alexandria, VA
We have all experienced stress. Whether it is a feeling of being overworked at your job or the pressure cooker of a tumultuous relationship with a family member or partner... We know stress. Or do we?
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Sankalpa Yoga Nidra: Planting Seeds in Fertile Soil - LIVE at Pure Yoga NYC
The Yoga tradition offers us a refreshing alternative to the New Year’s resolution- the practice of Sankalpa or a vow to our highest self.
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How to get Un-Stuck- An Exploration of the Diaphragms and Granthis - LIVE at The Corner Yoga Studio Williamsburg NYC
If one of the four - yes there are 4!- muscle-y breathing diaphragms are stuck there is a great chance energetically you are preventing the free flow of prana that your body richly deserves.
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VIRTUAL- Anatomy of Stress
Learn how to turn off the stress response and turn on the relaxation response- where all of the body and minds housekeeping activities can be performed….ahhhhhh.