COURSES
DYNAMIC LUMBAR STABILIZATION AND STRENGTHENING
HATHA YOGA
All the yoga courses run for 8 weeks and are limited to 15 students. Because the classes build skills cumulatively from week to week, an 8-week commitment is the minimum amount of time needed for an introduction to yoga or for the development of each aspect of a balanced yoga practice. Eight weeks, combined with the small class size, also gives the teacher time to get to know each student individually and to customize instruction for each student's particular needs.
We do have a make-up policy for missed classes which can be viewed on our registration page.
Beginning Yoga
If you are new to yoga or returning after a break, we advise a beginning course. These classes offer instruction in
a basic series of asanas (postures/sustained stretches) designed to create a familiar and balanced physical routine. Relaxation and
breathing techniques are introduced to reduce stress and restore energy.
Gentle Yoga
Gentle yoga is a highly effective way for people who have physical limitations to experience the many benefits of hatha yoga. In this class, we practice gentle stretching, strengthening, and balancing techniques as well as restorative postures and guided meditations that leave the students relaxed, refreshed, and renewed. Gentle yoga is appropriate for prenatal and postnatal students, students with back issues, and for highly stressed individuals who need to just let go and totally relax.
Intermediate Yoga
Students who have attended at least 16 weeks of beginning yoga or who have had other yoga experience should consider this level.
Classes include more difficult asanas (postures/sustained stretches) with emphasis on precision and refinement of technique.
Restorative Yoga
If you are recovering from an illness or injury, have a chronic illness, or are fatigued or depleted, restorative yoga is ideal.
Classes include breathing techniques and adaptations of classical yoga postures that gently support the student with props.
Students experience renewal, rejuvenation, and an increase in energy.
Chair Yoga
Chair yoga is a highly effective way for people who have problems walking and balancing to experience the many benefits of hatha yoga even while practicing yoga sitting in a chair or a wheelchair. Susan Morton has developed an integrated chair practice through years of experience in working with elderly and handicapped students, and people with M.S., Parkinson's, and arthritis. The practices include both flexibility and strength work. With a simple daily practice, one can experience the relaxation that comes from stretching and the confidence that comes from strengthening the upper body, abdominals, and legs resulting in increased energy and a sense of heightened well-being.
Private Yoga Therapy
These one-on-one sessions draw on hatha yoga, meditation, and relaxation techniques to develop and
maintain a practice that meets the student's individual needs.
MEDITATION
Meditation is the simple yet profound practice of rediscovering what the poet T. S. Eliot called "the still point of the turning world." Students learn to use ancient, yet relevant, practical techniques to access and connect with a profoundly tranquil, healing internal state. The meditation courses, like the yoga courses, have a limited class size and a curriculum that builds from one week to the next. Each course requires a commitment of 6 weeks.
Introduction
to Natural Meditation
Natural meditation opens up the possibility of effortlessly resting in awareness itself both in formal “sitting” practice and as you go through your day. We will become familiar with the timeless spaciousness that is always available to us here and now, what ancient sages referred to as pure and total presence, effortless being, unconditioned awareness. Rather than being identified with our conditioning and conditioned mind, we’ll experience the natural, unconditioned aspect of our being that is what the Buddhist tradition calls the “ultimate medicine,” because when we rest in unconditioned awareness, nothing can detract from our fundamental completion, peace, and harmony. Participants are guided through a process of natural meditation and simple exercises that gently reveal the unconditioned and unbounded nature of our existence.
Meditation Workshop
This course expands on the techniques taught in Beginning Meditation to deepen the practice of meditation and provide a forum for
discussion and mutual support. This workshop brings about a more subtle awareness of the transformational process that is initiated
through the practice of meditation. The many dimensions of meditation and its effects are explored and experienced in a sharing,
compassionate environment.
DYNAMIC LUMBAR STABILIZATION AND STRENGTHENING
This unique offering of the Yoga and Meditation Center of Montclair can be studied privately with Susan Morton. We also introduce a few of the basics of Lumbar Stabilization and Strengthening in Beginning Yoga classes. If you suffer from chronic lower back pain, you may benefit from this program, which was developed at the San Francisco Spine Institute. Based in part on yoga, dynamic lumbar stabilization and strengthening relieves back pain and prevents lower back injuries by increasing the strength and flexibility of the muscles that support the spine.
YAMUNA BODY ROLLING
Effective at preventing injury, stimulating bone, and freeing restrictions, Yamuna Body Rolling is an outstanding way to produce profound change in the body. It combines the strength and toning effects of exercise with the releasing of massage. Yamuna Body Rolling can be done on its own or as a compliment to your yoga practice.
YAMUNA FOOT FITNESS
Foot fitness can restore healthy foot function by creating balance, flexibility, strength and proper gait. Yamuna has developed special props, foot wakers and foot savers to heal foot pain and prevent foot problems. Foot fitness offers a range of benefits for the entire body as well as the feet. Besides freeing the foot from restrictions and constrictions caused by shoes, the entire body is affected through the reflexology points in the sole of the foot. This is a powerful therapeutic self-care practice. .
QIGONG
Qigong is an ancient Chinese health care system that integrates physical postures, breathing techniques, and focused intention. The gentle, rhythmic movements of Qigong reduce stress, build stamina, increase vitality, and enhance the immune system. It has also been found to improve cardiovascular, respiratory, circulatory, lymphatic and digestive functions. Western scientific research confirms that Qigong reduces hypertension and the incidence of falling in the aged population. Qigong is wonderful for people of all ages.