Friday Night Kirtan
With Kelly, Tia, and Damian
Friday, January 17th at 7:30-9:00pm
Kirtan is a form of Bhakti (devotional) Yoga where community gathers to share in call-and-response chanting, therein discovering that which unites us to each other. Most of the chants are in the ancient but timeless Sanskrit language. These sounds vibrate within the physical and subtle body, quieting the mind and purifying the heart. No experience is necessary, and song sheets are provided.
Investment: $5-$20 Sliding Scale
Winter Yoga Workshop
with jenaFOR rYaNE
Saturday, January 18th 1:30-4:00 pm
- Please note: This workshop has been re-scheduled, due to illness. Please contact Hemma for more information
Adapt your Yoga Practice to harmonize with the Season…
Ahhh deep Winter. You expose your modest beauty in stark landscapes and stripped down colours. You lay yourself bare and vulnerable. You quietly whisper to those who will listen, offering a time for indulging in more rest, introspection, warming foods, cozy clothes, candlelight, and vitality building Yoga practices.
In this 2.5 hour workshop for Winter season, Jenafor will introduce Winter Yoga practices informed by Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Jenafor will guide you through an invigorating, yet beginner-friendly Hatha practice, followed by a deep Yin practice to build immunity and resilience in the depths of Winter. The workshop will end with a luxuriously long Shavasana (rest), and an inspiring Meditation to close. Winter Pranayama (breathing) practices for increasing warmth and building energy will be offered throughout the workshop.
A Winter Yoga handout with reflection questions and helpful tips for maintaining optimal health will be provided, along with time for journaling for those who want to. Bring your journal and a pen if you wish. This is a follow-up workshop to Jenafor’s Fall Yoga workshop, and the third installment in her Seasonal Yoga series. Watch for her Spring Yoga workshop in March.
Investment: Before January 13th $35 / After $45
Subtle Body Weekend Intensive
with Shivani Howe
Friday, Jan 24th-Sunday Jan 26th
During Hemma’s 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training, Guest Teacher Sannyasi Shivani Howe will offer teachings in 4 major areas: the Koshas (our vital sheaths of embodiment) and how they relate to our Karmas, working with Prana in Asana practice, Chakra Anatomy, and Chakra Purification. Shivani’s teachings will incorporate a balance of theory, discussion and practice.
The Koshas
Friday, January 24th
6:45-9:00pm
In looking at the Koshas, we will use basic chakra psychology to trace the patterns in our physical experience back to their root archetype and discover the tools to better understand and assist in our personal progress and healing.
Investment: $35
Prana in the Pose, Asana Master Class
Saturday, January 25th
6:30-8:30 am
During the Asana portion of study, we will explore the Vayus, or winds of the body, and learn how they are a crucial link between “doing” a posture, to “evolving” through a mandala, or gesture of light, using the body. We will discover that when we link the mind’s focus, the awareness of Prana (or energy), and optimal body alignment, we can truly start to experience, absorb and calibrate our frequencies to the medicine of the pose.
Investment: $35
Chakras and Esoteric Anatomy
2 part session
Saturday, January 25th 12:00-6:00pm
Sunday, January 26th 8:00-12:00pm
Then, going deeper, we will dive into both the theory and experience of Chakra anatomy, awareness and purification through various meditation practices so we may eventually take the wisdom of these fascinating 8 energy centers with us into everyday life. The pranic body, which is the home the Chakras, is a vast subject because every aspect of who one is physically, emotionally, and mentally can be attributed to either the balance or imbalance of the chakra(s) within the body. We will look at the basic characteristics and functions of each chakra, explore both their deficient and excessive states, discover which emotions and mental qualities are expressed within the frequency of each chakra, learn which Asanas stimulate and open each energy center, and lastly incorporate meditation as a method tap into the subtle energy of these whirling wonders within. Next, we will expand upon one’s practice by bringing the chakra awareness we developed in Asana practice to bringing it into our Meditation practice. To do this, we will employ 3 individual mediation techniques, including the Chakra Shuddhi (purification) meditation technique, so that we may begin the process of locating, stimulating and purifying each chakra.
By the end of this course, Shivani will leave you with a map of the multi-dimensional nature of the Soul, with a perspective on how and where the human earthly experience sits within it. This allows us to finally begin to understand how our Functional Perspective creates our own unique reality of patterns and karmas, and how to know and manifest right action so we can choose to positively change the course of our lives.
Investment: $140
Or all 4 sessions for $200
Meditation and Joy
5 week series with Padma
tHURSDAYS, 7:45-9:15pm
JAN 30TH-FEB 27TH
In this 5 week series, Padma will guide you through meditations skills that cultivate deep joy and clarity. There will also be insightful discussions of philosophy, including wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita. Everyone welcome to this experience of discovering inner joy. No Meditation experience required and experienced practitioners are most welcome.
Padma is one of Canada’s most renowned teachers of Meditation and Self-Awareness. She is the host of the nationally-aired television series Padma Yoga and has lead meditation workshops internationally since 2000. For more about Padma check our her website www.padmameditation.com
Investment: Sliding scale $110 to $130.
Drop-in: $30
Candlelit Yoga & Meditation
with Kelly Yaskiw
Friday, January 31st 7:30-9:00pm
Nourish your nervous system with this grounding candlelit practice. Kelly will lead you through 90 minutes of gentle yoga postures, yoga nidra, pranayama, meditation, and mantra designed to calm your mind and body. This class will offer you an opportunity to slow down, be still, and listen to your internal wisdom. The practices are beginner friendly and open to all.
Investment: before January 27th $20/ After $30
Jivamukti open Class
with Jonni-Lyn Friel
Saturday, Febuary 1st 1:00-3:00pm
Jivamukti Yoga, developed by Sharon Gannon and David Life, offers the contemporary yogi a creative approach to living in the world today. Grounded in the ancient scriptures and ethical practices of yoga, Jivamukti, a Sanskrit word which means “living liberated,” is a practical philosophy that teaches how spiritual values can help us work with the challenges of everyday life with more joy, compassion and positive effectiveness. Jivamukti Yoga offers vigorously physical and intellectually stimulating yoga classes. Classes include Vinyasa (flowing asana sequences), hands-on adjustments, Pranayama (breathing exercises), meditation, Sanskrit chanting, Yogic philosophical teachings and deep relaxation with music playing an integral role in the class.
Join certified Jivamukti Teacher Jonni-Lyn Friel for this fun, uplifting and challenging class. The class will be themed around the Focus of the Month for Febuary.
Investment: Before January 27th $25 / After $35
Exploring the role of a Death Doula with Jenafor Ryane
Sunday, February 2 2:30-4:oo pm
Death Doulas are part of a growing community working to re-imagine end-of-life care, attitudes, beliefs, practices, and planning. These holistic care providers offer
non-medical emotional, spiritual, physical and practical support to individuals and their
loved ones before, during, and after Death. To learn more about this re-emerging field of practice, join Death Doula Jenafor Ryane for an afternoon of conversation, reflection, and learning. Meditation and tea will fuel the afternoon.
It is Jenafor’s heartfelt intention to help restore Death to its sacred place in the Circle of Life, and to support mindful and compassionate living and dying. This dream begins with open-hearted, tender, and sometimes hard-to-have conversations.
Investment: by donation. Proceeds will go towards PORT (Palliative Care
Outreach Team), a new program bringing palliative care to marginalized folks in Victoria. Please call or sign up online.
Yoga for healing
5 week series with Cedar Sorensen
February 11th-March 10th
Tuesdays 7:45-9:15pm
This series aims to empower you with yogic tools for greater wellness & healing, and equip you to get more benefit from your drop-in classes. Classes will be slower paced, allowing time to learn the therapeutic benefits of the practices, and of specific postures. A selection of examples of mini-lessons which will be included within each Hatha class are:
- how to improve posture and relieve back pain
- support digestion
- improve sleep quality
- how to calm anxiety or increase energy with pranayam (breath)
- the yoga of sound (nada yoga) to clear the mind and heal the body
- meditative practices to help improve our mental and emotional health.
You will come away with a broader understanding of the breadth of yoga and how to use these tools for your empowered well-being. Resources in the form of handouts, links to videos and articles will be provided.
Investment: Sliding Scale $80-$100
Love: Yogi Style
A Valentine’s day class
with Cedar Sorensen
Friday, February 14th 7:00-9:00 pm
Join Cedar for this special Valentine’s Day offering. Come to practice Breath Practices inspired by the Radiance Sutras, Meditations on Love, Metta & self-compassion, the divine union between Shiva (pure consciousness) & Shakti (embodiment) explored in a gentle Hatha & meditation class for your heart on this special day .
Investment: Before February 10th $30/ After $40
Yin Yoga, live music & acupressure touch
with Meagan Welch & Fraser Duncan
saturday, february 15th 1:30-3:00 pm
The natural rhythm of the season of deep winter asks us to come inward, slow down and nourish. The yin practice involves deep, long-held postures that target the connective tissue & joints of the body. Enjoy healing acupressure touch, the wisdom of Chinese medicine & live acoustic music in this 90 minute workshop that celebrates & honours the dark season of Winter and nourishes the soul.
Refund Policy
Investment: Before February 10th $30/ After $40
– If you cancel 7 days prior to the event, we can offer you a full refund or credit at Hemma.
– If you cancel within the week prior to the event, we can offer you a credit at Hemma, minus a $5 administration fee.
– If you cancel the day of the event, or don’t show up for it, no refund or credit will be offered.
– It is rare that we cancel a workshop, but if we do we will give you 24 hours notice and offer you a full refund or credit at Hemma.
Thank you for your understanding.