Wonderful things happen when you BREATHE SLOWLY, MOVE GENTLY.
Come alive with breathing techniques and gentle movement!
Join us for this relaxing movement workshop, where “nice and easy” is everything.
Breathing techniques allow the mind to settle and become more peaceful. Gentle movement allows us to feel more embodied and alive. But when we combine breathing techniques with gentle movement, something truly amazing happens... Mind-body awareness is awakened.
And that changes everything!
“I had heard about mindfulness breathing techniques and I knew that it meant paying attention, opening up our awareness to what is happening around us, but Michael Patrick gave me the techniques and tools to be present in the moment, and accepting it without judging or for me trying to control it.”
This event has already occurred. If you are interested in future offerings — either public or private — please send a message to Michael Patrick using this link:
About this workshop
Come alive with breathing techniques and gentle movement!
Breath and body awareness are the antidotes to a harried lifestyle, scattered mind and feeling ungrounded. Breathing techniques allow the mind to settle and become more peaceful. Gentle movement makes us feel more embodied and alive. When breath and gentle movement are combined, something amazing happens; mind-body awareness is awakened. This is the heart of yoga practice.
“All movement done with awareness is yoga.”
Breathing techniques are a foundational part of yoga, and are called pranayama in Sanskrit language. “Prana” means breath or life force, which is the feeling of aliveness. “Yama” means to restrain. When attention is given to breathing and then breath is restrained or directed, it causes the mind to relax and focus; we become more settled and less scattered.
Gentle movement or warm-ups (“hara” or core engagements) are gentle, repetitious, non-stressing movements that stretch and energize muscles and connective tissue. As the muscles open, they begin to lubricate the joints.
And this feels fantastic!
Synchronizing breath with movement and concentration encourages moving with intention and makes us less prone to injury. Repeating a movement several times can progressively deepen the movement and help increase flexibility.
Join us for this LIVE, ONLINE ZOOM WORKSHOP as we explore the most foundational practices of yoga -- the coordinating of breath with gentle movement -- to promote mind-body awareness and experience an improved sense of well being!
“Be still, hold close to your center, and then begin to move slowly.”
What to expect
Based on the principles of Kripalu Yoga, this experiential workshop introduces three breathing techniques that utilize all parts of the lungs, add subtle sounds to the breath to promote calmness and introversion, and balance the mind through focused attention.
Then, simple, gentle movement is combined with the breathing techniques to invite a state of relaxed fluidity.
Participants will be invited to explore breath and movement from seated, standing and lying positions.
Learning from the workshop can be practiced at home as a way to become more peaceful, present and embodied in your own surroundings.
How to prepare
Wear loose-fitting, comfortable clothes.
Turn off your phone, buzzers, alarms, dings, notifications, announcements, etc.
No experience with yoga or exercise is necessary.
The workshop is accessible for all levels of fitness, especially beginners. Props, such as yoga blocks and cushions, are used to ensure safety and surety. Instruction will be done at a pace to allow absorption of the material and give time to practice. At the end of each segment, you will have an opportunity to share what you experienced with the group if you would like.
Items to consider having available:
Yoga Mat, Blocks, Cushion and/or Blanket
These props can help support the body in while in the different positions, especially in seated positions.
Don’t have these things? Just make use of something similar that you already have laying around.
Use a firm pillow, a comforter, or a tightly-folded bath towel for a cushion or blanket.
A block can be made from a short stack of sturdy books that are all about the same size. Secure them with several large rubber bands or string. Be sure to secure them from all sides. For this workshop, blocks are used only to support sitting positions, so its just a matter of holding the stack together to sit on.
Folding Chair
If getting up and down from the floor is difficult for you, use a sturdy folding-chair. Everything we’ll do can be adapted to sitting in a chair!
Those should attend who:
Are interested in becoming more peaceful, grounded and embodied.
Have interest in yoga but are not ready to go to a mainstream yoga class. This workshop can be considered “yoga lite.”
Want to become more aware of their bodies.
About the Facilitator
Michael Patrick, LMT, KYT, CPC
As a Licensed Massage Therapist, Kripalu Yoga Teacher, Certified Professional Coach and former Scientist, I bring all the gifts of who I am to my work. Driven by the desire to elevate others, my career initially spanned the biotech industry, interdisciplinary research and laboratory safety. Over the past decade, it evolved to wellness and now I work in my own company, Centered Presence, Ltd. As a presenter, my workshops are characterized by elements of touch, intimacy, authenticity, embodiment, grounding, presence, spiritual practice and cultivation of inner awareness, which result in personal growth and empowered movement forward.