Sattva and Sankalpa Weekend for Renewal
Join Primula/Cerebri for a Sattva and Sankalpa weekend in the Catskills January 30-February 2, 2025
AKERA retreat center, Woodbourne, New York
See AKERA’s website here!
I am thrilled to announce my often requested Catskills retreat. This four day, three night event will center around Sattava and Sankalpa and all are welcome!
While the idea of the new year is one of human construct, the rotations of the sun and seasons on which our calendars are based are natural constants. Harness the restorative power of winter to prepare for spring’s awakening with this weekend retreat. We will together honor the energetic quality of Sattva or balance and the promise of Sankalpa, structuring personal affirmations for achieving your potential.
This event will be ideal for:
- Anyone wanting to explore relationships between asana, yoga’s physical practice, and how it evolves when partnered with energy practices.
- People interested in yogic practices for energy manipulation and better understanding of the nervous system.
- Anyone wanting to initiate a shift in their existence (spoiler alert, we will not be goal setting nor making resolutions unless of course you’re into that).
- Anyone needing a change of scenery and desiring peace.
What you can expect:
- Twice daily yoga practices incorporating yoga Nidra, directed slow flow, restorative asana and meditation
- All meals – 3 plant based breakfasts, 3 plant based lunches, 3 plant based dinners
- Cozy accommodations
- A silent space for contemplation
- Time and space to explore your own creativity
- Available massage
- Focused exploration of yoga’s philosophy surrounding limiting beliefs, the Gunas and energy bodies
- Personal time for reflection or whatever you want
- A sound healing experience and cacao ceremony
- Unlimited access to a two hot tubs and a sauna
- A beautiful, natural environment to be enjoyed as the weather permits
For information about the Gunas and Sankalpa follow the links below.
Sankalpa in the Current Climate
Pricing (Early Bird pricing available until 12/15/2024). Payment plans are available. Space is limited.
Triple room EB $1150 Reg $1250 (attend with friends)
Double room EB $1250 Reg $1350
Single room EB $1500 Reg $1600 (only one left)
Day passes available for Friday and Saturday will be $250 per day. Day passes will include all meals, practices and use of the facility.
There are some rooms that will accommodate couples at a double room rate.
Contact me for more information 🙏
Ongoing – Dates TBD
Meditation Workshop at Grassroots Yoga
159 Sullivan Street, Wurtsboro, New York
Exchange $20.00, no preregistration is necessary
This offering is inspired by the ISHTA methods of Yoga Meditation. We will follow a sequence of gentle premeditative asana, one or a combination of practices for focusing energy inwards (pratyahara), a period of silence, a grounding sequence and a brief savasana. This and subsequent sessions may include pranayama (energy manipulation through breathing techniques), visualization, Yoga Nidra and mantra. This practice will be customizable to the individual’s level of experience and needs within the meditation model. Each class will begin with a period of conversation for sharing the meditation and methods to be practiced that day and to honor the community.
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PAST EVENTS
Sunday Exploration of Sattva and Sankalpa for Autumn
October 20, 2024, 2:00-4:00 PM
Grassroots Yoga, Wurtsboro, New York
Exchange $30, please register with the studio or send a message for additional information
In this two hour workshop we’ll explore the three energetic qualities of the gunas (rajas, tamas and sattva) and their relationship to sankalpa.
Sankalpa, is a Sanskrit word that many have taken to mean intention. At its essence sankalpa is an expression, an invitation, to explore our true natures and what may be keeping us from realizing them. By envisioning that which brings us joy or holds us back, we can invite the positive aspects of our true natures into our lives.
The gunas are three energetic qualities present in all that we experience. Rajas often gets a bad rap as being the quality of aggression or narcissism but it is also the quality of volition, power, dynamism, productivity. It is forward facing and is associated with the front body. Tamas also gets ridiculed as the quality of inertia and passivity but it is the seat of what is to be realized. What begins as inert, is in a state of becoming. Tamas is linked with the back body. Revered and sought after is the sattvic state, a balanced and homeostatic state of pure consciousness. It is neither rajasic nor tamasic, but is a state of flow and connection.
In this workshop, using asana (yoga’s physical practice), pranayama (energy manipulation through breathwork), and restorative asana we will balance the gunas. We will then employ the practice of yoga nidra to potentially reveal your sankalpa and welcome a more balanced and joyous path.
Yoga Amongst the Art at Brooklyn Waterfront Artists’ Coalition
As of October 31, 2021, BWAC yoga events are on hiatus.
July 10 and 24, August 7 and 14, September 18, 2021. All classes are from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Hosted by Tracy Balzano (Certified ISHTA Teacher, RYT-500) these yoga events are planned for the summer art exhibition season in Red Hook. You can expect an hour of adaptable, gentle(ish), breath focused yoga which will include time for pranayama (using the breath to move energy within the body) and a brief meditation.
This class is by donation and props will not be provided. Please bring your own mats and any other support you may need (blocks, blankets, straps). Chairs will be available for use if desired. Social distancing will be observed and please wear a mask.
Suggested donation is $10 at the door.
Meditation for Self Reflection, June 19, 2020 @ 9:00 AM EDT
Over the last two weeks I have struggled with my personal reaction to the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, now Rayshard Brooks, all the innocents who came before and unfortunately all who will come after. I have watched in horror as looting in response to some of these events targeted hard working Blacks who put their hearts and souls into their businesses only to see them turn to rubble in a heartbeat. I have listened to mostly Brown man after Brown man recount their tales of terror as the police and others have demonstrated to them who holds the power. I experienced that moment when the realization sets in that the reason hypertension is so prevalent among Black males is precisely because they are Black males, targeted and living in states of fear and hyper vigilance as their bodies internalize being constantly threatened. I received at least a dozen emails from companies with whom I’ve done business pledging their allegiance with Black Lives Matter and promising to do better in their recruiting and representation efforts. These are the same companies from whom I’ve received the same emails on occasion when there is a reason for White Guilt to be present. I also started to think about myself as a mixed-race and outwardly appearing Black woman and my own role in this drama.
The more I turned inward and examined my reactions the more I started to consider my response and so I offer this.
This Friday, June 19 at 9:00 EDT, I will host a public meditation, via Zoom, designed for inner reflection. During this guided meditation participants will identify different aspects of themselves and maybe even generational aspects of their existence before settling into silence, being with what was revealed, clearing energy and focusing on the future. Pre-registration will be required and donations of any amount will be collected via Venmo to benefit the Equal Justice Initiative. Donations will not be required for participation.
Weekend Exploration of the Mind with Dr. David Salvage
Recent research proves that the union of Ketamine, therapy and yoga is a powerful combination of both modern and ancient healing practices. This profound weekend of vision, change, pharmacotherapy and bodily expansion has been imagined for guests with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress or other challenges who want to take their treatment to a deeper level. Come work, play, and challenge yourself with a fun and therapeutic weekend led by David Salvage, MD, FAPM, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and Tracy Balzano, Certified Yoga Teacher with experience in yoga therapies and meditative practices. These two colleagues and long-time collaborators have joined forces to present a cutting-edge therapeutic experience designed to help you bring your inner vision to the world. Join them to release limiting beliefs and traumas that are holding you back and to take the mind-body connection to the next level. This offering will be held in a private, elegant, beautiful and rustic accommodation adjacent to hundreds of acres of national forest in East Hampton, New York.
Introduction to the Anatomy of Yoga
Day 1 – From the Feet to the Hips:
The bones, muscles and connective tissue of the feet, legs and hips.
Day 2 – From the Hips to the Crown:
The bones, muscles and connective tissue of the core, shoulders, arms, fingers, neck and head.
Are you curious about yoga and it’s connection to your inner landscape? Do you want to learn more about your bones and their relationships to one another in asana practice? Do you want to brush up on your basic anatomy for your students? If so come join me for an introductory workshop on the anatomy of yoga.
This two part event is for practitioners who want to learn more about the relationships between the bones, tendons, muscles, ligaments and the subtle body and how to use this knowledge to enhance, strengthen and inform their practice.
In addition to anatomy the curriculum will include the chakra system and how it relates to human anatomical systems and understanding planes of movement and how they impact asana. Additional references will be drawn from ancient and traditional texts as appropriate.
This workshop will be appropriate for anyone wanting to learn more about and be able to use anatomical references made during asana classes, teachers who want to make such references relevant and accessible to their students and anyone interested in asana alignment and how to use it to deepen their practice, humans.
Each class will include practical learning, asana and breathwork.