Join the Essentials of Yoga Therapeutics program!
LET'S GO!Yoga that simply feels good.
Discover how good it feels when you release tension in the core of your body.
You'll explore through your direct experience how unwinding the tight muscles and decompressing the spine is essential for moving in an integrated and functional way.
In Embodied Release™️ Yoga Therapy group work, each class builds on the previous class giving you the foundational practices of yoga poses (asanas) and breathwork (pranayama) that target the tightest muscles along your spine. You'll find that when the core of your body opens and releases, the rest of your body can move and function more optimally. With more space on the inside, your mind can follow your body's lead and find more quietude from the hectic pace of our modern-day living.
The Components.
Component I: Lower Spinal Release
In order for us to heal, we need to target the tightest tension in the bodymind, the tight muscles connected to the tailbone. When we release this tension through very refined angles in fully supported asanas, the spine can begin to free up. The natural traction that happens from the lengthening of the tailbone helps to decompress the spine.
We focus on this part of the process in Component I so we can target the root cause of all tension, which is at our very roots. This release of the lower spine provides a doorway for us to feel more at ease, less fearful, and more hopeful that things can be different - that we can live in these bodies from a more open and available place.
It is with Lower Spinal Release that we embody the experiential understanding that we have the capacity to heal and live in our bodymind in a whole new way.
1/2 Day Workshop on Sunday, January 19 1pm to 4pm Pacific Time
Weekly Class on Tuesdays 9am to 10:30am Pacific Time
January 21 - March 11, 2025
Component II: Upper Spinal Release
We'll continue to target the tightest tension in the bodymind, the tight muscles connected to the tailbone but with a more specific focus on the upper spine and neck. Many of us struggle with tension in our necks and upper backs due to all the computer work, many hours driving, or doing other activities.
When we release the tailbone tension first and then the upper spinal tension after, the spine can begin to free up and decompress more fully. Stress, aches, and pains diminish in the shoulders, arms, and hands with continued practice. It is with Upper Spinal Release that we embody the experiential understanding that we have can soften into our realities in a more heart-centered way.
1/2 Day Workshop on Sunday, May 18 1pm to 4pm Pacific Time
Weekly Class on Tuesdays 9am to 10:30am Pacific Time
Dates: April 22 - June 10, 2025
Component III: Abdominals, Backbends & Standing
We'll continue to target the tightest tension in the body-mind, the tight muscles connected to the tailbone and take our practices to a whole new level of integration. Learn how to effectively use your abdominals so you can enliven actual "core strength" without tightening everything up. You'll learn the capacity to truly isolate your abdominals. This takes your practice into gentle, supportive, and restorative backbends and finally into standing, allowing us to fully live as yogis/yoginis in the world... integrated, whole, and embodied.
It is with these continuing practices that we embody the experiential understanding that we can live and function in the world while staying centered within ourselves, remaining connected to the Mystery.
1/2 Day Workshop on Sunday, September 7 1pm to 4pm Pacific Time
Weekly Class on Tuesdays 9am to 11:00am Pacific Time
Dates: August 19 - October 7, 2025
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Join the 2nd Series and learn how to release tension in your upper spine!
Carry the changes you learned and received from your Component 1 practices into your upper spine and join Meredith for another 8 weeks of bliss. Space is limited in order to keep these programs personal and individualized. Sign up to reserver your spot.
Hold My SpotAbout the practice.
It's MORE than restorative. It's Therapeutic. It's Integrative.
It's a whole different paradigm.
Each class builds on the previous class giving you the foundational practices of yoga poses (asanas) and breathwork (pranayama) that target the tightest muscles along your spine. You'll find that when the core of your body opens and releases, the rest of your body can move and function more optimally. Working with the tried-and-true tenet of Support Cultivates Release from Svaroopa®️ Yoga, this prop-heavy class combined with highly refined alignments provides reliable results time and time again.
Get the healing you want. From the inside out.
You'll need a yoga mat, a metal folding chair, two 4-inch yoga blocks, 7-10 heavy yoga blankets. With more space on the inside, your mind can follow your body's lead and find more quietude from the hectic pace of our modern-day living.
Important Logistics.
There are three 8-week series in this 24-week program. You can join in on any series - but keep in mind that they build on the previous theme and if you miss a series, you'll need to attend specialized workshops to review.
Each series begins with a review half-day online/in-person workshop, called "Re-Center in Your Self" which is open to all levels. In this ONLINE workshop, Meredith will introduce the basic concepts, orientation, paradigm, and practices. For those who have been practicing consistently for years to those who are returning after a break, the workshop is a perfect way to get deeper clarity while also receiving the healing you are looking for.
Keep in mind that this program serves as a prerequisite to more advanced functional movement classes and programs with Meredith. Once you've completed the three components of this program, including receiving an Individualized Home Practice, you are invited to join the Advanced Therapeutics Online Classes offered regularly.
Each component is offered once a year, and it's best and highly recommended to attend in order, but not required.
Component I. Core Essentials of Lower Spinal Release
Re-Center in Your Self Workshop: Sunday, January 19, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm Pacific Time
The 8-week series Weekly Class dates are: Tuesdays, January 21 - March 11 from 9:00am to 10:30am Pacific Time
Component II. Core Essentials of Upper Spinal Release
Please note: This component is not available unless you have completed Component 1 or have received an invitation from Meredith.
Re-Center in Your Self Workshop: Sunday, May 18, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm Pacific Time
The 8-week series Weekly Class dates are: Tuesdays, April 22 - June 10, from 9:00am to 10:30am Pacific Time
Component III. Core Essentials of Active Release: Abdominals & Standing
Please note: This Component is not available unless you have completed Component 1 or Component 2.
Re-Center in Your Self Workshop: Sunday, September 7, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm Pacific Time
The 8-week series Weekly Class dates are: Tuesdays, August 19 - October 7, from 9:00am to 11:00am Pacific Time
(Please note that Component 3 classes are 2 hours. This allows me time to teach all the aspects.)
What you need.
- Zoom. Once you sign up and pay, you'll receive the link.
- Tablet or Computer with Camera. Please make sure that you place your computer/camera on a lower table, like a coffee table. This allows me to see you and offer feedback so you can be comfortable and enjoy the practices.
- Comfortable clothes to move in. It's always a good idea to wear organic cotton and natural fibers rather than synthetic ones.
- A yoga mat.
- Two to Four 4-inch yoga blocks.
- A metal folding chair.
- Seven to Ten heavy yoga blankets. These provide more support than the thinner ones and are easier to streamline instead of pillows and random bolsters in group classes. You can easily fold them into different shapes, roll them, etc. They are very versatile, soft, and made of recycled materials. They can be purchased here. **Please call the company directly to order - they are sold separately for approximately $40/piece or $24/piece in a box of ten. You'll be much happier and better supported if you get the box of ten - plus the price works out where it's essentially the same to purchase six as it is ten! So get ten!
- An open mind and an inquisitive approach. You may be joining this practice with some previous experience whether you have practiced with me or not. I invite you to be curious and enjoy.
About Meredith.
Meredith's love of movement, dance, and the healing arts drew her to discover yoga in her teenage years, landing in a place that she felt immediately at home. Her passion, curiosity, and desire to know, feel, sense, and understand her physicality has led her to her studies in yoga, ayurveda, bodywork, and somatics with many master teachers, accumulating thousands of hours in education, training, and experience. She is a Certified International Yoga Therapist, an Advanced Level Yoga Teacher and Yoga Teacher Trainer, and a Somatic Educator among other things, including an Ayurvedic Practitioner and a Massage Therapist. She has training in several bodywork modalities which allow her to fully access and utilize the healing aspects of Yoga. Her integrative approach involves the synergy and alignment of all aspects of oneself, allowing the cultivation of embodied and enlivened living.
Meredith received her BA in Transpersonal Psychology with a Yoga Therapy and Somatics Emphasis from Burlington College in 2004. She received her Post-Bac Certificate in Western Herbalism in 2014 from Maryland University of Integrative Health, and her MSc in Maharishi Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine in 2018 from Maharishi International University (MIU). Meredith has served as faculty at MIU since 2020, first teaching in the undergraduate Ayurveda program and now serves as the Director and Department Chair of the Yoga Department. She is currently finishing her Ayurveda Doctor studies through a school in Switzerland where Ayurvedic Medicine is nationally licensed. Meredith is also pursuing her PhD in Maharishi Vedic Science, the philosophy and study of yoga, its ancient texts, and its practices.
She offers in-depth programs, courses, retreats, and training in both Yoga and Ayurveda online and in-person.
To work with Meredith directly in an individualized program or to learn about more ways you can study with her, visit www.meredithannhart.com or scroll down.
