Leah Briggs is a certified teacher of Ashanga Vinyasa and Raja Yoga.  She has traveled and studied Yoga, Buddhism and Eastern philosophy and psychology in Thailand, Burma, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka.  She has a black belt in Shaolin Kung Fu and is attuned in Reiki, energy healing. 

Leah has been exploring the mind~body~spirit connection for more than 15 years and shares her experience with compassion and humor.  She believes the practice should be a playful exploration.  Her yoga classes in Sacramento are a fusion of vinyasa flow, dance, martial arts and philosophy.

Her website can be seen at www.indigolotus.com.

Bill Counter has been teaching yoga to all levels of students for over 17 years. His playful style encourages students to have a good time with the practice and gradually improve their skills in a non-competitive atmosphere. 
   
Bill has studied with leading teachers in a variety of traditions including Iyengar, Ashtanga and various lineages of more traditional hatha yoga practice. As a result, his classes offer a synthesis of the best of ancient and modern yoga teachings. Both his own daily practice and his teaching style emphasize a meditative focus, attention to the breath and awareness of good body mechanics.
   
There are a lot of gentle hands-on adjustments in Bill's classes to help students find the perfect pose -- and that means not some classic ideal of a pose but whatever is "perfect" for you today. Sometimes backing off, some days exploring more deeply.

Bill feels that the practice gets much more fun when we drop the focus on performance and goals in the poses. It's better to judge the success of your practice by how it affects your life when you're NOT on the mat.
   
Prior to moving to Sacramento, Bill was owner and principal teacher at two yoga studios: Yoga Bhoga in Portland, Oregon and (prior to that) Yoga Oasis in Tucson, Arizona. More information is available on Bill's website www.absolutelyashtanga.com

Cheryl Delgado believes a yoga class should be comfortable, yet challenging.  She feels that “Yoga should flow like a dance”. Body alignment is stressed in her classes, as well as correct breath work.    Cheryl has been teaching all levels of students for many years.  She has been a student of yoga for 15 years, after having danced for 20 years. She has also studied and is certified to teach pilates mat classes.

 Lewis Jones believes in a yoga class that combines both a mindfulness-based practice with the fun and energy of group exercise. He is in his final year of his doctoral training in psychology and loves the mind-body exploration that yoga can offer. He believes the practice of yoga provides each individual with a greater awareness of self. His preferred style of teaching is an integration of several styles of hatha yoga including ashtanga, kundalini and Kripalu, all set to music that enhances the classes.

Demitra Washington  is a Holistic Health Practitioner and owner of Healthy Living, an alternative and complementary natural therapy practice. She began practicing yoga over 10 years ago.
   
A KRI Certified Kundalini Yoga teacher, she is committed to empowering students to know and be their true selves by creating uplifting class experiences which connect students to the full potential of their whole, healthy being. For more about Demetra go to www.healthylivingtherapy.com

 

Sequoia has been studying and practicing yoga for 10 years and teaching since 2003. Yoga has been a major influence in her life. Her first experience of yoga was from an Eric Shiffman video that carried her away into a land of health, awareness, and relaxation and set her on her path to
discovering and opening her heart. Sequoia currently finds inspiration from ecstatic flow forms of yoga that combine traditional breathing, strength, and relaxation techniques along with movement and dance.

In 2001 she formally became certified in Ashtanga Yoga at It's Yoga in San Francisco and has studied privately with several bay area teachers. She recently (2008) completed Shiva Rea's Yoga Trance Dance Teacher Training and plans to begin offering Yoga Trance Dances soon.

Aside from Yoga, Sequoia does Maori POI and Fire Dance as part of Obsidian Butterfly, a local Performance Art group that she manages, as well as Therapeutic Zen Reiki Massage.

Yoga is unification! Sequoia's yoga classes are an infusion of all of her creative talents into one harmonious meditative flow. teaches yoga that builds strength and enhances flexibility, while cultivating an awareness of the mental aspects of the practice.
   

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BILL ON 12 OF HIS FAVORITE POSES

Utthita Parsvakonasana [extended side angle pose]

Let's start with a standing pose to get it over with. At least that's how I felt about all of the standing poses for about the first 10 years of my practice. Just wanted to get through and on to more interesting work. Now, I love them for building leg strength, stretching the hamstrings and opening the hips. In my Sacramento yoga classes we do lots of them. In poses like this one I'm always talking about how the external rotation in the hips is is the beginning of your prep for foot behind the head work

Vasisthasana [ a pose dedicated to the sage Vasistha]

A great standing balance that appears frequently in our Sacramento yoga classes. We can start with a spotter or leave the upper leg bent. 
   
I love this because it is such a great hip opener. Plus the balance work. I just try to open up more and more until I ruin it by toppling over. But it's an easy fall. You'll be ready to try it again in a moment.

Urdvha Dhanurasana [upward bow pose]

I love backbends. Especially this one if you drop back from standing. I was amazed when I first became able to do it. And I still find it amazing. Part of the wonder of this pose (and a lot of yoga) is overcoming your fears. And I don't have a very tight backbend so there's (on most days) still a bit of a free fall. Some days it's more controlled and it'd just like gently reaching over backwards and touching the floor. 
   
Come to class. We'll work on it.

Parsva Dhanurasana [side bow pose]

Another great backbend. What's not to like when you can just lie on your side and feel that extraordinary stretch of the quadriceps and the expansion all up and down the front of the ribcage? If you're in one of my yoga classes in Sacramento and your're still stiff, you can just lie there grabbing your ankles and wait for the pose to be over. Or if it's a day you feel like working, the feet can push back, the belly comes forward for backbend bliss. And no fighting gravity with this one.

Eka Pada Viparita Dandasana [the flipped over staff pose]

Another great backbend, especially as demonstrated here by Sacramento yoga adept Kathy. Part of the fun with this one is you can start in headstand and then drop over backward. 
   
Just look at all the great adventures happening in one terrific pose. The shoulder area gets opened. Great work in the hips as one leg gets extended upward. Amazing expansion on the front of the body. 
   
Don't you love backbends?

Sirsasana [headstand]

I love headstands. We were doing them (or some of us were) in the first yoga class I ever attended. I got hooked. I went home and practiced everyday. Within 6 weeks I was in the middle of the room. And I certainly don't have exceptional balance skills. I'm still amazed by the number of students that come into my yoga classes (even the advanced ones) who still can't do a headstand in the middle of the room. Or even at the wall. It's basic yoga. And it's so fun. We gradually build neck strength so you can do different arm positions (8 in the standard syllabus) and  lots of leg variations to maximize the fun.

Ardha Matsyendrasana II [a twist dedicated to the sage Matsyendra]

I need twists. I can breathe more freely after rotating the spine and getting that great expansion of the ribcage. And Ardha Matsyendrasana II is great because both sides of the ribcage are expanding rather than getting compressed due to resistance in the hips or squeezing against a thigh or a half lotus foot in the belly as in many twists. And you get that nice hip opening work of the half lotus. What's not to like? If the half lotus doesn't work for you, just put the foot of the bent leg on the floor.

Adho Mukha Vrksasana [ downward facing tree -- the handstand]:

Isn't it great getting upside down? We don't do it enough but we need it. Any of the inverted poses are wonderful for developing upper body strength, giving the inner organs a massage and clearing the cobwebs out of the brain. 
   
If you haven't been doing inversions, come to one of my Sacramento yoga classes and we'll get started developing the strength to make poses like this possible.

Mayurasana  [peacock pose]

Many arm balances develop abdominal strength, but none in quite the same way as the peacock. 
   
Here with all the weight on the elbows pushing into the belly, the challenges are immense. Of course, you can leave the feet on the ground for awhile. Or we'll spot you. 
   
It's worth working on although it may take a few years. 

Astavakrasana [ the crooked in 8 places pose]

Unlike the peacock (which really is hard), this is one of those great poses thet's easier than it looks. 
   
If your Sacramento yoga adventures haven't included this one yet, you're missing out. The fun part is all the hip opening prep we do prior to the pose itself. 
   
This pose offers great work focusing on more rotation in the hips to prepare you for lotus and foot behind the head work. We can start this one with a straight arm version and let the strength in the triceps develop gradually.

Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana [half bound lotus stretch of the body's west side]

The "west" in the pose's name comes from the tradition of facing east during asana practice, thus the back of the body is referred to as the "west" side. 
   
If I haven't done this pose in awhile, it's always a revelation coming back to it. I forget how simple but productive the pose is. You get that nice half lotus work with the reach around to get the toes. In many lotus poses, you don't want to (or can't) work on tightening the lotus up. Here, if you're up for it, it's an ideal chance to sneak that foot a bit higher on the other thigh and get the knees closer together. 
   
And like the other janu sirsasana variations, you can play this one as a bit of a twist as you slide the torso over toward the straight leg a bit. Nice simple fun.

Marichyasana C [the 3rd in a series dedicated to the sage Marichy]

As you can see, I like twists. And this one gives you some nice hip opening work as well. My Marichy sequence pose favorites come and go. The forward folds are great, especially Marcichyasana B, with one leg in half lotus. 
   
And how about Marichyasana E, that nice forward fold with one leg folded back and the arm looped around the other knee that's up in the air? And let me tell you about that other wonderful Marichy pose...

Enough for now. Come to class. We'll work on your favorites.  Namaste.

--- Bill

Come join the fun! Daily drop-in classes with great teachers in a variety of practice styles. yoga sacramento: map to east sac yoga

EAST SAC YOGA STUDIO 716 57th St. [ at H ] Sacramento, CA 95819 (916) 451-8100

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