Join Jessica Walden for a full weekend of workshops across Down Under School of Yoga studios.
See all workshop options, locations & prices below.
10 Principles of Ashtanga Yoga practice, Bandhas, and Breath
Friday, November 22
7:15-9:15pm • Harvard Square, Cambridge
Practicing Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga day in and day out can feel repetitive, especially if we are stuck on a posture, injured, or stop progressing as fast as we’d like to. When we get older we might even find we have to give up postures instead of accrue them. What is this practice all about? Why should we stick with it, ashtanga or any type of yoga? Well, the answers are endless and within each of us. In this workshop Jessica shares her top 10 principles of the practice which have helped her heal and keep things fresh and alive over the last 30 years of consistent practice, even after a major spinal injury. These principles illuminate how the practice of Ashtanga can help us to get to know ourselves, over and over again in a new, renewed light. During this workshop we will also talk about the 3 bandhas that can be accessed during the practice. Jessica will go over the anatomical and physiological aspects of mula bandha, uddiyana bandha, and jalandhara bandha as well as the benefits of the bandhas in practice and in everyday life. We will also attempt to access the bandhas through breathing and the various types of asanas in the practice, specifically focusing on certain asanas that might make that connection more conscious. This session will also explore some essential practices and approaches that we can do in order to honor the injury or stage of life we are in, and avoid further injury or heal from it. This will be an interactive session where students will have an opportunity to share their own stories and experiences.
Cost: $45
Yoga mats are available to rent in studio for $3
Discovering Ease, Grace, Balance, and Strength Within the Ashtanga Yoga Practice
Saturday, November 23
1:30-3:30pm • Brookline
Through the practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, we can cultivate in inner strength that can make our bodies light and strong. In this workshop, we will explore how leading with the center of the body (the core) can be supported by the limbs in order to bring more lightness and balance to the body as a whole. Lightness is born from steadiness. We often just want to do the hard thing like the handstand but the hard thing wouldn’t be so hard if we first gave ourselves the permission to build a foundation of steadiness and strength. It takes time and practice but not that much extra to what we already do. This workshop will offer physical and mental techniques to achieve a lightness/effortlessness in each posture within the practice. We will delve into select postures from the 1st and 2nd series, along with additional movements, to demonstrate this approach. This workshop aims to serve as a springboard for ideas to integrate into your practice.
Cost: $45
Yoga mats are available to rent in studio for $3
Ashtanga Mysore with Jessica Walden
Sunday, November 24
7:-8:45am • Brookline
A Mysore style class is an assisted self-practice class. Students are able to work through their own practice guided and supported by a teacher.
Cost: $35
Yoga mats are available to rent in studio for $3
Finding Your Center Upside Down: Skills for Cultivating Arm Balances and Handstands
Sunday, November 24
12:30-2:30pm • South End, Boston
Often many ashtanga practitioners like to do handstands because they can help build strength needed for difficult arm balances in intermediate and advanced series. Handstands and arm balances are also very fun and keep us young!!! This workshop will tie everything together by exploring how we can use the bandhas and find our center and balance while we are upside down, balancing solely on our hands, jumping through and jumping back. We will be building upon the previous workshops and exploring more difficult asanas, hand and arm balances, preparation techniques for handstands, and handstands themselves. This will be a challenging, invigorating, and fun workshop.
Cost: $45
Yoga mats are available to rent in studio for $3
About Jessica Walden: Jessica started a daily Ashtanga Yoga practice in 1994. From 2001 to 2011 she made several trips to Mysore, India, to study with Patthabi Jois, Sharath and Saraswati and was granted a Teaching Authorization Certificate (Level 2) from the KPJAYI in Mysore in 2009. Jessica has taught at at a variety of studios in the USA and Australia, including Tim Miller’s Shala and the Jois Yoga, and has assisted Sharath at KPJAYI Mysore. More than anything, Jessica sees herself as a life-long student of this practice. 10 years ago, Jessica suffered a major spinal injury that was diagnosed as a grade 3 spondylolisthesis at L5/S1 and the loss of the disk between those two vertebras. This not only meant that she could no longer do intense backbends, but the condition often requires invasive surgery to stabilize the spine and alleviate pain. While initially this injury caused a lot of fear and pain, Jessica did not get back surgery and instead used the injury to inform how she would practice from that day forward. With an awareness of what is happening on the inside and an observance of how she can access the subtle energies deep within to find control, she has cultivated a gentle strength, grace and flexibility. Jessica’s approach to her teaching is to provide methods for students that help them to find their own control, grace, and effortlessness in the practice.