Join Jessica Walden for a full weekend of workshops across Down Under School of Yoga studios.
See all workshop options, locations & prices below.
Principles of Practice & Philosophy on Ashtanga Yoga with Jessica Walden
Friday, November 17
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 and 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 keep things fresh and and alive over the last 29 years of consistent practice. These principles or philosophies 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 and use breathing exercises to attempt to locate them. 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 look at how gravity and finding our center “pivot point” can help us understand bandhas. We will also attempt to access the bandhas through breathing and the various types of asanas in the practice (forward bends, back bends, standing postures, simple arm balances), specifically focusing on certain asanas that might make that connection more conscious. This workshop will also introduce the other workshops and give us a chance to get to know each other.
Cost: $45
Yoga mats are available to rent in studio for $3
Arm Balances, Bandhas, & finding lightness in the practice with Jessica Walden
Saturday, November 18
1:30-3:30pm • Porter Square, Cambridge
Through the practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, we can cultivate in inner strength that can make our bodies light and strong. 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. We will be doing arm balances, preparation for handstand and handstands themselves. We will do a series of asanas from the ashtanga practice to help access body control and balance. We will also try some specific handstand preparation exercises that can also help compliment what we learn from the asanas. This will be a fun workshop.
Cost: $45
Yoga mats are available to rent in studio for $3
Ashtanga Mysore with Jessica Walden
Sunday, November 19
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
Practicing with injuries and/or other stage-of-life issues with Jessica Walden
Sunday, November 19
12:30-2:30pm • South End, Boston
It is not uncommon to experience some form of injury as a result of regular practice. Sometimes we apply our “bad habits” to our asanas, and/or refuse to listen to our bodies when we have some small pain, which later turns into something more chronic and serious. Sometimes it is simply the repeated action that eventually wears us out or causes inflammation. This session will 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 we can share stories and look at options for healing. We can still practice daily but with a different focus. Jessica will share the story of her major spinal injury and how she managed the very severe condition and how she realized that the body wants to adapt and heal. All we have to do is pay attention, be curious, slow down, breathe, and sometimes modify our movements to help the healing process. The key is maintaining a practice that makes us feel good and healthy and is sustainable. That is what yoga is supposed to give us and sometimes we forget that.
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.