Courses and Workshops

About Tai Chi:

Tai chi, also called Tai Chi Chuan, is a noncompetitive, self-paced system of gentle physical exercise and stretching. To do Tai Chi, you perform a series of postures or movements in a slow, graceful manner. Each posture flows into the next without pause, ensuring that your body is in constant motion.

Tai chi has many different styles, such as Yang and Wu. Each style may have its own subtle emphasis on various Tai Chi principles and methods. There are also variations within each style. Some may focus on health maintenance, while others focus on the martial arts aspect of Tai Chi.

The result of all this variation is that there are more than 100 possible movements and positions with Tai Chi, many of which are named for animals or nature. Regardless of the variation, all forms of Tai Chi include rhythmic patterns of movement that are coordinated with breathing to help you achieve a sense of inner calm. The concentration required for Tai Chi forces you to live in the present moment, putting aside distressing thoughts.

Class Schedule:

Tuesdays @ 11:15 am

Contact Us or Call for Details

The aim of this lecture and demonstration is to demystify the concept of Vibration Training and Vibration Therapy.

This class will provide an explanation of the basic principles upon which vibration technology is based, how it works in the body, the many benefits it provides, and how to use the platforms to maximze your individual level of fitness, health and wellness.

Please join us and learn how the Vibraflex can help you:

- increase muscle power and tone
- improve body composition and lose weight
- fight osteoporosis
- increase muscle flexibility
- detoxify the body and improve lymphatic mobility
- reduce pain

This class will be taught by Gabriel Ettenson, MS, PT. Gabriel is the owner of Equilibrium Physical Therapy and co-owner of Amplitude Vibration Studio. He has used vibration technology for therapeutic and training purposes for the past 3 1/2 years.

Date: TBA

Please contact us to register

This is a 3-hour, highly participative affair. You’ll learn the Ki-Hara principles and concepts, and how to perform 16-amazing self-stretches.

Come ready to work out!

Find out the secret to longer and stronger muscles, joint stability, proper body mechanics and improved posture.

Workshop fee:  $100/person; $175 for 2 people registering together.

Dates:

Jan 21st, 2012 (9:30am -12:30pm)
Feb 25th, 2012 (9:30am -12:30pm)
March 24th, 2012 (9:30am -12:30pm)
April 14th, 2012 (9:30am -12:30pm)
May 12th, 2012 (9:30am -12:30pm)
June 16th, 2012 (9:30am -12:30pm)
July 21th, 2012 (9:30am -12:30pm)
Sept 22nd, 2012 (9:30am -12:30pm)
Oct 20th, 2012 (9:30am -12:30pm)
Nov 17th, 2012 (9:30am -12:30pm)
Dec 1st, 2012 (9:30am -12:30pm)

Please contact us for details or to register.

About Ki Hara - Ki-Hara is a body-balancing technique, a combination of flexibility, strength training and core work. Its a method that stretches and strengthens muscles, using diagonal concentric and eccentric contractions in rotation. In doing so, it increases the bodys neural activity, improves joint stability and biomechanics. It also improves soft tissue ability to support the skeletal structure for better posture. Another fantastic benefit is that it hastens recovery from heavy athletic workouts. The beauty of this method is that it can be applied to anyone from the elite athlete to the physically challenged; teens to seniors. As important a contributing factor Ki-Hara may be to improved biomechanics, performance and recovery, most find it to be just as effective as a stress reducer. It is fast becoming fitness staple.

About the Instructor:

While completing his career as vice president for a multinational financial services organization, Chuck was planning his “second act”, a career as fitness professional. In 2002, he became a certified personal trainer (CPT). For three years, he operated on parallel tracks, splitting time between both industries. Satisfied that he’d found his passion in fitness, he abandoned the world of finance in 2005.
In the years since, Chuck spent countless hours training privately and working for a commercial club. In addition to his basic certifications with both the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA), he has since added NASM’s Corrective Exercise Specialist and Performance Enhancement Specialist certifications to his credentials. In his indefatigable quest for fitness knowledge, Chuck has completed instructor courses in Ki-Hara Resistance Stretching; TRX Suspension Training; and Kettlebell Training.

Due to his broad fitness interests, experiences and qualifications, Chuck says he’d be uncomfortable if classified as anything other than a fitness professional who facilitates peoples’ performance of daily life activities, their participation in chosen recreational activities, or their achievement of particular fitness goals. Whatever the client objective, he believes that his responsibility is to bring the client to where he/she moves better. He says, “When people move better, they feel better and vice versa. The better they move, the more likely they are to achieve any fitness goal without injury”. That, he feels, is both a bedrock concept and guiding principle.

Certified Ki-Hara stretcher, Chuck Rowland will explain Ki-Hara, its unique benefits, the reasons many people opt for private stretching and demonstrate several Ki-Hara assisted-stretches, as performed in a private session.

There is no charge for this event.

Dates: TBA

Please contact us for details or to register.

About Ki Hara - Ki-Hara is a body-balancing technique, a combination of flexibility, strength training and core work. Its a method that stretches and strengthens muscles, using diagonal concentric and eccentric contractions in rotation. In doing so, it increases the bodys neural activity, improves joint stability and biomechanics. It also improves soft tissue ability to support the skeletal structure for better posture. Another fantastic benefit is that it hastens recovery from heavy athletic workouts. The beauty of this method is that it can be applied to anyone from the elite athlete to the physically challenged; teens to seniors. As important a contributing factor Ki-Hara may be to improved biomechanics, performance and recovery, most find it to be just as effective as a stress reducer. It is fast becoming fitness staple.

About the Instructor:

While completing his career as vice president for a multinational financial services organization, Chuck was planning his “second act”, a career as fitness professional. In 2002, he became a certified personal trainer (CPT). For three years, he operated on parallel tracks, splitting time between both industries. Satisfied that he’d found his passion in fitness, he abandoned the world of finance in 2005.
In the years since, Chuck spent countless hours training privately and working for a commercial club. In addition to his basic certifications with both the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA), he has since added NASM’s Corrective Exercise Specialist and Performance Enhancement Specialist certifications to his credentials. In his indefatigable quest for fitness knowledge, Chuck has completed instructor courses in Ki-Hara Resistance Stretching; TRX Suspension Training; and Kettlebell Training.

Due to his broad fitness interests, experiences and qualifications, Chuck says he’d be uncomfortable if classified as anything other than a fitness professional who facilitates peoples’ performance of daily life activities, their participation in chosen recreational activities, or their achievement of particular fitness goals. Whatever the client objective, he believes that his responsibility is to bring the client to where he/she moves better. He says, “When people move better, they feel better and vice versa. The better they move, the more likely they are to achieve any fitness goal without injury”. That, he feels, is both a bedrock concept and guiding principle.

Introductory Session - Tuesday, September 27th @ 7:15 pm

This course begins on October 11th and will run for the following eight weeks. The course is every Tuesday from 7:15 - 9:30 pm.

The cost for the introductory session is $15. This will be applied towards full tuition upon registration.

The entire 8 week course rate is $475.

Please contact us for details or to register.

About MBSR:

Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn developed the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Since its inception, MBSR has evolved into a common form of complementary medicine addressing a variety of health problems. The National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has provided a number of grants to research the efficacy of the MBSR program in promoting healing. More information on these studies can be found on the University of Massachusetts Medical School website: Center for Mindfulness.

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction brings together mindfulness meditation and yoga. Although MBSR is a training with potential benefits for all types of participants, historically, students have suffered from a wide range of chronic disorders and diseases. MBSR is an 8-week intensive training in mindfulness meditation, based on ancient healing practices, which meets on a weekly basis.

Mindfulness practice is ideal for cultivating greater awareness of the unity of mind and body, as well as of the ways the unconscious thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can undermine emotional, physical, and spiritual health. The mind is known to be a factor in stress and stress-related disorders, and meditation has been shown to positively effect a range of autonomic physiological processes, such as lowering blood pressure and reducing overall arousal and emotional reactivity.

About the Instructors:

Jon Aaron has been practicing various forms of meditation for many years, but began seriously studying mindfulness meditation in 1998.  Jon has studied mindfulness with a variety of teachers, namely Matthew Flickstein and other teachers affiliated to the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts. He trained in teaching MBSR at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, MA. in 2007 and 2008. He continues to refine his skills through supervision with a senior MBSR teacher from the Center. He has also completed Teaching as a Form of Practice retreats with Matthew Flickstein and the Integrated Study and Practice Program at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Jon is currently training as a contemplative caregiver with the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care and the Beth Israel Hospital, and he continues to be involved with the New York Insight Meditation Center as an associate teacher. 

Savanna Luraschi has been practicing meditation since 2004. Living in London at the time, she discovered and then become involved with the London Buddhist Center in Bethnal Green and started sitting meditation retreats several times a year.  Her explorations of meditation have since brought her to study with a variety of teachers in various centers in Europe and the US.

More recently, Savanna trained in facilitating MBSR groups at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA. in 2010, after having herself experienced the benefits of a full 8 week cycle in 2009. She is particularly interested in practicing mindfulness in the workplace and in mitigating the cost of stress and burn out to businesses and their employees. She herself has more than 10 years of corporate managerial experience in four different countries (USA/UK/France/India), both in the Luxury and Consumer Electronics industries, and she currently oversees a retail performance management project for a leading fashion brand.

Savanna has also trained as a contemplative caregiver with the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care and the Visiting Nurse Services of New York, where she continues to volunteer in hospice. 

Free Introduction - January 15, 2012 @ 7pm

The Introduction will give you an opportunity to better understand this style of meditation and meet the instructor. If you go forward, you will be required to attend 4 consective training sessions.
These sessions, approximately 1 - 2 hours each, will occur before and after work for your convenience.

Please contact us for details or to register.

About Vedic Meditation:

VEDIC MEDITATION is known to be one of the easiest and most natural methods of releasing stress and experiencing deeper states of awareness.  You learn Vedic Meditation on-site with a qualified teacher and you become self-sufficient in the technique after only six hours of instruction. You will learn to meditate effectively in almost any setting using any comfortable seat you can find. With consistent practice, you will have an easier time sourcing inner peace and calmness in the face of life’s challenges, pressures and demands. No prior experience or knowledge is necessary to master this technique within four sessions.  To begin learning, you must first attend an Intro Session.  The purpose of this session is to meet the teacher and learn about the technique and course of instruction.  The course usually begins the following day for those wanting to learn right away.  Intro Sessions are free of cost and obligation.

About the Instructor

Light Watkins is a teacher of Vedic Meditation.  He has taught hundreds of people around the world to meditate since completing his Vedic Meditation instructor training in 2007.  Prior to teaching meditation, Light was one of LA’s most popular yoga instructors, a successful board game inventor, and a top fashion model.  Aside from teaching Beginner Meditation Courses, Light is a contributing writer for alternative health journals and he regularly travels throughout the U.S. giving lectures on how to find happiness and live stress-free in today’s modern world.  When not teaching, you can find Light playing boardgames, or exercising on the beach near his home in Venice, CA.

Click Here For More Information on this Course or Vedic Meditation