Kids Arts Yogathon Schedule: Support your health & the ArtBarn’s too!

YOGATHON: Ventura’s First Ever!

Explore Yoga with the finest local teachers!

Fundraiser supporting KIDS’ ARTS…growing young artists since 1992 www.kidsartsventura.org

Date: Saturday, February 28

Place: Historic Elks Lodge 11 S. Ash Street at Main, Ventura

Time: 9 AM – 9 PM. Doors open at 8 AM. Register 30 minutes before classes.

Classes held all day on the hour. PLEASE BRING A YOGA MAT AND TOWEL.

Uplifting & fun evening of Kirtan Chanting by Ojai Kirtan Band ~ 7 – 9 PM

Cost: $15 per class ~ Buy 2 get 1 Free ~ full-day pass $45 advance/$50 door ~ teen (13 – 18 yrs) all-day pass $10

Kirtan: $10 or Free with any class purchase

Advance ticket sales & more info: Yoga Jones ~ 805-643-5669

Join us for the first ever Ventura Yogathon, a benefit for Kids’ Arts. We’ll have yoga classes with all the best local teachers on the hour. We’ll also have a silent auction, healthy refreshments, massage/healing arts, and an art exhibit. We’ll end with an uplifting and fun evening of kirtan chanting with the Ojai Kirtan Band starting at 7 PM.

SCHEDULE

9 AM: Tina Chappel ~ “The Welcome Mat” ~ 60 mins ~ Ballroom

We’ll start the day with an exploration of what yoga can mean to each of us individually and as a group in the community. Weaving philosophy, asana and music, we’ll kick off our day with a one hour vinyasa flow to set the tone for this very special occasion. Music will be provided by members of the Ojai Kirtan Band!

Tina Chappel has been studying yoga and meditation for more than 25 years. Her own practice incorporates several different styles, including Ashtanga, Iyengar, and flow. Certified as a yoga instructor by eminent yogi Ana Forrest of the Forrest Yoga Circle, she and husband, Tom Lane, own Yoga Jones, a haven for the modern yogi in downtown Ventura. Her classes emphasize realization of yoga’s potential for unlocking each student’s physical, mental, and spiritual capacities. [photo]

10 AM: Heather Tiddens ~ Yin Yoga ~ 90 mins ~ Ballroom

Yin Yoga is a quiet, meditative practice, gently staying in the floor-based postures from 3 – 5 minutes while relaxing the muscles. Yin Yoga targets the body’s connective tissue, addressing the mobility and health of our joints in the hips, pelvis and spine, releasing resistance to the flow of prana through the core of the body. Helps to maintain and increase joint mobility, bringing a sense of suppleness and grace to our everyday movements and provides wonderful balancing and restorative qualities to our very “yang” lifestyles.

Heather Tiddens, ERYT, teaches yoga and leads ceremony to support people in embodying their most authentic selves. Her classes are known for their physical intensity and detailed instruction, as well as being a safe, compassionate space for students to explore their spiritual, emotional and physical healing and growth. Her teaching is grounded in her training and studies integrating Yin and Yang Yoga, hands-on healing, mindfulness practices and Indigenous ceremony ways. She is passionately committed to turning people on to embodying spirit in their yoga practice and in their lives. Heather is based in Santa Barbara and travels nationally teaching courses, workshops and retreats. www.HeatherTiddensYoga.com [photo]

11 AM: Lynne Thurston ~ Parent/Child Yoga: Experience the Joy ~ 60 mins ~ Small Room

Connect with your inner child through a shared experience with your child. Explore creative movement and yoga stretches that enhance flexibility, coordination and self confidence. Discover your breath as a way to calm the mind and relax the body. Free your creative spirit, bring joy to the heart, and balance to mind and body. Fly like a Bird….Roar like a Lion… Bring a mat or large towel and your smile.

Lynne Thurston has practiced yoga and meditation for over 35 years. She has an extensive background in dance and theatre arts, as well as psychology and education, all of which she incorporates in her classes. She creates a compassionate and supportive teaching environment directed to both children and adults, including older adults. [photo]

12 noon: Audrey Walzer ~ Yoga for Daily Life: Home, Office & Travel ~ 90 mins. ~ Ballroom

Learn ways you can incorporate easy yoga practices to mitigate the effects of sitting, computer use and travel, so you can feel great all day long, anywhere you go. This class is useful for everyone, beginners to intermediate students!

Audrey Walzer is the owner & director of the Camarillo Yoga Center and specializes in “Yoga for Regular People.” Her teaching has evolved from an Iyengar & Viniyoga foundation over 20 years and tens of thousands of students, to a personal style which meets the needs of individuals who do not live in classic “yogi bodies.” Audrey’s teaching goal is that students learn personal responsibility for their practice through the integration of breath and asana, and deep understanding of the function of each asana, in addition to adaptations to personalize their practice, both in the yoga room and in their daily lives. Visit the Camarillo Yoga website, where “Yoga is for Every Body” at www.camarilloyoga.com [photo]

1 PM: Maribeth Hammond ~ Slow Flow Liquid Yoga ~ 60 mins. ~ Small Room

A flow class combining breath, range of motion and vinyasa flow. Juicing up the joints, invigorating the spinal energies, and strengthening your foundation! You will leave feeling the union of body, mind and spirit.

Maribeth Hammond, E.R.Y.T. 500, is the director of The Yoga Channel at Silver Strand Beach. She has earned registration and recognition by the Yoga Alliance for her more than 7,500 hours of yoga instruction. She currently teaches all levels of classes, a variety of specialty workshops, stress reduction programs for the Ventura County Fire Dept. and is offering a Yoga Alliance approved and registered teacher training program at the 200 hour level. Maribeth brings body alignment, flexibility, spiritual awareness and serenity from over 30 years of meditation practice into her work. [photo]

2 PM: Suza Francina ~ Lying Down Poses ~ 90 mins ~ Ballroom

A rejuvenating sequence of effective stretching and relaxing poses on the mat, including the Reclining Leg-Stretch Pose, Hip Openers and Lying Twist Poses. These poses stretch the front and back of the legs, lower back muscles and create flexibility in the hip and shoulder joints.

Suza Francina is a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher. She began teaching yoga in 1972 and is a pioneer in the field of teaching yoga to people at midlife and older. Her first book, Yoga for People Over 50, was published in 1977. She is the author of The New Yoga for People Over 50 (Health Communications, Inc., 1997); Yoga and the Wisdom of Menopause (HCI, 2003); and The New Yoga for Healthy Aging (HCI 2007). Her books are published in several languages including German, Russian and Portuguese. She is a contributing author to twelve books and writes for print and web publications locally, nationally and internationally. She is currently completing a spiritual memoir: Autobiography of a Yogini. For more information visit www.suzafrancina.com. [photo]

3 PM: Vishnuprem ~ The Simplicity of Yoga ~ 90 mins ~ Small Room

Rediscover the basic elements of yoga practice: breathing, posture and relaxation, in order to feel the freshness and aliveness of your entire being.

Vishnuprem is a certified Sivananda yoga teacher who has practiced and taught for 20 years. Trained by Swami Vishnu-devananda, he was a staff member of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers (ISYVC). He teaches authentic classical Hatha Yoga, including breathing, a balanced set of postures, and deep relaxation. [photo]

4 PM: Hemalayaa ~ Joyful Yoga & Dance: The Unity of Yoga and Indian Dance ~ 60 mins ~ Ballroom

Inspired by yoga, classical Indian dance along with modern styles of Indian dance. This class will make you feel as if you’ve danced away your cares and carbs! It will do wonders for lifting your spirit. By the end of the class you’ll definitely be dancing as if nobody’s watching. One of the ways we’ll get there is through a series of moves that allow us to shed our fears and sense of inhibition. We’ll learn to release any tension or sense of burden from our bodies. What is unique about this class is that it works to build up our spirit while it strengthens our body. In this class, we’ll release and cleanse ourselves of self-doubt and stress. Then we use the movement to embrace and affirm our greatest qualities. It is the perfect way to release inhibitions, embrace your body, and fall in love with yourself. Caution: Known side effects include smiling, breaking into cool dance moves and feeling great!

Hemalayaa has shared her gift of joy, laughter and dance throughout the world: teaching workshops, classes & retreats in some of the most beautiful settings. Hemalayaa is the creator and author of fitness DVDs including The Bollywood Dance Workout, Beautiful Belly and Bollywood Booty. Hemalayaa’s work has appeared in LA Yoga Magazine, Yogi Times, Fit Yoga and The New York Times. Recently you might have seen Hemalayaa shimmying with Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show or strutting with the staff of the Today Show. She invites workshop participants to embark on a journey of finding their true authentic selves. [photo]

5 PM: Kira Ryder ~ Sweet Vinyasa ~ 90 mins ~ Small Room

With an emphasis on diving in deep, this practice requires the willingness to surrender to what is. Practice will move at a slow country pace to allow for exploration and connection to the internal currents. What we do exactly will depend on who shows up.

Kira Ryder’s yoga home is Lulu Bandha’s in Ojai, California, which plays host to the annual Ojai Yoga Crib. Named one of Yoga Journal’s Top 21 Teachers under 40 in March 2008, Kira’s style emphasizes cultivating awareness and finding your own groove. While she has had many wonderful teachers, her main influences are Erich Schiffmann, Patricia Sullivan, Paul Grilley and Uma Goswami. www.lulubandhas.com [photo]

7 PM: Ojai Kirtan Band ~ Kirtan Chanting ~ 2 hrs ~ Ballroom

An uplifting and fun evening of kirtan chanting with the Ojai Kirtan Band! [photo]