An Insightful Weekend Of Yoga with Leslie Howard

March 1-2, 2025
In-Studio Only

We welcome Leslie Howard, an internationally acclaimed yoga educator who pioneered the growing field of yoga for pelvic health. Join us this weekend and you will be more educated about your body and happier and healthier incorporating Leslie's suggestions into your life!

Saturday, March 1, 1-5:30pm
Pelvic Floor Yoga Workshop for Women*

Proper strengthening and stabilizing of the pelvic floor helps to create the correct foundation of each movement in the body. This is the true meaning of "core work." Whether you experience any of these conditions, or are just plain curious about this region of the body, this workshop is for you:
~ pelvic pain 
~ lower back, hip or groin problems 
~ discomfort during sex or while using tampons
~ leak when laughing or sneezing
~ have to go the bathroom too often 
~ prolapsed organs 
~ pre & post pregnancy  
The workshop will begin with anatomy lecture, followed by subtle experiential movements to awaken your understanding of this often ignored area. Then there will be yoga practices for hypertonic and hypotonic pelvic floors. A series of specific exercises and asanas for the pelvic floor will follow. Handouts will be provided. Bring your friends, sisters, mothers and daughters. Although helpful, no yoga experience is required. This workshop qualifies for continuing education credits with Yoga Alliance. Handouts will be provided. 
*or women identified

Sunday, March 2, 10-12am
Smart Ass, Dumb Ass: Yoga for the Glutes

Do you over grip your butt muscles with all of your might in yoga poses or is there a “lazy ass” you may not be aware of? Each gluteal group  consists of 3 muscles: Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius and Gluteus Minimus hence, we have six butts!
How the rump works in yoga poses can affect change in the hip socket, where the sacrum sits, how the legs work and how you experience the pose. This workshop was so well received at the Yoga Journal conference that they wrote an article inspired by it in the March 2015 issue. Leslie developed it as an extension of her work with the pelvic floor after noticing how many yogis/yoginis were not using their buttocks muscles properly.
This workshop will give you a deeper understanding of the anatomy used in standing poses and hip opening poses. As a result, you will experience familiar poses in an unfamiliar way.
This workshop qualifies for Yoga Alliance CEUs.

Sunday, March 2, 2-4pm
Psoas (pronounced so-as), SO happy: Yoga for the Hip Flexors

The psoas is the all star in a group of muscles called the hip flexors. Together they contract to lift the thigh towards the torso. The hip flexors become short, tight and just generally unhappy if you spend most of your life sitting, or if you repeatedly work them in the abs class from hell or the spin class from heaven.
A tight psoas can cause posture problems and affect your ability to take a deep breath.  If the psoas is tight when you stand up, it pulls the lumbar spine forward and down toward the femur, overarching the low back, which can cause compression in the vertebra. Or, a weak and overstretched psoas can contribute to the pelvis pushing forward of the torso and when accompanied by tight hamstrings that pull down on the sitting bones, what results is an upright sacrum (instead of its usual gentle forward tilt), and a flat lumbar spine. How we approach the psoas in our yoga practice can help keep it healthy, strong, and flexible, or, conversely, can perpetuate harmful imbalances. 
This workshop is open to all levels of practitioner.  Come experience this important muscle, how to release it and how to strengthen it in balance.

Leslie Howard is an Oakland-based yoga teacher, specializing in all things pelvic. She leads workshops and trainings worldwide and has written a book about the female pelvis, Pelvic Liberation. She is a regular presenter for the Yoga Journal conferences and a regular contributor to Yoga Journal magazine.  Her own struggles with healing her hips and pelvis led her to intense study of the anatomy, physiology, cultural messaging, history and energetics of this rich place. Her teaching is informed by over 3500 hours of yoga study with senior Iyengar yoga teachers, notably Ramanand Patel and Peter Thompson. She has designed two very successful studies for University of California, San Francisco on yoga to alleviate incontinence and pelvic pain. To learn more about Leslie, visit:www.lesliehowardyoga.com

Tuition:
All Three Workshops $235, Early Bird $210 Before 2/15
Individual Workshops:
Saturday, Pelvic Floor $125
Sunday workshops $60 each
Space is limited! Pre-registration required.
Please call 626-403-3961