Living Your Yoga With Dr Melissa West

In this 30 minute hatha yoga class Melissa West will connect you to the warrior archetype as part of her Masculine and Feminine Polarity Series. Regardless of our gender we all have masculine and feminine energy within us. The masculine and feminine energies within us create polarity within us. When they are in balance and harmony we feel better! Throughout this series, we will bring the unhealthy and wounded aspects of our masculine and feminine sides out of the shadows. The wounded masculine and feminine from our ego, fear and darkness and cause us to suffer. When we bring the light of awareness to the shadow sides of our masculine and feminine wounding, we can heal and transform into healthy and divine energy. This 30 minute hatha yoga class will feature the warrior poses: warrior one, warrior two and warrior three as a way to connect with the sacred masculine warrior archetype. Balanced warrior energy provides the divine masculine with an unsurpassable power source which will fuel the inner masculine to

This restorative yoga class combines restorative yoga postures including reclined bound angle pose and simple, easy reclined flowing yoga poses to connect with our divine feminine energy and in particular our womb wisdom. Regardless of whether you have a womb or not, we can all connect with our womb wisdom. Regardless of our gender we all have masculine and feminine energy within us. The masculine and feminine energies within us create polarity within us. When they are in balance and harmony we feel better! Throughout this series, we will bring the unhealthy and wounded aspects of our masculine and feminine sides out of the shadows. The wounded masculine and feminine from our ego, fear and darkness and cause us to suffer. When we bring the light of awareness to the shadow sides of our masculine and feminine wounding, we can heal and transform into healthy and divine energy. Through our wombs we can explore, express, release and reveal any emotions that have been lurking underneath, waiting to be seen. Anyth

Regardless of our gender we all have masculine and feminine energy within us. The masculine and feminine energies within us create polarity within us. When they are in balance and harmony we feel better! Throughout this series, we will bring the unhealthy and wounded aspects of our masculine and feminine sides out of the shadows. The wounded masculine and feminine from our ego, fear and darkness and cause us to suffer. When we bring the light of awareness to the shadow sides of our masculine and feminine wounding, we can heal and transform into healthy and divine energy. In our wounded state, we may get triggered by an outside experience or person. The wounded masculine may feel: competitive, controlling, aggressive, withdrawing, intimidating or defensive. When we heal our emotional wounds and traumas, we are able to be present and compassionate with ourselves in difficult and triggering situations. Then the divine masculine is: supportive, present, focused, holds space, assertive, resilient, protects bounda

The push to hustle and grind is burning out the Divine feminine energy. We know our inner feminine is imbalanced when we experience ourselves pushing to be more productive and trying to make things happen. This leaves the feminine feeling tired and worn out. Perhaps you are feeling caught up in comparison and no longer feel like you can trust the mysterious unfolding of your life. This tension shows up as mistrust in your physical body, pain, and lack of self love and self nourishment. This yoga nidra will activate your Goddess energy to be release the wounded feminine. Regardless of our gender we all have masculine and feminine energy within us. When they are in balance and harmony we feel better! The feminine waters are restored through slowing down, rest, focusing internally and receiving nourishing energy. In short, by being rather than doing. This healing yoga nidra will soften and unwind the unconscious programming that the feminine could ever find their worth in productivity and allow you to unravel i

Regardless of our gender we all have masculine and feminine energy within us. The masculine and feminine energies within us create polarity within us. When they are in balance and harmony we feel better! Throughout this series we will bring the unhealthy and wounded aspects of our masculine and feminine sides out of the shadows. The wounded masculine and feminine from our ego, fear and darkness and cause us to suffer. When we bring the light of awareness to the shadow sides of our masculine and feminine wounding, we can heal and transform into healthy and divine energy. The wounded masculine is withdrawn, avoidant, and unstable. We experience the wounded masculine when we are disconnected from our feelings, abandoning ourselves when we are stressed, anxious, depressed, dysregulated. When we heal our inner divine masculine we are fully present for ourselves, no matter what is happening in our lives, with non-abandoning attention, with loving kindness and without judgment. We are our own biggest supporters. We

This gorgeous yoga nidra meditation will support you in surrendering into sacred space. It is a beautiful yoga nidra meditation that you can practice to start your day so that you inhabit your day with devotion and sacred attention. You may choose to practice in the early afternoon to support your digestion. You may choose to practice in the evening to support your sacred sleep. The yoga nidra meditation invites you into the sacred space of your body with poetry by Jeff Foster and beautiful quotes by John O’Donohue. Through breath and gently easing your awareness into your body and the sacred space all around you, I will guide you through conscious circulation through your body, contemplation of opposites and finally dropping into the liminal space of yoga nidra. May this practice support you in letting go into divine and sacred rest.

Morning Yoga Qigong Fusion In July I will support our members in sympathetic joy with our monthly calendars, daily yoga connection, and live yin class on sympathetic joy. We have something super special coming up in August so be sure to subscribe. This qigong yoga fusion flow will begin with cultivating the energy with a heart massage and getting the energy flowing through the heart and small intestine meridians. From there we will move into warrior one pose to do prayer wings to warm up our spine and open our hearts to joy even further. We will cleanse and release stagnant energy with arm swings in chair pose and come into tadasana to circle the radiant joy with a joy facial. Stepping back into warrior one, we will part the clouds to clear the way for radiant joy. In Goddess Victory Squat we will circulate joy with cloud hands to calm our mind and clear our emotions. The lotus flow will continue to circulate the joy through our bodies and radiate joy out into the world. Big Bear Circulates the moon toge

Yin Yoga This 30 min yin yoga will open your heart and pressurize the tissues of your heart meridian to create the conditions for compassion and self compassion to naturally arise within you. This 30 minute yin yoga class will focus on your upper body, fire element and is great for your posture as well. We all innately embody compassion. We have been taught to take refuge in our minds, and to not embody the heart space of the body. What is most fundamental in our lives is love. Compassion is when we meet some internal or external suffering. With compassion, there will be a felt sense of tenderness in our bodies. In yin yoga we are not trying to get somewhere or get over anything. We are interested in allowing the felt sensation of gentle pressure of the qi in our bodies to be our compassionate guide through our class. Yin Yoga Sequence Fish Pose Half Heart Melting Pose Broken Wing Pose Fish Pose Props Needed: 2 blocks

Non Sleep Deep Rest for Beginners In this non sleep deep rest I will gently guide you through a body scan to help you relax, reduce stress and fall asleep more easily. Non-sleep deep rest, or yoga nidra, is the kind of rest you get when your body is in a relaxed state, but your mind is still awake. NSDR involves slowing down your brain wave frequency, similar to what happens during sleep, only that in this case you're awake. Non sleep deep rest is a very easy guided meditation that you do lying down. It will take you into deep non-REM delta wave sleep while you are completely awake and aware. It is deep awareness, stillness, rest and relaxation that you can do at any time of day or night. Think of it like a relaxing body scan. Non sleep deep rest is recommended by Stanford neuroscientist and researcher Dr. Andrew Huberman. According to Dr. Huberman, non sleep deep rest can put the body in a restorative state, similar to sleep. I feel grateful to have been listening to Dr. Huberman’s podcast for several ye

10 min Morning Qigong This beginner qigong yoga fusion flow will combine some of the best yoga and qigong from a standing position. No props are needed, not even a yoga mat. The sequence will begin with knocking on the door of life to generate the vitality and life force energy that you need for your practice. You will follow with some purging qigong exercises to release sympathetic activation and negative qi so that you can move pure qi through your body during your morning practice to set you up for your day. From there we will follow up with several movements that will release your shoulders and your neck combining qigong movements in your upper body, with yoga shapes in your lower body. We will round out our qigong morning routine with a soothing yin massage and drawing down the heavens so that you can gather in whatever energy you need for the day. Morning Qigong Yoga Flow for Beginners Sequence: KNOCKING ON THE DOOR OF LIFE SHAKING LIKE A TREE DROPPING THE POST ROOSTER SPREADS ITS WINGS in WARRIOR

10 min Morning Mudra Flow This moving mudra series along with guided meditation and affirmations for your day will support you in self trust, trusting your inner guidance, finding freedom, harmony, balance, connecting with your inner truth, centering and grounding in your radiance light. Props Needed: Meditation Cushion or Chair for Sitting Mudras in the Series: Vajrapradama Mudra Hridaya Mudra Garuda Mudra Matsya Mudra Samputa Mudra Trimurta Mudra Prithivi Mudra Surya Mudra Bhu Muda

Vagus Nerve Restorative Yoga The pathway of the vagus nerve runs from the brainstem through the neck, throat, lungs, heart and digestive system. This restorative yoga class for the vagus nerve will focus on regulating your vagus nerve so that you can move through your days with more safety, connection, and ease. When your vagus nerve is regulated you will be able to go with the flow, feel safely embodied, connected with yourself, people, pets, spirit and nature. You will feel at home in your environment and in harmony with your spirit. The common irritations of the day will not bother you and life will feel more manageable. In this restorative yoga class for your ventral vagus nerve, we will focus on regulating your vagus nerve through the use of supportive props like a blanket, bolster, eye pillow, and blocks. Restorative Yoga Sequence for Your Vagus Nerve Vagus Nerve Reset Myofascial Release for Diaphragm Psoas Release over Bolster Supported Fish Pose Supported Twist Savasana Poem: From Blossoms

Yin Yoga Grace This 30 minute full yin yoga class with props will support you in cultivating grace with long holds. The focus will be on hips and hip openers with the support of props and lots of modifications. This full yin yoga class is great for back pain and lower back pain. It is suitable for beginners and intermediate level yin yogis and suggestions will be given for each level with props and modifications.  30 minute Yin Yoga Sequence for Grace:  Centering Sleeping Swan Shoe Lace with Rotation Savasana

Oceanside

Qigong Yoga Fusion This hatha yoga qigong fusion class will combine hatha yoga with fountain pose from qigong. Starting in mountain pose, moving to tree pose. We will focus on the kinds of abundance that you want to draw into your life. Additionally, this class will open up your lungs so that you can breathe in more inspiration and good quality and integrity of qi. We will practice fountain pose from easy pose and finish our class in savasana with a poem by William Bly. This short yoga class for abundance will focus on drawing in prosperity and abundance in a simple and easy way. It would be a great class to practice during the full moon to celebrate abundance and prosperity. Poem: The Shocks we Put Our Pitchforks Into William Bly

Morning Energy Boost In this short yoga class we will create an energy boost for focus and relaxation. By starting with centering we will gather the energy in stillness, connect with the energy of the earth and breathe into the deep resource of your kidneys to draw on the integrity of your qi. Moving on to the spinal energy series we will release your spine and draw on the deep well of energy in your lower dantien, moving in through your body with ease. Inspired by qigong, we will shake our body to draw energy into our organs and our joints. Locust pose will focus on the deep resource of prenatal qi available to us in our kidneys. Finally with matsyendrasana we will release excess qi and come back to our centers. Our poem for today is: I am laid bare by Zoey Quiney

Yoga Nidra for Chronic Pain Welcome to this yoga nidra for chronic pain. Living with chronic pain can become all-consuming, affecting all aspects of our lives and over time it can feel like there is no way out. No matter how hard we try there is no escape. It is easy to feel hopeless and helpless. I have found that offering myself self compassion and attending to the secondary bracing that can come from the pain can help to create some space around the physical, mental, emotional and energetic effects of chronic pain. Please know that you are not alone in this experience. Unfortunately, globally it is estimated that about 1 in 5 people or 1.5 billion people worldwide experience chronic pain. I know that pain can be so isolating, but you are not alone. Others feel this too. May you offer yourself the compassion that you need in your chronic pain May you accept yourself, exactly as you are, even in the midst of chronic pain. May you forgive yourself for experiencing pain and know that you are worthy just for

Yin Yoga for Creative Fuel Part 2 This yin yoga sequence for creativity we will practice yin yoga poses to generate creativity. The poses will be accompanied by readings from Chris-Anne’s Sacred Creator’s Oracle Deck to inspire creativity and innovation in your life.  Yin Yoga Sequence for Creativity  Centering 5 mins  Pigeon - 5 mins each side Dragon - 3 mins each side Twisted Roots - 3 mins each side  Savasana - 5 mins    Resources:  Sacred Creators Oracle by Chris-Anne  Amazon.com https://amzn.to/2XjSB5V  Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3siKnGJ    To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings by John O’Donohue  Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3shHciu  Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3k1kk3f 

Yin Yoga In this yin yoga sequence for creativity we will practice 4 yin yoga poses to generate creativity. The poses will be accompanied by readings from Chris-Anne’s Sacred Creator’s Oracle Deck to inspire creativity and innovation in your life.  Yin Yoga Sequence for Creativity Centering - 5 mins  Butterfly - 5 mins  Shoelace Legs with Eagle’s Arms - 3 mins each side  Bananasana - 5 mins each side  Savasana - 5 mins    Resources:  Sacred Creators Oracle by Chris-Anne  Amazon.com https://amzn.to/2XjSB5V  Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3siKnGJ    To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings by John O’Donohue  Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3shHciu  Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3k1kk3f 

Restorative Yoga We are going through a profound time of spiritual awakening. Even for those of us who have been on the spiritual path for many years, decades even, are being asked to awaken to new and deeper levels of trust, love and peace. Our souls are encouraging us to let go of old habitual ways of being where we hustled for our worth, listened to our inner critic, pushed to do more and be more, and were caught up in people-pleasing. To a certain extent we put our trust in our reactivity and our inner critic, This is a transitional time. It is one where the old ways have not fully let go even though we can see clearly to embrace trusting peace and calm. The intention in this class is to trust being peaceful, calm, warm, non-reactive, loving and kind towards ourselves more than we trust our reactivity, distress, stress, suffering, anxiety and depression. Can we trust the place of CALM within us and TRUST that that place of peacefulness is a WISE place to be. There is safety inside of us. As we gradually