Teachers: Develop Your Foundation ...

The teacher clinics at Functional Synergy are for yoga teachers, teacher trainees and yoga students who want to learn more. They are part of a unique process to help you understand anatomy in movement - not only the names of muscles and where they are located, and which asanas do this or that, but also to truly understand how a body moves.

I've been where you are.

 If you are like me, you have a deep heart desire to help others get out of pain and into a more comfortable state of being. You want to continue to learn and grow and develop your skill.

Helping people get out of pain requires a fine blend of knowing biomechanics, understanding breath, relaxation and ease, understanding energy flow, being familiar with the healing process, being insightful of people's personalities and temperaments, and being able to work from your heart and your head, all while being steady and grounded.

Here is the path:

• Kinesiology of Yoga

• Therapeutic Yoga Intensive

• How To Teach Restorative Yoga

• Improve Your Ability to See

• Yoga Therapy Certification Program

The first four are currently being  offered in Calgary in March 2012, in Vancouver in June 2012 and in Toronto in September 2012. To check out the dates, prices and details - go to www.functionalsynergy.com/shop/trainings.

Kinesiology of Yoga

If you are new to my style of teaching, this is the necessary pre-requisite for the Therapeutic Yoga Intensive. I call it my "no fuss, no muss", let's get into the Annaymaya Kosha and dig into biomechanics. When you leave you will understand biomechanical principles as they relate to asanas, alignment and yoga cueing. We'll explore physical concepts - fascia, muscle, bone, and how these concepts work together to create a yoga practice. Come to this session if you have ever asked "why do some teachers teach heel to arch, and others heel to heel"; or  "why do some students understand a yoga cue and others don't"; or "why am I so darn stuck in this pose, nothing I do seems to help". Join me - let's dig in, let's create some physical space so that tapas can occur and prana can arise.

To register: go to www.functionalsynergy.com/shop/trainings.

Therapeutic Yoga Intensive

This session is for you to build your knowledge of movement, breath and ease . . . both for your own body as well as deepening your understanding of how to help another. I will show you the foundational basics of what I do with each person I see, and how you can apply it to your students.

I've had much success since 1993 when I first started working therapeutically with movement. Back then I was an exercise therapist. In 1999, I started using yoga - breath, asanas, and philosophy to help people out of pain. It is a great pleasure for me to share what I have seen work.

The purpose of the Therapeutic Yoga Intensive is two-fold:

1. To experience a depth of ease that you didn't feel was quite possible before.
2. To learn the basics of working with therapeutic yoga "Functional Synergy style" so that after 4 days you can get back into your teaching and apply what you have learned.

These 4 days are transformative, and even the most skeptical yoga teachers who have applied these techniques have been simply amazed with the results. The keys are to understand how a body moves and to understand the relationship between body movement, lack of movement, breath and emotional states. When you understand and can apply these concepts, you'll be able to help many, many people.
Bonus: During the training you will receive both a manual and a bundle of yoga props so you can integrate these concepts immediately into your teaching.

Pre-Requisite: You must have 12 hours of training with me prior to registering for Therapeutic Yoga Intensive. If you already have had 12 hours with me, great. Otherwise, Kinesiology of Yoga counts as the pre-quisite and is always offered in the two days just prior to Therapeuctic Yoga Intensive.

To register: go to www.functionalsynergy.com/shop/trainings.

How To Teach Restorative Yoga

The two greatest results from teaching restorative yoga are:

• Your students experience deep relaxation, and;
• Your students are able to take that deep relaxation off the bolster and into their life.

This training will give you tools to be able to achieve these results, consistently, sustainable and with ease. We will explore:
1. The art and science of propping from a biomechanical and deep relaxation perspective. We'll use bolsters, pads, blankets and blocks to achieve those results.
2. How you use your voice, your language and your presence to help your students develop deep relaxation.
3. The step-by-step of how to help your students integrate the deep relaxation they achieved on the bolster, so that it becomes a more natural state in their life.

Pre-Requisite: You must have taken Therapeutic Yoga Intensive prior to this training.
To register: go to www.functionalsynergy.com/shop/trainings.

Improve Your Ability to See

This is your chance to hone your ability to "see". You will learn, understand and see what is going on beneath the skin. We will explore, for example, why some SI Joint pain only releases with shoulder work, while other SI Joint pain releases with pelvic work. In all this 2 day program will "give you eyes" and you will leave with an understanding of how musculo-skeletal-fascial relationship relate to movement and to yoga. It will enhance your assessment skills and transform your teaching.

Pre-Requisite: You must have taken Therapeutic Yoga Intensive prior to this training.

To register: go to www.functionalsynergy.com/shop/trainings.

... Advance your Practice

Mentorship Program

This monthly mentoring program is only for yoga teachers that have completed the Therapeutic Yoga Intensive and want to be part of a growing community to connect, share, brainstorm and grow. Not only will you receive a monthly lesson from Susi packed with ideas and considerations for your practice, you will also have the opportuntity to teach and share with the others on the board, and brainstorm on student issues. It is an amazing community who share your thinking, provide reminders on the principles you learned at the Intensive. If you are interested in joining this program and have completed the Therapeutic Yoga Intensive, please email us at health@functionalsynergy.com

Assistants Program

The assistants program is for yoga teachers who want to work with Susi at her trainings and who want to make a difference for the participants in the room. We are finalizing details on this program, and if you are interested in any of the trainings, please email us at health@functionalsynergy.com. Assistants can only participate in this program if they have completed the training themselves. (ie: to assist at Improve Your Ability to See - you must have taken this training).

Yoga Therapy Certification Program

My Yoga Therapy Certification Program is a comprehensive program designed to develop you into a highly skilled therapeutic yoga teacher. I will share the skills and tools
necessary to get great results with students. The next program begins in Aug 2012 and the application deadline is June 15, 2012.
What you will learn can be divided into two broad categories:
1. Therapeutic yoga techniques and program design that are proven to help people get well. You'll have the tools to work with many different clients, with many different
conditions.
2. Instructions and guidance in how to work successfully with clients. You'll learn how to work with clients one-on-one, in group programs and in workshops. You’ll learn that it is
in the space between the client and teacher where the healing occurs.
In the end you'll be confident that you can teach your clients how to get out of pain and you'll have the information and tools to help them every step of the way.

If you are interested in this program - please email us at health@functionalsynergy.com for more info. You must have completed Kinesiology of Yoga, Therapeutic Yoga Intensive, How To Teach Restorative Yoga and Improve Your Ability To See prior to applying to this program and have put the knowledge from these programs into practice for 3 months.

Doing some (serious!) good

CalmSteadyStrong(tm)

Help them answer the question "now what?", help them improve their quality of life, manage depression, and improve their functional movement so they can pick up the pieces and regain life. 

What is Calm.Steady.Strong?Calm.Steady.Strong is based on yogaTHRIVE - a researched-based, therapeutic yoga program for cancer survivors and their friends and family that was conducted at the University of Calgary. Past participants have found significant benefits in overall mood, stress level, physical strength and quality of life. I created this gentle, 7-week yoga program, which is based on hatha yoga, but has been modified for those who have or have had cancer - especially those who are experiencing stiffness, pain, stress or fatigue.

Teachers who have trained with me have now set up classes in Calgary, Toronto, Red Deer, Didsbury, Edmonton, Victoria, Vancouver, Saskatchewan, Grand Prairie, Invermere, Lethbridge, and Newfoundland. This year we trained teachers from Kelowna, San Francisco, Montana, Fernie, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatchewan and Invermere.

The yogaTHRIVE ttp is designed for yoga teachers who want to expand their knowledge and expertise.

You will learn:

About the effects of chemotherapy and radiation and the general physiology of someone who has had or currently has cancer;

How yoga works to improve the situation anatomically, physiologically and psychologically;

How to modify the poses for physical issues both related and unrelated to a cancer experience.

We are currently have this program under development and will let you know when the next training will occur. Contact us at health@functionalsynergy.com.