Queer Yoga - Finding your Practice

Discover the transformative power of pranayama, the ancient art of working with our breath, in an immersive one-day workshop.

Held on 17th November from 10 AM to 3 PM in Manchester, this session is designed to deepen your understanding of breath and its profound impact on your physical and emotional well-being.

**Workshop Highlights: **

• Interactive: Engage in hands-on practice of powerful pranayama techniques to sooth your nervous system, release emotions, balance your mind and also energise and focus you.
• Anatomy and Emotion: Gain insights into the anatomy of breath and explore how breathing influences your emotions, aiding in emotional release and personal transformation.
  This workshop will guide you through experiences, reflecting in a group setting, understanding the anatomical theory and the yogic teaching of what we experience and then planning on how we can use the techniques in our lives in a manageable way.

**Who is this for?: **

This workshop is perfect for anyone looking to enhance their wellness journey, including:

• Yoga practitioners seeking to deepen their practice
• Individuals interested in holistic health and self-care
• Those experiencing stress or emotional blockages
• Anyone curious about the power of breath and its impact on life

**Benefits of Attending: **

• Enhanced Well-being: Learn techniques to manage stress, increase energy, and improve mental clarity.
• Emotional Release: Experience the cathartic power of breath in releasing stored emotions and fostering emotional balance.
• Community Connection: Engage with like-minded individuals in a supportive and inclusive environment, fostering a sense of belonging and shared growth.
• Practical Skills: Leave with a personalised breath practice plan to integrate into your daily life, enhancing your overall wellness.

What to bring

• a yoga or exercise may may be helpful if you would like to be on the floor.

• just yourself and curiosity

• your lunch

Agenda:

• 10:00 AM: Welcome and Inclusion Practice

• 10:30 AM: Interactive Pranayama Techniques

• 11:00 AM: Anatomy of Breath

• 11:30 AM: Break

• 11:45 AM: Pranayama Fundamentals

• 12:15 PM: Emotional Release through Breath

• 12:45 PM: Advanced Pranayama Practices

• 1:15 PM: Lunch - please bring your own or there are some cafes close

• 1:45 PM: Integrating Breath into Daily Life

• 2:15 PM: Closing Reflection and Sharing

• 2:45 PM: Farewell and Next Steps

You are welcome to stay for queer hatha yoga from 3:30-4:45 after.

Join us for a day of transformation and empowerment. Discover how mastering your breath can lead to a more balanced, peaceful, and fulfilling life. Secure your spot today and take the first step towards unlocking the true potential of your breath!

This is a breath-based yoga practice for the LGBTQI+ community and allies to come together to practice one of the elements or limbs of yoga - asana (the movement bit).

The session is focused on beginners and those who want to re root to their foundational practice. There is no need to wear special yoga clothing (unless you want to) and this class is not about the Instagramable look in many crazy positions - nor do you need to be flexible or fit already.

Come as you are and work with your body and go from there.

Before you attend:

i ask all participants to kindly complete the form that will be emailed to you before attending your first session to ensure everyone is safe and there is a clear agreement about working together. If you have any questions, please use the chat button, I'l be glad to help out.

What to expect:
The session begins with a few minutes to welcome and we get into breath practice.
We start to bring in movement before practising together a flow that warms up the body. You can adjustments or physicalcal support can be opted in to If youd likee them.
We will then practice a number of asanas - postures with both movement and some holding.
We finish practice with a deep rest, guided relaxation and some silent sitting.

After the session:
Ed shares a recorded practice of the sequence so that you can practice at home between sessions if you wish. This means that you can develop and access the benefits outside of group practice. Ed is also available to answer questions via WhatsApp in the week. This isn't required but is highly recommended. Regular practice is very powerful.

What to bring:

1. something comfy to wear. This isn't a workout but you may want to bring a spare t shirt. There are toilets to change in.
2. yoga mat or you can buy one from Ed in advance if you don't have one.
3. 2x blocks or 2 thick hardback books - for balance and making postures more comfortable
4. a blanket or a large scarf to cover yourself if you like during the rest stage

Transform your day with group meditation practice.

In the ancient writings of Yoga, meditation is one of the key steps on the path to enlightenment, seeing the world clearly. In Buddhism, meditation is a key aspect of ‘awakening’ but awakening to what?

Meditation is more than mindfulness and wellbeing. It is a crucial tool in experiential understanding on how to end human suffering. Almost all our suffering is created in the mind, it’s not the thing that happens, or doesn’t happen, the sensation or whatever the object is, no it’s actually the thoughts we have about the object that perpetuate long after the object or stimulus has passed that cause the pain.

Experiencing this truth has powerful consequences for how we live our lives.

Meditation isn’t something you do, although we can set an intention to meditate. Meditation is something that arises if the conditions are right. In our practices we focus on creating those conditions in the mind-body.

• adjusting the body to be comfortable
• developing our ability to concentrate
• becoming aware of how sensations arise and dissipate in the body
• focusing on objects to help us experience sensations in the body.

Some of the benefits of regular practice

• increased ability to handle our emotions and situations
• greater sense of peace and calm
• increased confidence to be able to participate fully in life.
• improved physical and mental condition

Join in a chair, on the floor, or lying down as you prefer. Sessions open to complete beginners and those who don’t find sitting still easy or those with busy minds.

In this practice, we are based on the floor, even in bed in our comfy clothes. We move through a number of postures where we seek to release tension over longer periods of time, dropping in to the breath and allowing the surface beneath us to hold us and gravity to do all the work.

We end with a sound bowl meditation and some guided medtiation toward sleep and if you wish, you could close your device and drift off to sleep.

This is a breath-based yoga practice for the LGBTQI+ community and allies to come together to practice one of the elements or limbs of yoga - asana (the movement bit).

The session is focused on beginners and those who want to re root to their foundational practice. There is no need to wear special yoga clothing (unless you want to) and this class is not about the Instagramable look in many crazy positions - nor do you need to be flexible or fit already.

Come as you are and work with your body and go from there.

Before you attend:

i ask all participants to kindly complete the form that will be emailed to you before attending your first session to ensure everyone is safe and there is a clear agreement about working together. If you have any questions, please use the chat button, I'l be glad to help out.

What to expect:
The session begins with a few minutes to welcome and we get into breath practice.
We start to bring in movement before practising together a flow that warms up the body. You can adjustments or physicalcal support can be opted in to If youd likee them.
We will then practice a number of asanas - postures with both movement and some holding.
We finish practice with a deep rest, guided relaxation and some silent sitting.

After the session:
Ed shares a recorded practice of the sequence so that you can practice at home between sessions if you wish. This means that you can develop and access the benefits outside of group practice. Ed is also available to answer questions via WhatsApp in the week. This isn't required but is highly recommended. Regular practice is very powerful.

What to bring:

1. something comfy to wear. This isn't a workout but you may want to bring a spare t shirt. There are toilets to change in.
2. yoga mat or you can buy one from Ed in advance if you don't have one.
3. 2x blocks or 2 thick hardback books - for balance and making postures more comfortable
4. a blanket or a large scarf to cover yourself if you like during the rest stage

Transform your day with group meditation practice.

In the ancient writings of Yoga, meditation is one of the key steps on the path to enlightenment, seeing the world clearly. In Buddhism, meditation is a key aspect of ‘awakening’ but awakening to what?

Meditation is more than mindfulness and wellbeing. It is a crucial tool in experiential understanding on how to end human suffering. Almost all our suffering is created in the mind, it’s not the thing that happens, or doesn’t happen, the sensation or whatever the object is, no it’s actually the thoughts we have about the object that perpetuate long after the object or stimulus has passed that cause the pain.

Experiencing this truth has powerful consequences for how we live our lives.

Meditation isn’t something you do, although we can set an intention to meditate. Meditation is something that arises if the conditions are right. In our practices we focus on creating those conditions in the mind-body.

• adjusting the body to be comfortable
• developing our ability to concentrate
• becoming aware of how sensations arise and dissipate in the body
• focusing on objects to help us experience sensations in the body.

Some of the benefits of regular practice

• increased ability to handle our emotions and situations
• greater sense of peace and calm
• increased confidence to be able to participate fully in life.
• improved physical and mental condition

Join in a chair, on the floor, or lying down as you prefer. Sessions open to complete beginners and those who don’t find sitting still easy or those with busy minds.

In this practice, we are based on the floor, even in bed in our comfy clothes. We move through a number of postures where we seek to release tension over longer periods of time, dropping in to the breath and allowing the surface beneath us to hold us and gravity to do all the work.

We end with a sound bowl meditation and some guided medtiation toward sleep and if you wish, you could close your device and drift off to sleep.

This is a breath-based yoga practice for the LGBTQI+ community and allies to come together to practice one of the elements or limbs of yoga - asana (the movement bit).

The session is focused on beginners and those who want to re root to their foundational practice. There is no need to wear special yoga clothing (unless you want to) and this class is not about the Instagramable look in many crazy positions - nor do you need to be flexible or fit already.

Come as you are and work with your body and go from there.

Before you attend:

i ask all participants to kindly complete the form that will be emailed to you before attending your first session to ensure everyone is safe and there is a clear agreement about working together. If you have any questions, please use the chat button, I'l be glad to help out.

What to expect:
The session begins with a few minutes to welcome and we get into breath practice.
We start to bring in movement before practising together a flow that warms up the body. You can adjustments or physicalcal support can be opted in to If youd likee them.
We will then practice a number of asanas - postures with both movement and some holding.
We finish practice with a deep rest, guided relaxation and some silent sitting.

After the session:
Ed shares a recorded practice of the sequence so that you can practice at home between sessions if you wish. This means that you can develop and access the benefits outside of group practice. Ed is also available to answer questions via WhatsApp in the week. This isn't required but is highly recommended. Regular practice is very powerful.

What to bring:

1. something comfy to wear. This isn't a workout but you may want to bring a spare t shirt. There are toilets to change in.
2. yoga mat or you can buy one from Ed in advance if you don't have one.
3. 2x blocks or 2 thick hardback books - for balance and making postures more comfortable
4. a blanket or a large scarf to cover yourself if you like during the rest stage

Transform your day with group meditation practice.

In the ancient writings of Yoga, meditation is one of the key steps on the path to enlightenment, seeing the world clearly. In Buddhism, meditation is a key aspect of ‘awakening’ but awakening to what?

Meditation is more than mindfulness and wellbeing. It is a crucial tool in experiential understanding on how to end human suffering. Almost all our suffering is created in the mind, it’s not the thing that happens, or doesn’t happen, the sensation or whatever the object is, no it’s actually the thoughts we have about the object that perpetuate long after the object or stimulus has passed that cause the pain.

Experiencing this truth has powerful consequences for how we live our lives.

Meditation isn’t something you do, although we can set an intention to meditate. Meditation is something that arises if the conditions are right. In our practices we focus on creating those conditions in the mind-body.

• adjusting the body to be comfortable
• developing our ability to concentrate
• becoming aware of how sensations arise and dissipate in the body
• focusing on objects to help us experience sensations in the body.

Some of the benefits of regular practice

• increased ability to handle our emotions and situations
• greater sense of peace and calm
• increased confidence to be able to participate fully in life.
• improved physical and mental condition

Join in a chair, on the floor, or lying down as you prefer. Sessions open to complete beginners and those who don’t find sitting still easy or those with busy minds.

In this practice, we are based on the floor, even in bed in our comfy clothes. We move through a number of postures where we seek to release tension over longer periods of time, dropping in to the breath and allowing the surface beneath us to hold us and gravity to do all the work.

We end with a sound bowl meditation and some guided medtiation toward sleep and if you wish, you could close your device and drift off to sleep.