Up North Yoga Conference Returns for the Second Year to Essex, NY!

Up North Yoga Conference 2015 Flyer — Click to enlarge.

Up North Yoga Conference
Breathe. Stretch. Connect. Grow.
Saturday, October 24, 2015
$100 by September 1, 2015
$135 after
7:45 am – 7 pm

Join us at the second Up North Yoga Conference bringing the Champlain Valley and Adirondack Mountain Yoga Communities together on beautiful Lake Champlain in Essex, NY.

Located at The College For Every Student Conference Center (CFES) & Lake Champlain Yoga & Wellness, Essex, NY.

Produced and organized by Lake Champlain Yoga & Wellness, Michelle Maron

Up North Yoga Conference Schedule – October 24, 2015

Location – College for Every Student Conference Center, Essex, NY

– 7:45-8:30 am
Registration/Reception

– 8:30-10:15 am
Justin Wolfer, CYT
Steadiness & Ease

Ever felt absolutely swept away by how somebody was moving? We’ve all fallen in love with the skill of a dancer or an athlete’s self-mastery and wondered, ‘Why can’t I move with this amount of skill?’ Tap into this inner dancer, athlete, poet, warrior; we all possess it! Prepare to ease into your body like you never have before, we will move like poets on our mats and maybe off too with steadiness. We’ll start slowly, building into a beautiful flowing choreography where one posture melts into the next.

– 10:30 am – 12:15 pm
Nixa De Bellis, CYT
Cleanse, Clear & Install Radiance: Kriya, Pranayama, Asana & Meditation for Healing

The functional system of your body needs cleaning, care and tuning. Weilding Kundalini Kriyas and Pranayama-steeped Asana, we will decongest and clear pathways of radiance in the body for good health so the portals of awareness open wide for our minds to assess and extend the potential of our own bio energy. Having been cleansed and cleared, we will meditate and extend the radiant experience of life to ask ourselves for the infinite understandings of our own inner guidance with a generous meditation period.

Location – Essex Inn

– 12:15-1:15 pm
Organic/Local Lunch
Make you way over to the Essex Inn for a delicious organic lunch from local farm food prepared with care by Chef Keith Castro.

Location – College for Every Student Conference Center

1:30-3:15 pm
Michael Fergot, CYT
– Open Hips – Open Heart

We will aid our digestion and explore being grounded through the opening of our hips as Yoga invites us to deepen our connection to the earth – the earth within us and the earth itself. Move through a steady, progressive journey opening the hips for a steady seat and opening our hearts along the way.

3:30-5:00 pm
Magdalena Janak, CYT & Katie Wilson, CYT & Taproot Apothercary
– Relaxing Restorative Yoga & Aromatherapy

An invitation to relax the nervous system, quiet the mind and renew the spirit after a explosive day of yoga. This class is designed to transition the body and mind into a restful, meditative state. The traditional use of props in Relaxing Restorative Yoga & Aromatherapy encourages a gentle release allowing the body to return to balance in a supported environment. Complimented by Yoga Nidra; using visualization, relaxation and rotation of consciousness each student is guided into a space between wakefulness and sleep.

Benefits include: improvement of sleep, balancing of the nervous system, lowering of blood pressure, relief from chronic pain, release from stress and stress-related disorders, restoring emotional balance, increasing concentration and focus, awakening creativity, and offering profound rest and rejuvenation.

Location – Lake Champlain Yoga & Wellness

5:30-7:00 pm
Jennifer Moore
– Dinner & Drumming & Dancing

UNYC Group on Mats Listening to a Lecture (Credit: ZVD photography)

Come celebrate the universal language of rhythm through a joyful exploration of sound and movement through drumming! No experience is necessary and everyone is encouraged to participate. Drums will be provided, though participants may certainly bring their own instruments to the circle.

A light dinner with be offered before the drumming and dancing!

More on the Presenters…

Justin Wolfer, CYT
Justin is a dedicated student, practitioner, and teacher of all paths that bring us to a state of Yoga. Initially, the practices served as a means to rehabilitate physical injuries sustained during his career in college athletics. Over time, Yoga became a transformative path and process towards greater self-understanding, physical balance, internal strength, mental clarity and awareness. Justin aims to develop and adapt Yoga practices to suit the individual needs of his students; relating the profound teachings of Yoga to the modern challenges we face. The practices center on deep rhythmic breathing, self-awareness and skillful action. As the mind and body converge, the practice transforms into a moving meditation bearing the fruits of self-discovery. The results are a healthy relationship between the mind and body, allowing for an open heart and a radiant spirit. Justin leads in depth Yoga Alliance trainings, retreats and workshops. He is the director of Rise Yoga & Movement Arts Center in Saratoga Springs and the 200/500 hour teacher training – Skillful Action Vinyasa Method. His teachers include Raghunath, Ricky Tran, Gopi Kinnicut, Glenn Black and David Robson.

Nixa De Bellis, CYT
Nixa has been a practicing yogini since 1984 and since that same time has been devoted to philosophizing and living a lifestyle of empowerment, natural healing, eco-conscious stewardship and spirituality in every endeavor. Trained as an educator with a background in private school teaching, Nixa has taught vinyasa yoga on the Upper East Side of New York City since 2000. She has trained teachers at New York Yoga, Studio Yoggy in Tokyo and at Inside Out Yoga School at Exhale. Nixa offers philosophy talks in a parlor uptown, known as the Inside Out Yoga Village. She is currently the Head of Philosophy for the yoga program at the national brand, Exhale. Nixa holds a Masters degree in Holistic Wellness, a state license in Aesthetics involving healing through touch, sound, aroma, polarity balancing and breathing methods. Integrating many deep teachings of coherence, energetic wellness and awareness practices, her classes are meant to invite students to their own revitalization and realizations. Since 2001, Nixa has been a dedicated student in a lineage of South Indian Sri Vidya called Rajanakan Tantra with Dr. Douglas Brooks. She offers her understanding of the worldviews of yoga with the help and support of his great gifts, among many others.

Michael Fergot, CYT
Anusara Inspired Teacher, who first stumbled across yoga in 1982 in Madison Wisconsin as an Asian Studies Major. Flowing through several martial arts forms and a dance career, Yoga has been a consistent thread in the tapestry of his life since then. In 2001, on a retreat at a Zen monastery, Michael was introduced to Anusara by Jackie Prete. Feeling a profound connection to this practice, the next year began his first Teacher Training with Jackie and Ellen Saltonstall, which changed his life trajectory. He has been teaching full time ever since. Over the next decade, thanks to dozens of amazing teachers, he continues to explore the expansive possibilities of Yoga. His classes are always an exploration of the gift and privilege of practice, a playful alignment approach to the wonder of life.

Magdalena Janak, CYT
Magda’s journey began 12 years ago and grew from a simple exercise to a deeper and personal more experience. The last five years of practicing yoga were a true transformation from a yoga student to sharing and helping others deepen their own yoga practice. Magda became certified in 2013 and started to teach one class a week of restorative yoga. She thrives on seeing people enjoying yoga and releasing stress from daily life – these small miracles guide others to better lives. She is a true believer in natural healing through movement, herbs and food!

Kathryn Wilson, CYT
Kathryn has been practicing Yoga for the last 15 years, teaching for 5 or so and furthers her study every day. Her focus upon self-awareness through breath and movement values the integrity of each individual and encourages exploration. She believes in magic and studies Yoga because it’s practical. Currently living in the Adirondacks, Katie is a certified yoga instructor, the proud mother of 2, a Licensed Equine Massage Therapist and owns a consignment & antique shop in Keene, NY. She co-founded Taproot Apothecary in 2014 and runs an Herbal CSA offering Wellness Shares to the local community and beyond.

Jennifer Moore
Jennifer Moore is the Pre-K through 12 music teacher for the Willsboro Central School District. She holds degrees in both piano performance and music education and maintains an active career outside the classroom as guest conductor for school music festivals, drum circle facilitator, musical theater pianist/conductor and serves on the board of directors for the acclaimed Piano By Nature Concert Series in Elizabethtown. Her performances have taken her from Lincoln Center to UNESCO, the Chicago Cultural Center to the Middlebury Town Hall Theater, Giltz Auditorium at SUNY Plattsburgh and the Essex Community Concert Series.