Berkshire Yoga Festival 2024

Kula Flow is vinyasa style yoga with an emphasis on creativity, anatomy and alignment. Class will be a thematic, inventive and thoughtful sequence of sun salutations, standing & seated postures, back bending, inversions, and hand/arm balances —guided by a steady breath to tone and calm the mind. Uddiyana Bandha practice will be sprinkled throughout class.  

Arm balances are some of the most fun, exciting, and challenging poses of the yoga practice. They can also be intimidating and discouraging without the proper technique and guidance. This workshop will provide you with a step by step approach to build your confidence, and help you focus on the key points that will unlock a wide range of arm balances. Each technique provided will be shared with the utmost attention to detail, providing you with the highest level of clarity.

Self-myofascial release (SMFR) has mass appeal from multiple spaces within the wellness fields. Learn the newest evidence to support the use of SMFR for your own personal practice and classes. This workshop provides you with a simple and effective self-myofascial release tool to help you erase pain, improve mobility, build embodied awareness and prevent injuries. This workshop will increase your knowledge of your body as you learn to navigate multiple connective tissues. You’ll learn 9 rolling techniques that can support every area of your body. We will rollout using a best practices approach to relieve emotional stress and improve whole body coordination and function. Help your body awaken, move, feel and heal.

Join the YogaSlackers on an inspiring journey to discover the joy and empowerment of your very first handstand. This beginner-friendly class is your gateway to redefining limits and shifting perspectives. Whether the idea of standing on your hands has always been a dream or a curious challenge, this experience is the perfect starting point. Handstands, in the YogaSlackers' approach, are more than just physical feats; they are a playful invitation to adventure, a transformative shift in perspective, and a profound method to reconnect, refocus, and immerse in the present moment.
Tailored to beginners, this class gently introduces the essential elements of a handstand practice, laying the foundation for future exploration in acrobatics and partner acrobatics. The YogaSlackers' expertise in guiding students through this journey ensures a supportive, nurturing environment. You'll learn the key fundamentals to build a stable, confident handstand practice, suitable for complete novices and those seeking to refine their skills.
This class is open to all skill levels, from first-timers to those wishing to enhance their practice. The YogaSlackers emphasize a step-by-step approach, ensuring everyone progresses at a comfortable pace, fostering confidence and joy in the art of handstands.
Prerequisite: None. This class is designed for anyone willing to embark on a new adventure, regardless of previous experience.

In this class, we investigate how each individual body part and each independent joint motion contributes to a greater harmonious movement experience. By dissecting simpler (yet still challenging!) moves, we discover the artistry in every angle that leads to an expansive whole!

Start your morning with an exhilarating HIIT class, where you'll experience a dynamic blend of high-intensity intervals and energizing movements designed to wake yourself up, boost metabolism, and improve overall strength and endurance. Get ready to push your limits, break a sweat, and leave feeling empowered and revitalized.

Learning to handstand is a process, abundant with discovery and amazement. Whether this is your first inversion workshop or you are well versed in the art of handstands, brace yourself as we delve into alignment, work toward mastery of the shoulder girdle, and explore acrobatic principles so you can build confidence and manifest a greater sense of balance. You will learn exercises that unify body and mind to create a solid foundation for a lifetime of standing on your hands. As a group we will create a safe and transformative space that will be appropriate and for all levels of practice. Take your handstand practice to the next level!

Fascia science continues to produce exciting findings that are relevant to all bodies whether you’re a yogi, athlete, clinician or could care less about your anatomy. Jill walks you through the micro and the major basics of WHY you should care about this connective tissue and how it relates to your overall health and wellbeing.

Nourish your body, mind and spirit in this deeply relaxing practice.
Listen to mythic stories from the Yoga and Buddhist traditions that will inspire your mind and open your heart while being guided to gently stretch and bring ease to your body with slow, deep floor stretches. All levels

(1-2 Yoga Blocks Highly Recommended)

Your psoas is major. It’s one of the few muscles that connects your upper and lower body, and specifically your leg limbs to your spine. It is responsible for helping (or disrupting!) functional movement and breath and is intricately connected to the emotional body via the nervous system. This class will build toward backbending and inner/outer hip opening, where you will explore other ways than the often used crescent lunge to create a supple set of psoas.

As mammals of the genus homo, we have been walking erect for about 2 million years. Yet, in what amounts to an evolutionary blink of an eye, natural organic ground has literally been pulled out from under us, as we have leveled, paved, and otherwise smoothed out the unpredictable terrain our feet evolved upon. Add to this insult the injury of restrictive footwear and we in the industrialized world have an epidemic of physical ills that can be traced back to our compromised foundations.
This workshop will delve deeply into the history, structure, function and retraining of our feet as the foundation for a healthy asana practice and for living more fully functional lives as happy bipeds.

Join Sara for a Guided Sound Bath Meditation. Rejuvenate your body, mind and spirit as you lay or sit in stillness during this fully immersive experience. Listen to the sounds and feel the vibrations of crystal alchemy singing bowls to relieve stress and facilitate a deep state of relaxation & meditation. You will leave feeling  calm, balanced, and restored!