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ABOUT US...

Welcome /  Bienvenue !  ShinGaia   merges the Japanese word for  heart/mind/core  with the ancient concept of  earth as a living system .  Version française    ShinGaia  combine le mot japonais signifiant  cœur / esprit / noyau  avec la notion ancienne de la Terre en tant que  système  vivante .  Nous explorons sous les surfaces des apparences pour harmoniser et unifier le corps, l’esprit, le cœur et l’âme. Notre pratique est une étude dynamique d’engagement dans et avec le monde. Nous dédions notre pratique à une planète saine et florissante. Nous reconnaissons que nous sommes influencés par notre Monde et notre patrimoine culturel, et que nous les influençons en retour, contribuant ainsi à la réalité que nous vivons. Nous faisons appel à tous les outils qui nous sont disponibles — dont la sagesse du corps, l’intelligence, notre aptitude à aimer — pour faciliter notre parcours à travers notre environnement, y compris dans le paradoxe ou la contradiction. Nous donnons le meilleur de
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Yoga Survival Tools

version français Ce cours a été développé à l'origine en réponse au niveau de stress croissant des jeunes. Il vise à développer la résilience et à établir un équilibre sain entre stabilité et agilité, et entre esprit, émotions et corps. Les outils partagés ici ont été rassemblés au cours d'une vie et incluent des postures de yoga, des pratiques de respiration, de relaxation, de méditation et de philosophie. Le programme Yoga Survival Tools comprend 12 heures de pratique sur une période de 6 semaines et se déroule à la fois en groupe et en privé, en ligne et en personne. English version This course was originally developed in response to the increasing stress levels of young people. It aims to develop resilience and establish a healthy balance between stability and agility, and between mind, emotions and body. The tools shared here have been gathered over a lifetime and include yoga postures, breathing practices, relaxation, meditation, and philosophy. The  Yoga Survival Tools  
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Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs

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NEXT COURSE STARTING EARLY JULY / PROCHAIN COURS DÉBUT JUILLET English version This is a 12-week program designed to empower those with lower back pain who wish to improve their long-term comfort, health and well-being. Gentle, beginner-friendly, and specialised for lower-back care, Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs was developed in the UK as part of a long-term research trial with excellent results.  Some of the findings include: 63% Reduction in pain affecting work; Reduction in pain medications; Mental health improvements; multiple health condition improvements; 63% improvement in being able to control/ cope with their back pain on their own. Ann Moradian, a certified 200 hour ERYT (experienced and registered yoga teacher) and a certified teacher for Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs , will be conducting the next 12-week series beginning in early July.  For more information about the Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs program, research trials, etc., click here . For more information about the upc
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Yoga Retreat: The Body's Wisdom, May 22-24, 2021

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May 22-24, 2021 We'll be staying at  Atelier des Sources  in the charming village of Angles-sur-Anglin near Châtellerault, south of the Loire Valley. It is listed among the most beautiful villages in France, and I have been trying to get to this particular venue for the past two years!  With 100m2 studio space to practice in, and outdoor areas as well, we'll have plenty of time and space to breathe, move, and connect -- all, I trust, with enough social distance to feel relaxed and safe together as we step out of our long confinement period.   I would like to focus our work on the body's intelligence, feedback and ways of knowing as the internal guidance system they are, including not only the mind and heart, but also the gut and the skin. We'll have lots of open space and time to unwind independently or in company, as you feel it in the moment. The best pricing I could manage for  private rooms is 385€/per person . If you would like to  bring a friend and share a room w
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Sunday 'Light' - Yoga & Movement Workshop in St. Cloud

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Yoga and Movement Workshop led by Ann Moradian & Corinne Ott May 9, 2021, 14:00-17:00 in Saint-Cloud This is an invitation to come together in person in a small group (8 maximum), as we have not for a long time, for the joy and pleasure of moving together. This 3-hour workshop integrates yoga and movement exploration to ease us back into our bodies, back together, and a little closer to nature. In English et en français. For those who can, please stay on for a picnic afterwards. 60€. Photo  © Corinne Ott. Ann Moradian , M.A. Dance Education, 200-ERYT, movement artist and researcher  (Director, Perspectives In Motion/ Founder, ShinGaia Yoga) Corinne Ott , M.A. Dance Movement Therapist, 200-RYT yoga (Professor of Dance Movement Therapy at Université Sorbonne-Descartes,  92Y Harkness Dance Center New York, Centre National de Danse Thérapie Montréal)  
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Just Breathe!

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Just Breathe!  is a 30-minute pre-recorded online practice using breath to cleanse, clarify, calm, unknot tension, and align body, mind, heart and soul.  Series 1: Calming  (four 30-minute classes) Series 2: Unknotting  (four 30-minute classes) Series 3: Cleansing  (four 30-minute classes) Series 4: Deepening  (four 30-minute classes) Just Breathe!   is organised in series format, with 4 sessions per series. Each series follows a gentle progression, exploring the many facets and functions of the breath, and incorporating pranayama (yogic breathing exercises), mudras (gestures) and mantra (sounding and chanting). Soaring . Photo (c) Ann Moradian. For more information and registration,  Contact Ann at shingaiayoga(at)gmail.com  Cost: 40€ per series
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Workshop for the New Year (online)

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This workshop offers a beautiful moment to come together and unite our energies in honour of, and on behalf of the world we wish to live in. We'll  continue to explore the theme of releasing what is no longer needed, useful or constructive ( aparigraha  or "non-hoarding"), and take time to acknowledge and clear emotional residue and mental clutter from this past (most unusual) year, as we vision forward into 2021 and our shared future.  Saturday, January 2nd 2020 18h-20h30 Paris time / 9:00-11:30am Pacific time / 12:00-2:30pm Eastern time Pre-registration required. Contact Ann at shingaiayoga(at)gmail.com.  Suggested donation €25, but pay as much as you wish, or can. This online workshop is open to everyone, and will include guided meditation, breathing practices, gentle physical yoga postures, deep relaxation, chanting, and time for visioning forward. We will feel and ponder, clarify and reflect, move, breathe and relax into our deepest being and knowing.  Photo © Ann Mo
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Deeply Engrained Patterns...

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Our patterns of relation seem to be a blend of habits, conscious choices, and deeply engrained patterns that can, for many and for the most part, remain largely unconscious. We can imagine ourselves as creatures with an inner universe – full of tissue, breath and bone; feeling and sensation; emotions and ideas, images and memories. This inner universe comes to life through the rich interweaving of relationships, exchanges, actions, and interactions with the world around us. This outer world includes, of course, the living creatures we meet, whether they are similar to us, or not. This outer space includes all of the natural world that we can observe, and all of the natural world that we cannot see, sense or measure. In this day and age, in pockets of concrete and metal, silicone and plastic, it can be easy to forget that we are a part of this natural world – that all of this is, in fact, the ‘natural’ world. It can be easy to forget just how dynamic it all is. And it can be easy to ass
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Retraite du yoga dans la Massif de le Chartreuse - bilingue (français - anglais)

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The Hills Are Alive... 9-12 July, 2021 Sainte-Pierre  d'Entremont (environ 40 minutes de Chambery) €430   ( early bird),  €470  (regular rate) private room with bath  €390  (early bird), €410  (regular rate), double room  Including food, housing and full yoga program.     Sainte Pierre d'Entremont, France,  photo Alain Devisme, via WikiCommons. Cette retraite de quatre jours sera conduit avec mon amie et collègue Aurore, aura lieu dans son village natal Saint Pierre d'Entremont dans la Massif de la Chartreuse. Nous aurons beaucoup d'espace pour pratiquer et du temps pour explorer les montagnes autour. S'il y a des personnes qui souhaitent amener leur petite famille avec eux en cette période de vacances scolaire, nous essaierons de trouver une solution viable et intéressante.  This four-day retreat, co-led with my friend and colleague Aurore, will take place in her native village, nested in the midst of the Massif de la Chartreuse. With private rooms (and bathrooms
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Winter Solstice Workshop, December 21, 2020 from 19h-21h CET

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"When you are fully in the body, the soul appears" (BKS Iyengar) December 21st is the winter solstice this year -- the longest night of the year. In this deep, dark night as the season turns, we have the opportunity to reflect on all that has passed (and it has been a lot this year), and to release what is no longer called for, needed, or constructive. And this year, exceptionally, the planets align on the solstice in a way that many astrologers say supports our growth into deeper and higher levels of consciousness, serving as a portal of entry into the "Age of Aquarius." This offers a beautiful moment to come together and unite our energies in honour of, and on behalf of the world we wish to live in. This online workshop is open to everyone, and will include guided meditation, breathing practices, physical yoga postures, deep relaxation, chanting, and time for visioning forward. We will feel and ponder, clarify and reflect, move, breathe and relax into our deepest
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Gems from The Mahabharata - September 2020

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Photo (c) Alex Vanagas 2013. Ann Moradian nesting in the Bois de Bologne.    "Now the world is born, In an instant it dies, In a breath it is renewed. From the slowness of our eyes And the quickness of God's hand We believe in the world." (From William Buck's rendition of  The Mahabharata )
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The Perils of Yoga

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William J. Broad  raises an important discussion around the topic of Yoga and injury, which I am grateful for. His article called  Wounded Warrior Pose  in The New York Times (in 2012) is worth bringing to our awareness today -- though I know those of you who study with me regularly already know this, and I am grateful to each of you for making your practice safe and constructive for your selves.  There is and has been a tendency in the West to utilize yoga as "fitness" training rather than the wholistic and integrative practice it was originally designed to be. This sort of experiential transliteration is a normal part of taking in influences from cultures, practices and customs different from our own. And so, this discussion that William Broad continues to thrust upon the Western Yoga community is an important one.  What he describes as " competitive Yoga" is an oxymoron (a contradiction in terms). When Yoga practices are used in a competitive manner it is no long
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Shiva - the Hindu God of Dance & Yoga

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"Shiva is Trilochana, the three-eyed One.  The third eye is the eye of wisdom.  The other two represent love and justice."  (Swami Tejomayananda) Photo from Hubble spacecraft "Every subatomic particle is an energy dance; pulsating process of creation and destruction... without end... For the modern physicists, then Shiva's dance is the dance of subatomic matter." (Fritjof Capra) "Shiva is the ultimate outlaw. You can't worship him, but you are welcome to join the gang... "Shiva has such an impossible character; all contradictions included. In acceptance of this character one will have no issue with anyone in the world including oneself. The idea is to show divinity as all inclusive, no one against the other, as in identifying good and bad we also divide the world and make the ultimate union unattainable...   When we say 'Shiva', there are two fundamental aspects that we are referring to. The word 'Shiva' literally means 'that wh
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