shingaia

Dans le carrefour du coeur : Exploring Anahata Chakra
in Angoulême

During this retreat, we will make time to feel, to observe, to reflect, and to open to the world around us in this ancient and vibrant fortified town, which is positioned at the centre of many convergent pathways.
Using our full-bodied physical yoga practice, meditation, breathing, and sound, we will focus primarily on the energetic heart centre, anahata chakra, exploring: 
     - the depth of its wisdom      - the reach of its embrace      - its role as a space for connection, integration and expansion      - its foundational role in what we think of as our "humanity" 
In addition to the guidance of ShinGaia founder, Ann Moradian, we will be joined by Angouleme Integral Yoga instructor Belisa Evangelista, who will guide the group in a 2-hour workshop introducing the seven primary chakras within the context of our practice of the "sun salutation". 
Please contact Ann for additional information.

The mental health crisis among America's youth is real – and staggering. Between 2009 and 2017, rates of major depression among 20- to 21-year-olds more than doubled. The first signs of a problem started to emerge around 2014: More young people said they felt overwhelmed and depressed. College counseling centers reported sharp increases in the number of students seeking treatment for mental health issues.

Even as studies were showing increases in symptoms of depression and in suicide among adolescents since 2010, some researchers called the concerns overblown and claimed there simply isn’t enough good data to reach that conclusion. The idea that there’s an epidemic in anxiety or depression among youth “is simply a myth,” psychiatrist Richard Friedman wrote in The New York Times last year. Others suggested young people were simply more willing to get help when they needed it. Or perhaps counseling centers’ outreach efforts were becoming more effective.

But a new analysis of a large…

A Yoga Weekend Retreat on the coast of Brittany
May 3-5, 2019

Spring rejuvenation -- take this time to 'air out' your body and your mind, as we reconnect to water, air, earth, space, and whatever light chooses to be available to us in this charming coastal setting. We will be staying in Paimpol, right off of the water.  (And just 2 hours from Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo, if you'd like to extend your weekend to explore this beautiful region).


We'll practice in the morning from 9h-11h and in the afternoon between 16h-18h. Breakfast and a light aperitif are included, allowing everyone to rise at their own their own rhythm, and to gather before dinner to enjoy each other's company. The local specialities of crepes and seafood are within easy reach, and the water is just through the garden gate.


Please plan to arrive by Friday afternoon in time for the 16h practice. If we can get there by 11am, we can look at adding a yoga practice before taking a late lunch. We…

Mondays:  19h15 - 20h45 (Hatha Flow)
Wednesdays:  12h30 - 13h40 (Yoga Doux)
Please reserve your place in advance.

A 12-week program
beginning early September
Time TBD, Porte Maillot
Course fee, €360
This workshop is offered for those looking to reconnect with that inner creative voice that is yours alone -- that playful and slightly wild child within that may have been overlooked, forgotten, ignored, devalued, rejected, or even sometimes overtly shut down. Using Jill Cameron's classic guide, The Artist's Way, combined with over 30 years of experience interfacing with my own creative self, along with my approach to identifying and reconnecting to our own ‘right paths’ (dharma), we will meet once-a-week for 12 weeks. This course will require daily engagement and weekly exploration outside of our workshop time, along with access to Jill Cameron's The Artist's Way.

Saturday, September 22, 2018
Time & Location TBA (3 hour)
Pay as you can, suggested €20-60

This work is based on traditional Integral Yoga, and incorporates elements of dance, somatics, the martial and energy arts, systems thinking and yoga philosophy. Module I introduced some of the basic principles that many of you are likely to have already experienced in Ann's weekly Yoga classes. Module II begins to introduce some new elements from dance. 

In addition to our ever-constant weaving of mind, body and breath, we will explore aspects of self, the emotional body, its textures and stories. For those of you studying with Ann for any amount of time, you may recognise that this is an experiential continuation focused on self-study (svadhyaya). As Nannette Bertschy once said (and I am paraphrasing and probably also re-phrasing), knowing who and how you are, in your full-bodied being, is the first step to knowing where you are -- orienting -- so that you can respond and act in relation w…

Sunday, October 14, 2018, Porte Maillot, 9h30-13h30, €65

If you are looking to create or refine your own home practice, this may be just the thing! We’ll look at the type of postures and practices, how they work on the body-mind, how to sequence your practice, and how to set realistic and attainable goals. The aim is for you to have a home practice that is appropriate to your personal aims and needs, and do-able within the constraints of your daily life.
CREER UN PRATIQUE POUR VOUS, CHEZ VOUS
Si vous voulez créer ou raffiner un pratique de yoga pour faire seul(e) chez vous avant l’été, ce stage est pour vous ! Un atelier en français, et un atelier en anglais, nous travaillons sur les type ou genres des postures et pratiques, comment ils travaillent sur le corps-esprit, comment de mis en séquence, et comment de créer un pratique personnel qui vous convienne.

Tuesday through Friday, October 23-26, 2018
13h30-15h30, location TBD, €180

A four-session course designed to give teenagers the tools they need to help manage stress and anxiety, harness their focus and concentration, develop confidence, relax, replenish and re-energize, handle emotions better, gently  build core strength, relieve lower back pain and tension in the neck and shoulders, and increase flexibility.
Course fee 180€, pre-registration required

Saturday, October 27, 2018
15h00-8h00, near M° Chatelet
Course fee, 2 for €40 when you bring a friend / or €30 per person


Bring a partner or friend and move together, or come on your own. Through yoga-based practices and movement, we'll explore ways of setting boundaries, saying no or yes (as we feel it) to create a safe space for our work with breath, the emotional body-mind, connection, and our our full-bodied being in motion. This workshop is designed to be accessible for everyone (age 16 and up) with little or no movement experience, as well as for those who have been working with Ann over the years!  Course fee, 2 for €40 when you bring with a friend / or €30 per person

Navigating Complexity for Parents Thursday, November 8, 2018 (5-hour workshop)
9h00-14h00, Porte Maillot Course fee €135
Navigating Complexity for Young Adults  Date, Time & Location TBD (4-hour workshop)
Course fee €120
If you are looking for some 'Survival Tools' to use in your daily life to manage stress, handle the intensity of your life better, this might be just what you are looking for! In addition to yoga practices, postures and techniques for managing stress and soothing the nervous system, we'll be exploring some questions, like: How do we navigate the complexity and contradictions that are knotted into the daily interactions of our lives? How do we even begin to see the threads that are in play? And then how do we negotiate between the sometimes contradictory needs between self and other? How do we make choices we can not only live with, but feel right with? It can be complicated, 
but it is more manageable than you might think! 

A Retreat to Remember
Jackson Hole, Wyoming - near Yellowstone National Park
June 29 - July 3, 2019, $550
I am delighted to be joining forces with atmospheric scientist, geologist and avid night-sky watcher Scott Denningand his science education nonprofit organization, ReachScience.org,to develop this once in a lifetime retreat for you. In addition to daily movement, breathing practices and self-awareness, we anticipate exploring the geology and ecology of this extraordinary region during the day, and nature's open galaxy under the very dark night skies of the new moon. 

We will explore the natural history of the Earth from its origins in the clouds of cosmic dust through the formation of our atmosphere and oceans, the origin and evolution of life and biochemistry, to the many episodes of mountain building and erosion that have produced the spectacular topography and landscapes of the Rocky Mountain region. We will see the effects of ice ages and flora and fauna that have transformed …

Fort Collins, Colorado June 26, 2018
“You become what you hate.”  My dear friend and spiritual mentor, child psychologist Janet Culp, once told me that this is common knowledge in the field of psychology.  That thought has never left me since I first heard it, over 10 years ago.

And it is foremost in my thoughts right now, as I return from a gathering of well-intentioned people – a vigil – in Fort Collins, in support of humane immigration policy in the US. This is an important issue not only here in Colorado and the US, but globally too, with a staggering amount of people seeking safety and asylum worldwide.
How a country integrates refugees and immigrants without loosing its own sense of identity is not as obvious as we might wish it to be. As the number of people migrating is likely to continue to rise in the years to come, serious consideration and discussion on immigration and assimilation policy will be essential to each nation’s ability to receive these populations with our humanity…