Phoenix Rising Yoga

[Hesper]

Hi there, I've been looking at different types of classes to offer where I work (and sneakily looking for more trainings I can attend )and I found something called Phoenix Rising Yoga. It sounds like a pretty interesting program, combining yoga with emotional work to release deeply held traumas. It seems like it has stumbled across the connections revealed in Peter Levine's work "In An Unspoken Voice" (there is a forum thread devoted to that topic here)

From that thread:

The uncoupling of sensation from image and thought is what diffuses the highly charged emotions and allows them to transform fluidly into sensation-based gradations of feelings. This is not at all the same as suppressing or repressing them.

And from the Phoenix Rising page:

_http://pryt.com/about-pryt/whatispryt/

In a one on one session there is practitioner assisted yoga postures and a dialogue process that is both open-ended and non-directive of the outcome of the session, the client is facilitated through an experience of him or herself in the present moment. And what ever happens in the present moment — physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually finds richness in relationship to the bigger picture of how that client is being in the world in daily life — work, play, family and relationships.

Using focused breathing and the opportunity to verbalize the in-the-moment experiences — thoughts, emotions, sensations, memories — client experience such a connection as well as a deeper attunement to his/her own internal guiding compass.

Through this process of awareness and discernment, clients have the opportunity to release old undigested experiences, traumas, personal beliefs and out-of-date habits and patterns to then move more fully into life with new perspective and personal efficacy.

While a series of sessions are often most helpful, profound change has been know to occur in a single session. Similarly a series of theme based Phoenix Rising yoga classes or group sessions achieves a similar result. Our mission is to support people with moving in the direction of a life worth living – a purpose driven and meaningful life experience with less stress and anxiety and with fulfilling work and relationships. Our process helps people get to the core of issues that stand in the way of this. Ready to find out more? Want to help us change the world, one body at a time?

This "Phoenix Rising" is relatively new, beginning in 1986 with the work of Michael Lee. He has a book called "Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy: The Bridge from Body to Soul". His bio on Amazon says:

Michael Lee, M.A., came to the United States from Australia with a background in education and psychology. An accomplished master teacher and yogi, Lee is the founder/director of Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy. A program that has been featured in Yoga Journal and elsewhere. Lee gives training programs and workshops and appears at conferences throughout North America, Australia and Europe.

I thought this sounded interesting so I thought I'd share it. Has anyone had any experiences with this program, or any thoughts?

 

[Erykah]

Hi Hesper,
Wanted to share some thoughts and suggestions regarding additional training and different types of classes where you work.

While I have not heard about Phoenix Rising Yoga, I have studied and practiced Hatha Yoga for the past 7 years. Initially I was just practicing yoga once a week as a way to build strength and de-stress, this was when I began preparing for my EE teacher certification. I found that the two practices shared many common threads mainly the breathing aspects, body sensation awareness and meditation. I later did take on a teacher training program for Hatha yoga and now have a certification through Yoga Alliance. Currently, at my job in a local Spa, I teach classes several times a week. I mention this because while I learned a lot of useful information, and how I could integrate this information into my EE classes. There was a lot of 'beliefs' being taught that didn't really resonate i.e vegetarianism. This being said, I would suggest doing some research on your own about yoga (before signing up for a training, spending considerable money and time for information that is available elsewhere, sometimes for free). In addition to Peter Levine's book which you mentioned in this post, below are a few books I found very helpful and use as reference material:

Light on Yoga- B. K. S. Iyengar: The definitive guide to the philosophy and practice of Yoga--the ancient healing discipline for body and mind--by its greatest living teacher. Light on Yoga provides complete descriptions and illustrations of all the positions and breathing exercises.

Anatomy of Hatha Yoga: A Manual for Students, Teachers, and Practitioners: The most comprehensive and authoritative work available correlating the study of hatha yoga with anatomy and physiology. It is a must-have for anyone who is serious about studying or teaching yoga, and an invaluable resource for anyone in a field relating to physical conditioning.


Art of Attention- Elena Brower & Erica Jago: This is an elegant yoga book designed for practice, contemplation, and creativity for students and teachers of yoga. This book is both a systematic study guide and a work of art. Detailing five of Elena’s yoga classes available on YogaGlo, this book invites you to craft your own profound practices, and make your yoga your own. Explore sequencing, theming, and your interior experience; then create your own well-wrought practices.


The Reality of Being The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff- Jeanne De Salzmann: Based on notebooks kept by G.I. Gurdjieff's closest follower, this book offers new insight on his spiritual teachings—a way of gnosis or "knowledge of being" passed on from remote antiquity. It is a complete and uniquely authoritative guide to the great teacher's ideas and to his methods for liberating ourselves from the state of "waking sleep" in which most of us live our lives.

There is a thread on Madame de Salzmann's book here

Hope this information is helpful ;)