Insight Meditation South Bay offers a variety of programs that integrate movement, creative activities, energy arts, and healing processes with mindfulness-based meditations to enhance embodied awareness.

Movement disciplines are introduced during IMSB Day-Long Retreats in which guest teachers join Shaila to combine the teachings of Insight Meditation with one of the movement disciplines featured below. You can find biographies of guest teachers with the movement descriptions.

All programs are suitable for experienced and beginning practitioners. Students participate to the extent they enjoy, and may replace the movement session with an individual walking meditation if they wish.

Please see the calendar of events for upcoming programs.

Dynamic Awareness -- Expressive Movement

Laban Movement Analysis offers a non-biased language for describing human movement, thus encouraging a full exploration of our expressive range. Anton Chechov's work with psychological gesture explores the movement of emotion when triggered by shaping the body. By directing the mind inside, allowing, and practicing detached observation, one can become present with what is and develop a sense of community around a shared humanity. These workshops at IMSB bring together a deep exploration of movement with silent meditation and have generated enthusiasm for developing this unique approach and applying it to subtleties of the inner life.

Lisa Tromovitch has over 20 years experience as a professional theater director and is a professor of theatre arts. She currently serves as Founding Producing Artistic Director of Livermore Shakespeare Festival and is on the faculty of the University of the Pacific where she is the movement coach. Lisa has trained in Laban/Bartenieff work with Integrated Movement Studies in Berkeley and has an interest in yoga. Lisa has directed over 30 stage productions in six states and has trained hundreds of university and conservatory students in expressive arts. Learn more about Livermore Shakespeare Festival at Theatre Arts with Lisa Tromovitch

Feldenkrais Method -- Awareness Through Movement

The Feldenkrais Method® is a learning process that uses simple movements to encourage new ways of moving with comfort and ease. The group form of the work, called Awareness Through Movement®, uses movement sequences that deepen our capacity for awareness and guide us toward freedom from self-limiting habits. While students lie on the floor, respectful of themselves and their comfort, the teacher verbally guides them through simple movement sequences. Through this "giving space to your self" students gain freedom of movement, relief from discomfort and a sense of well being.

Deborah Dutton is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner and has been teaching the Feldenkrais Method for ten years. Deborah was introduced to the Method® as a result of a shoulder injury. She found the technique so effective and engaging that she continued to take classes for seven years. She then entered a four-year professional training program in New York, from which she graduated after 800 hours of training. Deborah's teaching is influenced by her 20 years of meditation practice. Learn more about Deborah's practice at www.umovebetter.com

Qigong

Qigong, which literally translates to "energy skill" or "energy manipulation", is the ancient art and science of working with one's subtle energy. Medical Qigong incorporates simple yet profound postures and movements, along with the breath and the focus of one's mind to achieve greater health, awareness, concentration, balance, and stillness of mind.

Tom Leichardt graduated with a Doctorate of Medical Qigong (DMQ) from the International Institute of Medical Qigong, the overseas college of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He practices Taoist meditation and the healing arts. Tom also serves at the feet of his guru, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma), working to develop compassion and a heart of service to humanity. Learn more aboutTom's practice at www.qigongalchemy.com

Kim Allen studies and practices Qigong with teachers in the Bay Area and Seattle. Qigong is the root practice of both Chinese medicine and most martial arts. Kim teaches Qigong as a foundational support practice for vipassana meditation, resulting in deepened awareness of the body, relaxation and calmness during movement, and attunement to the healing potential within.

Marcy Reynolds, B.A. is a longtime student of holistic health having taught yoga, nutrition and western herbalism. Chronic fatigue led her to the self-healing practice of Qigong which has been instrumental in her recovery and continues to bring depth, peace and healing to her life and the lives of her students. Marcy has been teaching meditation and Qigong in California since 1997 and is a member of the Teachers’ Council at Vipassana Santa Cruz. To find out more about workshops and classes with Marcy, please visit www.wildcoastqigong.com.

Iyengar and Yin Yoga

Mastery of the body and the breath is a gateway to mastery of the mind. Iyengar yoga includes focus on correct body alignment and the theraputic aspects of the asanas. In addition one learns to breathe smoothly, deeply and evenly so the energy can flow unobstructed,making the mind quiet. As one progresses, there is a powerful cumulative effect which allows for deeper penetration within the individual bringing the mind and senses under control making one ready for meditation. Yin yoga is characterized by passive poses held for several minutes each. It targets the tendons and ligaments in the joints and spine lengthening these tissues over time. It is an ideal method of physical conditioning for prolonged meditation.

Bobbie Bruno has been practicing yoga on a regular basis for over 25 years. She has completed yoga training at Mount Madonna Center, as well as Spirit Rock's Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation training program. Having studied with such teachers at Tias Little, Judith Lassater, and Sarah Powers, she teaches a blend of Iyengar and Yin yoga. She is currently studying with Kofi Busia. She teaches privately in Santa Cruz and in Mexico.

Cator Shachoy helps people heal their bodies, minds, & hearts through compassionate awareness, yoga, and craniosacral bodywork. She began the practices of yoga, Buddhist meditation, and energy healing in 1990, completed teacher training through the Iyengar Yoga Instititute of San Francisco, and Kripalu Yoga Center, and has taught yoga in San Francisco since 1998. She founded Youth Yoga Dharma, a non-profit that offers youth the skills of yoga & meditation www.youthyogadharma.org. Cator is a certified practitioner of Visionary Craniosacral Bodywork with a specialty in pediatrics and a private practice in San Francisco www.subtlebodyhealing.net. Her approach to yoga weaves together the precision of Iyengar yoga and mindfulness, with gentle energy healing as she delights in sharing the practices that inspire her life.

Raja Yoga

Tamara Perkins is a certified Raja Yoga teacher, filmmaker, and activist. Inspired by the opportunity to ease suffering and open paths to healing and empowerment, she teaches in diverse environments including men's and women's prisons, grief support programs, schools, and youth development conferences. Childhood exposure to Yoga and Tibetan Buddhism through her father has helped form the foundation of Tamara's practice. Tamara is founder and director of Apple of Discord Productions, a film production company born of a combination of creativity, service and activism (www.trustcommunity.org). Find out more at www.tamaraperkins.com.

Yin Yoga

Yin Yoga is the relaxed practice of floor poses for three to five minutes at a time. The practice emphasizes release of connective tissues of the hips, thighs, pelvis and lower spine. Because floor poses allow each of us to find a stretch that allows opening, yin yoga works well for novices and experienced yogis. Because the poses are held, yin yoga allows us to explore sensation with kindness and patience and prepares the body and the mind for longer meditation practices.

Renate Kempf has practiced yoga for over twenty years and is a certified yoga instructor at the 200 hour level. Her training includes yin yoga certification with Paul Grilley and Sarah Powers. Renate has also been a Structural Integration bodyworker for over ten years. She sees clients in her office in Palo Alto. See www.azureheart.com for more information about Renate's work.