Not everyone can do yoga poses, but everyone can do yoga actions.

Our Creating Space: Yoga Actions books are the foundation of both our 200-hour Teacher Training and 300-hour Advanced Teacher Training programs. We offer these training packages through yoga studios to individuals interested in deepening their own personal practice as well as their diagnostic and teaching skills. For us, yoga has been our primary vehicle for navigating the current stresses and demands during these times of radical transformation. Because most life challenges faced in today’s complex world are unsolvable alone, radical transformation is a co-creative journey—whether your tools are yoga, meditation, painting, writing, gardening, etc. More and more, humanity must come together in collaboration in order to contribute in meaningful ways.

A creative collaboration between two friends and yoginis.

Fortunately, as humans, we have wise reserves to draw upon, both within and around us, for our times of need. YOGA ACTIONS began as a creative collaboration between two friends and yoginis, Candace Propp and myself, Helen Maupin. Our original intent was to write one book in an attempt to capture even a small portion of the knowledge and wisdom we gained from practising yoga. That modest intention mushroomed into —

six yoga actions books focusing on specific areas of the body,
two teacher training programs (200- and 500-hour) complete with facilitator manuals and student handbooks,
a bi-monthly yoga column in the Winnipeg Free Press, and most importantly,
a deeply-rewarding sisterhood filled with peace, love and joy.

As always, journeys of creation and discovery, whether on or off the yoga mat, take us beyond the scope of our imagination into the Universe’s intentions and gifts. As plant and stone archetypes, Candace and I opened up whole new worlds of learning and possibility; more than we could imagine or accomplish alone.

Our bodies always tell us the truth about what we are experiencing.

Yoga postures emerged in response to an understanding that tension, tightness and painful suffering can be alleviated and eliminated by tapping into the body’s cellular healing capacity. Our bodies always tell us the truth about what we are experiencing. Unfortunately, we are often too busy or too blind to pay attention. To better utilize our body’s innate ability to heal, we must awaken to how it speaks to us. Yoga poses (asanas) help us to discover where our pain and tension lie. Yoga Actions, such as release the thigh bone back and the shin bone forward, take us deeper into our inner experience thereby bringing us ever closer to the source of our suffering. Yoga actions also help us to concentrate our awareness in the present moment. Through this intimate mindfulness of our direct experience, we learn what truth is.

The body must tell one what to do, not the brain. BKS Iyengar

Bless you, for joining us on our co-creative journey into the joy of yoga. Whether in your home, office or wherever you and your computer travel, may our yoga action practices seed collaboration and co-creation in your beautiful life. And, may this connection between us seed even greater compassion and spread peace, love and joy around the world.

Namaste

2023/24 Yoga Actions 300-hr. Advanced Teacher Training Curriculum

(60 Hours): Yr. 7

Location: Serene Yoga Studio, a registered Canadian Yoga Alliance CYA-RYS Gold Yoga School. All Teacher Training & professional development programs are eligible for Canadian Yoga Alliance accreditation/credits.

Helen Maupin (CYA RYT500)

Eight 4-hour workshops: Saturdays (1 to 5 pm)
Two Retreats/Intensives: 8-hr Winter – Saturday & Sunday (1 to 5 pm)
20-hr Summer – Monday to Friday (9 to 1 pm)

4-hr Workshop Design:
Hour 1 — Philosophical teaching appropriate to class content
Hours 2 & 3 — Asana & Pratyahara exploration
Hour 4 — Pranayama, Dharana & Meditation

September 23:

THORACIC SPINE HEALTH – Flexion, Extension & Rotation

NOTE – This workshop is led by Helen Maupin in studio. Please contact Serene Yoga at 204-504-YOGA, by email for more information or register online. September 23, 2023, 1 pm – 5 pm $80 + GST

Back pain affects over 80% of North Americans at some point. Although lower back pain is often the issue, our technology-based careers, more sedentary lifestyles, and cold climates contribute to upper back rounding and stiffening.

Once-felt stability in the thoracic spine can tend toward rigidity, especially as we age. Without backward mobility in the thoracic, the rib cage collapses restricting the respiratory diaphragm and lungs, which are our breathing workhorses. Hampering our breath in any way reduces our ability to strengthen our nervous system and to manage our emotional experience.

In this workshop, you will practice yoga actions that support thoracic flexion, extension and rotation, including lateral flexion and extension. These preventative therapies guard against our more mobile cervical and lumbar spines from compensating and becoming overly mobile. Pratyahara, pranayama and meditation will accompany the asana sequence.

Open to all levels of practice.
Sign up online under “Personal Development“!
Serene Yoga Studio
485 St. Anne’s Road
Winnipeg, MB See map Click here to sign up for the workshop.

October 14:

SENSING OUR JOINTS – Listening with Intuition

NOTE – This workshop is led by Helen Maupin in studio. Please contact Serene Yoga at 204-504-YOGA, by email for more information or register online. October 14, 2023, 1 pm – 5 pm $80 + GST

Inner sensing is not thinking, visualizing, or imagining. To listen with our Intuition or Vijnanamaya Kosha, is to take our mind from streaming the outer world of things, people, and events and turn it inward to streaming S.E.T. (sensations, emotions, thoughts). Such self-awareness of our inner experience is the definition of practicing the fifth limb of yoga — Pratyahara.

The Pratyahara practice also begins to shift us from operating only in our physical body (Annamaya Kosha) or our energy body (Pranamaya Kosha) or our mental-emotional body (Manomaya Kosha), the latter of which is where most Westerners reside. When listening to our inner experience with the Vijnanamaya Kosha, we move beyond the body’s messaging systems that feed us information from our muscles, bones and tissues, or from our nadis, breath and organs, or from our emotions and thoughts.

In this workshop, your pratyahara and asana (Kaiut and Iyengar) practices focus on sensing with intuition. Pranayama and meditation are also part of the agenda.

This workshop is also part of Serene Yoga Studio’s Advanced Teacher Training program, where 200 RYTs can accrue these hours towards the 500-hour certification. Serene Yoga Studio is a Canadian Yoga Alliance CYA-RYS Gold Yoga School. All Serene Yoga Action Workshops are eligible for accreditation and credits with Canadian Yoga Alliance.Open to all levels of practice.
Sign up online under “Personal Development“!
Serene Yoga Studio
485 St. Anne’s Road
Winnipeg, MB See map Click here to sign up for the workshop.

November 04:

YIN YOGA — Digging Deeper with Acupressure

NOTE – This workshop is led by Helen Maupin in studio. Please contact Serene Yoga at 204-504-YOGA, by email for more information or register online. November 04, 2023, 1 pm – 5 pm $80 + GST

Yin yoga offers a means to slow down and ameliorate physical and mental deterioration, which begins early in our 20s. By then, our fascia has begun to shrink wrap around our tissues and joints making it vital to address the fascia in beginner students even before addressing the muscular body. We do this by extending our holds in poses. Yin teachings suggest a minimum hold of three minutes building up to five minutes otherwise the fascia remains untransformed.

Fascia layers are filled with nerve endings directly accessing our nervous system. Changing the fascia changes the nervous system. For this change to occur, we must work weekly at the level of the nervous system. Yang yoga’s skeletal alignment and muscular stretching takes us under the fascia layer bypassing this direct access and inhibiting our overall healing and growth.

The focus of this Yin workshop is to experience longer holds in various postures. With the addition of acupressure techniques, a deeper release in the fascia, joints and muscle tissues will activate the spontaneous healing of our cellular body and subconscious intelligence. In addition, pratyahara, pranayama and meditation are on the agenda.

December 09:

MINDFUL MEDITATION — Awaken, Breathe, Create

Meditating, Writing & Moving with Present Moment Awareness

NOTE – This workshop is led by Helen Maupin in-studio. Please contact Serene Yoga at 204-504-YOGA, by email for more information or register online. December 09: 1 pm – 5 pm $80 + GST

Everything is indeed yoga. Being aware of and true to the many layers of being within allows us to integrate our physical cellular intelligence with our spiritual intuitive wisdom. When this magical alliance occurs, our mental-emotional body no longer feels the need to dominate and manipulate our
experiences. We come to know confidently what is true, and, as a result, we freely express the joyful creations arising from our collaborations with all of life. To live recognizing and honouring all our relations is the yoga of deep collaboration.

In this workshop, you will use your awareness and deep-felt experience in collaboration with spirit to free and express your creative self. Restorative asana, pranayama and meditation are on the agenda. Bring your mystery and your journal.

JANUARY TO AUGUST WORKSHOPS to be posted soon

2022/23 Yoga Actions 300-hr. Advanced Teacher Training Curriculum

(60 Hours): Yr. 6

Helen Maupin (CYA RYT500)

Eight 4-hour workshops: Saturdays (1 to 5 pm)
Two Retreats/Intensives: 8-hr Winter – Saturday & Sunday (1 to 5 pm)
20-hr Summer – Monday to Friday (9 to 1 pm)

4-hr Workshop Design:
Hour 1 — Philosophical teaching appropriate to class content
Hours 2 & 3 — Asana & Pratyahara exploration
Hour 4 — Pranayama, Dharana & Meditation

September 24: INVERSIONS — Shouldering Our Weight

NOTE – This workshop is in-studio. Please contact Serene Yoga at 204-504-YOGA, by email for more information or register online. September 24, 2022 1 pm – 5 pm $80 + GST

POSTURE PROBLEMS previously corrected in yoga can resurface when students begin work on inversions. It’s as though we revert to old patterns and habits when we’re turned upside down, just as people often revert to old coping mechanisms when stress is high. Julie Gudmestad

Although inversions such as Sirsasana (Headstand), Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand) and Pincha Mayurasana (Forearms Balance) can be energizing, the increase in energy is often not only the excitement of lifting off our feet but also doubt or fear as to whether we can ‘shoulder our weight’ on our head or our hands. During inversions if we cannot hold our body weight off of our spine, the sensational warning is pressure in the skull. This workshop focuses on bringing awareness to any such rising pressure and taking corrective action to relieve it. In addition, head alignment actions using the hyoid bone will be practised so old postural problems are not inhibiting or compressing the spine.

You will utilize yoga actions, asana, pratyahara, pranayama and meditation to purify your body, breath and mind while liberating your true spiritual nature.

Open to all levels of practice.
Sign up online under Workshops

Serene Yoga Studio
891 St. Mary’s Road
Winnipeg, MB

October 15: A PARTNER PRACTICE for Aligning Your Spine

NOTE – This workshop is in-studio. Please contact Serene Yoga at 204-504-YOGA, by email for more information or register online. OCTOBER 15, 2022 1 pm – 5 pm $80 + GST

The practice of yoga yokes or unites our mind, body and spirit. When we participate in a partner practice that union within is also intended to occur between you and your partner. In order to yoke ourselves to another human, the resulting increased intimacy requires trust and respectful physical contact. Physical intimacy often challenges our conditioned patterns with regard to boundary setting.

A partnered asana practice provides the opportunity to look at and listen to your conditioned boundary patterns. In addition, the use of yoga actions, along with pratyahara, pranayama and meditation techniques, will reveal conditioned patterns that have contributed to spinal misalignment.

Open to all levels of practice.
Sign up online under “Workshops”

Serene Yoga Studio
891 St. Mary’s Road
Winnipeg, MB

November 12: Yoga Therapy for Knees

NOTE – This workshop is in-studio. Please contact Serene Yoga at 204-504-YOGA, by email for more information or register online. November 12, 2022 1 pm – 5 pm $80 + GST

Knee and hip replacement surgeries are increasing exponentially. These joint imbalances, from over- or under-use, suggest a need to understand better their source of dis-ease as well as the prevention. In our yoga practice, we know that awareness is key. Only with awareness can we then turn around or transform our experience from what is out of balance to what serves us better.

In this workshop, yoga actions will be practiced that balance the inner and outer quadriceps’ work and enable the knee to track properly in its groove. Strengthening the inner thigh muscle and opening the outer thigh muscle impact the knees’ ability to extend but not hyperextend. Pratyahara, pranayama and meditation are also on the agenda.

Open to all levels of practice.
Sign up online under “Workshops”

Serene Yoga Studio
891 St. Mary’s Road
Winnipeg, MB

December 10: MINDFUL MEDITATION — Awaken, Breathe, Create

Meditating, Writing & Moving with Present Moment Awareness

NOTE – This workshop is in-studio. Please contact Serene Yoga at 204-504-YOGA, by email for more information or register online. 1 pm – 5 pm $80 + GST

The workshop is also part of Serene Yoga Studio’s Advanced Teacher Training program, where 200 RYTs can accrue these hours towards the 500-hour certification. Serene Yoga Studio is a Canadian Yoga Alliance CYA-RYS Gold Yoga School. All Serene Yoga Action Workshops are eligible for accreditation and
credits with the Canadian Yoga Alliance.

Serene Yoga Studio
891 St. Mary’s Road
Winnipeg, MB

January 07, 2023: ARMS & SHOULDERS–Yoga Actions for Individual Alignment

NOTE – This workshop is in-studio. Please contact Serene Yoga at 204-504-YOGA, by email for more information or register online. 1 pm – 5 pm $80 + GST

An often-shared experience among beginner yoga practitioners is a lack of arm power in Adho Mukha Svanasana (Down Dog), Plank, Chaturanga Dandasana, and Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Up Dog). Fortunately, many other yoga poses help to strengthen weak upper and/or lower arms. Increasing our arm strength and shoulder flexibility enable a more fluid flow through the Sun Salutations’ sequences. In addition, as yoga practitioners progress into the intermediate practice of inversions and backbends, stable elbows are necessary to bear and balance the body’s weight on the arms or hands.

In this workshop, yoga actions will be practiced to open, balance and stabilize your shoulders and elbows. Pratyahara, pranayama and meditation are also on the agenda.

Serene Yoga Studio
891 St. Mary’s Road
Winnipeg, MB

February 18, 2023: SHOULDER BLADES — Yoga Actions for Individual Alignment

NOTE – This workshop is in-studio. Please contact Serene Yoga at 204-504-YOGA, by email for more information or register online. 1 pm – 5 pm $80 + GST

For most yogis, the upper back is one of the most challenging places to awaken in the body. Bringing consciousness and movement to the numbness or tension in the upper thoracic spine and shoulder blades constitutes breaking through life-long, deeply held habits or defense mechanisms. At one time in our lives, these ways of reacting to life experiences served their purpose, but as with any overused habit, they eventually cause us pain and suffering.

For the purpose of today’s workshop, you will practise three shoulder blade actions that concurrently stabilize, strengthen and open your upper thoracic cavity, shoulder joints and neck. All of which positively impact both the heart and throat chakras. Pratyahara, pranayama and meditation are part of this practice.

April 15 & 16, 2023: STERNAL BODY – 3 Parts of the Breast Bone

NOTE – This workshop is in-studio for two afternoons. Please contact Serene Yoga at 204-504-YOGA, by email for more information or register online. 1 pm – 5 pm $200 + GST

“Drop the shoulders” and “lift the sternum” are two popular yoga actions taught at the beginner level. Unfortunately, many beginners and even intermediate practitioners do not have the body awareness or capacity to do either of these broad-based actions. Emotional holding is likely the culprit given the heart space is a major storehouse of repressed emotions.

The sternum or breast bone is part of the front ribcage that shelters the heart from physical damage. Thus, when we awaken and open the breast bone to allow for greater movement, we are also opening the heart space. Greater openness in our heart aligns with greater overall health due to the release of unresolved emotions accumulated from our past experiences.

In this workshop, yoga actions are practised that directly impact both openness and movement of the sternum’s three bones – manubrium, sternal body and xiphoid process. Both the heart and throat chakras are stimulated. Pratyahara, pranayama and meditation are also part of this practice.