Hips, Hips, Hips, or Does This Pose Make Me Look Fat?

As irreverent yogini Susan “Lip” Orem says, “Hip openers: You love ’em or you hate ’em.” But love ’em or hate ’em, we can all benefit from them.

Join the self-described “Brussels sprout of yoga” in this 3-hour workshop to ease the physical constraints associated with tight hips. Causes of tightnesss range from sitting all day at an office job to activities like running and biking. Serving as the foundation of alignment in many yoga poses, the hip and pelvic area is also where unprocessed stress and other negative emotions are stored. All of these can lead to inhibited mobility, circulation, and even digestion. Moving prana through these areas will release physical and emotional tension and bring a sense of lightness to the body and mind.

Participants will need to bring firm blankets. Blocks and straps will be provided.

Susan “Lip” Orem began practicing yoga when the thrill of bench aerobics had gone. She has been a dancer in Las Vegas revues, an Off-Broadway actress, a Ringling Brothers clown, and a sign language interpreter. Her first teachers were Sharon Gannon, Dana Flynn, and Cyndi Lee. She has been a student of Rodney Yee’s since 1996 and is a part of the Yoga Shanti teacher training staff. She runs workshops and yoga weekends at her retreat center, Heathen Hill, in Franklin, NY.

The workshop is open to yoga teachers and students and will be held at the Yoga Studio at Club Fit, 584 North State Road, Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510, on Saturday, February 13, from 1:30 p.m.–4:30 p.m. The cost is $45 for YTA members and $65 for nonmembers who register in advance; $55 and $75 at the door. Preregistration is requested. Register at YTAYoga.com. Ample parking is available. Please bring a yoga mat and arrive early to check in and set up. For more information, contact Audrey Brooks at ytapresident@gmail.net or 914-582-7816.

YTA’s program year will continue with “The Shoulder Girdle: An Anatomical Understanding to Arm Balancing” with Laurice Nemetz on March 12; “De-Slouchology” with California instructor Sandra Razieli on April 9; “Slow Yoga and Qigong” with Berkshires-based Ken Nelson and Lesli Lang on May 14; and a special session with revered 96-year-old yoga teacher Tao Porchon-Lynch on June 11.

Yoga Teachers Association (YTA) has been providing affordable continuing education for yoga teachers and committed students since 1979. YTA is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to improving the quality of yoga teaching and expanding knowledge about yoga in the Hudson Valley. Learn more at www.ytayoga.com.