Sheri’s yoga classes are respite …
… from the too fast, too loud, too tumultuous world so many of us live in these days. She offers a refreshing weave of yoga and Feldenkrais movement, encouraging the student move from an outward focus to the inner present moment experience. Her instructions encourage slowing down so that one can notice, listen, investigate, and experiment. The end result is the possibility of finding a refuge in one’s own body.
—Cheryl, psychotherapist
My yoga classes are deeply informed by the Feldenkrais Method ® and my background in dance. I prefer to think of the yoga asana as movements, rather than postures, so we experience them as constantly changing landscapes for the journey of our attention, rather than as destinations. This may imply to some that my classes are vinyasa, or flow, style, which is not the case. I do often include flow sequences, but generally we are moving slowly or we are holding soft, lively poses for longer. This way we have the time to develop awareness and tune in to the subtler sensations.
We begin with a short sit (or a reclining rest in the Gentle Yoga class). There we draw our attention to our present state, including the movements of our breath and other bodily sensations. We begin moving slowly, to increase our self-awareness, and generally build into more strenuous movements. I often offer sequences that make familiar movements unfamiliar, so that you can sense yourself differently than is your habit, and you can develop additional movement pathways. Students report that my classes are "well-organized"—this, I believe, comes from the way I weave movements together in related sequences that build on one another in surprising ways.
During class we sometimes practice pranayama, or breathing exercises. We end with savasana, the reclining rest, or with sitting meditation, or both. You are encouraged to sound not only at the beginning and end of class, but during your movement practice, to release tension and to center yourself around the sound of your own voice—listening most closely to your own inner guidance.
My experience, both as a yoga student and teacher, is that in class we enact, silently, our best intentions in concert with others. I strive to cultivate a feeling of openness and support in yoga class, so that those who want to experience the group as community may do so, and those who want to practice independently have space as well. We begin with the body, and by bringing attention the body we notice that the body is not “other,” but is our self, and that self lives in a web of connection.
I am not currently teaching weekly yoga classes, but I do offer periodic retreats, workshops and special events.