David VendettiPrivate sessions are available upon request and highly adviseable for new students, serious practioners and people who need to modify their practice due to injury or accident. Once you know how to work with your body, the flow becomes smoother and stronger in led classes. Cost is $100 per hour at South Boston Yoga, or $125 at the practioners home (outcall rates may vary depending on distance and complexity of travel). Sliding scale and trades are definitely possible. Your yoga practice is beyond price. Please use the Contact page to request information about private sessions.
Group Instruction please see the South Boston Yoga studio class schedule page for details on times and locations of group classes. While there are many different names and "definitions", there is only one yoga. The word yoga means union, where your past and your future step firmly into the present moment with full dedication and awareness.
The following is a list of workshops that are available to be scheduled at your studio.
Standing Poses/Rooting and Rising: Like the deep roots of the tree learn to ground down through the earth and find a steady foundation for your growing yoga practice. This sequence will open the feet and help you discover the strength and balance to support the body and enable you to walk with confidence and compassion in the world around you. Standing poses are a challenging and simple way to begin to open the hips and legs, preparing the body for more intricate seated postures. (2 1/2 hour workshop)
Hips with Heart: As energy is freed in the pelvis it can work it's way from the ground up into the heart. The hips can hold a lot of fear as well as laughter. By opening the hips we allow movement up through the legs and into the spine and heart helping to lift and open the chest. In this workshop we will breath new life into the deepest parts of our being to give new movement, flow and freedom to all that we are and do. (2 1/2 hour workshop)
Back Bending/Architecture of the Spine: Overcoming personal barriers through breath and back bending. This workshop's multi-directional approach to supporting and deepening the powerful curves of the spine allows the practitioner to find comfort and ease when backbending. In this thorough examination we will be opening the shoulders and hips as well as awakening the core before taking a look at the different ways to safely access and understand the grace and beauty of opening the spine. (2 1/2 hour workshop)
Forward Folds/Universal Embrace: Forward folding is often taught at the beginning of a yoga practice to bring the practitioner inwards. Learning to face all that you carry inside and with courage and dedication is not always an easy task. Through patience and letting go we can finally leave behind what is no longer needed and let free what remains to nourish us in our lives. This workshop is about realizing the strength within us and embracing all that we are. Forward folds are a way of returning to the beginning, to the womb... to be reborn. (2 1/2 hour workshop)
The Lateral Line/Perfect Fullness: In this intricate workshop we will explore the art of releasing the side-body, freeing the ribs and finding the depth and breadth of our lungs. In order to breath fully, the trunk of the body needs pliability and space. Side bending is a great way to access this area and increase the circulation through and fluid movement of the spine. When we breath fully our ability to respond to life with presence, stability and energy is heightened. With full breath we find ourselves truly supporting the body, mind and soul. (2 1/2 hour workshop)
Twisting/Energetic Awakening and Unraveling: Energetic Awakening is a vigorous vinyasa flow that invites you on a journey of ever deepening twists and spinal spirals. This deep twisting increases the flexibility and strength of the spine and touches the core of our being. Moving from the comfortable and known into the challenge of the unknown. This class will surprise and delight you as we wring out the tiredness and tension in the spine, sweat out the chaos and toxins and fill the space that remains with vitality, joy and bliss. (2 1/2 hour workshop)
Guts/The Core of Being: What is your core? Starting with the soles of the feet we will uncover our deepest center. Once the center is released, our energy is free to open the chest and shoulders, liberating the breath. All too often we lose touch with our Buddha belly. As a society we shun this area of our body that nourishes and sustains us. In this workshop we will reclaim our right to love our bellies. In the words of Tom Myers "A waist is a terrible thing to mind." Topics include: Moola Bandha, Uddiyana Bhanda, Nauli and Agni Saura. (2 1/2 hour workshop)
Gifts of Darkness and the Gateway to Peace: The human condition is not yours alone to bear: sadness and panic are often signs that the body and mind post to guide us all home. The gifts of understanding, compassion, and deep love that come from these experiences are truly amazing. In the end we realize that living through our own crises has now allowed us to hear and be present with others who may need our experience and heart-felt support. There is such beauty in this. Only from the darkest of experiences can we truly find the depth of being to cherish the splendor of light. (Day-long workshop)
Cosmic Dance/Hover: Integrating arms into the flow. Whether you have six arms or it just feels like you do, this is a vinyasa workshop that moves to heal common ailments of the arms as well as using them to free up the rib cage and breath. The arms play many roles in this therapeutic and challenging binding and balancing sequence. Are they wings, roots, or windmills? You decide in this fun and informative day of play. (2 1/2 hour workshop)
Restorative poses to soothe and heal: Using props and blankets to ease tension and gently open tight and restricted places in the body and mind. Often thought of as "sleepy yoga", these poses can actually feel quite intense as we allow our vulnerability to be exposed and let go of the clasping and holding, uncovering the trapped emotion and trauma in need of resolution. (2 1/2 hour workshop)
Present Moment Awareness Meditation: Broken into 4 segments/sits with stretching in between. This meditation is designed to help you find comfortable poses to nestle into and dive deep into who you are. Meditation is knowing that you're already in the place you need to be, you don't have to do anything or be anyone other than exactly who you are right now. Bring any props you need to keep you free and present as you sit, relax and do nothing...the nothing in everything. (2 1/2 hour workshop)
Beginners Luck: Starting yoga can be a daunting task. Do I really have to contort into crazy positions or is there a way to feel comfortable and content as I put on a charming Buddha smile and breath deeply into my body for the first time? Finding this treasured and peaceful connection is what yoga practice is all about. This workshop is for people new to yoga who want simple tips to guide the body into safe and new territory. For those who can't stand for long periods of time, with tight hips that won't allow you to sit on the floor, with chronic pain ... there is a way for you to start your practice that will allow you the feel the amazing strength and centering that comes with an intelligent yoga practice. With this wisdom you can lay a broad foundation for your continued development and progress so that no matter what kind of class you are taking, you now hold the tools to make it more productive and amazing. (3 hour, Day-long and Weekend option)
Adjustments - Channeling the Flow: Every now and then we come to a point in which we feel our yoga pose is so close to perfect, almost what it needs to be but something is just a little off... In that moment the teacher comes over and gives just a gentle word or touch and the pose blossoms, lifts off and explodes into being, filling the body with energy and lightness. Explore the ways in which you can help yourself and your students align the body to create effortless opening and release as your practice seeks growth and evolution. (3 hour workshop)
Pranayama/Oceans of Peace: Prana: the subtle life force energy. Yama: to find and let it build within you. Not only are we in a society that is constantly draining our physical and mental energy, but we rarely walk out into nature or even venture a deep breath. Your inhalation represents your ability to fully take in all that life has to offer. Your exhalation represents letting go and detachment, "we come empty handed into this life and so shall we go." In this workshop we will start with simple exercises and move to more powerful breathing practices. We will see how breathing can be used as a tool for meditation and as a source of calmness and unending energy bringing clarity and peace. (2 1/2 hour workshop)
Anatomy 101: Are you supine or prone, inverted or everted? Where is your thigh bone and what muscles connect it to the hip bone? Learn the movements of the body, the bones, the ligaments and the muscles. Once the basics are down we explore the anatomy of yoga asanas, palpation and release, and how to strengthen, prevent or rehabilitate injury. (The full workshop is 20 hours although it may be taught as a smaller intensive for those not fulfilling a yoga certification requirement).
Breathwork: Breathwork is a dynamic meditation of rapid breathing in a room filled with the sounds of trance-ambient, ethereal, and percussive music. Similar to holotropic breathwork and rebirthing, you will be led on a powerful journey from the superficial daily experience to the depths of your heart and soul. This class is for those commited to creating change and peace in their lives. It is like nothing you have done before, a truly amazing ride providing a much needed catalyst to grow and develop in a new direction.
Healing shifts: Physical Injuries/Emotional Ties: What causes lower back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, frozen shoulder, sciatica, meniscus tears, and hernia? How can we heal and find our center again with our yoga practice? We will look at the many ways in which injury can be prevented, how to free up blocked and damaged areas as well as how to strengthen them. Modifying our practice with props and new poses can often keep us out of pain and on the way to a happier body. The emotional body can also hold on to a lot of the past. Learn for your self how yoga can be such and incredible asset as you find the poses that move you into and through emotional states and back to balanced and at peace. (Day-long workshop)
Intense Vinyasa- Pulse, the Rhythm of Life: In this heat-building, flowing sequence every part of the body will be systematically touched upon and remembered as we open and revitalize. Be prepared to sweat, move, breathe and explore the full range of expression available to your body. By the end we come out lengthened, heart open, breath full and the core centered. This "feel-good" flow will leave you thirsty for more than just water. (2 1/2 hour workshop)
Plateaus: Ever wonder why after all this time your yoga practice is still the same? Do you see some poses you would love to try but just don't work on your body? And what is this lotus pose all about? The development of this class is for those who seek to break through, to open up and to take their practice to the next level. Using Props, partners and isometric resistance bodywork we will explore what is possible for the body and what a nudge in the right direction can do to shift the whole paradigm. 2 blocks, 2 blankets and a strap required. (2 1/2 hour workshop)
Partner Yoga/ Divine Play: Yoga should be fun, playful, and nourishing. Working with a partner can help you to fly, release, and dive into new spaces and awakenings. Learning to trust and be open to the new and amazing variety of ways we can support each other in resting and letting go can be an awesome experience. Partner not necessary. (2 1/2 hour workshop)