Accessible Movement with M Camellia

Sunday, April 19 from 12-6p (this will be held digitally via Zoom!)

Accessible Movement: Creating Inclusive Yoga Spaces & Adapting Asana for All

Every body has lessons to teach. Every being in a human body has the ability to practice yoga asana and to use this beautiful set of tools to access the innate wisdom already inside of them. Whether your practice consists of handstands and arm balances or is done completely from a bed or a chair, the effects of mindful movement are profound. Every single person, regardless physical appearance or ability, is deserving of a yoga practice that meets them exactly where they are.

In this six-hour module, we’ll cover basic best practices and pose variations for students in larger bodies, students with limited mobility due to age or injury, and students with disabilities, providing you with a solid foundation in adaptive and inclusive teaching and sparking the creative teacher within you. We’ll work together to hone your critical thinking skills so you’re better able to innovate in real time and offer an asana practice that serves everyone who enters your classroom.

In addition to looking at posture variations for diverse bodies, we’ll also practice inclusive cuing and methods for teaching mixed-level classes. Everyone will have an opportunity to practice teaching, and those who also attend Saturday’s module will be able to build on their basic trauma-informed and collaborative teaching skills and bring all of these elements together to skillfully facilitate a unique, agency-oriented practice class.

Please bring a journal and writing implement. We will do a short sample practice, innovate in asanas, and do small group practice teaching--please dress comfortably for movement. Registrants will be eligible for 6 Yoga Alliance CEUs upon completion.

Participants are welcome to join for Sunday’s program alone and are invited to join for Saturday’s related Conversation about Accessing Empowerment. Sign up below and purchase the pass for (2) sessions to attend both. Pricing has three tiers (need assistance, cover your costs, and provide assistance) - please choose what fits your life: $125-$195 for one session, $220-$360 for both.

Teacher Bio:

Melanie “M” Camellia (they/them), E-RYT, is an East-Coast-based yoga teacher, teacher trainer, and accessibility advocate, called to create profoundly inclusive, agency-oriented spaces for self inquiry and the inner work that serves the outer world. They believe the goal of yoga, as of life, is collective liberation, and in turn challenge contemporary yoga practitioners to dismantle the oppressive systems and beliefs, within themselves and society at large, that hold us all back. They’ve been called a “tour-de-force of encouraging radical self-love” (DC Refined) and listed among the “top thinkers and activists in the field of body positivity” (OmStars).

Teaching since 2016, Melanie is a certified Yoga For All and Accessible Yoga teacher, an Accessible Yoga Lead Trainer, and a yoga teacher mentor. A constant learner, they have committed to extensive continuing education in the areas of accessibility, trauma-informed teaching, and biomechanics. Recognized as an industry leader in the areas of inclusion, agency, and consent, they have served as an expert advisor on yoga ethics to leading industry groups and as a featured presenter at yoga service conferences, including the March 2020 Evolution of Yoga Summit in Los Angeles. Melanie co-leads the Yoga & Body Image Coalition, manages Accessible Yoga Trainings internationally, and writes about queer and trans identity, body image, representation politics, desire, and agency.