On the doorstep of another presidential inauguration day, join together with others in a large Reiki share, giving energy to one another and to all those who are particularly vulnerable and need support. Please set aside this time on your calendar—January 19 at 1:00 Eastern Time, 10:00 Pacific Time. This gathering is intended to emphasize the source of hope, compassion, gift giving and strength within ourselves, clearing the way for us to do our work in the world as we see it.

This event is for everyone, whether you are already attuned to Reiki or not. Each participant will receive one heart attunement during this program which will last no more than an hour.

Thanks to Aimee at Radiant Yoga and Wellness for helping us to do registration again. If you would like to make a donation in honor of this event you can make a donation to a non-profit that supports people in need these days. If you would like a suggestion Radiant and Marcia are supporting Motherful this year. They do an amazing job offering support to single mothers. And you can always give to the Karma Yoga Foundation, run by Marcia and Michele Vinbury. Our main programs lately have been to give scholarships to people of color and/or low income so they can take the power of yoga into communities that otherwise might not have it.

This one-hour Zoom session is Sunday, January 19

• 1:00p ET

• Noon CT

• 11:00 MT

• 10:00 PT

Event Leaders

Marcia Miller, Linda Oshins, and Luann Jacob

Start this new year with yoga practices and explorations in joyful celebration with community members whether in person or livestream. This decades-long tradition continues at Radiant Yoga and Wellness and will include our dance party to start, followed by playful yet powerful asana, deep rest and Angel Cards.

Date

Wednesday, January 1 from 10:30a to 12:30p

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost

$45

Do you wonder if you have anger and rage right under the surface but don’t know what to do with it? Have you been told to calm down your whole life, to keep quiet when you are angry? Are you afraid of your anger?  Can you feel anger rising up into your throat only to be constricted and restricted? Do you numb yourself rather than feel anger? Do you live in anger much of the time and are exhausted from it?  Or, are you exhausted at the effort to tamp it down? Are you anger-curious?

This workshop is a place to explore the process of feeling and then harnessing your anger into the wholeness of your life.  As Chelan Harken says,

Rage is recognition.

Rage is a love language of life for my entirety.

Rage is wildly in love with wholeness.

In this workshop, you can dip a toe in or jump in with your whole body. There will be group discussions, exploration of what our culture/s have told us about anger, feeling into the taboo of anger, and into anger itself through a variety of practices. We’ll practice listening to anger’s messages for us and moving into action with them. We’ll feel the power of anger and then see how once we understand anger’s messages, what remains is just the feeling of power itself, your own aliveness and wholeness.

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost

$65, with early bird rate of $55 by Dec 1

No recordings for this one.

In this FREE online gathering, join Reiki Masters Marcia Miller, Linda Oshins, Luann Jacobs, and others for a Reiki ritual on Zoom to support us during what for many is a stressful political season. What if, instead of fear and animosity, we invoke the loving energy that is Reiki, within ourselves and our group. We will re-attune everyone who joins, so as individuals and as a group we can reconnect with Reiki energy and each other. Re-attunement is a powerful meditative experience. As we feel this connection to infinite loving energy we can joyfully rededicate and recommit ourselves to bringing light to the many challenges of the world. We need each other and the world needs our LIGHT!

Anyone who has previously been attuned to Reiki from any lineage is welcome to join us. You need not be using Reiki regularly to join. We’ll end with a giant send to any and all challenging situations, people, animals, plant life, water creatures—anything that is near and dear to our hearts. We predict you will leave this event feeling lighter, more at ease and more filled with energy rather than feeling the density and anxiety that is so common these days. Those who register will receive more info closer to the event.

You can absolutely come for free AND donations will be accepted.

This one-hour Zoom session is Sunday, November 3

• 1:00p ET

• Noon CT

• 11:00 MT

• 10:00 PT

Event Leaders

Marcia Miller, Linda Oshins, and Luann Jacobs

Cost

Free or $10 donation

The loss of a beloved can be one of the most agonizing, even obliterating, times in a person’s life.  If the death was unexpected or through violence, there will likely be shock and the inability to comprehend what has happened as well.

What does the nervous system have to do with all this?  Everything! When we can add wise work with the nervous system to the experience of grief, there can also be a sense of sacred presence to what is happening, as well as ideas of what might be helpful, if anything. There is also the possibility for deep connection: with family, community, and eventually something bigger, even as the pain of grief is present. There may even eventually be a sense of connection to the person who is physically gone.

When you feel safe and supported in community, your grief will have a very different flavor, one that bonds you to others. Since we live in a culture that is death-phobic (a phrase coined by Stephen Jenkinson), it is especially important to care for ourselves and each other during these life-altering experiences, and to explore and create meaningful rituals that support the needs of the whole community.

Together we’ll explore the trajectory of grief through states of the nervous system with support through poetry, writing and drawing, conversation, movement, and a few good questions.

 Saturday, Aug 3, 1:00 to 3:30p ET in person and online through Zoom.  Because of the personal and shared nature of this experience, you must attend in real time.

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost

$55

In this free online gathering, join Reiki Masters Marcia Miller, Linda Oshins, Luann Jacobs, and others for a Reiki ritual to honor the summer solstice. We will re-attune everyone who joins, so as individuals and as a group we can reconnect with Reiki energy and each other. Re-attunement is a powerful meditative experience. As we feel this connection to infinite loving energy we can joyfully rededicate and recommit ourselves to bringing light to the many challenges of the world. We need each other!

Anyone who has previously been attuned to Reiki from any lineage is welcome to join us. You need not be using Reiki regularly to join. We’ll end with a giant send to any and all people, animals, plant life, water creatures, and all situations that are near and dear to our hearts. Those who register will receive more info closer to the event.

This one-hour Zoom session is Sunday, June 23

• 1:00p ET

• Noon CT

• 11:00 MT

• 10:00 PT

Event Leaders

Marcia Miller, Linda Oshins, and Luann Jacobs

Cost

$10 donation (if financial concerns are a barrier, please contact the studio at info@radiantyogaandwellness.com for free admission)

As we have learned in the Polyvagal workshops over the last few years, one of the states of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is the Dorsal Vagal (DV).  Most of the nerves in this system are located like a web in the belly, and when activated (as the Polyvagal Theory goes) take us into a collapsed and dissociated state.  This is a very good thing if you are being eaten by a tiger—you don’t want to be consciously there for that—and now some of us are wondering if there is much more to what happens in this state.  In fact, Gabriel Kram (one of my main teachers of the ANS) thinks that there are at least 3 dorsalities, and how we get into our collapsed state determines what might help us to come back into our lives.  He suggests that the three entry ways into dorsal vagal are shock, burnout, and grief. I have had many experiences in my life that lead me to believe this is true, and as a yogi, I have explored practices that support each of these experiences back into connection a connected (Ventral Vagal state).

In this workshop, we’ll lay out the ideas and then enjoy practices that will enliven our bellies in gentle yet powerful and even fun ways.

Class will be in person (space is limited) and on livestream.  Recordings will also be available for those who can’t be there in person.

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost

$55

A workshop on the Nervous System Through the Lens of Polyvagal Theory

In Part 1 we set a foundation for this exploration and covered about half of the portals to connection. Join us again as we continue our study and practice together. With the foundation set we can focus even more on the portals and the practices we can embody. There is so much more to share.

“You cannot heal beyond your ability to access connection.” Naturaleza Gabriel Kram

Healing depends on enough safety to allow integration of unresolved stress or traumas. In this workshop, we continue our exploration of the nervous system by focusing on improving access to connection through the social engagement (ventral vagal) system. What are the portals to connection? Hint, some are fairly universal and others may be personal to you. We’ll also explore strategies for staying in connection, even when faced with stress. Yoga practice is relevant for many of the portals and some of the practices will be outside of yoga.

This workshop is designed for anyone curious about their nervous system. While part of an ongoing series, it is also appropriate for someone new to this study.

In person and Livestream. Recordings will be available to all—sign up for livestream if you know you won’t be able to attend on the day.

The assumption for Parts 2 & 3 will be that you attended or have seen the recording of Portals to Connection, Part 1. This recording highlights the foundational ideas of what we did in Part 1. It runs about 50 minutes.

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost of Workshop

$55

Cost of Part 1 Recording

$20

***Please make sure you are logged into MindBody before clicking on the link above. After purchasing the recording, you will receive a receipt by email that includes the link to the recording. Please be sure to include your most up-to-date email on your MindBody account. If you do not receive the receipt, contact us at info@radiantyogaandwellness.com.***

In this free online gathering, join Reiki Masters Marcia Miller, Linda Oshins, Luann Jacobs and others for a Reiki ritual to begin the new year. We will re-attune everyone who joins, so as individuals and as a group we can reconnect with Reiki energy and each other. Re-attunement is a powerful meditative experience. As we feel this connection to infinite loving energy we can joyfully rededicate and recommit ourselves to bringing light to the many challenges of the world. We need each other!

Anyone who has previously been attuned to Reiki from any lineage is welcome to join us. You need not be using Reiki regularly to join. As part of the ritual, we will invite you to create a personal sacred space or altar wherever you are. Consider what special items you want to have with you, possibly including rocks, crystals or plants, pictures of beloveds (some of whom might not be among the living), anything reminding you of your ancestors, candles, flowers, etc. Have a journal handy as well. We’ll end with a giant send to any and all people, situations that are near and dear to our hearts.

This one-hour Zoom session is Sunday, January 21

• 1:00p ET

• Noon CT

• 11:00 MT

• 10:00 PT

Event Leaders

Marcia Miller, Linda Oshins, and Luann Jacobs

Cost

Free

A workshop on the Nervous System Through the Lens of Polyvagal Theory

In Part 1 we set a foundation for this exploration and covered about half of the portals to connection. Join us again as we continue our study and practice together. With the foundation set we can focus even more on the portals and the practices we can embody. There is so much more to share.

“You cannot heal beyond your ability to access connection.” Naturaleza Gabriel Kram

Healing depends on enough safety to allow integration of unresolved stress or traumas. In this workshop, we continue our exploration of the nervous system by focusing on improving access to connection through the social engagement (ventral vagal) system. What are the portals to connection? Hint, some are fairly universal and others may be personal to you. We’ll also explore strategies for staying in connection, even when faced with stress. Yoga practice is relevant for many of the portals and some of the practices will be outside of yoga.

This workshop is designed for anyone curious about their nervous system. While part of an ongoing series, it is also appropriate for someone new to this study.

In person and Livestream. Recordings will be available to all—sign up for livestream if you know you won’t be able to attend on the day.

The assumption for Parts 2 & 3 will be that you attended or have seen the recording of Portals to Connection, Part 1. This recording highlights the foundational ideas of what we did in Part 1. It runs about 50 minutes.

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost of Workshop

$55

Cost of Part 1 Recording

$20

***Please make sure you are logged into MindBody before clicking on the link above. After purchasing the recording, you will receive a receipt by email that includes the link to the recording. Please be sure to include your most up-to-date email on your MindBody account. If you do not receive the receipt, contact us at info@radiantyogaandwellness.com.***

Start this new year with yoga practices and explorations in joyful celebration with community members whether in person or livestream. This decades-long tradition continues at Radiant Yoga and Wellness and will include our dance party to start, followed by playful yet powerful asana, deep rest and Angel Cards.

Date

Monday, January 1 from 10:30a to 12:30p

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost

$35 - All proceeds go to fire victims in Maui.

A workshop on the Nervous System Through the Lens of Polyvagal Theory

“You cannot heal beyond your ability to access connection.” Naturaleza Gabriel Kram

Healing depends on enough safety to allow integration of unresolved stress or traumas. In this workshop, we continue our exploration of the nervous system by focusing on improving access to connection through the social engagement (ventral vagal) system. What are the portals to connection? Hint, some are fairly universal and others may be personal to you. And we’ll consider strategies to maintain connection, once there, to bring more skills to challenging situations. Yoga practice is relevant for many of the portals but some of the practices will be outside of yoga.

This workshop is designed for anyone curious about their nervous system.  While part of an ongoing series, it is also appropriate for someone new to this study.

In person and Livestream.  Recordings will be available as well—sign up for livestream if you know you won’t be able to attend on the day.

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost

$55

As I keep studying the human nervous system and the polyvagal theory and its implications, I am more fascinated than ever at the brilliance and complexity of these bodies we live in. We are designed to stay safe enough wherever possible, and when learned traits that may have kept us safe in the past are revealed to be not so useful anymore, we can change the way we operate in the world. Appropriately sourced yoga practices can be very useful.

One of the most interesting books I have read this year is Sing the Body Electric: Essays on the Mysterious Beauty of the Deep Nervous System, by Gabriel Kram. Gabriel has taken the information developed by Dr Stephen Porges and Deb Dana, LCSW, and organized it visually with new creative additions that have kept me thinking about this book all summer.

I would like to share some of the ideas and images in this booklet with you in this next workshop, and as always, relate them to our work as humans and teachers of yoga and meditation.

In this workshop we’ll spend time looking at the nervous system continuum as described by Kram in his beautiful and useful slides, that give us multiple and nuanced ways of understanding our Autonomic Nervous System. Further delineation of the basic and blended states may suggest different ways of working with each response.

This course is offered livestreamed ONLY.  If you can’t attend at the time and would like to receive the recording, sign up for the livestream course.

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost

$69

The cost of this workshop includes the small price of the book so you can familiarize yourself with it before the workshop.  Also, I strongly recommend that everyone spends a dollar for an intro micro-course on the nervous system created by Kram and his beautiful visual designers.

Once you register, you will receive a link to the book to download to your computer or to print.

When we are young, even pre-verbal, we learn adaptations to the world around us that help us thrive, and in the case of challenges, survive. This is the nervous system doing its job! As we age, those same adaptations, where are nearly always unconscious, are still acting on us, sometimes even running the show. Because of this it can seem as if we are several different people. Sometimes, we are capable adults with great problem-solving skills and the ability to connect with loved ones, and other times we seem like toddlers throwing a fit—not capable of even remembering that we have skills. Other times, “simple” triggers cause us to slide into the state of the nervous system we experienced when we were disappointed, afraid or nervous.

In this workshop we’ll explore ways to bring these patterns into our conscious awareness—a good start, but one that is not generally enough to change them. Next we’ll take one pattern and try out a new, never before taught exercise, that can be useful in your life, as part of your meditation practice or something to be used with a trusted other.

This program is available online and livestream.  If you are not able to be in person but would like the recording, please sign up for livestream.

This workshop is part of an ongoing series about Yoga Therapy and Polyvagal Theory designed for yoga practitioners, yoga teachers and therapists of all kinds. If this is your first one then please read this.

Yoga Alliance CEs are available for this workshop.

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost

$55

Start this new year with yoga practices and explorations in joyful celebration with community members whether in person or livestream. This decades-long tradition continues at Radiant Yoga and Wellness and will include our dance party to start, followed by playful yet powerful asana, deep rest and Angel Cards.

Date

Sunday, January 1 from 10:30a to 12:30p

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost

$35

Our deepest human need is to be in connection with ourselves, safe others, and the natural world. Since this is not always possible, how do we gauge which practices are important for us when we are disconnected?  And what do we practice to enhance and extend connection when it is present?

In this workshop these questions will guide us to explore where we (and our students) are in our nervous systems and what practices might return us to connection.  It makes sense that someone who is afraid and anxious might need something different than someone who is collapsed and dissociative.  And, because we are complicated humans, we won’t assume that “this” meditation is for “that” state, but we will have some starting places and experiment from there. As always, the experiences of the people in the group will inform our learning.  There will be brief reminders of some basic PVT principles and practices we have done in other workshops, but almost all the material for this workshop will be new.

I believe that one of the reasons people stop meditating, even though we “know” it’s good for us is because we are not using the right practices for our needs.  Discover what might help you enjoy and want to make time for these powerful practices. 

This program is available online and livestream.  If you are not able to be in person but would like the recording, please sign up for livestream.

This workshop is part of an ongoing series about Yoga Therapy and Polyvagal Theory designed for yoga practitioners, yoga teachers and therapists of all kinds. If this is your first one then please read this.

Yoga Alliance CEs are available for this workshop.

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost

$55

Join Marcia Miller and Linda Oshins for a free info session and learn about the next Dancing with Dragons course.

As we continue to explore a variety of practices through the lens of PVT, we return to pranayama and meditation.  In the previous two workshops we took each one in turn; in this one we’ll blend these practices in the workshop as we often do in our yoga lives. We’ll cover practices we didn’t cover in previous workshops and continue to deepen our understanding of the states of the nervous system and how to be present to ourselves and others, especially when we are triggered in a trauma response.  In this workshop we’ll also look at the range of responses related to “freeze” and why this is particularly important for meditators.

From her many decades of experience with meditation and pranayama, through times of relative ease and others of deep trauma, Marcia believes that we all need a variety of practices to draw on depending on our needs of the moment.  Some practices can even be counter-productive for certain states of the nervous system. Let’s come together and explore. 

This is part of an ongoing series of programs on the nervous system, though each one stands alone as well.  If this is your entry into the study of the polyvagal system please read this article before coming.

Read a story about the personal benefits of polyvagal theory here.

In-Person and Livestreamed. If you are not able to attend that day you can register and receive the recording.

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost

$55

As we continue to explore all our practices through the lens of PVT, we return to meditation. What is the meditation technology that will support us to stay in connection when it is safe to do so, and how do we use meditation to support re-connection when that is appropriate? From her many decades of experience with meditation, through times of relative ease and others of deep trauma, Marcia believes that we all need a variety of practices to draw on depending on our needs of the moment. Some meditation practices can even be counter-productive for certain states of the nervous system. Let’s come together and explore.

This workshop is part of an ongoing series about Yoga Therapy and Polyvagal Theory designed for yoga practitioners, yoga teachers and therapists of all kinds. If this is your first one then please read this. Yoga Alliance CEs are available.

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost

$55

Yogic Breathing (Pranayama) includes many relaxing and energizing techniques that help bring balance and joy to our lives. But which practice for which person? And for what time of the day or their life? This workshop will be a blend of studying principles of Polyvagal Theory and the physiology of the nervous system combined with many breathing exercises. We’ll practice together and share what we notice so we can learn from each other’s experiences.

This workshop is part of an ongoing series about Yoga Therapy and Polyvagal Theory designed for yoga practitioners, yoga teachers and therapists of all kinds. If this is your first one then please read this.

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost

$55

Yogic Breathing (Pranayama) includes many relaxing and energizing techniques that help bring balance and joy to our lives. But which practice for which person? And for what time of the day or their life? This workshop will be a blend of studying principles of Polyvagal Theory and the physiology of the nervous system combined with many breathing exercises. We’ll practice together and share what we notice so we can learn from each other’s experiences.

This workshop is part of an ongoing series about Yoga Therapy and Polyvagal Theory designed for yoga practitioners, yoga teachers and therapists of all kinds. If this is your first one then please read this.

Teacher

Marcia Miller

Cost

$55