Chair Yoga Training

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Chair Yoga Training

Yoga Alliance-Approved Advanced Yoga Studies and
Continuing-Education Yoga Teacher Training

Dates: February 16, 2025
CEC: 3 Hours (3 Contact)
Location: Mendota Heights

This training covers how to sequence and modify a gentle yoga class for students to "come as they are" from work, errands, or daily life. Designed for people who spend a lot of time driving, active seniors, office workers, or anyone looking to relieve tension that collects in necks, shoulders and backs, this class style allows students to practice in comfortable street clothes using chairs and props.

 
 

Sequencing & Transitioning Practicum Faculty

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Merry Beth Freienmuth, E-RYT 500, YACEP
Merry Beth Freienmuth, E-RYT 500, YACEP

Merry Beth is director of Green Lotus' Yoga Alliance-certified school and a senior faculty member. She has been practicing yoga since 2000. She found the physical asana practice to be the perfect transition for her aging body that could no longer tolerate a classical ballet practice. She taught ballet for more than 15 years, then she began teaching Body Flow, Pilates, and yoga in 2002. Merry Beth also has experienced the more subtle benefits of yoga; it has given her the strength and balance to navigate a full-time career in corporate America and to raise her children into adulthood. Now the sole owner of Green Lotus, she devotes her time to teaching and supporting the business. 

 

Schedule

This training is held at our Mendota Heights center.

  • Sunday, 12 - 3 p.m.

No make-up sessions will be available.

 

Fee $66

Green Lotus alumni receive a 10% discount.

Because our training sessions frequently develop a wait list, refunds will be made to your personal Green Lotus account with less than two weeks' advance notice when you cancel.  Cancellations made with less than a 48-hour notice will not receive a refund. 

Yin Yoga

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Yin Yoga

Yoga Alliance-Approved Advanced  Studies and
Continuing-Education Yoga Teacher Training

Dates: March 7 - 9, 2025
CEC: 18 Hours (16 Contact, 2 Non-Contact)
Location: Mendota Heights

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Yin yoga is a quiet practice that focuses on creating space in the muscles, joints, and connective tissues while enhancing the mind-body connection. It encourages students to go deeply into each pose with all levels of their being.  Yin yoga also provides balance to more active yang yoga practices like power vinyasa and hatha and sports like running and aerobics. The body's well-being requires at least as much "muscle release" as "muscle engagement" for balance.  Yin yoga is an intensely deep form of yoga and requires specialized study to teach or to deepen your personal yin practice.

A Unique Approach to Yin Training

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Our 18-hour Yin Yoga Teacher Training and Advanced Studies Program allows yoga teachers and students to delve deeply into the practice during one intensive weekend.  You will:

  • Study through reading and engaging lecture

  • Participate in multiple practices so that the principles of yin yoga can be felt in your own body and mind

  • Learn anatomy, alignment, Chinese medicine, and philosophy from a yin perspective

  • Learn each yin pose in depth, with modifications, variations, and attention to alignment

  • Learn about energy meridians, the five elements, and acupressure points to enhance a yin practice

  • Have ample opportunities to ask questions and discuss theories and ideas

 

If you feel a strong need for balance in your practice, teaching, and life in general, yin is the way to go. I feel 100% ready to teach yin classes after this training and empowered to develop a personal yin practice too! Thank you Maureen for your brilliance and energy. Namaste!
~ Sara

 

Yin Yoga Training Faculty

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Maureen Farley, E-RYT 200, YACEP
Maureen Farley, E-RYT 200, YACEP

Maureen began her yoga practice in 1992, studying one-on-one with a tantric yogi, and experienced dramatic healing on all levels of her being. She attended graduate school for Chinese medicine. In addition to her E-RYT 200, RYT 500, and YACEP certifications with Yoga Alliance, Maureen is certified to teach Yoga for CancerCare, Yin Yoga, Trauma-Informed Yoga, Yoga Nidra, and Restorative Yoga. She completed advanced training in the Yoga for Cancer Patients program at Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Center of New York. She developed and teaches Green Lotus' Yin Yoga Teacher Training programs and Yoga for CancerCare Training programs. She teaches workshops and offers private yoga instruction, specializing in working with those who have structural issues, back or neck pain, osteoporosis, and those whose life journey includes cancer. Maureen is also a Reiki Master, ordained minister, public speaker, bhakta, and she offers mantra meditation instruction. 

I have very much enjoyed dropping into a few virtual yin classes over the past month and plan to do so in the future. It grounds me to witness your teaching and reflect and learn as both a student and a new teacher of Yin Yoga. I started teaching a couple of yin classes in my community since completing your training in the fall. I am loving sharing the Yin practice with my community of Decorah. The response has been very positive. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and love for Yin. For me, it has opened a welcomed new avenue to teaching and practicing beyond my Iyengar foundation. Educators know good teaching and learning from you has been a gift.
~ Lea

 

Required Books and Materials

  • The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga, The Philosophy and Practice of Yin Yoga by Bernie Clark

  • Please bring a notebook or journal to capture notes, questions, and observations

Optional but recommended:

  • Insight Yoga by Sarah Powers

  • Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine by Harriet Beinfield and Efrem Korngold

  • Liberation: The Perfect Holistic Antidote to Stress, Depression, and Other Unhealthy States of Mind by Stephen Russell

Schedule

This training is held at our Mendota Heights center.  

  • Friday: 6 - 9 p.m.

  • Saturday: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

  • Sunday: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

*No make-up sessions will be available. If students cannot attend for the entire weekend schedule, they will be able to complete the requirements the next time the training is held.

 

Fee $352

Green Lotus alumni receive a 10% discount.

 

I really appreciated the broad context of the training - really connected the theories of Taoism and Chinese medicine to the yin yoga practice very well.
~ Denise, Acupuncturist & Yoga Teacher

Because our training sessions frequently develop a wait list, refunds will be made to your personal Green Lotus account with less than two weeks' advance notice if you cancel.  Cancellations made with less than a 48-hour notice will not receive a refund. 

Restorative Yoga

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Restorative Yoga

Yoga Alliance-Approved Advanced Yoga Studies and
Continuing-Education Yoga Teacher Training

Dates: April, 5 - 6, 2025
CEC: 20 Hours (18 Contact, 2 Non-Contact)
Location: Mendota Heights

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The Art of Healing by Letting Go

Restorative yoga is a practice of letting go, of healing the body and mind. Research shows that practicing restorative yoga can aid in combating stress and PTSD, sleeplessness and fatigue, "monkey mind", emotional issues such as grief, fear, and anxiety, and many other symptoms. It is the foundation of therapeutic yoga. Using props such as blankets, bolsters, chairs, and blocks, yoga poses are fully supported, allowing the body and mind to let go and heal. A restorative yoga class is a great option for people who have structural concerns, those new to yoga, or those recovering from injury or illness. With an abundance of modifications, restorative yoga allows every body to reach of state of active relaxation, bringing rest to body and mind, engendering peace and calm, and enhancing receptivity.

Expand Your Skills and Your State of Well-Being - and of Others, Too

Green Lotus's Restorative Training, based on the principles of Judith Lasater's Relax and Renew®, is designed for three audiences:

  • Yoga students wishing to expand and deepen their personal practice or become more familiar with this style physically and energetically and apply it to their personal lives

  • Yoga teachers seeking to teach restorative yoga and/or earn continuing education credits

  • Other professionals - such as therapists, medical personnel, school teachers, physical therapists - who may wish to integrate restorative techniques into the practices they offer

With Green Lotus's training, you show up ready to learn. We provide all props - bolsters, blankets, blocks, straps, cushions, eye pillows, towels - so there is no need to pack and haul in your own. You will experience the practice in your body to better understand the challenges and releases your students may experience. And our manual will support you for years to come.

Instructor Randi Henning is a Judith Lasater-certified Relax and Renew® trainer and has worked with hundreds of yoga students and teachers-in-training. With her you will explore restorative poses in-depth with an abundance of modifications and adjustments.  You will learn to sequence a relaxing, meditative, and thoughtful class and to tailor a private session for a wide range of unique needs. You will gain tools to broaden your yoga repertoire, and you will learn to guide your students, and yourself, in the practice of letting go: restorative yoga. 

A Unique Restorative Yoga Point-of-View

Instructor Randi Henning is a Judith Lasater-certified Relax and Renew® trainer and has worked with hundreds of yoga students and teachers-in-training in group and private settings. She brings her unique point of view so you can learn:

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  • To teach restorative yoga in a group-class setting, which requires deft skills to meet so many needs

  • To quickly assess the students directly in front of you and determine how to ease them into relaxation and rest

  • To determine which props to use and why

  • To take care of yourself: Teaching a group class requires stamina, keen observation and listening skills, and compassion

  • To sequence classes for different issues from grief to tight hips

  • How to conduct an in-take session for a private client

  • How to use the in-take information to prepare and conduct an effective private restorative yoga session

Restorative Yoga Teacher Training Faculty

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Randi Henning, RYT 500
Randi Henning, RYT 500

Randi has been studying and practicing yoga for more than 20 years. As a fifth-grade teacher, she first began teaching yoga to our most precious resource, children.  Then Randi completed her teacher training in Green Lotus' 200-hour program.  She studied with Judith Lasater, completing her certification in Relax and Renew® Restorative Yoga. She also earned yin yoga teaching credentials from Green Lotus.

Required Texts and Materials

Only one text is required. Please purchase it and read it before the training session.

  • Relax and Renew by Judith Hanson Lasater

  • Please bring notebook or journal to capture observations, questions, and inspirations

Schedule

This training is held at our Mendota Heights center. There is a 30-minute lunch break each day. Hours are as follows:

  • Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.

*No make-up sessions will be available. If students cannot attend for the entire weekend schedule, they will be able to complete the requirements the next time the training is held.

 

Fee:  $396

Green Lotus alumni receive a 10% discount.

Because our training sessions frequently develop a wait list, refunds will be made to your personal Green Lotus account with less than two weeks' advance notice when you cancel.  Cancellations made with less than a 48-hour notice will not receive a refund. 

Yoga Nidra

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Yoga Nidra

Yoga Alliance-Approved Advanced  Studies and
Continuing-Education Yoga Teacher Training

Dates: March 21 - 23, & 26, 2025
CEC: 25 Hours (23 Contact, 2 Non-Contact)
Location: Lakeville & Virtual

This activity has been designed to meet the Minnesota Board of Nursing continuing education requirements. The nurse is responsible for determining whether this activity meets the requirements for acceptable continuing education.

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Yoga Nidra, also known as yoga deep sleep or sleepless sleep, is an ancient meditation technique known and proved to affect the parts of the brain that permit deeper insight. This is the part of the brain that release the negative thoughts, emotions, feelings, and traumas inhibiting well-being and good health. Based on ancient yoga teachings combined with modern, well-researched and documented techniques, this training provides a fresh perspective. It makes this therapeutic technique accessible and effective for modern-day life delivered by modern-day yoga teachers, nurses and other medical professionals, psychologists, social workers, acupuncturists, massage therapists, school teachers, and more.

Yoga Nidra works. Thanks to rigorous contemporary research at respected universities and government organizations, Yoga Nidra effectively is being used around the country in:

  • VA hospital and clinics

  • schools

  • business

  • sleep clinics

  • recovery clinics

  • at-risk programs for children and teens

  • prisons

  • psychology practices

  • and at Green Lotus where hundreds of people have benefited and are regulars at our Yoga Nidra workshops and classes 

You will learn:

  • how Yoga Nidra affects the physical and emotional bodies at all levels

  • how it works with trauma of many kinds as it helps people connect with their inner resource

  • how to use it in dedicated practices or workshops ranging from 15 to 45 minutes, in private sessions, and in your classes in abbreviated form

  • how to use long- and short-forms of the practice

  • how to use your voice as a resonant tool that is well-paced and controlled for volume

  • how to connect to your own inner resource

  • how to have healthy boundaries with Yoga Nidra students

  • how it feels in your own body: participants in this training will experience five 30 - 45-minute Yoga Nidra group sessions during this weekend to feel it in its fullness

This training is open to certified yoga teachers (200-hour), nurses and other medical personnel, psychologists, school teachers, mental-health counselors.  Acupuncturists and massage therapists also have found this training to be integrative to their practices.

Green Lotus founder Marcia Appel created Yoga Nidra training to bring this healing practice to our community. Christine Quam and Dawn Schaefer Stumpf assist in the facilitation of Yoga Nidra training.

 

Yoga Nidra Training Faculty

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Marcia Appel, E-RYT 500, YACEP
Marcia Appel, E-RYT 500, YACEP

Marcia, senior faculty member of Green Lotus's school, says yoga deepens her connection to herself and to others. Marcia encourages all students to try many class styles and deeply believes that yoga asana (poses) are an extension and beautiful expression of breath and meditation. In May 2013, she completed a two-year study of the integration of yoga and mindfulness meditation at Spirit Rock Retreat Center in California. The faculty included Dr. Richard Miller, Anne Cushman, Janice Gates, Mark Coleman, and Phillip Moffett. Her other certifications include Judith Lasater’s Relax & Renew® (restorative yoga), Baptiste Power Vinyasa (Level One), and iRest ® Level One (Yoga Nidra).

Dawn Schaefer Stumpf, BS, MS, E-RYT 200, RYT 500, YACEP, IAYT
Dawn Schaefer Stumpf, BS, MS, E-RYT 200, RYT 500, YACEP, IAYT

Dawn (she/her) began practicing yoga more than 30 years ago at Saint Olaf College where it couldn’t be called yoga. How times have changed! She earned her 200- and first 500-hour certifications at Green Lotus. She believes in the power of cultivating joy and lives by the mantra, lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu, which translates as, “May all beings be happy and free and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way.” Her advanced training includes Yoga Therapy (under mentorship), and she is a certified LifeForce Yoga for Anxiety and Depression instructor and Yoga Calm for Children instructor. Dawn teaches yoga history, philosophy, and pranayama in Green Lotus’s 240-hour teacher-training program.

Christine Quam, E-RYT 200, RYT 500
Christine Quam, E-RYT 200, RYT 500

Christine Quam has been practicing yoga for more than 20 years. She received a Master’s of Art in Psychology from Duquesne University. The philosophical studies she encountered there eventually led her to complete the teacher training program at Green Lotus Yoga and Healing Center in 2016. Christine’s passion for physical movement combined with meditation have led her to complete additional yoga training in Vinyasa Yoga, Yin Yoga, Kids Yoga, East Meets West Anatomy, Mindfulness Meditation, and Ayurveda. Possessing this broad yoga foundation allows Christine to offer vibrant, focused, safe, fun, and creative yoga classes within varying environments and to a variety of demographics.

Required Books and Materials

Students are required to read the following book prior to the training:

  • Yoga Nidra: A Meditative Practice for Deep Relaxation and Healing

  • Please bring a notebook or journal to capture notes, questions, and observations

Schedule

Yoga Nidra Training is held at our Lakeville center over the weekend and virtually via Zoom the following Wednesday. Hours are as follows:

  • Friday: 2 - 9 p.m.

  • Saturday: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

  • Sunday: 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.

  • Wednesday: 6 - 8 p.m. (virtual via Zoom)

*No make-up sessions will be available. All sessions must be completed to receive a certificate of completion for Yoga Alliance.

Fee $506

Green Lotus alumni receive a 10% discount.

Because our training sessions frequently develop a wait list, refunds will be made to your personal Green Lotus account with less than two-weeks advance notice when you cancel.  Cancellations made with less than a 48-hour notice will not receive a refund.