Full-Day New Year’s Retreat ~ Sunday, January 6, 2019 in Minneapolis

Posted by AB on Nov 27, 2018 in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Full-Day New Year’s Retreat ~ Sunday, January 6, 2019 in Minneapolis

New Years Retreat

A Day of Reflection, Illumination and Resolution

Sunday January 6, 9:30-5:30 ~ Minneapolis

The holidays of the winter season fall around the winter solstice, the time when “the sun stands still.’  Amidst this time of outer darkness, the holidays are intended to kindle the light within.  We gather with loved ones, reflect upon life, remember its challenges and gifts, and celebrate and re-commit to what is most important.  Unfortunately, all too often, the busyness, obligations, stress and excessive consumption of the way we celebrate eclipses the essence of the season.  The New Year is an auspicious time for self-reflection.  Embrace it and we can transform our lives through conscious living.  Forsake it we and we lose part of our humanity, and the inner light feels dim and distant.  This day long retreat in the city is a gift to yourself: an opportunity to slow down, reflect and reconnect, to remember what you’ve learned, what’s truly important, what needs to change and re-commit to your best life.

This full-day retreat will be a guided process integrating tools, teachings and practices for awakening, transformation and empowerment – including:

• Dharma Talk, Q+A
• Practice (Asana, Pranayama, Chanting and Meditation)
• Journaling and Self-Reflection
• Sankalpa (revealing or refining your sacred intention/resolution)
• Yoga Nidra
• Practices for breaking unhelpful (karmic) patterns

Location:  The Retreat will be held at River’s Way Meditation Center in the Ivy building for the Arts- 2637 27th Ave S, Suite 201, Minneapolis, MN

Your Investment:                                                                                                                   Full Rate – $135, Early Reg- $108 (registered and paid by 12/22).                                  Yoga Studies Grads – $10 off the above rates

To Register: Pay online via PayPal (bvrocksteady@gmail.com), Venmo (@Ben-Vincent-9) or bring cash or check to ben in person.  The retreat will be limited to 20 people in the order in which registration + payment is received.

Email ben@vincentyoga.com if you have any questions.

~Namaste~

Finding balance in Fall – tools and meditation for returning to center

Posted by AB on Sep 6, 2018 in Retreats | Comments Off on Finding balance in Fall – tools and meditation for returning to center

In the traditions of Yoga + Ayurveda, fall is known as the season of vata dosha- the time when the elemental energies of air and space predominate.  As the warmth (fire) and humidity (water) of summer dissipate, the inner and outer environments become increasingly cool and dry.   in this season of harvest, daylight decreases (there’s no saving it!), summer’s abundance wains and all animate things draw energy back toward their core.   For many, this time of transition can be challenging – the body may become stiff or achy, stress and anxiety can elevate, we struggle to re-create schedules, and mourn the passing of summer and what is to come.  Balance- the ability to remain centered amidst change- is the foundation of well-being.

Essential  to re-establishing balance in the fall, is to return to healthy life rhythms.  Here are a few tips and a free guided meditation to support you well-being this fall.

Healthy Rest + Sleep:  Return to regular patterns of sleep and rest.  For most people 10pm – 5 or 6 am is ideal.  Prepare for sleep by unplugging (1 hour before bed) and releasing stress.  Soaking your feet and oiling them with warm sesame oil is extremely helpful, as is herbal tea.  Make time for physical and mental rest everyday.   Yoga nidra is a perfect practice.

Regularity in Diet:  Make the most of harvest season.  Do a cleanse of whole cooked foods (nuts, grains, seeds, legumes, fruits and vegetables and healthy fats). Eat food that is mostly warm and wet, hree regular meals per day, with lunch most important.  Have a lighter dinner by 6 to allow for full digestion before bed.

Recommit to Self-Care:  You are responsible for maintaining the well-being of your body, mind, energies and heart.  No one can do it for you.  the more you care for yourself, the more fully you will show up for what is most important in life!  Yoga offers a holistic means for self-care.

Yoga Practice:  Emphasize steadiness and ease in practice.  Forward bending postures, twists, extensions and postures which work the core muscles are excellent.  Same Vrtti (1:! breathing) Nadi Shodhana, Ujjayi Pranayama  are all recommended.  Agni Sara kriya is helpful for physical and mental balance, centeredness and digestion.  Golden Egg meditation kriya will help you to gather scattered energies and mind.  When you do this meditation, begin at your navel in the mornings and early afternoon, at your heart in the late afternoon or evening.

Non-Attachment:  What is unnecessary or unhelpful in your life that can be let go of?  This can be an activity, a responsibility, a thought or any way you use energy.  Lessen screen time.  Moderate consumption of food and beverages, especially those which dull or overstimulate you.   Even as you recognize what can be let go of , focus primarily on returning to what is essential in your life.  Focus on the relationships that are most important: with yourself, your loved ones and the greater whole of life. re-commit to wats of being that allow you to thrive. Non-attachment is the natural result of returning to your center.  Superfluous things will fall away at the right time, like autumnal leaves.

Feel free to email ebn@vincentyoga.com with questions or comments.  Wishing you all the best in this season of the harvest!

FREE Yoga Nidra Practice for Healing + Rejuvenation

Posted by AB on Jun 25, 2018 in Uncategorized | Comments Off on FREE Yoga Nidra Practice for Healing + Rejuvenation

Namaste yogis,

Summer is officially in full swing.  Our days are long, active and abundant.  Maintaining balance in the season of summer requires a conscious effort to find stillness, calm and quietude.  To support you in the endeavor, below you’ll find the link to a free yoga nidra practice.  This practice is deeply calming and designed to replenish Ojas, the reservoir of vitality within the heart.  Ojas is the subtle essence of kapha dosha which supports sustained energy, illumination and healing. When it is depleted, we burnout. This practice is a wonderful support to enjoy the fullness of summer, in a sustainable way – or anytime you need healing.   If you find you fall asleep regularly in this practice, it probably indicates some level of depletion, making this practice all the more important.  Lie down, get comfy, relax and drop-in.  You must go to the well to irrigate the world!

Yoga Nidra for Healing + Rejuvenation

Yoga Nidra – Resting to Awaken: Summer Immersion – Mpls., July 11-14

Posted by AB on Jun 19, 2018 in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Yoga Nidra – Resting to Awaken: Summer Immersion – Mpls., July 11-14

Yoga Nidra – Resting to Awaken

Summer Immersion – July 11-14, Minneapolis

The Summer Immersion is a special opportunity for immersive study and practice of yoga in the City. This year we will be delving into Yoga Nidra.

Yoga Nidra is simultaneously a tool,  a practice, a process, and a state of transcendent awareness.  Often translated as “Yogic Sleep”, it is a process of conscious relaxation, bringing awareness progressively through the layers of our being from conscious to subconscious to super-conscious.  The journey of Yoga Nidra integrates practices for balancing the physical and energetic bodies, deep relaxation, sankalpa (sacred intention), and using guided imagery and kriya to work with the subtle body and subconscious mind.  In working with with the deeper layers of our being, it is unparalleled in its capacity for relaxation, healing, transformation and empowerment.  On its deepest level, yoga nidra is dissolution of all limited consciousness into the infinite.

Whether your goal is stress relief, rejuvenation, physical / emotional healing,  removing karmic patterns, unlocking creativity or empowering yourself to manifest a dharmic desire, yoga nidra has something profound to offer you.  This immersion will explore:

• What is Yoga Nidra?  What is its purpose?
• The traditional stages and progression of practice
• Awakening Sankalpa Shakti: The Power of Sacred Intention
• Yoga Nidra as a tool for relaxation, healing, freeing the mind or manifestation
• How to integrate yoga nidra into your life and practice
• Guiding yourself through Yoga Nidra

We will explore the teachings and practices of through dharma teachings, yoga nidra, meditation, asana, pranayama, mantra, kriya, chanting, self-inquiry and group discussion .

Immersion Schedule + Location:

Thursday 7/11 – Sunday 7/14, 8:30-4:00 pm, with a 90 minute break for lunch.             The immersion will be held at the River’s Way Meditation Center in the Ivy Building for the Arts, 2637 27th Ave S. Suite 201,  Minneapolis.

Your Investment:

 $475 – Regular Price                                                                                                            $445 – Yoga Studies graduates and active teachers (currently teaching 3 or more classes/ week)                                                                                                                          Early Registration discount – $45 off above prices when registered + paid in full by May 31.

To register email ben@vincentyoga.com and submit a $150 deposit will reserve your spot. Payment can be made through:                                                                     Venmo (@ben-vincent-9)                                                                                                   PayPal (bvrocksteady@gmail.com)                                                                                       Check to Ben Vincent (5354 40th Ave s, Minneapolis, Mn 55417).

Space is limited, all payments are final.

The Inner Pilgrimage of Yoga ~ Fall Immersion: Oct 14-17 – Ely, MN

Posted by AB on Apr 25, 2018 in Travel, travel | Comments Off on The Inner Pilgrimage of Yoga ~ Fall Immersion: Oct 14-17 – Ely, MN

  The Inner Pilgrimage of Yoga:

                Awakening peace, power and love                                      

 Fall Immersion ~ Oct 14-17  –  Ely, Mn

“Armed with this understanding, you will shatter your karmic bonds.  On this path, no effort is wasted, no gain is ever reversed.  Even a little of this dharma will shield you from great sorrow.”     – Bhagavad Gita 2.39-40

  Our annual Fall Immersion is intended for yogis looking for deeper study and practice of yoga in a retreat setting.  We will explore the in-depth teachings and practices of through dharma, meditation, asana, pranayama, mantra, kriya, chanting, yoga nidra and self-inquiry.

This year’s topic is: The Inner Pilgrimage of Yoga: from suffering and fear, to peace, power and love.  Many of us come to yoga knowing there is more to life than surviving.  Particularly in tumultuous times, we are unsure how to find lasting meaning and freedom in a world of change and fragmentation.    Yoga councils us to work with what is within our control: our own bodies, feelings, energy, mind and heart.  This is our initiation into the journey of Self-Mastery: to learn from pain, heal our wounds and awaken lives of greater peace, power and purpose.  Using the chakra system as our guide, we will explore:

• Essential teachings of Yoga and Tantra on the journey to Self-Mastery
• Suffering as the call to “inner activism”
• Shakti: Awakening sacred power within to heal, empower and serve
• Awakening the 3rd Eye Center:  Establishing sthithi- the power of inner peace foundational to Yoga. 
• Awakening the Navel Center: Tending the sacred fire of empowerment and self-transformation, to overcome fear, attachment and limiting self-identity.  
• Awakening the Heart Center: Awakening the power of love, coming home to your sacred essence
• Karma and the granthis: the obstacle is the way to overcome that which binds our peace, power and love

                                                 Daily Session Schedule:                                                          The immersion will begin Sunday Oct. 14 and conclude Weds. Oct 17

 Sunday Oct 14:  6-9 pm                                                                                                      Monday Oct 15: 9a-12p, 3:00-6:00 pm                                                                    Tuesday Oct 16:  9a-12p, 3:00-6:00 pm                                                                Wednesday Oct 17:  8-11 am

Chanting and Silent Meditation M-W from 6-7 am, Possible evening satsangs

Your Investment: 

$535 – Twin bed in a communal Loft Space                                                             $575 – Shared bedroom (2 people/room, twin beds or queen bed for couples)       $675 – Private bedroom (queen bed)

Early Reg. Discount- $25 off above rates when you register + pay in full by July 31 Yoga Studies Grads- $25 off above rates or $50 when combined with Early Reg.

Rates are inclusive of

• Room
• Immersion Tuition
• Use of Camp du Nord facilities (sauna, hiking trails, canoes + kayaks, etc

Massage will be available during breaks.  Please note meals are not provided. Each cabin has a fully equipped kitchen for all your cooking needs. We will share evening meals if the group size accommodates eating/cooking together.  For more information on the accommodations, visit the fall retreat page.  We will plan to eat dinners communally, with groups taking turns preparing food.

To reserve your space: please send your Fall Immersion Registration + Waiver  and $150 deposit per-person (non-refundable).   We accept cash, check, Credit Card, and electronic payments (paypal, venmo, square cash).

All payments are due by Sept 15.  All payments are final.  There will be a $35 fee for payments, payment plans and registrations received after Sept 15.  Other discounts and scholarships are not available.  For those unable to pay-in-full before Sept 15, payment plans are available through paypal credit.

Checks are payable to:

Ben Vincent                                                                                                                   5354 40th Ave S.                                                                                                 Minneapolis, MN, 55417

Please email ben@vincentyoga.com for CC or electronic payment.  There is a 3.5% service fee to cover Credit Card transaction costs.

Please contact us with any questions or inquiries

reTREAT Yourself : a yoga retreat in the city ~ May 20, 2018

Posted by AB on Apr 16, 2018 in Uncategorized | Comments Off on reTREAT Yourself : a yoga retreat in the city ~ May 20, 2018

reTREAT Yourself  : Nourishing the Flame of Vitality Within ~ a day-long yoga retreat with Angela

Sunday, May 20 ~ 8:30AM – 3:30PM

The day will consist of morning + afternoon yoga, a guided Yoga Nidra, self-inquiry practices, conversation on vitality + self care & a lunch break.

Location:

Lake Harriet Spiritual Community in Linden Hills

4401 Upton Ave S, Minneapolis, MN

Registration:

$95 by May 1st (early bird)

$115 after May 1st

Email Angela to register.  angela@vincentyoga.com

Spring Cleanse : Purifying the Vessel May 5 + 12, 2018

Posted by AB on Apr 11, 2018 in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Spring Cleanse : Purifying the Vessel May 5 + 12, 2018