Feminine Yoga Training
March 8-12th 2023
Welcome to the first ever Feminine Yoga Training in Norway. Starting on the 8th of March, International Women’s Day, we’ll meet for five days of practice, study, ceremony and deep connection to ourselves, each other and Mother Nature.
Yoga was created by men and for men, thousands of years ago, but today around 75% of yoga practitioners are women. In feminine yoga, we adapt the practice to the female anatomy and physiology, as well as the menstrual cycle, and we weave in feminine elements such as ceremony, rituals, feminism, activism, and the rites of passage that define womanhood. We explore breaking down established yoga structures to get to the essence of what can truly be a feminine practice.
Feminine yoga is a flexible, attentive and nurturing practice suitable for women in all kinds of bodies and in all stages of life. At the heart of this practice is the focus on soft, organic movements, the power of divine rest, descending energy and connection to the Earth, the inner and outer cycle: menstrual cycle and the Moon, community, sisterhood, acceptance, self-care and joy.
In this 40-hour training, you’ll learn how to establish your feminine self practice and how to create feminine group yoga classes and gatherings. You will be presented with the depth and richness of a feminine yoga repertoire of practices, and will learn how to use the variety of asana, sequences, breathing techniques, meditations, rituals, sound, mantras and more to create the balance of energy that yourself, your students and the world needs.
During our five days together, we start each morning with a yoga practice and end in the afternoon with deep rest. On the first two days we will connect with the elements by being in nature for parts of the day. Your main teachers will be Mette Harr Støre, Claudia Menger and Cathrine Mathiesen. Our hostess Anette Haave Åsheim (Løkka Yoga), and women’s health specialist, osteopath and physical therapist Mona Valstad Elsness are also part of the teaching team.
You don’t have to be a practicing yoga teacher to join the course: this is for everyone with a strong interest in the feminine. Clearly, we are not referring to the notion of ‘femininity’ as defined by patriarchal society, which continues to define, control and silence women. Yoga is an incredible tool to truly understand and access the beauty and power that lies within all women, the universal Shakti Maa, the source of all life. We can’t wait to share that with you!
5 pillars of this training
Theory and Practice of Feminine Yoga
We will look into the history of yoga through a feminine perspective, and how yoga can become a radical act of self-care and a feminist tool. We will look into how we need to adjust and adapt traditional yoga asana to better suit female anatomy and cycle, and explore feminine poses, movement, flow and sequencing.
Female anatomy and physiology, and the menstrual cycle
We learn how we can harness our menstrual cycle and the moon cycle to inspire our yoga practice, as well as how to adapt the practice to the female body. You will learn poses, flows and sequences for all phases of the menstrual cycle. Osteopath and women’s health expert Mona Valstad Elsness joins us here.
Rites of passage and life’s transitions
From our first menstruation to pregnancy and postpartum, and until our last bleed: how can we celebrate and honor the rites of passage through our yoga practice?
We will brief us on how we as sisters can support each other through these important changes in a woman's life.
The sacred feminine- devotion, rituals and ceremony
We’ll explore the rise of the sacred feminine through the story of Shiva and Shakti and the wisdom of the Goddesses. Devotion through rituals, the use of voice and sound, mantras and prayers will be introduced, and how you can add these practices into your daily life. We will also introduce you to how to hold a ceremony in a women's circle.
Community and sisterhood
We are here to explore together and learn from each other. The magic of the circle opens for sharing, support, community and sisterhood. We want to welcome all women that feel the call to join this movement, regardless of your age, color and background. The circle of women will show its richness including our uniqueness and diversity of experiences.
We welcome the wholeness that you are!
Practical
This is a 40-hr training with 26 hours of teaching and 14 hours of self study.
In the hours of teaching we aim for shared, flexible and responsive facilitation that clearly shows the feminine way. We vary between teaching practice, demonstration, presentation, instruction, level discussion (in the group and in pairs), circle and partner work. There will be an opening circle and a closing circle, and plenty of opportunity for sharing and reflection in between. We will also create a group on a platform suitable for everyone to share information and experiences and to hold the community flame alive after these days together.
The self study will consist of reading, reflecting, journaling and finishing assignments that you will get feedback on. There is no exam and no way to fail the training. Our hope is to plant some seeds that you will joyfully and confidently continue to water, enjoy and reap the fruits from, and we will support you on this journey. We will also add all the literature that has blessed us on our feminine journey, as recommended reading for further studies.
Teaching language: Norwegian and English. All teachers can teach in English if needed.
Dates: 8-12th of March 2023
Location: The training will take place at Løkka Yoga, a beautiful space at the heart of Grünerløkka dedicated to feminine yoga. Two afternoons we will spend outside, to dive deeper into the art of ceremony, the feeling of being part of a greater whole in sacred sisterhood exploring the essential role of the connection to Nature herself in this practice.
Investment:
7980 kr (early bird until January 21st). USE CODE: EARLYBIRD
Full price after January 21st: 8450 kr.
Sign up together with a friend and both of you get 10% off the full price. USE CODE: FRIEND
If you feel called to take this immersion but your financial situation doesn’t allow you to, please get in touch and we’ll find a way.
Schedule:
Wednesday: 09.00 - 11.30 at Løkka Yoga and 12.30 - 16.00 around the ocean.
Thursday: 09.00 - 11.30 at Løkka Yoga and 12.30 - 16.00 in the forest.
Friday: 10.00 - 16.00 at Løkka Yoga.
Saturday: 10.00 - 16.00 at Løkka Yoga.
Sunday: : 10.00 - 13.00 at Løkka Yoga.
We will have space for 18 women in this circle. We welcome everyone who identifies as a woman.
For questions email Claudia at mail@claudiamenger.com
Key teachers
Cathrine Mathiesen
Cathrines yogareise startet i London for 25 år siden med B.K.S. Iyengars bok Tree of Yoga. Boken hun fant på Buddhistsenteret der inspirerte til egen praksis som etterhvert ledet til studier av Iyengars metode i Danmark, og videre en grunnleggende Hatha yoga utdannelse i England med fordypelse i yoga som terapi, gravidyoga og mamma/baby.
Cathrine underviste i London i flere år, blant annet på Triyoga, The Life Centre og The Special Yoga Centre og er anerkjent som Yoga Elder med over 5000 undervisningstimer av The Independent Yoga Network. I Oslo har hun vært en del av HiYoga siden oppstarten i 2015, og underviser i tillegg kurs, utdannelser retreats og workshops.
I løpet av de siste 12 årene har Cathrine fått fire barn, en sønn og tre døtre, som hun anerkjenner som sine viktigste lærere. Å få barn har ledet henne til å utforske hvordan yoga kan se ut med et feminint fortegn. Hvordan kan yoga best støtte kvinner gjennom små og store forandringer og overganger i livet? Hvordan kan yoga lære oss å lytte til vår indre stemme, respektere våre egne behov, elske vår kropp som den er og ta den plassen vi trenger og ønsker - både på yogamatten og i samfunnet generelt?
I dag underviser Cathrine gravidyoga, mamma/baby-yoga, hvile med yoga Nidra og myk yoga for både kvinner og menn. Hun har en fleksibel, lyttende og nærende tilnærming til yoga som respekterer også kvinnelig anatomi og syklus, naturens vei og visdom, og feminin kraft og fellesskap. Denne praksisen utelukker ikke menn, men er en invitasjon til å skape balanse mellom feminin og maskulin energi, yin og yang.
Cathrine har etablert Yogamamma som plattform for sitt arbeid med kvinner i graviditet, fødsel og barsel. Yogamamma omfatter bok, podcast, foredrag, yogalærerutdannelser og online kurs. Hun skriver for tiden på sin andre bok, om yoga det første året med nytt barn.
Mette Harr Støre
Siden hun var barn har Mette alltid vært trukket mot menneskets indre, å finne ut hvem vi er og hvorfor vi er her? Det førte til en master i psykologi, men det var ikke før hun fant yogaen gjennom mantra, sang, ritualer, seremonier og studier av Vedanta (yoga filosofi), at hun følte hun fant svarene som kunne lande dypt på innsiden.
I tidlig voksen alder sluttet hun etter mange år på p- piller og opplevde at det åpnet seg en enorm portal til å begynne å lytte til den naturlige syklusen og helbrede ubalanser i kroppen som hadde samlet seg opp. Hun har studert Hatha Yoga, spirituell gravid- og barselyoga, yin fascia yoga og somatisk traumearbeid, og har blitt initiert som kvinnesirkel- fasilitator av sin lærer på Bali etter hundrevis av studietimer. Gjennom de mystiske opplevelsene av å gå gravid, men med erfaring av to fødsler som endte med å bli veldig medisinske fant hun veien til å fordype seg i naturlige metoder for å støtte kvinner i livets overganger.
Mette er spesielt interessert i bruk av sang og stemme som en måte å komme i dypere kontakt med det hellige på innsiden og det hellige i mellom oss kvinner og metoder å bryte ned de medfødte kjernesårene i mellom oss kvinner på slik at vi kan anerkjenne hverandre som hele akkurat som vi er, og møtes i sårbarhet på veien mot å vokse som mennesker.
Mette holder rom for 1:1 coaching spesielt for kvinner, holder rom for kvinnesirkler og underviser yin yoga, gravidyoga og barselyoga. Hun studerer for tiden kraniosakral- terapi med en særlig interesse for å støtte kvinner, se hele kvinnen, i ulike faser av livet.
Claudia Menger
Claudia is a yoga teacher and women's coach, specialized in therapeutic feminine yoga for fertility, pregnancy, and motherhood. She believes in living and working, and practicing yoga according to the menstrual cycle, she’s passionate about the practice of rest - especially through yoga nidra, and is currently working on an online course for mothers who birthed through a cesarean birth.
In her work with groups, privates and in trainings, she combines thousands of hours of studies of yoga and beyond, over ten years of experience and her personal journey through infertility, pregnancy loss and birth trauma.
Although she’s been practicing yoga since she was 20 years young, her practice truly started to evolve during her 3-year long fertility journey that eventually led to the arrival of her firstborn in 2017. It was the practice of yoga that supported her after healing from her first c-section, it was the yoga that was there for her when she went through pregnancy loss, and it was the yoga that helped her prepare for and heal from her second belly birth.
Yoga gives her energy and stillness, and her mat is where she always comes home. Her personal practice follows the moon and her menstrual cycle, making every session on her mat different from the previous one. Motherhood taught her that a practice doesn’t have to be 2 hours on the mat, but can come in all forms and shapes, just like the feminine does.
Claudia is educated in traditional Hatha yoga, vinyasa, prenatal, postnatal, fertility, Nidra, yin and restorative yoga, and has completed courses on the pelvic floor, trauma, perinatal mental health, and grief. She’s also a holistic health coach specializing in menstrual cycle health.
Originally from the Netherlands, Claudia now lives in Oslo with her husband, son (5) and baby daughter.