Gentle Yoga with Rudy Peirce » Rudy Peirce

Connection: thoughts from Tarrytown weekend

Rudy — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 03:55:06 +0000

This weekend, April 28-29, 2012, I was down in Tarrytown, NY at the Yoga Shivaya yoga studio where I led three Gentle Yoga workshops. I met with wonderful students, some regular Yoga Shivaya students, some who traveled in from Connecticut or across the Hudson. One of the highlights of the weekend for me was conversing with my host Hasita Nadai, a spunky Green Yoga Teacher approaching her 80th birthday.

In addition to yoga, her passion is Deep Ecology. Roughly, this is the study of our soul connection to the environment and the beautiful planet that we live on. We spoke of the issue of connection and disconnection; a “disconnect” (from the body, emotions and spirit) is what we are trying to heal through yoga practice.

Disconnection, it seems, is the primary symptom of human suffering that is so beautifully addressed and healed through yoga and meditation; healing this disconnect is an intention I hold in leading and teaching Gentle Yoga and meditation. Connection is the quality that yoga, or union, is referring to. Our connection to this planet is no less a soul journey than our connection to our experience in the moment, in the body; connection to the planet, no less healing than connection to spirit through the meditative witness.

April 28-29, 2012 Gentle Yoga with Rudy in Tarrytown, NY

admin — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:38:55 +0000

Sat, Sun, April 28-29, 2012

Gentle Yoga: Flexibility, Focus & Strength

Saturday, April 28, 2:00-5:00 p.m.

The Power of Breath: For vitality, focus and contentment.

Saturday, April 28, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Gentle Yoga for stiffness, stress and recovery: Dynamic self-care.

Sunday, April 29, 1:00-4:00 p.m.

Meditation made easy: Connected within. Connected without.

Location: Yoga Shivaya, 15 North Broadway, Suite 2, Tarrytown, NY, 10591

CE Credits available for yoga teachers on request.

Visit Yoga Shivaya’s website>>

Map of Tuscany day trip destinations

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 03:44:09 +0000

View Gentle Yoga in Tuscany with Rudy in a larger map

Gentle Yoga in Tuscany information>>

Currently booking studio workshops

Rudy — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 00:51:20 +0000

I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching “on the road” this past year and a half and am excited to continue to offer weekend workshops at yoga studios throughout the Northeast. I have a few weekends available for 2013. Class/workshop possibilities include the broad categories of Gentle Yoga, meditation, men’s yoga, pranayama/breathing, and yoga nidra. Many options are available for more specific workshops within any of these categories. I will design a set of classes or workshops to fit the needs of your students and your studio.

Let me know if you are interested. I’d be happy to discuss the needs of your studio and yoga community and collaborate with you to create a satisfying successful event. Drop me an email

Introducing Joyce, Rudy’s wife

Joyce — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:40:04 +0000

As Rudy’s wife and marketing director I recently decided that I would like to start posting to the “Gentle Yoga with Rudy” blog now and then. So here I go. I am a speech-language pathologist and early intervention specialist in “my day job”. That means I work with infants and toddlers. My other work is supporting Rudy’s work and doing marketing for Gentle Yoga with Rudy and website “stuff” for rudypeirce.com (a.k.a. gentleyogi.com). Just so you know, living with the “gentleyogi” doesn’t mean that I necessarily do a lot of yoga. I struggle with making time for practice and being consistent. Can anyone relate? Being in mid-life I find that Gentle Yoga is perfect for me and when I give myself permission to take it slow and easy the way Rudy leads yoga, I am more likely to find myself on my mat taking a deep breath or stopping for a stretch break.

Meeting myself where I am

Rudy — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:59:56 +0000

Gentle Yoga is meeting myself where I am; making peace with how stiff I feel this morning, this moment, in this stretch. Gentle Yoga is continually letting go of my expectations. How I expect to feel. Not just feeling better, but feeling more. And letting go. Yes, once again letting go. Noticing with a sense of wonder. Laying the foundation of encouragement to return to the mat tomorrow. Chopping wood. Carrying water. Filling the bath. Heating water for my first cup of tea. Once step at a time. Just here. Just now.

What is Gentle Yoga?

Rudy — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:47:23 +0000

Krishnamacharya is considered to be one of the greatest yogis of the modern era. His teachings have become well known around the world through the work of B.K.S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and Indra Devi. In The Heart of Yoga, Developing A Personal Practice, his son, T.K.V. Desikachar, states that his father taught, “The key to right teaching is in the adaptation of yoga to the individual, not the individual to yoga…the whole spectrum of yoga practice must be carefully adapted to the individual’s situation. Nothing can be forced.”

In this era of the rapidly growing popularity of yoga, classes are springing up everywhere. As one shops around for a satisfying yoga class, the class names and descriptions may offer little help to the novice who really wants to know whether they are going to fit in or be okay in a given class. Words that are intended to be descriptive can still be broad and vague.

Gentle Yoga is one term used by many to mean many things. Gentle Yoga can refer to a variety of types of yoga classes taught by teachers from various styles of yoga.

Generally speaking, gentle-style yoga classes attempt to serve a variety of distinct needs: people with movement limitations, or profound stiffness due to lack of activity; relief from disabilities and chronic conditions e.g., arthritis, back pain and other musculo-skeletal issues; recovery from surgery, illness or injury; for seniors, new practitioners, women who are pregnant and those seeking stress-reduction or weight management. A gentle yoga approach has even been found to be an important compliment in programs to reverse heart disease or provide relief from the challenging conditions of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, as well as mood disorders.

Gentle yoga classes are typically described as appropriate for those who want a softer, nurturing, slow-paced, well-supported and relaxing practice. The approach hopefully includes carefully orchestrated movements, controlled pressure, and well-measured stretches, including range of motion exercises. Postures may be approached in gradual steps, with plenty of time to focus on breathing and repetition so that the practice is simple to do and easy to remember. A gentle yoga style encourages a highly individualized approach to practice with on-going encouragement to make moment-to-moment adjustments.

Gentle Yoga is often considered easier, less intense, non-strenuous, minimalistic, quiet, meditative, or restorative.

I came up in the Kripalu tradition of yoga in the seventies and eighties, certified in 1983, long before yoga hit the mainstream. Since the late 1980s, as a teacher trainer, I helped pioneer a shift at Kripalu Center from simply offering beginner and intermediate classes to offering three levels, based on the intensity of the class rather than length of experience alone. Since about 1991, the three levels of classes at Kripalu have been called gentle, moderate and vigorous.

The practice of yoga in America has evolved dramatically over the last twenty years. There has simultaneously been an increase in yoga classes specifically called Gentle Yoga. Though this distinction is somewhat broadly defined, there are even Gentle Yoga Teacher Trainings and Gentle Yoga training modules now being offered in 500-hour advanced curriculums.

These classes intend to be inclusive rather than exclusive, an approach that has birthed the term accessible yoga. This is a style for people who don’t have the flexibility, coordination and strength which photos of yoga poses typically portray.

In fact, many people find the so-called beginning practices of yoga way too advanced for them.They get discouraged, scared off, or never begin. Many people really think that they can’t do yoga.

In response, accessible yoga classes attempt to meet yoga students “where they are.”

An effective Gentle Yoga class then, provides a compassionate, non-competitive environment that is welcoming to all.

Come to the March 10, 2012 workshop in Rye, NY to learn the other essential elements of a Gentle Yoga class or sign up for Rudy’s email list to be notified of other training opportunities with Rudy.

We upgraded our website!

Rudy — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:07:36 +0000

My wife Joyce and I are excited to announce that our website has been transformed! If you aren’t on my email list, you can sign up here and we’ll send your my teaching schedule on a quarterly basis and occasionally other announcements or offers. Let us know how you like the site.

Heading down to the Philly area this weekend, Nov. 18-20, 2012 for Gentle Yoga at the Yoga Garden in Narberth

Rudy — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 03:15:59 +0000

Rudy and Joyce will be at the Yoga Garden in Narberth, PA this weekend. Rudy will teach on Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. This will be Joyce’s first visit there since Rudy has started teaching there. She is looking forward to a good stretch and meeting folks that attend. If you live within driving distance, we hope you will join us! Learn more>>

What’s Rudy up to this Fall?

Joyce — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:45:31 +0000

Next up on Rudy’s schedule is October 28-30, Gentle Yoga Weekend in the Berkshires at Kripalu. You can register by calling 1+800-744-7353.

In November Rudy travels down to the Philadelphia area. He’ll be at the Yoga Garden in Narberth, November 18-20 to teach a session on Friday evening and workshops on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon. You can register for one, two or all three sessions. Call the Yoga Garden at 610-664-2705 or write them at info@yogagardennarberth.com