You’ve been on your yoga & body acceptance path for a while.
So, now what?
When we were first starting out on our yoga and body acceptance paths, we ran into an abundance of resources. None of them were very specific to what we were looking for, but we were able to cobble them together with relative ease.
If anything, it felt like we’d never get through everything we wanted to read and participate in.
But as time went on, there were fewer and fewer resources we could relate to. It felt like most were geared toward beginners. After all, when you’re first starting out on your yoga and body acceptance path, it can feel like that is the most challenging part. And it’s true that the beginning is hard — what do you do? How do you get support?
What we found, though, is that those questions don’t go away when you’re further into your own journey. If anything, they deepen and expand in ways you might not have anticipated.
Being on a different part of your path doesn’t mean you have to be in the wilderness.
Have ever thought something like: Why am I not making progress on my yoga and body acceptance paths anymore? Or, I’m in a pretty good place, but is this it?
If so, we’ve got some good news for you: progress looks different as you move along your path. While it doesn’t usually have the same breakneck speed as at the beginning, that doesn’t mean you’ve stalled. When you’re further down your path, the direction is down into deeper exploration as much or more than it is forward.
When you deepen your practice, you deepen your life.
Curvy Life
In yoga you often hear about “yoga off the mat.” We were always enamored of that idea, but it took us both a long time to have any idea what it meant. And that’s why we’ve started a new branch of Curvy Yoga called Curvy Life.
Yoga gets you more connected with your body on the mat, and then through what you learn there, your body connects you more with life off the mat.
As your own off the mat practice grows, new possibilities open up:
- You hone your ability to listen to your body’s messages and signals, which starts to inform how you make decisions.
- You know your body and self better, so you begin to make choices about what you value in your life: what you want more of and what you want less of.
- You want to develop all of these skills and awarenesses even more, and while you’re more comfortable charting your own path than you used to be, you’d still relish some guides along the way.
Enter: The Curvy Life Intensive
If you’re in the Reflection or Integration phase of either your yoga or body acceptance paths (take the quiz here if you’re not sure!) then the Curvy Life Intensive was designed just for you!
What we’ve found is that in these phases of your path, what’s really helpful is opportunities to take your exploration deeper, both on your own and with others, particularly in connected ways both online and off.
So, that’s exactly what we’ve developed with the Curvy Life Intensive! Here’s what’s coming your way:
- 10 months of guided online exploration and support in the form of twice monthly emails, every other month live calls/practices, and a private Instagram feed just for our group!
- Each month we will explore a different aspect of Curvy Life, including practice, embodiment, inquiry, meaning, simplicity, community, seasonality, ritual, intuition & kinship.
- In your twice monthly emails, we will offer recommendations for personal practice including relevant Curvy Yoga resources; our favorite blog posts, books, songs, etc.; and an off the mat practice invitation for something to experiment with in your own life. Rather than telling you a bunch of things you could/should be doing, the intention behind these resources is for you to have space to experiment with learning what serves you in this portion of your personal practice path.
- Our every other month live meet-ups will take place on a webinar platform. We will have time to practice yoga together (in a totally accessible way!), as well as chat about what we’ve learned during the month, ask/answer questions, and more.
- A one year membership in Curvy Yoga Studio, our online studio with 200+ practice videos from five to sixty minutes in length ($197 value).
- A private Instagram feed where we’ll share prompts, resources, reassurances, and where you can share your questions and learnings.
- And, the big one: a weekend retreat with fellow members of the Curvy Life Intensive in Portland, OR, September 2019!
The Curvy Life Intensive is designed to offer you tangible ways to learn and practice more. This Intensive is different from a course. We will not be bombarding you with information because (a) we know you already know a lot and (b) who really needs more things they can’t get to on their plate?
In our Intensive you will receive resources, prompts, and practice suggestions to see where your path leads you — all within the container of your facilitators and fellow participants who are doing the same in their own way. It’s all about deepening your own practice where you are, not adding endless to-dos to your plate. In fact, we hope you add some to-don’ts!
When you have support to deepen your practice, your path can unfold before you in beautiful and unexpected ways.
What You’ll Learn
This is usually where we’d have a long list of all your guaranteed takeaways. But you know what? You’re not at that point on your path anymore, are you? Where you are now is much less about guarantees and much more about exploration and getting closer to who you really are.
So while we can’t say for sure what you’ll learn, because ultimately that’s up to where your path leads you, here are the conversations we hope will open up in your life around our monthly themes:
Practice
- What does it mean to take an expansive view of practice?
- Where does practice show up in your life outside of yoga or body acceptance?
- What is your personal definition of practice that you could come back to time and again?
Embodiment
- What are the cues that let you know you’re listening to your body?
- What does it mean to move into the world from an embodied place?
- What brings you back to a place of embodiment?
Inquiry
- What does it look like to be in ongoing conversation with yourself in kind regard?
- What are your go-to questions to ask yourself when you have a decision to make?
- What tools help you know what the best choice for you is?
Meaning
- What matters to you at this point in your life?
- How can you make more space for what you find most meaningful?
- In your mind/body/spirit, what lets you know when you’re in a place of meaning?
Simplicity
- What does simplicity mean to you?
- How or where might your practice benefit from some simplicity?
- What might simplicity open up in your life?
Community
- What does it mean to be in embodied community?
- How does your practice inform how you show up for and with the people around you?
- What helps you know when and how to move forward in community?
Seasonality
- What are the rhythms of your own life?
- What season are you in right now?
- What support do you need from season to season?
Ritual
- What rituals do you have in your life that you may or may not identify as such?
- How could ritual support you?
- How do the rituals you need change as you do?
Intuition
- How do you know what you know?
- What are your patterns that let you know you might be overriding your intuition?
- What helps you listen to your life?
Kinship
- How can you cultivate an internal sense of kinship with yourself?
- What does it mean to stay on your own side?
- What would it look like to develop kinship with your practice?
Who This is For
The Curvy Life Intensive is for you if:
- You’re in the Reflection and/or Integration part of your yoga and body acceptance path. Please click here to take our quiz and find out!
- You’re a yoga student who longs to learn more about the many ways yoga can be part of your life — without necessarily having to do a yoga teacher training (though this certainly could inspire you to do one later!).
- You’re a yoga teacher who feels called to explore your own practice in a new way — for yourself first and then also because you know that process will inevitably inform your teaching and help you develop new tools for your students. (And, yes, you can get CEUs — hello, tax write-off! More on that below.)
- You love the idea of embarking on a journey with a small group, both online and in-person, and seeing what unfolds as you go.
- It just feels right and where you want to be in 2019!
All the Details
Here’s what’s included when you join the Curvy Life Intensive:
- All the features above
- Support from your facilitators:
- Anna Guest-Jelley, Founder of Curvy Yoga
- Liz Eskridge, Curvy Operations Officer at Curvy Yoga
- Plus, your ticket to the Curvy Life Intensive retreat in Portland, OR, Sept. 13-15, 2019. There hasn’t been a Curvy Yoga retreat since 2016, and this is the only one until at least 2020!
Because this is an Intensive, deep-dive exploration, we will be accepting no more than 20 students for the 2019 program. We want this to be an experience where everyone has space to be seen, heard, and connected, and we believe a small group supports that.
To that end, we are requiring a brief application which is designed to help you figure out if the Intensive is a good fit for you. We created it to be fun, not stressful: promise! 🙂
If you are accepted into the Intensive, you will receive: ten months of support for deepening your practice; connection with Anna, Liz, and your fellow participants; a one-year membership in our online studio (regular price $197) and an in-person weekend retreat in Portland!
We have two early bird payment options available through Dec. 14, 2018:
- {Early bird} One-time payment: $1100 (save $150 over monthly installments!
- {Early bird} Ten monthly payments: $125/month
After Dec. 14, 2018, the one-time payment increases to $1400 and the installments increase to $155/month.
*Please note that travel and accommodations for the in-person retreat are not included, but we will provide recommendations for both! In addition, breakfast and snacks are included, but lunch and dinner are on your own — explore the great Portland food scene or make your own — up to you!
Ready? Let’s Go!
To apply for the Intensive, please click below. We encourage you to apply even if you’re on the fence so that we can help you figure out if this is the right fit for you. You’re under no obligation to participate if you apply.
Take your practice off the mat and into your life in new, meaningful ways.
Apply for the Curvy Life Intensive and see where your path takes you next! Applicants will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.
FAQs
If I can’t attend the retreat in Portland, can I still participate in the online portion of the Intensive?
Of course! While we’d love for everyone to come to the retreat, we know that might not be possible. The cost of the Intensive is the same whether you choose to attend the retreat or not, but it’s up to you if you choose to attend. We hope you will!
What is the schedule of the in-person retreat, and where is it taking place?
The in-person retreat is taking place in Portland, OR, Sept. 13-15, 2019. The retreat location will be shared once the program begins but will be in Portland proper, so public transportation will be an option if desired.
A tentative schedule is below; some times may vary slightly. Each session we’ll explore what we’ve been talking about throughout the year through yoga, discussion, and other activities. The yoga will be accessible, Curvy Yoga-style. And, of course, we’ll have plenty of breaks and snacks throughout each day!
Friday, Sept. 13th:
- 6:30-8:30pm — meet your fellow participants in real life! We’ll kick the weekend off with some yoga and some fun.
Saturday, Sept. 14th:
- 9:00am-12:00pm — Session 1
- 12:00-1:30pm — Lunch on your own
- 1:30-5:00pm — Session 2
- 5:00pm-on — The evening is yours! Get in some R&R, hang with your Intensive pals, or whatever strikes your fancy!
Sunday, Sept. 15th:
- 9:00-11:00am — Session 3
- 11:00am-12:00pm — Wrap-up and celebration
How much yoga will we do during the in-person retreat in Portland?
We will be doing some yoga each day, but we won’t be doing it all day! We will definitely space out what we do in terms of time and energy exertion. And we’ll definitely include some restoratives! As always with Curvy Yoga, we will find an option that works for you!
Are yoga teachers invited to participate?
Yes! While this program is not a teacher training, teachers who want to take their own practice deeper are very welcome! And because there’s no deepening of your own practice without a deepening of your teaching, you can certainly count your time in the online program as noncontact continuing education hours with Yoga Alliance, if you are registered with them, and the in-person time as contact hours.
What if I have a question that isn’t addressed here?
That’s what we’re here for! Email support@curvyyoga.com and we’ll be happy to help.
Can’t wait to join us?
We can’t either!