A 6-Week Series to Nourish Your Nervous System

Rooted & Resilient

Sundays, 1:00 - 3:30 PM
February 16th - March 23rd
Marshall, NC

Somatic Movement | Pranayama | Sound Healing | Stone & Plant Medicine | Nature Connection

Cultivate inner awareness, ease and stability with powerful self-care practices grounded in the ancient science of yoga and informed by modern polyvagal theory. Over six weeks, we’ll explore mindful movement, breathwork and meditation, along with vibrational and earth-based healing modalities, as we co-create an intimate, in-person container.

Join experienced yoga teachers Allison Welder and Mina Isabel Shahriary for a six-week deep dive into tending your nervous system. Drawing on multiple wisdom traditions and modern polyvagal theory, we’ll explore yoga practices and other powerful self-care techniques that can help support a healthy, resilient nervous system. In the process, we’ll connect and co-regulate together in community.

Each class will begin with a simple tea ceremony, brief connection circle, guided meditation and somatic movement. We’ll continue with a learning & discussion circle followed by a gentle 30 to 45-minute practice. Class will end with deep relaxation accompanied by healing sound, stone medicine, and/or marma point massage.

Over the six weeks, you will gather a toolkit of simple and effective self-care practices you can use—and share with others—to help calm, nourish and restore balance in your nervous system.

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times

Collectively, we’re going through a lot—from unprecedented ecological disasters and ongoing humanitarian crises to significant astrological shifts and polarizing political drama. Many of us are also experiencing stress related to work, finances, relationships and/or unprocessed trauma. And all of this is on top of the near-constant flow of information that bombards our senses daily.

With prolonged stress or overstimulation, our autonomic nervous system, designed to protect us in times of danger, often becomes “stuck” in a state of high alert (fight-or-flight) or shut down (freeze). Instead of moving fluidly in and out of a relaxed state to meet whatever arises in the present moment, we may begin to experience anxiety, overwhelm, exhaustion and/or other symptoms of dysregulation that can seriously impact our physical, mental and emotional well-being.

Yet as unique and challenging as these times might be, stress and dysregulation are not entirely modern phenomena. The ancient Vedic sciences of yoga and Ayurveda offer profound insights into the patterns of the human mind and its intrinsic connection to the body, as well as some of the most direct and effective methods for calming and regulating the nervous system.

While we might try to "think" our way out of discomfort when we’re stressed, real transformation lies in learning to listen to the wisdom of the body. Yoga and Ayurveda, as well as other wisdom traditions, offer us time-tested tools and embodiment practices that can enhance our adaptability and expand our capacity to allow energy to move through us.

By tapping into the body’s innate intelligence and the earth’s receptive healing energy, and by recognizing our interconnection, we may also experience the deep realization that we don’t have to “hold it all” alone.

A 6-Week Deep Dive Into Self-Care for Your Nervous System

Week 4: Herbal Allies & Nourishment

  • An Ayurvedic perspective on burnout and practices to balance vata dosha

  • Relational herbalism & connecting with your plant allies

  • Nervines, adaptogens & flower essences

  • How to perform abhyanga (Ayurvedic self-massage)

Week 5: Stone Medicine & Re-Mineralizing Your Body

  • Introduction to stone medicine (healing with crystals)

  • How to work with stones to rebalance your nervous system

  • Learning what depletes minerals in the body

  • How to re-mineralize your body with water, foods & nourishing herbs

Week 6: Movement, Play & Nature Connection

  • Mindful mobilization of prana (vital life force energy)

  • Looking to the seasons, cycles and elements for wisdom and support

  • Shirin-yoku (forest bathing) & aromatic medicine

  • Rewilding, grounding (or earthing) and connecting with the energies of the earth

Week 1: Intro to the Nervous System

  • Understanding polyvagal theory

  • Factors that contribute to nervous system dysregulation 

  • Nervous system regulation through the lens of yoga and Ayurveda

  • Cultivating self-compassion & recognizing your current physiological state

Week 2: The Healing Power of Breath & Sound

  • Physiology of the breath, heart rate variability and vagal tone

  • The yogic science of pranayama (life force extension)

  • Calming breathwork practices you can do anywhere

  • Mantra, vocal toning, sound healing & nada yoga (the yoga of sound)

Week 3: The Art of Deep Rest & Rejuvenation

  • The importance of rest, slowing down & being vs. doing

  • Herbal support for restorative rest

  • The five koshas (sheaths of the soul)

  • A guided yoga nidra (yogic sleep) practice

By addressing the nervous system directly (via the body), we can cultivate the physical, mental and emotional resources needed to navigate challenging times with grace and resilience. Throughout this multi-sensory, experiential course, you will:

  • Cultivate a deeper connection to your body and its innate wisdom

  • Learn to recognize and interpret the signals of your nervous system

  • Discover accessible strategies to relax, energize and self-regulate

  • Release built-up tension and stress

  • Explore the intersection of ancient wisdom and modern polyvagal theory

  • Connect, co-regulate and build community

Meet Your Guides

  • Mina Isabel Shahriary

    Mina Isabel Shahriary, E-RYT has been studying the yogic sciences for over 20 years and teaching for 10 years. Forever a student of the great mystery, she is also a mama of two, community herbalist, plant spirit medicine practitioner, women’s wellness guide, and steward of a 33-acre regenerative homestead. Her offerings are rooted in a deep reverence for nature's intelligence and the belief that we all can access profound wisdom and healing by attuning to the rhythms and cycles of body, earth and sky.

  • Allison Welder

    Bio coming soon!

Join Us

Rooted & Resilient is for anyone who wants to learn tools and techniques to support a healthy, regulated nervous system. No prior yoga experience is required. 15 CEUs are available for yoga teachers.

Please note that while this series will be offered from a trauma-informed perspective, it is outside our scope of practice as trauma-informed yoga teachers to provide individual support for the active processing of trauma. But we can connect you to some excellent, accessible local resources that do offer that kind of support! If you have questions or would like to talk to one of us before you sign up, please send a message.

🗓️ Dates: Sundays, February 16 - March 23, 2024

🕛 Time: 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM EST

📍 Location: Magictown Movement Studio (Marshall, NC)

⚡️ Energy Exchange: $333

Scholarships and payment plans are available for those with financial need. Please send a message to inquire.

To Register: Please fill out the registration form and send your energy exchange of $333 via Venmo to @magictown with “Rooted & Resilient” and your email address in the description.

Space is very limited—register early to save your spot!

***REFUND POLICY***

If you need to cancel your registration, please let us know within 72 hours of the program’s start to receive a full refund. We are not able to offer refunds for cancellations with less than 72 hours’ notice, but your spot can be transferred to another person.