LITTLE ROCK — When her late father, Jennings Osborne, fell ill in 2010, Breezy Osborne-Wingfield found support in online yoga classes taught by Noah Maze.
Offered through the website YogaGlo.com, the Los Angeles yogi’s classes impressed the owner of Little Rock’s Barefoot Studio, because he has a “unique gift of teaching alignment” and a “welcoming heart for all of his students.”
She is “thrilled” that Maze will visit Barefoot to teach a workshop Friday through Sunday.
“My personal experience is teachers can say any words to tell you what pose you’re doing, but to be very detailed and specific, to [present] in a way that is easily understood by anyone, is a gift,” she said last week.
Titled “Intention and Momentum,” the workshop costs $155 (or $45 per session) and is for the most part intended for students of all levels, from beginners to teachers.
Registration is available at barefootstudio.com and (501) 661-8005.
The workshop begins with “Yoga Warrior” from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, a Vinyasa-style session focusing on standing poses, especially the warrior poses.
From 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, “Aim True” will focus on safety and effectiveness in postures that open the shoulders and hips and benefit the spine.
From 2 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, “Deep Listening” involves restorative poses, meditation, forward bends and twists designed to balance the work of the earlier sessions.
“Strategies for Success” on Saturday afternoon is the “shop talk” session for teachers and advanced students.
From 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday, “Lift Off” will close the weekend by focusing on difficult postures involving balancing on the arms.
Among Arkansas yoga teachers who plan to attend the workshop, Sherri Youngblood, owner of Sage Yoga in Little Rock, is looking forward to meeting Maze. She said she has found his online classes helpful.
“I recommend to my students that they practice with Noah,” she says. “Noah has the ability to integrate alignment and breath, as well as bringing in the other traditional aspects of yoga, thus nurturing the body, mind and spirit.”
A registered nurse as well as a yoga teacher, Youngblood notes that “yoga is much more than a practice of the postures, and Noah displays this through his teachings.”
Another teacher, Johanna L. Epps of Go Inside Yoga of Conway, says she plans to attend the workshop because “I have heard great things about him from friends,”one of whom reported enjoying a workshop in San Francisco in December.
“I am also interested because he is an Anusara teacher, and that is the style of yoga I was trained in. Even though it’s not the style I teach now, I thought it would be fun to go back to my roots,” Epps says.
Courtney High-Butler of Balance Yoga and Wellness in Hot Springs plans to split the workshop with her assistant teacher.
“I will be taking his gentle class and ‘Strategies for Success’ talk shop, which is for teachers,” she says. “For me, being a teacher to yoga teachers, it will be a time to learn from someone who is known for his ability to train teachers,” she says. “It will be an honor for me to be with another teacher who works with yoga teachers and glean insight.”
Maze began his practice of hatha yoga as a 14-year-old in Boulder, Colo.; his parents practiced meditation. His early studies were in Ashtanga Vinyasa with Richard Freeman, Pattabhi Jois and senior Iyengar yoga teacher Manouso Manos.
Maze became a certified Anusara teacher in 2002. He also has a bachelor’s degree in outdoor education and leadership, and spent several years leading teens and young adults on wilderness expeditions.
He studies Tantric yoga with Douglas R. Brooks, in the Srividya lineage of Rajanaka yoga.
As a teacher of teachers, he travels around the globe presenting workshops, but home is Los Angeles, where he teaches at MYoga LA and posts weekly classes at the YogaGlo website.
Maze and his wife, Tracy, have two children, Madeleine, 4, and Oliver, 1. More information is at noahmazeyoga.com.
Scottish dance
The Arkansas Scottish Country Dance Society will begin its winter session of dance lessons tonight at Park Hill Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, 3520 John F. Kennedy Blvd. in North Little Rock.
The 12-class session will meet on Mondays through March 25. Adult beginners will meet at 7 p.m., followed by the intermediate and advanced class at 8.
Beginners are welcome to attend the first class for free before committing to the $60 fee for the session (ages 12 to 18 pay $20). You don’t need a partner or any dance experience.
Participants will learn basic formations and footwork for traditional and modern Scottish reels, jigs and strathspeys - the basis of Scottish ballroom dance.
Casual attire is recommended;soft-soled shoes are required.
More information is at (501) 666-9694 and arkansasscottishcountrydancing.com.
Look up
Because of widespread damage left by the Christmas snowstorm, the coordinator of North Little Rock’s trail renovation effort is urging trail users to be wary of wobbling trees and dangling limbs along unpaved trails in city parks. “These trails will take a while to get cleared and made passable - do not attempt to move, cut, etc., any obstacle - we have a crew that will take care of these once the snow melts and the ground is drier,” Jeff Caplinger wrote to his e-mail list.
People can report dangerous trees by calling (501) 791-8591. Mention the trail, where on the trail the problem lies and identifying landmarks (if you have them, global positioning system - GPS - coordinates would be most helpful).
Bicycle safety
The topic of January’s monthly meeting of the Arkansas Bicycle Club will be “Do the Health Benefits of Cycling Outweigh the Risk?”
Jim Britt will speak, and the club will elect officers.
The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday at Boudreaux’s Grill and Bar, 9811 Maumelle Blvd. in North Little Rock. More information is at arkansasbicycleclub.com.
ActiveStyle, Pages 24 on 01/07/2013