For those who want to explore yoga one on one, or in a private group, Julie offers yoga training in private sessions. In a private session, Julie helps an individual or individual participants in the group identify the areas of their body where weakness and imbalances exist and from there, she focuses on developing the maximum functional flexibility for each person present. During these sessions she also guides the individual(s) through breathing techniques specific to their needs, and customized yoga exercises to correct damaging movement patterns, poor body mechanics and inherent postural problems. At the end of each session, body-based relaxation techniques are introduced and practiced.
To give you some background on Qigong, so you can understand why it might be helpful to you as an individual, or for your group, read though the following basic explanation.
Qigong comes from two Chinese words: Qi (chi) means energy and gong (kung) means a skill or a practice. Qigong therefore means a skill or practice of cultivating energy.
There are various kinds of qigong -- broadly categorized as internal and external. Internal qigong is much like meditation, with visualizations in order to guide the energy. External qigong includes movement accompanying the meditation.
Qigong is famous in China for curing chronic disease and promoting health.
Qigong can improve your physical and mental health. It provides all the benefits of meditation (reduced stress, lower blood pressure, better attitude, etc.) with physical exercises. The enhancement of the mind/body connection increases your awareness of where your body needs work - where your body needs changes related to diet, exercise, sleep, lifestyle, etc.
This mind/body connection is not a trivial issue. It can influence the course of all manner of chronic diseases.
In a movement therapy session Julie combines advanced bodywork and myofascial release techniques with yoga exercises. Muscle assessment is done at the beginning of the session to identify areas that need attention. Myofascial release and bodywork techniques are used next to release tight areas, and once these tight areas of the body are released, the client is guided through customized yoga exercises to build strength and muscle balance in these weak or tight areas. The client takes home 'homework' in the form of yoga exercises to prevent the return of the original complaint, and to continue building flexible strength.