It is my mission to start this back-to-school season with new offerings for you to connect, stretch, flow and learn about yourself, as if you are the most important subject to study. Because you are ! Whether you're a parent juggling school schedules, a student looking for balance in your schedule, or just someone craving some "me-time," or an opportunity to learn- I’ve got a class for just about everyone. Here are my classes for you to rediscover your practice, get you moving and inspire you in unique ways for connection. Maybe you’ll catch the last outdoor yoga classes with horses, or mingle in community on a farm, or meditate in the art gallery. Whatever you decide, there’s no better way than yoga to be with transitions as we shift into the back-to-school season.
Join Amy Pearce Hayden and Dani Locastro as we take a deep dive into asana, pranayama, meditation, and art therapeutics exploring how breath, movement, stillness, and self-inquiry can help you release old patterns and reconnect to your wholeness of what is your center now. We will work through the lens of the gunas, understanding the quality of nature that “Satvic is not Static” and the dynamism of what is the middle is relative.
Take a much-needed pause from your busy life this summer and step into a sacred space of movement, mindfulness, and connection at the slow pace of summertime. This retreat is designed to reignite your inner spark, with music, yoga and art to foster playfulness, and help you reconnect with your heart and body through intentional creative fun practices. Get ready for the feeling of being a kid again with endless time on this summer day in the woods and the poolside. Expect to laugh, feel good & play as Dani connects you through yoga & art and Angela connects you through yoga & music.
I am reminded of everything I hold close- being surrounded by such an inspiring and strong group of people while existing in a space that is meant to challenge, support and uplift me. We tapped into our creativity and inner knowing through movement, dance, music, and art. A union of all sorts- that is living the yoga.
What lies between what is seen can be super special. Take the word “Ma” in Japanese for example- it refers to the gap or emptiness that exists between objects, situations, or relationships. Take it in simplicity of yoga -it represents the essence of energy or intention that can be felt or experienced in that space, or a pause in the movement or flow in the element of space.
The yoga mat is a supportive space for meeting ourselves exactly where we are with honesty and vulnerability. We accept what we are feeling and doing in the moment and allow ourselves just to be. This yoga practice can be slow and deep, not just targeting the external, tangible form of the body, but also going in to the other interconnected non-physical layers of our Self.
Why is it that we move away from self-expression and play when we get older? We are never too old to sing, dance, doodle or shine. Do you give yourself permission to? Just like any other yoga practice, Heartful Yoga by Dani is a practice of creativity, allowance, freedom and self-expression.
Centering is a constant balancing of form, space, and process. Yoga and pottery help me with centering my life and soul’s purpose. Both incorporate a blend of science, art, and philosophy. There are methodologies and techniques to learn and constantly practice. There are similar concepts in centering and alignment of form and fine-tuning and adjusting, observing and correcting in real-time as we move toward a final holding “shape” whether it be on the potter’s wheel, the “yoga mat” or on the highway of life.
Ever since I was little, I felt spirit come through me as I used my hands for making mud pies, playing with cats and dancing around the living room. From this place of exploration, process, play, and dedication - I practice and teach yoga and art for wellness. What moves you towards wellness ?
Here are some unique experiences this September for you to practice. These workshops just might put a smile on your face while practicing in a place of wonder, challenge and presence.
Join Dani in Sedona for a yoga retreat of transformative power as we use the elementals as a map for sacred yoga practices and other healing modalities to help with introspection, healing, creativity and self-expression. If interested, please reach out directly to Dani---space is limited.
Only you, know the sensations, feelings, emotions, and mind chatter that you feel from your “inner landscape “of connection and persception. Yoga is this process of a deep level of investigation, exploration and uncovering through mental, emotional, and physical work through loving kindness and awareness to clear perception and connection
I aim to bring forth an integrated awareness through individualized practices tailored to my students’ needs to ensure that the practices are flexible, strengthening, engaging, and serving to each student. I will guide you into understanding the connections of mind, body, and energy through thematic principals; leaving you feeling embodied and connected on a path towards wellness.
Self-love is a choice that requires conscious intention and the willingness to take personal responsibility for our own well-being. Here are some skillfully crafted integrative yoga workshops that I am offering to help cultivate self-love and self-care in February in the Hudson Valley, NY. I hope you join me in this heartful approach !
Join Dani Locastro at this weekend workshop at Ful-being Collective that will outline for you the essentials in creating your home yoga practice. She is a teacher for everyone- novices and teachers. She will stitch together for you a deeper understanding of when and why to use these yoga tools as part of your home practice. She will plan work with the group and individually in setting you up so that your practice becomes an accessible integrated part of your daily life for wellness. Taking your practice with you everywhere.
I am happy to say that my perseverance and belief in Heartful Yoga has gained me recognition as an honored yogi artist chosen for this years Jade Yoga 2024 calendar. When we are disciplined to show up to our true ourselves on the mat in the process of disciplined practice (tapas), we actually receive the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual changes that occur by being in process of yoga. It does not mean pretending everything is fine or being in denial about what is going wrong or changing. But rather gratitude means choosing to focus your time and attention on what you appreciate with deep respect, acknowledgement and surrender.
Spend a week with Dani in the quaint beach town of Puerto Morelos where beach meets mangroves at Villa Shanti. Immerse yourself in a yoga retreat of creative exploration through the study of yoga, the chakras and art to explore all the colors of your life!
How do you feel about planning and how do you respond if your plans don't go as you wished? Yoga teaches flexibility not just in the hamstrings but also in the mind relating to our thoughts, plans, actions and responses to our self and others.
I believe that mental health should be on our radar at all the time as a priority in the yoga community. I also know one practice does not fit all beings and in a classroom setting one type of class is not always serving ones needs. I am typically teaching from a centered perspective encouraging options for students to explore along the way.
It’s easy to be wide-eyed and present in a place of earthly awe and wonder like the mountains of Algonquin, Bell Rock or Cottonwood Canyon. But what about the family room or the yoga mat after years of practice? The yoga practice sometimes has to look different and when we are willing to let it be different with non-attachment (Aparigraha –one of the Yamas) to what it was and to what we want it to become. Join Dani in some with some in depth yoga and art workshops this fall 2023 in the Hudson Valley, NY, where there is time to build a solid foundation of practices to help you connect to your mind, body , breath, creativity and spirit.
What does it mean to be connected to yourself? It means you always have a way to recharge and rejuvenate yourself no matter how crazy life may get or how stagnate you might become. Becoming connected is about finding your center, your source of inner power by being with yourself and by yourself.
