"{To master the yoga pose} Abandon all effort and contemplate the infinite" - Patanjali Yoga Sūtras 

While it "looks" like restorative or yin {use of props, long holds of poses, lots of surrender into the pose}, the practice of Deep SRI {Spinal Release Yoga} is unique. 

SRY is different from other restorative forms in it's approach to the SPINE. The practice is "deceptively gentle". We get a person lined up in a very meticulous and specific way to RELIABLY enable the release of the absolute DEEPEST and most problematic tensions in the body, the tension in the muscles that attach to the spine. Along the way, we are mapping the emotional patterns and the pathways in the subtle body, unraveling blockages all for the purpose of mental quietude, the dissolution of blockages and ultimately awakening or Self-knowledge.

Each SRY class or session is designed with these principles - 
  • Release of core tension in the muscles attached to the spine
  • Emphasis on opening the pelvis and heart
  • Depth and Inner Quietude
  • Guided Relaxation and Awareness
  • Ayurveda
  • Vastu {Vedic architiecture} as it pertains to the body and mind
  • Subtle Body Theory {nadis, chakras, koshas}
  • Meticulous sequencing
  • Hands on and personalized help from a highly trained teacher 
  • Body, Mind and Life Transformation
  • Cultivation of wisdom and knowledge about Self, World and Divine

Benefits of Spinal Release Yoga

Spinal Decompression •  Improved Sleep • Calm Nervous System • Sciatic Relief• Improved Digestion • Rejuvenation • Relief of Back and Neck Ache • Migraine Relief • Chronic Pain Relief • Chronic Fatigue Resolution • Dissolving Harmful Patterns • Reduced Arthritic Pain • Trauma Recovery • Balanced Weight • Reduced Osteoporosis • Deeper Experience of Self • Balanced Blood Pressure • De-Stress • Pregnancy and Childbirth Preparation • Heart Opening • Soften Stiff and Painful Joints • Fibromyalgia Recovery • Begin or Improve Meditation 

More about SRY™ {Spinal Release Yoga}

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​Open your body gently, yet deeply from the inside out.  This approach is based in the ancient description of yoga mastery: "abandon all effort, and contemplate the infinite". 

We literally release the bound up super-tight tension in the muscles attached to the spine - especially the uber-tight pelvic and thorasic muscles. This results a decompression of the whole spine, a realignment of the body, improved internal organ function, and a subtle body transformation and channel rejuvenation that easily "drops you in" to a deep inner experience of quietude, surrender, peace and self-awareness. 

Precise angles, soft blankets as props, and hands-on adjustments ensure therapeutic poses that release deep layers of spinal tension. As a result of "core opening", blockages throughout the body dissolve while pain and old mental patterns melt away.  Ancient teachings from the yoga tradition are woven into every class, and each class focuses on a particular theme. 

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No Sweat, No Mirrors, No Mat! 

1) "No Sweat" 
We use poses, props, and adjustments to cultivate a deep inner ease, and a physical effortlessness in the poses, starting with very supported, deep release poses for total surrender. Do you really need more training and experience in how to push, strive, force, and deplete yourself? In Deep Release Yoga, the goal is to foster an experience of total letting go - something like what a baby experiences when being held by a loving parent. The spinal release yoga approach encourages you to "let the pose do you"... to soften, to let go, to abide, to unfold, to unravel... to BE.  Ultimately, when you learn this in fully supported restorative poses, we also teach you how to stand up, do Warrior Poses, go upside down and even flow through some vinyasa... but by the time you are ready for THAT, you are coming from a deep inner place of peace, connectedness, calm, and BE-ing, rather than a place of pushing, forcing, striving and sweating. You are truly in the zone - a meditative state even in the midst of movement and strength. And THAT'S how you learn to live your life as a yogi! 

2) "No Mirrors"
Rather than the inner experience an unfoldment of self-awareness that is the goal of yoga, the mirrors that we commonly see in the fitness and yoga world today encourage an outward orientation, a focus on what the pose looks like. In Deep Release Yoga, we cultivate a non-competitive, inward-orientation. Plus, on top of it, yoga students in common yoga classes today use the teacher as a mirror to which they imitate or compare themselves!  As the teacher or practitioner in a class or session, I am rarely (almost never!) doing the poses with the students... I am facilitating, teaching, demonstrating, and then helping one-on-one to ensure that the poses are safe, effective and therapeutically personalized. There is no "monkey see, monkey do" in classes and sessions in Deep Spinal Release Yoga - instead, you move effortlessly through YOUR OWN INNER EXPERIENCE. 

3) "No Mat"
The yoga mat has become synonymous with achievement, coolness, and the hipster yogi image. Now you can get a green mat, bamboo mat, an expensive mat bag, and display your mat as a badge of yogi-identity.  Again, this encourages an outward orientation, as well as a focus on the external. But more importantly - yoga mats are not always safe for students - in particular for the hypermobile body-types (who often love yoga!), the mat can cause a deceptive "ok" to pushing the body too far - past it's maximum stability and support.  In Deep Spinal Release Yoga we use a floor and firm blankets to RELEASE, rather than STRETCH and to discover the true stability and support that comes from leaning into the (non-sticky) earth, the ground, and the inner physical support of one's own bone structure. Rather than "creating balance and stability" through core tension, strain and a sticky mat, we "discover balance and stability" by leaning into the bones of the body, and then from the bones into the earth! Just like God (or at least your parents) made you - sans sticky mat! 
Contact Kaya at kaya@yogawithkaya.com
Classes, workshops and sessions in Yoga Therapy, Yoga, Ayurveda, teacher Mentoring and Yoga Philosophy in the Bay Area (Emeryville), Northern California and by phone. With nearly 2,000 hours training in Svaroopa® Yoga, Kaya has also spent over a decade in deep formal study of classical Hatha Yoga, the Vedic Tradition, Ayurveda and Ayurvedic Yoga.  Students attend Kaya's classes and sessions from Berkeley, San Francisco, Oakland and Marin.