Laura Winslow, RYT-200 Yoga Alliance, Integrative Yoga Therapy

Laura has been a devoted Yoga practitioner since early 2000.  She has seen the power of a strong personal practice in her own ability to remain present and move through life’s most difficult challenges. It is her strong belief that each and every person possesses innate wisdom and guidance systems that cannot be taken away, but are sometimes forgotten.  These systems must be nurtured to remain healthy and functioning. For her, Yoga is the key to remembering the wisdom and inner peace that is always there underneath the busyness and mental noise.

Training:
Laura received her Yoga teacher training under the guidance of Joseph LePage, a pioneer and leader in Yoga therapy training programs since 1993 and the founder and director of Integrative Yoga Therapy. Laura received an additional 100 hour certification from Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm in Yoga of Recovery for Counselors.

Since her certification she has continued to expand her knowledge and experience by attending workshops and trainings with Yoga Therapy teachers such as Amy Weintraub, founder of LifeForce Yoga and author of Yoga for Depression, Mukunda Stiles, founder of Structural Yoga Therapy, Richard Miller, founder of I-Rest Yoga Nidra, as well as Rolf Gates, the co-founder of the Yoga + Recovery Conference, Esalen Institute. Locally, she has studied with Mari Gayatri, Max Strom and has received the Yoga for Kids teacher training with Natalie Stawsky.

In addition, Laura has studied numerous movement disciplines since the early eighties including ballet, modern, jazz, tap and many other forms of dance as well as QiGong.

Classes:
Laura’s training in Integrative Yoga Therapy encourages the practice of all of the most powerful Yoga tools: asana, pranayama, mudra, Yoga Nidra, mantra, and meditation.   Her intention for her classes is to provide nurturing for the body, mind and spirit and to help her student reconnect with their inner peace and wisdom. 

Dharma:
Laura has a deep passion for working with addiction and related mental health concerns as a result of a long family history of struggle with the disease.   She credits her more than 20 years of freedom from her addiction to her commitment to a strong daily yoga practice.  Since 2007 she began teaching classes in local drug and alcohol treatment centers as a volunteer.  She co-founded Integrative Recovery TherapyTM(www.yogaforrecovery.net/) a twelve week program for addiction recovery, depression and anxiety which combines recovery themes with yoga.  The program recently became an approved provider of Recovery Support Services through the Oregon Access to Recovery Program.  She is also the co-founder and Project Director of a non-profit called Southern Oregon Mind-body Outreach Project (www.somind bodyoutreach.org/), which provides yoga classes to incarcerated teens at the Lithia Springs Program in Ashland.