YOGA FOR WELL BEING
ARDEN SUNDARI PIERCE - Certified in Yoga Therapy
Teaching to cultivate compassion, relieve pain, awaken and empower the possibilities for 30 years. Offerings are gentle and all level.
Classes listed below are Live Online, at Sun Studio, Hybrid, by recording and outdoors.
Sun Studio is located at the Arts + Industry Building, suite 245, 221 Pine Street, Florence, MA.
Times listed are EST, Eastern Standard Time
Individual Yoga Therapy Online and at Sun Studio available. Routines are meant to be simple and do-able, adapting to YOUR body, mind and breath. Please email for rates.
SACRAL + THIRD EYE CHAKRA YOGA COURSE hybrid
May 21st - July 30th , Tuesdays 6:15 – 8pm
Pay in halves by June 18th: $90 - $130, or total: $180-$261 sliding scale, scholarship available.
Offered in-person and online. If class missed, a recording will be sent.
@ Sun Studio, 221 Pine Street, Florence.
SACRAL CHAKRA is associated with the pelvis and hips.
THIRD EYE CHAKRA, with the pineal gland, the master gland.
WATER is the element of the sacral chakra, bringing in the consciousness of: flow and creativity, balance with relations, and balance with inner and outer worlds. Attention to the third eye is a practical and energetic perception shift: to reduce the sacral chakra imbalances, to raise your vibration while staying responsive to the world and to help you to stay present in fight/flight/freeze.
You will be guided to connect to your empowered sense of self through contemplations, therapeutic yoga poses, soft foam rolling, breathing, mantra and singing. The practice tones the pelvis, hips, pelvic floor, aligns the sacro-iliac joints and deepens your physical potency.
The chakra system is the way consciousness moves within the physical body. The chakras are wheels of subtle energy located along the spine. They need to remain balanced and open for optimal human function.
All are welcome.
YOGA THERAPY FOR NECK + SHOULDERS COURSE
May 24th – June 28th , FRIDAYS 10 – 11:30AM
Pay in halves by June 14th : $63 - $81 or total: $126 - $162 (sliding scale), scholarship available.
Offered in-person and online. If class missed, a recording will be sent.
@ Sun Studio, 221 Pine Street, Florence.
This self-care course is gentle to reduce the stress/aches, improve alignment, free negative mental constructs that influence posture. Not to mention sitting and screen time overload! The neck is also a potent place to increase vagal tone. Return your neck and shoulders to ease, like seaweed, at once rooted in the ocean floor, while also buoyant and flowing. Easy yoga poses to strengthen and align, experiential and subtle anatomy, self massage to explore fascia involvement and breathing included. Come if you are stiff, in pain, have injury, arthritis: all are welcome.
PELVIC FLOOR refresher mini-ONLINE-course
4 week course, 30 minutes each class - $60.
June 6th - 27th, Thursdays 11 - 11:30AM
– for cis-women, cis-men, LGBTQIA.
I offer this gentle self-care practice, fully clothed, improve pelvic alignment,hip mobility, organ support, emotional and subtle energy resilience (root chakra). This practice is not only preventative, but empowering, reclaiming and revitalizing an important part or your well-being.
Beach Yoga
Greet the morning with yoga and wake up your senses! Your day will flow amazingly after yoga at a beach (birds singing, rippling water, smell of spring in the breeze…) in Leeds. Through adaptive gentle poses, yogic breathing, and deep observation, the practice opens the subtle natural energy (prana) within, to connect more intimately with our natural outer world. Clarifying your intention and karma for the day. Get out!
Tuesdays 8-9am, at beach location in Leeds $20,
Dates announced if you are on Beach Yoga Email List
PLEASE INQUIRE TO GET ON THE BEACH YOGA EMAIL LIST: The class is weather permit and I require a minimum number of people, week by week. You will be getting a weekly email confirming or cancelling by Sunday night or Monday morning.
PREGNANCY YOGA THERAPY + BIRTH course
CDH Midwifery Center ~Hybrid and recording available
Mondays 6 – 7:30pm, 5 week course: $75 - $135 sliding scale
April 15th - May 13th
Like the life cycle of a butterfly, you transform with pregnancy and birth. In each class, go into a cocoon to be nourished and de-stress, recover from aches and pains, feel your little one at your center, create sangha with other women, emerge with more freedom, skill and confidence. Practices for labor and birth are integrated.
In association with CDH, I have specialized in prenatal yoga therapy since 1999. I trained as a doula and have attended thirteen births, which have also informed my teaching.
Arden's prenatal yoga classes are truly a game changer. I have gone to her virtual classes for both of my pregnancies in my third trimesters and each class leaves my body and mind feeling so relaxed. She has such an intimate understanding of what a pregnant body needs. Before finding her, I tried prenatal yoga on youtube and felt that it was always too difficult for what my body could handle. She leads the class in gentle stretches and massage, all the while educating participants about our anatomy, what is going on in our bodies, and what will be most useful to us in labor. As someone who has struggled with prenatal depression, her classes always help me turn my mood around and center my focus on the love I have for my baby and an appreciation for what my body is going through. I cannot recommend her classes highly enough to any pregnant person! ~ Allison
SELF - PACED ONLINE COURSES - please inquire
Topics include:
Deep Front Line Yoga Therapy (5, 1.25hr classes)
Cleanse Yoga with BIM (6, 1.25hr classes)
Sacral/Pelvis Chakra Awakening Yoga (6, 1.25hr classes)
Throat/Neck Chakra Awakening (6, 1.25hr classes)
Spiral Line Yoga Therapy (6, 1.25 hrs classes)
Heart Chakra Awakening (6, 1.25 hrs classes)
Better Breathing Yoga (6, 1.25 hrs classes)
Freeing Neck + Shoulders Yoga Therapy (6, 1.25 hrs classes)
Psoas + Pelvis Yoga Therapy (6, 1.25 hrs classes)
Cleanse Yoga (6, 1.25 hrs classes)
Yoga Nidra (5, 1 hour classes)
NeuroNarrative Yoga (5, 1.25 hrs classes)
Yoga Therapy BIM (5, 1.25 hrs classes)
Heart/Sacral Chakra Awakening (5, 1.25 hrs classes)
3rd Eye Activation Meditation/Yoga (5, 1hr classes)
Love Your Belly Chakra Yoga (6, 1.25 hrs)
Pelvic Floor Yoga Therapy (6, 1 hr classes)
Pelvic Floor Essentials (8, 30 min classes)
Arden Sundari (she/her) hails from Vermont and Western Mass with Irish, Scottish, English ancestry. Feels deeply moved to assist in shifting consciousness and perception at the personal level to give greater understanding and allyship to our humanity and our earth. Her activism is in the form of guidance into inner work for well-being, including healing and reconciliation psycho-biologically and spiritually with the past.
Arden earned a BA in South Asian Studies/Cultural Anthropology from Mount Holyoke College, certified to teach Yoga in 1992, and deepened her training and obtained certification in Structural Yoga Therapy in 2003. Arden is also trained in Krishnamacharya Lineage and Shiatsu. Besides teaching through her private practice, she also teaches at Smith College as an adjunct professor. And has taught at Cooley Dickinson for many years.
Her approach is with humility, deep listening and humor; is Polyvagal Theory-trauma-anatomy informed; body positive, gentle and therapeutic. Arden's teaching cultivates compassion, relieves pain and empower the possibilities.
I recognize that my home and nearby studio (Williamsburg and Florence MA) is built within the ancestral homelands of the Pocumtuc Nation. I acknowledge and practice in gratitude to their Ancestors and their current stewardship for the land I reside and work on. The Pocumtuc, who had connections with these lands for millennia, are part of a vast expanse of Algonqiuan relations. I recognize our Present-day neighboring Indigenous people that continue to persevere as sovereign nations: the Nipmuc and the Wampanoag to the East, the Mohegan and Pequot to the South, the Mohican to the West, and the Abenaki to the North.
I express gratitude for nearby waters and surrounding lands, including the Kwinitekw -- the southern portion of what’s now called the Connecticut River and the Pocumtuck, now called Deerfield River, which means "swift, shallow, sandy stream." I recognize these lands and waters as important Relations with which we are all interconnected and depend on to sustain life and well being.
One way I demonstrate this acknowledgment is by paying reparations to the Nipmuc Indian Development Corporation through the Western Mass chapter of SURG (Showing Up for Racial Justice). You can find out more about, support, and donate here.
Please Pre-Register
Email me back (yoga@rcn.com) with your name and number
I offer sliding scale, payment plan, scholarship and occasional barter, Please talk with me if you need to make a financial arrangement that allows you to attend.
All times listed are EST – Eastern Standard Time – put in your calendar appropriately.
Send your payment these ways: By check, Zelle, Venmo (Arden-Pierce-1) or Paypal.me/ardenpierce1
By check send to:
Yoga for Well-Being
P.O. Box 396
Northampton, MA. 01061
PROPS are Required You will need to get a few props together or substitutions. If you are interested in purchasing or borrowing a soft foam roller from me, let me know.
COVID GUIDELINES:
Masks optional. Please be mindful to not come to class if you are not feeling well or you think you have been exposed. Handwashing is required when you arrive.
It's highly recommended that you bring your own mat. You may bring other props, and they are also provided.
Our studio is well ventilated and is spacious for social distance.
Better Breathing Yoga
2 Pinky Balls and Soft Foam roller or similar required or can be borrowed
Breathing is a lost art and science. Just ask James Nestor, author of the best selling book, BREATH. Check out this podcast interview with him: https://podcastaddict.com/epis... In this course you will coax yourself back to ideal breathing and experience it integrated with gentle yoga poses. "We assume, at our peril, that breathing is a passive action, but breathing is not binary."
Bad breathing habits are linked to back pain, anxiety, asthma, high blood pressure, mental fog, ADHD, headaches, insomnia, pelvic floor dysfunction, congestion, sleep apnea, digestive problems, chest pain, etc. Because it’s automatic we ignore it’s profound function. 90% of the population are breathing incorrectly, causing or aggravating chronic disease. J.N.
Better Breathing Yoga increases your ability to regulate the nervous system and to sense your internal self. When we can sense our breathing and internal sensations, we take better actions towards our own well-being
Better Breathing frees your body and emotions, and is the nexus of pranic flow. You will learn and experience how the 5 Sub-pranas are connected to the 4 phases of the breath. Mind, body, prana and breath are unified in this course.
I have found the breathing classes so valuable, both in the moment and in an ongoing way. I leave every class feeling grounded, calm and connected to myself (and I sleep so well!). And then I've been able to use these techniques during my day when I find myself starting to get wound up or shut down - I move to the wave breath, or the sighing breath, and am able to shift my energy to a better place surprisingly easily and quickly. This has been some of the most transformational work physiologically that I've experienced, in part because we breath all the time! and so shifting those patterns completely changes things. Thank you. ~Carey Dimmitt
previous offerings
SPIRAL + LATERAL LINE YOGA THERAPY course
2 Pinky Balls and Soft Foam roller or similar required
An exploration, freeing and strengthening of fascial Spiral + Lateral Line through gentle yoga, self-massage, foam rolling and yoga nidra. The Spiral Line runs from the base of the skull, then wraps around in a double helix through the shoulder blades, ribcage, abdomen, front of pelvis, then a loops down the leg, stirrups under the foot and back up through the sacrum to the base of the skull! The Lateral Line is exactly that, creates outer stability from outer foot to ear, and mediates the forces from the Spiral Line. Come enjoy this specific fascia journey and clear up imbalances associated with it.
Spiral + Lateral Line could be the one uniting factor if you have some or all of these issues:
~ postural imbalance/rotation in pelvis or ribcage
~ neck/back pain
~ shoulderblade problems
~ foot arch imbalance
~ tight outer thigh/calf/hamstring
~ knee pain
~ one leg "heavier" than the other
The Spiral Line Class has given me a deeply quieting practice that frees up my whole body, leaving me aligned and effortlessly supported from within. Myo-fascial release feels like coming home, making it easy to do as a regular practice.
As part of teaching the Spiral Line, Arden can address alignment issues of class members, sometimes using Yoga poses for specific strengthening. She invites participants to go at their own pace and respond to their own kinesthetic feedback. Don’t miss this enriching class! ~ Christine Olson
In the Spiral and Lateral Line Yoga class, the poses, stretches and massages worked together to alleviate my knee pain to an astonishing degree! ~ AMLucey
THERAPEUTIC TREMORING + YOGA WORKSHOP
Saturday March 4th, 10am - 12pm in person at Sun Studio, $30-$50 ss
Marching forth for David Ruggles Center for History + Education, right here in Florence! A portion of this workshop will be donated to support their amazing mission. Learn more HERE
Culturally we suppress the natural shaking because we would appear weak and afraid along with other negative associations. But the shaking is a positive, healthy and important part of bringing balance to our mind, nervous system and to be able to be more fully in the present moment. When the autonomic nervous system, vis-a-vis the psoas, is allowed to de-stress and let go of old patterns from the past, so much energy and healing becomes available to you from the very center of our being. The practice is done comfortably lying down. This workshop is good for anyone suffering from day to day stresses and "light" traumas. This is not ideal for people who suffer from PTSD or deep traumas. Brief interview required to attend.
previous offering:
TENDING OUR ROOTS GUIDED CIRCLE - long program
Led by Arden Sundari Pierce, assisted by Reina Goldberg - www.reinashines.com
Together, we heal and transform. Tending Our Roots is a guided circle and one-on-one learning to encourage your soul work, heal your body, create space in your nervous system, transform your personal narrative, and dismantle destructive concepts and beliefs; weaving your personal journey with the group experience. Being in a committed group, sangha, container over time is different than my typical courses; it’s deeper, the work will have more effect in your personal growth and has a greater ripple effect for good.
There are four main components to the program: yoga, polyvagal practices, intuition and ancestral exploration.
Our nervous system, DNA, personal narratives and ancestral stories are in the present inside our bodies. The past informs the present and you can be more of that living empowered presence when you engage in the unique approach this guided circle offers. The more you understand, heal and create a resilient nervous system, the more potent your choices will be for a balanced world.
When we believe that our core struggles in life live only inside ourselves and are not connected to family (living and crossed over) and culture, we may feel shame about our pain and feel more disconnected from others as a result. …… Ancestor work can help us to transform cultural toxins such as sexism and racism .…. Everyone has wise and loving ancestors they can learn to invoke for support and healing. ~Daniel Foor, Ph.D.
An aspect of our exploration and healing will be to look at the context of our imbalanced world that we were born and live in, specifically racist policies and ideas. We did not create this system, and this program is not about fixing the world, but may make you feel more ready to participate in allyship/activism. Structures of racism impacts us personally; which robs us of our humanity. No matter how racist policies and ideas affect us personally, we all suffer to some extent, be it differently depending on particular identities, and we need space to acknowledge and grieve that.
Tending our Roots Depth Circle may be the critical small group journey you take in this time. This is a journey to help you to experience more well-being, peace, empathy, connection and community.
The teaching is trauma-informed, compassionate and gentle.
This format will
~ deepen self-knowing and empathy
~ strengthen polyvagal regulation
~ relieve stuck stress
~ loosen karmic grooves, personal and ancestral.
~ gain a vital exploration of the impact of racism
~ create opportunity to heal and reconcile psycho-biologically and spiritually with the past
This program will be fascinating, deeply restorative, and centering. We need as much love, clarity, and integrity as possible to face internal changes, and grasp how you individually and us collectively, deep in our bones, author what we want to come next.
Main Practices List: Gentle/Therapeutic Yoga, Polyvagal practices, Ancestral work, Circle Sharing, Pranayama, Meditation, Contemplation, Free Writing, Yoga Nidra, song/sounding, art, self-massage, nature walking. (others may get included)
For small group. This program is ideal for people who identify themselves as white or benefit from white privilege. BIPOC are welcome, but please connect with me to discuss. I strive to make my groups a safe container for all and also continue to be a work in progress. I welcome your questions and thoughts.
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Plan A: in person learning in studio/outdoors. Sun Studio has 1600 sf of space, in-house sink, with good ventilation. Social distance for group is possible. Vaccination is required, assume mask wearing.
Plan B: we may need to go online/outdoor due to Covid-19 infection rates.
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previous courses:
YOGA THERAPY FOR PELVIC FLOOR course
– for cis-women, cis-men, LGBTQIA.
I offer this gentle self-care practice, fully clothed, to understand and improve pelvic alignment, organ support, emotional and subtle energy resilience (root chakra). If you have no pelvic issues, this practice is not only preventative, but empowering, reclaiming and revitalizing an important part or your well-being.
Numbing ourselves to this part of our body, in part due to cultural conditioning, has created an epidemic of needless suffering. Pelvic floor problems include stress/urge incontinence, prolapse, tailbone -low back -hip pain, hemorrhoids, post-surgery problems, IBS, pain with intercourse… Energetically: feeling ungrounded, unrooted, or unsupported.
Through experiential anatomy and gentle yoga, learn how to strengthen and release tightness in PF, along with hips, low back, legs and feet. Incorporated practices are: autonomic nervous system balancing (Polyvagal Theory practices), fascia release, guided meditations and breath awareness.
I thought this was the one course Arden offered I needed the least, but it turns out I need it the most!
It informs all my other practices for health and well-being. ~ F.C.
Arden’s pacing invites all of us into slow deep embodiment. ~ El
Throat + Sacral Chakra Yoga course
All the chakras interplay with each other. In this course, we will discover how Visshuddha (throat chakra) andSwadhistana (sacral chakra) relate.
The throat chakra is about deep listening and aligning your self-expression to what you hear, as well as your neck/shoulders. The sacral chakra is associated with the sacrum and hips, and balancing their action. WATER is the element of this chakra, bringing in the consciousness of flow, feelings, imagination, creativity and relations. Both chakras are creative centers. Here, there is a sweetness to life when it flows spontaneously, creatively and in alignment to your truth. If you need to gain access to your creativity and flow, this is the course or you! You will be guided to connect to your inner wisdom, interoception and empowered sense of self through contemplations, yoga poses, breathing/pranayama and sounding.
The chakra system is the way the spirit moves within the physical body—how spirit animates form. The chakras are wheels of subtle energy located along the spine. They need to remain balanced and open for optimal human function. If stagnation appears within the chakra system, the physical mind/body will be affected.
LOVE YOUR BELLY CHAKRA – Stand in your Power and Joy
The focus will be on just the belly chakra (#3) and samana prana. You will be guided to connect to your inner wisdom, interoception and empowered sense of self through contemplations, yoga poses, breathing/pranayama and sounding. We often feel drained by poor belly health, as food, experiences and emotions can be hard to digest. The element of this chakra and sub-prana (samana) is fire, so we will gently stoke this inner fire to release the emotional knots, and gain better digestion, focus, and vitality.
With more ease, you will get to your centeredness, power and joy in the world. Also good for your core muscles and low back.
The chakra system is the way the spirit moves within the physical body—how spirit animates form. The chakras are wheels of subtle energy located along the spine. They need to remain balanced and open for optimal human function. If stagnation appears within the chakra system, the physical mind/body will be affected.
NEURO NARRATIVE YOGA COURSE
This is attunement work, to help raise your frequency, to be the most present during these challenging times.
Does your neuro-narrative keep you stuck? Your inner narrative alters your neurologic patterns (and vice-versa) and has a profound effect on outlook, emotions and body. This course helps to re-pattern thoughts through deepened awareness tapping into the sub-conscious with gentle yoga embodiment, free writing and more. Together we create a personal, integrated, mind/body positive narrative (contemplative writing, affirmation or poem) in every class.
Unless you have perfect mental immunity, most people cycle through uncertainty, fear and doubt. This course helps you become aware of your internal narrative and inquire why it is there (kept confidential to you). We then unearth from our body sensations, memories, constructive imagination and writing the deepest embodied truth, love and faith in ourselves.
With this approach, I discovered connections and experienced personal evolution with that brought ease and deeper meaning to my practice. I can now come to my practice freely and everything flows. ~Ami Aubin
HEART Chakra Awakening Course
The focus will be on just the heart chakra and vyana prana. You will be guided to connect to your inner wisdom, interoception and empowered sense of self through contemplations, yoga poses, breathing/pranayama and sounding. The HEART chakra is about: Honoring the balance of spirit and matter. Choosing love over fear. Free the wings of your heart, chest and upper body.
The chakra system is the way the spirit moves within the physical body—how spirit animates form. The chakras are wheels of subtle energy located along the spine. They need to remain balanced and open for optimal human function. If stagnation appears within the chakra system, the physical mind/body will be affected.
THROAT CHAKRA YOGA COURSE
Live online or recording: $108 - $135 sliding scale.
The focus is on the Throat/Neck Chakra and Udana Vayu. You will be guided to connect with your inner wisdom, interoception and empowered sense of self through contemplations, gentle yoga movements and poses, breathing/pranayama and sounding. The throat/neck chakra is about deep listening, freeing your neck/shoulders and expression (verbal or non-verbal). Udana Vayu is the sub-prana that governs the exhale, strength in spine, joy and brings you from the gross to the subtle realms. Come get aligned!
The chakra system is the way the spirit moves within the physical body—how spirit animates form. The chakras are wheels of subtle energy located along the spine. They need to remain balanced and open for optimal human function. If stagnation appears within the chakra system, the physical mind/body will be affected.
I was moved way beyond what I had expected. Arden’s combination expertise and compassion is amazing. ~Donna Jensen
SACRAL Chakra Awakening Course
There is a sweetness to life when it flows spontaneously and creatively in a balanced way, freeing the hips and sacrum.
The sacral chakra is about WATER; flow, feelings, imagination, creativity and relations. Water mind receives, unresisting, impressions and projections. This class includes learning to find balance in relations and in desires. If you need to gain access to your creativity and flow, this is the course or you! You will be guided to connect to your inner wisdom, interoception and empowered sense of self through contemplations, yoga poses, breathing/pranayama and sounding.
The chakra system is the way the spirit moves within the physical body—how spirit animates form. The chakras are wheels of subtle energy located along the spine. They need to remain balanced and open for optimal human function. If stagnation appears within the chakra system, the physical mind/body will be affected.
3rd EYE ACTIVATION YOGA + MEDITATION COURSE
The under-utilized 3rdEye (Ajna Chakra) and all it’s value, can be easily foregone and forgotten. This course is meant to make the 3rd Eye a practical and energetic perception shift to reduce the cyclical survival mode and it’s impact; to raise your vibration while staying present and responsible to the world around you. This practice strengthens witness consciousness. You will learn about the pineal gland crystals and bandhas as well as applying gentle yoga and breathing. We will end with a meditation to move the pineal glands crystals from chemical to piezio-electrical activity.
The safe space Arden holds invites me to be less in my mind and more in my heart with what comes to me. That lets me feel in touch with myself and others in a deliberate and sacred honoring as Spiritual beings living "awake". ~Safara
YOGA THERAPY with B.I.M.
Super Pinky Balls (2) and Soft Foam Roller required – please inquire to borrow or buy
Emphasizing Breath Initiated Movements (BIM) when dynamic and full breathing when holding. BIM reduces stress by binding the breath, prana, mind and body into a unified flow into the present. Presence is “everything” and the hardest to achieve. Impatience, ego, fears, attachments, shoulds and have-tos fall away. Spaciousness, time, ease and intuition increase. Some self-massage too.
Arden’s offerings are powerful and life affirming. After a class with her, I am like a plant after receiving a nice dose of much needed water. ~Anne Griffin
RISE + SHINE – Yoga Nidra, a restful form of meditation
5 Consecutive Mornings, M-F, 8 – 9am,
Yoga Nidra means yogic sleep. We “sleep” to awaken the interior landscape of awareness. You will be guided in several different yoga nidra journeys which includes deep relaxation, intention setting, and opening your mindset to start your day with new possibilities.
Update on Deep Forest Yoga retreat (not online):
The running of the retreat at Temenos in May is unknown at this point.