Harvesting in Gratitude: Fall Equinox 2024

 Harvesting with Gratitude: Fall Equinox 2024

 with Susan Nishizawa 

and Special Guest

Hopi Shaman Verbena Freg

At My Home in Altadena

(Contact me for the address)

 Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024

8:15am-6:00pm

Join me for a day of Yoga, iRest Yoga Nidra, and create a beautiful mala bead bracelet. 

Verbena, a Hopi Shaman, will guide a beautiful Gratitude Ceremony for the Fall Equinox. 

To nourish yourselves, sign-up for a massage in the afternoon.

Step into a loving and nurturing personal one day retreat to slow down and connect to yourselves via the body. Harness strength and balance in a gentle Hatha Yoga class. Continuing to listen to the wisdom of your body with mindfulness in a Yin and Myofascial Release class, and reset your nervous system with a iRest Yoga Nidra practice on gratitude. 

A vegetarian lunch will be provided, with gluten and dairy free options. Sign-up for a massage to further nourish and unwind your body with our amazing massage therapists. 

The afternoon will start with a mala bead making class. Choose your own crystal bead stones that support your own growth, stability, abundance, and protection. Infuse your intentions into each mala bead.

I am so excited to introduce you to Verbena Freg. She is our special guest teacher and Shaman healer, and will be leading a Gratitude Ceremony in the Hopi Tradition. The Fall Equinox is a time for self-reflection on the messages of the year so far. As well as harvesting the abundance that the year has brought with gratitude for Mother Earth. This is a ceremony to honor and give thanks to Mother Earth for all the goods things in our lives. And to acknowledge, with compassion and acceptance, the lessons in our lives she brings to help us heal and grow. Verbena will provide items for the ceremony for each of you. See below for her biography.

You will also have the opportunity to book and receive a healing massage in the afternoon from 12:00-3:00pm (not included in the price of the retreat).  Sign-up sheets will be emailed, with a bio on each massage therapist, prices, and types of services offered. You can email me what time slot you would like or sign-up on the day of the retreat. 

We will conclude with a final sharing.  

Learn and experience some beautiful tools to hear your wisdom. 

To cultivate skills to be in the World but steady in your mind, body, emotions, and Spirit. 

Connect to the wisdom of the Hopi tradition.

All yoga levels welcome. 

This one day retreat is $550, but $25 off if you sign-up and pay in full before August 31, 2024. Space is limited. To save your spot, a non-refundable $100 deposit is due when you sign-up.

1 Day Retreat Schedule 

Harvest and Self-Reflecting: Fall Equinox 2024

Schedule: Sunday, September 22, 2024

  8:15am-9:30am Hatha Yoga

  9:30am-9:45am Break 

  9:45am-11:00am Yin Yoga and Myofascial Release for the Heart

  11:00am-11:15am Break

  11:15am-12:00pm iRest Yoga Nidra on Gratitude

  12:00-1:45 Lunch 

  1:45-2:45 Art Class: Making a mala bead bracelet

  2:45-3:00 Break

  3:00-5:30 Gratitude Ceremony led by Verbena

  5:30-6:00 Final Sharing and Farewell

* 12:00-3:00 Book your 50 minute massage during this time

Please email me to reserve your spot or if you have further questions at susannishizawa@gmail.com. Submit a nonrefundable $100 deposit to hold your spot. Please send payment via Zelle (310)435-6075 or Venmo me @Susan-Nishizawa.

Cancellation Policy

1. Full balance is due 10 days, September 12, 2024, before the start of the retreat.
2. Cancellation within 14 days, starting September 8, 2024, no refunds will be given. 
3. Cancellation requests submitted within 30 days of retreat date, August 22, 2024, 50% of the total amount (less deposit) will be refunded.
4. Hold deposits are transferable to another attendee found and assigned by the original attendee.
5. If the retreat has to be postponed due to the weather, 100% of the total amount, minus the deposit, will be refunded. The deposit will be credited for the rescheduled retreat date.

Meet your facilitators 

Susan Nishizawa

My teaching style is a combination of my life experiences and trainings. I’ve been teaching yoga for over 22 years and iRest Yoga Nidra Meditation since 2020.  My journey began because of postpartum depression after the birth of my first child. Synchronicity lent a hand, and I found a yoga studio 5 minutes from my house. The Hatha yoga practice helped balance my hormones, reduced stress, strengthened my body, focused my mind, and opened the door to myself. My husband noticed I was nicer when I came back too! Because of the results, I became a certified Hatha yoga teacher. Every training I completed afterward was to become a better yoga teacher and healer. 

Always sensitive to energy, I later became a certified Integrated Shakti Reiki Master. I found that reiki energy created a more relaxing and healing space for the students in my classes as well as my reiki clients.

My Yin Yoga level 1&2 certification helped to ground myself and deepen my awareness of body and mind, which I found extremely helpful when working through my life’s traumas. I completed a Restorative Yoga Training with Cindi Lee to help students rest body and mind, something I was unaware I desperately needed as well. I then completed a Mystic Shaman Training with Dr. Barbara Raven Lee. This brought in the power of the feminine and taught how to just “Be” with my shadow with self-compassion and wisdom. To deepen my yoga education, I completed a 300 hour yoga training in 2019. 

Currently, I’m teaching to a population suffering from addiction and mental illness, so I completed the Warrior at Ease Level 1 Yoga Training for military personnel suffering from PTSD, anxiety, and other traumas; the iRest Yoga Nidra Meditation level 1 & 2 training to calm the nervous system and learn to process challenging emotions and thoughts; Floracopeia Fundamental Aromatherapy Training to support mental and emotional issues; and am a practitioner of Jin Shin Jyutsu, a healing touch therapy.

I believe that we are constantly growing and changing, and that is reflected in my space as a yoga teacher. My goal, in my yoga class, is to create a space of safety, compassion, openness, and curiosity, while developing mindfulness in students. 

Trainings

• 300 Hour Advanced Yoga Training with Rene Quenell at Yoga Madre
• July 2008 200 Hour Kundalini Yoga Training at The Awareness Center
• April 2002 Reiki Level 1 & 2 with Jessica Miller
• March 2003 Reiki Tummo Level 1 & 2 with Padmacahaya International Institute for Inner Study
• November 2003 Reiki Tummo Level 3a with Padmacahaya International Institute for Inner Study
• October 2013 Integrative Shakti Reiki Master Training Level 1
• June 2016 Integrative Shakti Reiki Master Training Level 2
• Yin Yoga Level 1 & 2
• Restorative Yoga with Cindi Lee
• Way of the Mystic Shaman with Dr. Barbara Raven Lee who is a Tibetan Bon practitioner, a shakti and mystic teacher
• Warrior at Ease Level 1 Yoga Training 
• iRest Yoga Nidra Meditation level 1 & 2
• Floracopeia Fundamental Aromatherapy
• 200 Hour Hatha Yoga at The Yoga Kingdom
• Mental Health Aware Yoga Professional Development Training

For more information, visit my website at: radiantheartyogaandwellness.com

===================================================

Verbena Freg

My name is Verbena Freg, my Hopi indigenous birth name is “Ba`voy’on’ma`na.” I was raised on the Hopi reservation in Northern Arizona. I’m from the third mesa (Hotevilla). I spent my adolescent years living with my grandfather Titus Qomayumptewa; a well-known healer, farmer, leader, and priest in our community. Not only did he serve the Hopi people, but he also provided healing and shared his wisdom with people around the world. Grandfather passed peacefully in1994 at 109.

Growing up on the farm with Grandfather, has taught me simplicity, brings peace, and humbleness. We didn’t have the conveniences of running water, electricity, or plumbing but we never felt unfortunate or deprived of anything. Matter of fact grandfather would say, “We’re the rich ones! We are happy, healthy and Mother Earth provides us with nourishment.” He taught me the importance of depending on Earth for food and herbal medicines for health and well-being. Grandfathers greatest gift was passing on to me his sacred Hopi healing practices. To this day, his spirit lives on through me, as he continues to be my teacher and guide from the Spirit World. I am privileged to continue his work and live by his words, “Help humanity so there is peace on Earth, one life at a time.”