Orthopedic Yoga Therapy Level 2: Ritual Vinyasa

Earth and Water Intensive: November 12* - November 22, 2025
in Playa el Coco, Nicaragua with Michelle Fleming
*We will begin the morning of the 12th and finish the evening of the 23rd, travelers please arrive on the 11th and leave the 23rd, housing packages will include both nights in your stay.

 

With Your 200 Hour Training completed, you are ready to move deeper into the practices that propel us forward in deep and profound ways. This is where our program really differs from other Yoga Therapy schools. We want you to put your energy into what makes you excited to learn about and what best suits your unique goals.Rituals, even as seen from a secular perspective, can hold great power, intention, and significance. Ritual Vinyasa came to life out of the search for meaning in everyday existence.

How do we make the mundane powerful? How do we add meaning to our 9-5 existence? How can we squeeze self care into the time allotted to us in our busy lives, or see our priorities clearly enough to let go of what does not serve our health and happiness?

Using symbolism and elemental metaphors combined with Ayurvedic medicine, grandmother wisdom, and a deep commitment to personal care, Ritual Vinyasa weaves together conscious movement and metaphor, culminating in a practice that allows for a re-awakening and a deep connecting to self.

We have divided this 300 Hour Yoga Alliance approved training into 60 Hour sections, represented by the classical elements:  Earth, Fire, Water,  Air, & Metal. During this retreat you will complete a combined 120 hours towards your 500 Hour Certification, with Earth and Water. Where better to study those two elements than at the beach, surrounded by palm trees and amazing volcanic rock formations?


All participants will graduate this course with: 

  • A deep understanding of the physical and energetic anatomies.
  • The ability to use soft eyes to read energy, allowing participants to look at their students and know what practices will nurture them in their day to day practices.
  • The experience and knowledge to create a unique yoga practice that is right for anyone, in any stage of life and healing. 
  • A deep insight to the elements through the yogic wisdom of Ayurveda, offering your students balance at every turn. 
  • Experience of offering therapeutic hands-on assists in a safe and effective manner
  • An amazing, growth filled and fun experience within an outstanding community of people.
  • A life-changing, transformative educational experience that will benefit participants and the lives of the people around them.  


Earth

We begin with our Earth segment and explore our connections, to ourselves, our families’, our students, each other, our communities, our planet and our god. We begin to analyze what it means to be a teacher and the unique opportunities it affords. We will revel in the earthly qualities that allow us to ground down, reconnect and move forward from this stable foundation. In that effort will learn to develop self-care practices designed specifically for our unique bodies and our unique needs to connect and recharge. Moving further into this realm we will explore practices designed to fend off depression and learn how to guide students to find individualized daily practices custom tailored for their current needs. Guest teacher Chip Hartranft will help us to grow our roots all the way back to India with his History of Yoga Course, Ray Crist will I bring us into the Luminous Field and I will delve deeply into the anatomy of the spinal column.

 

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Water

The energy of water is stabilization and flow.  In RV: Water, we will work with the second and third Chakras, and the ancient traditional practice of Ayurveda to support our power center.

As we wade into the water element, we unlock the floodgates to creativity. In this segment we explore the movements of Moon Salute, a seductive, dance-like flow in the Coronal plane. We will discover the fluid nature of our bodies through Fascial Anatomy, Cardiac Yoga, and the gentle rhythmic practices of Restorative Arial Yoga. We will delve deeply into the anatomy of the shoulders and arms as we strive to find the ever-changing balance between too much and too little; our shoulder joint will be our guide as a means to understand the delicate balance of stability and mobility. We will work with the dual nature of the hips and pelvis as foundational pieces of our balance in the left and right sides of our physical form.

Focusing on the creative storehouse of Second Chakra and the flowing qualities of Pranomaya and Manomaya Koshas in our energetic explorations, we will examine sexuality, mothering, and our relationship to the divine feminine across all spectrums of gender expression. Our shadow side here is the martyr, while the energy of compassion lows with the water element, imbalance can lead to be energetically wrung out, bled dry, allowing our expressions of love in the world to pull us off-center and out of ourselves in our urgency to serve others. Our practices will balance the restorative, soft quality of restoration, and the transformative power of play to build strength and resilience. 


The base package includes

  • 4 meals a day
  • shared housing 
  • pool and beach access
  • shared living spaces

Separate family housing is available, as well as childcare. Please inquire for options.

Optional Housing Upgrades:

  • private rooms
  • air-conditioning
  • private baths
  • queen & king beds
  • ocean views
  • direct pool access
Sample Menu
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Orthopedic Yoga Therapy Level 2 Syllabus Outline, Earth: 

 

  • Plane or Direction of Movement: The Sagittal Plane
  • Joint Movement: Flexion and Extension
  • Energetics: Grounding Down
  • TCM Lines: Stomach Meridian, Spleen Meridian, Bladder Meridian, Liver Meridian, Kidney Meridian
  • Fascial Meridians: SFL, SBL and Deep Core
  • Body Segments: Feet, Legs, Pelvic Floor
  • Organs: those of elimination and digestion: stomach, intestines, colon
  • Gland: Adrenals
  • Plexus: Coccygeal
  • Chakras: 1st and 2nd
  • Koshas: Annamaya Kosha, the physical body
  • Kleisha: Avidya, seperation, discernment
  • Limbs of Yoga: Asana, Yama and Niyama
  • Pranayama: Durga Breathe, Ujayi Breath
  • Undoings: chest openers, erector releases, hip flexor work
  • Stabilizations: Inner Spiral - Tuck Tail, Ribs Back, Rhomboid and Serratus balancing
  • Sequences: Sun Salutes of all levels and types, Warrior 1 sequences
  • Poses: Forward Folds, Standing Poses, Back Bends, Standing poses in the Sagittal Plane: especially balance poses like Tree and Dancer
  • Themes: Grounding, nurturing, connecting, allowing ourselves to have our needs met and to take up space
  • Mantras: any associated with first chakra
  • Mudras: all those associated with the ring (Earth) finger Ayurveda: Kapha dispostion

Shadow Side:

  • Energetic: Depression, Lethargy, Tamasic, Feeling Unsupported, Fear for survival, and any left over issues with family of origin especially parents
  • Physical: Hyper or Hypo Kyphosis, Posterior tilt of the pelvis, Sciatica, Knee, Foot and Ankle Issues, constipation, weight issues

Orthopedic Yoga Therapy Level 2 Syllabus Outline, Water: 

 

  • Plane or Direction of Movement: Coronal or Frontal Plane
  • Qualities: Receiving, Femininity, Flow, Yin Energy
  • Energetics: The ability to let go and let it flow, receiving, softening, creativity, femininity
  • TCM Lines: Meridians of the Kidney, Bladder, Heart, Lung, Gall Bladder
  • Fascial Lines: Later Line
  • Body Segments: Shoulder Girdle, Blood, Lymph, Pelvic Bowl
  • Organs: Reproductive, Kidneys, Heart, Lungs, Bladder
  • Plexus: Sacral
  • Chakras: 2nd and 4th
  • Koshas: Manomaya Kosha
  • Limb of Yoga: Ahimsa
  • Pranayama: Nadi Shodana: Alternate Nostril Breathing, Balance Breath, Breath of Joy
  • Undoings: Lateral Body Stretches, Neck Stretches, ITB Fascial Release, SCM Release, Trapezius Peel, Lateral Rotation, 12 Rib Work
  • Stabilizations: The balance between hugging in and pushing out, thighs in and toes out, inner ankles to midline, knees pull apart, half bridge, Sacroiliac Joint balance
  • Sequences: Moon Salute
  • Poses: Wide Legged Poses, Side Body Poses, Warrior 2, Lateral Angle, other poses facing the "long side of the mat", shoulder and hip lateral work
  • Themes: Flowing, Shiva/Shakti Exploration, Kidney work, how much are we giving out vs. how much do we keep in reserve?
  • Mantras: All mantras of the feminine, fertility, creativity and passion, all water mantras
  • Mudras: Pinky finger is the finger of ecstasy
  • Ayurveda: Kapha Disposition

Shadow Side:

  • Energetic: Anxiety, Indecision, Martyrdom, Madonna/Whore Complex, Inability to receive pleasure, shame, and any other issues surrounding children, partners, and sexuality, "Bleeding Out," "Bleeding Heart," Compassion Fatique
  • Physical: Adrenal Burnout, Lateral Tilt of the Pelvis / SI Joint Issues, Sciatica, Knee Pain, Scoliosis, Reproductive Organ Healkth, ED