Yoga for anxiety course: embodying Śraddhā (Faith)
This 8-hour Yoga for Anxiety Course aims to empower individuals, yoga teachers, and anyone who has anxiety or works with students who have anxiety, with knowledge, practical tools, embodied practices, and community to cultivate self-awareness and self-compassion, and transform their relationship to anxiety to find deeper understanding, peace, and enhanced well-being.
To move from a place of heightened fear to trust and faith.
Fall 2023 Live Class Dates
Classes are live via Zoom with captioning and recordings will be made available to all.
Wednesdays: October 11, 18, 25, and November 1, 2023
11 am - 1 pm PST/ 2 pm - 4 pm EST (120 mins)
You can expect a 45-minute lecture/knowledge share, 15-30 minute discussion and community connection, and 45-minute practice each class. Breaks will be provided.
Pricing
$120 - $160 - $200
“We have to shift from a mindset of shame, which sees anxiety as evidence of brokenness, to a mindset of curiosity, which recognizes that anxiety is our soul’s desire to grow toward wholeness.” - Sheryl Paul in her book "The Wisdom of Anxiety: How Worry and Intrusive Thoughts Are Gifts to Help You Heal"
This Yoga for Anxiety Course was created to provide you with practical tools, knowledge, and a supportive community for working with anxiety. This course is tailored for individuals seeking to gain insight into the root causes of anxiety, with the goal of transforming their connection to it and ultimately, diminishing its influence.
Anxiety shifts us into a place of dread and heightened uncertainty. It moves us from hope and faith to excessive fear.
As someone who has struggled and built a healthier relationship with her own anxiety over the last eight years, I know when my anxiety is left unchecked and unheard, not tended to, it turns into hopelessness. The weight of it sitting on my chest and stomach. It colors my perception of the world and in turn, affects the way I make decisions.
For anxiety is both the wound and the messenger and at the core of the message is an invitation to wake up. In order to decipher the specifics of its messages, we have to shift from a mindset of shame, which sees anxiety as evidence of brokenness, to a mindset of curiosity, which recognizes that anxiety is our soul’s desire to grow toward wholeness.
Yoga allowed me enough stillness and silence to really listen to anxiety, just one part of me. To say I hear and you see you. To use anxiety as a fuel to transcend it into something more meaningful, less violent, and more loving.
Sutra 1.20: śraddhā-vīrya-smr̥ti samādhi-prajñā-pūrvaka itareṣām
Vyasa says, “Faith sustains like a benevolent mother; it supports the yogi until the very end.” Śraddhā (faith) is the complete trust in one’s own efforts. This faith in ourselves, the practice, and the universe makes our consciousness stable, steady, and resilient. This is faith that you are moving in the right direction and can trust yourself and how life is unfolding. Even though you may not be able to see the path clearly or know exactly how it will unfold. This is the faith and trust we will seek to explore and cultivate in our own lives. This is the faith that will anchor us through uncertainty and change.
In this course, a compassionate and brave space will be offered to connect with your anxiety and learn tools from yoga to manage it with more wisdom. We will practice asana poses, pranayama (breathwork), and meditation to access inner peace and spaciousness. We will also explore what yogic philosophy and psychology has to say about anxiety and why it arises.
We will touch on systems of oppression, generational trauma, racial trauma, and the trauma and anxiety that result from this forced or assimilated disconnection. Disconnection from ourselves, our people, land, practices, and culture. There is no shortcut to healing. There is no shortcut to remembering. This will be a space that honors how our anxiety is sacred, and learn to work with this part of ourselves with compassion and patience. One small step at a time my love. You got this.
We will connect to the knowing that growth, alchemy, and transformation are always a possibility.
this course is useful for:
Anyone who regularly experiences anxiety.
Yoga teachers who want to learn to manage their own anxiety symptoms and gain wisdom and tools to share with their students.
Anyone who is close to and/or works with someone with anxiety to understand them better.
It’s also for folks who are interested in gaining a yogic understanding of the inner aspects of thought, emotions, and actions, as well as how anxiety manifests in each of these realms. It also caters to those seeking specific methods for exploring these levels of the mind, with the ultimate aim of transcending to one's highest potential (svarūpa).
This course includes:
Yoga principles for implementing practices such as āsana (physical postures), prāṇāyāma (breathwork), chanting, mantra, and meditation to craft a holistic approach for effectively addressing anxiety.
Practices for addressing the physical and mind’s response during anxious times.
Background on the autonomic nervous system, the physiology behind the stress response, and an understanding of the window of tolerance.
Knowledge of the vagus nerve and practical ways to tone and stimulate it for boosting mental and physical health.
Understanding of prana and the nadis.
An exploration of what yogic philosophy and psychology have to say about anxiety and why it occurs. A look into sanskaras, the gunas, and Karma Yoga.
Study of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali to inform how mind transformation is possible.
Guest teaching by Anjali Deva, founder of Madhya Way Ayurveda, on understanding Ayurvedic principles to manage anxiety.
An intentional space created for participants to get to know one another and make new friends.
course curriculum
Class One (Oct 11): What is Anxiety?
Understanding anxiety through the lens of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and spiritual connection.
Class Two (Oct 18): Experiential Understanding.
Understanding anxiety through the lens of the nervous system, body, mind, and somatics.
Class Three (Oct 25): Ayurvedic Perspective taught by guest teacher Anjali Deva.
Understanding anxiety through the lens of Ayurveda and lifestyle changes.
Class Four (Nov 1): Creating Space for Embodied Peace.
Understanding anxiety through the lens of faith, trust, and surrender and building a more intimate relationship.
PRICING
Your registration is non-refundable and available according to a three-tiered justice pricing structure. You are invited to reflect on what you are able to contribute and if you are in a position to pay at the higher end of the scale to support others who are not positioned to pay the highest tier of the scale. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. There are five full scholarships available for BI&PoC - please email me directly to access this. 
About the facilitator
Harpinder Mann (she/her) is a trauma-informed yoga teacher, mindfulness educator, author of her book Liberating Yoga: From Appropriation to Healing, and co-founder of the Womxn of Color Summit, dedicated to sharing yoga holistically as a spiritual practice and science of mind-transformation. Her work is rooted in her background of Sikhism and Bhakti Yoga, and commitment to anti-oppression for all beings. Growing up, she was raised in a household with domestic violence, patriarchal abuse and dominance, sexual violence, and financial instability which caused trauma and a continued state of hyper-vigilance. It was practicing yoga in India that finally brought her nervous system to feel safe and regulated. In spaces where asana was practiced slowly with healing affirmations, in adapting a daily meditation practice, and becoming mindful of her prana. May we all be safe, free, loved, and happy. FEEDBACK FROM THE PREVIOUS COHORT:
"I highly recommend working with Harpinder! I recently took her Yoga for Anxiety workshop, which offered a safe and supportive container for our group to explore the roots of our anxiety, deepen our yoga practice, learn various tools for regulating the nervous system, and cultivate a more compassionate relationship with challenging emotions. Harpinder skillfully interweaves her lived experience with her professional expertise in a way that is informative, accessible, and relatable. I especially valued the community-oriented focus of the workshop, bringing a critical lens to the systemic forces that contribute to anxiety and finding solace and solidarity in remembering we are fundamentally interconnected and never alone. Finally, I deeply appreciate how Harpinder took the time and care to develop a relationship with each of us individually. She is an absolute gem of a human and yoga teacher!" - Brandy T. "Practicing with Harpinder Kaur Mann is such a gift. Her bhakti (devotion), sadhana (spiritual practice) and heartfelt care is vibrant and earnest - it has inspired and affirmed my own practice and helped me deepen connections with my ancestral roots. I also appreciate the trauma-informed and decolonial lens that Harpinder brings - as a South Asian woman, this has been transformational and healing. I had the honor of taking her Yoga for Anxiety class - I loved how Harpinder grounded our exploration in tangible and time-tested yoga practices (from all limbs) and also provided space for group dialogue and integration. Highly recommend this class - it's so nourishing for the nervous system and soul!" - Kirthi N.“Taking part in Harpinder’s Yoga for Anxiety course helped me reframe my relationship with my anxiety. Now when I get anxious, instead of reacting with anger, I try to come from a place of care and remind myself to ask myself what I need. Harpinder created the nurturing space, framework, and community for me to deeply reflect on the connection between my anxiety and the way I show up in the world as both privileged and oppressed. By inviting me to look closely at my reactions to experiencing anxiety and giving me tools to meet my anxiety with compassion (breath, asana, faith etc.), Harpinder helped me begin building habits to settle my mind and check-in with myself on a regular basis.” - Renee M."From our first meeting, Harpinder created an atmosphere that was warm and inviting, setting the stage for creative thinking and discussions. Her expertise was evident from the start and she provided a solid foundation in philosophy that enriched our understanding of the relationship between anxiety and Yoga on a deep level.
What I felt truly set this workshop apart was the commitment to unpacking the relationship between yoga and anxiety in a very creative and comprehensive way. The use of Yoga texts, paired with modern books resonated with me. I also appreciated the inclusion of both practice and teachings that allowed participants to embody the subject. The guidance was not just physical but also spiritual, providing a holistic experience that nurtured the mind, body, and soul.
One unique aspect that I found truly commendable was the incorporation of a social justice component. Since I am in a counseling program focused on social justice, I found it super refreshing to see anxiety unpacked in a broader picture. The thoughtful discussions facilitated allowed participants to connect the principles of yoga with real-world challenges, fostering a sense of community and shared purpose.
The facilitation of discussions between group members added an extra layer of depth to the workshop. It created a space where individuals could share their personal experiences and insights, fostering a sense of understanding. The sense of community that emerged from these discussions made the workshop feel like more than just a one-time event but rather a stepping stone to collective growth." - Meera D."Harpinder has a beautiful gift of creating safe and inclusive spaces for communities that are BI&PoC. She is thoughtful and well-studied, and inspires others to be compassionate toward themselves. I greatly value her trauma-informed and social justice approach to yoga. With each session with her, I always gain something new for my practice." - Karla H.