Meet Dawn Rivers, Chakra Workshop Teacher
Inner Bliss is excited to offer Mapping the Chakras with local yoga teacher Dawn Rivers!
Learn about Dawn and this January 23 virtual workshop from Inner Bliss.
Can you tell us a bit about your yoga background?
I have been practicing yoga since 1999. I started when I found a Rodney Yee VHS tape in the public library. I was drawn to his style and practiced by myself for about 3 years before taking classes at One to One Fitness. A couple of years later I saw a new student offer for Cleveland Yoga and went during spring break. I had heard about hot yoga and was curious.
One experience I remember vividly is when Marni Task was teaching an intermediate class and I thought I could handle that level since I had been practicing for few years by then. But that was until I saw folks floating, hovering, and doing yoga poses I had never seen! I rolled up my yoga mat and almost ran out of the room but she calmed me down, told me to stay. If it weren’t for her seeing me, I may have quit yoga. I started to practice several times a week and became a Karma Yogi by the end of the summer. Three years later I worked the desk and in another three years I decided to do yoga teacher training. I became certified in 2013.
Read more on my website: https://www.dawnmrivers.com/about
Where does your interest in the Chakras come from?
I became interested in the chakras through Faith Hunter of Embrace Yoga DC. I was looking to connect with other Women of Color practicing yoga on Instagram and found her. I watched her YouTube videos, listened to her meditations, and noticed she kept talking about the chakras but I didn’t really understand what they were. I wanted to meet her and made it my business to do so. She came to Columbus for a workshop and I attended. I asked her to be my mentor and Faith agreed, but I would have to do her advanced yoga teacher training. I was thrown because it was in Washington, DC and I didn’t know how I could do that. After attending a weekend module, I decided to train with her because she incorporates chakras, mudras, mantras, and more in her classes as well as being an African American women yoga studio owner.
When I began to study with her in September 2018 I knew that energy would be my focus. Since her training, I have taken workshops, courses, and read several books on the chakras. I have taught Mapping the Charkas several times and constantly make updates when I learn more. I created an ebook and am working on an online course as well.
Can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming Mapping the Chakras workshop at Inner Bliss?
For the workshop, it is lecture-style so there’s no yoga practice. I will refer to poses and can demonstrate if needed.
There will be stories, illustrations, and examples to help students understand how chakras can be balanced, active, and under/overactive. I have created a slide presentation with graphics, illustrations, and tables. They will learn about the chakras’ location, function, associated endocrine glands, yantras, mantras, crystals, essential oils, what they govern, and possible energy blocks.
The participants should have a pen and paper if they want to take notes. This virtual workshop will last two hours and the fee is $45.