Welcome to Yoga and Beyond with Sherri!
Hi and welcome to Yoga and Beyond with Sherri! Thanks for taking time to learn a bit about me and the Video Library I’m offering to support your practice of yoga and meditation. I look forward to moving forward together as we strengthen our physical health and access more clarity and purpose so that we can give our unique gifts to the people in our world.
About the Video Library
The Video Library is an ever-expanding resource of practice sessions that are organized in the sections listed below. Browse through the categories to find a video that gives you the kind of practice you need right now.
Your feedback has a positive effect on the range of videos available in the Video Library because oftentimes I create videos that are in direct response to what my clients are needing. Use the “Contact” section below to share with me about your experiences as you practice with the videos and also to request specific poses and sequences.
Watch From Any Device!
Watch from your desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile phone!
Tutorials
- Yoga Props for Your Home Practice
- Neck Care Basics
- Fundamentals of Seated Postures: The Easy Pose
Standing Sequences
- Standing Balance
- Yoga for Strength and Balance
Backbending Sequences
- Back Bending Basics I
- Back Bending Basics II
Forward Bends and Twists
- Lengthening for the Waist and Low Back
- Energize and Refresh
Inversions
- Strengthen for Inversions
Restorative Sequences
- Gentle Full-Body Unwind
- Unwind from Sitting
- Unwind for Hips and Shoulders
- Yoga Before Bed
Longer Videos
- Video 1
- Video 2
- Video 3
Chanting
- Sri Guru Charanam
- Asato Ma Sad Gamaya
Calming the Nervous System
- 3 Exercises for Calming
- Nervous System Reset
- Technique to Release and Calm
- Meditation to Practicing Calming
Meditation
- Technique to Release and Calm
- Meditation to Practice Calming
- Bonus Guided Meditation: Peace Meditation
My Approach to Yoga and Meditation
My goal is to offer an approach that is accessible and provides you with a sense of success. That’s why I teach in sequences, beginning with gentle warm ups and progressing to stretches and poses that build more strength and stamina. My philosophy is there is always a version of the pose that will work.
The most common myth I hear about yoga is, “I’m not flexible enough to do yoga!” I say myth, because while advanced poses do require a great deal of flexibility, and strength too, yoga is not in its essence a physical activity, despite the fact that we use our body to practice it. Yoga is about union, union of our individual consciousness with universal consciousness. It’s a spiritual activity in the broadest sense of spirit, outside of any human construction of religion. You could say it’s the most non-denominational spirituality there is. So from wherever you are, from whatever theistic or non-theistic path you come, yoga helps to establish harmony in the body, heart, and soul.
We all differ in regard to our constitution and to the injuries we’ve had, so right from the start let’s give up comparing ourselves to one another, as if there were one “right” way to look or be. The body we’re in right now is so deserving of our respect and love: let’s commit to taking the best care of it as we practice. Let’s honor the degree of flexibility we have, the amount of strength we have right now, and start our practice from there. That just makes sense.
Another cornerstone of my approach is to combine yoga with elements of meditation as we practice. The combination is powerful. I encourage you to set the bar high for what you are wanting to receive from your practice. Personally, my desire in practicing yoga is in part to take good care of this body but also to establish more and more self-love and acceptance and compassion inside my heart. If you’re sincere about what you’re going for and why you’re wanting to bring yoga and meditation into your life, then get ready to receive the blessing of your sincere intention!
Yoga blends well with basic principles of meditation: 1) being present to the information and feedback the body is giving; 2) turning our focus within as we set time for our practice to discover what we need right now, what kind of practice will best serve where we’re at right now; 3) filling ourselves up from within by setting aside the details of our worldly life and dedicating time to nurture our essence; 4) bringing us back into our life with a greater ability to give to the people and activities we are holding in our hearts.
My purpose in creating Yoga and Beyond with Sherri is to offer both my love and passion for yoga and meditation through these videos and to offer a prayer that the videos help support you on your journey. In a world of uncertainty and challenges, the wisdom paths of yoga and meditation give me encouragement to keep going with resolve and steadiness, with resilience and enthusiasm.
Come with me as you give your gifts, and we’ll work together to bring more love and care and compassion into this world.
About Me
I began practicing yoga in earnest at a time when I was in deep crisis, going through a divorce and changing radically my life direction. The knowledge that not only my life but also my young daughter’s life would be altered irrevocably by my actions weighed heavily on me; she would never see her parents together again in the way children so want, as a unit and always near.
She stayed in her father’s house, and I moved out – at first living in the same city, and then a half hour’s drive away. But the pain of that decision was enormous, for her and her dad and for me as well. I went through waves of deep depression, and for the first and only time in my life I contemplated thoughts of suicide.
The cry of my heart to truly know and understand myself, to break through the reactive patterns I was caught in so that it would be possible for me to establish genuine self-worth and self-love – that was what drove me in my darkest night to a commitment I made then to God and to my soul to find my way to healing and self-acceptance and to a life lived in honor of my soul journey in this life.
I began taking classes with a variety of local instructors, three to five classes a week. In those early days I would often be overtaken by tears as the yoga poses penetrated through the physical body, with its muscles and bones and sinew, and through the physiological body of organs and glands, and then deep into the nervous system and the more subtle aspects of my being.
Yoga reconnected me with myself, giving me an appreciation for this body and this life, and increasing my determination to keep moving toward understanding myself more fully.
Several years later I came across a meditation practice that became the foundation for my inner journey of healing, and for almost 30 years now it has sustained and supported me. As I continue my meditation practice, the degree of forgiveness and acceptance I have for the experiences I’ve been through often surprises me. Step by step, the mosaic of my life comes into view, and my heart has more joy and peace as I learn to accept and love myself more.
Yoga helps me care for this body and to honor it as a unique vessel holding my soul. And meditation gives me faith to engage in this world, a world so fraught with trials and sorrows. Yoga and meditation are what guide me toward more purpose and meaning. They help me let go of trying to understand what makes no sense to me, and turn my focus instead to what I can do to bring in more love.
My prayer for us all is to find and live in worthiness and acceptance for ourselves, and to live in the courage and determination needed to give our own unique gifts to the people in our life so that more and more light and love envelop this world.
Step by step, together we go, on our healing journey. Thank you for being here with me.
About my education and training:
I came to yoga after years in academia, gaining degrees in Philosophy and Russian Language, Literature, and Linguistics, and teaching Russian for several years. But I realized that environment was not giving me what my heart was wanting, which was integration and inner healing. Having always been drawn to movement, I began taking yoga classes with a few local San Diego teachers, and then within months was studying in earnest with a handful of different instructors – most who were trained in the Iyengar method of yoga and one from the field of Sports Medicine with a specialty in injury rehabilitation.
Since teaching came naturally to me, I soon began to teach beginning yoga classes as I continued studying; classes with Roger Cole, Mary Obendorfer and Ed Marks, Aura and Leo Finegold were all part of my weekly learning experiences. And in more recent years I studied with Gary Reitze in Denver, and currently with Sunny and Aman Keays in the San Diego area.
My teaching since 1989 has included both private and group classes at studios of friends, and also for 14 of those years (1995-2009) I had my own studio. These days I see clients here in the San Diego area at my home studio, which is equipped with a wonderful system called The Great Yoga Wall, providing a broad range of practice options, from gentle therapeutics to more vigorous strengthening sequences.
Contact
Ask a question, share feedback, or request a one-on-one consultation!
Resources
Rockstar Website Design
Steve Pederson has been instrumental in making my dream of this Video Library come true. Thank you, Steve, for all your support and expertise!
If you have a dream that needs technical support, reach out to Steve to see how he may assist you. Contact Steve at
rockstarwebsitedesign@gmail.com
HOTM Meditation
Heart of the Matter Meditation is the meditation I’ve practiced for many years now. And a truly wonderful thing is that you can download the Heart of the Matter Meditation App directly to your phone and have at your fingertips a rich selection of meditations to support you on your inner journey. Check it out in the App Store.
Jill Getty
Jill Getty is a physical therapist and yoga instructor who has helped me and many of my clients to heal through injuries. Her knowledge, experience, and compassion combine to give excellent results. Jill resides in the Denver area, and in addition to seeing clients for individual sessions, she offers virtual appointments as well.
To schedule a free 15-minute consultation with Jill, contact her at jill@transformptyoga.com
Disclaimer and Terms of Service
Copyright 2024 Yoga and Beyond with Sherri