About
Sweetwater River Yoga is located in the heart of the Pine Barrens on the historic Mullica River, a tidal river which flows and shifts with the moon. Lotus flowers grow from the muddy shallows.
It is from the enriched earth, river and enchanting woods that Lilliana is nourished and impassioned to teach yoga. Study the practice of yoga with her and you will gain peace of mind, harmony and transform finding greater health and wellness.
Self-observation without judgment" is a guiding principle of Kripalu Yoga and "learning how to cultivate non-reactive awareness is the essential skill, which deepens your experience of both feeling & thought."
-from the Sayings of Swami Kripalu
As a Kripalu yoga teacher,
I help students expand their sense of awareness through the practice of yoga
Asana Pranayama Meditation
ABOUT - Lilliana Montero, MA 500 E-RYT, Yoga Practitioner.
Lilliana Montero is a seasoned, Kripalu 500hr E-RYT Yoga Teacher & Yin Yoga certified teacher with a 40 year practice and over 4000 teaching hours. Lilliana guides students in asana, pranayama, & meditation practices. She values the opportunity to allow "Yoga to do what it does," and to empower new and experienced students and yoga teachers to realize their full potential. When focused on each unique, student, she customizes a practice cultivating awareness, integrating alignment, developing strength and knowledge of yoga fundamentals from several lineages. "The wisdom, science and soulful connection of yoga fascinate me. Practicing self-awareness without judgment transforms our days, our lives, our world."
See the weekly schedule page for offerings, where and when for group and private classes, teacher trainings and events.
Visit Sweetwater River Studio -a water front studio on the Mullica River make an appointment for a free consultation.
Please contact directly for private and semi-private class schedules.
To learn more about Lilliana (Lilly) Montero
link to the Yoga Alliance page
https://www.yogaalliance.org/TeacherPublicProfile?tid=171780
ABOUT KRIPALU YOGA
Kripalu’s mission:
to empower people & communities to realize their full potential through the transformative wisdom and practice of yoga.
What is Kripalu Yoga?
Kripalu is a lineage: a holistic approach to yoga practice, yoga teaching and learning.
Kripalu is an educational, non-profit establishment, a former ashram, and a retreat center in the Berkshires.
You could call it a yoga university with on staff: teachers, therapists, physiologists, ayurveda specialists, kinesiologists, body work specialists, and where many different lineages, styles of yoga, meditation, Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Ayurveda are studied and practiced. Authors, Speakers, Educators, Doctors, Therapists, Monks, Priests, Rabbis, Yogis and Athletes, Astrologers, Reiki masters, massage professionals and many more, offer workshops, certifications and experiences at Kripalu throughout the year. Additionally, Kripalu offers certification: in Ayurveda Certification and Yoga Therapy Certification, & Kripalu Yoga Ytt 200,500,&1000 Certification in specific Hatha and Vinyasa styles, Meditation & Pranayama, and special populations, special practices: Yin,Chair, Elderly, Restorative, and many more…philosophy, history of yoga, yoga sutras, the Gita, Vedas, Upanishads & great works, and much more; many trainings & certifications require that you study & live on campus.
What is Kripalu Yoga?
• Kripalu means compassionate in Sanskrit. A core component of the practice is the intent for self-awareness and acceptance “self-observation without judgment.”
• Swami Kripalu, a monk and beloved guru, came from India to live and teach in the US in the late 70s for many years……history link
• An 8 limb practice, and in accordance with Patanjali’s Sutras, Kripalu yoga, is not found to be dogmatic nor based on a guru/disciple relationship, in contrast, a Kripalu approach seeks to empower the learner to discover her/his own direct experience.
• As a contemporary approach, Kripalu yoga integrates principles of holistic health and unity of body, mind, spirit with mystical traditions explored through the ages. Its practice and philosophy is rooted in Vedanta, Sankhya, Classical Yoga, Tantra, Hatha Yoga and includes preventative medicine and current medical research.
• Asana Heals - Kripalu is known as a Hatha yoga style unique in its approach “to allow you to choose the level of physical intensity right for your body, acknowledging everyone is different” * and as such, the “goal is of Kripalu yoga, not to perfect the external form of the postures. The postures are tools to release chronic tensions, stretch and strengthen the body and increase self-awareness, not force the body into the classic form of a posture prematurely. Hense, movements, warmups and postures are approached in a manner to meet individual needs.” *
• The Hatha / Kripalu and Hatha / Kripalu Vinyasa flow styles of Kripalu yoga are sometimes considered “mindfully-gentle” yet, NOT EASY…classes range from gentle to vigorous, beginner to intermediate, not all classes are appropriate for all levels and modifications are offered.
Three stages of Kripalu Yoga group class:
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Body and breath awareness - classes start w/ pranayama and warm-up exercises to prepare for asana practice
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Focusing Inward - “holding a posture not only strengthens the physical body, heightens self-awareness and naturally produces meditative state of introversion and introspection. Prolonged holding can cause buried emotion and other unconscious material to surface where it can be felt, seen and let go.” *
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Meditation in Motion - Hatha practices may include “salutations, sequences of postures which incorporate breath and movement intended to guide students in a meditative experience.
Desired results:
- restore the body/mind to its natural state of alignment and balance by increasing awareness and relaxation
- The three stages and practices of asana, pranayama and meditation are integrated throughout every class
-The Kripalu approach to alignment combines the science of anatomy, physiology and kinesiology with Yoga’s energetic system of prana to empower the individual to make body intelligent choices from within. Kripalu practices are led as a creative inquiry with an emphasis upon personal experience being the authentic teacher.
- Designed to promote deep concentrated awareness, awaken prana - life force of the body & experience meditation in motion.
*Kripalu Yoga: Guide to practice on and off the mat -Faulds
The above is a collection from several sources
