Reviews from Restorative Yoga ~ Discovery and Practice

Here are excerpts from student evals. When asked, "The best part of the seminar was..."

Students replied:
"Learning about the 50% concept, reinforcing to be more easeful in the poses."
"...excellent instruction through modeling."
"The stucture ~ starting with a demo followed by a full class."
"Sara"
"Focusing on comfort in order to relax."
"Learning how to do this at home."
"I found the suggestion to find or fine tune your own comfort at each turn to be very helpful."
Here is a letter Satyam (my host) received after class:
"Sara is a world class teacher. I will use the knowledge I gained for many years to come. I found much that was new to apply to my practice. I also don't think such a high level workshop would be possible in little ole Galesville without Satyam's already established outstanding leadership and teaching. Every monthly workshop he presents turns out to be so rewarding." ~ Susan Bupp

Reviews from Restoring the Inner Core

Here are excerpts from student evals. When asked, "The best part of the seminar was..."

Students replied:
"The growth of awareness of my inner workings / balance / imbalance."
"The explanations for the movements and the challenging postures."
"I got into the best chair pose ever thanks to the belt and the block."
"Learning to control the muscles."
"The fellowship, the core work - can't pick one thing - it was collectively AWESOME."
"Felt great for my back."
"Losing all the unforgiving tightness from the top of the head to lower waist." "Quiet concentration and awareness of my core."
"The work. Sara, you worked hard to attend to everyone and your compassion was clear. I also appreciate your sense of humor."
"Adductor inner thigh - amazing how painful this small move is."
"A completely new awareness of what core muscles are."
"Sara is so engaging and clearly enthusiastic about this subject. I really enjoyed her great personality and learned so much that will help me stabilize my core and hips and make my practice even better."

Here are 2 letters Satyam (my host) received after the Inner Core class.

"Sara's classes were a wonderful way to spend the day with Laura - we don't get many chances although we live in the same house! And we learned so much about our bodies and how to get so much more from our yoga practices and restorative positions. And we continued sharing the same "pains" the next day in our pelvis' and thighs. I continued to use the exhale technique Sara taught. I've never been able to isolate my pelvic floor before." ~ Annetta

"Great class on Sunday. Bob and I both thought it was very helpful. Sara has an excellent teaching style and personality, the time flew by. It was amazing how I could feel the work and difference with such small body movements. Bob said the hard part for him was the pelvis stuff and lifting the [pelvic] floor, since that isn't usually a guy thing. Guess having kids gave the women an advantage in that department. Thanks so much for all your hard work in setting the seminars up. That was such a compliment to what you have already taught us and I am sure you are going to work some of these new items into our practice." ~ Coni

Comments from Deep Relaxation / Yoga Nidra

Here are a few comments people shared at the end of the workshop:

"I am grateful for the time to be quiet."
"Very relaxing."
"I felt a great sense of expansion."
"Very peaceful."
"I felt like I went to heaven."
"I was so relaxed that I couldn't keep up with traffic after class. My speedometer kept sliding below 30mph."

Teacher Reviews

Satyam from Renaissance Yoga says,

As much as we appreciated her skills and insights, certainly it was her demeanor, manner and way that we all found so comforting and charming. This was the fist time I had a visiting yoga teacher come in and lead and I personally felt 100% comfortable in all aspects. In this first week since her time here, I have been incorporating certain aspects of subtle core work into our classes. While there is still much to do, there are 3 or 4 elements that have been brought into classes. That has been a nice development. And I look forward to continuing ahead with this.

Beth from R Studio says,

The feedback that we have received has been very positive. I heard from two students last night that they are doing the exercises daily! YES...isn't that fantastic? They loved your authenticity and appreciated hearing how this work has helped you. I have been incorporating small bits into my classes this week and look forward to adding more in the future. Thanks for doing what you do and being who you are.

General Reviews

Sara Duke is knowledgeable and passionate about Yoga, especially restorative yoga. I have enjoyed many of her classes and feel so free and open with much pain relief after each class. Her instructions are gentle and she always makes sure to give modifications to each student as needed. I also refer many of my own clients to her classes without hesitation.
Thank you Sara! Christiane E. LMT, RYT

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Love your blog, especially the detailed descriptions of the poses and pictures. Your blog is the perfect compliment to Judith Lasater's book for people looking to understand Restorative Yoga. Sharon Serre Dawson ~ from the Do Restorative Yoga Facebook page.

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I found you :) So far everything I read in your blog is part to my story almost verbatim. I'm very flexible, love yoga but just realized standing poses may not be benefiting me-need to focus on my pelvic floor. So my practice changes again. Looking forward to the journey. So far I like what I found! Thank you for your commitment and sharing your love for yoga. :)!!!!! Ketzal ~ from the Do Restorative Yoga blog.

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Thank you so much for this! I'm so interested in learning more about Restorative Yoga. I so appreciate your generosity in sharing knowledge and compassion. With much gratitude, Jan ~ from the Do Restorative Yoga blog.

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I think pelvic floor awareness is hugely important in pregnancy, birth and postpartum. The pelvic floor has to be so strong to support the added weight of the baby during pregnancy and it has to be so incredibly flexible, relaxed and resilient to allow passage of the baby and then return to its supporting role. Kegel exercises are important, but I have appreciated, and found better results from the subtlety of the core work of therapeutic yoga, emphasizing both the need for strength and the need to be able to let go.

Also, I learned a great modification of camel pose in a prenatal class. We sat on our heels with our knees spread out wide, leaned back to put hands on the floor and then lifted hips and bellies up to the sky. It was so beautiful to see a room full of pregnant mamas doing this together, and nobody seemed to complain of sacrum or knee pain! Thanks for the review, Amber ~ from the Do Restorative Yoga blog.

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Om Shanti, I really love your website. I have a strong interest in teaching restorative yoga. I did take a 4-day restorative training. Each time I visit your website, I learn something new. Thank you, Juneous ~ from the Do Restorative Yoga blog.

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Sara - I just had to pop in to tell you how amazing your classes are! It's uncanny how in tune you are when conducting the class. If I have a spot that needs attention it's almost inevitable that we focus on it in class. Yesterday before class I was feeling flustered because I'm at a cross roads in life and I told myself to just relax and the answer would come to me when I needed it most. When you read aloud from the Yamas and Niyams book it perfectly answered my delimma! The yoga poses were also right on for what my body needed for the day. You are such a great instructor! Thank you for everything! Binn ~ from the Do Restorative Yoga blog.

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