Samamkaya Yoga Back Care & Scoliosis Collective

09/10/2026

This series will cover the basic skills you need to participate in the Back Care and Back Care Basics classes. With other new beginners to Back Care Classes at Samamkaya Yoga Back Care & Scoliosis Collective, instructors Ede Thurrell & Cat Mureck will teach you many of the basic actions, help you find your alignment and learn prop adjustments appropriate for your scoliosis, herniated disc(s), kyphosis, lordosis, spondylolisthesis, lumbar or neck pain… or any other back problem. Learning these skills through a series will help you make a commitment to your yoga practice and help you integrate smoothly into the Back Care classes.

Ede Thurrell was first introduced to yoga as a teenager by a dance teacher. Her first training was with Cyndi Lee at Om Yoga, and years later with Alison West at Yoga Union. In between, she has learned from and taught for Baby Om, Unnata Aerial Yoga, MELT method, and currently from her teacher Deborah Wolk regarding Yoga for Back Care & Scoliosis. With a background as a professional dancer, she has been honored to share her fascination with the inherent wisdom of the body for over 15 years with all kinds of people—from dancers and athletes to older people to parents with small children. Ede hopes to offer her classes as tools for healing and self knowledge that meet the student where they are.

Catherine “Cat” Murcek is extremely proud to have been on Samamkayafaculty since 2016. She is a certified member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists with over 17 years of teaching experience and 1000 hours of training. She completed her 200-hr training through Yogaworks with Natasha Rizopoulos in 2009 and her 300-hour training with Alison West at Yoga Union in 2013. At Yoga Union Center for Back Care and Scoliosis she studied and taught Yoga for Back Care. In addition to an apprenticeship under Deborah Wolk, and studies with Genny Kapuler, and Irene Dowd, she has completed trainings in Yoga Tune-Up(R), an Alexander Technique for Yoga teachers course with Witold Fitz-Simon, and Elise Browning Miller.

08/17/2026

The Warrior Poses & The Scoliosis Warrior
A Spinal Fusion & Scoliosis Workshop
Saturday September 26th 9:30am-12pm

In this workshop, Jen will explore what practicing the warrior poses (Virabhadrasana I, II, and III) in community can offer those of us with spinal fusions and scoliosis. People with spinal fusions and scoliosis oftentimes refer to themselves as a scoliosis warrior. During the workshop we will discuss if there’s an intersection between practicing the warrior poses and the scoliosis warrior.


Calming the Curves
A Restorative Spinal Fusion, Scoliosis, and Back Care Workshop
Saturday September 26th 2pm-4:30pm

Living with a back care condition can cause stress, physiological changes, and trigger our sympathetic nervous system into a flight or fight response. This workshop will focus on rest and relaxation to create a sense of calm.
This workshop is intended for people (and their friends/family) with back care conditions (herniations, sciatica, spondylolisthesis, stenosis hyperkyphosis, degenerative discs, etc), scoliosis, spinal fusions as well as clinicians and wellness practitioners who work with these clients. Prior experience with yoga is helpful but all levels may participate.

Please feel free to bring paper and a pencil/pen to take notes for both or either workshop.

Advance registration recommended. Workshop size limited to 12. Contact Jen with questions or to schedule a private session while she is in NYC: [email protected].

2 CEs with Yoga Alliance for Registered Yoga Teachers for a single workshop

5 CEs with Yoga Alliance for Registered Yoga Teachers for both workshops

Jen Gorman Jen Gorman | Wellness In Motion | Boise & Virtual is a scoliosis and spinal fusion patient, advocate, and practitioner. She teaches yoga, Pilates, and strength training nationwide for people with spinal fusions, scoliosis, and other back care conditions. She is passionate about inspiring people to live healthier, happier lives.

08/13/2026

The Warrior Poses & The Scoliosis Warrior
A Spinal Fusion & Scoliosis Workshop
Saturday September 26th 9:30am-12pm

In this workshop, Jen will explore what practicing the warrior poses (Virabhadrasana I, II, and III) in community can offer those of us with spinal fusions and scoliosis. People with spinal fusions and scoliosis oftentimes refer to themselves as a scoliosis warrior. During the workshop we will discuss if there’s an intersection between practicing the warrior poses and the scoliosis warrior.


Calming the Curves
A Restorative Spinal Fusion, Scoliosis, and Back Care Workshop
Saturday September 26th 2pm-4:30pm

Living with a back care condition can cause stress, physiological changes, and trigger our sympathetic nervous system into a flight or fight response. This workshop will focus on rest and relaxation to create a sense of calm.
This workshop is intended for people (and their friends/family) with back care conditions (herniations, sciatica, spondylolisthesis, stenosis hyperkyphosis, degenerative discs, etc), scoliosis, spinal fusions as well as clinicians and wellness practitioners who work with these clients. Prior experience with yoga is helpful but all levels may participate.

Please feel free to bring paper and a pencil/pen to take notes for both or either workshop.

Advance registration recommended. Workshop size limited to 12. Contact Jen with questions or to schedule a private session while she is in NYC: [email protected].

2 CEs with Yoga Alliance for Registered Yoga Teachers for a single workshop

5 CEs with Yoga Alliance for Registered Yoga Teachers for both workshops

Jen Gorman is a scoliosis and spinal fusion patient, advocate, and practitioner. She teaches yoga, Pilates, and strength training nationwide for people with spinal fusions, scoliosis, and other back care conditions. She is passionate about inspiring people to live healthier, happier lives.

07/23/2026

This series will cover the basic skills you need to participate in the Back Care and Back Care Basics classes. With other new beginners to Back Care Classes at Samamkaya Yoga Back Care & Scoliosis Collective, instructors Ede Thurrell & Kuhu Joshi will teach you many of the basic actions, help you find your alignment and learn prop adjustments appropriate for your scoliosis, herniated disc(s), kyphosis, lordosis, spondylolisthesis, lumbar or neck pain… or any other back problem. Learning these skills through a series will help you make a commitment to your yoga practice and help you integrate smoothly into the Back Care classes.



Ede Thurrell was first introduced to yoga as a teenager by a dance teacher. Her first training was with Cyndi Lee at Om Yoga, and years later with Alison West at Yoga Union. In between, she has learned from and taught for Baby Om, Unnata Aerial Yoga, MELT method, and currently from her teacher Deborah Wolk regarding Yoga for Back Care & Scoliosis. With a background as a professional dancer, she has been honored to share her fascination with the inherent wisdom of the body for over 15 years with all kinds of people—from dancers and athletes to older people.



Kuhu Joshi is originally from New Delhi, India, and has been studying Iyengar yoga since 2007, when she was diagnosed with severe scoliosis at age 12. Her primary teacher is Deborah Wolk, founder of Samamkaya Yoga Back Care & Scoliosis Collective, whose classes she has been assisting since 2023. She has also studied with Jon Musgrave, Susan-Elena Esquivel, and Nivedita Joshi, among other senior teachers, and is completing the Yoga for Scoliosis Teacher Training with Elise Browning Miller. Kuhu’s teaching is informed by her own experiences with back pain and scoliosis. She has a compassionate, adaptive approach.

06/11/2026

05/07/2026

B.K.S. Iyengar taught that the legs are the gateway to the lower spine and the arms are the gateway to the upper spine.



Taking this as a point of departure, Stephanie will guide an exploration of how the limbs — then Karmendriyas (organs of action) — can become powerful teachers along one’s yoga journey, even when navigating a wide range of spinal conditions.



Drawing from her personal experience with multiple herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, a surgical fusion at L5–S1, and ongoing neuropathic pain, Stephanie invites you to explore how attentive work with the limbs in asana can also support, protect, and bring ease to your spine

05/07/2026

Stephanie Tencer: After years of back pain, rehab, and spinal surgery, Stephanie was introduced to Iyengar Yoga. One of the most valuable lessons her decades-long journey with pain and yoga has taught her is that on the mat, principles and intelligent actions–– not just shapes––are incredibly significant.

In teaching, Stephanie aims to help students reveal the principles that are personally relevant so they too can enjoy strength, steadiness, and confidence in their practice.

Stephanie is the Director and Principal Teacher at Studio Po, a Toronto-based Iyengar Yoga studio. She holds a Level 3 teaching certificate and currently co-leads the Education Roundtable for the Iyengar Yoga Association of Canada. She also mentors new teachers, serves as an assessor and is among a small group of Canadian teachers qualified to teach the therapeutic aspects of Iyengar Yoga.

Stephanie travels annually to Pune, India, to study at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute.

04/23/2026

This workshop will focus on the methods and tools, developed over fifty years of teaching, that Karin makes use of to look at the body and its asymmetries, misalignments and scoliotic patterns. We will explore different types of perception, such as peripheral vision and “the eyes at the back of the mind,” while practicing the asanas, including some partner work. Concepts and imagery that can help guide our poses to greater visual harmony and balance will be discussed, and put into use, employing our own bodies as examples. These include: even and equal distribution of weight, and lengthening and broadening from the median plane.

Throughout the weekend, Karin will also draw on her Five Step Program of Observation and Analysis. We will practice seeing and interpreting asymmetric body patterns in the asanas, learning how to develop “the mind of an engineer and the eyes of an architect,” in other words, understanding how structural coherence in our poses becomes aligned with aesthetic beauty.

04/08/2026

Saturday April 25 2026
1-3pm ET $50*
*get 10% off by using the code EARLYBIRD by 4/13
*Sliding Scale available for those who need it

This workshop offers a safe, affirming space for Q***r, Trans, Intersex, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to learn foundational back care through the lens of the Iyengar Yoga method.

Many QTIBIPOC folks live at the intersection of chronic stress and limited access to affirming spaces focused on therapeutic yoga. This workshop is designed with care, precision, and respect for our lived experience.

Participants will be guided through practical, adaptable tools to support the spine, hips, and nervous system—without strain, performance pressure, or one-size-fits-all expectations.

We will explore:
Basic principles of spinal stability
How to safely work with the lower back, hips, and sacrum
Supportive positioning for people who sit for long hours or do repetitive work
How to balance strength and ease in everyday movement
Awareness of the breath