The Rocket was developed by Larry Schultz as a means to make Ashtanga yoga more accessible. While on quarantine Amber Jean-Marie began instructing the Rocket from her home. Enjoy these beautiful intimate photos during that time.
Read moreRYA Virtual Rocket Training and Community
Amber Jean-Marie discusses, instructing online and connecting to the Rocket community.
Read moreTurning Loss into Love
Turning Loss into Love
My own process of love and loss has taken me on quite a ride. Sometimes when I begin leading a yoga training I tell everyone that the first thing you need to do is forget your name, I remember hearing about the words of a monk that was Leonard Cohan's teacher had said to him when he first arrived at the ashram, “the first thing you have to do for spiritual practice is forget YOUR NAME”
Letting go of our identity or the ego that we identify with can be the hardest thing about starting a yoga practice. You may have been taught that your success is measured in how much you make at your job, your car, house and having an attractive mate can define the quality of your life. However what I have found in yoga practice is that someone who has attained monetary wealth may feel lonely and have little self worth and in the opposite situation someone who has very little money may feel extremely secure and happy with the person they are. The world we live in is so scued these days with images on social media about having the perfect body, lips, hair, nails and cloths that it has become impossible to keep up with.
In my personal journey I have had to lose everything over and over again. From losing my teacher and best friend in body, to losing in relationships of love, houses, cars more people and more monetary loss that I have spent many sleepless nights feeling alone and stressed out. Then suddenly a light went on. I was faced with a medical emergency and everything came into perspective. MY life suddenly felt very short and precious and at that moment I became very content in my body and made deep peace in my soul. It is only making peace in your inner most being that you can allow love in again. It is only being content with with who you are alone can make you feel whole. Deep sadness leaves your body and mind and is replaced with infinite love for yourself and the universe.
Amber Jean-Marie Rocket Practitioner for 20 years
In reflection I have a better understanding of how loss in our lives is teaching us about a deeper love. So what ever you perceive as loss hold it and be with it, let it transform you into the person you are meant to be.
WE are in Covid times and everything is changing. Do not fear these changes allow yourself to flow and change and see what greater plan the universe has for you.
Today we begin our first ever Virtual Rocket Training, I have no idea what to expect , it’s going to be a lot different teaching to a screen however the show must go on, so here we go. Much love everyone, much love.
Yoga Online
well, here we are… I would much rather write something more prolific in these times … however we are where we are in these strange times, Covid Times.
I hope all of you are staying safe and that your hardships are minimal. Yoga and The Rocket gives you all the things that money doesn’t buy. The Rocket gives us a tool to study ourselves. Larry would say The Rocket is a free health plan in the cosmic universe.
hang in their and if you can the create good memories, I know that I am treasuring all of my good memories of where the Rocket has taken me. Nicaragua, Costa Rica, London, and Banff, just to name a few.
more content coming… there is a moment when all you want is time and space to write and create however when things shift it takes a moment to get the new norm up and running . Like Pattabi said do your practice and all is coming!! stay tuned….loves Amber Jean-Marie
Lizzie Higgins Rocket Graduate England Feature
Forward Lizzie Higgins is a Rocket Training Graduate from our London Rocket Training August or 2018
here she discusses her purpose as a new mom and Rocket practitioner. She is an inspiration to anyone who takes her classes or knows her. You can find Lizzie instructing the Rocket n her hope town of Bristol England and on Instagram @yogawithlizziegiggins
•my•purpose•
🚀 A little over a year ago I did my rocket training with @rocketgirl.yoga @rocketyogaacademy .
It absolutely changed my life, both my yoga practice but also the way I went through everyday.
🪐If you’ve ever been to one of my classes you’ll know that I am BEYOND passionate about The Rocket 🚀.
Today I got to share my passion with 11 lovely yogis for 2 whole hours! We flipped, twisted, hopped, jumped, breathed, squeaked & enjoyed our way through all sorts of inversions - some people making progress with an existing practice others exploring stuff for the first time.
I am so bloody proud of you!
The last inversion workshop I taught back in mid-Feb was my last night as just me. I got three pregnancy tests on the way home and they were ALL very positive. Turns out Little man had been created first week of Jan but we had no idea 🙊 Don’t worry Rocket won’t make you pregnant - although it may help with fertility 😜
But what it does do, what I strive to get my students to do is to RESPECT YOUR POWER, EXPLORE YOUR POTENTIAL, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. . .
Never have I been tested more than as a Mamma, especially as I wasn’t looking to be one. . . but my Rocket foundation has me set up with self belief, bravery, kindness, compassion, patience & the ability to breathe through tough situations.
Not quite sure where this ramble is going, I got NO sleep last night & it might be starting to catch up with me.
Oh yes, my purpose - to help build a world of strong, brave, flexible people in their bodies AND minds, on & off their mats. Folks who give stuff a try without expectations, who just show up & do their best! First my students, now my son 🙏🏼
YOU REALLY CAN DO ANYTHING, You might not always see the next challenge coming but know that YOU CAN HANDLE IT.
You’re a BADASS & as long as you’re breathing (& smiling) nothing can stop you!
😘 Lizzie Higgins
What is RYA? A letter from our Director
Amber Gean has been practicing and instructing since May 2000
Happy 2020 Yogis, Thank you for visiting our site, on this site you will find information on the Rocket, teacher trainings and more about me and what we offer at Rocket Yoga Academy. First of all whenever you do something bigger than yourself it can be an overwhelming task of getting organized and becoming more clear with what the vision is. Rocket Yoga Academy is the vision becoming more clear. A vision that began in the early 2000’s when I met Larry Schultz and fell in love with the Rocket practice. Much Love,
Things were much more simple back then, we didn’t have social media or smart phones. Larry Schultz’s studio was actually right next to a “cyber cafe”. People came from all over the world to take Larry’s teacher trainings. He was a forward thinker in yoga and had a vision of making as many yoga teachers as he could, and he did, he trained 1000’s and 1000’s of students from all over the world. I was one of those students. Once I got a feel for everything going on in San Francisco it was like a drug and I was addicted. I could not spend enough time with my beloved teacher and friend.
I traveled to Van Couver when he opened his first International It’s Yoga and I helped him teach there. I also traveled up to Sonoma where he moved after closing It’s Yoga San Francisco to assist him at the retreat center. I was soaking in everything Rocket and learning as much as I could from Larry to lead Yoga Teacher Training courses.
I also traveled to Toledo OH when I found out that Larry had taken ill and was preparing to take his last breath, I was shocked and even writing about it now is almost too much, because there are so many layers and so much confusion when you lose your beloved.
By being so close to Larry he granted me permission to lead all these training’s that we offer. He entrusted me to help continue his legacy and share the Rocket as it was intended to be shared as a healing approach to Ashtanga which can seem much more ridged than the fun Rocket system.
When a yoga community losses a leader as Larry Schultz who had a beautiful charisma and energy that brought so many people together for so long, the loss sends a ripple of destruction in its wake. It is a very confusing time. However thru my grief I stayed constant in my Rocket practice and continued to develop Rocket Training materials as a means of not only healing myself but helping others heal as well.
What’s so great about RYA is that we have some of the best Rocket materials available. Our training materials include lots of Larrys quotes and offer lots of information about the philosophy behind the Rocket.
RYA is all about delivering you the Rocket the way Larry would of wanted it shared. This in not corporate yoga, this is not power yoga, this is not all about handstands, even tho we do a lot of them. This is about YOU and showing YOU how to tap into the abundance of healing energy that reside with on YOU! These teaching are NOT watered down.
Check out our amazing team page of how many yogis we have already certified to teach the Rocket. This is the official site, this is the legacy, unfiltered and raw.
Once again we are doing something that is much bigger than ourselves. With that being said this is another beginning to lay out the groundwork for our Rocket Instructors to be recognized on a national and international platform of being some of the top Rocket instructors in the world. That’s what my heart believes because every training I have facilitated I personally make sure that everyone has a complete understanding of the system. Check out the list featuring how many of those students have started their own studios and have begun leading their own training’s, many many many…. it’s because we have the reputation of being the best of the best. Find out for yourself.
Who is Amber Gean Marie Espelage
September 07, 2016
September 07, 2016
I am from Cincinnati Ohio and grew up here all my life. I always had an interest in yoga from watching my father do headstands all the time. When I was 19 years old I had begun dabbling in Primary Series of Ashtanga yoga and even tho the practice was very challenging for me I kept coming back to it. A little after that someone told me about Larry Schultz and Rocket yoga, they told me that it was a complete form of yoga and that Larry had developed one of the first teacher training programs in the United States and that I should learn to instruct yoga. That set me on a course to San Francisco to meet the “Yoga Man”. What I discovered was more than I could have hoped, I lived at Larry’s studio at 848 Folsom st. for a month. I was woken up every morning with the heat being turned on and yogis showing up for morning practice, this is when I began to develop my personal practice that I stay true to today.
From the years 2000-2011 I continued to make my bi-annual and sometimes more frequent trips to San Francisco to study with Larry and get the “juice” which continued to further my practice and my teaching. It was a magical time in San Francisco and yogis like MC Yogi, Reed Taylor creator of Method Yoga, and Clayton Horton owner of Yoga Tree were regulars at Larry’s now famous studio. We all studied traditional Ashtanga and The Rocket together. What I found was that The Rocket had a lot more poses and offered strengthening moves to support more advanced poses. I feel in love with the Rocket and watched yogis from all over the world coming to learn the Rocket and get certified by Larry.
Everything began to come together for me on and off the mat. Before I began practicing yoga, I was just a regular girl waiting tables, dreaming of going to art school and trying to find some type of direction in my life. Thru yoga I began traveling around the world and help people gain more confidence in their bodies as well as empowering my students to find their voice and connect to their inner teacher.
During my yoga career from 2000 – 2011, I helped certify 1000’s of instructors with Larry, including help launch his teacher training in my hometown, Cincinnati and as well as Vancouver Canada.
I continued to educate myself on traditional Ashtanga, and have studied with Tim Miller from Encinitas California, Lino Miele from Italy, and Chuck and Maty Miller the owners of Yoga Works in LA. However I always came back to the Rocket for my home practice and supplementing Primary Series once a week.
In 2007, with Larry’s blessing, I opened Yoga ah Studio in Cincinnati Ohio offering Rocket classes following the 6-day-a-week practice schedule.
When Larry left his body in 2011 I was overcome with grief and sadness of losing my best friend, however thru my grief I pushed on and continued my practice and began writing more. I wrote a lot about my sadness and healing process a lot of that is on my Yoga ah blog.
I also wanted more yogis to try Rocket yoga if they never heard of it so I created a routine called the Bottle Rocket which is a beginner approach to Rocket practice. The Bottle Rocket can be practiced in 45 minutes and offers the foundation for Rocket 1 and Rocket 2 practice.
Currently, I take care of my studio, Yoga ah and have begun offering 5-day Rocket trainings, all over the world. For me the Rocket has given me purpose and focus, it inspires me daily and challenges me in a healthy way. The Rocket is a tool for living the life you love and allowing your dreams to become reality.
I am also a writer, mother, artist, photographer, world traveler, lover, fashionista, blogger and naturalist!
Larry Schultz stayed Focused on The Yoga
November 14, 2016 • Ambergean • ashtanga • LarrySchultz • nicaraugayoga • Rocketgirl • Rocketyoga• Rocketyogatraining • The Rocket • Vancouveryoga • Yoga • yogaohio • Yogaretreats • yogatraining
If you are an American or know someone that is, you can ask them, where were you on 9/11? and just about everybody will know exactly where they were when the towers got hit. Such a big tragedy for our country has created a time capsule that we all can connect to. As life would have it Larry Schultz the Rocket man was in Cincinnati on 9/11, we had a teachers training beginning on 9/12/01 to a group of more then 20 eager students to meet Larry and begin a path of self exploration and healing. Larry flew in to Cincinnati from San Francisco a few days prior to the training and he would always stay at my first yoga instructors house Indu. Indu would treat Larry like a king and make him tons of delicious vegetarian Indian food, his favorite. Larry and I would have time to go around town, do some site seeing and even have time to practice together before the training would commence.
On 9/11 Larry was at Indu’s and I was pregnant with my now 15 year old resting when the first plane hit. The country stood in shock and stillness thru the confusion of what was going on in our country and wondering where are loved ones were. It was a sober day for all.
The next day training was to begin as planned. All the trainers were sitting in the circle, waiting to meet this yoga man they had heard of, with 9/11 on there minds and at the same time excited for a new experience of teachers training. When Larry arrived into the yoga room all eyes were on him, he always had a presence about him and when he entered a room everyone could feel it. Larry proceeded to sit down in the circle and for that whole day he only spoke of yoga, he made not one mention of 9/11.
To this day I have students come visit me from that training and they still speak of how Larry handled the situation. Larry kept the focus on the yoga.
It is so easy to allow ourselves to be pulled this way and that by what is going on in the world around us, but if we can keep the focus on the yoga we can continually simplify our lives and find more peace in our minds and our hearts.
Some of my best memories of Larry was just hanging out and we would only talk about yoga. So today on November 14th, 2016 Larry Schultz would of been 66. Today I am reminded to keep the focus on the yoga, and allow the yoga to be my teacher. Larry used to say “mirror mirror on the wall who is the best yogi of them all?” and once again his students were like what is he talking about? For me it means just do your practice and don’t compare yourself with your peers or what seems to be achieved and not achieved because a lot of yoga is what you don’t see.
Why Did Larry Create The Rocket?
November 29, 2016 • Ashtanga Yoga • Krishnamacharya • Larry Schultz • Rocket Vinyasa Yoga • Rocket Yoga Tribe • Rocketgirl • Rocketyogatraining • The Rocket • Vancouver • Vancouveryoga • Yoga Blog• yogaohio • Yogaretreats • yogatraining
Rocket and Ashtanga Yoga
The Rocket consists of poses from the traditional sequences of ashtanga yoga. These sequences were discovered in Mysore and transcribed by Krisnamachara and Pattabi Jois. Traditionally the poses are practiced in a set sequence while the instructor goes around giving intense adjustments to get you deeper in the pose. A traditional ashtanga practice usually takes up to 90 - 120 minutes.
Larry Schultz practiced in this traditional manner for 7 years. As Larry began instructing ashtanga yoga in the west he noticed a need to make this ancient system of practice more accessible. This began the development of The Rocket. In the Rocket system of practice the poses are grouped around the joints of your body. The Rocket offers 45 minute routines up to 75 minute routines. In a Rocket practice you do not see the intense adjustments of Mysore rather a more gentle approach to adjusting that encourages you to tune into your inner teacher and use what we all have from within. These routines are a way to develop an ancient practice in a modern setting.
Rocket and Spirituality
Practicing the Rocket can allow the parctitioner an opportunity to study the self while approaching strength and weakness as equals.Through the practice of breathing ujjai breath we create a mirror to study the self. As you become more challenged in your practice you notice that you can do things you had no idea you could do. Suddenly your mind and body “let go” allowing one to get in touch with amazing creativity and the beauty of our “SELF”. Through learning to love ourselves on the mat we learn to love each other more. We are able to gain clarity and a better understanding of our wants and needs on and off the mat so we can begin to manifest our dreams. This is the real yoga to bring peace back into our hearts.
Rocket and Fitness and Why The Rocket works ! Stay Tuned for nest Blog post!!
The Rocket and Why It Works
December 10, 2016 • advanced yoga training • health and fitness • Larry Schultz • power yoga • Rocket Vinyasa Yoga • Rocket Yoga • Rocket Yoga Tribe • Rocketyogatraining • The Rocket • The system •Vancouveryoga • Yoga ah • Yogaretreats
The Rocket is the original “power yoga.” It was created in San Francisco by the late Larry Schultz, who was a disciple of Sri Pattabi Jois, the founder of Ashtanga yoga. Larry’s vision was to make Ashtanga yoga more accessible to the western practitioner. Unlike much of the “vinyasa flow” and “power yoga” offered at the local YMCA or gym, the Rocket routines were designed in a more intelligent way, with an emphasis on opening the body naturally and working through the joints systematically.
The Rocket offers a whole system of yoga routines that train the whole body in a wholistic and dynamic way.
The Rocket builds strength and stamina through its series of postures. It eliminates the hierarchy of classical Ashtanga practice by incorporating advanced postures like arm balances and inversions into the same practice as the primary series. A consistent practice molds a lean, toned physique, lengthening and stretching the overdeveloped muscles and strengthening those muscles that may have been neglected, fostering a more balanced body. The structured sequence cultivates strength, flexibility, and focus, while maintaining the evenness of breath, making the practice moving meditation.
The Rocket incorporates the same core principles of the ancient Ashtanga practice: observing of the breath, incorporating of energy locks, and focusing the the gaze...classically stated as breath, bandhas, and drishti. It also uses the same postures as classical Ashtanga, the difference is the arrangement of the postures and the pace of the practice.
“The Rocket has a very fast tempo, so it works on the cardiovascular system and gives you a sense of stamina and endurance...its non stop movement from the beginning to the end.”
-Larry Schultz
Every Rocket routine follows an organized template of postures, working from standing into seated, and then followed by the finishing series. There is also an intense focus on the core of the body. Core strength provides a firm foundation for any body in motion. Moving with awareness from your center helps to prevent injury, and allows for a more light, fluid movement.
These days “hot yoga” has become very popular. But in Ashtanga and Rocket alike, we create our heat organically...”lighting the fire within.” The Rocket practice uses yogic breathing techniques to create heat and generate sweat from the inside out. We synchronize breath with movement, establishing that mind-body connection that is so critical to the practice of yoga. Anyone can sweat in a hot room.
Practitioners of this series will enjoy strength AND flexibility, focus AND detachment, concentration AND relaxation. Neither need exist in exclusion of the other in yoga. This is exactly what you have been looking for...mind and body medicine.
written by Kerry Zebick 300 hour Rocket instructor 2010
Looking Ahead Rocket Girl Reflects back
January 12, 2017 • advanced yoga training • Amber Gean • British Columbia Yoga • Larry Schultz •power yoga • Rocket Vinyasa Yoga • Rocket Yoga • Rocket Yoga Tribe • Rocketgirl • Rocketyogatraining• The Rocket • Vancouver • Vancouveryoga • Yoga
Larry lived bigger than life. At one time his San Francisco studio was over 5000 square ft. In the early 2000's Larry's drive to live bigger than life fueled him to open It's Yoga Vancouver. Larry's dream was to live in San Francisco half of the year and Vancouver the other half and fly up and down the west coast to share his presence with both studios throughout the year.
Creating time in my own life to reflect about the new year, I have thought of everything that has happened in 2016, which is a lot including 5 day trainings in Nicaragua,England, and my home town Cincinnati. As well as contemplate what preceded 2016 , which has lead up to the whole concept of Rocket training.
Larry loved the Rocket and the results it produced in his own life as well as his students. The Rocket became a vehicle for Larry to make his dreams bigger that his life.
As Rocket Girl looks ahead to 2017 there are a ton of great exciting events and trainings planned, as well as new opportunities to share the Rocket. However the real goal is to tie the past to the future, following the Rocket map Larry left behind.
It's Yoga Vancouver had one successful year where Larry lived "the dream". The studio in Vancouver saw one successful 28 day intensive yoga teacher training that I had the honor to help facilitate, working along side Larry. I saw the dream and was a part of it. Looking ahead at 2017 the first 5 day Rocket training is scheduled to take place in Vancouver at The Yoga Root from February 24th - 28th this will mark Larry's 5 year maha samadhi, or when he left his body. The plan is to follow the map. Hopefully create a lighter atmosphere for everyone to practice the Rocket and make not only my own dreams bigger than my life but give others a vehicle to make their dreams bigger.
One more year to work on the dream, one more year to practice the Rocket, one more year to keep Larry's legacy going until it is strong enough to have its own wings to fly.
Om Namo Shiva Omm
Amber Gean
Larry Legacy by Heidi Joffe
January 30, 2017 • Ashtanga • Its Yoga Vancouver • Larry Schultz • Modified Primary Series • Rocket 1 •Rocket 2 • Rocket Routines • Rocket Vinyasa Yoga • Rocket Yoga Sequences • Rocket Yoga Training •The Rocket • Vancouver Rocket Yoga • Yoga Retreats
Find Your Journey
I arrived in Vancouver with a mission to continue my practice as a teacher and a student and to gift what I know on to others. He taught me that our flow works best with a diligent practice, an open heart and a sense of humor about it all. “You are stronger than you think you are” became a mantra in my life as I move through the highs and lows of my path. He acknowledged and accepted the restless seeker and opened up the possibility that we carry in us the potential to find home, that anchor within the rootlessness-an anchor found within not with-out.
As I brought yoga into school systems as an art/expressive therapist, I gained new respect for this incredible practice and the training that I received through Larry’s system as it prepared me to work with all levels and ages and still offer a dynamic and fulfilling session. Yes, I’ve added to my training along the way with other teachers in other places, but my foundation remains strongly connected to the Rocket practice and its adaptability to all situations.
Teachers don’t often tell us what we want to hear. They teach us what we need to hear, new ways to see and experience and express our reality-provide us with new tools to negotiate our journey. As teachers and life long students, we need to stay humble and focused, courageous through the unknown. We stand without smug, spiritual superiority, but with open, generous and authentic intentions.
Heidi Joffe
It's Yoga Vancouver
February 10, 2017 • Advanced Yoga Training • International Rocket Yoga Training • Larry Schultz • Rocket 2 • Rocket Routines • Rocket Yoga Training • Vancouver Rocket • Vancouver Rocket Yoga • Yoga Retreats
In 2001 Larry Schultz opened his second studio in beautiful Vancouver. An all star cast showed up to assist Larry with his first international teacher training. Everyone was waiting for Danny Paradise, Moola Bandha Mishe, and Reema Data to bring the best training ever. Larry invited me as well with my one year old and his father, I taught classes and assisted in the training. After going thru some old photos (before smart photos) I found this old one of the Vancouver space. Enjoy and be inspired!! This studio even had a juice bar on the first floor.
It's never too late to learn something new
March 30, 2017 • Advanced Yoga Training • International Rocket Yoga Training • Larry Schultz • Love Yoga • Rocket Yoga Training • The Rocket • Wild Women Retreat • Yoga and Surf • Yoga Retreats
Larry Schultz, the father of The Rocket, opened up It’s Yoga San Fransisco year 1991. His studio was one of the first Ashtanga studios in the US. Yoga was still something new at the time and many people had no idea what it really was. Who could ever believe that Ashtanga yoga would become so popular 25 years later?
One year after, on the other side of the world, a baby girl was born in the northern part of Sweden. That little girl was me, Johanna Eriksson. I grew up in a ski resort and learned how to ski when I was three years old. While I was busy skiing and playing in the snow, Larry started to change the traditional Ashtanga yoga sequencing into what we today call The Rocket.
Larry held in Ashtanga- and Rocket Yoga trainings for the next 15 years. He spread his yoga philosophy around the world and established a strong foundation of Ashtanga and Rocket teachers. I was a serious competitions skier during the same time and had no idea that I many years later would walk in Larry’s footsteps and start my own yoga journey.
I studied at the ski academy and traveled around Europe and Scandinavia for competitions in moguls skiing. When I graduate my school at the age of 20 my dream was to explore the world, learn something new and take away all the pressure. I went to Costa Rica and I started with surfing. That trip made me realize how big the world is. I opened up my eyes and I saw new opportunities in life. I loved Costa Rica and I knew that I would be back in Central America very soon.
I never got the chance to meet Larry. He passed away before I started with yoga. But Larry's ideas are still alive and his former students continue to teach and spread his yoga philosophy around the world.
I didn’t know anything about yoga when my sister one day said that she wanted to go to Nicaragua for a yoga teacher training program. I saw it as an opportunity to go back to Central America, so I said yes. I found a 200h Ashtanga vinyasa yoga teacher training with It’s Yoga Nica. I contacted them and asked if it was ok to come to a teacher training even though I didn’t had any experience at all. I got an friendly answer in Swedish saying YES!!
I went back to It’s Yoga Nica, January 2016, for a Rocket teacher training with lovely Amber Gean. Amber turned my world up side down!
Since training I have filled my days with yoga practice, surf, beach life and sun. Feeling the transformative effect that yoga has had on me I allowed my life to change and adopt Costa Rica as home.
In my world everything is possible.
I LOVED The Rocket! I met amazing people and I learned things that I never thought of.
My body and my mind felt filled with new, strong and powerful energy.
I started to spread The Rocket in Costa Rica. I taught at a studio in Tamarindo 4 days a week during the high season.
I went to Sweden in the summer 2016 to start up my own yoga business, Love Yoga by Johanna and to work at a yoga studio in my hometown. I held over 50 Rocket classes in less then 6 weeks. My students fell in love with the new creative yoga flow, the arm balance and the inversions.
I went to Sweden a second time in December 2016 to hold my first Rocket yoga workshop. It was a big success and I felt that this type of yoga events is exactly what I want to do.
My next event is yoga and surf adventure retreat in Costa Rica in May 2017. I have teamed up with, Meredith Asplundh, one of my fellow Rocket Girls that I met at my Rocket training. We are putting on a Wild Women Surf and Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica. Check it out with the link below!!
Currently I live in Costa Rica and have a surf, yoga and tours business with my boyfriend.(www.oceantourscr.com).
Email: wildyogagetaway@gmail.com
I love Larry’s Philosophy and I look forward to sharing Larry’s yoga philosophy to new people around the world. Rocket might seam intimidating and hard but remember that it’s never to late to learn something new!
Namaste,
Johanna
Not Love At First
April 30, 2017 • ashtanga • health and fitness • International Rocket Yoga Training • Krishnamacharya •Larry Schultz • Love Yoga • Rocket Certifaction • Rocket Yoga Sequences • Rocket Yoga Training •Rocket Yoga Tribe • StockholmRocket • The Rocket • The system • Yoga ah • Yoga and Surf • Yoga Retreats
The Rocket is such an amazing practice. I just love how it makes you stronger than you ever could imagine. But it wasn’t love at first.
I have only really been doing yoga for about four five years and I am still a very humble beginner (sometimes my ego will think otherwise, but that is quickly taken out of me when I’m falling flat out of a pose or similar:-)).
So how did my yoga journey start? I really fell in love with yoga when I found the dynamic practice of Ashtanga yoga, before that I had tried different types of yoga but it never stuck. I started my practicing two or three times a week but I wanted to progress further in my yoga so I started thinking about doing a yoga teacher training, but didn’t know if I was “good enough” (being a yoga teacher wasn’t even on my mind). And on top of that I have never been an athletic person and I am definitely not a natural flexible person. But after a lot of consideration, I decided to go for it, and I signed up for an Ashtanga vinyasa teacher training. Just to give you a hint about where I was in my yoga practice, I couldn’t even do a full sun salutation B without wanting to rest in childs pose during downward dog, wheel pose was impossible and definitely no headstands.
Little did I know that the yoga studio where I decided to take my teacher training was focused on The Rocket system developed by Larry Schultz (I had never visited the studio before my first day of my teacher training), and in order to be certified you had to, among other things, participate in a number of classes and that meant I had to take these "Rocket" classes. I still remember my first Rocket class, and how I actually cried when I left, thinking I would never make it through this teacher training. But after awhile I sort of fell in love with the Rocket, because I could see how it made me stronger, it made me be able to do things I never thought I ever ever would be able to do.
Within one year from completing my first 200h teacher training I ended up doing my first rocket teacher training in Sweden, but I still felt that I wanted to immerse myself more in the Rocket system. It was then that I found Yoga ah studio and my rocket guru Amber Gean. So in 2016 I headed of to Cincinnati for 100h Rocket teacher training. "
Yoga has shown me how to slow down, find greater balance and develop a sense of gratitude for all that I can do, and most of all not to take life (or myself) to serious. Today I combine my office work with teaching yoga and I love to spread the Rocket teachings.
To quote Larry Schultz “You are stronger than you think you are”
Love & light!
Annette
If you want to follow my yoga journey you can find me on www.instagram.com/a_warme
The Rocket Blasts off in New Mexico
June 24, 2017 • 500 hour Training • advanced yoga training • Amber Gean • Ashtanga Training • health and fitness • Larry Schultz • Nasa and The Rocket • New Mexico Rocket Yoga • Rocket Certifaction •Rocket Yoga • Rocket Yoga Sequences • Rocket Yoga Training • The Rocket Vinyasa System of Larry Schultz • White Sands • Yoga Blog • Yogaretreats
New Mexico Land of Manyana
On May 18th, 2017 Rocket Yogis gathered in around the home of the of Nasa White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces New Mexico. Somehow it seemed fitting that The Rocket would take off in a land where you see old rocket ships sticking out of the sand, rockets on bill boards and even on restaurant menus. Rockets are everywhere in this region of the southwest, one hour north of El Paso and the Mexican border, six hours south of the Colorado border, four hours from Santa Fay or six hours from Albuquerque, in the land of the old Native American tribes, 16 rocket yogis descended for a 5 day Rocket Training with yours truly.
When I first heard that there was a Rocket buzz going on in New Mexico and got invited out, as with any training or new place, I had no idea what to expect. Upon arriving I felt a warm welcome from Holly Rae who is local NM yoga pioneer and Jane a new studio owner who hosted the training and assisted with promotions. I was reminded how it truly takes a village to launch a Rocket Training, from the initial planning, finding a location, promotions, and in between getting everyone registered, as well as finding my accommodations and organizing my travel plans. With that being said I was delighted and honored with the whole experience.
What I love the most about Rocket Training’s is the amazing students that come out of the wood work for the Rocket. I believe everyone who was in attendance would agree of the powerful transformative affect The Rocket has when you practice it in a group setting with other practitioners that are supportive and nurturing to the whole experience. Everyone was so present during the training and willing to work thru their challenges on and off the mat. Like Larry said “ in the beginning the Rocket appears to be all physical but as you practice you realize it’s about the healing work we all need to do when we look within.”
We had the magic of the Rocket with us on this training, the sense of the unknown and the infinite connection to space, as well as a deep connection to each other. We seriously ate lunch and dinner together everyday, just going from Rocket training into street cloths like we have a secret that no one knows, and it’s the Rocket!! Thank you Larry Schultz and thank you New Mexico, look forward to seeing where the Rocket will take me next and I especially look forward to watching all the rocket trainers turn into ROCK STARS!!
Love Amber Gean
Totality, New York & The Summer of Love
October 20, 2017 • Amber Espelage • ashtanga • International Rocket Yoga Training • Larry Schultz •Nasa • New York • Rocket Routines • Rocket Yoga Training • Summer of Love • The Rocket • Totality •Vinyasa • Yoga • Yoga ah Studio
A LOT HAS HAPPENED AND A LOT IS HAPPENING
As I go thru the names of the people Iv’e trained this year, it gives me a chance to reflect on the amazing people that keep showing up in my life. Every year we hold at least three 200 hour teachers training at Yoga ah my studio in Cincinnati as Rocket trainings which take place in Cincinnati as well as internationally. Over all there is a lot training going on around the clock, however there has to be a balance of fun and time off as well.
This year a big bulk of my training’s completed by July 11th and did not start up again until October 15th, so this lends about 10 weeks of down time, even during down time I still am instructing about 8 classes per week, however myself as well as some of the trainers after all our hard yoga work found ways to get out of the city of Cincinnati and have fun.
Yoga students Cole, Allison and Keena ventured out to San Francisco where it was being celebrated “The Summer of Love”. This is especially important because San Fransisco is where the Rocket grew wings to fly, so when any of us Rocket yogis visit, it is like taking a pilgrimage. We love walking by the gates of 848 Folsom st. where the former Larry Schultz studio was and get our picture taken in front of the famous gates that welcomed 1000’s of yoga students on their journey of self realization thru the breath, body, mind connection that Larry Schultz made accessible to the masses.
It was billed as “the Summer of Love,” a blast of glamour, ecstasy, and Utopianism that drew some 75,000 young people to the San Francisco streets in 1967. Who were the true movers behind the Haight-Ashbury happening that turned America on to a whole new age?
Yet the phenomenon washed over America like a tidal wave, erasing the last dregs of the martini-sipping Mad Men era and ushering in a series of liberations and awakenings that irreversibly changed our way of life. Vanity Fair
A word about Larry is that he was not only known for developing The Rocket he was known for introducing a lot of people to yoga. Larry got people into yoga that didn’t even know what yoga was. Larry’s vision of having a very large studio in a booming city like San Francisco was a forward way of thinking in the 90’s, when the city itself only had maybe 5 yoga studios. Larry could turn anyone on to yoga and make it seem like the coolest and sexiest thing to be doing. In Larry’s world yoga was the only thing that made sense. Larry brought all walks of life together, and in all kept the doors of 848 open for almost 20 years. So with that many people passing thru the gates the space defiantly has a lot of energy and we still see 848 as a very sacred spot.
While the yoga gals who just graduated 200 hour training at Yoga ah were in San Francisco, July Rocket Training took off here in Cincinnati. We got visited by Nick form Athens Georgia and Lisa from New Mexico. We spent a week together practicing and studying the Rocket. We talked a lot about creating a vision and using the Rocket as a vehicle to get us “there faster”. Nick surly felt this and within three weeks of being back in Athens, opened a studio. That is how the Rocket is meant to be shared and I am happy to report the we have started a “pocket” of Rocket in Georgia!!
Myself having some down time meant a trip to New York city. The city that never sleeps and it is so true. New York in August could very well be one of my favorite ways to spend late summer. I got to feel the pulse, dive into New York culture from the upper westside to the Greenwich Village, another place in the United States that felt the free love hippie movement in the 60’s with a bit more of an arts twist that bore a new breed of beatnics and troubadours. I saw the vision for having a little Yoga ah in the village, a studio that would have Ashtanga and Rocket classes around the clock, I joke and say maybe in my next life! Which is within this life. Hey, every dream has to begin somewhere.
As it got later in summer we all came back together in Cincinnati, grounded down at the studio and prepared for the Eclipse. This area of the midwest was in direct alignment of or very close to Totality, which means the moon completely blocks out the sun for up to two minutes. We drove to Totality in Knoxville Tennessee. If you are ever close enough to see Totality DO IT!! It was one of the most magical moment of the universe that I have ever witnessed. It’s really true the birds get loud, insects make all kinds of sounds that they normally would make at dusk, and then the sun is completely blocked out by the moon and an electric blue light radiates around the moon and you can see plants reveal themselves in it’s shadow.
So again we see a theme woven in the Rocket, the universe and the wonderment of nature. And who studies the universe? NASA. What has started happening is that every time us rocket yogis see the sign for Nasa on a shirt or anywhere it may appear we are reminded of the Rocket and how we use the Rocket as a vehicle for expanding our minds and limitations in our physical body. We are reminded how we are all connected by this beautiful practice and how magical and wonderful life can be. We are reminded of the perfection of the universe. We are reminded that every interaction is meant to be and our connection to the infinite and how by trusting in that perfection we can flow and dance through life.
Today is weekend two of my Yoga ah 200 hour training, I am so delighted to be back in the circle sharing some great Larry stories and Rocket stories. In two more weeks we begin a Rocket 5 day training as well. My hope is that we are laying the ground work to have a solid strong foundation for the Rocket community to grow and be supported. What I see with my eyes is good, because it’s lots of yogis, what I feel is we are all healing and the more we all can open our minds to what’s next, without having the answers, the closer we are to discovering all the secrets of the universe. Namaste Amber Gean
Rocket Reflections 2017
“Tie the future to the past”
Prologue
With some success and some experimentation 2017 has been a lot about bringing worlds together, not just on a Rocket Level, but very so much a personal level as well.
As I write you today, I find myself self in Southern Oregon I am surrounded by recreational marijuana shops, pot grows, breathtaking landscapes and of course Rocket history future and past, because everything is connected. Coming here and planning like this can only happen in the moment and happen organically. My trip mysteriously coincides with my new obsession with a band called Spafford. Every time I see them I start singing “is this love is this love that I’m feeling?” by Bob Marley and every time I hear yes! Isn’t that just great to love something that is always on the move, something tangible and invisible, I suppose that is what love is, “tangible and invisable”, so let it be Like Nick from M3 Yoga says, “follow your heart” ! And that’s a good Segway into a bit of the energy that got stirred up this year.
Traveling with The Rocket Training
My first Rocket Training in 2017 was Vancouver set against the vast landscapes of British Columbia. Some of you may or may not know Larry Schultz opened an Its Yoga in Vancouver in 2001. During that time I visited Larry there and assisted him in a teachers training. It’s Yoga Vancouver only had one year of life but it was a time where Larry was living his dream, so to go back to those sacred grounds was awesome and surreal! It was a small intimate training but we went deep fast and that set the tone for the year.
In May 2017 I found myself packing up and taking flight to Las Cruces New Mexico. The Rocket began taking some momentum in the south west and I found myself surrounded by 18 yogis eager to learn “ the system” This time manuals were printed at the location, to make traveling lighter, because we had a large group and all the “paper” can get heavy this is the learning curve with the trainings as we go each one gets better and little more organized. Holly Rae had her feet on the ground and her Rocket Launch pad ready to ignite, and it did! We sparked a lot of Rocket love, energy, and knowledge thru out the south western part of NM as well as Texas and as far north as Colorado.
Touching back down in my home town of Cincinnati Ohio where my studio Yoga ah was getting ready to celebrate 10 years the momentum of the practice continued to build. In July Nick was headed up from Georgia and Lisa from the south west for Rocket training. Both of these souls came into my life and we had an amazing week together where we laughed and cried and let the yoga get deep. When you begin practicing the Rocket you realize that you are opening yourself up for the unknown and the mysteries of the universe. This power was shown to me when Nick returned to Georgia and with in 3 weeks opened his own studio M3 Yoga. Not only did he offer Rocket but it actually became popular and lead me to going down to do a workshop and most recently 2 more Athens Georgia yogis traveled up to Cincinnati for a 5 day Rocket Training in November.
The November Rocket Training at Yoga ah really raised the bar as I combined my 200 hour group with the Rocket Training group. We all came together in a magical space to share the practice. This training brought a lot of yogis together and that made my heart smile because as I say in the opening of the Rocket manual I wrote is that the only thing more powerful than Larry bring us together is the Rocket. Therefore the Rocket is not only a tool to work on yourself and your self realization but it is also a way to bring yogis together. This is our Rocket family! and we are growing.
As I look ahead to 2018 I am excited to bring more yogis together. I am excited to keep laying down the foundation with the 200 hour training’s at Yoga ah which we offer 3 per year as well as traveling to more retreat locations. In May we are all going down to Costa Rica another place that Larry loved. The Rocket Retreat is mostly all the way booked and it will be the first time that the US Rocket yogis meet on other soil!
It hasn’t been the easiest thing, keeping all this going since Larry left his body but I do feel it’s my calling and purpose and when I doubt myself I have some Rocket yogi telling me “don’t stop, keep going” ( Holly my love ) let the yoga get good!!
Namaste everyone I wish all of you the best 2018 ever!! BIG LOVE MON!!
Amber Gean aka the Gean Machine!! haha
Be My Rocket Valentine February 14, 2018
• Cincinnati Yoga • International Rocket Yoga Training • Larry Schultz • New Mexico Rocket Yoga • Rocket Certifaction • Rocket Routines • Rocket Vinyasa Costa Rica • Rocket Yoga UK • The Rocket • Yoga Retreats
This Valentines Day instead of focusing on all the card board romance and corporate marketing focus on all the loves in your life, all your community and all the people that care about you! One of my personal traditions is to have a “Grateful Dead” theme, nothing says Valentines to me more than a a skull and roses and listening to They Love Each Other. Wether you listen to the Dead or not we can all be “Grateful Yogis” and keep all this going!!!
What my eyes tell me is that we have an amazing community of Rocket yogis in Cincinnati, and beyond. Some of the Cincinnati practitioners have been practicing the Rocket as long as 17 years. Some of Yoga ah students are ten year veterans that began when Yoga ah opened in 2007. Since Larry’s passings I have in addition began sharing the Rocket teachings all over the world.
It’s bringing a whole new wave of Rocket yogis, I like to call it “Pockets of Rocket” like in New Mexico, El Paso, Athens Georgia, Costa Rica and England! It’s a very powerful thing to watch unfold.
Larry Schulz would talk to us about how we needed to “ find our medicine, our dose“ and by finding that you find a natural rhythm to live by and ultimately find Moksha or liberation on earth, so that really what we are all working on. We are very blessed to have so many beautiful Rocket yogis that support each other on our mystical voyage.
Thats why this Valentines we choose #bemyrocketvalentine as a way for all of us yogis around the world to stay connected. Every day I am so thankful for my Rocket family I love hearing from all of you!!
Will you be my Rocket Valentine?
Amber Gean
Rocket Training with Amber Jean
April 09, 2018 • Ashtanga Training • Cincinnati Yoga • International Rocket Yoga Training • Rocket Certifaction • Rocket Girl Yoga • Rocket Retreats • Rocket Yoga London • Rocket Yoga UK • Yoga Blog •Yoga Cincinnati • Yoga Kentucky • Yoga Retreats
None of us can escape time, time teaches us to love and teaches us about sorrow and grief. When Larry Schultz left his body, his beloved students were at a loss of what to do. It has been such a delicate subject since Larry’s gone because he was our alpha and could gently and sometimes not so gently allow the Rocket to grow as he saw fit if he didn’t like the way you were presenting the Rocket he would say “shut it down”.
Now 7 years later Rocket Girl sees more yogis using the name the Rocket more freely which is good and also not good sometimes because before Larry passed he only authorized a few of his students to lead the Rocket trainings and use the name the Rocket so some Rocket trainings out there are not being lead by his original students therefore the representation of the Rocket could be questioned.
Rocket Girl has always said yoga and the Rocket is organic so naturally little parts and interpretations change over time, however in Rocket Girls eyes there are only a few students that carry on the way that Larry instructed it. First of all the Rocket is a system of 140 poses a week therefore to practice the system you must practice Rocket 1, 2 and 3 thruout the week. The Bottle Rocket which Rocket Girl Amber Gean developed is greaed towards to beginners and for those of you who may only have a limited time to practice because a full Bottle Rocket can be completed in 50 minutes. Also, a big part of Larry’s philosophy is that we only use “two finger” adjustments. This is the area that when you are prcaticing the Rocket and learning it you have to ask yourself are these Mysore adjustments or is the instuctor staying more true to the philosophy of being more gently guided in and out of asanas. The reason for the two finger adjustments is not only to prevent the student from being injured but also as a means of empowering the inner teacher.
The Rocket itself is meant to be a holistic approach to Ashtanga yoga. As time goes by Rocket Girls mission is to continue to share the Rocket in the light that Larry Schultz instructed it. Rocket Girls Trainings are special and unique.... because Rocket Girl studied with Larry for 11 years ... stay tuned more trainings will be announced “soony soony” like Larry would say! 🚀💛🚀💛🚀🚀💛🚀💛🚀💛🚀🚀