A workshop intended to offer real alternatives for promoting better bone health and strength is set for tomorrow.

Yoga and Qigong expert Nadiya Nottingham is returning to the Island for the workshop and it is her intention to offer hope to many who suffer from osteoporosis and other bone density related issues. Yoga and Qigong both teach how to bring mindfulness into our everyday life, how to come up against our limitations and how to work with subtle energy, said local organiser Frances Marshall of Living Yoga.

?A central theme of the weekend workshops is increasing and circulating the flow of this energy. Going to the gym doesn?t do this,? said Ms Marshall.

?A related theme throughout the weekend will be the bone/kidney connection. In Chinese medicine the kidneys are part of the Yin Water function, the most extremely essential life function. Water Chi nourishes the deepest vital structures of the body. In Western medicine, the kidneys are responsible for balancing the acid alkaline or pH of the blood, which has a direct effect on the health of the bones.?

Ms Marshall said healthy bones are a key element of ageing well and should be prioritised but in the right way.Ageing gracefully is a right. There has been a tremendous ?medicalising? of the changes in our body associated with ageing,? she said.

The workshops will draw on the expertise of one of the top trainers in these areas. Ms Nottingham is an advanced-level Hatha Yoga trainer and consultant and a Qigong practitioner.

Her bone health workshops are now regularly on the schedule at respected yoga studios and centres in New York including the Integral Yoga Institute, the Breathing Project and Namaste Yoga Center and have been offered at Cyndi Lee?s Om Yoga Center and the prestigious Exhale Spa, on Madison Avenue.

Internationally, she has taught at the Yoga Maris Studio in Paris and in Dublin, Ireland. She also maintains a private therapy practice.

She has also studied with yoga therapist Leslie Kaminoff, of the Breathing Project. Mr. Kaminoff practices in the tradition of TK Desikachar. He is currently completing his first book on yoga anatomy, to be released by Human Kinetics this Fall.

She also studied with Qigong teacher and author Gilles Marin (Healing from Within); Chi Kung Master Sat Chuen, M.F.A., medical Qigong trainer at the Swedish Institute, New York; Nutrition for osteoporosis specialist and author Dr. Susan Brown (Better Bones, Better Body and The Acid Alkaline Food Guide); and Physiotherapist, bone-health expert and author Sara Meeks (Walk Tall: An Exercise Program for the Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis).

Workshop organiser Ms Marshall, who is also a yoga instructor, said that the key to bone health was letting go of fear.

?Remaining playful and staying flexible and strong,? she added. ?Bones are soft tissues and can stay that way throughout our active lives.?

All the workshops, talks and practices related to the bone/kidney connection include how to keep the ?water chi? healthy and how to improve the energy of the kidneys.

?Qigong breathing techniques for bringing nutrients to the bones,? she said. ?Aligning the three dan tiens ? solar plexus, heart and crown ? the centres of postural support for the body.

?Circulating and increasing the flow of energy; building endurance by directing the flow of energy to where it?s needed at any time; connecting to energy reserves we might have thought depleted; tapping into the inner foundation of chi/prana, the current in all life.?

A class entitled Height Matters: Staying Tall and Regaining Height will examine how the principles of Yoga and Qigong work to maintain height and improve posture and in some case to regain loss of height.

?You can explore the connection of organs to overall health,? Ms Marshall said.

?To have the stamina to hold oneself with dignity; to stand like a tree?. This involves not just physical strength, but an expansiveness of the heart and a letting go of self-judging thoughts.

?To find the roots of the inner tree, which begin in the pelvic floor and work to form a good vessel for our tree trunk. Great strength can be acquired from the simplest of postures.

?Freshness in our self-view; letting go of old patterns and habits is the greatest source of emotional and therefore physical renewal and building and maintaining strength. Strength without tension, which causes leaching of calcium.

Also happening tomorrow will be the latest study results from Dr. Susan Brown?s Osteoporosis Education Project and her new book ?The Acid Alkaline Food Guide? and Gillian Samson?s book ?The Myth of Osteoporosis.?

A class called ?Integrating Core Stability with Vinyasa Flow? will offer training of postural muscles support the weight-bearing joints.

Sunday?s class is all about Pelvic Power: Strengthening the Earth of the Body.

Ms Marshall said it will teach ?strengthening the muscles of the pelvic floor, which supports everything above it including the spine, as well as legs below.?

The course will also offer instruction in the two types of pelvic contractions ? slower, sustained hold, which improves muscle endurance and fast, quick flick movements. Essential for standing up, lifting and laughing.

Advance registration is required for these courses.

To register and for information on venue location, contact Frances Marshall of LivingYoga on 295-0190 or email livingyogalogic.bm.