Berkshire Yoga Festival 2026

Perimenopause and post-menopause produce vast bodywide changes to the female body. But its impact on fascial tissues has only recently emerged in scientific literature. Fascia remodels due to the presence or lack of estrogen. This transformation can result in pains that invisibly erupt out of “nowhere" in joints large and small. This workshop will take you through critical data to help, whether you are female bodied encountering these changes, or you work with this population. Expect rollouts that support common pain complaints during peri/post/menopause including frozen shoulder, hip pain, breast tenderness, pelvic floor pain and more.
Part lecture/Part experientialPROPS: Blocks, Strap, Mat

Yoga teachers looking to find an amazing niche should consider learning how to work with individuals who want to get pregnant. Fertility Yoga is the groundbreaking work that explores the different yoga techniques that balance our hormones and release our stress. By releasing our stress our bodies are better able to function with our reproductive needs. Yoga helps with fertility in a number of ways: through stress reduction, encouraging hormonal balance, helping people with their mental health, and helping with pain relief. Yoga is also known to help boost endorphins. The same way that women get balancing of the hormones, a man can also see improvement of sperm production practicing yoga. There have been studies that show that doing fertility yoga during Ivf or art helps increase the chances of getting pregnant as well. Yoga is also helpful for relaxing the muscles of the hips and pelvis to promote a healthy pregnancy. When teaching each fertility yoga class the class ends with a discussion and meditation involving balancing the chakras associated with fertility. This way every pathway is focused on in this fertility yoga class.

Melissa Boyd is a master teacher with over 30 years experience as a movement specialist. She spearheaded the first program for yoga and fertility in Long Island and worked in collaboration with two infertility clinics and a wellness group bringing the work into fruition. Melissa has been teaching yoga for fertility for over 20 years, and now continues to take on private or couple clients, as well as teaching risings in it.

Reconnect to the deep intelligence of your center. In this slow, steady practice, we’ll explore the pelvis as the body’s structural foundation and a potent energetic hub. We’ll begin by mapping the functional anatomy of the pelvis. Through accessible movement, you’ll learn how these structures collaborate to provide stability, mobility, and ease in daily life. Expect practices that illuminate how the pelvis moves with breath, how the pelvic floor responds to load and release, and how balanced engagement can support the spine, hips, and core. From there, we’ll shift into the energetics of the pelvis, exploring this space as the seat of grounding, creativity, and inner radiance. Using guided breathwork, visualizations, and slow, fluid movement, we’ll attune to the subtle rhythms of  flowing energy and the rooting and creative spark of first and second chakras. You’ll be invited to sense the pelvis not just as anatomy, but as home—an anchor point for intuition, presence, and personal power.

Midlife isn’t a disappearing act—it’s a power portal.
Perimenopause and menopause often bring unexpected shifts in mood, sleep, energy, and confidence—along with the feeling that you’re somehow supposed to manage it quietly. This yoga-based workshop, inspired by Lauren Toolin’s Flourish! program, offers a different experience: real tools, real support, and a deeper reconnection to yourself.
Through therapeutic yoga, breathwork, meditation and wisdom teachings, you'll gain practical support for your nervous system, hormones, and emotional well-being. Leave feeling more grounded, supported, and empowered, with a renewed understanding that midlife isn’t about disappearing - it's about showing up, shinier than ever.