Sowa Rigpa Yoga Practitioner
Module One: Nejang Yoga Immersion and Teacher Training
100-day training with Christiana Polites and Liz Sung with live lectures by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang and special guest teachers online
In-Person Retreat & Weekly Online Sessions
retreat option 1: March 12 - 16, 2025 Topanga, CA USAretreat option 2: April 9 - 13, 2025 Tuscany, Italy
Weekly Sunday practice sessions May - July 2025
Tibetan Nejang Yoga
Nejang (Tibetan གནས་སྦྱངས་) is a gentle healing yoga practice consisting of twenty four simple physical exercises which use breath work and self-massage to open the channels, balance internal energies, relax the mind, and nourish the inner organs. With roots in the Kalachakra tradition, such exercises have been prescribed by Tibetan physicians for centuries to improve health and vitality and to support spiritual practice. This accessible practice is appropriate for people of all ages, physical conditions, spiritual backgrounds, and levels of experience.
This immersive program will include practical instruction, history and theory, relevant anatomy and physiology, and the opportunity to teach Nejang to others.
Though designed for participants to achieve fluency as a Nejang teacher, anyone is welcome to join this program to enhance their study and practice regardless of whether they plan to teach. Nejang is a great addition to apply to one’s current work as medicine practitioners, health clinicians, bodyworkers, yoga and meditation teachers, and more.
This program is limited to 20 participants
This immersive program will include practical instruction, history and theory, relevant anatomy and physiology, and the opportunity to teach Nejang to others.
Though designed for participants to achieve fluency as a Nejang teacher, anyone is welcome to join this program to enhance their study and practice regardless of whether they plan to teach. Nejang is a great addition to apply to one’s current work as medicine practitioners, health clinicians, bodyworkers, yoga and meditation teachers, and more.
This program is limited to 20 participants
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Christiana Polites
Christiana Polites received her Bachelor of Arts in the Comparative Study of Religion at Harvard University and has been immersed in Eastern spiritual traditions for over twenty five years, brought onto the path of dharma through her love of yoga in her early teens. She has studied both Tibetan and Chinese Daoist healing arts and received a Masters in Acupuncture from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. She has traveled extensively around the world, seeking out authentic living lineages in both the healing and spiritual sciences.
Christiana is the Director of Pure Land Farms and the Sowa Rigpa Institute. She teaches foundational courses on Tibetan Medicine, yoga and rejuvenation and guides retreats and practices in the Yuthok Nyingthig meditation tradition at Pure Land Farms, online and internationally. Editor-in-chief of Sky Press Books, she worked closely on the publication of Nejang: Tibetan Healing Yoga.
Christiana is the Director of Pure Land Farms and the Sowa Rigpa Institute. She teaches foundational courses on Tibetan Medicine, yoga and rejuvenation and guides retreats and practices in the Yuthok Nyingthig meditation tradition at Pure Land Farms, online and internationally. Editor-in-chief of Sky Press Books, she worked closely on the publication of Nejang: Tibetan Healing Yoga.
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Liz Sung
Liz Sung is a Yuthok Nyingthig practitioner through her main teacher Dr. Nida Chenagtsang with whom she also studied Tibetan yoga and Sowa Rigpa. Influenced by her Korean upbringing and cultural background of Mahayana Buddhism, Liz first began studying with her first teacher in the Gelug lineage.
Raised in a family of artists and entrepreneurs, Liz has 18+ years of experience in design and branding in New York City, and in 2015 founded a meditation lifestyle brand called SAMAYA in Los Angeles.
Liz is authorized by Dr. Nida to teach Tibetan yoga and certify new teachers for Sowa Rigpa Institute. She is also certified in Hatha yoga, trauma-informed yoga, and meditation.
Raised in a family of artists and entrepreneurs, Liz has 18+ years of experience in design and branding in New York City, and in 2015 founded a meditation lifestyle brand called SAMAYA in Los Angeles.
Liz is authorized by Dr. Nida to teach Tibetan yoga and certify new teachers for Sowa Rigpa Institute. She is also certified in Hatha yoga, trauma-informed yoga, and meditation.
This program is being offered under the direction of and with special lectures by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang
Born in Amdo, in Northeastern Tibet, Dr. Nida began his early studies of Sowa Rigpa at the local Tibetan medical hospital. Later, he was awarded a scholarship to enter the Lhasa Mentseekhang or Tibetan Medical University, where he completed his degree in 1996, with practical training at the Tibetan Medicine hospitals in Lhasa and Lhoka.
Alongside his medical education, Dr. Nida trained in Vajrayana with teachers from every school of Tibetan Buddhism. In particular, he trained in the Longchen Nyingthig tradition of the Nyingma school with his root guru Ani Ngawang Gyaltsen and in the Dudjom Tersar tradition with Chönyi Rinpoche and Semo Dechen Yudrön. He received complete instruction in the Yuthok Nyingthig lineage, the unique spiritual tradition of Tibetan Medicine, from his teachers Khenpo Tsultrim Gyaltsen and Khenchen Troru Tsenam, and was requested to continue the Yuthok Nyingthig lineage by Jamyang Rinpoche of the Rebkong ngakpa and ngakma community.
A well-known poet in his youth, Dr. Nida later published many articles and books on Sowa Rigpa and the Yuthok Nyingthig tradition in Tibetan and English, which have been translated into several languages. He has extensively researched ancient Tibetan healing methods, and has gained acclaim in East and West for his revival of little-known Tibetan external therapies.
Alongside his medical education, Dr. Nida trained in Vajrayana with teachers from every school of Tibetan Buddhism. In particular, he trained in the Longchen Nyingthig tradition of the Nyingma school with his root guru Ani Ngawang Gyaltsen and in the Dudjom Tersar tradition with Chönyi Rinpoche and Semo Dechen Yudrön. He received complete instruction in the Yuthok Nyingthig lineage, the unique spiritual tradition of Tibetan Medicine, from his teachers Khenpo Tsultrim Gyaltsen and Khenchen Troru Tsenam, and was requested to continue the Yuthok Nyingthig lineage by Jamyang Rinpoche of the Rebkong ngakpa and ngakma community.
A well-known poet in his youth, Dr. Nida later published many articles and books on Sowa Rigpa and the Yuthok Nyingthig tradition in Tibetan and English, which have been translated into several languages. He has extensively researched ancient Tibetan healing methods, and has gained acclaim in East and West for his revival of little-known Tibetan external therapies.
