Ashtanga Yoga for All

Ashtanga Yoga is based on some simple tools that are accessible to everyone. This workshop explores basic principles that can be used for everyone to feel integrity in each posture. Learn to make your practice work for you and experience joy and comfort in your time on mat and throughout the day. Without a doubt, you’ll leave this workshop with a fresh perspective, feeling invigorated dive deeper into your practice.

Saturday February 7

8:00am – 10.00am: Led Primary Series with Instruction
This unique style of led class features both the vinyasa count as well as some fundamental cues for the postures. Everyone will be made to feel welcome and safe in participating in this class, with options given regarding variations so everyone can do their version of the whole Primary series.

10:30am – 12.00pm: Over-Pushing in Yoga and the Bhagavad Gita (lecture)
Why do we find it hard not to practice too aggressively with our eyes almost exclusively focused on hoped for physical progress? The Bhagavad Gita shows us how normal this is, ingrained in human nature. But it also suggests a way out of what is, in the end, not the happiest place to operate from. This is called the path of ‘dharma’. Based on getting a deeper perspective on our situation, Krishna explains to the hero, Arjuna, how to navigate the ‘civil war’ he faces (metaphor for struggles of our lives). This is done through a combination of a careful relationship of mind and body. Come and find out how the text can operate as a direct guide to our modern practices and then in our lives in general.

1.00pm – 3.00pm: Mobility v Flexibility in Yoga (workshop)
Yoga is often assumed to be about flexibility; however, it should be more about mobility. Flexibility is what happens when you stretch outwards most superficially. Overstretching your ligaments and tendons, soon enough this is only destabilizing to the body. In contrast, mobility is a way of moving muscles in effective relationship with each other. It develops range of motion while also cultivating a strong and stable body. Find out how the difference of approach feels most pragmatically in the basic asanas and see if you can recognize the difference between the two approaches to a stretch.

Sunday February 8

8.30am – 10:00am: Led Half Intermediate Series for All
Originally, Primary and Intermediate series were taught as one series, which makes sense, because they complement each other. Primary is about to exhale breath and flexion of the spine. Intermediate is about spinal extension and the inhale breath. And these postures of the Intermediate can be made accessible to all bodies if we understand their foundational actions and then modify them to suit our needs. Come and enjoy a new perspective on a series that need not be out of reach – and indeed should be incorporated into your regular routine.

12:30pm – 2:30pm Jump Back & Jump Through for Everybody
Everyone can all do a version of this movement. And it doesn’t mean we need to ‘fly’ – although we may (or may not). There are unique benefits of this movement for both the scapula as well as the digestion. It’s simply a question of breaking the component movements down then into ‘bite sized’ chunks, so that everyone can effectively worked with it. You might feel your arms are too short or your tummy too big, but you’d be surprised how a few tips for this can change the whole experience for you, taking you from frustration and confusion to grasping what you need to do to keep developing these somewhat elusive movements.