Alignment in Ashtanga Yoga
What does ‘alignment’ mean in yoga practice? Is it the anatomically correct form of a pose? In the Ashtanga Yoga method alignment means aligning breath with movement, attention with sensation, and awareness with energy. In other words, alignment in Ashtanga Yoga is yoga itself.
This workshop is an intensive mini-course in alignment in Ashtanga Yoga. Participants are guided through poses and sequences while seeking and recognizingalignmentin the Ashtanga Yoga system. Beginners and advanced Ashtanga students alike can learn to enliven and empower their yoga practice.
Friday night: 6-8:30pm
Suryanamaskara— Sun Salutation
The sun salutation is the foundation of Astanga Yoga, laying the groundwork for the entire practice to follow. This session focusses on the physical, mental, social, and spiritual components of this ancient practice.
Saturday Morning: 9:00-12:00pm
Exploration of Back-bending postures
Saturday Afternoon: 1:00-4:00pm
Exploration of Twisting and Hip Opening postures
The individual poses in the Ashtanga system are microcosms of the energetic experience of the sun salutations. Each provides a unique entry point to a profound experience of physiology and the world around us. In the two sessions students learn how to properly do and powerfully experience the backbends and twists, respectively.
Sunday Morning (@ AYC BELMONT)
8-9:00am: Yoga of Vocalization (mantra),
9:15-11:00am: A Led Primary Series practice
A morning introduction to mantra practice at AYC in Belmont will be immediately followed by a guided session in Ashtanga Yoga’s Primary Series of poses.
Sunday Afternoon: (@ The Ivy Yoga School)
12:30-3:30pm: Inversions and Meditation
Back at the Ivy Yoga School, the afternoon session focusses on the closing sequences in Ashtanga, including inversions leading up to headstand. Emphasis will be on techniques for engaging in Ashtanga practice as meditation.
The Instructor
John Campbell, Ph.D.,has been practicing Ashtanga Yoga for the past 25 years. He studied with Pattabhi Jois from 1992 until his passing in 2009 and was Certified by his late teacher in 2001. A scholar of Sanskrit and Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, he is co-founder of the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia, where he served as professor of Religious Studies until 2017. He works as a translator with Columbia University’s Center for Buddhist Studies.
$150 for whole workshop ($30 single session)