Ashtanga Yoga: A New Perspective (engl.)

Saturday & Sunday 9.-10.5.26 + Monday 11.5.26 with Adam Keen

Ashtanga Yoga is based on some simple tools that are accessible to everyone. Often shrouded in mystery, this workshop puts things into basic terms that can then be fitted regarding specific details to each individual.

Take charge of your practice by making it work for you – not you for it. This also puts the joy back into practice when we feel we can use the method as opposed to being trapped by a rule book.

Without a doubt, you’ll leave this workshop with a fresh perspective, feeling invigorated and ready to either get back to or dive deeper into your practice.

SATURDAY

08.00 – 10.00: Mysore Self-Practice

This practice is based on individual exploration, kindness, and fun. Adam gives yoga assistance in a safe and non-intrusive way. He does not believe in forcing people into postures, rather, he uses verbal and light physical touch to open new directions for you to follow if you wish.  All are welcome to the Mysore class. Adam is happy if you need practice sheets, but you should have memorised at least the sun salutations A and B and some of the standing sequence.

10.30 – 12.00: Breathing Basics

The diaphragm, when connected to most effectively through a certain application of bandha, is what makes the breath in yoga unique.  The result is not only a liberating effect on the deep muscles of the back, but, most importantly, the ability to put oneself into the sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system at will. This is not the technique of ujjayi which tends to encourage a mistaken breathing in the throat. Yoga clothes not required but dress comfortably.

13.00 – 14.30: Mobility v Flexibility in Yoga

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

08.00 – 10.00:  Mysore Self-Practice

10.30 – 12.00: 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.

13.00 – 14.30: Modern Yoga Development in the 20^th Century.

Whether we like it or not, modern yoga practice is, indeed, modern. On the other hand, it does have deep roots. They’re just not literally traceable from what we do now back 2000 years. But this doesn’t mean they aren’t still the foundational principles of what we’re doing now. Find out how key yoga teachers of the early 20^th century; Krishnamacharya, Yogendra, Yogananada, Vivekananda to name a few, interpreted the ancient practice of yoga to fit into the modern context.

MONDAY

08.00 – 10.00:  Mysore Self-Practice 

10.30 – 12.00: Session 1 Safe and Effective Physical Assistance

Whether you’re a teacher or a student, learning how to assist others helps you understand what you’re doing in your own practice. This doesn’t mean ‘adjustments’; pushing bodies further than they can naturally go, rather, a way of helping and individual, safely and non-intrusively, to connect more deeply and effectively to their own unique body as it is. Come and find out how we can use ‘physical assistance’ rather than adjustments to affect a more potent change than the outmoded ‘adjustment’.

12.30 – 14.00: Session 2 Safe and Effective Physical Assistance

14.15 – 15.00: Discussion, Q&A