MOVEMENT & SOUND & MEDITATION
Eight Limbs, One Body and the Field of Life
A whole life yoga weekend immersion with James Boag
Experience how the foundation principles of yoga, set forth in the Bhagavad Gītā and distilled in the Yoga Sūtra can support and help guide us through the inevitable challenges of our lives
Deepen your understanding of the time-proven yoga principles so you can apply them to your own life and practice.
When: 12-14 April 2024
Where: Jemný Svět and Taiji Akademie, Prague 2
Price:
the whole workshop: 4900 CZK
Friday: 1300 CZK
Saturday: 2500 CZK
Sunday: 2500 CZK
YOGIC MOVEMENT (SAT and SUN MORNING PARTS): 2500 CZK
YOGIC WISDOM (SAT and SUN AFTERNOON PARTS): 2500 CZK
Morning Session: 1300 CZK
Afternoon Session: 1300 CZK
Registration and further information: ohni.ohen@gmail.com
Weekend overview:
We will learn and deepen our understanding of:
- The eight limbs as a frame/structure/support for ongoing, deepening practice
- The vast practical teachings encoded in Patañjali’s description/presentation of the eight limbs in the yoga sūtra
- How the eight limbs fit into the yogic method established in the opening chapter of the yoga sūtra and elaborated in chapters 2-4 and taught by Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad Gītā.
- How to work with the eight limbs in daily life and when working with different yoga practice methods and techniques
- The essence of all haṭha and physical/energetic yoga practices as distilled by Patañjali in the aṣṭāṅga section of the Yoga Sūtra and affirmed by Kṛṣṇa in the Gītā.
- The eight limbs as a ‘dharmic compass’ to help us navigate challenging times.
- The eight limbs as essential members of our personal practice team.
The eight limbs applied to:
- Being human, living and dying well
- Movement, embodiment, health, fitness
- Inquiry, communication, relating,
- listening, learning and sensemaking
- Yogāsana, prāṇāyāma and meditation practice
Complete Schedule:
Friday evening:
Introductory session (18:00-20:30)
Thorough introduction to the context of the Gītā and the Sūtra-s and how the teachings of the two texts are mutually complementary and supportive. Overview of the eight limbs in the context of the sūtra-s as a whole and in relation to the Bhagavad Gītā. The eight limbs as eight spokes of a wheel of dharma we can work with to navigate the challenges of life. Presentation with some simple movement and sound practices
Saturday morning:
Yogic movement exploration (10:00-13:00)
Practising and moving for all layers of our being. Body-based exploration of key aṣṭāṅga* practice principles
*NB. This is not ashtanga-vinyasa practice, but applying the eight limb principles to broad spectrum yogic movement, principles that you can use to inform, support and enhance any āsana, movement or physical practice!
Some people have said that Patañjali says very little about yogāsana. It is true that he only devotes three sūtra-s/twenty-eight syllables to āsana, but in these syllables so much is encoded. We will apply this in a practice exploration to help us understand how we can work skilfully with these time-proven principles to maximise the holistic benefits of āsana, movement and embodied practices.
Expect principle-based yogic movement work that can inform and support all types of physical practice.
Saturday afternoon:
Yama-niyama: a compass to live by and a vehicle for life (15:00-18:00)
Presentation, exploration and active learning exercises:
The teachings set forth in the Yoga Sūtra and Bhagavad Gītā, can be considered a user’s guide to a human incarnation. These teachings work with the map that is set forth in Sāṅkhya – a perspective/darśana that yoga texts assume familiarity with. We will deepen our familiarity with this Sāṅkhya-Yoga map in a very practical way, through active, pragmatic learning games and exploration. We’ll then further explore and deepen our understanding of the yama-niyama principles.
Meditation as a lifelong practice: The eight limbs and yogic meditation: working practically with the principles of yogic meditation as laid out by Patañjali in the Yoga Sūtra. Building a meditation practice that can continue to deepen and support us through the travails of life and as practice asks us to refine and go into previously uncharted realms.
Sunday morning:
Yogic movement: Yama-niyama: pulsating, cycling energy and power (9:30-12:30)
How the yama-niyama compass can guide and empower our work with the miraculous powers of our own bodies, senses and awareness. Harnessing physical practice and exploration for more robust vitality and balance, all life long.
Expect dynamic movement work stimulating reflexes and recruiting multiple intelligences to foster neurogenesis and renewal.
Sunday afternoon:
Yama-niyama and a compass to live by and a vehicle for life part two (13:30-16:00)
What to do when we don’t know what to do? This is one of the main concerns of the yogic perspective. Building on our explorations thus far and our understanding of the Sāṅkhya-yoga map of the human condition, we’ll dive deeper into the rich supports of yama and niyama and how we can work with them as a compass to stay true to our deepest longings and draw on deeper wisdom through the inevitable ups, downs and whirlings of life.
Kīrtan, sound practices and the eight limbs: we’ll close sharing the nourishing practice of kīrtan, yoga singing, with an understanding of how it can work with the aṣṭāṅga principles to invite the harmonising power of yoga deeper into our being.
Find more about James:
James teaches yoga and its philosophy all over the world. He focuses on the basic principles of yoga and natural movement. His approach updates the wisdom of traditional yoga teachings for modern times. He studied Sanskrit in Mysore, South India, and has been sharing his experiences for twenty years. In April, he will lead a YOGA IMMERSION workshop in Prague.
More about James at: http://www.jamesboagyoga.com/
His online courses can be found at: http://www.yogaanytime.com/