philosophy

sunday july 20
2 - 4 p

stu will lead an interactive discussion on topics dealing with religion’s role in yoga, addressing the frequent questions that come up. Is yoga a religion? What has yoga’s historical background been in religion? What about use in yoga’s current forms? Do I “have to” believe anything or can I just workout and/or get flexible? This workshop will explore with the room to be flexible, and accommodating, without being required to believe anything. Bring your thoughts, bring your questions.

Suggested $10 donation to go to religious tolerance dot org

friday, June 27
8 - 930p

join visiting teachers rebecca vinacour and grant burns for a lively philosophy talk and discussion exploring how we can apply yogic philosophy to finding, keeping, and staying happy with our perfect partner.

Rebecca Vinacour has been a close student of Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally for the past ten years. She has studied extensively at Monasteries in both India and Nepal. Rebecca is the Director of the Tibetan Studies Program at Diamond Mountain University. She is currently training for an upcoming three year silent retreat in the desert of Arizona.

Grant Burns has been a student of Buddhism since 2000 and has taken all 18 courses of the Asian Classics Institute. Grant is a close student of Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally and a former professional comedian and is currently a television and film actor. Grant is also training for the upcoming three year retreat at Diamond Mountain University.

by donation

saturday june 7
130 - 4 p

Using meditation, imagery, and physical asana
taken from ancient texts on the Machine of the body
and the Kalachakra Tantra, Mira will lead us through a
practice that harnesses the power of the inner winds
and helps us relate to our body on a level beneath the
gross physical plane.

Series 4 is a beautiful, vigorous flowing asana sequence that
includes meditating on the five vayus: prana vayu,
udana vayu, samana vayu, apana vayu, and viyana vayu.
The five vayus run through the inner body, underlying
not only our health and well-being but also our
experience of the outer world. Be prepared to
transform your physical practice by re-imaging your
perception of the body and to explore your
understanding of the inner body’s relationship to the
outer world.

friday june 6, 7 - 930p (kirtan concert and philosophy), $20
saturday june 7, 10 - 12p, $30
sunday june 8, 10-12p, $30

Tibetan Heart Yoga is a practice where one works from
the inside and the outside. One works from the inside
with meditation and from the outside with pranayama,
asana, and ethical practices.

The Tibetan Heart Yoga lineage traces its roots back through Tibet to ancient India. It is a compassion and wisdom based practice that weaves philosophy, meditation, and breath work with the physical postures. If you are looking to set your practice on fire with authentic teachings taken directly from the ancient texts and masters, please join us for the first ever Tibetan Heart Yoga workshop in Washington, DC! All levels encouraged.

Mira Shani is a founding member, North American Regional Executive Director and Senior Staff teacher of the Yoga Studies Institute. She’s been studying and teaching yoga, philosophy and Buddhist Dharma for over 10 years. She is a close student of Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally, who she came in contact with while studying at Kopan Monastery in Nepal. She also studies closely with Anusara Founder, John Friend and travels around the country and world to teach. Mira lives in Arizona where she studies with her heart Teachers and teaches at Yoga Oasis. Mira also hosts a local radio show called the Chill Side on 92.9, The Mountain.

Pay online for the full workshop or to register for one or two of the sessions, please call or stop by the studio (202-234-9642)

saturday, april 5, 2-6 pm

Join area master yogi Doug Keller for a strong asana class directed toward developing more awareness of the bandhas in your body as you move from pose to pose. The focus of the workshop is to develop the use of the bandhas as keys to strength and alignment as you move from pose to pose.

Doug will first describe the actions and effects of each of the bandhas physically and energetically. The bandhas are simple yet powerful muscular actions in the area of the pelvic floor (mula), lower abdominals (uddiyana), head, neck and shoulders (jalandhara) — which align these key areas, providing optimal strength, support, protection to the joints, as well as freedom in both the supple physical movement of vinyasa and the subtleties of the breath. In the case of pranayama and meditation, the bandhas support greater and more extended periods of stillness and concentration. Some simple exercises will be introduced to support your practice of the bandhas as part of this introduction.

Then he’ll lead a vinyasa-based asana class that will incorporate the bandhas into the weave of breath and movement. The basic exercises for the bandhas will be incorporated into the flow. The original texts of hatha yoga cite the bandhas as being crucial to having a fruitful asana practice.

This workshop will help you examine the powerfully supportive qualities of these bandhas in your own body. The extended length of the workshop will allow time to end with a period of guided (seated) pranayama techniques and meditation which incorporate the actions of the bandhas. advanced beginners to intermediate students.

11.11 (saturday) from 1-4 p

join this discussion forum to understand the philisophical basis of the 4,000 year old system of yoga. whether you approach classic yoga scriptures like the bhagavad gita and patanjali’s yoga sutras as a spiritual or intellectual pursuit (or both!), having a foundation for discussion on subjects like letting go of selfish attachments and changes in the seasons will give you more information on the yogic system. join the discussion as a first step of inquiry into the ancient literatures and how they inform us about our modern world and our own lives.

9.18-10.23 (six mondays) 730-845 p

take this short course on meditation to establish a practice of mindfulness and being present in your daily life. no experience in meditation is necessary, though we invite those with some experience in meditation to deepen their practice through this course as well.

the value of this course is its regularity: especially if you struggle with coming to our free friday and sunday night meditations, spend each monday:

1. learning to sit properly,
2. developing meditation techniques that are right for your mind/body connection,
3. understanding how men and women meditate differently, and
4. integrating this important practice into your daily life. please expect one sub for kim during the six weeks; we want to expose you to more than one type of meditation.