Yoga practice has been so glamorized and distorted in the west in the last decade it is easy to loose sight of what the practice is all about. On Saturday during the Yoga Immersion meeting I spoke about what a deep yoga practice offers us. Here are some of the take-away points:

• While the physical practice is great for our bodies, it's not about achieving a picture-perfect look.
• A healthy, flexible body helps create a healthy, flexible mind.
• If we’re not aware of our energy during poses, we’re not really doing yoga.
• The same goes for our mental focus during practice.
• It’s important to know where we should be feeling a pose to get the most out of it.
• Being confident enough to experiment with poses helps us connect better with our bodies.
• Our bodies are the tools we use to reach higher consciousness.

We also did some asanas that were all related through hip flexion. Same position, different ways of playing with gravity.

The potential for discovery and learning in a yoga practice is endless! (This is why I always ask for class suggestions. If you suggest a physical issue you want to address, and someone else does too, they both have to be tackled both in one hour, along with the pose of the month. That particular situation has never existed before, and we all get to experience this new combo-pack together!)  And it is this never-ending possibility for discovery that makes a Yoga Immersion something that can be done over and over. So many levels of understanding are present in one singular moment in time.  

If you would like to view the recording of the class please email me for the link. If you have an interest in attending the Yoga Immersion and have questions that were not addressed in the video, please feel free to email me. Have a mat nearby if you want to follow along with the recording!

This October, I will be leading another segment of the Yoga Loka Yoga Immersion. If you are wondering about the difference between a Yoga Immersion and a Teacher Training, read on!

When I moved here in 1997, I met my teacher, Parvathi Nanda Nath Saraswati, at a local gym. I had already been taking yoga in NYC with some of the yoga superstars of that time, and of course, I loved it. But meeting Parvathi revealed a deeper dimension to the practice. She drew our awareness away from the purely physical aspects and guided those of us who sought it towards the deeper practices of yoga. For those who wanted even more, she started a Yoga Apprentice program, which essentially became a teacher training for those of us interested in teaching. This was long before online certifications or one-week-long workshops sprouted up. We initially committed to a year, but many of us are still pursuing the teachings from Parvathi's lineage.

The apprentice program was exactly what it sounds like—we were apprentices. We followed her everywhere, observing and attempting to emulate her actions. We learned about her culture of origin (she was born in India) to understand the context and roots of the practices that had been transplanted to the West. We were taught to integrate these ancient practices respectfully into our Western lifestyle, as she had done herself. That didn't include cutting out the essence of the practice that was challenging, or changing the meaning to fit our western mind. During our apprenticeship, she was raising her three beautiful daughters, managing three furry dogs, and running a yoga school in suburban Bucks County, yet she remained dedicated to her practice. 

Even though her life appeared very American, she never diluted the practices she had learned from her family, ancestors, and teachers. If you were uncomfortable with the content, that was your problem to work out. If you didn’t understand the content, you either left confused (which was fine!) or continued to show up in order to have the lessons repeated until something clicked.

Twenty-five years later, a few original apprentices are still showing up, along with a much larger group. Fortunately, we are still very much confused, but we also recognize that much has been integrated. What is clear to us is that integration is far more important than merely learning something. Learned things can be forgotten, but what you integrate becomes a part of you permanently.

I have tried to model the yoga immersions at Yoga Loka in a similar way, one that seeks integration. This is one reason I prefer them to span a hefty period of time. The insights you gain about your body through the Joint Freeing Series can transform your perception of the body you have inhabited your whole life. People have had significant "Aha!" moments while practicing the JFS, and these realizations should not be rushed—they are to be integrated. Once this new knowledge is part of you, you will have the means and ability to understand other people’s bodies and comprehend why and how we practice yoga. This is what makes a great teacher. 

As my teachers have done, I mix yoga philosophy with the physical information taught. There is no way to separate them. What you learn about your body will change your mind, and vice versa. As your mind changes, your perception of the world around you changes. This shift takes time, patience, and guidance. It is not something that happens only during the 200 hours suggested for a yoga teaching certificate. Yes, something happens in 200 hours, but most likely it is not the transformation that a full, integrated yoga practice will support.

This round of the Yoga Immersion will focus on how typical asanas (like Warrior 1, Warrior 2, Triangle, etc.) arise from the Joint Freeing Series. If you know the JFS, you will have a better understanding of anatomy and kinesiology. If you don’t, you will still know more about asanas, and your body, than you did before. Additionally, we will cover topics such as koshas, Sanskrit, chakras, and prana. While this information will be valuable if you are interested in teaching yoga, it is invaluable if you are interested in integrating the multi-dimensional aspects of yourself.

If you are interested, click here to see more information about the immersion.