Advancing Your Practice - A Fall Series
What does it mean, to practice "advanced" yoga? Is it possible to advance if your knees or hips or spine just won't do that crazy stuff? Is it breathing? Meditation? Enlightenment? A religion, or a cult? Well, I can promise you that I won't be indoctrinating you into either of those last two, but we will be exploring all the rest of it, including challenging poses. Yoga is a system of living that allows for a life with more ease and grace, and for 8 weeks, Helen is going to lay it all on the mat.
Each Sunday from October 2 - November 20, we'll explore all the elements of an advanced yoga practice, so you can - like all advancing yogis - pick and choose what's going to keep motivating you to go deeper.
Every class will include breath work, meditation, and some "advanced" poses. We will use the first 'how to manual' for yoga, written over 600 years ago, as our guide to what makes a yogi master, and acknowledge and accept that life today is a little more complicated. We can still advance in our practice without the whole naked and starving in a shack in the woods parts. This is advancing yoga, on the mat, and in the modern world.
Here's a general outline of the program:
1: The Mountains Abide
Advancing yogis are less shaky, in poses, and in life. We're going to work on some fundamental postures and have hands-on adjustments to make sure you've got those basics lined up ideally in your body, and show you where you can challenge yourself and grow. Understanding the strength, stability, and stillness of the mountain in every pose is our goal.
2: Go with the Flow
Advancing yogis move between the poses with ease and grace; waves in the water. Our bodies get crunchy with too much stillness, so advancing yogis also work to master the smooth flow of muscles, breath, and motion. You'll be trying out advanced alignments of the basics, while mastering your transitions and the smooth flawless flow from pose to pose.
3. Yoga is Ethics
Advancing yogis know, you can never truly advance if you take yourself too seriously, or not seriously enough. Today's challenging practice will show you how to overcome the obstacles to improving your performance, (in yoga and in life), keep motivated, and embrace constant growth, versus hanging out in easy places.
4. Effortless Effort
Working hard doesn't mean working too hard. What's the point of putting 100% effort into something if you only need 86%? Or 23%? Advancing yogis use exactly the right amount of effort and focus, no more, no less. Finding this ideal balance produces a state of "effortless effort" in your poses that makes the advancing yogi appear serene and graceful, even in intense, challenging moments. When you master this, your regular practice, no matter how vigorous, becomes a deep meditation, from the first breath of class to the last. Bliss!
5. There is No "One Way" to be Advanced.
Stillness and motion, stillness in motion... is there motion in stillness too? Absolutely. Advancing yogis know that forcing never fits, and ego isn't advancement. We're going to look at some advanced versions of basic poses and select 3 for our personal development.
6. Enlightenment Happens by Accident. Meditation makes you Accident Prone.
Deep, slow, and mostly silent, we're beginning to get the big picture now, and we want to let everything we've learned so far sink deeper into the ebb and flow of body and breath and masterful movement. Advancing yogis know there's no real ending in sight.
7. You Are a Natural.
We all have poses we love, poses we hate, poses we wish we could have. Advancing yogis don't back away from a challenge, but they don't waste time on things they can't have, either. When you know your unique strengths, you will find plenty of poses to match. You'll know how to make the most of the ones that will never quite fit, and how to make the most of what you've got to help get you where you want to go.
8. So Now We're Enlightened, Right?
Oops! If you think that, you might still be a beginner.
But no, you are so advanced now, you know we are always just beginners, and it's good to practice being in the unknown.
**** You do not have to feel "advanced" to enjoy this series. Anyone with a moderate practice, basic knowledge of the most common poses, and an interest in a safer, deeper, and more satisfying experience in every class will feel comfortable and safe here.
Each Sunday from October 2 - November 20, we'll explore all the elements of an advanced yoga practice, so you can - like all advancing yogis - pick and choose what's going to keep motivating you to go deeper.
Every class will include breath work, meditation, and some "advanced" poses. We will use the first 'how to manual' for yoga, written over 600 years ago, as our guide to what makes a yogi master, and acknowledge and accept that life today is a little more complicated. We can still advance in our practice without the whole naked and starving in a shack in the woods parts. This is advancing yoga, on the mat, and in the modern world.
Here's a general outline of the program:
1: The Mountains Abide
Advancing yogis are less shaky, in poses, and in life. We're going to work on some fundamental postures and have hands-on adjustments to make sure you've got those basics lined up ideally in your body, and show you where you can challenge yourself and grow. Understanding the strength, stability, and stillness of the mountain in every pose is our goal.
2: Go with the Flow
Advancing yogis move between the poses with ease and grace; waves in the water. Our bodies get crunchy with too much stillness, so advancing yogis also work to master the smooth flow of muscles, breath, and motion. You'll be trying out advanced alignments of the basics, while mastering your transitions and the smooth flawless flow from pose to pose.
3. Yoga is Ethics
Advancing yogis know, you can never truly advance if you take yourself too seriously, or not seriously enough. Today's challenging practice will show you how to overcome the obstacles to improving your performance, (in yoga and in life), keep motivated, and embrace constant growth, versus hanging out in easy places.
4. Effortless Effort
Working hard doesn't mean working too hard. What's the point of putting 100% effort into something if you only need 86%? Or 23%? Advancing yogis use exactly the right amount of effort and focus, no more, no less. Finding this ideal balance produces a state of "effortless effort" in your poses that makes the advancing yogi appear serene and graceful, even in intense, challenging moments. When you master this, your regular practice, no matter how vigorous, becomes a deep meditation, from the first breath of class to the last. Bliss!
5. There is No "One Way" to be Advanced.
Stillness and motion, stillness in motion... is there motion in stillness too? Absolutely. Advancing yogis know that forcing never fits, and ego isn't advancement. We're going to look at some advanced versions of basic poses and select 3 for our personal development.
6. Enlightenment Happens by Accident. Meditation makes you Accident Prone.
Deep, slow, and mostly silent, we're beginning to get the big picture now, and we want to let everything we've learned so far sink deeper into the ebb and flow of body and breath and masterful movement. Advancing yogis know there's no real ending in sight.
7. You Are a Natural.
We all have poses we love, poses we hate, poses we wish we could have. Advancing yogis don't back away from a challenge, but they don't waste time on things they can't have, either. When you know your unique strengths, you will find plenty of poses to match. You'll know how to make the most of the ones that will never quite fit, and how to make the most of what you've got to help get you where you want to go.
8. So Now We're Enlightened, Right?
Oops! If you think that, you might still be a beginner.
But no, you are so advanced now, you know we are always just beginners, and it's good to practice being in the unknown.
**** You do not have to feel "advanced" to enjoy this series. Anyone with a moderate practice, basic knowledge of the most common poses, and an interest in a safer, deeper, and more satisfying experience in every class will feel comfortable and safe here.
Book your spot - there's a limit.
Advancing Your Practice
CA$108.00
What does it mean, to practice "advanced" yoga? Is it possible to advance if your knees or hips or spine just won't do that crazy stuff? Is it breathing? Meditation? Enlightenment? A religion, or a cult? Well, I can promise you that I won't be indoctrinating you into either of those last two, but we will be exploring all the rest of it, including challenging poses. Yoga is a system of living that allows for a life with more ease and grace, and for 8 weeks, Helen is going to lay it all on the mat..
