Yoga Sutra in Practice
To know the Sutras is to know oneself. The essence of yoga, distilled and offered by Patanjali over two thousand years ago, is the earliest and most authoritative text on yoga and psychology. In just 195 aphorisms, Patanjali helps us explore the deeper layers of our own mind, it's potentials, limitations and possibilities. It is a fascinating journey: as we navigate the inner contours, we learn to live our life in harmony and alignment within and without.
This course will explore the teachings of the Yoga Sutra in a practical, experiential manner so that we can integrate these teachings into our daily life seamlessly. The course includes short Asana, Pranayama practices and chanting the Sutras.
This course is offered in 4 modules of 12-15 weeks each.
For whom is this course?
Are you seeking to live life more fully with awareness and inner joy?
Do you carry questions around why we suffer?
How are we contributing to it?
How can we be free from it?
Do you yearn to see yourself and others happy and healthy?
Are you ready to work with yourself in this direction?
This course is highly recommended for the Yoga Acharya, Yoga Vaidya students and graduates.
What will you learn through this study?
We will explore every Sutra starting from Chapter 2. The word by word meaning followed by important ideas for inquiry and practices as received from the teachers in the tradition of Sri T Krishnamacharya.
This study will help you understand:
> The real meaning and purpose of yoga
> Practices to improve our wellbeing, sharpen the inner faculties towards quietness & clarity.
> What are the impediments on this journey and how to overcome them.
> How to refine attitudes, perceptions and actions in daily living.
> How to stay inspired to walk this path as an individual and as a collective.
Please note that this is NOT an intellectual study. The study and inquiry into the wisdom of the Yoga Sutra is possible only when you have a regular (daily) yoga practice that prepares your mind to work with the teachings. A practice that helps with deep listening, intense observation and quiet contemplation.
If you are a yoga teacher/therapist or aspiring to walk and guide your students on this fascinating inner journey, you will get the best out of this course by working with a personal teacher/mentor in this tradition.
If you are a psychologist or mental health professional, this study has to be complemented with a guided personal practice of yoga so you understand how the philosophy of yoga seamlessly blends with practical living.
SCHEDULE
Saturdays, 6 - 8 AM IST
February & March 5, 12, 19, 26
April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
May 7, 14
REPEAT STREAMING & DISCUSSION ON:
Mondays, 6 - 8 PM IST
February & March 7, 14, 21, 28
April 4, 11, 18, 25
May 2, 9, 16
Please note that there will be an orientation session on January 22nd 6-8 AM IST that all participants are expected to attend. We would like to meet you and understand your expectations and share about the learning process and commitment required as a student studying the Yoga Sutra text.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE FOUR CHAPTERS
1 SAMADHI PADA The definition of yoga and the mind, how to reach that state? What are the obstacles and solutions to reach the state of yoga and what are the possibilities of a refined mind?
2 SADHANA PADA The spirit of action in yoga (Kriya Yoga), afflictions of the human mind and how they perpetuate to cause suffering (duhkham), the relationship between Purusa (Consciousness) and Prakrti (Nature/Matter), the process of weakening the afflictions, the path and tools - Bahiranga Sadhana (First 5 Anga-s of Astanga Yoga).
3 VIBHUTI PADA Antaranga Sadhana (last 3 Anga-s of Astanga Yoga), the process of transformation of the mind, acquiring extraordinary faculties and powers that come as a result of this transformation and a strong warning for the practitioner not to get stuck with these powers and remember to progress towards the ultimate goal.
4 KAIVALYA PADA The different means of achieving supernatural powers, on perception and functioning of the mind, further refinement of the mind and the process of moving towards Kaivalya - the ultimate liberation from suffering.
COURSE FEE
For Indians residing in India: INR 20,000/- + 18% GST (INR 23,600/-).
For students residing outside India: USD 650/- including 18% GST
ABOUT THE TEACHER
Saraswathi Vasudevan is a yoga teacher, trainer and therapist in the tradition of Sri T Krishnamacharya. She has close to three decades of study, practice and teaching experience in this tradition, having studied directly with Sri TKV Desikachar for over 17 years. She has two Masters Degrees in Nutrition and Psychology from the University of Madras, Chennai, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Yoga Studies from Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM), Chennai.
In 2010, she founded YogaVahini, a Specialised Yoga Training, Therapy and Research Centre along with her husband Sundar, with the aim of making the transformative and healing wisdom of yoga and personalised yoga therapy more accessible to everyone. YogaVahini has centres in Chennai & Hyderabad and presence in other cities in India and around the world. In 2016 she co-founded Yoga Vahini Foundation, a Public Charitable Trust that aims to bring yoga and yoga therapy to rural and underserved populations through yoga camps, training and awareness programs.
Saraswathi currently serves on the Voluntary Board of Directors of Yoga Alliance, the largest international yoga certifying and credentialing body which provides strategic direction that advances the development and livelihood of yoga professionals across the world.
THE LINEAGE AND TEACHERS
The study of the Yoga Sutra is a lifelong process. Everytime you study/teach there is a new layer of learning unfolding for yourself that reflects something about yourself with greater clarity. Saraswathi started the study of the Yoga Sutra with Sri TKV Desikachar in 1990, with his Saturday morning public lectures on Yoga Sutra for the next 17 years. A deeper understanding of the Sutras emerged through studies with Sri Raghu Ananthanarayanan as well as other teachers Sri Srivatsa Ramaswami, Jyotsna Narayanan and R Sriram. She continues to study and teach the Yoga Sutra along with Raghu, Jyotsna and Dr. Latha Satish in a long term Yoga Sutra study program that continues to expand and deepen her inquiry and understanding, particularly in the area of application in practice.