www.ashtangayogaschoolofphiladelphia.com
My mission is to lead and be part of a strong and lasting Ashtanga Yoga community in Philadelphia, a community that is dedicated to practicing, preserving, and passing on the lineage of traditional Ashtanga Yoga. I am offering to teach, as accurately and soulfully as possible, what I’ve learned and continue to learn from this lineage. We’ll all work together, practicing with faith and energy in order to truly understand the Ashtanga method and to create the same type of opportunities for bhakti (devotion) and tapas (intensity) in yoga study as exist in Guruji’s yoga shala in Mysore India.
Schedule
Monday thru Friday…………………………..6:45 am-9:30 am
Sunday……………………………………………….9:00 am-11:00 am
Friday LED CLASS will be TBA on a week to week basis by Davids schedule.
Please note:
Doors are open at 6:30 am and close at 10:00 am
David begins teaching at 6:45 and ends teaching at 9:15.
Location
AYS is located in downtown Philadelphia on Jewelers’ Row.
733 Sansom St (3rd Floor)
19106
Fees
Unlimited monthly fee………….$180.00
However, upon request we do offer a sliding scale option beginning at $150.00.
10 class punch card…………….$125.00
Drop in fee…………………………$18.00
One Week Traveling Student….$70.00
A Few Guidelines
Please maintain silence inside the room during practice times (except when interacting with the teacher about matters relevant to your practice).
Stick to the series you are working on and the postures you have been given and refrain from mixing postures and sequences from other styles when in the room. Learn the method as it is taught and discover its potency.
Make a real commitment to your yoga practice and the learning exchange that will happen between us. Understand that our time together may be short or long, in either case we must work together NOW with energy and fire so that when we do part, you will know what the Ashtanga method is and how to practice effectively.
Realize that authentic Yoga study is at once challenging and subtle, but also ultimately effortless. Be willing to spend time during practice and at other times of the day reflecting on your self, your thoughts, memories, emotions, dreams, and yearnings with aims of dropping your efforts and simply receiving insights that bring personal change and realization.
Here’s a partial list of things to consider in order to optimize the possibilities for progress and growth in your practice:
Remember your practice is yours, guidance is essential and yet ultimately you must chart your spiritual course; you are the best one to decide how to go within and draw forth your wisdom
Bhakti is Best
Be ready
Practice seriously and enthusiastically
Be well rested
Practice with an empty belly
Practice is meditation and movement combined
Place importance on understanding the connection between the vinyasa positions and the breathing patterns
Refrain from alcohol, drugs, tobacco and late night meals.
Consider observing and possibly making significant changes to your diet including reducing or eliminating meat and animal products as well as reducing or eliminating sugar.
These policies are guidelines meant to help all of us deepen our study of Ashtanga yoga. There are always exceptions to the rules and you can communicate with me about any extenuating circumstances that may exist for you with regard to any of the above. The teacher/student relationship that we develop depends on communication and trust, so please whenever necessary, email me or arrange a time to talk in person.
A Summary and Reminder of Ashtanga Yoga
Ashtanga Yoga is a complete Yoga method based on Bhakti (devotion) to a breathing and movement system called Vinyasa. Through Ashtanga yoga you come to realize your Self and your purpose by learning to systematically combine several internal and external techniques including: breathing, internal locks, meditation, posture, conscious movement and gazing. When these basic techniques are applied with discipline, subtlety and skill, they are excellent tools for becoming physically and mentally strong and perceptive. When you’ve developed your practice, you learn to ‘inhabit’ your body like a animal moving freely in the wild and at the same time your mind becomes strong and fit for meditation. Practicing to create this combination of physical grace and power and mental clarity and openness leads to spiritual awakening. The method consists of learning a rigorous, well balanced sets of postures and the vinyasa positions that form the set sequences. The alternating, opposing movement and breathing patterns within the given sequences help you to internalize your mind and to gain depth and wisdom by observing the true nature of what is happening within you.
Hari Om!
David
David,
I’ve been in recent Sunday classes at Lehigh Valley yoga and have so enjoyed your teaching. Also getting great benefit from your DVDs. I’ve been studying for a long time and have taught in various places off and on before getting a full time job teaching up here in north central PA at Mansfield University (flute professor). For budget reasons we music faculty have to teach bigger classes, so I have been encouraged to teach a 3 credit freshman seminar class in the fall. I have to get a book order in. Description of class is below. My question is: do you think these might be best Yoga Sutra translation choices for freshman at a rural university?
Looking forward to catching more classes with you when school gets out ~
Christine
Course Description:
This class is for first-year students who wish to explore the benefits of physical yoga, mental training techniques and meditation. The class is geared towards overall physical and mental health and includes learning how to succeed in the academic environment through the perspective of the general education curriculum.
Required Materials:
o Yoga mat (available at bookstore)
o Attire that will allow free movement (gym attire, sweat pants/shirt, etc)
o The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (trans by Alistair Shearer, pub: Bell Tower, NY, NY)
o The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, A New Translation with Commentary by Chip Hartranft (Pub: Shambhala Publications, Boston, MA)
Course Objectives:
1) Knowledge of and ability to perform basic yoga poses that will be presented in sequential order.
2) Knowledge of basic anatomy and function as it relates to our practice.
3) Knowledge of breathing and meditation techniques to calm, energize or focus the mind.
4) The ability to write about individual experience from the perspective of observer.
5) Basic understanding of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali through reading, writing, reflection and discussion.
6) Through self-reflection and experience know how the Yamas (5 external disciplines) and Niyamas (5 internal disciplines) may enhance one’s experience in life and as a student.
Hi Christine, I like the first book you listed, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (trans by Alistair Shearer, pub: Bell Tower, NY, NY) in part due to the excellent introduction. I’m less fond the 2nd book, it has a bit too much of a Buddhist slant for my taste. I do like the bare bones, beginner friendly translation by Barbara Stotler Miller and a more accurate and dense translation by Vyas Houston entitled the Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali ‘the certainty of freedom’. All the best, see you soon, David
Hi David;
Thanks for the great video clip of the “tic tock” movement from handstand to back bend and back…I’m a very visual learner and watching someone do a movement helps so much! I can see that getting back into hand stand from the back bend requires a great deal of core strength as well as the ability to nutate the tailbone and stretch the hip flexors strongly… Don’t know if I’ll ever get there, but it’s fun to imagine and, who knows, maybe it will come some day.
It sounds like you are getting well established there in Philly…good for you, and fortunate for the Ashtanga community too.
Are you still interested in setting up a workshop at Stephanie’s studio in Ashville? How’s your winter schedule look?
Hello,
I am interested in your 9to 11 Sunday class.
I live in Harrisburg so I would be interested in the punch card for ten sessions.
Can I use the punch card to my convenience as not to attend ten consec. sessions?
Thank You.
Hi William,
yes, the ten class card can be used at your leisure. Hope you can make it to Philadelphia and we can get a chance to work together.
Hari Om,
David