Mysore Class

Mysore class provides the student with a concentrated and heightened learning experience that will help he/she develop practical and technical yoga skills and be immersed in the inspirational magic and poetic soul of the practice. Each student will receive valuable one to one guidance from David on developing his/her personal practice.  The student will develop skill in applying the practice techniques in ways that are logical, challenging, intelligent and fun. David focuses on learning how to follow the Ashtanga system and at the same time creating a practice that honors individuality, versatility and creativity.

ASANA PRINCIPLES 1 and 2 (THE SINGLE POSITION AND CROUCH AND SPRING) APPLIED TO SURYA NAMASKARA  

The principle of the Single Position says: One root pose is the source of every pose.  Samasthiti represents this one pose because its form is composed of a single vertical line (known as a Danda or Stick).   By learning to dynamically align your skeleton in a pose that contains only this simple, foundational line, you can learn to express any form with a totality of participation and gain consummate asana expertise.  The second principle says: there is one universal approach to every transition.  It is called the Crouch and Spring because you approach every movement with: 1) a crouch-a formal setup position where you galvanize and get ready for action before taking action 2) a spring-where you launch yourself into motion with a fully committed move and create an instance of pure, supremely confident action.  

This class will show you how the positions and transitions of Surya Namaskara are at once basic enough and yet also different enough to help you learn to base your efforts on the principles of the Single Position and the Crouch and Spring.

ASANA PRINCIPLE #3 - FOUNDATION FIRST: LIMBS AS LEVERS

On the wheel of hatha yoga, meditation is the hub around which all techniques as spokes revolve which means every aspect of hatha yoga must inevitably lead you back to the center, to meditation. Remaining closely connected to the foundation of your posture is one means of centering yourself, and staying in the hub of meditation.

ASANA PRINCIPLE #4 - OPPOSING FORCES, SPINAL GESTURE 

It can be helpful to think of your asana as a stance of equilibrium, or more specifically as a dynamic expression of a momentary equilibrium. Equilibrium can be defined as “a state of adjustment between opposing or divergent influences or elements”-and this could also serve well as definition of asana. In coming to a state of equilibrium you are working to create an internal order, a unique, physical bodily harmony, a focused mental, inward absorption, and you achieve this order by learning to muscularly, skeletally, and energetically activate parts of the body such as your feet, legs, torso, shoulders and arms. The process of applying these specific asana actions to your body happens by putting into play conflicting and contrary forces. In this workshop, David will teach what these forces are:

Yoga Sutras Study

The intellectual study of yoga is an essential means of ensuring progress and maturity through practice. To be exposed to yoga theory is an important part of using of mind to enter into inward directed states of concentration and meditative awareness. This is the part of the intensive where you begin to learn how to apply the philosophical/theoretical basis of yoga to your practice. You begin to see how the theory and the practice are not separate, but rather are two aspects of the same applied, practical study. Meditating on the theoretical teachings helps bring you into more intelligent, accurate and subtle alignment.