Yoga Sadhana

YOGA-SADHANA

Holistic Life Transformation

15 hour training – YACEP certified

Lead Teacher: Karina Arenas Bonansea

Sardinia – Italy

The future is not some place we are going to but rather one we are creating; the paths to it are not found but made.

According to the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali the yogi can get rid of the suffering that would have come to him in the future… Yoga is offering us the tools to create the life we want. It requires a sincere practice or “Sadhana” without interruptions.

This is an opportunity to learn how to design your own yoga sadhana for a holistic life transformation and how to integrate that sadhana into your daily life.

The topics to be covered in this intensive weekend training of 15 hours:

– Asana –

In asana, we work on the heart and mind from the inside and outside. By placing the physical body in specific positions, we purposefully affect and explore the channels of the subtle body, facilitating the flow of prana into new pathways of awareness. By breathing, with feeling, sensitivity and visualization, we facilitate the more subtle inner methods as well since our very thoughts ride upon the prana, opening a panoramic awareness of our hearts and minds.

One of the original purposes of asana was to provide the yogi with the necessary physical conditioning to sit completely still in deep meditation for extended periods of time. Another purpose is to position the body in various ways that help to open the inner channels (nadis), and to facilitate the flow of vital energy (prana), awareness and wisdom within them. This eventually triggers greater transformation of the body and mind.

– Pranayama –

Once established in asana, pranayama allows us to take this transformation to deeper and subtle levels. We will practice traditional methods as described in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. In pranayama, we closely observe and carefully work with the outer breath as well as the inner breath, prana, in order to open up the center of our body for our observation, and for the evolution of our bodies and minds. Working with and activating the vital life force allows us to go beyond one’s normal boundaries, attaining a more vibrant and expansive state of awareness and presence. This enhances health and vitality, but more importantly, our ability to rest in meditation.

– Mudras and Bandhas –

Working with bandhas allows us to hold our vital energy in specific locations of the body, directing its flow to the center of our being, the core of our awareness, aiding our goal of awakening. Mudras are gestures or energetic attitudes which allow intended flow of vital energy, increasing the practitioner’s awareness of the body. Ultimately, these two together enable the yogi to focus dissipated prana into the central channel and higher energy centers.

– Meditation –

Using meditation techniques, we fine tune our ability to relax with composure and clarity of focus. Resting the tension of body and mind, we have access to a stillness that allows insight. This stillness allows familiarization with our tendency toward following impulses, being enmeshed and engrossed in distractions, and the various ways one’s mind wanders. When this restful state of letting go is achieved, prana courses through the body – the mental pliancy triggers physical pliancy, wellbeing and bliss. This becomes a platform for insight in samadhi.

Samadhi – “extraordinary vision” or “insight” – refers to non-conceptual wisdom, resting in one’s own natural state, one’s own true nature. While we can approach understanding this through intellectual contemplations, visualizations and study, we ultimately must experience it for ourselves. While all the practices and techniques of yoga may at first make brief encounters with such insight possible, we cultivate meditation techniques to empower the practitioner to dissolve obstacles, and to habituate and extend these encounters.

– Yoga Nidra –

“Yoga Nidra is a systematic method of inducing complete physical, mental and emotional relaxation. The term yoga nidra is derived from two Sanskrit words, yoga meaning union or one-pointed awareness, and nidra, which mean sleep. During the practice of yoga nidra, one appears to be asleep, but the consciousness is functioning at a deeper level of awareness. For this reason, yoga nidra is often referred to as psychic sleep or deep relaxation with inner awareness. It is the state of dynamic sleep, a state between sleep and wakefulness” (Swami Satyananda Saraswati). Familiarizing ourselves with this practice, we habituate greater states of relaxation which carries over into our daily lives, allowing us to be closer to our own true nature.

– Yoga’s Root Texts –

We will discuss the ancient wisdom of two of the classic yoga scriptures: the Yoga Sutra of Master Patanjali and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika of Yogi Svatmarama. A text of around 2000 years old, and yet full of timeless truth, the Yoga Sutra is divided into four chapters, within which the path of Raja Yoga and the 8 Limbs of Yoga are detailed: Samadhi Pada (Contemplation or Meditation); Sadhana Pada (Practice or Way); Vibhutti Pada (Accomplishments); and Kaivalya Pada (Absoluteness or Absolute Purity). Written around 1350, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika sheds light on the methods for joining the sun and the moon channels, means for realization and freedom, through its five chapters: Lesson One “Description of the practice called Asanas”; Lesson Two “Description of the technique of Pranayama”; Lesson Three “Mudras”; Lesson Four “Samadhi”; and Lesson Five “Description of Treatment”. This classic wisdom will guide us in our practice, just as it has for the yogis and yoginis who have come before us – in this way, we stand on the shoulders of giants.

Schedule – 15-hour training – YACEP certified 

 

Friday September 20th

Afternoon Session:  2:30 pm to 5:30 pm

Theory and Practice – Introduction to the course – Yoga Nidra & Meditation

Saturday September 21st

Morning session: 10 am to 1:00 pm 

Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha”

Lunch Break: 1 pm to 2:30 pm 

Afternoon Session:  2:30 pm to 5:30 pm

Theory and Practice

Practice with understanding is the key to success. Discussions on the foundational yoga scriptures: Yoga Sutra / Hatha Yoga Pradipika 

Sunday September 22nd

Morning session: 10 am to 1:00 pm 

Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha”

Lunch Break: 1 pm to 2:30 pm 

Afternoon Session:  2:30 pm to 5:30 pm

Theory and Practice

Practice with understanding is the key to success. Discussions on the foundational yoga scriptures: Yoga Sutra / Hatha Yoga Pradipika 

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