No Sunday Led Class 14th and 21st March

There will be no Sunday Led sessions on March 14th or 21st. On the 14th Mike is away and on 21st there is the Peter Sanson Workshop. If you usually attend these sessions please come and join us at one or our Open classes instead.

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Friday Full Led Primary Series

Mar
5
6:00 pm

This Friday 5th March at 6pm will be the last in the current series of Full Led Primary Series.  We will concentrate on Lightness and Flow.  As usual we will go out for a meal afterwards. All are welcome to attend this class and normal fees apply (all passes are valid).  See you there.

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Peter Sanson Workshop

Mar
17
6:00 am

Wednesday 17th March to Sunday 21st March. 5 mornings. Start times, 6, 6.30 or 7am for the Wed., Thurs. and Friday. 9 or 9.30am for the Sat. and Sunday.  We welcome Peter back for another of his fantastic workshops.  Peter is one of the leading proponents and teachers of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga.  He is very encouraging and gentle in presenting this powerful form of Yoga in the traditional way. Cost: $125 for the whole workshop or $30 per class.  Book here.

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First, Master Asana

First, Master Asana…

My Guru, Sri K Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India said to me on numerous occasions “First, master asana, then take Pranayama. When you have mastered Pranayama, then take meditation”. What I find amazing (and I think he did too) is that we Westerners seem to think that mastering asana will only take a couple of years, 5 tops and then we will be ready to move on. Samadhi here we come! I began my yoga practice in 1992 and have been practicing asana regularly 4-6 times a week since 1993 and the more I do the more I know I have to learn. Every practice I do uncovers some new subtlety or nuance to some asana. I believe that to master asana takes more than one life time of effort. This may be daunting for some, but I find it liberating. It means there is no pressure. I can take my time and enjoy the process.

I recently read an advertisement for a meditation workshop that had the by-line “do you find that the good feeling you get from asana is short-lived? Want to take your practice to the next level?” There seems to me a lack of understanding there that comes from a lack of guidance. Perhaps the reason that the feeling is short lived is that you need to put more work into your asana practice. How can we know that we have mastered asana and are ready to move on? Our teacher, who has themselves worked through this process with their teacher, will be able to tell us. This is not a decision we can make for ourselves!

Why the need to work so much on asana? After all, as Bryant says:

..from the the 900- odd references to yoga in the Mahabharata, there are only two mentions of asana, posture…… Patanjali himself dedicates only three brief sutras from his text to this aspect of the practice1.

My feeling is that at the time of Patanjali and the Mahabharata mastery of asana by yoga practitioners was assumed. In modern times that assumption can not be made. We need to start from the absolute beginning. Pattbhi Jois always said that without adequate asana practice a person’s nervous system and the system of Nadis would not be able to cope or get any benefit from Pranayama or meditation. Sure, you can sit there and breathe through the nose blocking one nostril and then the other, but you may be fooling yourself if you think this is the Pranayama of Ashtanga Yoga. This is not to say that there is not benefit from these practices, and indeed, many people do derive great benefit from doing various forms of breathing exercise and meditation practice. But without the strength of body and strength of purpose that regular asana practice gives, you will have a very tall mountain to climb. “Practice, practice, practice” as Guruji always said. And don’t forget to revel in the journey. Enjoy.

1Bryant, F. 2009 The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. North Point Press, New York. p.xxx

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For All You Hardcore Cyclists

Here is a link a student of mine who does a lot of cycling sent to me.  He assures me that under all the medical jargon, the message is, “yoga is good”.  http://www.cyclingnews.com./features/feature-marginal-gains-and-hypermyotonia. Interesting that modern science is catching up with what the ancient Rishis understood thousands of years ago.

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Ashtanga Beginners Course

Feb
24
7:35 pm

6 week course starting 7.35pm Wed. 24th Feb 2010. First 4 weeks at 7.35.  Final 2 weeks start at 6.30pm.  Perfect for absolute beginners or those with very little yoga experience.  Cost: $75 waged; $65 concession. Contact us to book.

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Friday Full Led Primary Series

Feb
5
6:00 pm

This Friday 5th February is our first full Led Primary Series for 2010.  In this session we will ask the question “what is it really all about” and see what answers the practice brings us.  All are welcome to attend this class and normal fees apply. All passes valid.  See you there :-D

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Hello world!

Woohoo!!  We are up and running in WordPress.  I can tell it is going to take a little bit of time for me to really get the best out of this, but look out for exciting changes to our web site. If you need to get hold of us then email; info@astanga.co.nz or ph: 04 565 4060.

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Meet the teachers

yoga-3

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Christmas Break 2009

The school will be closed from Tues. 22nd Dec. 2009. We re-open with our morning class on Monday 11th Jan. 2010. See you then. Enjoy a safe and happy festive season.

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