Life, as we experience it, is a continuous flow of sensations. Most are felt physically or mentally; others are perceived on a more subtle level, noticed on the waves of the breath. Yoga offers wonderful tools to help us become aware of this field of sensations and understand how they impact our bodies and minds at every moment. By refining our attention to their shifts and constant state of evolution, we become more skilled at responding to them with greater wisdom, recognizing patterns of repetition, and cultivating a sense of preparedness to meet life as it unfolds.
Both the Iyengar style of practice and Mysore-style Ashtanga, along with Meditation practices, place great emphasis on listening to internal shifts, tuning into prana patterns in the body, and observing the constant flow of sensations and thoughts. These are all practices of deep listening and sustained focus that foster mindfulness when practiced with the right intention and adequate guidance. Some of the texts from the Yoga tradition can provide frameworks that support our understanding of this way of perceiving reality and our embodied experience.
This is why, for our 7th collaboration, we have chosen to offer a multi-faceted retreat, weaving together Mysore-style Ashtanga, Iyengar, Meditation, and Yoga philosophy. These practices follow the same thread from different perspectives: How to develop one-pointed attention embedded in a refined awareness of the broader field of sensations. We hope that the explorations of the retreat will bring insight that reaches way beyond the mat and land in deeper ways into our lives.