The workshop will work on the following five components introduced as tools of practice by Sri T. Krishnamacharya: asana, pranayama, meditation, chanting and ritual.
Asana, as the primary
tool of commitment to a spiritual practice, where the body is put through a
serious of adaptations of classic yoga asanas with the goal to limber and strengthen
the spine and release the flow of prana within the body and bridge the body/mind.
Pranayama: the use of breath in asana being the distinctive feature of
the style, the workshop will introduce concepts of arithmetic or mental gymnastics
in breathing, thereby finely regulating the breath plus making the mind sharp
and alert.
Meditation: this will require the practitioners to personally define
their respective focus for themselves and then be made to place it within a
grid of guided pranayama.
Chanting: Vedic chanting is a very powerful tool advocated by Krishnamacharya
in which the breath, voice and affirmation unite. The workshop will introduce
the principals and recitation of simple Vedic chants. These principles could
then be applied to personal prayer and affirmations.
Ritual: Eventually the practitioners will be required to create or identify
sustainable systems or rituals within their personal lives that could act as
reminders to continuously bring them back to their practice after regular intervals.
(YTT: 16.5 credit hours ~ 10.0 Techniques, 6.5 Philosophy, Ethics and Lifestyle)