Ein Workshop mit Michael Hamilton

Freitag 4. Mai bis Sonntag 6. Mai 2012

The middle way: life touching practice -

A weekend workshop in the art of asana

This workshop is intended for students interested in developing a practice for living in today’s complex world using the traditional techniques of asana and meditation found in Yoga. These techniques can often be presented in a way that is fragmented. Instead we will seek connections that assist students in developing the tools for using the heightened awareness achievable through yoga practices to see the empty nature of the constructed self. This way body practice becomes meaningful and we become enriched by the tools which inform our practice, rather than becoming obsessed with the physical culture of yoga. Drawing on insights from studies in Buddhist and Advaita Vedanta lineages, Michael delights in sharing his direct experience.

Asana practice will draw from the ashtanga tradition, freely moving from flow sequences to structured analysis of the subtlety of inter-related forms, assisting us in connecting body practice to subtle shifts in consciousness. Lecture classes focus on treading the path of non-dual open awareness, drawing on sources from Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, Tantra and Classical Yoga (yoga sutras). Mindful sitting will form the basic lens through which all other practices are viewed, teaching us to look deeply into our minds, its evolutes and its ability to complicate our lives by attaching to things which cannot give lasting peace. The workshop will take us deep into our own inner world where we hold our ideas, our belief systems and our strategies of avoidance. By using the tools of yoga practice to hold up a mirror to ourselves we can see where we get stuck, using different practices to address issues and to help us get unstuck, become complete individuals, living in the beauty of the present moment.

Schedule:

May 4th afternoon:

Opening talk on the inner practice of Yoga and finding the middle way, followed by an asana class on the front and back line of the body and their relationship to forward and back bending.

May 5th morning:

Asana master class with focus on interconnected spirals and bandhas, talk on the middle way between absolute and relative.

May 5th afternoon:

Structured analyses of interrelated forms in seated postures and inversions, sitting practice, and a talk on tools for living a spiritual life in our times.

May 6th morning

Integrated class with asana, meditation, and lecture on ethics and outmoded social structures in our contemporary world.