Yoga is all about relationships – your relationship with yourself, with the people in your life and with the world around you.  This makes the yoga path a journey of connection – both internal and external. The Sanskrit root from which the word yoga derives – yuj – means “to yoke”, or to connect.

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Many people think of yoga as either a system of physical exercise or a calming means of escapism from the chaotic world.  Yoga can be either of these but it is also much more: think of this program as a way of exploring the both the body and the mind, and through such enquiry, of realizing and “connecting with” our vast untapped potential. Yoga – both on and off the mat – offers each and every one of us a metaphorical ladder. As we climb the rungs of the ladder, we take on the you viewpoint, and ascend out of a world of stress, worry and limitations. We can learn to see beyond ourselves and develop the relationship with our higher, more contented “self”.

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To work on a new way of ‘being’ requires effort. And effort is easier when supported by and through community. Like-minded people interested in creating new behaviors, refining intermittent ones and dismantling the unhelpful choices.  A yoga immersion is the perfect place to step out of your current process.  It helped me move into a more thorough examination of my life and what direction I wanted to go.  We often need a catalyst for change. A moment, decision or event that prompts a re-evaluation of our life.  Am I happy? Am I focused? Am I helpful?

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I could wait for the big lessons to come around and test my resolve; that would be my Karmic route of being alive. I could surrender to the greater experience and let life continually offer moments to grow, change and evolve. That’s how life works. But I choose another path, a more decisive one.  Because as yogis we can pursue a conscious path, seeking to understand how all of life exists within the self through an immersion. Through our yoga practice, we can practice all of the great life lessons: joy, patience, sorrow, pain, etc.

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A yoga immersion is a chance to go on a detailed trip through those places with a knowledgeable guide.  Teachers provide students with information, perspective and attention to their process. That’s the value of an immersion: attention. Attention to the process of unfolding, the process of peering inward and noticing what is there.

What can you expect from an immersion?

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Physical

• With daily asana practice, surrounded by fellow seekers, you learn the ins and outs of your anatomy.

• How joints work and what movements heal the body

• Effective sequences for your postures, building a complete practice

• Practicing alongside like-minded people

• Learn modifications and how to use props

• Alignment cues to enhance the benefit of each asana

TIP:

Buy a separate notebook for class sequencing, relevant anatomy and modifications. This will be your go-to book for logging your classes – carry it to every class you take (private practice or group). You’ll build up a whole set of sequences that you can refer to for your own practice, or to use if you decide to start teaching.

Mental

• A yoga immersion will usually include practices to cultivate awareness through meditation.

• Learn to sit with your experience, responding to the situation with a sense of clarity and presence.

• Explore the parts of your being that tug at you – thoughts of insecurity; memories; people you’ve lost

• Learn to bring yourself back to the current moment with mindfulness techniques

• Use asana for various conditions – depression, lethargy, sadness – and see how the physical practice influences the mental practice (and vice-versa!).

TIP:

Journal: buy another notebook just for your thoughts. Write it all down, everything. Get it all out. The physical practice will churn up so many questions. The sitting practice will start to organize and reveal those questions. Make writing down your revelations part of your day.

Spiritual

The purpose of asana is to prepare the body to meditate. Meditation means setting a time to still the mind and sit with your present experience. As you progress, it extends beyond the set time of seated meditation and becomes a way of viewing the world, a state of being, a spiritual path:

• Learn to recognize the synchronistic beauty that connects the world, dissolving the boundary between you and the world develop a practice of gratitude and acceptance, viewing each day as a gift to honor and explore find the inner teacher, the voice that can guide your decisions

TIP:

– Your spiritual practice is a personal pursuit. Play with different methods of gratitude, reverence and prayer. Try chanting, reciting mantras, volunteering at a homeless shelter, planting a garden. What speaks to the highest in you? That’s your work.