A Yoga Day on Prana/Pranayama

A Yoga Day on Prana/Pranayama

An attempt to recreate the classic Hatha experience

With Angela Ashwin

"When there are impurities (malakulasa) in the nadis, the vayu can’t go into the middle, how can then the state of absence of mind (unmani avastha) occur?” HYP 2,4

The Yoga that worked with Prana and pranayama is Hatha Yoga. The Hatha Yoga tradition got nearly lost and is only recently carefully rediscovered.

The way the modern Western Yoga is teaching pranayama is not in line with the Hatha tradition. 

This workshop will, after a historical overview, be looking at some passages of Hatha texts, translating and interpreting the Sanskrit, in the attempt to understand what the Hatha Yogis were teaching. We will follow their instructions to recreate the experience of Prana and the expansion of Prana, which is pranayama.

There will be presentations, discussions, practice to expand the Prana by using postures, the breath and, in particular, direct perception to discover an inner subtle reality, the pranamaya kosha.

Participants can follow the presentations and practical instructions on a projector screen and will receive after the day a detailed document summarizing the day.

The aims of the day are to make participants aware of the often neglected evidence of the wisdom of pranayama by explaining the Sanskrit meaning of some key verses and to apply the gained knowledge to practice.

Learning outcomes: 

Participants should by the end of the day:

know:

• key verses on pranayama and possible mistranslations
• details of the historic development of the Hatha tradition and the history of the transmission of Hatha to modern days
• the difference between breathing and pranayama

be able to: 

• revisit the verses on pranayama and interpret them
• practice that authentic Hatha pranayama on their own
• start to adjust their pranayama practice and teachings

sense and feel:

• new possibilities having opened
• the purpose of pranayama
• encouragement to explore more in the ancient traditions

Schedule:

10.00am: welcome and introduction

                An historic overview

10.30am: The definition of Pranayama according to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and 

               Patanjali for comparison

11.00am: Practical: Using breathing practice, asana, mind control and visualizations 

                to establish the three phases of pranayama

12.00am: The nature of Kumbhaka as seen in the Hatha texts and comparison with 

                Patanjali

12.45am: Practical: asana breathing practice and mind control to establish and experience kumbhaka

1.30pm: lunch

2.30pm: questions and discussions

3.00pm: the purpose of pranayama, looking at text evidenced

3.30pm: Practical: asana, breathing practice and mind control to experie4nce the power and purpose of pranayama

4.00pm: possible time for discussion and questions

Tutor Biography:

I have been practicing yoga for 40 years, taught for 30 years, 20 of them teaching BWY diploma courses.

I started attending Yoga classes after travels in India, the country fascinated me and I wanted to learn about the "inner India” after having explored the "outer India”.

Following a protestant family tradition I studied Theology in university in Germany which taught me the methods of interpreting spiritual texts. I work in my Yoga teaching with the texts in particular Patanjali, Gita, Upanishads and the HYP and I am learning Sanskrit to gain a direct understanding of the tradition. The Theology course also taught me that my path does not lie in Christianity but in Yoga and I embarked therefor on the BWY diploma. Five years later I completed the DCT training and taught diploma courses for 20 years. It was the spiritual side of Yoga which fascinated me and which I taught not the anatomical benefits.

I left the BWY last autumn to found my own school, the "Gift of India Yoga School”, which -as the name says- has as aim to bring the classical Yoga tradition we inherited it back to those practitioners who search for purpose and meaning in life.

Please note the refund policy can be found in the terms and conditions section of the national BWY website.

Venue

The Swansea Wellbeing Centre
Walter Rd,
Burnam St
Swansea
SA1 5PQ

Booking

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