Yoga and Marma: Inspirations for the Path Inward with Doug Keller
Full Weekend: $285 (early registration $250)
Early texts of Hatha Yoga showed an awareness of the role of ‘marma’ points as a path to deeper relaxation, meditation and breath practices; Ayurveda developed the system of marma for wellness, reducing pain syndromes and improving function, in a way that illuminates the deeper workings of asana practice; and modern studies of fascia are beginning to confirm the wisdom of these intuitive and practical insights.
This weekend will combine the practice of asana with insights into common pain syndromes such as sciatica via the added dimension of marma awareness — in practical and user-friendly ways. This will include insights into sequencing — not just in terms of how to put poses together, but to understand how poses and the flow between poses train our muscles to ‘fire’ and support each other in proper sequence for better function, stability and reduction of pain problems.
And we will go deeper, exploring the relationship between marma as pathways of awareness and dharana that connect with the experience of the energy of the chakras in meditation and yoga nidra, often with the support of mantra. In a very practical and accessible way, marma provides the path to the ‘Chakras’ (getting us beyond the more simplistic ideas about the ‘opening’ of chakras).
The sessions will range from the practical/experiential to the philosophical/experiential, all with a thread of understanding that will illuminate your practice.
Timing is Everything: Understanding the Firing Order of
Muscles Along Functional Lines in Asana Practice
Friday, 7-9pm
$50
All-Levels Asana Practice: This session will be an experiential exploration of the functional lines of movement that provide the core of effective asana practice, and a clear understanding of the ‘firing order’ of muscles we need to recruit along those lines to keep our asanas ‘firing on all cylinders! This will include the theme, Why ‘Open’ the Hips? Much of asana practice is devoted to ‘opening’ the hips, but often without much explanation of what we are really trying to achieve and why — and how best to go about it while recognizing our own structural limitations. We’ll be exploring all of the elements of hip opening, and how and why working with it is beneficial, even if your hips aren’t very ‘open’ — as well as what you can beneficially focus on if your hips are quite ‘open’ or hypermobile.
Working with the Lower Body: Understanding Forms of Sciatic Pain, with Marma and Asana Protocols for Working With It — and Preventing It From Happening
Saturday, 11-1:30pm
$75
Illustrated Lecture with Slide Presentation and Applications in Asana Practice: Sciatic pain is a pervasive problem for anyone with legs and a spine. And it takes a number of forms, with a number of causes. We will explore the elements of the pain pattern and its different varieties, and marma massage protocols for self-care and prevention linked with asana sequencing. Postural self-assessments will be an important element for understanding the deeper mysteries of the piriformis, which plays a leading role in the mysteries of lower body pain — and awareness of these patterns will help you to focus your practice, and also make use of some remedial exercises ‘off the mat’ during the day.
Marma as the Gateway to the Chakras — a Philosophical and Experiential Exploration through Breath and Yoga Nidra
Saturday, 3-5:30pm
$75
Introductory Illustrated Lecture Leading into Practices of Breath, Meditation and Yoga Nidra: A theme for the weekend is the intersection of marma and yoga, and while many of the applications treat marma on a practical, physical level in conjunction with fascia and fascial distortions, marma actually has a longer history in hatha yoga on the subtler level of dharana awareness, not involving touch or physical action at all. We don’t actually ‘open’ chakras through physical action such as asana. Marma is the gateway, both physical and subtle, to the inward-turning experience described by the different variations on the chakra ‘system.’ We will explore the philosophy and the sequential practices of breath and awareness that lead inward to that experience, going beyond the standard physicalistic pranayama practices and joining meditation and yoga nidra practices. This will lead not only to deeper meditation, but also deeper awareness of the connection between physical and mental practices in unlocking the inner realms.
The Neck and Shoulders: Marma Protocols and Targeted Work for the Neck and Shoulders
Sunday, 9-12pm
$85
Asana Practice Including Focused Remedial Exercises and Variations for Neck and Shoulder Actions: Effective work for dealing with the shoulders — both to facilitate better, safer asana practice and for working with neck and shoulder pain — requires an understanding of the elements of shoulder movement. This includes experientially understanding the muscles involved and their interrelationships, having targeted practices for working with them, and having a marma protocol for working with myofascial release for the shoulders when doing ‘stretches’ just isn’t enough! The approach will be step-by-step for understanding and working with the shoulders, and will include wrist health and insights into the value of ‘mudra’ as more than simply hand gestures. It will also include insights into the nature of the fascia and fascial pain — which is especially prevalent in the neck and shoulders — and the practical approaches to fascial pain offered through marma, asana and mudra.