January 2018 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami---2018

Warm  New Year Greetings from my "white House", my home for more than 75 years in Madras (chennai), my father built way back  in 1942 soon after I was born. Many good things have happened in the house, the birth of my younger sister (1946), the wedding of my elder sister (1953) the birth of my nephew (1955), almost daily puja of my mother and many vedic rituals performed by my father, learning vedic chants.. More importantly Sri Krishnamacharya would come to our house almost everyday for a few years during the later half of 1950's to teach yoga for my family, it was a great blessing. I have attached the pictures of the house and the yoga room where Sri Krishnamacharya taught . Wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2018.

 However long and strong the bond between an old man and an old house may be , it becomes tenuous over time and something has got to give

In 2018, I am planning to teach a few programs. 

Starting from 3rd January 2018. I will be teaching Samkhya Karika at Yoga Vahini, Chennai. It is a 20 hr program spread over 5 days. Samkhya is one of the six systems of orthodox Vedic philosophies. It is one of the three nivrittie sastras, or philosophies of liberation—liberation from the repeated cycles of birth. The other two philosophies are Yoga and Vedanta. Smkhya Karika, written by Iswarakrishna, is considered the most authentic text on this subject. It is considered to be the theoretical basis for Yoga darsana, and hence, many yogis, including Sri T Krishnamacharya, would urge study of this text in addition to Patanjali's Yoga Sutra. It consists of 72 slokas, or verses, and is considered one of the great Sanskrit works. The author, some consider to be the avatara of the great Sanskrit poet and philosopher Kalidasa. All the slokas will be gone through verse by verse in this program. Samkhyas consider Samkhya as the only darsana or philosophy which is complete. 'Ekameva darsanam samkhyameva darsanam' they would say

http://yogavahini.com/specialized-workshop.html#r2

 I will be teaching a 100 hr Vinyasakrama yoga Teacher Training program at Yoga Vahini in Chennai-- this will be the third year in a row I will be teaching this program there. Feb 14th to March 2nd.

a. Complete Vinyasa Krama - Asana and Vinyasas (60 hours) 

b. Pranayama, Mudras, Meditation & Yoga for the six internal koshas (20 hours) 

c. Yoga Sutra (20 hours) 

http://yogavahini.com/specialized-workshop.html#r3

I will be teaching a 50 hour 10 day program of Bhagavatgita at OmYoga in New Delhi from March 6,2018 . Sri Krishnamacharya was a versatile teacher. In addition to yogasanas he taught vedic chanting several texts like the Yoga Sutras, Brahma Sutras, and of course the Bhagavat Gita. He truly lived up to his given name Krishnamacharya, meaning Krishna the teacher/preceptor. His teaching of the Gita had a unique depth and flavor as he was a practicing yogi, not just an academician. In this program the Bhagavat Gita (The teachings of the Lord) will be gone through completely verse by verse chapter by chapter. It deals with the entire range of human experience and endeavors and the Lord’s guidance to everyone to go through life fruitfully and reach the ultimate spiritual state of Yoga. This program is especially designed for Yoga Students. Bhagavat Gita even as it is known as a text of Vedanta it  is also known as Yoga Satra, or a Yoga text.

Om Yoga Shala

D-5/9, Vasant Vihar

New Delhi 110056 

omyogastudio@gmail.com

 

 I will repeat  Bhagavat Gita program at Yoga Vahini in Hyderabad from March 22nd for 10 days . 

 info@yogavahinihyderabad.com

My friend Klaus Koenig from Germany  has arranged an extended  weekend program in Germany sponsored by BDY. It is scheduled between May 25 and 27, 2018. Here is the link

https://www.yoga.de/weiterbildung/veranstaltungen/event/detail/8053d1be-57c8-e711-80ea-1458d043c6c0

 In June I am scheduled to spend a week at Eastside yoga in Austin Texas from June 8th

. Here are the details

Weekend of teachings from Sri T Krishnamacharya 

Friday June 8th – Sunday 10th. 10 hours

Cost $180

 or purchase individual sessions.

Mantra Yoga 

Friday June 8th 7.30pm-9.30pm

Cost $25

Vinyasakrama, Ashtanga Yoga of patanjali and the three gunas 

Saturday June 9th 2pm – 6pm

Cost $90

Pranayama varieties and practice

Sunday June 10th 12.30pm-4.30pm

Cost $90

 

Immersion with Srivatsa Ramaswami – 25 hours

Monday June 11th to Friday June 15th.    10.00am-12.30pm and 2pm to 4.30pm

Cost $420 or early registration by April 1st $390.

 

Day I        Tadasana sequence    (forenoon)                 What is Yoga?  (afternoon) 

Day II       Asymmetric seated asanas (forenoon)     Hatayoga and Yoga for Internal organs (Kosas)

DayIII       Supta asanas and sarvangasana(forenoon) Samkhya Essentials 

Day IV      Trikonasana (forenoon)                                 Upanishad Vidyas 

Day V       Seated meditation asanas (forenoon)        Four sutras of Yoga philosophy

Here is thre link

http://www.eastsideyoga-austin.com/product/srivatsa-ramaswami-visit-june-2018/

Last year I was scheduled to teach a 100 hr TT program on Vinyasakrama at Oneyoga Montreal but it had to be cancelled due to lukewarm support. My friend Ryan suggested that we may try again but at a different location. So I am now scheduled to teach 100 hr Vinyasakrama Yoga program between June 29 to July 15, 2018     this time at Oneyoga in Victoria, Canada. It will have 60 hrs of Vinyasakrama asanas, 20 hrs of pranayama and yoga for internal organs and then a 20 hr Yoga Sutra segment. Here is the link for more details

 

http://oneyogavictoria.com/events/vinyasa-krama-teacher-training-with-srivatsa-ramaswami

 I have been teaching every summer for more than a decade at Loyola Marymount University. I did 200 hr TT program for a number of years and then did 100 hr TT program for a few more years. Last year it was a 50 hr program of Bhagavatgita and in Summer 2018 (July 28th to August 4) I will be teaching the twin texts of Yoga sutra and samkhya karika, a 40 hr program

Samkhya, yoga, vedanta, buddhism (some schools) all have a goal of removing three fold suffering. Samkhya is a unique orthodox rigorous philosophy that all the above philosophies and also ayurveda refer to. Samkhya is one of the six systems of orthodox Vedic philosophies. It is one of the three nivrittie sastras, or philosophies of liberation—liberation from the repeated cycles of birth. The other two philosophies are Yoga and Vedanta. Samkhya Karika, written by Iswarakrishna, is considered the most authentic text on this subject. It is considered to be the theoretical basis for Yoga darsana, and hence, many yogis, including Sri T Krishnamacharya, would urge study of this text in addition to Patanjali's Yoga. It consists of 72 slokas, or verses, and is considered one of the great Sanskrit works. The author, some consider to be the avatara of the great Sanskrit poet and philosopher Kalidasa. All the slokas will be gone through verse by verse in this program. 

Raja Yoga the subject matter of Patanjali's yoga sutras follows closely the tenets of Samkhya but comes with a methodical approach to reach the goal of Kaivalya the aim of Samkhya as well. Studying these texts simultaneously or in tandem will be very helpful for students of yoga. Hatayogapradipika  characterizes hatayoga as an aid to Rajayoga. Sri Krishnmacharya taught both these texts to his long time students. The 194 sutras in four chapters help to meet the requirements of all levels of Rajayogis, the entry level, the lifelong and the the consummate. The study of both the texts together would be very beneficial to committed yoga students and yoga teachers. The two texts will be taught for 20 hrs each, one in the forenoon and the other in the afternoon over eight days.

The program has not been featured in the University's website yet

 Again I have been teaching every summer at Suddha Weixler's Chicago Yoga Center. For the last couple of years it has been extended weekend programs. Last year I taughr Samkhya Karika. In September (14th to 16th) 2018 I will be teaching  the yoga text     YOGA-YÃJÑAVALKYA  .                           Here is the link

http://www.yogamind.com/workshop-ramaswami-YOGA-YAJNAVALKYA_2018.shtml

My friend Andrea Silva from Chile attended a 200 hr teacher training program in vinyasakrama yoga a few years back at Loyola Marymount University. Since then she started  a nice yoga facility, Yoga Kanda in Santiago Chile and is trying to organize a week long program in Chile between Oct 29th  to Nov 3rd  2018. She is still assessing the possible response. You may get some details about it from this tentative announcement