COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will explore yoga postures and meditation as a practice of awareness and awakening: in-class as we practice or teach, and outside the classroom in our daily lives. Meditation instruction will include seated and walking practices, as well as dyad and group explorations. We will also examine the inter-relationship of meditation, breath and asana to better understand how body, emotions, and sensations can bring us deeper into any practice form. Various forms and practices will be explored, helping each student find an approach that works best for them.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
To better understand the practice of meditation and its relationship to breath, movement and stillness.
To understand how to reach the depth of yoga postures where meditation arises easily.
Using yoga postures to support meditative awareness and down-regulation of the nervous system.
To explore sitting meditation to understand stability (shamatha) and insight (vipashyana).
To explore moving meditation in walking practice and within the yoga asanas.
To explore our own patterns of emotional reactivity and understand how to work with these.
To understand some key terms and concepts within the Yoga & Buddhist meditation tradition and how they relate to physical asana practice.
To understand the difference between attention, mindfulness and awareness, and how to cultivate these qualities.
To examine how one can integrate meditation principles in a teaching setting and in everyday life.
REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED READING
Meditation 101 Manual, Breath by Breath: Larry Rosenberg, Inner Tradition of Yoga: Michael Stone, Meditation for Beginners: Jack Kornfield
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Reading all required assignments and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Keeping a practice journal and in-class notes, and discussing practice-related questions
