Come join advanced Ashtanga Yoga practitioner and teacher Russell Case for six days of Mysore style practice. (Click here to read more about Mysore style practice.)

This is a great opportunity for extended study with a teacher who has spent much time and training in the classical Mysore Ashtanga environment.

Students may arrive at any time to begin their self-paced practice. Individual instruction begins at 6:30 AM and continues until 8:30 AM.

Looking to jump start a 6-days-a-week practice? Register for all six classes at a discounted rate!

Cost: $89 for all six classes or $20/class
Click here to read more about the event or sign up now!

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Classical Ashtanga Yoga Weekend
with Manju Jois
February 21 - 22, 2009

You don't have to be an Ashtanga Master to practice with one! Ashtanga students of varied levels are all encouraged to study with Manju. This is a wonderful opportunity to experience the practice taught by the master of Ashtanga Yoga Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Manju's father.

Manju's teaching style is spiritual, intensive, inspiring and humorous. He is renowned for his ability to assist students to go deeper into postures. He honors the ancient Ashtanga Yoga tradition and teaches his students with clarity and enthusiasm.

Click here for more information.

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We all have a story of how the practice of Ashtanga Yoga has changed our lives. Please consider sharing your story! Email ashtanga@yogayoga.com.

It seems like a lifetime ago that I was a hardworking corporate cog at a major publishing house in the Midwest. One of my colleagues, Suzanne, had been a senior editor before her magazine ceased publication, and she was laid off. It being an era of recession (and senior editor positions hard to come by), she took a job in our department as an assistant copy editor, which was several steps down the corporate ladder from her previous position.

Though I didn't know enough at the time to think twice about her taking the job, other people clearly were alarmed for her professional growth. What would it look like, they asked her, for someone of her experience and skill to take such a lowly job? Suzanne's answer has always stuck with me: "I want to get back to being an editor," she always replied with a shrug, "and sometimes moving forward down the road means taking a few detours right now."

As the months went by and other positions opened, she applied for them-and without fail, she was promoted. Her bosses and coworkers were all impressed that she applied herself in every task as though it were her dream job, whether she was relegated to the basest assignments (ironing sheets and pillowcases for a photo shoot) or the most glamorous (attending out-of-town trade shows and parties). Within a few short years (though I'm sure they did not feel short to Suzanne), she had not only worked her way back to senior editor, but she had also acquired volumes of knowledge about the industry, our company, and herself along the way. She was poised to have her pick of positions (and indeed has moved on to bigger and better things).

I think about Suzanne a lot these days because my yoga practice has bumped up against a "detour," as she called it. It's not an injury; I have done nothing in yoga or elsewhere to hurt my body. It's growth. I know growth is good, but right now, it doesn't feel good. It is manifesting itself as agonizing discomfort. Poses that once offered repose and relaxation now make me antsy; those that used to feel open and wide are now tense and twinge-y. Every night after practice, I can feel changes taking place-an ache in one hip, a gnawing sensation in my foot, and a general tenderness that I haven't felt since I first took up yoga. I feel like I am back at square one, learning the proper form of each pose and reminding myself to breathe, because I've had to reexamine my expression of each posture and relax through the uneasiness.

Click here to read the rest of Sarah's story.

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David Williams Weekend
Pictures and Reflections

David Williams with Ashtanga students Madeline Keller and Shelly Sethi

Many of the students who participated in the David Williams event last weekend seem to be bursting at the seams with new insights and inspiration.

Rachel had this to say: "David Williams was a breath of fresh air for many of the Yoga Yoga Ashtanga studen, as he echoed lots of the alternative ideas they were secretly harboring on their mats. For others, his challenges of the long-accepted patterns and rituals of the very tradition that he was responsible for bringing to America, created unrest and discontent." You can read the rest of Rachel's reflections and see what others had to say about the weekend on our Ashtanga*Ashtanga blog.

Rusty Nelson shares some of the insights that he gained in his article below.

Click here to see more pictures from the weekend.

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Does your practice serve you?
Thoughts and comments on the David Williams Ashtanga for Life weekend
by Rusty Nelson

Rusty does Yoga at Work!

Following the David Williams workshop, I resisted writing an immediate reflection on the weekend. I was confronted with some very significant ideas, and I wanted time to let those ideas gestate inside me. A couple of thoughts from the weekend kept coming back.

• The Ashtanga system as David Williams learned it from Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois in 1973 is the most effective way he has found in 40 years of searching for creating positive energy or prana in the body. The critical components of this practice are engaging bandhas and deep breathing.
• To get maximum benefit you should calibrate your practice in such a way that you can do it 6 days a week. To develop this idea further, he said it is better to do a light practice 6 days a week than to do a strenuous practice 2 days a week.

These ideas led to an experiment. One morning, I did three Surya Namaskara A's, three Surya Namaskara B's, and the last four closing postures of the practice. Throughout this short practice, I was particularly mindful of maintaining my bandhas and breathing as deeply as I could. In Savasana, I was amazed at how good I felt. In fact, I felt better after that shorten practice than what I would normally feel in a full 90 minute practice. I spent the entire day reflecting on how I felt, both in Savasana that morning and throughout the day. I got a slight glimpse of what it can mean to be served by your yoga practice. Stated as a question….

Is my Ashtanga Yoga practice serving me or am I serving an external ideal of what I think an Ashtanga Yoga practice should be?

I am thankful for the role the David William's workshop played in raising this question in my mind. I look forward to many years of practice to learn how this powerful practice can be harnessed for my own growth and transformation.

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Give (and receive) the Gift of Yoga

Make a commitment to yourself in 2009 with with one of our Annual Pass Specials. You can reserve your Annual Pass today with a $200 deposit and pay the rest in January!

Yoga Yoga gift certificates are our most popular gift item this time of year and for good reason. Gift certificates can be redeemed for yoga classes, clothing, books, CDs, yogi tea, or any of the other items in our retail shops. You choose the amount – the recipient chooses the gift.

Click here to purchase gift certificates on line!

Or choose our special “Stocking Stuffer” gift certificate that includes five single yoga class coupons in a festive package ready to give for $55. Stocking stuffers can be used as five individual gifts or one special present. Stocking stuffers are available at all Yoga Yoga locations.

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Save the Date!

Ashtanga Weekend with David Swenson
June 19-21, 2009

PLUS

Ashtanga Yoga 40-hour Training
With David Swenson
June 22-28, 2009

More information coming soon!

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