Iyengar
Yoga Retreat:
Stillness Through Action
Sept 10 - 14, 2008
at Feathered Pipe Ranch
Cost: $$699
"I wanted to understand this mysterious and marvelous 'yoga,' which could reveal to us our innermost secrets, as equally as it revealed those of the universe around us and our place in it as joyful, suffering, puzzled human beings."
-B.K.S. Iyengar from Light on Life.
In this intensive, we will explore the underlying actions of asana and pranayama that not only cultivate health and well-being but that lead to understanding ourselves and developing stillness of mind. Asanas (yoga postures) are manifestations of essence through matter. Each asana has an infinite number of kriyas associated with it. A kriya is a cycle of effort of exploration (evolution), profound observation and analysis (involution) and integration.
This cycle is expressed in two ways: First through the dynamics of a pose (asana) and its position in the context of the cosmic dance (vinyasa) and second through the kriya of prana (the power that animates matter) which is called pranayama. Through asana and pranayama the two components of existence, matter and energy are unified. When the kriyas are completed, the succession of evolution and involution is replaced with a simultaneous occurrence, which leads to a stilling of mental fluctuations.
Through asana and pranayama we will move towards a practice that combines the power of expression with the power of absorption to lead into stillness.
The beautiful and peaceful retreat setting will allow us to delve deeper into our understanding of the techniques and to further our practice so as to cultivate a calm and quiet awareness.
Marla Apt, a certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher has been teaching yoga for over 15 years. She teaches yoga full time at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of Los Angeles and Yoga Works, is on the faculty of the three-year Teacher Training Program of the Iyengar Yoga Association of Southern California and leads workshops and trainings throughout Southern California and internationally.
Marla has studied with B.K.S. Iyengar in India, Europe, and the United States. She visited India for the first time while doing research for a degree in Buddhist Philosophy and has since returned numerous times for yoga studies. She lived for one year in Pune, India studying at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute with B.K.S. Iyengar, his daughter, Geeta Iyengar and son, Prashant Iyengar and she continues to study annually with the Iyengars.
Marla served as the President of both the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States and the Iyengar Yoga Association of Southern California. She is currently on the National Certification committee and is an assessor for Iyengar Yoga teaching certification exams. She has been an organizer of the last three Iyengar Yoga National Conventions (two of them hosting Geeta Iyengar) and also helped with the organization of B.K.S. Iyengar's Light on Life book tour in 2005 in the U.S.A.
Marla and her husband, Paul Cabanis have worked with Doctors through the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to conduct published medical studies researching the affects of yoga on clinical depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Marla and Paul have recently helped create a yoga therapy curriculum for the UCLA medical school.