Category Archives: ayurveda retreats

Greetings from distant shores…

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Ah Greece, you are enticing and sensual. I still remember the face you showed me the first time I visited you. You did not even share your amazing azure seas with me. Just the din and clamor of protests and discontent in the heart of Athens and a lot of smoke and confusion. I left you sick as a dog and yet you called me back. And took me to a hillside of olive groves looking down on crystal clear aquamarine waters. Last year with you was amazing. Ah but this year. This year in the same spot you started to heal me. What an amazing adventure this Retreat was! The waters, the intimate group hungry for Ayurveda, the heartfelt foods and the clearness of snorkeling your pristine waters with your colorful fish.

Now, enriched, I am on my way to India to meet another intimate group of yogin for the pure yogarasayana experience at Somatheeram! And a palace, temple, tiger and culinary experience par superior: Rajasthan!

As we live, we flash in and out of conscious states that shift like quicksand. Nurture like ambrosia. Keen our senses with resolve. Open our hearts wide. Bring out our essential truths (and sometimes desperate deceptions). And allow us occasionally to make the exactly perfect decisions that can only come from the frictionless balance between willing and surrendering.

Below please find links to recent articles published by Light On Ayurveda Journal (a peer reviewed journal) and Whole Life Times.

Next up on the Yogarasayana Journey: November in Salt Lake. Workshops in So Cal.

May peace be upon you,
Arun

Articles:

Screen Shot 2013-09-23 at 9.26.14 AM

Yoga’s Power to Heal: The eight limbs of the Royal Path

 

Screen Shot 2013-09-23 at 9.26.21 AM      Ayurveda, Yoga and the Alchemy of Consciousness

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Our most honored chefs: Stavros & Julia

View from Mani-Sonnenlink Bio-boutique Retreat Center

View from Mani-Sonnenlink Bio-boutique Retreat Center

Radiating peace after yoga cikitsa

Radiating peace after yoga cikitsa

The most healing foods

The most healing foods

Radiating joy after radiating peace :)

Radiating joy after radiating peace :)

 

Summer 2013 Schedule: Texas, Greece & India!

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DALLAS, TX: JULY 26-28

End of July is Dallas, TX for an Ayurveda 
Immersion: 
So pleased to return to Ricky Tran’s Krama Yoga Center:
The Secrets Of Ayurveda: Deepening Your Yoga Journey
July 26-28.

This Special Weekend Immersion deepens the yogic journey. In the Vedic sciences, it is Ayurveda that is relegated the responsibility of our health paradigm. For thousands of years, Ayurveda included yoga practice and therapy as one of its tools. Along with diet, lifestyle, treatments and herbal medicines. Come learn how take care of your body, mind and your spirit.

SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 MANI, GREECE 
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Dear Friend,
One of the highlights of 2012 was our Ayurveda retreat in Mani with Arun Deva, renowned Ayurveda therapist and lecturer, and his subsequent seminars and consultations in Athens at NYSY. Ayurveda is a 5,000-year-old system of natural healing, that is based on understanding the balance between the five fundamental elements that make up the universe–space (akasha), air (vayu), fire (agni), water (apu) and earth (prithvi)-and also make up the human physiology. Understanding this classical Indian medicine system or ‘Science of Life’, one can understand how nature works, and how bodies get in and out of balance. It gives us tools on how to eat, exercise, think, and how to live in an optimum way.

While Arun was here we asked him for an in-depth training in Ayurveda for Yoga teachers and practitioners. Now this in-depth course is offered for the first time in Greece through this special retreat in Mani this September. Aimed at giving us a good understanding and a great experience of its benefits, this Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy Immersion retreat will include theory, practice, delicious ayurvedic meals and time to relax, swim, and connect with a great team of practitioners.

Please check the information and register quickly as spaces are limited:

  Ayurveda_Retreat

in Mani-Sonnenlink

1200

with
Arun Deva,
DASc, AYT, ERYT-500, YTRx
1204

&

Vivi Letsou, 
M.A., B.S., ERYT-500,
offering Morning Yoga

Long time Ayurveda Therapist and Lecturer, Arun Deva, joins us from Los Angeles for an in-depth study of the secrets of Ayurveda, Yoga, and Yoga Therapy. Extremely valuable for Yoga Teachers and serious students of Yoga, this course will give you many wonderful tools for understanding and applying the healing aspects of Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy into your life, practice, and teaching.

collageMani

Daily Schedule Includes
7.30-8am Pranayama & Meditation
8-9.45am Dynamic Yoga Practice
10am Healthy, holistic & Ayurvedic Breakfast with traditional Mani produce
11-1.30pm Morning Lecture: The Science of Ayurveda & Yoga Therapy
1.30pm Lunch
5.30 or 6pm Afternoon Lecture
8pm Light Dinner, Chanting, Meditation
10pm Evening Rest
First Day, Sept 6, Starts at 5pm.
Last Day, Sept 13, Ends at 2pm.
 

Register Today

Mani_welcome

KERALA~RAJASTHAN, INDIA!
SEPTEMBER 22 – OCTOBER 10
we still have some room. Jutta and I welcome you to join us:
yoga, ayurveda, massage, temples, forts, wildlife & adventure

April~May 2013 Events:

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Presently on a month long personal journey of healing and rejuvenation in a very remote part of India. In a little Ayurvedic Shala in the midst of a remote but very sacred village called Hariharapura. In the lush green state of Karnataka where the Western Ghats are resplendent as rain forests.  Read More…

Once back in April, the offerings are as follows:

SATURDAY, APRIL 13TH

Vinyasa Cikitsa Krama:

A Therapeutic Flow with Arun Deva

Vinyasa Yoga is to flow in a logical and sequential manner. Krama is the methodology. The goal is to find comfort in the various postures that our bodies (and minds) can take. In Cikitsa however, we find the benefits of the challenging postures through therapeutic sequencing and modifications to movement. Following any asana practice with Pranayamaincreases the benefits a thousandfold. Meditation then becomes a smooth lake into which to sink. Come experience a complete yoga experience for all levels. This class is suitable for both beginners as well as seasoned yoga practitioners.

DATE: Saturday, April 13th

TIME: 1 – 4PM

COST: $30 EARLY REGISTRATion / $40 at the door

LOCATION: Dancing Shiva
7466 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, Ca 90036

CONTACT & REGISTRATION: studio@dancingshiva.com
or call: 323-934-VEDA(8332)

SUNDAY, APRIL 14TH

 The Sacred Art of Eating Ayurvedically presents: An Italian Interpretation.

With Arun Deva, Jutta Hecht 

Chef JQ & Anjali Deva

Crostini, 3 versions of Pizza, Sage Ravioli, Garden Insalata w/Farmer’s Cheese, La Dolce Vita, Aperitifs, and Fig Tiramisu:  all interpreted Ayurvedically.
We will begin with a lecture on Ayurvedic Principles of Food & Eating and relevance to our current dietary paradigms.
Then we will look at Italian Food through the eyes of Ayurveda.
And then we get in the kitchen and cook up an Italian feast!
Served as a sit down dinner.
Bon Appetit!
Space limited. By Invitation Only. 
In a Private Estate in Vista, CA
12Noon-6PM
Cost: $150 per person.

APRIL 18-21

I will be presenting at the NAMA Conference:

Yogarasayana – Ashtasiddhi Mala:
The Ayurvedic Application of Yogic Principles & Practices for Increasing Rasa.

Rasayana is four-fold:  1) Longevity, 2) Maintenance of health, 3) Improvement of the mental faculties, and 4) Resistance against disease. The ashtanga of yoga can be thought of as an ashtasiddhi mala or necklace of eight magical powers thatbegins with the promise of the above. Recognized by Ayurveda as far back as the Charaka Samhita, wherein we are advised to have confidence in the efficacy of yoga practices, these eight principles when put into practice are very powerful medicine.  In this practice, we will first bypass the mind directly into the experience and then use the mind to understand and digest it.

MAY 3-5

Emotional Intelligence through Yoga & Ayurveda

Facing the 6 Emotional Enemies with the 6 Healing Tastes of Ayurveda

Course Description:

This course primarily uses the tools of Yoga, Ayurveda and Tantra to explore, in a practical manner, our Emotional Intelligence. The keys to our deepest nature, where our vasanas/karmic residual triggers for behavioral patterns reside are found and adjusted best only at this deep level of our being.

  • An understanding of the Vedic sciences of Yoga, Ayurveda & Tantra from the perspective of the three stages of immersion into a journey of self-discovery.
  • An understanding of the Ayurvedic concept of Taste (Rasa) and its energies and effects upon our Emotional Body
  • An understanding of the the Yogic and Ayurvedic concepts of the six enemies of mankind (shata ripu-s) and how they affect and are affected by Rasa.
  • An understanding of the Yogic, Ayurvedic and Tantric views of the workings of the Mind and practical tools on how to raise our Emotional Intelligence to the vibrations of Joy, Innocence and Creativity.

Tuition: $150
Accommodation options for the 2 night stay, per person:
Tent – $100
Dorm (4 person) – $130
Cabin (2 person) – $170
Cabin (1 person) – $280
Deluxe Cabin (2 person) – $480
Deluxe Cabin (1 person) – $390

For More Information Please Visit:
Sivananda Yoga Farm or Find Us on Facebook

The month of May continues in Los Angeles, where Jury Duty calls… :)
Coming up later this year:
Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, IAYT Conference in Boston, Vaidya Yoga Teacher Training (yes it is actually happening end July), Greece Retreat followed by two India Retreats: North and South! I pray to share some of this with you, my friend.
Om Shanti,
Arun

Upcoming Events: February-April 2013

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Spring is a time of rejuvenation. To honor this, I am giving myself the luxury of a one-month sabbatical. This sabbatical will be book-ended between the following offerings:

Dharma of Food

Dharma of Food: A seva workshop at Sivananda Vedanta Center, Los Angeles.

In the last 200 years or so we have weakened our ties to the earth. It is the earth that manifests our food. It is indeed time we return our thanks to the elements that it is made of: space, air, fire, water and earth itself. We do this by remembering that food begins with taste, carries energy and eventually turns into the five elements within. In this lecture we will discuss the Ayurvedic and Yogic concepts of ahara: that which nourishes us and pathya: a suitable diet based on individual need. In the end, food must nourish us emotionally, mentally and physically. We must change our language from “nutritional value” to “taste and nourishment value” to once again discover the joy of eating dharmically.

February 9th, 2013
2:00pm-5:00pm
View Map/Get Directions

 February 15-17, 2013
Dallas, Tx:
Krama Yoga Center
View Map/Get Directions

Program Information:

Friday 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Free: Introduction to Ayurveda
RSVP Required

Ayurveda is an ancient holistic medical science from India, considered by many scholars to be the oldest and most complete healing science in the world. A sister science to yoga, it is the healing side of the yogic tree. Its many benefits can be profound and lasting as a result of its brilliant understanding of human nature, its emphasis on individualized treatment, its focus on removing the root cause of illness, and on its unique theories of the doshas (individual constitutions) and gunas (mental attributes).
In this free introductory workshop you will learn the basic principles of Ayurveda with an emphasis on self-healing.

Highly recommended as a primer for the weekend Ayurveda Workshops.
2 hrs: Free but you must RSVP. This will likely sell out.

Saturday 1pm – 4pm
Daily Rituals & Healing Home Remedies

In this hands on workshop we will examine the basic self-care principles of Ayurveda and the immense power of self healing. From practical daily rituals to simple but very effective home remedies. Learn how much importance and value Ayurveda gives to preventative medicine. We will sip medicinal teas, taste the magical Chyavanprash, inhale and anoint mystical oils, learn self massage and other secrets to help keep us healthy, balanced and at peace. Handouts will include a list of common kitchen herbs and how to turn your kitchen into a simple home pharmacopeia!

3 hrs: $40/$50 at the door
RSVP under WORKSHOPS

Sunday 1pm – 4pm
The Sacred Art Of Eating: Secrets of Ayurvedic Nutrition

In Ayurveda, the principles of nutrition are based not only on what we eat but also on when, where and how. In this workshop we will learn about the tastes, the energies and the effects of food and their relationship to our own digestive fire. We will learn how food affects our physical as well as mental and emotional states. We will examine the values of raw as well as cooked foods. Consider what is a yogic diet and when it is appropriate. Ayurveda has made a science out of the art of eating, one that is based on the following formula: When diet is correct, medicine is of no need. When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. We will also learn simple recipes that address our constitutions and health needs. Detailed handouts and recipes included.

3 hrs: $40/$50 at the door
RSVP under WORKSHOPS

 Sign up for entire weekend in advance for $70!

*Please note that it is highly recommended that you take the Free Intro Workshop on Friday or have a working knowledge of Ayurveda to get maximum benefit from these two workshops.

 Yogarasayana is on Sabbatical: February 20th-April 2nd, 2013

Coming up in April:

NAMA Conference 2013: April 18 to 21, 2013

Yogarasayana – Ashtasiddhi Mala:
The Ayurvedic Application of Yogic Principles & Practices for Increasing Rasa. (This is an Active Yoga Practice Session)