Category Archives: kapha

THE RELEVANCE OF THE YOGA SUTRA OF PATANJALI

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Yoga Sutras Patanjali with Arun Deva

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times

The Yoga Sutras are about the tradition of yoga. They clearly define the goal, the practices and the path.  Although the paths and practices are numerous, the final goal is singular. It is peace of mind.

The transformation of patterns into essence.
To find ourselves and come to peace.

The legend is that the eternal serpent upon which rests pure consciousness was awakened by a restless moving of this consciousness. And was sent to seek an answer to end all such restlessness. Through observing the dance of Śiva he discovered yoga.

The beauty is its recognition that as individuals we all seek the same goal but are unable to break our patterns because we cannot put a name to our restlessness. When yoga leads us to this answer we are set free.

Arun teaching yoga students

In this short weekend immersion we will imagine the final goal as Patañjali may have and we will then explore how to adapt the path to our individual states of being, and our own world circumstances. We may find that though much has changed in practice, nothing has changed in principal. Starting with the first chapter where the final goal is laid out in the first 15 sutras, we will jump to the second chapter to the practices for beginning the journey. Besides the traditional understandings of the classical commentaries, we will bring relevance to our own journeys here and now. And we will find how the traditional yoga can indeed infuse our modern practices.

This workshop is informed by a desire to show the huge potential of yoga and how āsana practice has the power to give us an inkling of this. When the āsana expands into something more, then we have begun the inner yoga.

COMING UP IN 2019

FEB 2-3

ENCINITAS, CA
details »
Sat Feb 2:
9:00am – Noon
2:00-5:00PM
Sun Feb 3:
7:00 – 10:00AM (The Practice)
Noon – 5:00PM

$195 • Includes copy of textbook
Held at private studio in Encinitas
Limited attendance available

FEB 8-10

PHOENIX, AZ
details »
Friday: 7-9 pm
Saturday:
9 am – Noon
2 – 5 pm
Sunday:
7-10 am: The Practice
Noon – 5 pm

$245 until Jan 20
$280 after Jan 20 • Includes copy of textbook
Held at private studio

FEB 23-24

LOS ANGELES, CA
310.435.4197
pre-register: adretreats@gmail.com
Sat Feb 23: 10am – 5pm
(Lunch and tea included)
Sun Feb 24: 8am – 5pm
(Brunch and tea included)

$225 • Includes lunches and textbook
Private studio in Hollywood Hills
Limited attendance available

MAR 15-17

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA
949.310.5477
Pre-register: yogabungalow@yahoo.com
Fri Mar 15: 6:30-8:30pm
Sat Mar 16: 12:30-7:30pm
(Lunch included)
Sun Mar 17: 12:30-7:30pm
(Lunch included)

$225 • Includes lunches and textbook
Yoga Bungalow

REGISTER OR INQUIRE

adretreats@gmail.com or call 310.435.4197
Consider registering early as space is limited. Late registration may mean no textbook available in time for class. You will however receive a copy shortly after.
NOTE: times and prices vary by location.


Arun Deva DASc, AP-NAMA, AYT-NAMA, C-IAYT, YTRX is a senior Ayurvedic Practitioner, Certified Yoga Therapist, senior yoga teacher and a long time student of the philosophies of yoga, ayurveda and Buddhism. He travels and lectures around the world, is a Board member for the National Ayurvedic Medical Association, Director of Ayurveda for LMU Yoga Therapy program and the Chair of the Committee for Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy-NAMA.

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RASA BHAVA: healing the emotional body

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ENCINITAS- AUGUST 26/27:
RASA BHĀVA
HEALING THE EMOTIONAL BODY
with Yoga & Āyurveda
WEEKEND WORKSHOP

CURRICULUM:

Saturday August 26th
10AM-Noon: Foundational aspects of Ayurveda and Yoga and where they intersect in therapy. Connecting sattva (clarity) rajas (restlessness) and tamas (inertia) to our individual natures of vāta, pitta and kapha: personalizing our emotional healing.
1-4PM: Understanding the tools of yoga in emotional therapy. We will examine the roles of kriya, vinyāsā, āsana, prānāyāma, mudra, bandhā, japā, dhāranā and dhyāna. That is cleansing breathing, sequencing to place in intelligent postures, awareness breathing, external and internal symbolization, internal locks, chanting, becoming aware through breath and body and finally sitting in awareness.
4:30-6PM: Svatantra Nyāya: Finding that the logic inherent within wisdom and compassion equates with love and intelligence. This is the deeper healing, where we end up when we have learned the logic of the body as correct action, breath as correct speech and mind as superior contemplation.
Sunday August 27th
10AM-1PM: Practical Session that will utilize all the yogic tools we speak about on Saturday so we can actualize the experience of emotional stability. A short talk will close out any additional needed explanations at the end. All levels of healthy practitioners are welcome. If you have special injuries or needs you may also observe the practice. It can be just as powerful.

Cost: $150/$175 at the door.
Please note that this workshop will be held at a private studio.
It is limited to 15 people.
Please register or inquire further at adretreats@gmail.com


HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND THE EMOTIONAL BODY?
The link between the mind and the different organs/systems of the body is  well researched and documented in Ayurveda. Now the progressive field of psychotherapy has related our instincts to our reptilian stem, our emotional to the limbic, and the rational to our neo-cortex. In Āyurveda, however, the mind is not restricted to this structure, instead it begins in the heart, reaches downwards into the gut and upwards into the brain. The connections are easy to see as seats of instincts, feelings and sensation/thought. Therefore, all our instincts and our rational thinking revolve around the mediating emotional state. When our emotional state is one of creativity, innocence and joy, we see beauty, feel compassion and instinctually open to universal waves of loving. However, when our emotions are dominated by fear, anger and grief, we become susceptible to the 6 enemies of the mind: lust, rage, greed, jealousy, envy and delusion. And our thinking and functionality begins to operate from these states. In Ayurveda, it is also said that if you wish to conquer these six enemies, there is no better pathway than that of yoga (sattvavajaya cikitsa). After years of personal practice, study and teaching on the relationship of the emotional body to our health and our peace of mind, the results I have gained offer clear, succinct information on the use of these yogic tools. We will do an actual practice to show their effectiveness in transforming fear, anger and grief into creativity, innocence and joy.

After 7 years of teaching this at the Sivananda Yoga Farm, Grass Valley; we are pleased to be able to bring it to Encinitas; and later this year to Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. If you would like it closer to your own hometown, do reach out! adretreats@gmail.com

TESTIMONIAL:
The first time I attended Arun Deva’s Emotional Intelligence workshop, I was literally blown away.  I could not even take notes as it was so fascinating.  I then decided I needed to hear it again – and this time I managed to take notes.  We all know what note-taking ends up being – another pile of papers that are pushed aside somewhere, never again to be referred to.  Not in this case.  Arun’s material is so totally right on, so very timely – I have referred to it many, many times – not only for students and/or clients, but for me as well.  Thank you Arun for sharing this meaningful knowledge – EI is a gorgeous workshop.  I recommend it highly to one and all. 
A. Abhaya Geyer, C-IAYT; AHE-300, C-IAYT Yoga Therapist/Educator, Yoga Instructor, Ayurvedic Health Educator

TO REGISTER: adretreats@gmail.com

QUIETNESS

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Dear friend,

It has been a while since I have written. There is so much being written and shared out there anyway, so the ability to just listen for a while got to me.

Also, there was not much to share in terms of events in the life of Yogarasayana, my alter ego. Or rather, my teacher and practitioner persona.

It is not that there has not been a lot going on. We finished the Yogarasayana India 2016: Forest Sage Retreat auspiciously. A lovely group of students and friends sharing some yoga sutra of Patanjali, some jungle time, some Ganges time and some all around good times.

On coming back, I headed to Phoenix to spend time with the students of the lovely Mary Bruce and Lorilee Gilmore, my hosts. The topic was Psychology of a Sage. So you can see where my head is these days…On coming back, I headed to Phoenix to spend time with the students of the lovely Mary Bruce and Lorilee Gilmore, my hosts. The topic was Psychology of a Sage. So you can see where my head is these days…
Read the related article Psychology of a Sage: Activating Higher Functional States here.

And of course the LA Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy Clinic has been in session and has kept me busier than ever.

Then of course there has been all the other stuff that we all shared. The uncertain becoming even more uncertain, definitely a disturbed vata trend. And I believe to some extent, we are all a little shell shocked and a little worn out by events not just here in the USA, but all around the world.

Storm Clouds

Perhaps some quiet is called for. Some time to turtle up, huddle into a shell and examine who we are in there. I feel fortunate that in these difficult times, I have these ancient yogic teachings that I can fall back on. Those that talk about who I am when I move past who I am sure I am: because I know I am flesh and blood, lifeforce, a mind, some intelligence and even some happiness when I allow it. When I say to myself, yes indeed this is me. But it is not lasting. This is the mortal me. It changes just like my world changes. And it is best not to get too attached to this me nor to the world it lives in.

Best to go looking for the me that is not mortal. The one that does not suffer. The one that is also you. It is there we fall in love with each other and everything else mortal. In fact, that is the simplest description I can give of Tantra, of Buddhism, and of the Upanishadic Vedanta. And it is from that place that I continue to grow this love that trumps all the hate I may exude, share, witness when I do not allow myself to be. Just. Quiet.

Arun File - 03

Even in this conversation we are having. To encourage you to join me in this quiet. Where we are a shared Being. Not separate except in our mortal lives. And that is as it should be. Where we can enjoy each other, admire each other, help each other and give each other space when we get under each others skins.

But this is getting long in the tooth. So I will stop here.

I have a quieter year planned for 2017. We shall see how that plays out. Perhaps I will still come to your hometown. However, I do encourage you to join me in any of the below and meet each other too.

There are three teaching Retreats planned:

April: Yoga Practices for Emotional Intelligence: CLICK HERE
Sivananda Yoga Farm, Grass Valley, CA. April 7-9, 2017


photo

This time around, it is less theory and almost all practicum. So, you actually get a taste for why I keep teaching this stuff. This Emotional Intelligence Stuff. The stuff that when functioning clearly, innocently, joyously leads to clear, innocent, joyous thinking and thus actions. Those that support us instead of bushwhacking us. Every. Single. Time.
REGISTER HERE FOR GRASS VALLEY RETREAT

June/July: The Art and Practice of Vinyasa Krama Yoga with Ayurveda: Zen Rocks, Mani, Greece. REGISTRATION COMING SOON! INFO: ADRETREATS@GMAIL.COM

Ever since I started studying with Ramaswami Sir, back in 2004/5, I knew I would need to teach this miraculous way of practicing. But I also knew I had to wait till it came in my voice. Obviously Ayurveda infused. Here we go. Serious Practitioners and all Yoga Teachers. This is for you.

Sept/October: Yogarasayana India Retreat 2017! Into the Stories.

This Retreat is in the Planning Stage but this is how it is shaping up:
Two sections:
A Southern India portion that includes Somatheeram Ayurveda Beach Resort, Kerala, for a week of pampering and Ayurvedic treatments and then a week of travel around some of my favorite places down south. Such as Mahabalipuram, Pondicherry, Arunachala.
A Northern India portion that starts with the birthplace of Lord Krishna; continues to the Taj Mahal and then wanders into Rajasthan, and into some legendary temple, wildlife and archeological sites. Along the way we will talk about the teachings of Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, the meaning of Tantra which in itself can be quite evasive to pin down and stories from India’s mythological past.
A total of two weeks in Southern India. And one week in the North. Do just two weeks or do it all.

If you are interested in this Retreat, please write to adretreats@gmail.com and you will be put on an Early Announcement Letter with a Special Price Offer.

Meanwhile, I bask in your friendship,

Arun Deva

Summer. Greece. India. Fall.

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Dear friends,
I suspect that we all have had a busy year so far. I remember thinking in February that this year had already moved into warp speed. Shades of my Star Trek hazy days perhaps…
And here we are mid-June and I realize it has been a while since I have sent out a newsletter!
Things have been pretty fiery on the yoga/Ayurveda path. What with peer review articles, NAMA and SYTAR Conferences and heading up the Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy Committee for NAMA.
So it is with pleasure that I am able to focus once again on traveling to teach and just hang with familiar faces and make new friends. This has got to the best part of my job:)

I am happy to present:
Saturday 1:30PM: Understanding The Subtle Body: Chandika Hall

Sunday 11:30AM: Healing Emotional Trauma: Chandika Hall

In July/August, my teacher Srivatsa Ramaswami will return to LA, perhaps for the last time, to offer his 200 hr Yoga Teacher Training at Loyola Marymount University. Ramaswami was a direct student of Krishnamacharya for over 33 yrs and his teachings on yoga are beyond anything I have experienced with any other teacher. If you are looking for a YTT, I could not possibly recommend a better teacher:

School of Yoga with Srivatsa Ramaswami

200 Hr Teacher Training Program on Vinyasakrama Yoga—Registered with Yoga Alliance.

In addition, Ramaswami will present teachings on the Bhagavad Gita:

Please contact Sarah Mata at 

sarahmatayoga@gmail.com / 310-266-5177 if you are interested in attending. There are still a few spots left.
Please note that some portions of this will be open to all.

GREECE!

This is my fourth year teaching in Greece and it has become a second home. But I had yet to do an Immersion and Retreat long enough to perhaps tempt some of you to come across the big pond and study there with me…so here it is:
Ayurveda Immersion For YOGI΄S: The Path of Healing & Realization with Arun DevaSept 19-23
An Intimate Ayurveda & Yoga Weekend Retreat with Arun Deva Sept 25-27

INDIA RETREAT 2015! SPECIAL EDITION: 2 Spots still open.

Jutta and I are most grateful. We filled the Retreat quite quickly. We were unable to offer any more spots for the first week.
Thus we created a Special Offering that goes from Oct 14-30 only. And now we have only 2 spots left for this also. Thank you!
We would love to have another couple of you join us!

This Retreat will be composed of two separate adventures, one in the south and one in the north.

The Hidden India Retreat:  Oct 14-23, 2015

The Royal India Retreat: Oct 23-30, 2015.

The Price is $3950.
Full payment must be completed by July 15 2015 for this rate.

If you are interested in joining us, you may wish to reach out right away:
Please write Arun Deva at yogarasayana@gmail.com.

The Retreat Details:

Hidden India Retreat:

Oct 14: Mumbai! 

Check into your hotel early AM upon arrival, freshen up and head out on a tour of Arun’s favorite Metropolis. Stops will include The Prince Of Wales Museum, the infamous Leopold’s Cafe for afternoon tea, the magnificent Taj Mahal hotel overlooking the Gateway of India. The drive back will wind through the Queens Necklace/Marine Dr and the beaches of Juhu. Spend the night in Mumbai.

Oct 15: A quick flight into Mangalore, take a ride through the Karnataka Rain Forest to land in the quiet little village of Hariharapura. Where you will join us.

Oct 16-17: Hampi! 

Famous for its well preserved ruins of the Vijayanagar Empire (1300’s), there are indications the site was actually established back in the first Century and may even have been a part of the Ashoka Empire (3rd Century BCE) We will spend two days exploring this amazing find that seems to be still not discovered by the elite travelers, just the front line of backpackers and we will get to enjoy it while still pristine with small simple guest houses, no fancy Tourist Hotels yet. Our friend Rocky Guest House and associates will more than make up for it with amazing service and food! But most important, it is believed this is the home of Hanuman and the feeling is palpable!

Oct 18-19: Moving further back in time, we come to the Cave Temples of Badami, dating as far back as the 5th Century.  These caves will take your breath away. We will also visit the ancient Temple Complex at Pattadakal.

Oct 20: Dandeli is a wildlife refuge in the heart of the rain forest. An overnight stop here to take a couple of nature walks and a peaceful morning coracle ride on the river to listen to the sounds of the jungle waking up.

Then onwards:

Oct 21-23: Goa! Need we say more? We will stay off the beaten track where the beach is not overflowing with tourists and take a tour of the city and its surroundings with time for beach strolls and the famous Goanese food!

The Royal India Retreat:
Oct 23: We will fly onwards to Delhi, the Capital of India. Arriving in time for a little shopping and sightseeing before checking in for the night and a quiet dinner.

Oct 24: Drive to Agra: Taj Mahal!

If you have not seen it, there is no way you will be prepared for this. If you have, the second time is quite an eye opener indeed as you notice so much more!

Oct 25-26: Continue onwards into colorful Rajasthan to Jaipur, the Pink City. We will visit the Amber Palace, located at the top of the hill and most likely make the climb on elephant back! This is quite an amazing Palace to visit indeed!

Oct 26-27: Pushkar! Stay in luxury tents. Ride on camels. Visit the famous Brahma Temple and shop around the lake for all kinds of amazing gifts (maybe even some for others:)

Oct 27-29: Ranakpur. Some say the Jain Temples here are the most incredible of all. Arun fell in love with it when he was 19! After a late lunch continue to Udaipur. The Lake City. Our last most amazing Palace.

Oct 29-30: Fly back to Mumbai, get a good night’s sleep, next day sightsee and shop, rest and late at night (early 31st morning), fly home full of memories and also with full bags to remind us of the magic of India.

To learn more or to sign up for the Retreat: Please write Arun Deva at yogarasayana@gmail.com 
 

Special Price*: (space limited)
$3950 (PP)
All payments must be completed by July 15, 2015
*after July 15, if space is still available, prices will rise as per our additional costs.