Category Archives: workshops

RASA BHAVA: healing the emotional body

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
Reply

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

Rasa`vada: Alchemy of Consciousness

Posted on by
Reply

Healing the mind with Yoga, Ayurveda & Tantra
at Sivananda Yoga Ashram, Grass Valley:

April 17-19, 2015

We understand alchemy as the transformation of base metal into gold. In Vedic terms, however, it is best described as rasavada: the revealing of our Essence. Thus we are both the dross metal as well as the gold revealed through the alchemy of our consciousness. Rasa which means essence also refers to the flavors of our lives: the emotional content. When we turn our emotional dross of fear, anger and grief into the gold of creativity, innocence and joy we learn to surf the waves of our lives no matter what the tide.

Upcoming Events:

NAMA Conference
April 9-12
Please join us for this very special Ayurveda gathering. On Thursday and Friday, will be presenting the work we have been doing on creating Standards for Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy (AYT)

 

Barefoot Yoga Studio, San Jacinto, CA
May 9
Ayurveda,Yoga, Health, Disease & the Modern World

Yoga Bungalow, San Juan Capistrano, CA
May 22-25
Memorial Day Weekend Immersion

SYTAR Conference:
June 4-7
Applications of Ayurveda for Yoga Therapy: Arun Deva, Devi Mueller, Hansa Knox.

Greece!
Sept 19-23
Ayurveda Immersion for yogin: The Path of Healing

India 2015!
New Edition: Oct 14-30
Because of limited space, our first week is sold out.
5 spaces are left for weeks 2 and 3.


The Hidden India Retreat:  Oct 14-23, 2015
The Royal India Retreat: Oct 23-30, 2015.
$3950
Write immediately to yogarasayana@gmail.com if you would like to take one of the 5 spots!
Later in the year I am happy to return to old friends in  Salt Lake and Park City, Utah.
Details to follow soon!
With love & light,
Arun

The State of Things and a California Summer

Posted on by
4

Dear friend,

This has been a very powerful year already. The transformations have extended around the globe, here at home and in my own life, with great vibrancy. There have been some grassroots growths in consciousness that are astoundingly poignant, especially in the way we relate to food. Love what Michael Pollan, Marion Nestle, Dan Barber have going on!

Many questions have arisen in the yoga world too and I was very honored to be in the new yoga documentary: Yoga Maya  addressing some of these teutonic shifts arising in the synthesis of the western world and yoga, sort of an evolutionary process, I believe.

While not all in our world has shifted for the better, much of this grassroots upheaval in consciousness cannot help but have a long term effect on our planet’s consciousness and its necessary healing. When I say grassroots, I believe I refer to us as we speak our soft voices, calling forth witness for a return to nature. Only she can help us heal the damage we have done to our world and to each other as we drifted from her simple dharma`s.
I am joyful in adding my voice to this movement and very humbled to teach on some of the cutting edges of it: the yoga and Ayurveda field.

It is my privilege to chair the sub-committee of NAMA’s Standards Committee in creating standards for future Ayurvedic Yoga Therapists. This is very dear to my heart and it is the heart of what I teach…

And thus: After a very long time I get to spend almost the entire summer home in Los Angeles fulfilling…

…my dream of teaching an Immersion for Yoga Teachers on integrating Yoga, Ayurveda and Tantra practices for Therapeutic Purposes, now in full swing.

Aptly named “Weaving The Yogic Basket”, a lovely group of dedicated students meet every other weekend for 3 months in San Juan Capistrano. Two weekends are already done!

This Course will  repeat next year, most likely in the Encinitas area, so if you are interested in knowing more…

Although I do not have anything scheduled in my hometown of Los Angeles, the peripherals are mostly well within reach.

Coming up next:

A Weekend of Yoga and Ayurveda in Temecula
July 19th & 20th, 2014

August:

In August, Las Vegas calls. My dear friends Val and Brian are opening up a new yoga studio: TRU YOGA, and I will be traveling there to help open it up! Stay posted for details but it will be a lovely weekend of yoga and Ayurvedic teachings as a grand opening extravaganza!
Put Vegas in your books for the weekend of August 16/17!
Details to follow shortly.

End August I will be part of Labor Day – 2nd Annual Vedic Knowledge Integration Forum at the Sivananda Yoga Farm in Grass Valley. This is definitely one of my most treasured stops on the teaching journey and I very much look forward to sharing with such powerful luminaries as Acharya David Frawley and Yogini Shambhavi

Sept/Oct is India!


Including a weekend Immersion in New Delhi for Om Yoga Studios. It is a lovely studio owned by my dear friend Mini Shastri. She has some very bright students and I look forward to sharing with them again. If you are in India or close by, please come join us.

France!

End of October finds me in new territory but from what I hear, the south of France is going to be another dream come true…

There will be an Ayurveda Immersion for yogi`s at Yoga Evolution in Aix de Provence.

Ah Greece…

…my third visit to Mani to lead a week long Retreat and Immersion. If Greece has been calling you and you would like to spend a week with me immersing in her beauty while studying yoga and Ayurveda, come now?

 

 

Winter plans are still a-brewing but they include Salt Lake City and in the local stomping grounds, LMU for the YTRx Program.  A privilege to continue to be teaching the Ayurveda segment here.

Praying you have a lovely rest of the year wherever your journey takes you.

May we be students together
May we be nourished together
May we grow strong in each other company
May we light the flame of knowledge together
May we always be friends, Arun