Thursday, August 1, 2019

What is a Yoga Immersion?


What is a Yoga Immersion?

 
My son calls these my grasshopper glasses.  When I first started wearing them it was challenging to have a conversation with someone because they spent the whole time looking at themselves, fixing their hair or smiling at weirdly inappropriate times in the conversation.  Now I am used to it and I kinda like it. Because this is what I strive for as a yoga teacher, to be the one who holds up the mirror so you can see who you really are, beneath skin and muscle and bone. In weekly yoga classes we get a glimpse of what the inner landscape of our beings looks like, but there is only so deep we can go in a 60-90 minute session. The Anusara yoga immersion is the opportunity to widen the view of the magnificent vista of our innermost existence. If weekly classes are sporadic or even regular dates, the Immersion is a committed relationship.

Truth be told, I like teaching my weekly classes, but I love teaching Immersions! Webster’s dictionary defines Immersion as: complete involvement in some activity or interest; or absorption, concentration, engrossment, enthrallment, awareness, consciousness, raptness, contemplation, meditation, rumination. The Anusara Immersion is a systematic, comprehensive approach to engage with all the facets of yoga practice, including a robust syllabus of asana (postures), pranayama (breath work), Tantric philosophy (the philosophical system that Anusara yoga is built upon), anatomy, and meditative practices.  We use a template collaboratively created over many years by many wonderful and wise teachers so that topics and poses covered build on each other and flow in a cohesive and intelligent way, with enough time to integrate the material thoughtfully and mindfully. 

Perhaps the most treasured thing that comes out of these Immersions is the sacred community that develops among the participants. The group becomes a safe and nurturing space to come together with like-minded people and have meaningful dialogue and experience in a way that I think many of us are starved for in our current culture. This doesn’t mean that we all agree on everything, but a mutual respect arises that allows for everyone to integrate the concepts we study together in their own life in the way that makes sense for each individual personally. Many precious and lifelong friendships arise from Immersion groups.  

Yoga scripture teaches us that, yes, we are our hair and our bodies and all that makes us beautiful on the outside, but that we are so much deeper and so much more than any label we put on ourselves, or role that we play in our personal and professional lives. The Anusara Immersion is a chance for a long, delicious pause to look deeper than our skin and our habits, to the ever-present light that is the nature of our existence, as far from us as our daily busy lives can push it away, and yet as close as our own breath.  Or maybe you just want to learn how to do baby grasshopper pose, and that’s okay too.

Immersion I at Shree yoga starts September 22nd. More info here

Early bird discount ends August 7th.

If you’d like to meet Rachel in person and hear more about the program, information sessions will be held:
Wednesday August 7 8:30 – 9:00 am
Sunday, August 18 6:30 -7:00 pm
Wednesday September 11 5:30 – 6:00 pm

Text or call Rachel to RSVP for any session, or with inquiries, questions, concerns, or to enroll today at 914.980.5879. Register now and join the lovely group already taking shape to become engrossed, absorbed, enthralled, and enraptured. Make 2019 your best year ever through the deep and transformational practice of yoga. 

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