The Eight Limbs of Yoga: Integrative Seminar
Mariana Caplan

The integrative seminar is designed to provide a context of community and safety that will support students as they move through the program, and is taught in conjunction with the course, Embodying Yogic Philosophy and Practice . **

Topics of focus include:

• Cultivating a sustainable spiritual practice in our daily lives
• The challenges of transplanting Eastern yogic practices into a Western context
• The development of an integrative project that will be completed at the end of program

Both daylong retreats will include shared practice time incorporating pranayama, meditation, and restorative yoga; as well as writing exercises to help integrate any challenges and considerations that arise throughout the program.

Embodying Yogic Philosophy and Practice
Mariana Caplan

How do we embody the rich intellectual tapestry of yogic philosophy in our daily lives? In this class, various aspects of yoga philosophy—including yamas, niyamas, and Patanjali's yoga sutras—will be considered with respect to their practical application to the challenges presented by our busy lives in the Western world, including intimacy, work, and creating a balanced lifestyle. This class will also include a series of experiential exercises that explore integrating yoga asana with Western psychological practices, as well as an introduction to pranayama and meditation.

Mariana Caplan, PhD , is an adjunct professor at CIIS, a teacher of Ashtanga yoga, and a somatic counselor, specializing in transpersonal psychology and yoga therapy. She is the author of six books in the fields of psychology and spirituality, including Halfway Up the Mountain: the Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment and To Touch is to Live: the Need for Genuine Affection in an Impersonal World. Caplan co-founded the India and Costa Rica study-abroad programs at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Tantric Yoga as a Psychology of Enlightenment:
A Practical Workshop in Tantric Wisdom
Sally Durgananda Kempton

Tantra is the science of aligning the human with the divine, the physical with the subtle. Offering one of the world's most sophisticated practical technologies for enlightening the body, the emotions and the mind, tantra has become a profound influence on contemporary yogic practice and theory.

This workshop will explore the tantric paradigm for enlightenment, both philosophically and experientially. We'll map the tantric journey as described in key texts like the Shiva Sutras and Spanda Karikas . We'll work deeply with tantric techniques for awakening, including processes for opening the subtle body, transforming emotional states, and generating shakti, or spiritual energy. The workshop includes sutra practice as well as meditation, contemplative writing, and voice dialogue.

Sally Durgananda Kempton , a former swami in a vedic order, is an internationally recognized teacher of meditation and tantric wisdom. The author of The Heart of Meditation , she writes the popular Wisdom column for Yoga Journal, and is known for her ability to transmit both deep meditation and practical yogic strategies for surfing contemporary life.

Yoga for Transformation
Gary Kraftsow

Yoga philosophy and psychology evolved within the context of Vedic revelation and cosmology. Early Vedic texts, such as the Upanishads, examined the fundamental truths of existence, the origin and nature of the destiny of man and the universe, the meaning and value of life, and the solutions to its problems. Yoga offered concrete principles and practices to help an individual realize and actualize these universal truths proclaimed through Vedic revelation within their own personal experience.

Explore some of the models presented in the Upanishads, the yoga teachings of Patanjali, and yogic practices designed to reduce or eliminate suffering at different levels within the human system. Awaken your highest potential with practices of asana, pranayama, chanting, mantra, and meditation.

Gary Kraftsow, MA , began his study of yoga in India with T.K.V. Desikachar in 1974, and has been a pioneer in the transmission of yoga for health, healing, and personal transformation in the United States for over 30 years. He is the founder, director, and senior teacher of the American Viniyoga Institute (AVI), the author of Yoga for Wellness and Yoga for Transformation , and the creator of two yoga therapy DVDs Viniyoga for Low Back, Sacrum & Hips and Viniyoga for Upper Back, Neck, and Shoulders.

Bhagavad Gita
Robert McDermott

This course explores the three yogas of the Bhagavad Gita: knowledge, love, and action. In the Bhagavad Gita (Song of the Lord Krishna), these three yogas (along with several others) were taught by the god Krishna to the warrior A rjuna on the battlefield of a civil war. Krishna revealed them to allay A rjuna's depression at the slaughter of his kinsmen was about to commence. These three yogas are at the core not only of Hinduism but, in varying degrees, of most subsequent spiritual teachings.

This course provides an opportunity to understand the teachings of Krishna and their relevance for a contemporary spiritual worldview and spiritual practice. Using a very readable translation of the work ( The Bhagavad Gita , Nilgiri Press,1985), this course emphasizes readings and class discussion. The final two sessions will be devoted to a careful reading of six chapters of Sri A urobindo's Essays on the Gita.

Robert McDermott , Ph.D., is president emeritus and professor of philosophy and religion at CIIS. His writings on Hinduism include: Radhakrishnan ; The Spirit of Modern India , with V. S. Naravane; The Essential A urobindo ; Modern Hinduism: Gandhi and A urobindo ; an essay, “ The Bhagavad Gita: A Bibliographic Mapping”; and Focus on Hinduism . He also wrote and co-produced a film on Sri A urobindo, The A vatar: Concept and Example .

Upanishads: The Secret Teachings of Yoga
Carlos Pomeda

We invite you to dive into the secret wisdom of the ancient yoga texts. Explore the Upanishads, which are perhaps the oldest mystical and philosophical texts available to humankind and contain the teachings and wisdom of the ancient sages. These sublime texts reveal tous a profound view of who we are, the deepest dimensions of the world we live in, and the true purpose of existence. For this reason, they were traditionally meant to be received not from a book, but directly from a teacher.

The workshop will combine a lively and insightful presentation of some of the most important teachings of the Upanishads with the opportunity to directly experience some of the ancient meditative practices they contain.

This workshop will be of interest to:

• Hatha Yoga Teachers seeking a deeper understanding of the roots of the tradition.
• Meditators and spiritual seekers interested in deepening their grasp of the ancient teachings and practices.
• Students curious about this fascinating tradition.
• Anyone interested in Indian philosophy, culture and spirituality.
• The workshop will address participants of all levels

Born in Madrid, Carlos Pomeda (MA Sanskrit; MA Religious Studies) received traditional yoga training during 18 years as a Sarasvati order monk, in the Siddha Yoga Ashram, under Swami Muktananda and Gurumayi Chidvilasananda.

A Concise History of Indian Yoga and its Westward Migration
Richard Rosen

This class will provide a broad context for the historical development of Yoga in India and its migration to the West. We'll first survey two important traditional schools, the Classical school of Patanjali , the first systematic presentation of Yoga and the foundation of many schools to come, and the Hatha school that emerged near the end of the first millennium CE. Next we'll look at how, in early 20 th century India , the Hatha tradition was altered to make it accessible and acceptable to a popular audience, and when and how this Neo-Hatha Yoga was then transported to the West. Here we'll focus particularly on the enormous influence of T. Krishnamacharya and his significant teachers, Indra Devi, BKS Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and TKV Desikachar.

Richard Rosen is the co-founder and current Director of the Piedmont Yoga Studio in Oakland , California . A contributing editor to Yoga Journal magazine, he's the author of three books, The Yoga of Breath (Shambhala, 2002) and its sequel, Pranayama: Beyond the Fundamentals (Shambhala, 2006), and Yoga for 50+ (Ulysses, 2004). Richard began teaching yoga in 1987.

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Part I
Jim Ryan

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras are some of the earliest studies of the human psyche. They outline a process of spiritual engagement through consciousness which is designed to enhance lived existence while pointing the way to vast spiritual heights. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras formulate the elements of yoga practice, its philosophy, its results and rewards. A sincere study of Patanjali’s sutras is important for anyone pursuing the practice and path of yoga. In this workshop, we will focus on the first two chapters of the four chapter Yoga Sutra carefully looking at the individual sutras, with close attention to the commentary of Veda Vyasa. Reference will be made, when appropriate, to important sub-commentaries and issues of disagreement in interpretation. We will pay close attention to the interpretation of the sutras and their implications for yoga practice as we move into more spacious realms of spiritual discovery. (No Sanskrit knowledge is required for this workshop.)

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Part II
Jim Ryan

In this workshop, we will begin with a summary of the core philosophy of Patanjali, which will have been covered in depth in Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Part I.   The intent is to make this workshop accessible to those who have not taken Part 1.  In this workshop, after the introduction, we will focus on the last two chapters of the four chapter  Yoga Sutra carefully looking at the individual sutras, with close attention to the commentary of Veda Vyasa.  Reference will be made, when appropriate, to important sub-commentaries and issues of disagreement in interpretation.

Cultivating Effortless Effort in Meditation
Patricia Sullivan

In this weekend course we will explore the culminating aspects of Patanjali's Eight Limbs. When the deep work of the first five limbs brings us to a state of maturity we find ourselves ready to experience a transition from the physical and psychological into the non-psychological plane, transformation of the spirit, which allows us to see the intrinsic significance or essence in any thing or situation rather than our habitual reaction. We experience Reality, unfiltered and timeless, and the underlying love which infuses and supports all of existence. Thus, a transformation of the being begins.

We will study and then chant selected sutras, a practice which permeates our being more profoundly than reading or discussing. We will also incorporate simple asana and pranayama to help us to settle enough to be receptive to these moments where no reactive tendency exists.

Patricia Sullivan's classes offer a depth and breadth that arise from over 30 years of teaching, and include many streams of study. A practitioner since 1971, she studied in India with the Iyengars in the 80's and taught Advanced Studies at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco until 1999. The past ten years have included studies of Yoga Philosophy and chanting of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.

Liberated Mind and Enlightened Engagement in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras: Day 1-Freedom From the World
Day 2-Freedom For the World
Ian Whicher

In this workshop, Dr Whicher will challenge the often held radically dualistic and isolationistic interpretations of Yoga and suggest that as classically envisioned Yoga does not lead to the condemnation, abandonment or mere transcendence of material life but with an enhanced engagement with the world, an engagement that seeks to enrich human interactions within the world. Rather than approach Patanjali's thought from the perspective of dualistic metaphysical assumptions derived from classical Samkhya, we will pursue a reading of the Yoga-Sutra that privileges the experience of yoga over metaphysical abstractions. Drawing from the classical tradition we will explore how Yoga can culminate in a balanced integration of the spiritual and material dimensions of human life that incorporates a clarity of awareness with the integrity of being and action.