Ty Landrum 

7 - 9 June 

Weekend Intensive

FRIDAY 6 pm  
THE FIVE PRANAS - with light practice and movement

SATURDAY 8 am - 2 pm  
VINYASA CLASS
SPINAL WAVES
STANDING POSTURES

SUNDAY 8 am - 2 pm
MYSORE
FOLDING AND TWISTING / BACKBENDS
MEDITATION / PRANAYAMA
PHILOSOPHY: TASTING THE POISON

In the practice of yoga, we work with opposing forces of breath. We gather them lightly into the base of the pelvis and we draw them upward along the spine. As the breath ascends, it touches psychical tangles that limit our experience, releasing old fragments of memory into the space of our minds, and inviting us to hold them with loving awareness. Through this practice, we connect to our noble nature and we expose ourselves to the possibility of insight.

In this weekend intensive, we explore the simple but potent techniques that bring this practice alive - tracing internal currents of breath, balancing patterns of sensation, and moving our bodies from the inside. Most pointedly, we learn to work more intelligently with our subtle breath, so it can help us unravel us from the inside.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS

FRIDAY

PHILOSOPHY TALK: THE FIVE PRANAS

This talk will explore the role of the five pranas in the process of deep breathing. It will explain how to work with each of these pranas, in concert, to invite deep psychical release. This traditional yogic teaching will give you a whole new perspective on the internal dynamics of vinyasa yoga.

SATURDAY

VINYASA

This vinyasa class will focus on the integration of prana and apana, the two patterns of breath that we explored on Friday night. The idea is to establish a steady and rhytmic flow of breath that lifts the energy from the ground up, leaving us feeling exhilirated and refreshed. This will be a dynamic practice, full of challenges, but open to all. We will do this practice together, breathing together, and focusing together, as one living organsism.

SPINAL WAVES

As the apanic force is lifted from the pelvis to the heart, the pranic force expands into its natural fullness, and this movement creates a distinctive undulating pattern through the spine. In this session, we learn to follow that pattern through asanas of all kinds, including standing postures, folds, twists, and backbends. By working with this pattern, we imbue our asana practices with greater depth and vibrancy. This session will involve some light and accessible asana practice, together with subtle body visulization.

STANDING POSTURES

Standing postures have a secret life, a secret inwardness, a secret drama that is easy to miss. They can seem simple and accessible when we first learn them, but as we feel into them with closer attention, they start to reveal an unfathomable depth. Each standing posture is a unique stage for dynamic interplay of prana and apana, and when we learn to direct those subtle forces into one another, using the structure of the postural form, their drama begins to unfold. In this session, we learn to balance prana and apana within the standing postures of the Ashtanga Vinyasa system.

SUNDAY

MYSORE

This is a Mysore-style asana class. We practice together, mostly in silence, following the natural cadence of our own breath. This is not a guided class, so you must know your own sequencing to attend. Ashtanga Vinyasa will be the predominant style, but other Vinyasa-Krama styles are welcome. This is an opportunity for individual attention and support.

FOLDING AND TWISTING

Folding and twisting share a common root, a common support in the exhale pattern of the breath. When we connect to that support, the postures open up in new and unexpected ways. The spine becomes more supple, and the sacrum becomes amenable to deeper movement, precisely because the joints have more support from within. In this session we look closely into this common pattern, and we learn to use it to deepen into an array of folds and twists from the Ashtanga syllabys.

BACKBENDING

The practice of backbending is about making ourselves vulnerable, while finding the internal support to handle that vulnerability with elegance and grace. When we connect to internal support, backbending becomes an exhilirating experience and one that encourages deep psychical release. In this session, we learn to work intelligently with the diafragm, the psoas, the pelvic girdle and the obiques to create a long and supple spine that can reach gracefully into these forms. This session is open to practitioners of all levels.

PRANAYAMA AND MEDITATION

Pranayama is the practice of giving space to the breath, and contemplating the energy that gives us life. This session will teach you a simple but potent pranayama sequence that you can practice on your own, a practice that can completely transform your experience of breathing. The session will end with a deep, embodied form of meditaiton.

TASTING THE POISON

Yoga practice is said to be the antidote fore halahala, the poison of the conditioned mind. When the practice starts to work, the poison comes to the surface, and darkens the waters of our experience. This can be troubling and pose serious obstacles to practice. In this talk, we reflect on the mythology of Siva, as the drinker of the poison. We discuss the process of meeting troubling experiences with compassion and turning the poison into insight.

BIO

Ty Landrum is an author, poet, and somatic explorer, renown internationally for his innovative explorations of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. With a PhD in Philosofy, he has a rare talent for explaining the theory of yoga, not just with words, but on the canvas of the breathing body. His passaion as a teacher is to share the brilliance of yoga with anyone who wants to learn.