Workshops, Retreats, Teacher Training

Wisdom Body: Prajna Yoga Zen and Meditation Retreat

TASSAJARA ZEN CENTER

Djuna Mascall and Jisan Anna Thorn
May 19-23, 2013

Tap the intelligence of your body and inner wisdom through Prajna Yoga and Zen practice.

Cultivate inner listening and profound ease in your body through Prajna yoga sessions designed to increase mindful awareness. The unique combination of asana, somatic movement, and pranayama will release deep tension and nourish your being. Learn to completely embrace whatever arises and welcome each moment of life through Zen meditation practice. This retreat will integrate both traditions for stillness of mind and embodied wisdom.

Our gentle schedule will provide alternating periods of Yoga, sitting and walking meditation, Zen teachings, and shared wisdom in group discussions. The yoga sessions will be both dynamic and therapeutic, skillfully sequenced, and alignment based. Individual yoga instruction will also be offered. There will be ample time to enjoy the nourishing spring wilderness of Tassajara.

This retreat will inspire students at all levels.
Retreat fee: $310 ($264/member)
Registration opens in February.

Click here to view images of Tassajara!

 Awaken Your Life: Yoga Teacher Training

September 20, 2013-May 23, 2014
Sienna Smith RYT and Djuna Mascall RYT

 Our lives are precious and each moment is a gift ~ Elevate your yoga practice for your benefit and the benefit of others.
This training will bring yoga to every aspect of your life. Daily practice will become the support for living with deep integrity and presence. This 100-hour training is part one of our 200-Hour Yoga Alliance Certified teacher training. It will immerse you in the entire mandala of yogic practice, with a focus on establishing a living connection with asana, pranayama, meditation, self-study and our highest self. When you experience yoga in your being each day you gain an intimacy with the techniques which translates to the ability to teach them with excellence.
The training will include three weekend immersions at Yoga Mountain Studio in Fairfax and a four-day retreat where you will explore the following:
  • Asana to emphasize proper alignment to create stability and freedom. You will learn how to modify postures to fit all bodies and their therapeutic applications.
  • Anatomy study will be experiential, illuminated through images, hands-on work, and kinesthetic practice.
  • Sequencing will be emphasized as the means to safely and effectively open the body.
  • Art of breathing and pranayama to stabilize the emotions and steady the mind.
  • Beauty of chanting and sound to open the heart.
  • Yoga philosophy for self-reflection and connect to our internal compass which helps us navigate modern life.
The 4-day retreat will be held at the Land of Medicine Buddha in Santa Cruz Mountains. A beautiful retreat center where we will drop into a daily yoga and meditation practice. Delicious meals will be provided. In a retreat setting potent and supportive sangha (practice group) can form that will provide a safe an effective learning environment. Learning in this way, you will feel safe to dig deep, shift patterns, and expand in new and exciting ways. Students will connect with a yoga buddy (fellow student) for support and motivation. Each student will also have a mentor teacher to provide reflection and refinement to the student. Upon completion of the
Awaken Your Life Teacher Training (Part 1 and Part 2) you will have the skills necessary to teach a basic yoga class, assist experienced teachers, and become a leader in the community. You will also meet all requirements to become a 200-hour Yoga Alliance Certified Teacher. When you commit to yoga there are insights and healing that come only through a sincere and consistent practice- you must dive in to experience it fully.
Part I is 100-hours. Part II will be held in Spring 2014 with a similar format.
Dates: Sept 20-22, Oct 2-6 (retreat), Nov 15-17, & Dec 13-15.
Tuition:
Early $1,395 by July 1, 2013 for discount.
Regular $1,495 by Sept. 15th, 2013.
$300 Non-refundable deposit holds your space.
Credit card payments add 3%. Payments are non-refundable.
Payment plans: Available by autopay debit or credit card for as low as $235 a month for the 6-months.

Workshops:

To watch Djuna speak about her work live click here:

Prajna Workshop Video   Description

Precision and Flow: Yoga Workshop Series From the Ground Up

Rasa Yoga Center
Ashland, Oregon
July 19-21, 2013

The Deep Life Force of the Legs – FRIDAY, 5:00-7:30pm
The feet and legs are the roots from which our structure rises. Unlocking the feet and building strength in the legs through standing poses can reduce strain in the torso and access the core, promoting freedom of movement. A grounded and agile foundation cultivates a sense of inner trust and ability to meet the flow of life. This session will include standing, seated, and inverted poses.

Side-door to the Core – SATURDAY, 11-1pm
The sides of the torso play an integrative roll in postural alignment,freedom of movement and gaining access to our center. In this class, we open the side channels of our bodies through dynamic twisting and side-bending poses, in order to engage our deepest interior muscles. By releasing the side flanks of the body, we are able to breathe with more ease and move with greater refinement and power.

Free Your Low Back – SATURDAY, 1:30-4:00pm
Low back pain is so prevalent in our culture. We will investigate how weakened abdominal, hamstring strain, and imbalanced movement patterns lead to stress, pressure and misalignment in the lumbar region. This session will include therapeutic movements and postures to unwind and realign the spine, cultivating the awareness necessary to free your low back. This session is perfect for students at all levels.

Strong Back, Open Heart: Realigning the Shoulder Girdle -SUNDAY 9-11:30am
Strong back and open heart are instructions for meditation inviting us to sit with steadiness and a tender heart. Due to postural habits the shoulders often slump forward resulting in pain in the neck region, tension between the shoulder blades, carpal tunnel syndrome, and collapse around the heart and lungs. This session will open the upper chest and stabilize the shoulder blades. We will practice supine, seated and standing postures that help set the shoulders efficiently on the spine and prepare for arm balances

COST: $108 entire weekend by July 16th, otherwise $125; or $36 singly

Free Your Low Back

Audacity Yoga and Fitness
Yreka, CA
July 22 9:30-12 am

Low back pain is so prevalent in our culture. We will investigate how weakened abdominal, hamstring strain, and imbalanced movement patterns lead to stress, pressure and misalignment in the lumbar region. This session will include therapeutic movements and postures to unwind and realign the spine, cultivating the awareness necessary to free your low back. This session is perfect for students at all levels.

Fall Awakening: Yoga and Meditation Retreat in the Sierras

Trails Within
Graegle, CA
September 6-8th, 2013

In order to live awakened lives it is essential to retreat. Moments spent in devotion, silence, and yoga are deeply rejuvenating, allowing us to re-enter our lives with fresh insight. In this weekend retreat we will integrate yoga, pranayama, and meditation.

Students of all levels welcome.

Friday, September 6th 5:30-8:00pm, $45
Create a Mala

A mala is a garland of beads used in meditation, asana practice, or daily life to stabilize the mind. In this session we will each create a mala of 27 beads, which will become a treasure to carry with you. The session will include asana and meditation instruction.

Saturday, September 7th  9:00-11:30am, $35
Asana, Pranayama, and Meditation

The yogic process moves from outer to inner, first through asana practice to unfold the body, then concentrating the mind through the subtlety of the breath, and finally with the stillness of meditation. This session will begin with asana practice to release the hip flexors and diaphragm in preparation for pranayama (breathing) practice followed by guided and silent meditation.

Saturday, September 7th  3:00-5:30pm, $35
Afternoon Hike and Meditation

A chance to drop into stillness, this meditation session will begin with guidance and proceed in silence with alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation, with a focus on cultivating continuity of awareness.

Sunday, September 8th 9:00-11:30am, $35
Strong Back, Open Heart: Asana for Meditation Posture

Strong back and open heart are instructions for meditation inviting us to sit with steadiness and a tender heart. The asana practice will focus on strengthening the back and shoulder girdle while deeply releasing the upper chest. This session will include asana and meditation.

Register in Advance: info@trailswithin.com or (530) 836-1500. Space is limited.

$125 for all 4 sessions before 8/20
$140 for all 4 sessions after 8/20


Prajna Yoga Immersion at Esalen

With Tias Little, Brenda Proudfoot, and Djuna Mascall

Esalen, CA
November 3-8, 2013
The word Prajna means insight and understanding from within. The word prajna suggests an insight or understanding that is not simply intellectual but involves an embodied, cellular knowing. In this week-long immersion we combine the powerful techniques of asana and pranayama with the clear and poignant teachings of the Buddha dharma. We use asana to strengthen the body and dharma study to gain insight into the mind, heart, and emotional body. This process requires sensitivity, listening, and a capacity to intimately connect with what is happening. Through dharma study, guided meditation, somatic awareness, and yoga postures, this training is a profound integration of yoga and mindfulness. In this intensive we will investigate poems of awakening from the Taoist, Zen and yoga traditions. Our aim this week will be to actualize the dharma in the midst of daily activity—walking the paths, listening to birdsong, gazing at the rolling surf. This immersion marks the celebration of Tias’ 50th birthday.

Make the form formless form. Make the thought thoughtless thought. Singing and dancing, the dharma voice. How vast the sky of unobstructed concentration! At this very moment, what can be sought? Nirvana is immediate. This place is the lotus land. This body is the buddha body.   — Zen Master Hakuin

 

 

 

“Djuna is an amazing and quiet tour de force…”—Sarah Hillenbrand, YogaView manager