Pincha para agrandar
Cada participante traerá su propio material de práctica, como viene siendo habitual, 1 antideslizante, 4 mantas, 2 cinturones, 2 ladrillos.
Para reservar plaza:
envíanos un e mail a seminariomiramehtaleon@gmail.com con tu nombre y apellidos y los días a los que quieres asistir y te enviaremos un número de cuenta del banco Santander para hacer un ingreso de 50€ en concepto de reserva.
La jornada del viernes está reservada para profesores o estudiantes en formación, el sábado y el domingo para practicantes de yoga en general.
No serán atendidos casos terapeúticos.
El alojamiento no está incluído en el seminario.
PROGRAMA DE TRABAJO DEL FIN DE SEMANA
A Perspective on Yoga
UNA PERSPECTIVA SOBRE YOGA
FridayVIERNES
5 – 7:30Class: Yoga Beyond Asana
YOGA MÁS ALLÁ DE ASANA
SaturdaySÁBADO
7.30 – 8.30Group Task: Sequencing of Asanas (1)
TRABAJO DE GRUPO- SECUENCIA DE ASANA (1)
10.30 – 1Class: Goals and False Goals
CLASE: METAS Y FALSAS METAS
16:00 a 17:30Workshop: Sequencing of Asanas
TALLER: SECUENCIA DE ASANA
17:30 –18:30Class: Inversions and Pranayama
CLASE: INVERTIDAS Y PRANAYAMA
SundayDOMINGO
7:30 – 8:30Task: Sequencing of Asanas (2)
TRABAJO POR PAREJAS: SECUENCIA DE ASANA (2)
10:30 – 11:30Workshop: Asanas: Good and Bad Sequences
TALLER: ASANA: BUENAS Y MALAS SECUENCIAS
11:30 – 12:30Class: The Senses in Practice
CLASE: LOS SENTIDOS EN LA PRÁCTICA
12.30 – 1.30Question and Answer
PREGUNTAS Y RESPUESTAS
Un artículo extraído de la revista "Yoga magazine " :
A Teachers Tale"
Mira Mehta has a Master’s degree in Sanskrit and Indian
philosophy from Oxford University, a Diploma in Ayurveda
and has enjoyed many years of individual tuition in Yoga
philosophy, Sanskrit and Ayurveda from traditional scholars
in India. She began yoga as a child with B.K.S. Iyengar and
annually returns to India for further study. She has a large
following across Europe and America and her own school in
London,The Yogic Path (www.yogicpath.com). Mira is also
the author of several books on yoga including the bestselling
standard textbook, Yoga: The Iyengar Way (Dorling
Kindersley, 1990), Health Through Yoga (Thorsons, 2002),
which explains yoga through Ayurveda, and Yoga Explained
(Kyle Cathie, 2004).
As a child Mira Mheta studied yoga under the expert
guidance of B.K.S. Lyengar and has since gone on to
become one of the foremost international yoga teachers and
experts in her own right. Vivienne Du Bourdieu speaks in
depth with the the acclaimed author and practitioner.
Mira has a formidable background. It takes several good
breaths to briefly cover just some of her accomplishments.
Academically, she holds a Master’s in Sanskrit and Indian
Philosophy from the prestigious Oxford University. As an
author, she has published five books, the most recent being
Yoga Explained. She is a longstanding student of Krishna
Arjunwadkar, and well known in India, North America,
Europe, and the UK for her interpretations of BKS Iyengar.
She also runs her own school, The Yogic Path, in London.
I ask her what types of people she attracts, novices,
teachers or both? Mira replies, ‘‘What type of student a
teacher attracts depends partly on what the teacher offers.
At an obvious level, by advertising a class for beginners one
attracts beginners, and so on; this stage is important
because it lays the foundation for all further study. But
apart from that, it’s not really possible to classify students
externally. It is their own aptitude and inner urge that
drives them.’’ She quotes a Sanskrit proverb: “A quarter of
learning comes from the teacher, a quarter from the
student’s own intelligence, a quarter from fellow-students
and a quarter from time.” So it’s not just the teacher who
acts as a catalyst for learning, ‘‘it is mainly other forces that
shape a student’s progress. Speaking for myself, I
encourage students to ask questions, and in turn I question
them to find out what they have assimilated in the way of
method and principles.”
Mira then explains the positive experiences students talk
about. ‘‘Presumably people find the whole of their yoga
practice a positive experience; otherwise they would not
continue it. Some of the benefits students report are
improved health, better concentration and equability ~ they
say they do not get so angry and upset by life situations as
they used to before they took up yoga practice.’’
With respect to difficulties students encounter, Mira notes
that each individual is different. ‘‘Within a range of asanas,
it might be a particular asana or group of asanas that
challenge them: here the heartening thing to note is that
everybody shines at something. Pranayama is likely to be
difficult mainly if someone suffers from a respiratory
problem or is unable to relax. Otherwise, with careful and
consistent practice the experience it brings should be
positive.’’
I then ask her whether she prefers her pupils to commit
themselves to a spiritual path before they begin studying
yoga. ‘‘Certainly not,” replies Mira, ‘‘A person’s spiritual life
is his or her own affair. People come to yoga for all sorts of
reasons. High on the list is health and the desire to become
de-stressed.”
Before Mira became a student of Krishna Ajunwadkar she
was already on an academic path. She tells me, ‘‘I have
spent many years associated with University studies of one
kind or another. You could call me a ‘fringe academic’ or a
‘Jill-of-alltrades’. My formal studies have been in
Anthropology, Linguistics, Sanskrit and Indian Religion and
Ayurveda (the principles, not the practice – I am not a
physician). Informally, that is, not attached to a university
qualification, I have studied yoga philosophy and Poetics.
Both these subjects have been with Krishna Arjunwadkar
who is a polymathic scholar versed in traditional Sanskrit
learning as well as contemporary academic discipline.
‘‘On my visits to India I have tutorials with him that consist
of reading the relevant works in the original Sanskrit, with
him explaining the meaning based on the major
commentaries. It’s a luxury to be taught in this way – an
unforgettable experience. I am currently reading a classical
work on Poetics – the art of literary composition – with him,
as poetry is my other hat. In fact, I am combining two of my
intellectual passions: I am using poems from my book
Cascade of Stars to illustrate themes in yoga philosophy.
This gives a light-hearted and picturesque entry into what
many would find a difficult, dry subject. I have used this
method both in talks and in my writings and people seem to
enjoy it.”
Mira’s latest book is the most comprehensive preparation I
have seen on yoga, encompassing its roots, branches, and
the tree itself. I am finding it very helpful, as a newcomer
to yoga, but with some background in Indian philosophy. I
wish it had been available in 1976! Mira provides some
background. ‘‘We tried very hard to make it accessible to
the ordinary reader while at the same time being faithful to
the ancient sources – Patanjali’s Yoga Aphorisms and the
commentary on them by Vyasa.’’ ‘‘My approach in all
subjects is to recognise the need to be methodical and to
explore different angles. There is no doubt that writing
books and articles has helped me to clarify my
understanding. It’s a bit like writing an exam paper – you
learn the subject in its various aspects, then have to distil
your knowledge into a coherent summary. Teaching and
writing go together, as do teaching and learning. ‘‘My first
book, Yoga: The Iyengar Way, which I wrote with my
mother and brother, encapsulated the techniques of some
100 postures. Moving on from there, I wished to answer the
question: What is the rationale behind yoga practice? This
led me to study the principles of Ayurveda and to write
Health Through Yoga. ‘‘Philosophy has always been an
interest of mine – it was kindled in my school days when my
Latin teacher chose Lucretius’ On the Nature of the Universe
as a set text rather than Caesar’s history. So it was natural
for me to think of writing a book that brought together
practice and philosophy – Yoga Explained, which I wrote
with the collaboration of Krishna Arjunwadkar. In the
current popular view asana and pranayama are the main
focus of yoga; this is not at all the classical soul-enriching
teaching.
'Yoga philosophy holds that whatever happens to us affects
our outer identities but does not touch our inner core of
being.This is a beautiful philosophy'.
‘‘Yoga Explained is a pioneering work in the sense that we
emphasise the philosophy of yoga, which is its heart and
soul, together with the practices, which are merely the
limbs. This has needed our combined skills: Krishna
Arjunwadkar’s decades of study of Sanskrit philosophical
works, and my understanding both of the subject and of
present day students’ needs.
“This book itself is intended to have a sequel. Two years
ago I wished to explore the esoteric aspects of yoga, energy
centres and channels (chakras and nadis), the subtle body
and so on. People seem to use these concepts quite
cavalierly, and I wanted to find out what the source texts
actually said about them. My next book will be the fruit of
these studies; again, I plan to write it in collaboration with
Krishna Arjunwadkar.’’ In Yoga Explained, Mira refers to
BKS Iyengar and to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as the major
source book for writers on yoga. She tells me, ‘‘Patanjali’s
Yoga Sutras – compiled some 2,000 years ago – are still to
this day regarded as the ultimate authority on yoga
philosophy. They summarize the whole subject in concise
statements. Because of its comprehensiveness and the
quality of its definitions this work must have been
recognized as outstanding from early on. BKS Iyengar’s
strength is in his systematisation of the practice of asana
and pranayama elaborated in works on Hatha Yoga.’’
"Yoga is the restraining of the modes of the mind"...........
Patanjali
The Sage Patanjali defines yoga as ‘chitta vritti nirodha’,
and ascribes to yoga a method of silencing the vibrations of
the chitta, i.e. intellect, mind, ego. In this context, is it
correct that yoga is a method of silencing the vibrations of
the chitta? She explains this concept eloquently to me,
‘‘Citta vrtti nirodhah is the definition of yoga given by
Patanjali. It means: ‘Yoga is the restraining of the modes of
the mind.’ The modes (vrttis) of the mind do not refer to
vibrations but to specific states or modes of being of the
mind, of which there are said to be five. ‘‘The first of these
is correct cognition or knowledge based on perception,
inference and the reliable authority of a person or system
developed through a teaching tradition. The second is
wrong cognition or knowledge which can be rectified by
correct cognition. The third is the faculty of
conceptualization, which is based on the phenomenon of
language rather than on objective reality.
‘‘The remaining two are deep sleep and memory. These five
mental modes form in varying proportions the experience of
everyday life. The Yoga Sutras go on to say that when they
are suppressed the mundane mind is transcended, giving
room for the experience of the soul.’’ And what about the
vibrations of Sanskrit itself? She answers, “I can only speak
of the vibrations of Sanskrit from my own knowledge of
phonetics. Phonetics classifies sounds according to their
place of articulation in the mouth, the parts used to make
them, and whether they are voiced or not, that is, whether
they use the vibrations of the vocal cords. “Remarkably,
Sanskrit linguists arrived at a similar scheme millennia ago,
and consequently arranged the sounds of Sanskrit in logical
groups. Vowels come first, with simple vowels before
diphthongs, and then groups of consonants arranged
according to place and method of articulation. Sanskrit
chanting is mellifluous and even people who do not know the
language find it beautiful to listen to.” The role of teacher
has occupied countless generations in the world of yoga.
Mira believes the duty of a teacher is to make the student
independent. ‘‘To achieve this, the teacher needs not just to
impart facts but to build up the students’ ability to explore
the subject on their own, with the confidence to recognise
whether they are progressing in the right direction, and to
trace the steps back if they go wrong so that they can
understand their mistakes. ‘‘To do this the teacher needs to
understand the theoretical framework of the practice and to
develop the skills of analysis and synthesis. Yoga practice
improves physical health and emotional well-being, and
brings the mind under conscious control. ‘‘Yoga philosophy
adds a crucial dimension: a perspective on the world that
promotes mental peace even amidst conditions of turmoil. It
holds that whatever happens to us affects our outer
identities but does not touch our inner core of being. This is
a beautiful philosophy: whether or not it is true, it is helpful
in facing life’s difficulties. ‘‘Understanding and reflection
deepen both the practice of yoga and the study of its
teachings. If we do not know why we are doing something,
or where we are going, how can we achieve our goals? yoga
is not different in this respect from any other activity in life.’’
Yoga Explained.... Mira Mehta & Krishna S.Arjunwadkar.
A step-by-step approach to understanding and practising
yoga. We all know that yoga is great for keeping fit and
supple, but how many of us in the West fully understand the
rich philosophy behind the ancient practice? So much more
than a mere set of stretches; yoga is an entire life-path, in
which practise and theory are inextricably entwined. In
yoga, as with all subjects, the foundation is crucial, so Yoga
Explained takes us back to the physical and theoretical
beginnings, showing how we can build our discipline on the
core strengths and guard against bad habits and injuries in
the future. Using modern teaching skills, based on the
popular Iyengar method, Mira introduces over 100
foundation postures in the course of 12 units, carefully
designed to progress hand in hand with the insightful, yet
simple philosophy that supports the practice.
Yoga Explained by Mira Mehta is published by Kyle Cathie
Ltd, priced £14.99. Readers can order the book at the
special price of £12.99 with free p&p. To order your copy,
call 01903 828503, quoting ref. YOGA/YE Or email:
mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk
