Topics for discussion or lecture:
- Yoga with Live Music, Kirtan, Concerts, and Sound Healing
- Sanskrit:
- Alphabet
- Pronunciation
- Reading transliteration
- Unpacking the meaning of words
- Elements of a Complete Life of Practice:
- Practical wisdom for cultivating equanimity
- Weaving together asana, philosophy, mythology, creativity, concentration, meditation, and relaxation
- Developing daily routines that enhance health and wellbeing
- Introduction to Indian Knowledge Systems:
- Forms of Yoga: Hatha, Karma, Jnana, Raja, Bhakti, Nada, etc.
- General Sanskrit Philosophy Vocabulary: prana, guna, indriya, samskara, karma, etc.
- History and Development of the texts of the Indian Spiritual Traditions
- Raja Yoga:
- Introduction to Samkhya Philosophy, the foundation of Patanjali’s Yoga
- Patanjali’s vocabulary for the psychology of the mind
- Patanjali’s methods of concentration and meditation
- Patanali’s offerings on ethics and conduct that support a calm mind
- Bhakti Yoga:
- Indian Mythology and Stories that Heal
- Devotion, faith, humility, and service
- Intro to the Deities
- The anthropomorphication of nature, consciousness, and the elements
- Mantra: Sound and Vibration as a means to direct thought and transform emotion
- What are the traditional practices and how can we create our own devotional practice at home?
- What are the traditional bhavs or moods for devotion?
- Cultural differences in how Bhakti shows up in shaivism, vaishnavism, and shaktism.
- Harmonium:
- Introduction to the instrument: stops, drones, bellows, coupler, keys, etc.
- Proper care and maintenance
- How to pump and allow the instrument to breathe fluidly
- How to play chants and traditional indian scales
- Exercises for dexterity and enhanced improvisation skills
- Taala: Rhythm
- Understand the importance of rhythm as a support for melody
- How to identify the rhythm of a song
- How to count and sing in rhythms other than eight
- Learn some traditional taalas and the spoken rhythmic language called bols
- Pranayama and Sound:
- Breathing exercises to expand breath capacity and allow for greater ease in physical movement and clearer sounding vocalizations
- Indian Music Appreciation:
- Different styles
- Aspects to raga
- Rhythm and Melody are Shiva and Shakti
- How to listen and what to listen for
- The different instruments
- Saptasvara - sa re ga ma pa dha ni sa
- The chromatic scale, the octave, the pentatonic scale, and srutis
- Hatha Yoga:
- Principles of Krishnamacharya’s Methodology
- Asana Workshops: Chakra Restoration, The Art of Handstands, Yoga Nidra and Sound
- Pranayama, Bandhas, Kriyas
- Hatha Yoga Pradipika: the psychotechnologies of India
- Jnana Yoga:
- What are the Vedas and where do they come from?
- Vedangas, Sanskrit, Jyotish (Astrology), and the Vedic Deities
- Upavedas, sciences such as Ayurveda
- Upanishads, meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge
- What are the Vedas and where do they come from?
- Jyotish: Vedic Astrology
- Fundamentals: planets, constellations, and houses
- Understanding your own chart: purpose, time phase, current transits
- Nakshatras: specificities within the constellations signified by certain stars