Da dieser Kurs in englisch unterrichtet wird, findest du alle Informationen auf dieser Seite ausschließlich in englischer Sprache.

Oct 06-Dec 08, 2020
Tu 19.00-20.30
ONLINE
English
100 €

Please register here.

Yoga – the union of what?
Yoga is often described as meaning “union” or “integration”. The first use of the word is found in the Rigveda (circa XV century BCE), where yoga literally meant the yoke one placed on an animal to yoke it to a war chariot or plow. By extension, yoga has come to describe a means of uniting, or a method of discipline. It is both the goal and the path that takes us there.

In this course we will investigate yogic systems of philosophy, self-transformation and salvation and the many forms they have taken throughout history. We will look at the origins of key terms like karma and samsara, and explore the evolution of the concept of “Yoga” – starting from Vedic India, travelling through the philosophical expressions of Classical Yoga, Hatha Yoga and Tantric Yoga, and arriving at the medicalisation and globalisation of Yoga as we often find it in the modern age.

Class 1 (Oct 6) –  Why the past matters: introduction to the course, key terms, historical overview and the role of philosophy.
Class 2 (Oct 13) – The Vedas: ritual sacrifice as the generating principle of the universe in ancient India and the evolution of ideas around action and death.
Class 3 (Oct 20) –  Practice and yogic theory in the Upanishads (Vedanta): the internalisation of sacrifice, the evolution of the concepts of karma and rebirth, the heart as centre, the theory of the states of consciousness, the vital breaths.
Class 4 (Oct 27) – Warrior Yoga: heroes, chariots and solar apotheosis in Indian epics – the Mahabharata, the great history of the Indian people, and the Bhagavad Gita, or song of the Blessed One.
Class 5 (Nov 03) – The Samkhyakarika of Ishvarakrisna: the elements of the manifested world, self-knowledge as the means to salvation, the relations with the Chakra system and the Yoga Sutra.
Class 6 (Nov 10) – The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: “Yoga citta vritti nirodha”, the activities of the human mind and consequent suffering, the 8 auxiliaries and the role of self-introspection.
Class 7 (Nov 17) – Tantra: integration of polarities through sound, gesture, ritual and yoga to gain divine enjoyments (bhukti), powers (siddhis), and liberation in this life (jivanmukti); Kundalini and the Chakra systems.
Class 8 (Nov 24) – The origins of Hatha Yoga: the synthesis of asceticism and tantrism, yoga practice from ascetics to householders; lunar energy and the bindu system; asana, pranayama and kundalini rise.
Class 9 (Dec 01) – Late medieval Yoga: the diffusion of hatha yoga and the proliferation of schools and practices.
Class 10 (Dec 08) – Yoga meets the West: modern yoga and its key figures, contemporary yoga schools.

Anyone who is interested can join, no previous knowledge necessary.

Amanda has been practising yoga since childhood, growing up as she did with two yoga teachers for parents. As a teacher she has been trained by her father, founder of the Pranayoga Method. Pranayoga means Yoga of Vital Energy. It does not indicate a new style of yoga but a practice of teaching which has grown and developed in respect of the classic tradition of Hatha Yoga and aims to improve the flux and purification of Prana, both in the physical body and in the subtle structures which constitutes the mind.

Amanda studies, practises and teaches the whole spectrum of the sacred path of yoga and believes in a holistic and creative approach to it. She is responsible for the TTC of the Free School of Hatha Yoga Hamsa in Berlin. She is recognised by CONI (Italian Olympic Committee) as a certified trainer of teachers.

Practising yoga since 2009, Marta teaches Hatha Yoga with the Pranayoga Method®. Her focus is on sensing internal and subtle movements, with attention to the respect and safety of each unique practitioner. Her practice includes asana, pranayama, mudras, mantra, and guided meditations. Marta is a birth and postpartum doula, and teaches prenatal and postnatal yoga and breathing. She is also a practitioner of Qi Gong, Reiki, shamanic dreaming, and fascia touch. She draws inspiration from the cycles of nature and of the feminine. She works mostly in English and Italian but also speaks German, French, Spanish and some Russian.