Yoga Journal : YJ Events: Estes Park 2008

The first North American Anusara Yoga Gathering will be held September 22–24, 2008, in Estes Park, Colorado. This extraordinary three-day event will feature Anusara Yoga founder John Friend and many of the top Anusara Yoga teachers in the United States, including Denise Benitez, Elena Brower, Betsey Downing, Sarah Faircloth, Suzie Hurley, Amy Ippoliti, Naime Jezzeny, Martin Kirk, Noah Maze, Todd Norian, Ross Rayburn, Darren Rhodes, Desirée Rumbaugh, Ellen Saltonstall, Christina Sell, Sianna Sherman, and Michelle Synnestvedt. In addition to these fantastic yoga teachers, the Gathering will include internationally renowned Tantric scholars Douglas Brooks, Sally Kempton, and Paul Muller-Ortega. View the full Anusara Gathering faculty here.

Each day, the Gathering will feature a master class with John Friend, inspiring philosophical talks by the Anusara scholars, early morning meditations, break-out classes with top Anusara Yoga teachers, live music by Shantala (Benjy and Heather Wertheimer) and Special Guests, and evening entertainment.

This is the first Anusara Yoga gathering designed for all levels of students, including those new to Anusara Yoga as well as intermediate and advanced students. The Gathering will also offer special classes for aspiring Anusara Yoga teachers, Anusara-inspired yoga teachers, and even certified Anusara Yoga teachers. It will be an unforgettable event for the Anusara Yoga community!

All attendees are automatically enrolled for all morning group meditation
and the master classes with John Friend.

Please select one afternoon break-out session for each day.

	7:30pm Welcome Remarks by John Friend Followed by Music by Shantala (Benjy and Heather Wertheimer) and Special Guests Open to all Anusara Gathering participants

	Sally Kempton–Group Meditation 7:00am–7:45am Master Class with John Friend 9:30am–12:30pm Join John Friend each morning for quintessential Anusara Yoga classes designed to accommodate every student in attendance. It will be a merry gathering of all participants, with live music and brilliant interjections by our guest scholars. Experience some of the greatest and most powerful Anusara Yoga ever! *Choose one afternoon breakout session:* The Bhagavad Gita Instructor: Douglas Brooks Monday, September 22 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG1BRO All Levels The Bhagavad Gita is likely the most influential textual resource in the history of yoga. Nearly every tradition of yoga has offered its own interpretation and used the text to evolve its understanding of the body, mind, and heart. We'll study the essential teachings of the Gita with a special focus on Tantric traditions, asking ourselves how we might offer this remarkable text to our yoga students and incorporate it more fully into our own practices. Lecture. Handstand: From Baby Steps to Breakthroughs Instructor: Betsey Downing Monday, September 22 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG1DOW All Levels Handstand is one of yoga's most exhilarating and empowering poses. Learn a variety of techniques to move your pose to the next level, including kicking up with ease, finding balance, and pressing up with one or two legs. Worth and Worthiness through Anusara Yoga Instructor: Suzie Hurley Monday, September 22 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG1HUR For Beginners When we align with Supreme Consciousness, yoga can be the highest form of self-love. Experience the Universal Principles of Alignment in a variety of poses—and see your own innate goodness become a tangible reality. Covers the basics of Anusara Yoga principles and philosophy. Yoga Should Feel Good: Healthy Backs! Instructor: Naime Jezzeny Monday, September 22 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG1JEZ Teachers and Students of All Levels Learn alignment and techniques in common poses for a better feeling back. For teachers and students of all levels. Healthy Shoulder Anatomy: Freedom with Stability Instructor: Martin Kirk Monday, September 22 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG1KIR All Levels The shoulders are the most moveable joints in the body. But the incredible flexibility of the shoulders means they are also vulnerable to instabilities and injury. Learn how the Universal Principles of Alignment support the musculoskeletal structure of the shoulder girdle, creating freedom with optimal stability. Hanuman's Leap Instructor: Noah Maze Monday, September 22 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG1MAZ Intermediate/Advanced Get ready to soar into Hanumanasana! We'll interweave the mythic narrative of Hanuman's leap across the ocean with forward folds and hip openers for a playful and powerful practice. The Power of Speech: Matrika Shakti and Mantra in the Shiva Sutras Instructor: Paul Muller-Ortega Monday, September 22 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG1MUL All Levels The session examines key Tantric Shaivite teachings about the subtle relationships between language, conceptuality, and enlightenment. Drawing on the Second Book of the Shiva Sutras as its central text, we will explore the powerful notion of the Matrika Shakti, the great Un-Understood Mother, the Matrix of language and conceptuality. Lecture. Teaching Beginners: Advanced Poses Instructor: Ross Rayburn Monday, September 22 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG1RAY For Teachers Expand your students' practice! Learn how to sequence, including how to lead up to and introduce advanced poses. Lecture. Adhikara: Experiences of Expansion as a Student Instructor: Darren Rhodes Monday, September 22 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG1RHO All Levels Fuel the fire of your Adhikara (studentship) in this intimate class. Learn as Darren shares his key experiences with John Friend that continues to inspire and sustain him on the path of yoga. Includes forward folds, twists, and hip openers. Hearts of Courage Instructor: Desirée Rumbaugh Monday, September 22 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG1RUM Intermediate/Advanced Explore the practice and principles of backbending in order to enter the cave of the heart and dwell inside to experience further expansion. Learn to engage the heart's courage to move deeper into the fullness of your backbends. The Shrine of the Heart Instructor: Christina Sell Monday, September 22 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG1SEL All Levels By utilizing the Anusara Yoga Universal Principles of Alignment in standing poses and backbends, we'll learn to build a temple of the body and establish a place of sanctuary and worship within. Celebrating the Goddess Instructor: Sianna Sherman Monday, September 22 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG1SHE All Levels Weaving the breath and asana into a beautiful tapestry, we'll celebrate and embody the goddess in a variety of poses.

	Douglas Brooks–Group Meditation 7:00am–7:45am Master Class with John Friend 9:30am–12:30pm *Choose one afternoon breakout session:* Tuning the Instrument: Hearing Your Body's Song Instructor: Denise Benitez Tuesday, September 23 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG2BEN All Levels Use the Principles to more authentically inhabit your yoga practice. Learn to listen to the tuning needed in any moment, so that your song of movement becomes truthful and powerful. Handstand: From Baby Steps to Breakthroughs Instructor: Betsey Downing Tuesday, September 23 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG2DOW All Levels Handstand is one of yoga's most exhilarating and empowering poses. Learn a variety of techniques to move your pose to the next level, including kicking up with ease, finding balance, and pressing up with one or two legs. Spreading Your Wings: Let Your Dreams Soar Instructor: Sarah Faircloth Tuesday, September 23 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG2FAI Intermediate/Advanced Hug the midline and make your wildest arm balances come true. A rockin' class filled with illuminating instruction to uplift your asana. Anusara Yoga Teacher Training: The Foolproof Method for Planning the Perfect Class Instructor: Amy Ippoliti Tuesday, September 23 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG2IPP For Teachers Discover the most important elements of class planning, designed to create exceptional class themes and dynamic heart language. Explore how to interweave both attitudinal language with technical instruction as a way to help students truly embody your theme. Lecture. Yoga Should Feel Good: Shoulder Therapeutics to Make You Smile! Instructor: Naime Jezzeny Tuesday, September 23 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG2JEZ All Levels Explore shoulder alignment in common postures that will transform your frowns into smiles, both on and off the mat. For teachers and students. Exploring the Spanda Karikas: The Yoga of Divine Pulsation Instructor: Sally Kempton Tuesday, September 23 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG2KEM All Levels The transformative Tantric text, Spanda Karikas, is a blueprint for living in the awareness of sacred energy. Its pithy verses offer us both a vision of reality and a means to experience the sacred though our body, our emotions, and the situations we face in life. We'll work with key verses that help us bring the vision of practical Tantra directly into our practice, on and off the mat. Teachers and practitioners will find that this master class can powerfully shift your relationship to your own subtle energy and to the energy of the world. Lecture. Light on Yoga Anatomy Instructor: Martin Kirk and Ellen Saltonstall Tuesday, September 23 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG2KIR All Levels Martin and Ellen, coauthors of the forthcoming book on anatomy for Anusara Yoga, will provide an overview of the musculoskeletal system in relation to the Universal Principles of Alignment of Anusara Yoga as applied in our hatha yoga practice. The Power of Speech: Matrika Shakti and Mantra in the Shiva Sutras Instructor: Paul Muller-Ortega Tuesday, September 23 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG2MUL All Levels The session examines key Tantric Shaivite teachings about the subtle relationships between language, conceptuality, and enlightenment. Drawing on the Second Book of the Shiva Sutras as its central text, we will explore the powerful notion of the Matrika Shakti, the great Un-Understood Mother, the Matrix of language and conceptuality. Lecture. Twist & Shout Instructor: Ross Rayburn Tuesday, September 23 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG2RAY All Levels Discover the alignment principles behind twists that unlock the energy inherent in the central axis of the body, and dramatically open up your hips and hamstrings. This class will present a wide variety of twists, forward bends, and hip openers, that will make you shout with delight at your radical transformation in just one class. Hearts of Courage Instructor: Desirée Rumbaugh Tuesday, September 23 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG2RUM Intermediate/Advanced Explore the practice and principles of backbending in order to enter the cave of the heart and dwell inside to experience further expansion. Learn to engage the heart's courage to move deeper into the fullness of your backbends. Goddesses and Flowers Instructor: Sianna Sherman Tuesday, September 23 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG2SHE All Levels Experience Sianna's poetic stories in the class interwoven with forward folds and hip openers. Clothed in Embodiment: An Experience of the Divine Instructor: Michelle Synnestvedt Tuesday, September 23 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG2SYN All Levels Each of us has entered this world as an expression of the divine. Yet receiving the gift of our own experience in the form of our bodies, minds, and hearts can be deeply challenging, especially when we are injured or in pain. In this therapeutic class, we'll learn how to properly align and open the hip flexors, particularly the psoas.

	Paul Muller-Ortega–Group Meditation 7:00am–7:45am Master Class with John Friend 9:30am–12:30pm *Choose one afternoon breakout session:* The Magic of Embodying a Theme and Staying Inspired as a Teacher Instructor: Denise Benitez and Betsy Downing Wednesday, September 24 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG3BEN For Teachers One special aspect of an Anusara Yoga class is that the deeper meaning of yoga is incorporated into the pose instructions, so the students leave the class feeling empowered, uplifted, and inspired. In many cases this process is so beautiful and seamless that students are not aware of the underlying structure. Learn techniques to create this magic. Lecture. The Bhagavad Gita Instructor: Douglas Brooks Wednesday, September 24 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG3BRO All Levels The Bhagavad Gita is likely the most influential textual resource in the history of yoga. Nearly every tradition of yoga has offered its own interpretation and used the text to evolve its understanding of the body, mind, and heart. We'll study the essential teachings of the Gita with a special focus on Tantric traditions, asking ourselves how we might offer this remarkable text to our yoga students and incorporate it more fully into our own practices. Lecture. Finding Your Wings: Anusara Yoga for Your Upper Body Instructor: Elena Brower Wednesday, September 24 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG3BRW All Levels Open your heart and strengthen your upper body through a series of poses designed to establish stability—and reveal ease in the shoulders. Restoratives, Pranayama, and Meditation Instructor: Sarah Faircloth Wednesday, September 24 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG3FAI All Levels Enjoy a deeply inspiring and refreshing class of basic restorative poses, pranayama, and meditation practices that will surely lead you to the wellspring of your heart. Power in Numbers: The Kula That Plays Together Stays Together Instructor: Amy Ippoliti Wednesday, September 24 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG3IPP All Levels Celebrate the power of community (kula) and the potency of raising consciousness through individual and group intention. Through heart openers, hand balances and other poses, explore harmonious vibration, communication, and sensitivity as they pertain to health in community relationships. Exploring the Spanda Karikas: The Yoga of Divine Pulsation Instructor: Sally Kempton Wednesday, September 24 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG3KEM All Levels The transformative Tantric text, Spanda Karikas, is a blueprint for living in the awareness of sacred energy. Its pithy verses offer us both a vision of reality and a means to experience the sacred though our body, our emotions, and the situations we face in life. We'll work with key verses that help us bring the vision of practical Tantra directly into our practice, on and off the mat. Teachers and practitioners will find that this master class can powerfully shift your relationship to your own subtle energy and to the energy of the world. Lecture. Healthy Pelvic Anatomy: The Cornrstone of the Temple Instructor: Martin Kirk Wednesday, September 24 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG3KIR All Levels Like the arches of a great cathedral, our pelvis supports the majority of our body weight. Under these stresses, pelvic misalignments can lead to problems with the SI joint, piriformis, and psoas muscles. Through skillful application of the Universal Principles of Alignment, we can optimize pelvic function in our practice and teaching of yoga. Lotus Rising Instructor: Noah Maze Wednesday, September 24 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG3MAZ All Levels The lotus is a symbol of abundance and value— qualities of the Goddess and a metaphor for the spiritual path of the yogi. We'll practice hip openers, forward bends, twists, pranayama, and meditation to cultivate these qualities. Asana as a Celebration of the Heart Instructor: Todd Norian Wednesday, September 24 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG3NOR All Levels Deepen your understanding and practice of asana as an artistic expression of our devotion to the essence of life. Learn how to create a sacred space for practice and to infuse every breath and action in your yoga practice with the most potent meaning. Turning Your World Upside Down Instructor: Desirée Rumbaugh Wednesday, September 24 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG3RUM All Levels Learn the alignment principles of inversions such as Headstand, Shoulderstand, and Handstand. By applying the life-enhancing philosophy of Anusara Yoga and specific postural alignment principles, you'll experience a tremendous boost in your immune system, glandular health, and pranic flow. Yoga Therapy for the Hands and Feet Instructor: Ellen Saltonstall Wednesday, September 24 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG3SAL All Levels Learn specific therapeutic techniques of the Universal Principles of Alignment for musculoskeletal injuries and misalignments of the hands and feet, including carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive strain injury, ganglion cysts, tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, bunions, and connective tissue sprains. Deepening Your Backbends Instructor: Sianna Sherman Wednesday, September 24 3:00pm-5:00pm: Anusara Gathering Breakout Session Code: AG3SHE All Levels Unfold the flower of your heart through a wide variety of backbends, and learn how to permanently deepen all of your backbends by using key Anusara alignment principles.

© Copyright 2008. Yoga Journal, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Read our privacy guidelines.
The editorial content of Yoga Journal should not be used as a substitute for professional health care. Talk to your doctor before starting any new exercise regime.