During the past two years, turbulence has become the new ordinary. As the world struggle in turmoil, the spiritual and philosophical aspects of yoga have become even more essential to our yogic path and life.
Although yoga philosophy developed over centuries, in different times and with different challenges, we often have a very narrow impression of what yoga philosophy has to offer to us in our own time. Most often our impression is limited to the very brief sutras of Patanjali.
This training is intended to broaden our knowledge of yoga philosophy —the different challenges out of which it arose, and the principles for living with which the yogis responded. This allows us to have a conversation with the broad and diverse community of yogis through history, all of whom have something to say to us, helping us to understand our life and our yoga practice.
This is a unique opportunity to explore this with yogi and philosophy professor Doug Keller. He not only studied and taught philosophy in Universities; he also spent years of practice and study in an ashram in India, and after that immersion has been teaching yoga and continuing to study yoga philosophy for 24 years.
You will learn about the origin of the many practices and ideas about practice, along with how they have evolved throughout history to become more supportive of our normal lives. We’ll cover the essential texts of yoga — emphasizing the ones beyond Patanjali, introducing you to inspiring ideas that you may be less familiar with, but which play an important role in yoga.
As you integrate such knowledge and dispel some of the common myths about yoga, a new window will open up for your practice and/or teaching of yoga.
Admission Requirements
- Open to all levels yogi.
- Have interest in exploring yoga philosophy
Qualification
This course qualifies for 25 non-contact hours CEUs with Yoga Alliance.
Schedule (16 days in total)
9/2 ~ 11/1 Time：9:30-11:00 | 11/4 & 11/8 Time：9:30-11:30
- 9/2(Thu.) Introduction and Fundamental Concepts of Yoga from the Vedas
- 9/9(Thu.) Historical Events and Forces: the Influence of Buddhist Ideas of Karma
- 9/13(Mon.) The Meaning and Role of Prana — and Its Connection to Mantra in the Vedas
- 9/16(Thu.) The Idea of Yoga as a Practice, and its Connection to Vedanta in the Upanishads
- 9/23(Thu.) Early Roots of the Practice of Pranayama, and the Idea of the “Vayus”
- 9/27(Mon.) The Idea of the “Gunas,” and how it illuminates how our nervous system works
- 9/30(Thu.) The Fundamental Difference Between “Classical” Yoga and Tantra: Our Relationship to Desire and the Body
- 10/4(Mon.) Tantra: Its Influence throughout India and Asia, and its Relationship to Yoga
- 10/14(Thu.) A New and Practical Approach to Practice and Spirituality Based on Tantric “Trika” Philosophy
- 10/18(Mon.) The “Yoga Body:” New Concepts of the Body: the Body as Mandala of Energy
- 10/21(Thu.) The Obstacles We Face, and the Role of Asana and Pranayama: Understanding the Nadis, the “Knots” or Granthis, and the Koshas
- 10/25(Mon.) The Chakras and Kundalini
- 10/28(Thu.) The Deeper Samadhi: Yoga Nidra and How it Transforms our experience of the Waking State — the Fundamental Elements of Yoga Nidra and Its Philosophical Roots
- 11/1(Mon.) The Tools of Hatha Yoga, and How they Evolve from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika through Later Texts and into the Modern Era of Yoga
- 11/4(Thu.) The Relationship Between Ideas of the Body in Yoga, and Ayurveda — ideas of Prakruti, the Doshas, and Healing, compared with the purposes of Yoga for Transformation — shared roots, different branches.
- 11/8(Mon.) Past, Present, and Future: Pulling Together What We Have Learned, and How Modern Yoga Can Evolve Further
Each session will be presented in manageable segments, and will include time for Q&A to help clarify and integrate. Slides and a final self quiz will also be provided to help examine the learning process. Besides lecture, guided practices may also be added to certain sessions to help connect knowledge and experience.
Doug Keller’s background reflects a lifelong commitment to studying, imbibing and sharing the vast field of knowledge and practice known as yoga. After receiving degrees in philosophy from Georgetown and Fordham Universities in the United States, and teaching philosophy at college level for several years, Doug pursued his “post-graduate” education in the practical experience of yoga at the Siddha meditation ashram, Gurudev Siddha Peeth, in India, for seven years, and spent a total of 14 years doing service, practicing, training in and teaching yoga in Siddha meditation ashrams worldwide.
He received intensive training in the Iyengar system in New York City, practiced Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga in India, and became one of the first certified Anusara yoga teachers, producing three highly respected books on asana, pranayama and yoga philosophy. His work has since taken him beyond the confines of the Anusara system. Doug’s further expansion in learning is reflected in his latest and most in-depth work, “Yoga as Therapy”, which is one of the most comprehensive, innovative and useful treatments of the structural aspect of yoga therapy available.
Doug’s teaching is rooted in a vast and inclusive perspective of study and practice that honors the insights of the many streams of wisdom that flow into the river of yoga. A regular columnist for Yoga+ Magazine, writing the “Asana Solutions” column that addresses specific therapeutic problems, Doug is a ERYT500 with Yoga Alliance and a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
