Yin & Yang 3 Vehicles Psycho/Spiritual Inquiry
Using Yoga, Buddhism and Spiritual Psychology as our vehicles, The Insight Yoga Institute offers trainings, retreats, and a 720 hour Yoga Alliance endorsed certificate program (beginning February, 2010) where students can develop a body/heart/mind path of awareness that creates a regular vehicle for insights to occur. To complete the full certification program, students will be required to attend all Level l and Level ll courses offered, with the option of completing the program within 2 to 6 years. (See schedule for details).
At the Insight Yoga Institute we feel that integrating essential teachings and practices from these wisdom traditions amplifies our insights and generates the potential for them to dawn as wisdom, while becoming evident in how we live our lives and benefit others.
Program Description
Insight Yoga involves 4 main aspects of development that are each interdependent. The body (physical and subtle), the heart, the mind, and relationships.
For the body we engage in regular active and receptive (or Yin/Yang) asana practices that are designed to develop and maintain pliancy in the muscles as well as the joints, to increase strength and vitality in all the systems of the body, and to cultivate a sensitivity to and refinement of the energy body- the gateway to an ease of being. Yin yoga is a meditative physical practice that stimulates the balancing of the energetic pathways (meridians) through holding floor poses while Yang yoga involves a slow alignment based movement practice.
For the heart, we engage in awareness practices that hold and help heal the wounded heart. We practice opening to and at times dialoguing with emotional patterns of reactivity, often uncovering hidden insights and gifts that can blossom into genuine self-love and compassion, causing the release of our self constructs and the compensatory strategies of armoring (protecting, shutting down) that naturally follow. This has a direct and lasting impact on our relationship to ourself and others.
Mind Training involves practices of visualization, contemplation, concentration, mindfulness, and open awareness drawing from Yogic, Taoist, and Buddhist teachings.
Learning to maintain a connection to our body, heart and mind when in relationships is probably the most challenging aspect of all. Relational awareness practices foster kindness, deep listening, meaningful exchanges, and learning to appropriately trust and reveal vulnerabilities with others. Practices include generating loving-kindness and compassion, as well as engaging in contemplative dialogues with others on specific subjects.
What is the focus of Insight Yoga? And what is the primary objective of the practice?
Enhancing and integrating the body, heart, and mind–drawing from the insights and practices of yoga, buddhism and psychology, while developing a capacity for meeting life with freshness, clarity, and compassion.
Who founded the school?
Sarah and Ty Powers (Bios on Faculty page).
When?
It is opening its doors in Marin County, California (30 minutes north of San Francisco) in February 2010.
What are the major influences in the creation of the Insight Yoga Institute?
From the yoga lineages the influences are the physical and subtle body teachings in the Hatha Yoga Pradapika, the postural integration teachings of Iyengar Yoga, the grace and flow connected to breath of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, the personalized breath based slow flow of Viniyoga, the long floor poses that nourish the energy body of Yin Yoga, the teachings of inner yogas in Tibetan Buddhism, and the energy gathering practices of Qi Gong.
From the Buddhist schools, the emphasis is on The Eight Fold Path of early Buddhism from Theravadin teachings, the emphasis on compassion as represented by The Bodhisattva vow and enlightened living in the teachings of the 6 Paramitas of the Mahayana path, and the skillful means and wisdom teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism.
From the psychological world both the teachings of Buddhist Psychology (Abhidharma), as well as western psycho-synthesis models (Spiritual Psychology) that relate to the possibility of healing our individual emotional wounds, and discovering and dispelling our compensatory strategies of armoring (defensiveness), while identifying and working with our limiting self constructs (fixed ideas about who we are), as well as the recognition of our universal essential nature, what buddhism calls our un-contrived openness and clarity.
How would you describe a typical Insight Yoga class? How does it start and end? How long does it last? What is emphasized?
Each class is anywhere between 2-4 hours and often begins with a short talk about awareness. From there we begin by taking a few moments to acknowledge our current state of being (how we actually feel, body, heart and mind) and to formally commit to our practice for our own and other’s benefit. The practice then includes a slow alignment based flow as well as floor poses held for longer periods. Pranayama often follows Savasana, with 20-30 minutes devoted to meditation. In some workshops and retreat settings, the practices above are followed by contemplative dialogues on specific dharma themes. Some workshops are more specific about physical or subtle anatomy, meditation and the obstacles to awareness, chanting sutras, etc. Insight Yoga retreats also emphasize meditative awareness and the power of silence to deepen our understanding.
Who are the leading yoga teachers at the Insight Yoga Institute?
Sarah Powers, Paul Grilley, Patricia Sullivan (see Faculty page)
Who are the other esteemed teachers?
The program also includes yoga teachings by Suzee Grilley, Scott Blossom, Chandra Easton, as well as teachings by renowned Buddhist teachers Ajahn Amaro, Norman Fischer, Tsultrim Allione, Gregory Kramer, and Stephen and Martine Batchelor. The spiritual psychology teachers are John and Jennifer Welwood. This two to six year program will be held in four 10 day nonresidential retreats and one 5 day silent residential retreat per year, mostly in Marin County, CA.
Do you certify Insight Yoga teachers? What does certification entail?
We will offer a certification in 2011 for those who complete our 350 hour Yoga Alliance certified level I course, and another 370 YA certified level II teacher certification in 2012 for those who have completed all the course work, reading as well as writing papers. Teachers will be approved (Insight Yoga certification) by the Institute by submitting a video taped 2 hour class. If you are enrolling in the full program (all level I and Level II courses for certification), you will be assigned a mentor (Sarah, Ty or Patricia) and you will be in email contact with them about your reading and writing. You will also have a monthly hour long phone call with your mentor to discuss whatever is arising in your practice and/or teaching life as you integrate what you are learning in the program. Each phone session will cost $100 (this cost is not included in any of the programs), with payment sent directly to the mentor.
What makes the Insight Yoga Institute unique (that is, different from other styles/schools of yoga)?
The skillful integration of genuine paths of Yoga with all three major lineages of Buddhism and training in graduate level Spiritual Psychology. Teachers at the Insight Yoga Institute are dedicated to introspection, self-inquiry, and living with awareness in the body, heart and mind. Through a dedication to daily practice and regular personal retreats, one becomes more of a refuge for oneself. Developing the ability to respond, rather than react, allows us to become more compassionate and intimate with the inevitable changes of life (sickness, old age, death, loss, pain), and to more authentically share that quality with others.