Return to Love – Ashtanga Yoga and Philosophy with Sati Chmelar


July 17 – 21 2013image (2)

Join Sati for a retreat at one of her favorite places in the world: Prama Institute. We will meet on the top of a little sacred mountain just 20 minutes outside of Asheville for 5 days of investigation into Ashtanga Yoga and the deep heritage of Indian philosophy. Our journey together will be explored practically and philosophically through asana practice, meditation, philosophical lecture and discussion and contemplative writing.

One of the themes of this retreat will be an examination of the nature of love as a tool and sustainer of spiritual practice. Free time will be given for excursions of the surrounding area including exploring the vibrant cultural town of Asheville, touring the Biltmore Estate, hiking, visiting local hot springs, horseback riding, canoeing, ziplining, driving the Blue Ridge Parkway or indulging in a spa treatment. Students who play music are invited to bring instruments for the bonfire! This retreat sold out last time so register soon!​

 

RETREAT SCHEDULE 

Our daily schedule will include asana, meditation, and lectures on various philosophical topics. Our mornings will be committed to mysore style A​shtanga classes for experienced students and special led classes for beginners to the Ashtanga Yoga system. Meditation sessions and daily philosophy teachings will be held most afternoons. Students must be prepared to do some contemplative writing assignments and practice silence for sections of retreat. The schedule will allow students enough time to go off the retreat center for their own private excursions on particular days. We will celebrate the end of the retreat with a bonfire and hopefully a bit of music, so bring your instruments! A detailed schedule of our day will be sent to participants closer to the retreat start.

 FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE RETREAT, LOCAL AREA, RATES, AND PAYMENT VISIT WWW.VASUDHAIVA.COM OR CLICK HERE TO GO DIRECTLY TO THE RETREAT PAGE.EARLY BIRD RATES EXPIRE MARCH, 17TH!

ABOUT SATI CHMELAR

Shannon Rose Chmelar (Sati) is an American yoga teacher who teaches the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga system and various philosophical traditions including Classical Yoga, Vedanta, and Mahayana Buddhism. She is also a writer, massage therapist, and multi-media performance artist. Sati teaches in the United States, Europe, and Asia and is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. She is the Founder and Director of Vasudhaiva, an educational institute and retreat company dedicated to the study of classical Indian thought, Buddhism, and Yoga. In all of her work, she strives to illuminate how ancient wisdom teachings may help us overcome our daily struggles and cultivate a more compassionate existence.

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Sati was born in Frankfurt, Germany and raised in the US, Italy, and Japan. Her conscious spiritual journey began in adolescence after experiencing a series of transcendental awakenings. This gave her a thirst to know the divine nature underlying existence and led her to various practices that use the body as a form of spiritual inquiry. At first, she explored this through the study of dance in her teens and shifted to experimental performance throughout her 20’s at Bennington College in Vermont and later, in Florida.​​

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YOGA & BUDDHISM

Sati began to practice yoga in 2001 under her root teacher, Shri Hamilton-Hubbard. She fell in love with vinyasa-based practice and eventually devoted herself to the traditional Ashtanga Yoga system after studying under Manju Jois. She credits Manju for leading her to a profound awakening on the yogic path that eventually changed her life in an unparalleled way. She practices Ashtanga in the tradition of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Sharath Rangaswamy, and Saraswathi Ranagaswamy. Teachers she has studied at length with include Jeff and Harmony Lichty, Tim Feldmann, Alex Medin, Rolf and Marci Naujokat, and Greg Nardi. Sati has been teaching since 2004, having completed over 680 hours of yoga teacher training including programs directed by David Swenson and Paul Dallaghan. She continues to study with various senior Ashtanga teachers as well as spend extensive time uncovering knowledge from practicing in solitude. She is dedicated practitioner of the Second Series of Ashtanga Yoga. Sati’s philosophical studies have been focused in the wisdom traditions of Advaita Vedanta, Samkhya and Tibetan Buddhism. She has completed advanced Yoga Sutra and Bhagavad-Gita study under Professor Nagaraja Rao in Thailand, and more recently, spent several months in Nepal studying the Madhamikya philosophy of Tibetan Buddhism under Khenpo Dr. Ngawang Jorden. She is deeply inspired by and a student of Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, HH the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, and Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche. She relocated to Nepal to further her philosophical training in Tibetan Buddhism.

 

You can learn more about Sati on her website www.satiyogini.com. You can learn more about Vasudhaiva at  www.vasudhaiva.com. For questions email her at satiyogini@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

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