Inspirations from Pune Workshop with Steve Jacobson February 25th 2:00-4:30

This workshop will be an active class with a variety of poses and a small amount of pranayama based on teachings of the Iyengar family during Steve’s time at the Iyengar Institute in Pune, India during the winter of 2011. It is recommended that participants have a minimum of 2 years of experience with Iyengar yoga. The class is especially recommended for those planning / hoping to study at the Iyengar Institute in India.

Cost of this workshop is $30

Steve Jacobson is a certified Iyengar teacher who combines practicing and teaching yoga with a career as a philosophy professor. Steve has studied Iyengar Yoga since 1984, and has spent well over a year at the Iyengar Institute in India in regular visits dating back to 1988. He also has an extensive background in Aikido. His classes are filled with compassion, humor and a sense of exploration.

Phil Goldberg Lecture and Book Signing February 25th 5-6:30p

We hope you can come to this special event. Phil will be talking about India’s spiritual traditions, giving a multi-media presentation, and signing copies of his book American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West.

Copies of the books will be available at the studio.

Phil Goldberg has studied India’s spiritual traditions for more than 40 years as both a practitioner and teacher. He is the author or co-author of 19 books, including Roadsigns: On the Spiritual Path and the acclaimed American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. A skilled public speaker and workshop leader, he has taught throughout the country and appeared in national media. An Interfaith Minister and spiritual counselor, Phil recently founded Spiritual Wellness and Healing Associates in Los Angeles. You can visit his website at www.philipgoldberg.com

“In February 1968 the Beatles went to India for an extended stay with their new guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It may have been the most momentous spiritual retreat since Jesus spent those forty days in the wilderness.”

With these words, Philip Goldberg begins his monumental work, American Veda, a fascinating look at India’s remarkable impact on Western culture. This eye-opening popular history shows how the ancient philosophy of Vedanta and the mind-body methods of Yoga have profoundly affected the worldview of millions of Americans and radically altered the religious landscape.

Rich in detail and expansive in scope, American Veda shows how we have come to accept and live by the central teaching of Vedic wisdom: “Truth is one, the wise call it by many names.”

Screening of “Yoga Unveiled” with producer Gita Desai March 4th 1:00pm

Harnessing the colorful commentary of the most prominent yoga scholars, teachers, and medical experts, Yoga Unveiled reveals how yoga began, tells the story of yoga’s passage to the West, describes its numerous branches, recounts the fascinating biographies of the foremost yoga masters, and explores yoga’s astonishing medical potential.

Stunning cinematography, ornate visual displays, and stirring music create a truly enchanting viewing experience. The great devotees of yoga grace the screen with their profound wisdom and delightful manner.

Yoga Unveiled also features commentary by Krishna Das, Dr. Herbert Benson, Edwin Bryant, Subhash Kak, Vasant Lad, Dr. Timothy McCall, Larry Payne, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Father Joe Pereira, Swami Sivananda, Dr. Martina Ziska, and Dharma Mittra.

Understanding Your Scoliosis Workshop with Kathleen Pringle March 17th 2:00-5:00pm

Understanding where your spine curves, and how your vertebra are rotating will help you understand how you need to adapt your yoga practice. We will look at the dynamics of the major patterns and how to elongate, strengthen and de-rotate (center) your spine for your particular pattern. Open to everyone with scoliosis and recommended for teachers.

Cost of this workshop is $50

Sutra Study & Discussion with Br. Shankara March 17th 5:30- 7:00p

The Text to Be Studied: How to Know God by Swami Prabhavananda

Br. Shankara will introduce you to this deeply moving book, and answer your questions about how Prabhavananda’s commentary can help make Patanjali’s sutras a step-by-step guide on your spiritual path.

From Prabhavananda’s Translator’s Foreword: “In this translation (of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras) we have not only provided a commentary but expanded and paraphrased the aphorisms themselves, so that each one becomes an intelligible statement in the English language. … Our commentary is mainly our own work. However, we have followed the explanations of the two ancient commentators, Bhoja and Vyasa. We have also quoted frequently from the brilliant and deeply intuitive comments of Swami Vivekananda.”

Brahmachari Shankara
Br. Shankara is the spiritual director and Resident Minister of the Vedanta Center of Atlanta. Barbara Brown Taylor, professor of religion at Piedmont College, brings her classes to the Center for discussions about Vedanta in practice. After a recent visit, she wrote: “You’re an inspired teacher, and I’m so grateful for your gentle way with my students last night. They came away with a great deal of usable new knowledge about Vedanta — but more than that, they came away with an experience of you (A Living Word) that they’ll never forget.”

Swami Prabhavananda, Shankara’s guru, accepted him as a disciple in 1973, at the Vedanta Society of Southern California (VSSC). He was a disciples of a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, and senior monks in the Ramakrishna Order of India.

Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886), a West Bengali saint, trained the disciples who founded his monastic order during the early 1880s. Mahatma Gandhi said, “The story of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s life is a story of religion in practice. His life enables us to see God face to face. Ramakrishna was a living embodiment of godliness.”

The event is free. Stillwater will be collecting donations on his behalf.