The Yoga Sutra boldly proclaims the following: every human being is born to experience their highest potential of lasting fulfillment and ultimate freedom. As seekers on the path of yoga, we are all striving to discover the purpose of our life and bring meaningful transformation within and without. But we want more!

How can we take an exponential leap ahead, and take our practice to the next level? How can we infuse the rest of our lives with the power of practice? And how can yoga be the greatest catalyst in our life to find lasting freedom and fulfillment?

As the living source wisdom of the yoga tradition, the Yoga Sutra clearly and definitively answers all these questions-and more. In this intensive training, we’ll explore the essential wisdom of the Yoga Sutra, and learn how to infuse your practice with this living wisdom so we can realize our highest potential.

This intensive course comprehensively covers the Yoga Sutra, and is designed for intermediate/advanced practitioners and yoga teachers. We’ll comprehensively explore the first two chapters of the Yoga Sutra, going sutra by sutra, covering the major themes of yoga philosophy and practice. We’ll explore the esoteric dimension of the final two chapters of the Yoga Sutra, in two in-depth sessions, including a special session with Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD.

Program Features:

• Intensive, “training-style” format in 10 lecture sessions (18 hours) covering the first two chapters (Samadhi Pada and Sadhana Pada) of the Yoga Sutra verse by verse, and then covering the last 2 chapters of the Yoga Sutra thematically.
• All lecture sessions will have opportunities for Q&A and discussion
• Includes a session as a primer on key concepts of Sankhya philosophy and a yogic understanding of the mind
• Featuring a special session with Pandit Rajmani Tigunait on the essence of the Yoga Sutra, and key reflections on the final two chapters of the Yoga Sutra
• Intended for intermediate/advanced yoga practitioners and yoga teachers to comprehensively learn the Yoga Sutra, and is a key module of the Himalayan Institute 500-hour teacher training program
• Ideal for Vishoka Meditation teachers, and qualifies as a continuing education module to extend the Vishoka Meditation Teacher Training experience.

Key Topics:

• Essentials of Sankhya philosophy in discovering the mind’s essential nature
• Unleashing hidden power of practice through abhyasa and vairagya
• The 3 golden rules to help our practice fully blossom (YS 1:14)
• Understanding Ishvara in context to yoga sadhana
• The mystery of divine grace and trustful surrender
• Transforming our worldview through the 4 yogic attitudes (1:33)
• Understanding the philosophy and metaphysics of Vishoka Meditation through the Yoga Sutra (YS 1:35-36)
• Demystifying samapatti (mental absorption) and samadhi
• The transformational power of kriya yoga as the heart of yoga sadhana
• Exploring the kleshas (afflictions) from a classical perspective
• Understanding the influence of karma in life and yoga sadhana
• Purusha & prakriti: Yoga Sutra’s perspectives on bondage and freedom
• A deeper look at the yamas and niyamas, and their siddhis
• Harnessing the self-revealing power of prana to experience the deepest potential of the 8 limbs
• Refining and deepening your meditation practice through the wisdom of the Yoga Sutra
• Understanding samyama: the pinnacle of dharana, dhyana, & samadhi
• Exploring the mundane and esoteric dimension of siddhis (yogic accomplishments)

Required Reading:

• The Secret of the Yoga Sutra (Samadhi Pada) by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait
• The Practice of the Yoga Sutra (Sadhana Pada) by Pandit Rajmani Tigunai

Additional Resources:

• Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Edwin Bryant
• Yoga and the Luminous by Christopher Chapple