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Make a difference with our community workshops

ATMA is pleased to provide its community with an introspection series called Yoga Philosophy. Our monthly evening workshops will explore eastern philosophy to help you with your inner work and professional insights.

These 90-minute online sessions are hosted by Matthew Kelemen and facilitated by Yogi Ian Buchanan. The workshop will include small group break-out activities.

Background

Western medicine and psychology is but a couple hundreds years old, preceding the rise of western psychology practice were ancient philosophies that provided the means for mental wellness and resilience tools for those seeking it for thousands of years. From the Stoics of ancient Athens to Daoism in the far east to Yoga and Buddhism out of ancient India. The fact that these practices has survived and even thrive to today, still in its original form and still relevant to life and well being thousands of years later, speaks to effectiveness and truths. We know psychiatric and psychology work is still ever evolving even from just a decade ago. Therapists will certainly be more rounded and effective in their practice by embracing these ancient teachings with an open mind.

Ian has been teaching yoga for 25 years. He studied yoga in Mysore, India in the late 1990s and learned to teach yoga from his Guruji, Richard Freeman, in Boulder, Colorado. He founded the Yogadotcalm yoga studio in 2002 and continues to teach weekly classes there to beginners and advanced students alike. Ian specialized in teaching yoga philosophies and other related eastern philosophies for over 20 years. He calls his instruction in these ancient philosophies “street philosophy”, because they are meant to be practiced imperfectly, with some humour, in our everyday life. Ian uses accessible and modern language and analogies to bring these teachings to life for his students.

How to Register

Drop-in with donations of $7 USD to Hull Services – A Leader in Child and Youth Mental Health.

SESSION 1

Samkhya System - "Thinking about the way we think" (foundational)

We will explore the Samkhya system, one of the original six darshanas philosophies of ancient India (900-600 BC), which formed the foundational concepts and language of Yoga, Buddhism, and many other eastern teachings. We will dissect experienced reality into its many parts or evolutes, to better understand the relationship of our own heart-mind (Chit), the changing experience (Prakriti), and the unchanging inner awareness (Purusha or Attman). This session provides a philosophical foundation for future sessions.

SESSION 2

Abhyasa Vairagya - "The process and practice of yoga"

Yoga is at its heart a practice. It is the journey to discover who we really are, and still the confusion of separateness. In this session, we will learn about how yoga is actually the process of change and how to become aware of habituated patterns, or samskaras. We will also learn tools to begin changing these samskaras to reduce this confusion.

SESSION 3

Confusion and Idols - Packing our fears

Why do we overpack? In this session we will explore the reason we tend to take on so much and carry it for so long. We will bring awareness to the root of that suffering (Kleshas) and learn yogic methods to lighten our “pack”.

SESSION 4

Hatha Yoga - The energetic breath and energetic body

Hatha yoga is the tantric path of yoga that uses the body as the means of awareness. We will dive deep into the rawness of the current experience and feel the immediacy of the opposing energies that sustain and drive us. We will learn the practice of opposites, as we explore the relaxation response and the merging of sun and moon.

SESSION 5

Yoga Sutras - Introduction to the 8 Limbed Path

We will travel through the karmic outer limbs of ethics, observances, body, and breath, and receive the inner limbs of sense withdrawal, concentration, meditation, and continuous meditation. The sage Patanjali codified this proven method (400-500 CE) to still the heart-mind and clarify our lens of reality.

SESSION 6

Yogas of the Bhagavad Gita - Selfless Action and the Pathless Path of Love

The love story of the “Gita” is the foundation of Hinduism, and is the story of Krisha and Arjuna set at the moment before two great armies charged on the battlefield. It is the best place to understand Karma Yoga (yoga of action), Bhakti Yoga (yoga of love/devotion), Jnana Yoga (yoga of wisdom) and the necessity of practice (abhyasa).