Gregor Maehle began his yogic practices in the late seventies.

In the mid-1980s he commenced annual travels to India, where he studied with various yogic and tantric masters, traditional Indian sadhus and ascetics. He spent fourteen months in Mysore, and in 1997 was authorised to teach Ashtanga Yoga by K. Pattabhi Jois. Since then he has branched out into researching the anatomical alignment of postures and the higher limbs of yoga. In India Gregor also received eight months of mostly one-on-one instruction in scripture and the higher limbs of Yoga through B.N.S. Iyengar, a student of T. Krishnamacharya, and he studied Sanskrit under Professor Narayanachar and Dr Chandrasekhar.

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Gregor’s internationally acclaimed textbook series consisting of Ashtanga Yoga: Practice and Philosophy, Ashtanga Yoga: The Intermediate Series, Pranayama: The Breath of Yoga, Yoga

Meditation: Through Mantra, Chakras and Kundalini to Spiritual Freedom, Samadhi The Great Freedom, How to Find Your Life’s Divine Purpose, Chakras, Drugs & Evolution and Mudras: Seals of Yoga – have sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide and have been translated into eight foreign languages. Additional volumes currently prepared are Tantric Meditation and Bhakti: Yoga of Love. Gregor has been invited to many countries to teach and has contributed to and been

interviewed by numerous yoga magazines. On Gregor’s blog page chintamaniyoga.com/blog/you will find over 300 articles, videos and podcasts on all aspects of yoga, which Gregor has authored together with his wife Monica.

 

DATES & DAILY SCHEDULE 

SATURDAY 21 SEPTEMBER

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09:00-12:00 Ashtanga & Pranayama

12:00- 13:30  Break

13:30-  15:30  Yoga Sutra, Yoga Philosophy & Sanskrit Chanting

 

SUNDAY  22 SEPTEMBER

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09:00 - 12:00 Ashtanga Mysore & Pranayama

12:00 - 13:30 Break

13:30 – 15:30 Tantric Meditation

 

Class description

 

Guided asana class

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Here Gregor will analyse the many intricate anatomical details of the majority of the postures of the Primary Series, while maintaining as much pace as possible. The focus will be on breaking down the various phases of entering and exiting the postures into their constituents. Performing postures safely while understanding which anatomical actions will get us deep into the asanas will prevent unnecessary energy expenditure. Through inducing precision this format also achieves that conditioning and emotions lodged in bodily tissue are released, preparing us for the higher limbs of pranayama and meditation.

 

Pranayama and Kriya

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Imagine how great it would be to have a switch that, when operated, would enable you to consciously choose between your right and left brain hemispheres, intuitive and analytical intelligence, sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, fight/flight reflex and rest/relaxation, and between the male and female, solar and lunar, aspects of your psyche. How great it would be if, when required, you could switch from being compassionate to doggedly determined. Or from charged with energy to completely relaxed within a few minutes. Or from extrovert (physically present, expressive and outgoing) to introvert (reflective and absorbing) within a short time. This switch does in fact exist and it is not at all hidden. It is the prominently protruding olfactory orifice right in the middle of your face: your nose.

Pranayama includes some of the most neglected but yet most powerful methods of yoga. Pranayama is the vital link that connects asana to meditation without which the combined benefit of both cannot be harvested. Learn how to use pranayama to harmonize the doshas (humors of the body) and thus attain a state of health and

balance as well as how to still the mind, enabling spiritual insight. The kriyas are predominantly methods of purification of the body. They support the work of postures and are especially important for people who live in large cities. They aid in removing contamination from chemical, environmental, electrical, biological and electromagnetic sources.

 

Yoga Sutra and Sanskrit chanting 

 

The Yoga Sutra entered my life 39 years ago and since then it’s been a constant companion. It took me a long time to completely understand it but once this had happened it ended all confusion I had about yoga. Understanding the Sutra gave me complete confidence in how to apply my practices diligently and that I would succeed in due time. The Sutra changed yoga for me from a faith and hope-based system to a science with predictable and repeatable outcomes. It is exactly this confidence and

certainty that I would like to pass on to my students.

The workshop will be interactive, with ample time for participants to ask questions.” The Yoga Sutra is the operating manual of yoga. It is only when we understand the why’s and how’s of yoga that we will practice with confidence and beyond doubt. In this class we will chant selected stanzas in Sanskrit and a detailed commentary based

on Gregor’s four decades of practice and study will be given. The commentary will retain the depth of the ancient treatises but will be fun, relatable and applicable to modern urban life. 

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Tantric Meditation

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Gregor teaches two meditation systems side-by-side, yogic and tantric meditation. Similar to our asana and pranayama practices so also yogic chakra-Kundalini meditation is very structured. While yogic meditation is a very transformational and powerful technique, some students struggle with its rigor and demands for

concentration and visualization. If we experience a lot of pressure in our lives and minds the simple but effective tantric meditation techniques can be useful. This workshop is based on meditation techniques from an ancient text called the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra. This text came down through Kashmir Shaivism and contains 112 dharanas, what we today would call meditation techniques. Many of

today’s popular meditation techniques were already introduced in the Vijnana Bhairava. Most of these tantric meditations are much simpler than yogic meditation and require less effort. There are also many different techniques to choose from. Here is a

sophisticated approach that offers a great variety in case a particular technique doesn’t work for a student. This makes this system very adaptable to individual needs and preferences.

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