Upcoming Yoga Workshops with Olga:
Balancing the Chakras with Asanas and Healing Practices
Spring 2008, Willow Street Yoga Center
For more information read the description below or visit:
www.willowstreetyoga.com
Please look at this sample list of workshops that Olga has done and would be available
to do. Workshops can also be tailored to the individual needs of a studio and its community.
For further information, contact Olga directly at:
The Yoga Sutras Unplugged – A Yogini's Perspective
The Yoga Sutras by Patanjali have been both appreciated and underrated within the Yoga
community. They have been primarily presented from a male perspective, even though the
flowering of yoga is often due to many dedicated yoginis. Using Nischala Joy Devi's The
Secret Power of Yoga: A Woman's Guide to the Heart and Spirit of the Yoga Sutras, and Alberto
Villoldo's Yoga Power, and Spirit: Patanjali the Shaman, we will explore and experience this
ancient gem from a feminine perspective, imbibing from the font of the Sutra's timeless wisdom.
See what suggestions this text offers for our practice. Men are welcome as well!
The Bhagavad Gita
Come and explore this ancient yet spiritually relevant text – a Divine love song – given to all
spiritual seekers. This interactive workshop will examine the Gita from various philosophical
perspectives, including the Anusara principles of Attitude, Alignment, and Action. We will
consider their application to the Yoga of Devotion, Knowledge, and Karma, as we imbibe from
the Gita's wisdom and express its essence in asanas as well.
Partner Yoga – Anusara Style
We all get by with a little help from our friends! Experience how the support of a partner
and the magif of the Anusara alignment principles can deepen and help transform your practice.
Share the joy, increase the benefit. Bring a friend or make a new one.
Tantra Unplugged
What is Tantra? It is at best, a very complex and misunderstood tradition, that is very
ancient and esoteric and which has influenced both Indian and Buddhist thought and practices.
The Tantric path emphasizes the experience of enjoying life and the world through the lens of
its intrinsic goodness. It recognizes that the body is worthy of encountering and experiencing
the Divine. This workshop will present an introductory outline of Tantra and its principle
characteristics and texts. We will also draw parallels between Tantra and Creation Spirituality
in the Christian Tradition.
Balancing the Chakras With Asanas and Healing Practices
The chakra system is at the heart of our subtle anatomy and is a model for the flow of energy that runs
through all living things, and particularly the human energy system. Learn the fundamentals of subtle
energy and how to bring you body, mind, and soul into greater balance and alignment through the practice
of specific poses, mantras, affirmations, meditations and healing techniques. We will draw upon the
works of Ambika Wauters, Anodea Judith, Paul Grilley, and Christel Nani, a medical intuitive. In addition,
we will explore using the power of the elegant Anusara Universal Principles of Alignment and particularly
the focal points to experience greater alignment and harmony. Bring your mat and a journal. Resource
information will be provided.
The Yoga of Sound – The Tantra of Sound
This workshop will explore the relationship of the Yoga of Sound to Hatha Yoga. We will consider
the subject of mantra, which Russill Paul calls the language of yogic experience. The four streams
of sound mysticism – Shabda Yoga, Shakti Yoga, Bhava Yoga, and Nada Yoga – will be discussed. Jonathan
Goldman notes that sound is the fundamental creative force in the universe, bringing order to
chaos, and capable of healing the body, mind, and spirit. This workshop will consist of both
philosophical and more interactive components, as we explore and apply the use of mantra and
sound for healing and greater well-being.
Life After Death and Dealing with Grief
What do Yoga, Christianity, Buddhism and other traditions have to say about life after death and how
we should prepare for it? In addition, life presents us with many opportunities to learn the lesson
of letting go. Drawing primarily upon Deepak Chopra's Life After Death, Sogyal Rinpoche's The Tibetan
Book of Living and Dying, and Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' On Grief and Grieving, we will explore
similarities in the teachings of these three traditions and learn practices that can help us and
our loved ones in the important process of transitioning and dealing with the overall experiences
of loss. Come prepared to do some light movement in addition to some journaling.
Yoga and Christianity: Mystical Paths in Tandem
What – if anything – does the practice of yoga have in common with Christianity? While each
tradition is unique and cannot be adequately compared – you are invited to come and explore
the similarities in these rich and diverse traditions and their spiritual practices. By considering
common elements in the practice of meditation and prayer – and the significance given to the
understanding of the Divine, revered texts, and monastic lifestyles and ethical teachings –
we will deepen our awareness and respect for these two spiritual streams, and contribute to a
continuing dialogue between them.
A Yoga of Divine Love: Ecstatic and Forbidden Writings on the Verge of Heresy
What do Tantra and medieval mystics from the Sufi and Christian traditions have in common? Come
see how the passionate writings of Rumi, Kabir, Julian of Norwich, Hadewjich, Marguerite Porete,
Meister Eckhart, and others sprang from a similar source, and were not highly regarded in their
day. All mystical writings invite the reader to move into realms outside of conventional
religious orthodoxy, insisting as the scholar Will Johnson notes, that only a complete merging
with the Divine will provide the satisfaction that the heart so desperately seeks. This
workshop will examine the context in which these mystics and their writings flourished and
consider what they have to offer us today.
