Asana and their origin: developmental movement patterns

About the course

Developing fluency in your 'first language of movement' is a way to find more ease and less effort, to listen more to your inner, body-mind intelligence.

In your infancy, this happens through the development of 'body schema' - a big part of which is your own inner map of your body and its coordination. This develops particularly through the way you move and relate to the world – it’s the emergence of your inherent intelligence, gathered from three billion years of evolution; to make sense of the world, to find the support to meet the adventure of life and to understand what it is to be a human being.

You will explore this rich source of support over 4 weekends:

How your early developmental movement patterns, like crawling, are at the base of all asana. This experience will help you understand where to get clearer support and how to make informed choices - not only about how you move, but also in your life and relationships.

• It will inform your gaze; your embodiment informs what you see. When you try to see from the point of view of information and models, there is always a limitation. This support is many things because it also relates to the way you deal with all relationships; with people and the world. This also relates to the ‘Satisfaction Cycle’, your ability to appreciate what you need and how to get these needs met, to be nourished and satisfied – whether that is through your own practice or in any other aspect of your life.

• It is a way for you to experience the basic coordination underlying asanas, what makes sense of all the details. So this not only provides a way to come to the asana from your own internal reference, which means, if you are a teacher, that you don’t have to give so many instructions and information. It’s also a way to be able to follow the step by step process of how you discover the depth of the asana - how you find the steps that have most meaning and relevance for you. This relates to a number of major life skills, especially how you are able to process and understand the meaning of your experience. This is a key process in enabling someone to find their own inner teacher. Knowing how and when the details/information make sense, comes from a deep respect and listening skills.

• It will allow you to see where you or someone else may be interfering with their own inner intelligence and how instead to learn to listen to it. This also allows us to observe the mind, its quality of presence, and the purpose it is aligned with. A big part of life can be about learning how we get in our own way. How to align with purpose.

• It can give you the opportunity to experience 'bottom-up' learning and informed choice making. This is not a technique, but simply an appreciation of how evolution has developed a system that supports us coming into the world, growing up – through experiencing true 'under-standing'. You will simply be getting in touch with this intelligence, much as the original yogis must have done to discover and develop yoga. Being inspired by a real Cobra is one example of how they may have learned to reflect on their own inherent intelligence, in the Cobra they recognised something familiar. In fact we still have a pretty intack 'reptile brain'. Switching this on is key to finding the support to deal with much of what came later in evolutionary terms - like emotions and more complex thought.

• It will enable you to appreciate the importance of relationship in asana. In much yoga these days we tend to make it more exclusive about the body. This can easily confuse the meaning and disconnect us from many of the deeper processes that asana practice offers. Again this is related to life skills.

Info

• Dates: 2.9-3.9.2017
• Location: Sepänkylä, 02750 Espoo
• Cost: 250€
  • this price includes all the extras that are offered in the mentoring program.
• Teacher: Leo Peppas
• Sign up & more information: [email protected]
  • There are now just a few spaces available, so an early sign-up is recommended.
• Facebook event: events/383723471991289/

About Leo Peppas

Leo Peppas started as an Iyengar Yoga teacher, over the last 30 years he has integrated an understanding of body awareness and movement principles into his teaching and developed a comprehensive approach. His belief that yoga can present a clear link to the path of self discovery and provide a support in everyday life, is core to his teaching method. Leo is a qualified movement therapist (Body Mind Centering) and Psychosynthesis therapist. He studied Rolfing Movement extensively with Huber Godard and continues to evolve his understanding.

The mentoring group

It is possible to join the mentoring program now and only take part in the first weekend, or for the whole series of four weekends that cover this theme. The mentoring program has a broad application and so is suitable for yoga, pilates, bodywork and therapy practitioners or teachers.

To read more about the mentoring program go here