Intimate Nature: Communication Older Than Words, TESC 10/02
Sarah Williams
We speak of
elementary needs like the need to eat and to drink, but not of the need to
breathe. That corresponds nevertheless
to our first and most radical need. And
we are not really born, not really autonomous or living as long as we do not
take care, in a conscious and voluntary way, of our breathing.
The forgetting of
breathing in our tradition is almost universal. And it has led to a separation in us between the vital breath and
the divine breath, between body and soul.
Between breath, that which give life, and the body, that which permits
keeping it, incarnating it. The union
of the two representing life itself.
This mistaken
division between body and soul is, moreover, reflected in our conception of the
difference of the sexes. Woman would be
the body, of which man would be the spirit; woman would represent natural life
and man spiritual life. ---Luce
Irigaray, Between East and West.
This is a movement
workshop designed to use yoga for self-inquiry regarding our intimate nature. We will explore the eight limbs of classical
yoga to experience within our bodies the relationships between and among mind
and body, intellect and emotion, culture and nature, gender and breath,
consciousness and awareness. In
addition to the material listed on the all-program yoga handout, during this
more intensive workshop format we will explore in introductory ways the
following topics and practices.
-the anatomy of the
subtle body: chakras, koshas and nadis
-a variety of
breathing and meditation practices
-the “sacred”
language of Sanskrit
-chanting and kirtan
(sacred sound and music)
-deep relaxation
through yoga nidra
-home practice
(required)
The following
questions will guide our work within the workshop as well as student reflection
on this workshop in the integrative paper and co-authored evaluation. In what ways do your experiences of the
practice of yoga confirm or alter your understanding of your intimate nature? In what ways does this understanding of your
intimate nature correspond with, contradict, or exist in tension with your personal
sense of self, familial constructions of your self, dominant cultural
prescriptions, counter-culture perspectives, indigenous or cross-cultural or
historical perspectives? In what ways
does your awareness of breath and of what breathing engenders affect your
communication with your self and others?
wk 1: Beyond
Power Yoga (BPY) chapter 2, pp. 73-90
wk 2: BPY 3: 105-116; and, “The Wonderful World of
Henry Sugar,” a short story on reserve in the library. Feel free to copy it and pass it on. It is a fun and fast read!
wk 3: BPY 4: 141-174
wk 4: BPY 5: 177-193
wk 5: BPY 6-8:
195-243
Yoga : The Iyengar
Way (Silva, Mira and
Shyam Mehta) This is arguably the best
illustrated guide of asanas, including Sanskrit names and translations.
Required work for
this workshop includes:
1) attendance and
participation
To receive credit you must be
present, period. And, there will be
times when some of us can’t be present.
You must notify the faculty regarding absences following the guidelines
provided in the class syllabus. Each student
must assume responsibility for catching up on missed classes through consultation
with her/his peers and the logging in one’s journal of practice time at home or
in one of Olympia’s yoga studios.
2) weekly journal writing
You are required to have a separate
journal for use in this workshop only.
Keep this journal next to your mat during each class. Feel free to use it when inspired. During class you will be guided to write
using techniques from Journal to the Self.
3) a non-verbal map or representation of your experiential
understanding of the subtle anatomy of your own body in relation to the
material presented in Beyond Power Yoga
During week five of this workshop
students will be required to display these creations. You may not use words. You
may use anything else. But, keep in
mind that you must be able to transport and display your work in our classroom.
4) Sanskrit
exploration
During the five weeks of this
workshop you are required to spend a minimum of one hour playing while exploring
the pronunciation and positions of the Sanskrit alphabet. The American Sanskrit Institute’s Sanskrit by Cassette is on open reserve
for your use in the library. You may
bring in your own tapes and dub the tapes in the Sound and Image lab or play
with the copy on reserve in the library.
Please be careful with the text portion of this course. There is one required article for you to
read that is also on reserve with the language materials: “Sanskrit, a Sacred Model of Language”
(Vyaas Houston). Group play is highly
encouraged.
5) home practice
Two hours of home practice are
required during each week of this workshop.
Please create a section in your journal where you log and describe your
practice. This practice may include
elements of any of the eight limbs, but one hour per week must include the
guided practice of yoga nidra contained on the required audio tapes for this
course, Infinite Awakening (Richard
Miller).
6) integrative essay
and co-authored evaluation (also an all-program requirement)
An additional handout with specific
information regarding this requirement will be provided.
Suggested Credit Equivalencies:
4- Somatic
Studies: Breathing Bodies: Yoga and Engenderment