Yoga
Satsangam is committed to offering a range of authentic teachings on this vast subject and our core curriculum on Ayurveda includes a course on Hatha Yoga with Scott Blossom. Yoga, being one of the ṣāḍarśana– the six major philosophical systems of India, lends its “darśana” or vision of life to many, if not all, the arts (kalās) and sciences (vidyā) and they mutually reinforce and illuminate each other on many levels.
Hatha Yoga, of which texts are estimated to have emerged around 1200 C.E., elevates the human body as a temple for spiritual alchemy. From this view, enlightenment is a whole body experience. ãsana, breathing practices, and mudras work together to purify both the body and one’s awareness to cultivate a “diamond” (vajra) body of light and sound vibration. These practices accomplish this by balancing and directing the flow of the vital force (prāna) in both the gross physical (sthūla) and subtle (sūkṣma) “bodies” (śarīra) of our being.
Both Hatha Yoga and Ayurveda prioritize cultivating prāṇa to promote a state of physical and mental health. Ayurveda provides the medical and lifestyle guidance to establish this balance within our physical bodies, minds and with the natural world, and this harmony is considered foundational for the practice of Hatha yoga which focuses on developing our subtle body. Living a wholesome lifestyle, eating a balanced diet, and practicing yoga ãsana, prāṇāyāma, and meditation are the principle means for achieving this.
Scott, who has been teaching about the integration of Hatha Yoga and Ayurveda for more than twenty years, presents the teachings on yoga practices in a way that is coherent with the teachings on Ayurveda so students can digest and integrate the material within the larger context of the Core Curriculum.
