Namaste Yoga Center - Yoga Teachings
Western Yoga students often learn Yoga as a secularized fitness system. The authentic Yoga of India teaches that the human being is more than the physical body and that through disciplinary practices, it is possible to discover what this “more” is. (1998 Georg Feuerstein)
Namaste Yoga Center offers an opportunity to explore what the physical practice of Yoga invites us to consider. Students quickly notice that there is a calmness, serenity, and awareness that often results from hatha Yoga…the Yoga for the body. Those “results” open us to questions that the deeper teachings invite us to explore.
Namaste teachers are grounded in the teachings of nondualism. Because nondualism emphasizes direct experience rather than mere intellectual understanding, we offer opportunities to practice meditation and Yoga Nidra, to participate in sangha/community, to dialog, and to study.
Mary Addison-Lamb, director of Namaste, is a student of Richard Miller (www.nondual.com) and serves on the Board of Stewards for the Center of Timeless Being.
Nancy Long, executive director of Namaste, is certified through the Himalayan Institute and has studied extensively with Richard Miller and Rod Stryker.
Introduction to Meditation and Yoga Philosophy
This newly created class is a combination of Foundation III and IV and is intended for students who have completed the basics. Exploring the roots of Yoga, you will have an opportunity to deepen your practice by studying the eight-limb path of raja yoga. As part of the eight limbs, Patanjali, the revered 2nd century Yoga scholar, offers the Yamas and Niyamas (10 ethical precepts that allow us to be at peace with ourselves, our family, and our community). We will discuss and experience how to incorporate these authentic roots of Yoga into our daily lives. We will also explore the meaning and method of meditation as well as continue to expand the use pranayama and asana in your daily practice. The class runs for 6 weeks and costs 9 membership hours.Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra is a profoundly transformative practice that leads to lasting psychological, physical and spiritual healing. It accomplishes this through two parallel approaches: the release of long-held negative beliefs that give rise to self-destructive patterns, and, through meditative self-inquiry, the realization of one’s true nature. True freedom arrives when conditioned patterns of who we think we are give way to living and relating from our core center. Yoga Nidra, an ancient technique from the tantric wisdom teachings, is a simple but highly refined process we use to welcome, explore, and heal dysfunctional states of body, mind and emotion. In Yoga Nidra we explore the roots of conditioning that give rise to misperceptions that underlie dissatisfaction, anxiety, fear and suffering. These include sensation, energy, emotion, cognition, imagery, joyful equanimity and ego-identification, and patterns of shame, blame and guilt. Psychological and physical healing spontaneously arise when these changing states of consciousness are brought into awareness and then are naturally transcended as we rest in that which is free of all resistance. (Adapted from Richard Miller's website, www.nondual.com.)Yoga Nidra as a tool for healing post-traumatic stress in active duty soldiers is currently being studied at Walter Reed Army Hospital, Bethesda, MD. This is one of several planned studies to assess the efficacy of Yoga Nidra for the treatment of various issues. Richard Miller, who is acting as a research consultant, developed the protocol used in these studies.
Practitioners rest on the floor with a pillow under the head and under the knees, a blanket cover and an eye bag to soften the eyes and the thinking mind. The teacher then leads a deeply relaxing mediation. Students report deep relaxation and a sense of peaceful acceptance.
This practice is the last Wednesday of each month from 7:15-8:30 pm. A 7:00-7:15 pm orientation is provided for students who are new to Yoga Nidra. The cost of each class is 1½ membership hours or $17. Everyone is welcome!
Sangha
Living Presence is designed to help students deepen their practice through sangha, a spiritual community of like-minded people. This group meets most Wednesdays from 7:00-9:00 pm. Cost is 1 membership hour or $10.Retreats are offered several times a years to deepen individual practice and to strengthen Namaste's Yoga community. Check "Events and Retreats."
Deeper Study
Introduction to the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali is a series of classes that present a thorough discussion of this classic Yoga text. Students gain familiarity with the sutras through discussion and chanting in Sanskrit. There are 8 parts to this course presented over several years. Each part is 6 weeks and costs $75.Sanskrit
Introduction to Ayurveda