The 17th Annual Yoga Journal Conference: Colorado

Day 2: Tantra Immersion.

Click here for coverage of Day 1: Tantra Immersion & Day 3.

I arrived from Boulder today in time for the very last part of Rod Stryker’s master class and caught about 45 minutes of asana, Para yoga style. We did more bandhas and breath retention in the postures, continuing to stoke the inner fire of Agni.

After a short lunch break, I went back for my new favorite practice, yoga nidra.

Today I went into a full state of effortlessness and it was bliss.

In Sianna’s afternoon class, we practiced cooling, introspective postures interwoven with writing, mudras and setting clear intentions. The class was titled “Samavesha and Sankalpa,” which means “Immersion and Intention.” Sianna’s soothing, poetic teachings on Bhavana (deep, contemplative insights) allowed me to access a deeper place inside to help me get crystal clear with my intentions.

The highlight of my day was the fire ceremony this evening led by Douglas Brooks called, “Agni, the Fire’s Inside Out.”

I always love sitting around a fire and the ceremony was so beautifully done. Douglas began with speaking of Agni, the second word in the Rig Veda. “Om Agni Niday,” which means “I meditate on the fire.”

The alter was filled with Murti’s, food, flowers and incense. We chanted mantras and did mudras and at the end of the ceremony, as the moon was rising over the horizon, we offered flowers to the fire and took ashes, representing where we all come from and kum kum, a red powder representing the blood of Kali for each of us to dab on our foreheads. Swaha!

I offered my own personal intention to the fire and went back to my cabin to share a glass of wine with friends.

Does it get any better? Ahh, off to bed to rest up for my last day of the Tantra Immersion.

Alison has devoted the last 22 years to being a student and teacher of Yoga. She first came to yoga after losing her mother at a young age to cancer in 1990, here in Boulder with her primary Teacher Richard Freeman. Yoga became an essential part of healing her grief and has been the guiding point in living life with more joy and gratitude. She weaves many styles and modalities into her teaching, including Ashtanga, Vinyasa Flow, and Iyengar/Alignment based yoga as well as Tantric based philosophy.  She also uses her understanding as a Certified Rolfing Practitioner of Structural Integration to help people discover ease of movement and a greater connection to joy and peace in their bodies.  Her passion is in helping people, primarily women discover a deep sense of well being through awakening to the radiance and power within themselves.

Visit her website: www.embodyradiance.com

 

 

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