11 Aug Ayurveda/Yoga Workshop with Maria Garre
Book the workshop with Maria Garrê here now. Single class is $45; early bird, $35. Full workshop, $179; early bird, $160. (Early bird ends August 15.)
Please scroll down to bottom of this story to hear what Maria has to say about her life and work.
Maria Garre, Ayurvedic practitioner and Yoga instructor.
Yoga is not just asanas or the poses and Ayurveda is not just herbs, however important the flora may be. The twin sciences cover the whole of life. Their shared (ambitious) goal is equipoise: helping people develop healthy relationships with themselves and their environment.
In 2008, the keynote speaker at the very first Telluride Yoga Festival was Dr. Robert Svoboda, the very first Westerner ever to graduate Pune University with a bachelors degree in Ayurvedic medicine and surgery and licensed to practice Ayurveda in India.
Svoboda was in town for Yoga Fest with his acolyte and friend Dr. Scott Blossom, one of the top yoga instructors in the country, also licensed in alternative healing. Their goal: teach the best ways to make the best use of the knowledge inherent in sciences that are two sides of a very ancient coin.
Svoboda’s classes were prologues to an upcoming workshop at the Telluride Yoga Center: A Weekend of Ayurveda, Yoga, Mantra, and Marma with Maria Garré, Friday, August 21 – Sunday, August 23.
Maria is a dedicated student, teacher, and practitioner of both Yoga and Ayurveda. She has 20+ years of academic studies in the biological sciences, Yoga and Ayurveda, including advanced Ayurvedic studies at the Kripalu School for Ayurveda and Vasant Lad’s world-renowned Ayurvedic Institute. She is also a Pilates instructor and personal trainer and group fitness instructor with ACE and AFAA certification.
Maria Garré serves as the Ayuryoga department manager at the Ayurvedic Institute and co-teaches for Shiva Rea, another mentor, in Rea’s Living Ayurveda Program, traveling world-wide as a guest lecturer, presenter, and retreat leader.
Maria offers a practical approach to use the tools of Yoga and Ayurveda in everyday life.
“The two subjects are fundamentally the same science,” Svoboda explained in our 2008 interview. “They explore the same themes such as prana, our body’s life force and differ only in how the disciplines apply the principles to everyday life.”
Historically in India an Ayurvedic physician would have been expected to have had some sort of Yoga practice. Conversely, serious students of Hatha Yoga would have been expected to have at least rudimentary knowledge of Ayurveda.
“Wandering yogis needed to know how to address difficulties in their own life and in the lives of those they met along the way,” explained Svoboda.“Today, there are still plenty of itinerant yogis treating people they meet on their path.”
Blending the knowledge she has gathered from her studies on her yearly trips to India, Marie Garre leads dynamic, liberating classes and trainings that embody the alchemy inherent in the interdependent disciplines.
Maria’s class schedule and descriptions as follows:
Friday, August 21, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: The Power of Marma: Healing energetic centers to enhance and expand Yogic practices
Marma are powerful energetic points that, when activated, can support inner and outer transformation and healing to both the body and mind. The afternoon intensive introduces students to the theory and application of the use of marma to balance and heal. Expect to learn basic marma points, how to access them, incorporate into hands-on adjustments for self and others, and understand their therapeutic value.
Saturday, August 22, 9:30-11:30 a.m., Detox and Evolve: a Flow for ALL
According to Ayurveda, the transition between summer and fall is an excellent time to release the heat of summer that can linger in the body and create inflammation, and ground into the cool shift of fall. The class will focus on releasing excess heat to cool the visceral organs and mind to awaken the clarifying, purifying energy within.
1:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m., Digestion, Health and Toxins: An Ayurvedic Perspective
Ayurveda offers a simple and holistic approach to diet and food to achieve optimum health. Agni, our digestive fire, is a central theme of Ayurvedic nutrition. Our ability to digest foods is critical to maintaining health and vitality. Weak agni creates toxins and disease. Ayurveda’s concept of digestion will clarify why digestive issues arise and how certain food combinations don’t work and why toxins are created. Understand how today’s nectar can become tomorrow’s poison. Ayurveda offers a very practical and intelligent way to understand how to analyze dietary choices to bring balance, health, and vitality to each day.
Sunday, August 23, 9:30-11:30 a.m., Ojas and Yoga: Cultivating the Sacred Nectar of Life
Ojas is known in Ayurveda to bless us with sacred immunity and strength and revered as the nectar of life. The class will introduce everyone to the concept of ojas and its importance and more importantly, how to fortify and cultivate ojas for vibrant health and longevity. Arejuvenating and nourishing Prana Flow® class alongside lecture and discussion.
More about Ayurveda:
Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word that means “the wisdom of life” or “the art of living.” The science links the rhythms of the universal elements – earth, fire, air, water, and space – to individual constitutions, metabolic patterns (or metapatterns) called doshas.
The three dosha types are vata, connected to air and space, capable of fast, unpredictable movement and thoughts; pitta, aligned with fire, influenced by air and acting with intense determination; and kappa, a combination of earth and water, moving slowly and gracefully, tending to be stable and loyal.
We all have something of each element in us, but generally an abundance of one or a predominant combination of two.
Our organism want to healthy. In the Ayurvedic tradition, health means balance. By examining metapatterns, an organism’s doshas, Ayurveda can help that organism’s owner decide what kind of food, exercise, meditation and other healthful habits will be health-promoting to the greatest degree.
Yoga begins historically with the Mantra Yoga of the Rigveda, the oldest Vedic text that originated over 5,000 years ago. These mantras of the Rishis promote a Yoga or union with the higher powers of consciousness in the universe, providing the basis for the Self-knowledge and cosmic knowledge that we find in later Vedanta and the Vedic sciences.
Ayurveda arose in the Vedic context as the Upaveda or supplementary Vedic text that focused on healing and well-being for both body and mind. Ayurveda first arose as an application of Vedic mantras, not as a separate discipline. All Vedic teachings have a potential Ayurvedic or healing application, especially Vedic rituals and mantras. Many Vedic practices are said to grant “sarvayur,” meaning not only longevity, but also the fullness of life, as one of their primary goals. They are still used in this manner today.
To learn more, click the “play” button and listen to my conversation with Maria Garré.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.