SAMA ASHTANGA
VINYASA YOGA
with Chuck Miller
Yoga Intensive
October 27 - 31
Yoga Retreat
Oct 31 - Nov 3
Amidst the beautiful nature of Yamanashi Prefecture, Chuck will offer a week of intensive yoga study and practice. The week is divided into two parts to make it easier for more people to participate. See details on each event below. You are free to register for either session or both!
SAMA ASHTANGA
YOGA INTENSIVE
10.27 - 31
Join us for 4 nights and 5 days at Minobusan Kuon-ji, the center of Nichiren Buddhism. Chuck will teach classes in the morning and the afternoon. In your free time you might want to explore Kuonji and other temples or hike up Mt. Minobu. Accommodations will be at a temple inn and meals will be Shojin Ryori.
Classes begin Monday afternoon and conclude Friday morning.
Early Bird Price: ¥160,000 (includes meals and accommodations)
YOGA & NATURE
RETREAT
10.31 - 11.3
Immediately following the Intensive at Minobusan, we will move to Lake Shibire, a hidden in the mountains. Chuck will teach one asana class a day and offer Satang. The rest of our time will center on activities in nature -- swimming, hiking, and such. We hope that you will see this retreat as an opportunity to explore your connection to nature and to your inner nature.
Retreat runs for 3 nights and 4 days. Classes begin Friday afternoon and end Monday morning.
Early Bird Price: ¥110,000 (includes meals and accommodations)
About Kunon-ji Minobusan
The home of Nichiren Buddhism, Kuon-ji sits at the foot of Mt. Minobu. For our retreats, we arrange accommodations at temple inns and the meals are shojin-ryori. Yoga classes are held at temples and you are free to participate in some of Kuon-ji's Buddhist services. Weather depending, we hike up the mountain and may conduct classes at the temple facilities near the peak. Note that hiking is optional; a cable tramway is also available.
About Lake Shibire
At about at 850 meters elevation, Lake Shibire is located in a secluded mountainous area in south-central Yamanashi Prefecture. The name, which translates as "Four-tailed Dragon Lake," is from a local legend that the lake is inhabited by a dragon god. With a circumference of 1.2 kilometers, the spring-fed lake is ideal for swimming from spring to autumn and is surrounded by hiking trails, including a few that lead to peaks with extraordinary views of Mt. Fuji and the Yatsugatake mountain range. Accommodations are in a lodge beside the lake. Campsites are available, too. The third-generation owners prepare the meals and serve drinks and snacks.
SAMA ASHTANGA VINYASA
We will develop the practice from where we are.
We will develop the practice from the Beginning.
By going deeper into the Beginning, we learn more.
Expect something different.
Expect something profoundly original.
What you will experience is aligned with Traditional Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga as taught by Sri TK Krishnamacharya and Sri KK Pattabhi Jois.
It is for students of all levels.
It is focused on helping each and every student.
The practice sessions start slowly.
We focus on seeing, identifying and reconditioning habitual patterns -- what we call Samskara.
Illuminating this path may require learning new vocabulary.
Samskara. Maya. Mara.
We will explore the nature of each one and learn to identify Mara sooner and treat the Mara Spirit with kindness and compassion to better enable our transformation.
We will dive into the aspects of our practice that enable us to understand, develop and cultivate.
We practice in this way to transcend the outer forms
— to penetrate to what is essential
— to what benefits us in every part of our life.
As we focus on the less obvious, our physical abilities will expand.
We will discover in ourselves that joy arises from awareness of the subtle.
A beginner may find this practice easier than an experienced student.
Beginners love having the space to explore.
Expert students may find it challenging to slow down enough to feel the tremendous benefits of touching the subtle aspects.
“All great things are made of many very small things.”
There are a small number of Essential Practices contained within the practice of Ashtanga Yoga that are always present and yet not always on our minds in practice.
This retreat is open for all levels of practitioners – from beginners to advanced.
