A WEEKEND WITH WHIT HORNSBERGER

SESSION 1: THE ART OF SLOWING DOWN • Saturday, 11:30-2:00pm

SESSION 2: THE SPACE BETWEEN • Sunday, 10am-12:30pm

For more information and registration please visit: Island Yoga Aruba

SESSION 1: THE ART OF SLOWING DOWN - VINYASA KRAMA

The traditional movement and sequence methodology of Vinyasa Krama honours the breath as our ultimate teacher and source of wisdom. The teachings as passed down by the father of modern yoga, Sri T. Krishnamacharya remind us that this ancient tradition is one of slowing down, quieting the mind and cultivating the art of concentration.

Through the application of mindful breath coordinated movements, powerfully deliberate transitions (vinyasas) and intelligent sequencing (krama), Vinyasa Krama, the art of slowing down, offers refuge from the quickening pace of life, integrating the mind and body into unparalleled states of transformative union.

SESSION 2: THE SPACE BETWEEN - YIN YOGA & BUDDHIST MINDFULNESS

A wise man once said: “Between stimulus and reaction there is a space. Within that space lies our power to choose our response. And within our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

Invariably, however, this space is rendered imperceptible by the mind’s past conditioning. The result is that much of our human life can be lived beyond the ultimate reality of the present moment and instead, within a pseudo-reality dictated by habitual patterning and reactivity, leaving us feeling incarcerated within, and at the dictates of, our own minds.

This workshop integrates the wisdom of the Buddha’s teachings and mindfulness methodology with the passive approach of Yin Yoga. The extended stays within the postures of the Yin practice provide a fertile opportunity to apply the transformative mind-training methods of the Buddha, enabling the mind to observe its own conditioned nature and in turn awakening the mind through the cultivation of insight (vipassana).

Through the application of the Buddha’s methodology of mindfulness meditation (satipatthana), we will cultivate the platform of mindfulness (sati) and concentration (samadhi) necessary to objectively observe the nature of the mind. As the platform for inquiry becomes increasingly more stable, the spatiotemporal gap between stimulus and reaction expands, enabling the observing mind to rest within the space between. It is from within this spaciousness that we provide ourselves the opportunity to wisely observe, reflect and develop insight into the conditioned nature of the mind.

These transformative insights into the mind’s conditioned limitations initiates a systematic letting go, gifting ourselves and our minds the opportunity to choose a conscious and wise response in every given situation. 

This workshop will include a Dhamma talk on Buddhist philosophy, including topics such as dukkha (unsatisfactoriness/suffering), the cause of this dukkha, and how the practice of mindfulness meditation gives rise to insights (vipassana) that free the mind and heart from suffering.

This offering is suitable for all levels of practitioners.